Tag: Chip Ganassi Racing

Ross Chastain to Drive Full-Time in 2019 with Chip Ganassi Racing

On Friday at ISM Raceway, it was announced that Ross Chastain would be the next full-time driver for the No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet with Chip Ganassi Racing for 2019.

“I’m trying not to throw up right now. It’s surreal,” Chastain said as he shared the announcement in the media center with team owner Chip Ganassi and CEO of DC Solar, Jeff Carpoff.

Chastain ran three races in 2018 with the No. 42 team, and did not disappoint. He dominated at Darlington Raceway, snagged his first career pole and was on pace for a victory until a late-race crash with Kevin Harvick delayed his first career win. That took place later in the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he started his tradition of smashing a watermelon at the start-finish line in celebration. His runner-up finish at Richmond would be the third and final time driving the Chip Ganassi Racing car in 2018. But it was enough proof for both Ganassi and DC Solar.

“DC Solar is a great example of partnership,” said Ganassi. “Since coming to our organization, both of our teams have worked together to build a platform that is beneficial to their business. When we first talked about putting Ross in the car this year, this was something that Jeff and Paulette felt strongly about and Ross made the most of the opportunity running well in all three races and bringing home a win and a runner-up finish. We are looking forward to him continuing that success in 2019 and competing for his first NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship.”

Most of the exposure and convincing caught the eye of Carpoff, and Ganassi saw the success Chastain produced in a short amount of races behind the wheel. In the media center, as the announcement was made, Carpoff gave a fist pump in celebration. He was asked if he had any say with hiring Chastain full-time.

“DC Solar is excited to continue its partnership with CGR, and we’re extremely proud to sponsor Ross during the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity season,” Carpoff declared. “From the moment I met Ross, I knew there was something special about him, so the decision to support him came easy. Witnessing his raw talent, as well as his humility and gratitude for the opportunity, only confirmed that he would be a great representative for the DC Solar brand.”

Chastain was definitely nervous, yet excited about the new opportunities.

“I’m an eighth-generation farmer from Florida who was fortunate enough to get a shot in top-flight equipment. I’m incredibly grateful to everyone, especially my family, who helped me get to this point.

“I’ve had a great run with Johnny Davis Motorsports and it’s obvious I wouldn’t be in the position I am today without Johnny’s support. I have been racing everything that I can since breaking into NASCAR seven years ago. Until DC Solar and Chip (Ganassi) gave me a shot in Darlington, nobody knew who I was. I want to remain humble. I enjoy being the underdog.

“Excited or thrilled doesn’t begin to capture how I feel about joining CGR full time. I’m eager to take full advantage of the opportunity in front of me. The obvious goal is to win races, compete for an Xfinity Series Championship and represent DC Solar to the best of my ability.”

Chastain shared that he planned to still race with the Monster Energy Cup Series, as long as schedules did not conflict.

November 9, 2018

First Career Win for Chastain in the DC Solar 300 at Vegas

Ross Chastain wins the final race of the NASCAR XFINITY Series regular season and the first of his career at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the DC Solar 300.

“We did it!” Chastain yelled on the frontstretch after celebrating with donuts over the race sponsor’s logo on the frontstretch grass, who also sponsored his car for that race.

Chastain first made headline news in NASCAR media a few weeks ago after the run-in with Kevin Harvick at Darlington. Harvick pinched him into the outside wall, and Chastain immediately retaliated by spinning him out on the same straightaway. His main concern was quickly turned to car owner Chip Ganassi, as he wasn’t sure how his boss would take his reaction on track. A tweet and a phone call showed nothing but pride and confidence in his driver.

“It was so scary when the call was made to take this deal,” Chastain shared in the media center. “[Johnny Davis] believed in me to drive the 4 car and to put me in that car years ago. That’s what my career needed. This [win] is bigger than the playoffs. I’m not trying to spin the story, but this is literally a kid from Florida, eighth generation farmer who started hobby racing when I was 13. It was never supposed to be this way, so that’s why it’s so much bigger.”

Runner-up finisher, Justin Allgaier, was the regular series champion, and will take 15 additional points into the playoffs, but isn’t planning to relax going into the Playoffs.

“Yes and no,” Allgaier said when asked if he felt comfortable with the extra point cushion. “I wanted those extra five bonus points. You gotta go for race wins, you gotta go for stage wins because it’s so challenging to keep the speed but also execute.”

Cole Custer was the third driver that battled at the front all race long, but finished in the third position after what he called a race with insane restarts.

“The restarts were insane,” Custer stated. “If you were fourth on back, you were fighting for your life to try to stay in front of guys because the track position was so important. So you’re trying to block and get as many runs as you can. I feel like every track we go to, we compete for a win but it’s about having it all fall into place.”

Christopher Bell and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top five. Ryan Preece, Brandon Jones, Ryan Truex, Austin Cindric and Spencer Gallagher finished in the remaining top ten positions.

Chastain wins both stages at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the DC Solar 300. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.

Chastain Leads Most Laps, Wins Stage 1

Cole Custer started on pole and led the opening two laps, but Ross Chastain was able to get by him. Matt Tifft failed post-qualifying inspection four times, so had to serve a pass-through penalty on Lap 1, putting his car one lap down early on.

On Lap 5, the No. 5 JR Motorsports Chevrolet of Michael Annett slid through the grass after contact with Ryan Preece. A three-wide pass was attempted on the exit of Turn 4 with Ryan Sieg to the far outside. Annett noticed this at the last second and tried to turn sharper. This caused the rear tires to lose grip, and as he caught the car, he made contact with Ryan Preece which sent his car into the grass. Annett tried to drive around onto pit road, but his car expired on the apron of Turn 1. He finished 40th with his fifth DNF.

The track was slick all stage long, but Ross Chastain was able to lead the most laps and win the first stage. He lifted off the throttle to allow Ryan Preece to get a lap back. John Jackson, Jeff Green and Annett were the only three cars out of the race at this point.

The Field Continued to Hunt Down Chastain in Stage 2

Ryan Reed takes heavy damage after contact with Matt Tifft on the exit of Turn 4 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Both drivers were treated and released from the infield care center. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.

Chastain’s pit crew were able to keep their driver in the lead. Most of the front runners kept their positions, except for Christopher Bell who lost a couple spots on pit road.

