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  • Chris Gayle to call 150th Xfinity race as crew chief at Atlanta

    Chris Gayle to call 150th Xfinity race as crew chief at Atlanta

    A significant milestone start is in the making for Chris Gayle, crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Toyota Supra team piloted by multiple competitors in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. By participating in this weekend’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Gayle will call his 150th Xfinity career race as a crew chief.

    A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Gayle spent two years as a student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville before transferring to the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering in 2002. Not long after, he joined Joe Gibbs Racing to work as a race engineer.

    Eleven years later, Gayle, who was a senior engineer for Kyle Busch in the NASCAR Cup Series, was promoted to the crew chief role, where he was paired with veteran Elliott Sadler and JGR’s No. 11 Toyota Camry team for the 2013 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. Throughout the 33-race Xfinity schedule, Gayle and Sadler earned nine top-five results and 20 top-10 results before finishing in fourth place in the final standings.

    Eight races into the 2014 Xfinity season, Gayle earned his first NASCAR career victory as a crew chief at Talladega Superspeedway in April, where Sadler held off the field in a three-lap shootout to return to Victory Lane following a one-year winless season. They went on to earn a pole, seven top-five results and 25 top-10 results before settling in third place in the final standings.

    Prior to the 2015 season, Sadler departed JGR and the team shuffled its crew chief lineup, placing Gayle as crew chief for the team’s No. 54 Toyota Camry piloted by multiple competitors, starting with Kyle Busch for the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in February. The season, however, started off on a harrowing note when Busch was involved in a late multi-car accident that saw his car make head-on contact into a concrete wall installed with no SAFER barriers and the driver being transported to a local hospital, where he suffered a massive compound fracture to his right leg and a fractured left foot.

    With Busch absent and recovering from his injuries, Gayle spent the following 11 Xfinity events working with Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin and Boris Said. When Busch returned at Michigan International Speedway in June, he and Gayle went to Victory Lane after Busch completed a late pass on Chase Elliott en route to his first win of the season and in his first Xfinity start since the Daytona accident. A week later, Gayle went to Victory Lane with Erik Jones at Chicagoland Speedway. 

    In total, Gayle achieved seven Xfinity victories in 2015, six with Kyle Busch and one with Erik Jones. In addition, he notched five poles, 17 top-five results and 23 top-10 results throughout the 33-race schedule for JGR’s No. 54 Toyota team, which settled in the runner-up position behind Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford Mustang team in the final Xfinity owners’ standings.

    Gayle remained as JGR’s Xfinity “all-star” crew chief in 2016, where he worked with Dakoda Armstrong, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Drew Herring, Sam Hornish Jr., Owen Kelly, Bobby Labonte, David Ragan and Matt Tifft, all of whom took turns piloting the No. 18 Toyota Camry throughout the season. Throughout the 33-race schedule, Gayle earned 11 victories (10 with Kyle Busch and one with Hornish), 11 poles (nine with Kyle Busch, one with Ragan and one with Tifft), 19 top-five results and 23 top-10 results. When the final checkered flag of the season flew, JGR’s No. 18 Toyota team ended up in fourth place in the owners’ standings.

    Following the 2016 Xfinity season, Gayle moved up to the NASCAR Cup Series, where he worked as a crew chief for Erik Jones and the No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota Camry team. After a four-year run in the Cup Series, where Gayle earned two career victories between 2018 and 2019 with Erik Jones, Gayle returned to the Xfinity Series for the 2021 season, where he was assigned to JGR’s No. 54 Toyota Supra team piloted by multiple competitors, starting with Ty Dillon for the season-opening event at Daytona in February. 

    Following a 14th-place result with Dillon at Daytona, Gayle returned to Victory Lane the following weekend at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course with Ty Gibbs, grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, winning his first Xfinity race in his series’ debut. Since then, Gayle has achieved four additional victories this season, three with Kyle Busch and another with Ty Gibbs. Currently, with seventeen races of the 2021 season complete, JGR’s No. 54 team led by Gayle is ranked in second place in the owners’ standings.

    Through 149 previous Xfinity appearances, Gayle has achieved 25 victories, 20 poles, 63 top-five results and 102 top-10 results while working with 15 different competitors.

    Gayle is primed to call his 150th Xfinity race as a crew chief at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 10, with Kyle Busch scheduled to drive the No. 54 JGR Toyota Supra and with the race scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Greg Erwin to make 350th Cup start as crew chief at Richmond

    Greg Erwin to make 350th Cup start as crew chief at Richmond

    A significant milestone is the making for Greg Erwin, a veteran crew chief who is atop the pit box of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang team driven by 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contender Matt DiBenedetto. When the green flag waves this upcoming race weekend at Richmond Raceway, Erwin will reach 350 Cup races as a crew chief.

    A native of Hatboro, Pennsylvania, Erwin graduated from Clemson University in 1992 with an engineering degree and he attained a motorsports engineering scholarship the following year in graduate school while volunteering to work with teams that included TriStar Motorsports. In 1995, his career in NASCAR started with Diamond Ridge Motorsports as an engineer while he worked with names like Jeff Green, Steve Grissom and Elliott Sadler. Following the 1995 season, Erwin transitioned to Team SABCO Racing as an engineer, where the team was eventually purchased and expanded by Chip Ganassi in 2001. In 2003, Erwin joined forces with Richard Childress Racing and worked as the team’s seven-post research and development program.

    Entering the 2005 NASCAR Cup Series season, Erwin was promoted to crew chief for Robby Gordon and the No. 7 Robby Gordon Motorsports Chevrolet team. Erwin and Gordon failed to qualify for the 2005 Daytona 500, but they made their first start of the season the following race at Fontana’s California Speedway in February, where Gordon finished 35th due to an engine failure. Erwin and Gordon competed in 23 races throughout the 2005 season, where Gordon achieved one top-five result and two top-10 results before he concluded the season in 37th place in the final standings. The following season, Erwin completed his first full-time season in the Cup Series with Gordon, where he achieved one top-five result and three top-10 results before he finished in 30th place in the final standings.

