April 11, 2014
- Harvick wins the Darlington pole for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway is over, after the five minutes final round. #4-Kevin Harvick won the pole with a third round lap of 183.479mph for his 1st pole of 2014, 1st at Darlington and 7th of his career. Harvick has won from the pole three times. Harvick is the 8th different pole winner in 8 races this season.
#43-Almirola, who will start 3rd, broke the track record of 181.918mph set last May by Kurt Busch. Almirola ran a lap of 184.245mph in the second qualifying session,.
#22-Logano will start 2nd followed by #43-Almirola, #9-Ambrose, #2-Keselowsk, #1-McMurray, #31-Newman, #18-Busch, #24-Gordon, #11-Hamlin, #27-Menard and #78-Truex Jr.
Fastest in the second qualifying session was #43-Almirola at 184.245 (new track record)
Fastest in the first qualifying session was #27-Menard at 183.946mph
#22-Logano is the only driver to advance to the final round in all eight races this season.
Missing the race are: #35-Reutimann.
See starting lineup, links, notes, qualifying results by round and more on Jayski’s Darlington Qualifying / Starting Lineup page.(4-11-2014) - Qualifying Fast Facts – Darlington:
#4-Kevin Harvick won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 65th Annual Bojangles’ Southern 500 with a lap of 26.802 seconds, 183.479 mph.
This is his seventh pole in 474 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his first pole and third top-10 start in 2014.
This is his first pole in 18 races at Darlington Raceway.
#22-Joey Logano (second) posted his seventh top-10 start of 2014 and his second in six races at Darlington Raceway.
#43-Aric Almirola (third) posted his first top-10 start at Darlington Raceway. It is his third in eight races this season.
#42-Kyle Larson (17th) was the fastest qualifying rookie. #43-Aric Almirola set a new track record during Round 2 of qualifying with a lap of 26.705 seconds, 183.479 mph. It is the sixth track record in eight races this year.(NASCAR Statistics)(4-11-2014) - Second Round of Qualifying for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway is over after 10 minutes. 14 drivers ran faster then the track record of 181.918mph, set by Kurt Busch last May and #43-Almirola broke the track record and was faster then the record set in the 1st round, running a lap of 184.145mph.
#43-Almirola 184.145
#22-Logano 183.870
#1-McMurray 182.953
#4-Harvick 182.926
#9-Ambrose 182.872
the rest of the top 12: 27 2 31 24 11 18 78;
out of the top 12 and not advancing to round 3: 41 55 88 15 42 47 16 3 99 5 14 51
(4-11-2014) - First Round of Qualifying for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway is over, after 25 minutes. 25 drivers broke the track record of 181.918mph, set by Kurt Busch last May while driving the #78 Chevy.
#27-Menard 183.946
#11-Hamlin 183.726
#1-McMurray 183.719
#43-Amirola 183.568
#41-Busch 183.393
Driver who will miss the race: #35-Reutimann.
(4-11-2014) - Coverage of Group Qualifying for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway is scheduled for Friday, April 11, 2014 at 6:05 pm/et.
Television: FS1 at 6:00 pm/et
Radio: Motor Racing Network at motorracingnetwork.com.
Scheduled Qualifying TV Re-Air: at 4:30am/et on FS1 - Happy Hour practice for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway is over, after 60 scheduled minutes, the top five, slowest and notes:
#31-Newman 179.167
#9-Ambrose 178.978
#24-Gordon 178.906
#18-Busch 178.802
#22-Logano 178.731
slowest: #40-Cassill 170.691 & #66-Nemechek 173.399
#22-Logano was fastest in the 10-lap consecutive run at 173.294mph (out of 9 drivers).
Notes: #9-Ambrose got a Darlington stripe late in Happy Hour and the team was working on the car to fix the right side.