On Lap 65, Matt Tifft and Ryan Reed made heavy contact. In the middle of Turns 3 and 4, Tifft got loose and Reed had nowhere to go, as Reed drove into the left front of Tifft’s No. 2 car. That sent Tifft spinning in the opposite direction, and Reed with no right front panels and heavy damage to his right front wheel. His car rested along the frontstretch. Reed sat next to his car to catch his breath, but thankfully was able to walk away under his own power. Tifft took longer to get out of his car because his car rested with the driver’s side against the frontstretch wall. Both drivers were checked and released from the infield car center.

On the restart, Daniel Hemric got a great push from Custer to lead a couple laps, but Chastain was able to quickly hunt him down and put his No. 42 Chevrolet in the lead. He led the rest of the laps to close out the stage. Three more cars were declared out of the race: Stan Mullis, Matt Tifft and Ryan Reed. Timmy Hill spent 24 laps behind the wall to make some repairs, but was able to rejoin the race.

Everything Goes Wild in the Final Stage at Vegas

Again, Chastain’s pit crew, who are the same members for Kyle Larson’s NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series team, puts their Xfinity driver out on top. Custer lost five spots on this pit stop, allowing everyone else to gain a spot. However, NASCAR issued two penalties: Ryan Preece for speeding on pit road, and Cole Custer for an uncontrolled tire during his pit stop.

Daniel Hemric edges ahead of Ross Chastain on the restart. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.

On the restart, Chastain started to get pressure throughout the entire first run as Daniel Hemric started to side draft on the exit of Turns 2 and 4, getting to his rear bumper or side drafting along the straights. That didn’t last too long as Chastain was able to get back around and continue leading. As the run went longer, it appeared that Chastain’s car handled better as the run continued. Toward the beginning of the final stage, both Timmy Hill and Mike Harmon retired from the race.

As the field was facing one of the longest green flag runs of the day so far, Ryan Preece spun on the exit of Turn 2, bringing out the yellow flag around Lap 125. The whole field came down for pit stops. Similar to the other pit stops in the day, the drivers at the front continued to keep most of their positions. Hemric lost a few spots and dropped to the fifth position. Brandon Jones received a penalty for an uncontrolled tire, and went to the back of the field for the restart from his sixth place position after his pit stops.

On the restart, Chastain continued to hold the lead. However, about ten laps into the run, Allgaier moved himself into the second position. After a few side by side battles and pass attempts, he was able to eventually move his No. 7 Chevrolet into the lead and become the first driver besides Chastain to lead more than five laps.

Later in the run on Lap 149, Allgaier radioed to his crew that the car was getting tight. He was passed by Chastain and Custer, but was able to keep pace with them. At the same time, David Starr went behind wall. Ten laps later, Chastain was able to battle through lap traffic faster and grow his lead to over two seconds.

The next yellow flag came out right as green flag stops began. Vinnie Miller spun on the track to bring out that yellow flag.

As for the green flag pit stops, Daniel Hemric, Shane Lee and Cole Custer were all on pit road. Hemric got full service, Lee elected to drive down all of pit lane by skipping his pit box, but Custer’s crew called an audible. They went from a four tire stop to a two tire stop, and with all the chaos over their radio, Custer started to leave his pit box before his jackman was able to clear his path. The crew member climbed over the hood of the car all while holding onto the jack, preventing a penalty of pit equipment leaving the pit box.

As the field came down pit road under yellow, Custer stalled the car and was in position to be in the top three, but lost a spot from that. Hemric was able to get back on the lead lap from all the pit cycles, but had to take the ‘wave around’ before the restart.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. calling the race from Turns 3 and 4 with NBC Sports. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.

Green flag waved for the restart with 20 laps to go. Allgaier was to the outside of Chastain as both drivers slightly spun their tires but got great pushes from Custer and Reddick. As the leaders continued to battle side by side, the field had three-wide battles behind them. They started to go four-wide on the front stretch, but Custer put a block to keep it three-wide. That allowed Christopher Bell to clear him and hold the outside line in the middle of Turns 1 and 2. Contact from the driver on his inside made him loose on the exit of Turn 2. Since the field was already so close to each other, everyone stacked up quickly, and the worse of the accordion effect was Chase Briscoe. He was sent spinning to the inside wall. His No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford made heavy contact with the curvature of the safety crew’s track access. All four tires came off the ground from the impact and the car caught fire, but Briscoe was able to get out of his car under his own power.

The next restart was similar on the front row with Chastain on the inside and Allgaier to the outside, but the second row had a new set of pushers: Bell on the outside and Gallagher to the inside. Bell was able to push Allgaier, but Chastain got a stronger restart and pulled away from Gallagher. Going into Turn 1, Chastain slammed the door on Allgaier to clear him and secure the top spot.

On the second lap of the restart, Tyler Reddick hit the outside wall along the frontstretch while trying to block Brandon Jones, and came down in front of the second half of the field. As Reddick came down across the field, he clipped the right rear of Shane Lee, which sent him up into the field and collected his Richard Childress teammate, Daniel Hemric. Jones was the only one able to continue in the race.

With six laps to go, the field took the final restart. Chastain seemed to be flawless everywhere with his team: setup, pit stops and restarts. This was no different. Going into Turn 1, Chastain was able to clear Allgaier once again and never looked back. He led the most laps, as well as the one that counted to take the checkered flag.

“With two laps to go, I had a tear come down my face and I told myself, ‘Don’t cry,’” the Florida watermelon farmer told himself as he completed the closing laps.

The NASCAR XFINITY Series holds their Playoff opener at Richmond Raceway on September 21.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race
Unofficial Race Results for the Inaugural Dc Solar 300 – Saturday, September 15, 2018
Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, NV