    For the first 12 races of the 2007 Cup season, Erwin remained with Robby Gordon and Gordon’s No. 7 team. Through the one-third segment of the season, Gordon finished no higher than 15th place. Afterwards, Erwin was named crew chief for the No. 16 Ford team owned by car owner Jack Roush and driven by Greg Biffle for the following race at Dover International Speedway in June. From Dover in June through Dover in September, Erwin and Biffle achieved two top-five results and six top-10 results, though Biffle failed to make the 2007 Playoffs. The following race at Kansas Speedway, Biffle was able to survive on fuel and coast across the finish line to achieve his first victory of the season as Erwin achieved his first Cup win as a crew chief. They went on to achieve two additional top-10 results and conclude the season in 14th place in the final standings.

    In 2008, Erwin served as Biffle’s crew chief in all but one of the entire 36-race schedule (Auto Club Speedway in February). Following a consistent 26-race regular-season stretch, they achieved their first victory of the season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the first Playoff race of the season. They backed it up the following week by winning at Dover. Overall, Erwin achieved two victories, two poles, 12 top-five results and 17 top-10 results with Biffle, who concluded the season in third place in the final standings. Prior to the conclusion of the 2008 Cup season, Erwin surpassed 100 Cup races as a crew chief.

    In 2009, Biffle and Erwin went winless, but they achieved 10 top-five results and 16 top-10 results as Biffle made the Playoffs and concluded the season in seventh place in the final standings. They rebounded the following season by recording two wins, nine top-five results and 19 top-10 results, with Biffle finishing the season in sixth place in the final standings. Following the 2010 season, Erwin surpassed 200 Cup races as a crew chief.

    For the first half of the 2011 Cup season, Erwin remained as Biffle’s crew chief in the Cup circuit, but they only achieved one top-five result and five top-10 results. Following Kentucky Speedway in July, Erwin was replaced by Matt Puccia as Biffle’s crew chief for the remainder of the season. Fortunately, Erwin was then named crew chief for the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford team driven by A.J. Allmendinger for the remainder of the season. In Erwin’s first race with the team at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Allmendinger finished 22nd. Erwin and Allmendinger went on to record six top-10 results for the remainder of the season as Allmendinger finished in 15th place in the final standings.

    Erwin remained as crew chief for the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford team piloted by Aric Almirola. Following the first nine Cup races with Almirola, where he only achieved one top-10 result, Erwin, however, was replaced by veteran Mike Ford.

    For the 2013 season, Erwin was named a full-time crew chief for Penske’s No. 12 Ford Mustang team driven by Sam Hornish Jr. in the NASCAR Xfinity Series as Hornish competed for the series title. Erwin and Hornish made a one-race appearance in the Cup Series at Kansas in April, where Hornish finished 37th due to being involved in a late multi-car accident. Erwin and Hornish went on to finish in second place in the final Xfinity Series standings as they missed the title by three points to Austin Dillon, crew chief Danny Stockton and Richard Childress Racing.

    In 2014, Erwin was named competition director for Team Penske’s Xfinity Series program. Throughout the season, he served as a Cup interim crew chief for Brad Keselowski at Phoenix in March and he worked with Juan Pablo Montoya and the No. 12 Ford team in two Cup races. He spent the 2015 season as an Xfinity crew chief for Penske’s No. 22 Ford Mustang team, where he notched seven victories and recorded Penske’s third consecutive owner’s title with Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Alex Tagliani piloting the No. 22 car throughout the season. The following season, he was named Penske’s Xfinity Series team manager while Brian Wilson served as the No. 22 team’s crew chief. He returned as crew chief for Penske’s No. 22 Ford team in the 2017 Xfinity season.

    In August 2017, Erwin was named crew chief for the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford team and Paul Menard for the 2018 Cup season. In Erwin’s first race with Menard, the combo finished in sixth place in the 2018 Daytona 500 in February. Ultimately, they achieved one pole, one top-five result and seven top-10 results throughout the 36-race schedule as Menard finished in 19th place in the final standings.

    The following season, Erwin and Menard achieved only four top-10 results as Menard concluded his second season with the Wood Brothers Racing in 19th place in the final standings. Earlier in the season, Menard dominated and was in race-winning position in the Clash at Daytona International Speedway in February until contact from eventual winner Jimmie Johnson knocked Menard out of contention as he was involved in a multi-car accident. Following the 2019 season, Erwin surpassed 300 starts as a Cup crew chief.

    This season, Erwin remained as a crew chief for the Wood Brothers Racing team and driver Matt DiBenedetto, who joined the team following Menard’s departure from full-time racing. In Erwin’s first race with DiBenedetto, the combo finished 19th in the 2020 Daytona 500. The following race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, DiBenedetto made a late rally to finish in second place behind Joey Logano. Throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, DiBenedetto achieved two top-five results and seven top-10 results. After finishing in 12th place at Daytona International Speedway in August, DiBenedetto claimed the 16th and final transfer spot to the 2020 Cup Playoffs. DiBenedetto’s accomplishment marked his first Cup postseason appearance as a title contender, Erwin’s third as a title contender and the Wood Brothers Racing’s second as a Playoff team.

    Erwin and DiBenedetto are coming off a 21st-place result in the first Playoff race of this season at Darlington Raceway. They are ranked in 15th place in the Playoff standings and are 17 points below the top-12 cutline to advance to the second round of the 2020 Cup Playoffs.

    Catch crew chief Greg Erwin’s milestone start at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, September 12, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Crossover Stars Help NASCAR’s Fan Appeal

    Crossover Stars Help NASCAR’s Fan Appeal

    NASCAR needs more crossover stars. It’s a time-honored tradition in the sport to bring in drivers from across the pond (mostly on NASCAR’s dime) and put them in our cars not only to perform but to draw in the fans. This is usually met with success more on the fan side of things, although former F1 drivers Mario Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya did find a bit of success in NASCAR.