See fastest speeds, laps run and 10-lap consecutive average on the Darlington Happy Hour Practice speeds page (pdf).(4-11-2014) - First Friday practice for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway is over, after 90 scheduled minutes, the top five, slowest and notes:
#4-Harvick 177.665
#15-Bowyer 176.746
#48-Johnson 176.670
#2-Keselowski 175.886
#24-Gordon 175.767
slowest: #26-Whitt 167.790 and #30-Kligerman 167.819
#2-Keselowski was fastest in the 10-lap consecutive run at 174.151mph.
Notes: the Darlington Stripe was acquired by the following drivers so far: #3-Dillon, #17-Stenhouse Jr., #23-Bowman, #42-Larson & #78-Truex Jr. Larson hit so hard that the team is bring out the backup car.
See fastest speeds, laps run and 10-lap consecutive average on the Darlington Practice 1 speeds page (pdf).(4-11-2014) - Group Qualifying Rules: the group qualifying rules for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway will be as follows:
At tracks measuring 1.25 miles in length or larger, qualifying will consist of three (3) rounds:
1) The first qualifying round is 25 minutes in duration, unless otherwise authorized by the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Director.
2) All cars must compete in the first qualifying round. Upon the completion of the first qualifying round, the 43 eligible cars for starting positions 1-43 will be determined.
3) The twenty-four (24) eligible cars that post the fastest single lap time from the first qualifying round will advance to the second round.
4) The remaining cars will be sorted based on their times posted in the first round of qualifying in descending order.
5) There will be a five minute break after the completion of the first round and the twenty-four (24) eligible cars that advance to the second round will have their times reset.
6) The second qualifying round is 10 minutes in duration and the twelve (12) eligible cars that post the fastest single lap time will advance to the final round.
7) The fastest remaining cars will earn positions 13th through 24th based on their times posted in qualifying in descending order.
8) There will be a five minute break after the completion of the second round and the twelve (12) eligible cars that advance to the final round will have their times reset.
9) The final qualifying round is 5 minutes in duration and the fastest single lap time will determine positions 1st through 12th in descending order.
See all the rules and news on the Qualifying Rules page - Qualifying Order for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway is posted. 44 cars/drivers are listed. Qualifying order is how the cars come off pit road for group qualifying.
The first of the drivers scheduled to go out is #48-Johnson.
The final driver scheduled to go out is #66-Nemechek.
Qualifying order is set by a random draw, held about an hour before the first practice.
See the full qualifying order on the Auto Club Qualifying Page.(4-11-2014) - Edwards has no news on his contract situation: Carl Edwards (contract up at end of 2014 season), driver of the #99 Ford Ecoboost Fusion, took time to meet with media members outside his hauler following the final Sprint Cup practice session Friday afternoon. Edwards spoke about a few things, including a final question about his contract:
Q) GREG (BIFFLE) SAID EARLIER THAT HE WAS CLOSE ON A CONTRACT EXTENSION. ANYTHING YOU WANT TO SHARE ON THAT FRONT FOR YOU?
Edwards: “No. I would rather not even talk about it. I have no news and when there is nothing to say all I could do is stir it up. I promise you, no drama. No drama.”(Ford Racing)(4-11-2014) - Statement from Gene Haas Regarding FIA’s Grant of Formula One License: Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation and co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, has been granted a Formula One license by the FIA. The following is his statement. “Obviously, we’re extremely pleased to have been granted a Formula One license by the FIA. It’s an exciting time for me, Haas Automation and anyone who wanted to see an American team return to Formula One. Now, the really hard work begins. It’s a challenge we embrace as we work to put cars on the grid. I want to thank the FIA for this opportunity and the diligence everyone put forth to see our license application come to fruition.” Founded in 1983 and based in Oxnard, Calif., Haas Automation is the largest CNC machine tool builder in the western world. Stewart-Haas Racing won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in 2011. Haas also founded Windshear, a 180-mph rolling-road wind tunnel in Concord, N.C., that is the first of its kind in North America. It is only the third rolling-road wind tunnel of its scale in existence and the world’s first commercially available, full-scale, rolling-road wind tunnel.(True Speed Communication)(4-11-2014)
- Latest on Biffle’s contract status UPDATE: #16-Greg Biffle’s contract with Roush Fenway Racing ends at the conclusion of the 2014 Sprint Cup Series season. Biffle answers a question concerning his contract status, taken from an interview with FrontStretch:
Neff: Your contract is up this year. Have you been talking about that or are you waiting to see how the year shakes out a little more?