Pos	St	Car	Driver	Team	Make
1	5	42	Ross Chastain	DC Solar	Chevrolet
2	8	7	Justin Allgaier	BRANDT Professional Agriculture	Chevrolet
3	1	00	Cole Custer	Code 3 Associates	Ford
4	4	20	Christopher Bell #	GameStop Tomb Raider	Toyota
5	3	1	Elliott Sadler	OneMain Financial	Chevrolet
6	34	18	Ryan Preece	Rheem	Toyota
7	36	19	Brandon Jones	Menards Mastercraft Doors	Toyota
8	38	11	Ryan Truex	LeafFilter Gutter Protection	Chevrolet
9	2	22	Austin Cindric #	MoneyLion	Ford
10	14	23	Spencer Gallagher	Allegiant	Chevrolet
11	18	38	JJ Yeley	RSS Racing	Chevrolet
12	10	39	Ryan Sieg	Big Valley Towing	Chevrolet
13	12	51	Jeremy Clements	RepairableVehicales.com	Chevrolet
14	16	4	Landon Cassill		Chevrolet
15	17	35	Joey Gase	Sparks	Chevrolet
16	15	36	Alex Labbe #	Sticky-stuff.com/James Carter Attorney	Chevrolet
17	21	8	Ray Black II		Chevrolet
18	39	0	Garrett Smithley	FAME-USA.com	Chevrolet
19	23	15	BJ McLeod	teamjdmotorsports.com	Chevrolet
20	31	90	Josh Williams	Sleep Well/Star Tron	Chevrolet
21	22	78	Cole Rouse		Chevrolet
22	27	76	Spencer Boyd #	Grunt Style	Chevrolet
23	20	26	Max Tullman	Yurpal.com	Ford
24	19	55	Bayley Currey(i)	Prevagen	Toyota
25	29	40	Chad Finchum #	Smithbilt Homes	Chevrolet
26	33	01	Vinnie Miller #	JAS Expedited Trucking	Chevrolet
27	26	45	Josh Bilicki #	Prevagen	Toyota
28	7	9	Tyler Reddick #	Nationwide Children’s	Chevrolet
29	35	21	Daniel Hemric	South Point Hotel & Casino	Chevrolet
30	6	3	Shane Lee	Childress Vineyards	Chevrolet
31	13	60	Chase Briscoe		Ford
32	24	52	David Starr		Chevrolet
33	28	74	Mike Harmon	Shadow Warriors Project	Chevrolet
34	25	66	Timmy Hill	CrashClaimsR.Us	Dodge
35	11	16	Ryan Reed	Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes	Ford
36	37	2	Matt Tifft	KCMG	Chevrolet
37	40	13	Stan Mullis	OCR Gaz Bar	Dodge
38	32	72	John Jackson	CrashClaimsR.Us/James Carter Attorney	Toyota
39	30	93	Jeff Green	RSS Racing	Chevrolet
40	9	5	Michael Annett	Allstate Parts & Service Group	Chevrolet

September 16, 2018

John Hunter Nemechek Places 4th in Xfinity Series Debut

After a flat tire during Stage 1, John Hunter Nemechek battled back to finish fourth in his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Saturday’s Rinnai 250.

Chip Ganassi Racing announced back in December that Nemechek would make his debut in the stock car series. His performance, however, made it seem as if he was a veteran in the series. His first qualifying attempt for a Xfinity race placed him in the third overall position to start Saturday’s race with a speed of 180.769, one of only six drivers to break the 180 mph barrier.

As for the race, the first 35 laps were eventful for Nemechek to say the least. On Lap 10, Kevin Harvick, Elliott Sadler and John Hunter Nemechek bumped through Turns 3 and 4. The unfortunate victim was Cole Custer, who would crash into the wall with heavy damage and end his day early. On Lap 33, Nemechek would blow a right front tire. Miraculously, he saved the car from crashing, which allowed his team to change tires and get him back to racing action. Even though he fell a lap down early in the event, he would battle back to put himself in the Lucky Dog position and place himself back on the lead lap. His and the team’s hard work paid off as they finished in the fourth position, claiming the highest finish of any Chevrolet in the field.

Nemechek shared his perspective of his weekend during a post-race interview.

“I’m happy with the outcome that we had, finishing fourth there. My goal was to come here and run all the laps, learning as much as I could and hopefully bring home a top-five run. After we unloaded yesterday [Friday], my first ever lap in an Xfinity car was lap one of practice. I have definitely learned a lot from both practice sessions, qualifying and the race.

“We blew a right front at the end of the first stage. It seemed like tire wear was really big today, and we were victim to circumstances. Luckily, we were able to get the Lucky Dog, get back on the lead lap and rebound from the back to come back to the front. At that last pit stop, we were able to get by Elliott [Sadler] to bring it home fourth.

“I’m looking forward to getting in more races as the year goes on.”

When asked about his performance during the final run of the race, Nemechek credited his spotter for his guidance and his crew chief for their relationship.

“Listening to Mike Shiplett and Derek Kneeland. Derek up on the spotter’s stand just telling me to be patient. I feel like myself and Mike Shiplett have created a good communicational bond so far this year, being able to make adjustments on the race car and trying to fix what we need to fix to make it faster at the end.”

Nemechek does come from a racing family. His father, Joe who is nicknamed “Front Row Joe,” made a solid career in the Monster Energy Cup Series with four wins and 10 poles across 23 years. He also gathered over a dozen victories in the Xfinity series. His uncle, John Nemechek, was also a NASCAR competitor, primarily in what is now the Camping World Truck Series. He competed in 43 events over three years until 1997 when he suffered a fatal crash at Homestead-Miami Speedway during a Truck race.

John Hunter shared his excitement on his official Twitter account shortly after the race.

Solid day to rebound from a RF tire that came apart and going a lap down. Came back to finish 4th! The @CGRTeams guys gave me a fast piece! Thankful for the opportunity from @GanassiChip and all parties involved! Looking forward to the next one! #firealarmservices pic.twitter.com/bvbI7i8Jra

— John Hunter Nemechek (@JHNemechek) February 25, 2018

Nemechek will pilot the No. 42 Chevrolet in multiple Xfinity Series races throughout the year, sharing the ride with Kyle Larson.

“I feel like going over to Chip Ganassi Racing, an established team who have won races, has helped as well,” declared Nemechek. “I feel like going over there, being able to talk with the guys and create relationships definitely helps. Any lap that you’re on the track, you’re gaining experience, and experience is key. Nothing can outweigh that.”

Chase Briscoe also made his debut in the Xfinity Series, finishing in the 15th position.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will race next at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 3 for the Boyd Gaming 300. You can order race tickets on the speedway’s website at http://www.lvms.com/tickets/pennzoil_400/.

February 26, 2018
Chip Ganassi Racing Ready to Rebound

With about a month away to the start off the 2018 season, Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) is gearing up for another hopeful season with drivers Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray.

To start off the new year, CGR added experienced Doug Duchardt as their Chief Operating Officer.

This upcoming season we’ll see the CGR Chevys in the new Chevy Camaro ZL1 and on some occasions with matching paint schemes as DC Solar extended their sponsorship to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Larson had a breakout year last season after winning four races, earning 15 top-five finishes and three poles.

It is safe to say that Larson and the No. 42 team started their momentum right off the bat from Daytona. Larson finished in 12th, led 16 laps and was in the front of the pack during the closing laps until he ran out of fuel.

The momentum and energy from the No. 42 team transferred into three straight second-place finishes and finally winning their first race of 2017 at Fontana. The No. 42 team proved throughout the season they could be the Chevy team to pressure the Toyota’s for the championship.