    Lewis Hamilton’s comments to TMZ regarding a foray in NASCAR have been given a bit of levity considering how his 2018 season has gone without a win, not to mention he has yet to finalize any plans beyond 2018. Hamilton has been vocal in the past regarding his love for American motorsports as well as a possible NASCAR venture, and considering he’s the closest thing to a mainstream A-list celebrity the racing world has, it’s easy to imagine the NASCAR brass salivating at the idea of Hamilton in a competitive car at Daytona. It’s not impossible to imagine NASCAR possibly even footing some of the bill to bring him.

    It’s had its pitfalls before, though. Two-time Formula One champion Jim Clark and Ludovico Scarfiotti were entered in the 1967 American 500 at Rockingham. Although Scarfiotti, winner of the 1966 Italian Grand Prix and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1963, did not compete due to his time being disallowed, Clark was able to bring his Holman-Moody Ford up into the top-15 before mechanical failure knocked him out of the race.

    Another Formula One champion, Kimi Raikkonen, competed at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s May 2011 Speedweeks in the Camping World Truck Series race as well as the Nationwide Series race. Raikkonen, the 2007 World Champion (and arguably one of F1’s most enigmatic personalities), drove for Kyle Busch Motorsports in both events, scoring a 15th-place finish in the truck race while finishing four laps down in 27th during the Nationwide race.

    Both instances had a lot of fanfare from across the racing world, and although they ended in less-than-stellar fashions, that hasn’t always been the case. Montoya won three races across the three national touring divisions in NASCAR. Andretti became a Daytona 500 winner for Holman-Moody in 1967. Nelson Piquet Jr. won two truck races and a Nationwide event.

    It’s been more than just an F1-to-NASCAR crossover. In 2017, two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso made his IndyCar debut at the Indianapolis 500, where he piloted an Andretti-Herta Autosport entry to Rookie-of-the-Race honors. Alonso managed to lead several laps and appeared in contention to win before an engine failure sidelined his Honda. The fanfare was so great it even garnered attention in the NASCAR world, where NASCAR-to-IndyCar and vice versa are not uncommon; NASCAR has seen its own Kurt Busch, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, and John Andretti make the Indy 500-Coke 600 double multiple times over the years.

    In 2008, on the heels of Formula One standout and Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya winning the 2007 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year with one win, three top-fives, and six top-10s, IndyCar champions Sam Hornish Jr. and Dario Franchitti ventured into NASCAR with hopes of success. They dominated the storylines early in the season as part of the “Open-Wheel Invasion” despite struggling, and Franchitti dropped out halfway through the season while Hornish is now a part-time Xfinity Series competitor with a handful of wins.

    Even Danica Patrick’s move from IndyCar to NASCAR was fruitless overall, although she was one of the faces of the sport and spent her entire career in top-caliber equipment.

    It’d be easy to become jaded at the prospect of a crossover star coming to NASCAR, admittedly so. When has one actually set the sport on fire other than Tony Stewart, the 1997 Indy Racing League champion? Even those who have found success have received it in short bursts. Ultimately, it’s a matter of experience – more seat time means more success unless you’re a racing anomaly like Andretti or Montoya. But the buildup, the hype, the suspense of a driver who may be established elsewhere making the dive into another major motorsport, i.e., NASCAR, is noteworthy to the brass. Fans and media get especially excited, PR people go all out and come race day it’s almost certain that the Next Big Thing has arrived.

    Should NASCAR invest into another crossover star (training, seat time, equipment, so on), it could help bolster attendance and ratings issues, same with IndyCar and F1. The day can and will come when a crossover driver is discovered and happens to truly be the Next Big Thing.

  • Hot 20 – NASCAR’s Cup Drivers Runneth over to Swamp the XFINITY and Camping World Series

    Hot 20 – NASCAR’s Cup Drivers Runneth over to Swamp the XFINITY and Camping World Series

    Bless NASCAR’s pea-pickin’ hearts. You have to admit that they keep on trying. With both the junior and truck circuits pretty much irrelevant these days due to the inclusion and the total domination of Cup drivers, NASCAR once again is trying to do the right thing.

    Cup drivers are already banned from the season finales in both minor leagues. Now those with five years Cup experience, not registered to drive for points, can not race in any of those other versions of the Chase, their regular season finales, or the XFINITY “Dash 4 Cash” events. Still, that leaves Cup drivers eligible to race in 10 of the remaining 21 junior races, along with seven of the remaining 15 truck races.

    That means that instead of racing 16 junior contests and winning nine, defending Cup champion Kyle Busch gets to start only 10 times next year. Then he could turn the seat over to, say, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin to fill in for the other 11 rides available. Cup drivers could still dominate for much of the season, though next year they would have to share those opportunities. It is a step forward, but we will have to see if it will be enough to return the spotlight on those who should be showcased in those divisions.

    In 29 events, regular XFINITY drivers claimed 11 of them. Erik Jones took four, Elliott Sadler three, Daniel Suarez a couple, with the others going to Justin Marks and Sam Hornish Jr. Eighteen went to Cup drivers, with half of that total taken by Busch, including their Chase race at Kansas. Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson have also won and, with less than five years Cup experience, the restrictions would not apply to either of them. Still, it beats doing nothing but will it be enough to stop the major leaguers from moonlighting to kick some minor league butt most weeks?

    This Sunday, the contenders and pretenders of the Cup circuit head to Martinsville, Virginia. A win earns a free pass to race for the title in Homestead next month. A wreck, and then Texas and Phoenix get a lot more stressful. Eight contenders, but only four will be in the running when it counts.

    Among our Hot 20, Kevin Harvick has been best over the course of the season. That means nothing come Sunday.

    1. KEVIN HARVICK – 4000 PTS
    Would have a 37 point lead if season-long points were still the determining factor…over Keselowski.