Unfortunately for Larson and the No. 42 team, the run had to end somewhere. And it was during the most crucial part of the season, the Playoffs.

NASCAR’s Playoff system did not go their way. After having one of the best cars all season long, Larson’s championship run went up in smoke after blowing an engine during the elimination race at Kansas.

From there on Larson had three straight DNFs but finished the season off on a high note by earning a top-five finish at Miami.

The start of 2018 did not start very well for Larson. While running the prestigious Chili Bowl, Larson’s car blew an engine and took him out of the race. It sure would have been fun to see Larson and reigning Chili Bowl winner Christopher Bell duke it out until the end.

Although Larson had a rough ending to last season and bad luck at the Chili Bowl to start off the new year, Larson should keep his head up and look forward to the 2018 Cup Series. Chad Johnston will be back to serve as his crew chief.

CGR’s longtime sponsor Target left after the conclusion of last season but the No. 42 team is happy to have Credit One and DC Solar on board for 2018.

Larson will feature DC Solar at ‘The Clash at Daytona’ for the first time in 2018 and is no stranger to driving them to victory lane.

“I’m really looking forward to representing DC Solar this season in the Cup series. You can tell Jeff and Paulette are passionate about being here and about racing, so I’m excited to be a part of their first season in NASCAR’s premier series. I’ve won with them once in the Truck Series, so I’m hoping to repeat that a few times this year in Cup.”

As for Jamie McMurray, the Joplin, Missouri native will be back at CGR for his 12th season. McMurray and the No. 1 team raced their way back into the Playoffs last season.

The former Daytona 500 champion started off the season by wrecking out of ‘The Great American Race.’ As for the remainder of the season, McMurray and the No. 1 team had three top fives and 17 top 10 finishes.

McMurray’s first top five of the season came at Talladega when he finished second, a track where he has tasted victory in the past.

No, the No. 1 team did not have a stellar season like the No. 42 team, but they still had top 15 speed which led them into the Playoffs.

During the Playoffs, McMurray made it to the Round of 12. The No. 1 team’s championship hopes ended after crashing two straight weeks at Talladega and Kansas.

Going into the 2018 season McMurray is one of the oldest drivers in the Cup Series. The youth movement will start to show this upcoming season but last month McMurray said he is not going anywhere just yet.

“My goal is to be able to race for four more years, maybe a little bit more,” McMurray said during Champion’s Week in Las Vegas.

Returning this upcoming season is crew chief Matt McCall as well as several sponsors which include McDonald’s, Cessna, and GearWrench.

McMurray will also make several starts in the XFINITY Series, which he has not run since 2013. DC Solar will sponsor McMurray in both the XFINITY and Cup Series.

“I’m looking forward to racing with DC Solar in Cup this year and a few times with them in the Xfinity Series. Our team has really done a nice job in that series having won with several different drivers the last couple of seasons. I’m also excited to drive a few times in the Cup series with DC Solar on-board and be a part of their first full season in that series. Their enthusiasm for our team and sport is evident and I’m glad that I get to be a part of this growth with them.”

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January 22, 2018
The Players – The Best Teams’ 2018 Lineup in NASCAR Cup

It’s only a short time until the annual Media Tour at the Hall of Fame in Charlotte. We will learn a lot there, but a couple things are obvious. There will be 24 major teams running next year (10 Fords, nine Chevrolets, and five Toyotas). Each camp has stars in their lineup, but Toyota’s dominance of the 2017 season (with only six competitive cars) is favored. Let’s look at each team’s lineup.

Chevrolet has the four Hendrick Motorsports cars. HMS fell on hard times last year despite their dominance for several years. Jimmie Johnson will be back in the Lowe’s Camaro. You read that right. The older SS they have fun the last few years is no longer being manufactured, so a change had to be made. Besides, finding a dealer with a Chevy SS was about as hard as finding a needle in a haystack anyway. After Johnson, the rest of the team will be made up of a group of youngsters. Chase Elliott is back, this time taking his father’s No. 9, William Byron, in the 24, and Alex Bowman in the 88. Of this team, only Johnson has ever won a Cup race. You might call this a rebuilding year for HMS.

Richard Childress Racing will field the 31 for Ryan Newman, the 3 for Austin Dillon, and the 27, with the driver rumored to be Brennan Poole, but nothing has been announced. Both Newman and Dillon won races last year.

Chip Ganassi Racing will feature Kyle Larson in the 42, coming off an excellent season. Jamie McMurray will be back in the No. 1 Chevrolet.

Ford will field one more competitive car in 2018. Team Penske has expanded to three cars with Brad Keselowski in the No. 2 and Joey Logano in the No.22 Fords. Ryan Blaney, who earned his first victory in 2017 with the Wood Brothers will pilot the No. 12 Ford. The team’s alliance with the Wood Brothers continues with Paul Menard taking over the driving chores. Penske bought a charter for the No. 12 from Roush Fenway Racing, meaning the No. 16 is not coming back. The Charter was leased to the No. 37 JTG Daugherty team last year.

Roush Fenway will see their improved team have the same driver lineup. Trevor Bayne in the No. 6 and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. in the No. 17. Stenhouse won two restrictor plate races in 2017 and Bayne won the Daytona 500 in 2011.

Stewart-Haas Racing will see it’s lineup jumbled somewhat. The Ford team will have Aric Almirola move over from the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 and drive the No. 10, formerly driven by Danica Patrick. Otherwise, things stay the same with 2017 Final Four driver Kevin Harvick in the No.4, Clint Bowyer in the 14, and Kurt Busch in the 41.

Toyota saw its field go down a car this year. The Joe Gibbs Racing stable will have the 11 with Denny Hamlin, the 19 with Daniel Suarez, the 18 with Kyle Busch, and Erik Jones, who raced for Furniture Row Racing in 2017 in the No. 20. Much like Team Penske does with the Wood Brothers, Furniture Row and 2017 champ Martin Truex, Jr. will field the 78 Toyota. Furniture Row did not have sponsorship for the No. 77 car, so Toyota’s stable goes from six to five for 2018

These are the teams that I predict will land in victory lane in 2018. Oh, we may get a surprise winner, but these 24 teams will battle race in and race out for the checkers. We will know more in a couple of weeks when the teams meet with the media in Charlotte, but this how I see it now. A big hole was left in the sport with the retirements of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Danica Patrick and Matt Kenseth at the end of the year. How many will stay away from the sport because these drivers are not in the lineup? Time will tell.

January 11, 2018
Kyle Larson Captures Season Best Third Place at Martinsville

Kyle Larson drove his Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Target Chevrolet to a third place finish in the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway, earning his best result of the season. It’s a track where Larson has struggled in the past which made this top five even sweeter.

His four previous starts at Martinsville resulted in finishes of 42nd, 27th, 30th and 19th.

“It was really fun this whole weekend to be competitive every time I was on the race track. Normally, I’m very bad here and to finish top three feels like a win for me. Never would I have thought that I’d get a top three here and now I can kind of see a (Grandfather) clock, maybe in my future,” Larson said post race.

“We were running in the top five and top seven the whole race. I learned a lot,” he continued. “I spent a lot of time behind Jimmie Johnson and I felt like I just followed his track there and got a lot better throughout the race. Chad (Johnson, crew chief) did a good job taking two tires there at the end, we got lined-up on the inside row and we were pretty good there. So, hat’s off to everybody on this Target Chevy and it was cool to get a good finish.”

Larson also ran in the Camping World Truck Series event this weekend, where he finished fourth. He talked about the advantage of competing in both races and the importance of seat time.

“Normally, a truck does not drive anything like a Cup car, and this is the only racetrack probably where it does,” he explained, “just getting more laps on this racetrack is the most important part for myself. In the past, I’ve always struggled with just hitting my marks lap after lap, and I think getting almost twice the amount of laps here this weekend as I normally would here, just helped me become smoother and more patient and maybe get an idea of what I need to feel like going around the racetrack.”

I definitely think it paid off,” he added. “Hopefully, the next Martinsville I can run both again. I think it helped a lot, and hopefully, it’s something I can do from here on out for a while until I feel like I’m good enough where I don’t need to run it.”

Larson’s 2016 season has a rollercoaster of highs and lows but he hopes to use his success at Martinsville as motivation going forward.

“In the past,” Larson said, “it’s (Martinsville) been my worst racetrack on the schedule, so to get a top‑three finish here feels great, feels like a win, to be honest, and hopefully, this is a good momentum shift that we need. We’ve been struggling all year long so far and been working hard, but it hasn’t paid off.”

The Sprint Cup Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway next week where Larson will try to capitalize on his success at Martinsville as he looks for another “solid finish.”

April 4, 2016
Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono Axalta We Paint Winners 400

In a peculiar race at Pocono, filled with shifting and unexpected bumps, here is what else was surprising and not surprising in the 34th annual Axalta We Paint Winners 400.

Surprising: Under picture-perfect skies, both blessings and curses abounded at the Tricky Triangle in the track’s first race of the season.

“I just feel super blessed to be with this group of guys,” race winner Martin Truex Jr. said of his No. 78 Furniture Row race team. “They are super impressive and just proud to drive cars for them.”

“We finally got it. That is all I can say we finally got it. Just can’t thank all my guys enough, Barney Visser, everybody at Furniture Row, everybody back in Denver for working so hard. This is a brand new racecar and they have been working really hard lately. Just proud of them and blessed to drive great racecars.”

“It never gets any better than this.”

This was Truex Jr.’s first victory of the season and one that ended a 69-race winless streak as well as qualifying him for the Chase.

As much as Truex felt blessed to win, Jeff Gordon and Alan Gustafson on the flip side exchanged a tirade of uncharacteristic curses after disagreeing on pit strategy. The curse-laden audio can be heard at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPeUz35cQRA&app=desktop.

In spite of all that cursing, the Team 24 driver and crew chief duo managed to pull off a top-15 finish for the No. 24 Axalta/Penn State Chevrolet.

Not Surprising: Although many in the garage felt that he was the one to beat, Kevin Harvick finished second yet again, having had to deal with gear issues on the restarts and splitter issues as well.

“Our Budweiser Chevy was really fast, but we were just terrible on the restarts getting going,” Harvick said. “We would lug really bad in third gear and just had to go into defense mode.”

“We struggled in Turn 1 with the splitter on the ground. Things aren’t lining-up to win races right now.”

Surprising: Aric Almirola went from having one of the best finishes of the season in Dover to having one of his worst days at Pocono, finishing 43rd in his No. 43 Nathan’s Famous Ford with something malfunctioning in the motor of his race car.

“It wouldn’t run anymore,” Almirola said. “It’s a shame. It was not a good weekend for us. We struggled all weekend finding speed in our car and right there we came in and made a pretty aggressive adjustment on that pit stop. Trent (Owens, crew chief) changed a lot of stuff and just on that one lap of the restart it drove a lot better and I had my hopes up for a minute and then my hopes got crushed.”

“We had some sort of motor issue. Every once in a while something like that happens.”

This was Almirola’s first DNF of the season as well.

Not Surprising: Tony Stewart shared the best quote of the day. After received a penalty on pit road for an uncontrolled tire, Smoke came on the radio and said “They should start calling penalties on me for being an uncontrolled driver.”

“I put us in a hole to start the weekend,” Stewart said, referring to his crash on Friday in practice that forced him to a backup racecar. “This whole Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops team dug in, worked hard all weekend and never gave up.”

“I’m really proud of everybody and hate the finish doesn’t reflect that effort.”

Stewart finished 21^st at Pocono Raceway in his No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet.

Surprising: While Carl Edwards looked to be the strongest Toyota, starting on the outside pole, three other Toyotas managed to finish better than he did with his 15^th place run. Matt Kenseth was the highest finisher of the manufacturer’s brand in the sixth place, with Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin finishing ninth and tenth respectively.

“We had a really fast car – it was the fastest sixth-place car that I’ve ever had,” Kenseth, driver of the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, said. “We ran much better than we finished.”

“This is a bad track for me and we had a great car today.”

“We didn’t start the race with what we needed with our M&M’s Crispy Camry,” Kyle Busch said. “But Adam (Stevens, crew chief) made some good adjustments to get us better. Track position was big, so Adam also made a good call to take two tires and get us some track position and we were able to hold onto it for a while.”

“Those last two cautions didn’t help us, we just couldn’t get going on those last couple of restarts. We’ll take it and move on to Michigan.”

“I thought we were a decent car – fifth to 10th place most of the day, but with our track position, we always took four tires,” Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota , said. “Some of those guys made it on fuel because of all the cautions so we continued to lose track position throughout the day, but we kind of battled back.”

“We barely got inside the top-10 and at best I thought we could have improved four or five more spots, but overall a solid day. We didn’t tear up anything this week and now we can go and improve our program for next week.”