    2. DENNY HAMLIN – 4000 PTS
    If you see him in a photo with good friend Michael Jordan, Denny is the short one.

    3. JOEY LOGANO – 4000 PTS
    Last year, he was the guy to beat coming out of Talladega…and so they did.

    4. KYLE BUSCH – 4000 PTS
    Four Cup wins, nine XFINITY triumphs, and a pair of truck flags…he will beat up on anybody.

    5. KURT BUSCH – 4000 PTS
    Harvick was just trying to help me with my contact lenses in pit road. What a pal!

    6. CARL EDWARDS – 4000 PTS
    Some days you race, and some days you ride. Guess what kind of day he had at Talladega.

    7. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 4000 PTS
    Eight-time Martinsville winner will duel one more time with 9-time…Jeff Gordon.

    8. MATT KENSETH – 4000 PTS
    Spent a lovely Sunday with Kyle and Carl, but he probably will need to race at Martinsville.

    9. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 2191
    Driving a magic dragon last week. Its name was Puff.

    10. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 2168 PTS
    Next year, Kansas replaces Talladega as the elimination race. Good for him, but boring for us.

    11. AUSTIN DILLON – 2163 PTS
    His last win was back in August in Bristol’s Xfinity race.

    12. CHASE ELLIOTT – 2156 PTS
    His last win was back in February in Daytona’s Xfinity race.

    13. KYLE LARSON – 2155 PTS
    Sure, he won back in June in Pocono’s Xfinity race, but don’t forget that Cup win at Michigan.

    14. TONY STEWART – 2141 PTS
    Down to his final four.

    15. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 2110 PTS
    23rd in the spring, but second last fall. Time to turn that frown upside down?

    16. CHRIS BUESCHER – 2109 PTS
    A single win leaves Blaney, Bayne, Patrick, Menard, Biffle, Almirola, and Bowyer far behind him.

    17. KASEY KAHNE – 803 PTS
    Hendrick drivers have won the past four Martinsville Chase races. Why not another?

    18. RYAN NEWMAN – 794 PTS
    #noneckguysmatter

    19. RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – 717 PTS
    Back among the cool kids after a good run at Talladega.

    20. A.J. ALLMENDINGER – 717 PTS
    Second at Martinsville this spring gives hope for this fall run.

  • Hornish reigns victorious in the heartland

    Hornish reigns victorious in the heartland

    You would never have guessed this was the first time Sam Hornish Jr. had been in a car this season with his dominant performance and victory in America’s heartland.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 183 of the 250 laps on the way to winning the American Ethanol E15 250 at Iowa Speedway.

    “It doesn’t get much better than that,” Hornish said of his win. “I’ve just got to thank Toyota and everybody from Joe Gibbs Racing for getting me out here and giving me this opportunity. Got my wife and kids here and it’s the first time the kids have got to be here for one of dads wins so — I can’t tell you what this means to me. You work so hard to try to get a win when I have my kids here and the fact of how all of this went on and I’ve just got to thank God. He makes things happen. I was so nervous on Friday getting into the car thinking I’m going to make a mistake and man, to go out there and win the way we did I just can’t say anything more about it. Thank you TRD (Toyota Racing Development). I hope Matt (Tifft) is doing well. I definitely want to thank the fans and happy Father’s Day to everybody. This is definitely one of the best ones I’ve ever had I can guarantee you that.”

    It’s his fourth career win in the XFINITY Series in 111 starts, first of 2016, second at Iowa and first since May 2014.

    “Anytime you get an opportunity to strap into a JGR car you know that you’ve got an opportunity and the car they told me as soon as I got here they’ve done a lot of work since we were here last time and man, this car was so good over the long run,” Hornish added. “I’d be remised if I didn’t thank Brad Keselowski because I picked both lanes that I could to get in front of him on those restarts because I knew that’s one guy that would give me a push. I was just happy about that – thanks to him. And, just man, I just can’t believe it. You always wait for when you have a car that’s this good for something to happen — run over a piece of debris or whatever. I love coming here to Iowa – the fans. I was worried it was going to be too hot and I was going to get all sweaty in the car, which I did, but man it was just put it on cruise once we got about 40 laps into a run. Car was good and I got a good idea of what it takes to be fast around here to keep the tires underneath it. Just fantastic day.”

    Ty Dillon finished runner-up in his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

    “I gave it just about everything I could there at the end,” Dillon said. “We had a heck of a battle for second place with Brad (Keslowski) and I felt I could have run down the 18 car if we hadn’t of had that late caution. Wow what a race. Second place is still a great finish and I know our guys worked hard. They earned it. On Friday in practice we were not where we wanted to be, but we made some great adjustments and moved forward. Today was an overall great day for us, and even better, we got American Ethanol and Kum & Go a solid finish in their home state.”

    It’s his ninth top-10 finish of the season and fourth in five starts at Iowa.

    Brad Keselowski rounded out the podium in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. It’s his sixth top-10 finish in six starts at Iowa.

    Daniel Suárez led 62 laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 19 JGR Toyota.

    “We just needed a little bit better long run right there,” Suárez said of his performance. “At the beginning of the race we were super strong for 10 or 15 laps and for the second part of the race we had to start making bigger changes and adjustments to try to help the long run but we ended here on the short run. That’s part of racing. We’ll keep working and come back in a couple weeks.”

    Alex Bowman rounded out the top-five in his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

    Elliott Sadler finished sixth in his No. 1 JRM Chevrolet. Justin Allgaier finished seventh in his No. 7 JRM Chevrolet. Brennan Poole led one lap on his way to an eighth-place finish in his No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Darrell Wallace Jr. led four laps on his way to a ninth-place finish in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. In his XFINITY Series debut, Ben Kennedy rounded out the top-10 in his No. 2 RCR Chevrolet.

    “Man, this was a blast,” Kennedy said. “I had so much fun. We had a fast Ruud Chevrolet. My goal at the beginning of the weekend was to finish in the top 10 and we achieved that. We were just a little too tight there at the end. I learned a ton on those restarts, what to expect throughout the run and how the lines change during the race. We could really utilize that top line as the run went on. I think we were one of the first teams to make that work. Overall, it was a great learning experience and I’m happy to go home with a top 10 finish. I can’t thank everyone at Richard Childress Racing and Ruud enough for this opportunity. It’s been a great weekend.”

    Drew Herring, Ryan Preece and Derrick Cope retired from the race due to accidents. Jeff Green retired from the race due to transmission issues. Timmy Hill retired from the race due to engine issues. Dexter Bean retired from the race due to vibration issues. Morgan Shepherd, Carl Long and Tyler Young retired from the race due to brake issues. Josh Reaume retired from the race due to electrical issues.

    Thirty of the 40 cars finished the race and 16 finished on the lead lap.

    The race lasted two hours, seven minutes and 51 seconds at an average speed of 102.659 mph. There were 10 lead changes among four different drivers and six cautions for 33 laps.

    Suárez leaves Newton, Iowa still the points leader.

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  • Your Guide to the 2016 NASCAR Season – Driver, Crew Chief Changes & More

    Your Guide to the 2016 NASCAR Season – Driver, Crew Chief Changes & More

    As the beginning of a new year of racing approaches, it’s often difficult to keep up with the off-season changes. Drivers move to different teams, crew chiefs come and go, new sponsors are announced and more. To aid your transition into the 2016 NASCAR season, I’ve compiled a list of the major changes.

    Tony Stewart – No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet

    Stewart, who announced that 2016 will be his last season driving in the Sprint Cup Series, will end his career with a new crew chief. Mike Bugarewicz, the former race engineer for Kevin Harvick’s car, will be on top of the pit box in Stewart’s final season. He replaces Chad Johnston who is moving to the crew chief position for Kyle Larson.

    Kyle Larson – No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Chevrolet

    Chad Johnston moves from Stewart-Haas Racing to become Larson’s new crew chief, replacing Chris Heroy. Johnston was most recently crew chief for Tony Stewart.

    Brian Scott – No. 9 – Richard Petty Motorsports Ford

    Scott will replace Sam Hornish Jr. as he heads to Richard Petty Motorsports to drive the No. 9 RPM Ford. He will be paired with crew chief Chris Heroy (Larson’s former crew chief). Scott has 17 previous Cup starts but this will be his first full-time Sprint Cup season. He will be competing for Rookie of the Year.

    Danica Patrick – No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet

    Patrick will have a different crew chief in 2016 as Billy Scott moves from Michael Waltrip Racing who closed their doors at the end of the 2015 season. He replaces Daniel Knost who was promoted to a senior leadership position within the company. This is Patrick’s third crew chief in as many seasons. Nature’s Bakery will join Patrick as a new primary sponsor.

    Clint Bowyer – HScott Motorsports Chevrolet

    Bowyer will move to HScott Motorsports for one season before moving to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2017 to replace Tony Stewart after his final season. 5-Hour Energy will make the move with Bowyer as primary sponsor for 24 races in 2016.

    Justin Allgaier – No. 7 – JR Motorsports Chevrolet

    Allgaier will move to the XFINITY Series in 2016 with JR Motorsports. He competed for the last two years in the Cup Series with HScott Motorsports but lost his ride when the organization added Clint Bowyer to their lineup. He has three wins in the XFINITY Series.

    Greg Biffle – No. 16 – Roush Fenway Racing Ford

    Biffle will also be the recipient of a new crew chief, veteran Brian Pattie. Pattie replaces Matt Puccia who had been with Biffle since mid-2011.

    Sam Hornish Jr. – Unknown

    Hornish previously drove the No. 9 Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports but Brian Scott takes over driving duties in 2016. Hornish has not announced his future plans.

    AJ Allmendinger – No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet

    Allmendinger will have a new competition director as Ernie Cope moves to JTG Daugherty Racing. Cope’s most recent position was as crew chief for Chase Elliott in the XFINITY Series in 2015. Allmendinger will also have a new crew chief, Randall Burnett. Burnett was an engineer on Kyle Larson’s car this past season.

    Chris Buescher – No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford

    After winning the 2015 XFINITY Series championship, Buescher is moving to the Sprint Cup Series in 2016. He had six Cup starts for FRM last year with a best finish of 20th place at Auto Club Speedway. Buescher will be in the running for Rookie of the Year.

    Darian Grubb – Vehicle Production Director – Hendrick Motorsports

    Hendrick Motorsports recently named Grubb to the newly created position of vehicle production director where he will oversee every facet of race car manufacturing for the organization. Grubb was formerly employed by HMS in 2003 in various capacities including race engineer and crew chief before leaving to join Tony Stewart at SHR in 2009. He moved to Joe Gibbs Racing and in 2012-2014 worked with Denny Hamlin. In 2015, he was the crew chief for Carl Edwards. He has 23 Sprint Cup victories as a crew chief.

    Ryan Blaney – No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford

    Blaney will run a full schedule in the No. 21 in 2016. It will be the first time since 2008 that Wood Brothers Racing has run a full-time schedule in the Sprint Cup Series. Blaney has 18 Cup starts with a best finish of fourth at Talladega in 2015. Because he has not run for Sprint Cup points in his career, Blaney will be eligible to compete for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award.

    Denny Hamlin – No. 11 – Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

    Hamlin will have a new crew chief in 2016 as Mike Wheeler, who has been Hamlin’s race engineer for much of his career, takes over the position. Wheeler also served as crew chief in 2015 for the No. 20 car in the XFINITY Series. He replaces Dave Rogers who will move to the pit box for Carl Edwards.

    Carl Edwards – No. 19 – Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

    As noted above, Edwards will have a new crew chief in 2016 with Dave Rogers taking over the job, replacing Darian Grubb. Rogers is an experienced leader having worked previously with Kyle Busch as well as Hamlin with 15 Sprint Cup victories.

    Jeffrey Earnhardt – Go FAS Racing – No. 32 Ford

    Earnhardt recently signed a multi-year deal with Go FAS Racing to drive in the Sprint Cup Series beginning in 2016. He will run the majority of the races for the No. 32 team while Bobby Labonte will drive for several events. Earnhardt made his Cup debut at Richmond in 2015 and also competed at Loudon. He will be eligible for the Rookie of the Year award.