Not Surprising: While Ford has traditionally struggled at Pocono, Joey Logano still managed to be the best finishing Ford, bringing his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford to the checkered flag in the fourth position. His finish was especially noteworthy as he had to start from the back of the pack due to a rear gear change.

“I’m happy with the way it ended,” Logano said. “We didn’t have a very fast Shell/Pennzoil Ford from the get-go when we unloaded here, but we kept fighting hard.”

“This was one of those blue-collar days, just working hard all day on the car and on pit road the guys did a good job making my car faster and got to where we were a top-five car at the end.”

Surprising: Ryan Newman’s temper got the best of him after contact between himself and AJ Allmendinger on Lap 142. And he even vowed some revenge as a result of that contact.

“It’s pretty obvious what happened,” Newman, driver of the No. 31 Grainger Chevrolet, said after finishing 39th. “The No. 47 (AJ Allmendinger) just ran out of talent.”

“He has got one coming now.”

Not Surprising: While Trevor Bayne got some Pocono practice time in running and winning the ARCA Series race, the driver of the No. 6 AdvoCare Ford acknowledged that he was still in the learning mode for the Tricky Triangle.

“We got through it and that was the main part for our first run here at Pocono,” Bayne said. “Overall, we kept a clean car and for the first time here I learned a ton.”

“From where I started this week and getting to where we finished I think we made big gains. We got back on the lead lap there at the end and we just needed to be a little bit better off turn three and we would have had something for a top-15 run.”

Bayne finished the race in the 24^th position.

Surprising: Forget girls just wanting to have fun, sometimes six time champions like Jimmie Johnson just want to do that as well even with a beat up race car, with some missing parts to boot. And while he had fun, Johnson also went on to finish third in his No. 48 Lowe’s/Jimmie Johnson Foundation Chevrolet.

“A fun day,” Johnson said. “She is beat up and missing a left-front splitter too from the contact we had with the outside wall off of Turn 3 there.”

“We overcame a lot and still got a third place finish out of it. Wish we had a little bit more, but not a bad finish.”

Not Surprising: Both Chip Ganassi Racing drivers managed top-10 finishes at the Tricky Triangle, with Jamie McMurray coming in seventh and Kyle Larson finishing eighth.

“It was a good race and a nice top 10,” Larson, the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, said after the race. “I thought that was probably about the speed we had maybe eighth to 11th or so. So to get an eighth place is alright.”

Surprising: Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 7 Accell Construction Chevrolet, managed a 26th place finish only to go home and have an accident there.

“No joke got home and roscoe ran to the door and head butted me so hard because he couldn’t stop that I now have an actual black eye,” @AlexBRacing tweeted after the race.

Not Surprising: At the end of the day and in spite of the competition, friendships develop in the garage area. And the best example of that was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who could not wait to get into Victory Lane to shake the hand of his friend and race winner Martin Truex Jr.

“I’m just happy for him,” the driver of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet said after finishing 11th. “I know he’s been through a lot of stuff both inside the car and outside the car the last several years. He’s been able to get into a good opportunity with good people.”

“He’s got a team that believes in him. And I was in the stall next to those guys during qualifying and how they are as a team and how they interact with each other really impressed me.”

“So, Martin’s in a good situation. So, it’s real refreshing. I look forward to going over there (Victory Lane) and saying hey to him.”

The Cup Series will race next weekend in the Irish Hills of Michigan for the Quicken Loans 400.

June 7, 2015
Chris Heroy Ready to Shine at Daytona as Kyle Larson Begins his Sophomore Season

We have all heard the statement, “Behind every good man is an equally good woman.” The same goes for NASCAR, for behind every good driver is an equally good crew chief. We have heard of some of the great duos; Dale Earnhardt and Kirk Shelmerdine, Jeff Gordon and Ray Evernham, Tony Stewart and Greg “Zippy” Zipadelli. Now, we have one more duo to add to NASCAR, Chris “Shine” Heroy and Kyle Larson.

A crew chief is the glue that holds the whole team together. They wear many hats throughout the racing season. They are trainer and therapist, they are reassuring and they are the calming force when others collide. When they make the right call in a race, they are the hero but when they make the wrong call, their heads are on the line. They give the driver what they need, even if it’s not what the driver asked for.

Heroy is by no means new to the NASCAR scene, but he took, perhaps, the long way around. He started in Indiana but ended up in California where he got his first start in racing with a Toyota Atlantic Series team (open wheel). In 2004 Heroy began his career in NASCAR as a chassis engineer for Hendrick Motorsports on what was the final season for Terry Labonte. He stayed with Hendrick Motorsports for eight years working as the chassis engineer for a diverse group of drivers including Kyle Busch, Casey Mears, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and one of NASCAR’s greatest drivers, Mark Martin.

In 2012 he left Hendrick Motorsports for the opportunity to be the crew chief for the No. 42 Target sponsored Chevrolet for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, driven by Juan Pablo Montoya. In 2012 Montoya announced that at the end of the season, he would return to IndyCar and all eyes turned to a driver who was taking the K&N Pro Series by storm. It was a young driver, who had caught the attention of many fans with his no holds barred driving style, Kyle Larson.

The 2014 season started with an uproar over the return of Dale Earnhardt’s No. 3 with Austin Dillon at the wheel. It was the most eclectic season for rookies that NASCAR had in many years and all eyes were on the No. 3, wondering if Dillon would live up to the reputation.

While that was happening Heroy and Larson, who had clicked from the start, were forging a friendship beyond racing, but it was showing on the track as well. With Heroy’s knowledge and Larson’s natural talent, they became the duo that stole the rookie spotlight from Richard Childress Racing (RCR) and Dillon. Now all eyes were on Larson as with each race the team was becoming the one to watch come race day. Heroy and Larson had a rookie season like no other and the fans loved it. It was no surprise when Larson won the 2014 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year title hands down.

Heroy already has everything ready for Daytona and is eager to race. In fact, the Atlanta car was on the floor getting ready for that race when I spoke to him. I asked him if the new testing rules had affected them at all and he explained, “It does yes, we come up with all these ideas, but we have no idea if they will work or not so we put them in what we call a “bucket.” We have a full bucket of ideas now, we just have to wait until we get to the track to see if they work or not, which adds more pressure to race weekend because there is much more to try.”

I asked Heroy if the push from Ryan Newman at Phoenix International Raceway upset Larson and he surprised me by saying, “Actually not really, Kyle isn’t one that gets really heated in the car too bad. Once I told him Newman needed that spot to make it (into the Chase) he was okay with it.”

Heroy also talked about the goals for this year, commenting, “Our goals for this year are pretty much the same, win our first race (at least one), make the Chase and hopefully we win it all.”