    Chase Elliott – No. 24 – Hendrick Motorsports

    Elliott moves into the No. 24 ride in 2016 after Jeff Gordon’s departure in 2015. He captured the XFINITY Series championship in 2014, the youngest driver, at age 18, to win a NASCAR national series title, and finished second last year. Elliott made five Cup starts last year in preparation for this season and will be competing for Rookie of the Year honors in 2016.

    Furniture Row Racing – Will change manufacturers from Chevrolet to Toyota in 2016

    After running only Chevrolets since their debut in 2005, Furniture Row Racing has entered into a partnership with Toyota and will field the No. 78 Toyota of Martin Truex Jr. in 2016. Toyota Racing Development will build the engines and Furniture Row Racing will also benefit from a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing.

     

  • The Final Word on 2015

    The Final Word on 2015

    The gifts are open, the tree is on borrowed time, and a New Year is almost upon us. Seems like a good time to reflect on the year that was, as we embark on the one that will be.

    Once again, 2015 brought us a satisfying champion. He might not have been the one you were cheering for, Junior fans, but you cannot quibble about the great story that was Kyle Busch. Hurt in the opening junior series race, he missed the opening 11 of the Cup schedule. In the old days, he would have been an also-ran, but that was before a win and a Top 30 position in the standings forgave such things.

    With just 15 races to accomplish what needed to be done, Busch won some. No surprise there. The fact he got into position to make those wins count was in doubt, at least, we thought so. We of little faith. It would appear that those who really have what it takes to challenge for the title need not bother to appear until May, which helps explain why NASCAR insists drivers run all the races rather than pick and choose.

    Not only did Busch win the title, as he and Kurt join the Labonte brothers as champion siblings, but he also came up with a rule change that makes sense. If you lead the pack entering the Chase, you should get a free pass into the second round. Other sports give a bye or, at least, home field advantage to those with the best record entering the playoffs, why not NASCAR? Some might argue the front trio should have such an advantage, but I would settle for one. Like Kyle’s championship, that driver would have earned it.

    Four-time king Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart have earned their eventual invitations to enter NASCAR’s Hall of Fame. Gordon left his famed No. 24 only after his 93rd career victory at Martinsville and finishing third in the battle for the championship. Stewart has one more round left in him, as he embarks on his farewell tour at Daytona. The three-time champion lost the magic suddenly in 2013 after a pair of sprint cup race mishaps, one that broke his leg, the other that took the life of another driver in 2014. May 2016 bring him some deserved satisfaction.

    It was also a tough season, at least at the start, for Kurt Busch. A domestic violence accusation got him a three-race suspension to start the year. Matt Kenseth ended on a sour note, as he was gone for two after delivering some on-track justice that left Joey Logano’s title hopes about as shot as Kenseth’s own. Michael Waltrip Racing went the way of the dodo, as the outfit never recovered from Clint Bowyer’s 2013 spin that almost got Martin Truex Jr. a Chase place. Instead, after the controversy they lost the NAPA sponsorship and the Truex entry, and during this season, Waltrip’s financial backer backed out.

    That means Bowyer moves to the seat of Harry Scott’s No. 51 for a season before taking over Stewart’s No. 14 in 2017. Brian Scott replaces Sam Hornish Jr. in the Petty No. 9 while Chase Elliott replaces Gordon in Hendrick’s No, 24. Jeffrey Earnhardt will drive most of the season in the GoFAS Racing No. 32, with the Front Row No. 34 taken over by Chris Buescher. Ryan Blaney returns with the Wood Brothers No. 21, which returns to running a full schedule in 2016.

    2015 was when we had to say goodbye to broadcaster Steve Byrnes. We lost Buddy Baker over the past year. Red Farmer mourns his wife Joan, and Bobby Allison lost his wife Judy. My own mother, Mae, passed away this past August.

    As for 2016, it will bring us a new rules package, supposedly making the cars slower, less comfortable to drive, and closer in some regards to the XFINITY model. It is hoped this will make the racing more exciting, which we have heard before, but could also see more Cup guys in the XFINITY series to tune up. If so, that would, in the parlance of my youth, blow chunks.

    I am sure you would agree that would be something to avoid come New Year’s Eve as we have just seven weeks to go before they go again in Daytona.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Ford EcoBoost 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Ford EcoBoost 400

    With rain interfering one last time and delaying the race start for over an hour, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the season finale, the 17th annual Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    Surprising:  The last race of the year at Homestead was surprisingly filled with a series of firsts and lasts. Kyle Busch, of course, scored a host of firsts with his trip to Victory Lane, winning his own first championship as well as winning the first championship in the Cup Series for his manufacturer Toyota.

    There were, however, an even greater number of lasts in the race, including the last race for Jeff Gordon, the final run for Sam Hornish Jr. under the auspices of Richard Petty Motorsports, the final race for Michael Waltrip Racing as a company, the finale for Go Daddy as sponsor or Danica Patrick’s car, and the final race for Justin Allgaier with HScott Motorsports.

    And while Jeff Gordon basked in the accolades of his last trip around the track behind the wheel, others such as Clint Bowyer bemoaned his last run after crashing and finishing dead last.

    “I don’t know what the hell happened to our car,” Bowyer said. “My car got loose. I couldn’t catch it. I hate to have it end this way.”

    “Unfortunately, it’s over.”

    Not Surprising:  It may have been his first Sprint Cup championship, but Kyle Busch was already a champion coming into his final race, having secured the Truck championship as owner, with Erik Jones behind the wheel.

    “I don’t know how you top this, but I’d sure like to see,” Busch said. “I wouldn’t do it without everyone that surrounds me, my wife, my family, my friends, my employees at KBM, Joe (Gibbs), J.D. (Gibbs), the team at JGR, Adam (Stevens, crew chief).”

    “You surround yourself with good people in business and in sports and it sometimes will more than likely pay it back.”

    “You know, this is pretty special.”

    Surprising:  There were no baby steps involved this season for Martin Truex Jr., who finished 12th in the race but fourth in the championship standings, his highest finish to date.

    “Super proud of our season and really proud to come this far to come from 24th in points last year to fourth this year is a pretty big step,” Truex said. “I don’t think most people realize just how big of a deal it is and how hard it was for us to get that far.”