I questioned whether Larson has changed since becoming a new father. Heroy chuckled and said, “Nah, he takes Owen (Larson’s son) everywhere. Once he is in the car, that all goes away and it’s all about the race.”

Next, I asked Heroy if he had any pet peeves about Kyle. He laughed and said. “Yes, getting him to the car quicker. He is so grateful for all his fans and he hates to walk away and not have the time to sign an autograph for everyone.” He added, “Fans mean everything and he still is amazed by the fans that say, ‘I remember you back in your open wheel days at such and such track.’ It really makes you think how much fans have really followed your career.”

We also talked about driving styles and I asked Heroy if Larson’s driving style reminded him of Kyle Busch because many fans find it similar. He answered, “Not really,” adding, “I have heard that before but in truth he is more like Jimmie Johnson, more controlled than you think.”

Heroy is comfortable in his role with the team. Each member of the team has a role to fulfill on race day. It’s the crew chief’s job to ensure that everyone knows what to do and to make adjustments all race long for the car and subsequently the driver and Heroy is perfect with Larson. It should not come as a surprise that this team is capable of accomplishing great things.

NASCAR is Heroy’s family for the moment and that’s okay with him. However, if you are on the beach early one morning and spot a Target painted surfboard out catching a wave, say Hi, as odds are, it could be Heroy, as not only is he a superb crew chief but he is an avid surfer as well. In fact, that’s how he got the nickname “Sunshine” which was further shortened to, “Shine.” So perhaps when they give the command to “start your engines,” one day we should just say “Surf’s up,” and watch his reaction.

February 4, 2015
Surprising and Not Surprising: Charlotte Bank of America 500

With new paint schemes under the lights, as well as pink for breast cancer awareness abounding, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 55th annual Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Surprising: In spite of the championship not even being close to secured for 2014, there was a surprising amount of discussion about champions after the checkered flag flew at Charlotte.

Past champs Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski had quite the confrontation in the pits after the race, as well as exchanging some beating and banging on the track during the race and at the end of it.

“The race had ended, and he’s running into cars on the cool-down lap,” Kenseth said of Keselowski. “I mean, the race is over, and he comes down pit road and drives into the side of me. That’s inexcusable. He’s a champion, and he’s supposed to know better.”

Denny Hamlin was also a participant in the melee on and off the track with Keselowski, calling the driver of the powder blue deuce “out of control.”

“He’s desperate, obviously, and it’s either four or five of us are wrong or he’s wrong because he’s pissed off everyone,” Hamlin said. “That was unfortunate. Matt (Kenseth) was nearly out of his car, and he just plowed into Matt and then ran into Tony and then went in through the garage and cleared out transmissions and did burnouts in the garage.”

“Just acting like a dumbass instead of a champion.”

Not Surprising: Although he won his 26th race, tying Hall of Famer inductee Fred Lorenzen for 25th on the all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win list, as well as securing his spot in the Eliminator round of the Chase, Kevin Harvick seemed more than willing to turn over the wheel of his No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet to another driver for next weekend’s race at Talladega.

“I’d park it because it’ll be one hell of a race to watch,” Harvick said simply when asked about the potential mayhem at ‘Dega. “That’s what I’d do.”

“I’m parking it and watching it. It’s going to be fun to watch. It’s going to be crazy, offensive racing.”

“You want to drive, DeLana?”

Surprising: It was a surprisingly good night in Charlotte for the Ganassi Racing team, with Jamie McMurray finishing third and the rim-riding rookie Kyle Larson finishing sixth.

“Yeah, it was a really good night for our whole group,” McMurray said. “When I got to second place at one point I looked at my mirror and Kyle was catching me. We certainly went through a couple of really tough years as our group at Chip Ganassi Racing, and it’s so great right now to have both cars run that well every single week at a lot of different type racetracks.”

“I was not only thrilled for our group but also for the 42 car and just everybody. This is a big weekend for all the race teams. There’s a lot of crew guys that get to bring their kids here to watch their dads or their moms work that sit in the stands, so that’s pretty special I think for Kyle and I to have a good showing.”

“Top groove got going, and I was able to run up there and get to the front and lead for a little bit and the yellow came out and we lost some spots on pit road,” Larson said. “I was able to get back to second and then got into the wall in 3 and 4 chasing down the 11, and messed up the aerodynamics and was really tight after that and just kind of held on and I was lucky with that green-white-checkered, we came down and took four, restarted on the outside and was able to follow the 22 up around the top to get to sixth.”

Not Surprising: Although he finished second in his No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, restarts continue to be the Achilles heel for Jeff Gordon.

“I didn’t want to see another restart, because every time we start on the inside, we seem to lose positions; there at the end, and the whole race,” Gordon said. “We were just trying to tune to make it better.”

“I’m really proud of that finish and really proud of that effort.” Gordon continued. “It looked like we were going to be second. We got off a little bit and lost some track position. I had some terrible restarts. Kevin was tough. I knew when he got out in front it was going to be hard to beat him.”

“I’m really happy about this second (place finish). It doesn’t make us, by any means, comfortable going into next week, but a lot better than it could be.”

Surprising: With all the post-race drama, one of the most dramatic turn of events at the race start was lost in the shuffle. Matt Kenseth was penalized at the start of the race for an unapproved adjustment on pit road, which was reportedly a bumper decal.

After his crew chief vociferously argued the call, Kenseth was forced to start the race at the rear of the field, which perhaps led to his anger and frustration that spilled over at race end.

Not Surprising: While there was much drama for the Chase competitors, there were many non-Chasers that were having quite their own little races as well.

Both Kurt Busch and AJ Allmendinger were satisfied with their finishes at Charlotte, taking the checkered flag in eleventh and twelfth places respectively.

“I would call it a really good effort,” Kurt Busch, the driver of the No. 41 State Water Heaters Chevrolet, said. “The lap times were there. We were running second at half-way and ended up finishing 11^th. But all-in-all, it was nice to run up front with the guys, and to show a turn in the right direction from where we had been running.”

“We started off a little bit off,” AJ Allmendinger, the driver of the No. 47 Scott Products Chevrolet, said. “There were a couple of runs that I thought we were really good. I’m happy with it and stayed on the lead-lap all day.”

“We have to keep working. I think there are little, small things that we are missing instead of big things. Getting better.”

Surprising: After Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne was the only Hendrick driver to finish top-ten, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. having shifter problems and Jimmie Johnson testily telling crew chief Chad Knaus that he was going to crash every lap.

“It was better than we ran most of the night,” Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Pepsi Chevrolet, said. “The only way I could get it to turn in the center was to be so loose. Then it would still get tight after 15 laps so we would go slower at that point. So we just tried a lot of things.”

Johnson soldiered on to finish 17th and Junior ended the race in the 20th spot.

Not Surprising: While Joey Logano did not even have to finish the race given his race win at Kansas last weekend, he was still very pleased with maintaining his points lead position. In fact, he remarked prior to the race that he was thrilled to see his hauler and car in the garage area at the front of the pack.

“Obviously, this doesn’t do a whole bunch for us because we’re in the next round,” Logano said after his fourth place finish. “But we still need to keep that momentum like we have been. It was definitely a hard-fought day for this whole Pennzoil team and they did a good job.”

Logano leads the point standings by six points over competitor Kyle Busch.

Surprising: With the focus more on tire concerns, the real issue of the race was the incredible number of blown engines. In fact, there were five engine expirations, including Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard, Josh Wise, Michael Annett, and Brian Vickers.

“I had a really good car,” Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 Schrock/Menards Chevrolet, said. “It’s too bad, awesome car, we had a pit stop problem and went to the back, but drove our way back up into the top 15 or so. We definitely had a top five car, just unfortunate. Something let go in the motor.”

Not Surprising: Next week’s race is the infamous crap shoot of Talladega and not surprisingly, the drivers have different opinions on just how that race will play out.

“It wasn’t a win – which is what we really want – but it’s another solid finish for us,” Kyle Busch said after his fifth place run at Charlotte. “We just need to go to Talladega next week and try to avoid the ‘big one.’ ”

“We had a good finish for our Fastenal Ford,” Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford, said after finishing eighth. “It’s fun racing here at Charlotte and now we get to go to Talladega and have a little fun. We’ve got 20 points on ninth-place so it went pretty well for us.”

“We’ll go on to Talladega, but I’m just glad we got out of here clean,” Edwards continued. “I don’t think we made any enemies, so we’ll go have some fun at Talladega and hopefully make the next round.”

October 12, 2014

McMurray Wins Coors Light Pole Award for Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway

Jamie McMurray won his second consecutive pole at Sonoma Raceway after a final run in the closing minutes of Knockout Qualifying with a track record qualifying speed of 96.350 mph. This is his third pole at Sonoma and his tenth series career pole.

McMurray is the eleventh different pole winner this season and his qualifying speed set the eleventh track record this year.

He spoke about the challenges of the new qualifying procedure, saying, “This Knockout Qualifying is just an emotional roller coaster, from not making it into the top twelve and then having to go out and bump your way in, to then being on the pole. There’s a lot of highs and lows that go into it.”

McMurray hopes to translate this pole into a better finish than his previous two poles that resulted in disappointing finishes of 37th and 25th.

“This race is about having good strategy and having a little bit of luck,” he explained. “It’s about not getting run into in Turn 4 or Turn 7 on a restart. I’ve run enough races here that I’ve had every issue you could have.”

He concluded by stating, “You have to put it all together. You have to have good strategy, you have to have a good car and you have to make good decisions as a driver.”

AJ Allmendinger will start on the outside pole in second place. “

I felt like I put in two good laps out there. You can nitpick and say I lost a little bit here and there but Jamie put in a hell of a lap, congrats to him,” Allmendinger said.

McMurray’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, rookie Kyle Larson, qualified third. Larson was happy with his starting position but realizes that the race will provide an opportunity to improve and gain valuable experience.

“I’ve still got a lot more to learn, especially when I get a few laps on the tires,’’ Larson said. “I struggle with that. I’m sure I’ll learn a lot throughout the race. I’ve just got to try to stay out of trouble.’’

Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch round out the top five for Sunday’s starting lineup. Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Brian Vickers, Paul Menard and Joey Logano complete the top ten starting positions. Danica Patrick and Casey Mears will start in eleventh and twelfth, respectively.

The teams were unsure what to expect with the new qualifying format at Sonoma but the two sessions ran smoothly with no on-track incidents. Surprisingly, no Hendrick Motorsports Cars advanced to the final round of top twelve drivers.

Other notables who did not advance to the last session include Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle and Brad Keselowski.

Television pre-race coverage for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race will begin at 2 p.m. ET on TNT. The green flag start is scheduled for approximately 3:19 ET.

Complete Starting Lineup for Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway

1	1	Jamie McMurray	96.350	74.354
2	47	AJ Allmendinger	96.088	74.557
3	42	Kyle Larson #	95.942	74.670
4	99	Carl Edwards	95.857	74.736
5	41	Kurt Busch	95.704	74.856
6	4	Kevin Harvick	95.655	74.894
7	31	Ryan Newman	95.616	74.925
8	55	Brian Vickers	95.574	74.958
9	27	Paul Menard	95.528	74.994
10	22	Joey Logano	95.417	75.081
11	10	Danica Patrick	95.414	75.083
12	13	Casey Mears	95.327	75.152
13	2	Brad Keselowski	95.617	74.924
14	20	Matt Kenseth	95.605	74.933
15	24	Jeff Gordon	95.552	74.975
16	11	Denny Hamlin	95.479	75.032
17	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	95.461	75.046
18	78	Martin Truex Jr.	95.451	75.054
19	16	Greg Biffle	95.432	75.069
20	18	Kyle Busch	95.378	75.112
21	14	Tony Stewart	95.308	75.167
22	48	Jimmie Johnson	95.296	75.176
23	9	Marcos Ambrose	95.247	75.215
24	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	95.136	75.303
25	15	Clint Bowyer	95.044	75.376
26	3	Austin Dillon #	95.028	75.388
27	38	David Gilliland	94.992	75.417
28	95	Michael McDowell	94.972	75.433
29	43	Aric Almirola	94.897	75.492
30	5	Kasey Kahne	94.865	75.518
31	34	David Ragan	94.793	75.575
32	26	Cole Whitt #	94.734	75.622
33	98	Josh Wise	94.568	75.755
34	83	Ryan Truex #	94.562	75.760
35	51	Justin Allgaier #	94.491	75.817
36	33	Alex Kennedy	94.147	76.094
37	40	Timmy Hill – DC1	94.012	76.203
38	23	Alex Bowman #	93.867	76.321
39	44	David Mayhew – DC2	93.741	76.423
40	36	Reed Sorenson	93.498	76.622
41	32	Boris Said	93.377	76.721
42	7	Michael Annett #	92.282	77.632
43	66	Tomy Drissi	91.115	78.626

June 21, 2014