    “You never know what the future holds, but excited already about next year, and I think we’ll be back here in mid-December testing already for next year.  Not a whole lot of rest, and looking forward to spending a week or so down here relaxing and having a few beers, catching a few fish, and really just let it all soak in what we’ve been able to accomplish, and really proud of everybody on our team.”

    Not Surprising:  While he did not win the race, Kevin Harvick scored his own record of sorts, finishing in the second place for the 13th time for the season. Harvick became the 10th Cup driver to score double-digit runner-up finishes in a single season and his was the first since Bobby Allison in 1972.

    “The 18 car, he just had the speed all night, for the most part,” Harvick said. “You know, as the night went, I just couldn’t find anywhere that would make the car run better.  The higher I would run, the looser it would get. I’d get on the seams and then it would push the front and slide the back. Just never could find anything.”

    “I know we’re disappointed about finishing second tonight, but it’s kind of the theme of the year, finishing second. Unfortunately it’s just one short, but all in all, it’s been a great couple years, and couldn’t be prouder of our bunch of guys.”

    Surprising: While one Kyle was in Victory Lane, another Kyle, Larson that is, was bemoaning a bit the chance that he had to get his first Cup victory. The driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet was stung by the final caution after riding the wall to a fifth place finish.

    “I think I was 1 water bottle away from my first cup win,” Larson tweeted after the race. “Congratulations to Kyle Busch, such an amazing comeback story you had this year!”

    Not Surprising:  Team Penske finished the season strong, with a third and fourth place finish for Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano respectively.

    “I was really proud of my team tonight, really happy with what they were able to give me and we were able to take a run at it, we just didn’t quite have enough at the end on that final restart to hold those guys off.” Keselowski said after the race. “We were really strong and we just didn’t have enough to close it at the end.”

    “Unfortunately, we didn’t win and that’s what we wanted to do,” teammate Logano said. “We had a fast Shell/Pennzoil Ford that led a lot of laps, so I’m proud of the laps we led. We had a few good runs and made an adjustment that just took it out of the track and by the time we got it back we lost too much track position. We had a bad pit stop under green and lost more there, so it was too little, too late. We couldn’t redeem ourselves after a couple mistakes tonight.”

    Surprising:  While Brett Moffitt reveled in winning the 2015 Sunoco Rookie of the Year title, he also revealed that his 2016 future driving plans are a bit up in the air at present.

    “Throughout the season, Front Row has given me a great home, and it’s a great place to be, and thankful for this opportunity and being able to bring home the Rookie of the Year title,” Moffitt said. “Right now my slate is empty.”

    “I mean, we’re working hard, but it’s hard to secure the funding to be able to run in any of the top three series.  If anything would come forward, I’d be more than willing to work with any series, whether it was truck, XFINITY or another Cup ride.”

    Not Surprising:  One young up and coming driver no doubt summed it all up as he raced with one of his idols for the last time.

    “I was a big fan of Jeff Gordon growing up,” Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, said. “You’re obviously honored to be in his last race with him. I got to race around him a little bit at the beginning of the race. I was having trouble passing him. I was trying to be as nice as I could and let him race his own deal.”

    “But that was fun racing hard with him there.”

    Surprisingly, that concludes the 2015 race season, which seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye. Enjoy the off-season, Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Holidays and here’s to a great 2016!

     

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono Windows 10 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Pocono Windows 10 400

    In what will no doubt go down in the books as one of the crazier races at the ‘Tricky Triangle’, here are the highlights of what was surprising and not surprising from the Windows 10 400 at Pocono Raceway.

    Surprising:  In an unusual race where one of his team’s drivers run out of fuel on the way to a fourth straight win and one of his other drivers coasted into Victory Lane, the best quote of the day was from Coach Joe Gibbs.

    He told Sirius XM radio’s Claire B. Lang, “I’ve been going to Victory Lane so much that I might just have to go to rehab.”

    This was Joe Gibbs Racing’s fourth consecutive win in that same number of races.

    “It was a big deal today the way everything played out,” Gibbs added. “But I think you do, in pro sports you realize how hard it is to win a race, and when you get in a situation like this, you really want to enjoy it, and I think we do.”

    Not Surprising:  Matt Kenseth accomplished a first-time twofer as he took the checkered flag with just enough fuel left for a burnout.

    “Today is a first,” Kenseth said. “I checked two things off the list.  I won at Pocono, I didn’t think that would ever happen, and I won a fuel-mileage race, I didn’t think that would ever happen.

    “There’s been a few through the years that I thought we had it all figured out, and we were the only one that was going to make it and all that stuff and you catch an untimely caution and there’s been some other ones where you are kind of dominating the race and you’re out there and you run out of gas and somebody back mid-pack had enough gas to make it and have lost several like that.

    “Feels good to get one like that.  We had a fast car and we were able to get the fuel mileage good enough to get the win.

    “So yeah, this is a first for me.”

    Surprising:  It was Groundhog Day at Pocono, at least for the eerily similar three crashes that happened with cars smacking into the pit road wall. It happened to Ray Black Jr. in the Truck race, as well as Jeb Burton in practice. And then the third hit happened in nearly the same way but in the race to Kasey Kahne.

    “I just got loose really late, so far off the corner,” Kahne said. “A really late exit. I’m not sure why or what happened. It just jumped out. You’re so far off the corner, to slow slide and get so far down pit road, it was crazy.

    “I’ve never ended up over there like that. I don’t know why that was. I couldn’t believe when the No. 26 (Jeb Burton) did earlier this weekend and then I did.”

    Not Surprising:  While several drivers, especially those that ran out of fuel, might want to put Pocono in their rear view mirror, there was one driver who no doubt burned rubber leaving the track.

    “It was one of those days,” Sam Hornish Jr. said. “I missed a shift on a restart which wasn’t any good and then we had a tire come apart and then we got hit and then Kurt (Busch) was trying to hold on to it and I saw that he got it straightened back out and it is one of those things where everything stops smoking long enough that you think he has it back under control again and then it is just wobbling around on him.

    “Unfortunate for us for sure. I love coming to Pocono and I have had some good runs here and led laps and felt like we could win races, but it just hasn’t been for us this year.”

    Surprising:  There was no one more surprised than Kyle Busch that the race went green at the end, especially given the many early race cautions. And the driver, who was hoping for his fourth consecutive win and a boost into Chase contention, was also surprised that he was short enough on fuel not to make it to the finish line.

    “It was a caution-filled race there for a while,” Busch said. “I was surprised the end then went green. I don’t know where we were on our strategy and all of that stuff.

    “I’ve got to debrief with Adam (Stevens, crew chief), but I don’t know how close we were and if we were one lap short of making it then I probably needed to save or do a better job of running those last 30 laps or so.

    “We were short, we run out, but we went down swinging so I can’t fault my guys for that. An awesome call, they called the race right and another Monster Energy can of gas and we’d be winning another one.”

    Not Surprising:  The irrepressible Clint Bowyer was nearly jumping up and down when he got out of his race car after finishing top-10.

    “Holy cow that was a finish,” the driver of the No. 15 Maxwell House Toyota said of his eighth place run. “What a race. We got caught with the caution lights and had a heck of a comeback. We were able to save enough fuel and give the Maxwell House Toyota a great finish.”

    Surprising:  The fourth place finisher felt like a time traveler when all was said and done at the ‘Tricky Triangle.’

    “Yeah, in the booth up there, they turned the clock back to 1973 and let that thing play out a little bit and let everybody run out of gas,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “That was pretty cool. It’s kind of like some of the older races where you just can’t count on them to throw them cautions there at the end. And they didn’t today.”

    Not Surprising:  For his very last appearance at Pocono, Jeff Gordon actually went off script and could not have been more pleased with the result.

    “No, the script I had played out in my head was we were going to be 15th, so this one was way better than that,” the driver of the No. 24  AARP Member Advantages Chevrolet said after finishing third.

    “For whatever reason the last couple times we’ve been here we’ve had decent race cars, not maybe the cars that we would have liked to have had, but cars far capable of better finishes than what we’ve had, have been getting, and just a lot of different circumstances not playing out.  Some to our own credit and others just circumstances.

    “Today finally one went our way for a change, which is really nice to bounce back after last week’s unfortunate incident where we lost so many points.”

    Gordon gained one spot in the point standings, moving from the 11th spot up to 10th.

    Surprising:  In spite of overcoming adversity, including hitting two of his pit crew members during a doomed stop, to finish runner-up, Brad Keselowski felt surprising empathy, in fact even heartbreak, for his teammate’s misfortune at the race end.

    “The fuel came into play at the end and we were able to take care of it to bring home second, which is a very respectable day,” Keselowski said. “Certainly not where we were going to finish without the fuel, but that is sometimes how it works.

    “I think my teammate (Joey Logano) and his team did a phenomenal job. I am heartbroken for them to not win the race.”

    Not Surprising: Mama told him there would be days like this, so Kevin Harvick was able to let his first DNF since April 2014 roll off his back.

    “Yeah, coming around turn two I knew I had some issues but didn’t realize they were going to be that big,” Harvick said. I’m just really proud of my Jimmy John’s/Budweiser team. The car was fast. You’ll have days like this.”

    Next week, the Sprint Cup Series will travel to battle the road course at Watkins Glen. The CHEEZ-It 355 at The Glen will run at 2:00 p.m. ET on NBCSN on Sunday, August 9.

     

     

     

  • The Final Word – The Top Four at Pocono Have Been the Season’s Best Four

    The Final Word – The Top Four at Pocono Have Been the Season’s Best Four

    Three drivers. When it came to the story of the Pocono race, only three mattered. You probably wanted to know who led the race for the opening few laps, and that would have been Carl Edwards. He finished 15th. For the rest of the way, it was down to two names, right down to the final lap; Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick. No one else much mattered on Sunday.

    When it comes down to points, these two lead the way this year. When it comes to wins, Harvick’s two trailed only Jimmie Johnson’s four in that department. Truex, on the other hand, still had to close the deal. That finally happened in a race where he was a factor from start to finish, leading four times for 97 of the 160 laps, to snap a 69 race winless string. Harvick led for 39 to claim his 10th Top Two in 14 starts. As for third place, that eventually went to Johnson, as Pocono became a showcase of the three best thus far in 2015. Okay, Top Four, with Joey Logano finishing fourth.

    With the Truex win, we still have no drivers outside the Top 16 in points with a victory this season. With a dozen events to go, that could change, which would put some pressure on those up there, yet still winless. However, Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne and even Jeff Gordon look safe for the moment though Paul Menard, Aric Almirola and Ryan Newman are vulnerable. All three finished outside the Top Thirty on Sunday.

    Top Thirty on the season is valuable for those who want to win to be in. Only Kyle Busch has a realistic expectation to possibly win amongst the outsiders, and he sits 151 points behind Trevor Bayne for that 30th spot. Busch gained 15 points on Bayne over the weekend and needs to average a 12.6 point advantage over each of the next 12 races, as well as claim a win along the way, for it to matter.

    Danica Patrick looked good for much of the race, solidly a Top 15, if not better. She lost a tire, found a fence, and finished 37th. However, the girl looked good, and for those on her bandwagon, that certainly counts for something.

    After taking the last five at Pocono, shared by their four drivers, Team Hendrick had to settle for all four in the Top 15. Considering the trials Truex has faced both professionally and personally over the past couple of years, I think their genuine happiness over his success more than makes up for any disappointment that they might feel. Way more.

    While Truex celebrated, Almirola (43rd), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (42nd), and Sam Hornish Jr. (41st) were top thirty drivers who did not have top thirty days. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch (9th), Ty Dillon (18th), and Landon Cassill (25th) were among those outsiders who gladly took their place.

    Michigan International Speedway is the next stop, where the last six contests run over the past three years have been split between Hendrick Chevrolets and Roush or Penske Fords. At least it is a venue Hendrick has not won the last five…just the last two.