Biffle: We’ve been working pretty diligently on that. It has been a pretty good negotiation so far. There are a lot of new people on both sides of the table so everyone is kind of getting a feel for the program and learning it. We feel pretty good that we’ll have something to announce before we get to summer.(Frontstretch)(4-8-2014)
UPDATE Greg Biffle, driver of the #16 3M Ford Fusion, met with media members Friday morning at Darlington Raceway in advance of Saturday night’s Southern 500. One of the questions asked was about his contract situation:
Q) ARE YOU ANY CLOSER TO A CONTRACT EXTENSION?
Biffle: “I think so. I think we are getting closer. There are a lot of moving parts to a contract and a lot of new people at 3M but I know the folks are going up there next week to visit some more. I have a feeling it is getting closer. I know there has been a lot of activity. The program works really well for them and we have the America Red Cross on the car this weekend so it is a good program for 3M and I think they are happy and it looks like we are closing in on an announcement. Hopefully here soon we will have something.”(Ford Racing)(4-11-2014) - Red Cross featured on the #16 Ford at Darlington: A month-long Red Cross campaign concludes this Saturday at Darlington Raceway with one lucky blood donor, Maureen Holt from Surprise, Ariz., adding her name to the #16 Red Cross Ford Fusion hood. The #ImProud2Give campaign asked blood donors to select an online donation appointment at redcrossblood.org for a chance to join the Red Cross at the historic Darlington Raceway. The American Red Cross is celebrating the seventh year of its Red Cross Racing partnership with 3M and Roush Fenway Racing. Thanks to a generous donation from 3M and support by Greg Biffle, the #16 Ford featured a Red Cross paint scheme during the March 9 race in Las Vegas and again this weekend at the April 12 race in Darlington.(RFR), see images of the scheme on the #16 Team Schemes page.(4-11-2014)
- For the new 2014 group qualifying rules and format, see my Qualifying Rules page
- Sports Clips returns to the #11 at Darlington: Sport Clips Racing is excited to enter its sixth season (2014) as a partner with Joe Gibbs Racing and will serve as the primary sponsor of NASCAR’s Denny Hamlin’s # 11 Sprint Cup car in Darlington (April) and Atlanta (August). Through their partnership with Darlington Raceway, Sport Clips will be the entitlement sponsor for Friday night’s Nationwide Series race, showcasing their support for VFW with the VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200. Sport Clips will continue to use its NASCAR partnership to raise awareness about the struggles many military families are facing and the VFW’s mission to support active-duty military, veterans and their families. As the “Official Haircutter” of the VFW, Sport Clips has donated more than $2 million to the organization through its annual “Help A Hero” campaign, which was established in 2007.. Eligible service members can now apply through April 30 at www.VFW.org/scholarship.(Sports Clips)(4-11-2014)
- Darlington Goodyear Tire Notes: Teams in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series will run the same Goodyear tire codes at Darlington this week . . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires that these teams ran at Darlington last May . . . this left-side tire code has been run at Darlington since 2011 . . . these teams have also run this left-side at Texas (including last week), Chicagoland and Homestead in the past . . . in addition to Darlington 2013, these teams have run this right-side tire code at Charlotte . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Darlington . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire (Goodyear PR), see full notes, tire codes, tire pressures, set limits on the Darlington Race Info page – Goodyear Section.(4-11-2014)
- Ford Mustang GT Aluminator XS to Pace Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington: When the gleaming ruby red Mustang GT Aluminator XS paces the field of thundering NASCAR Sprint Cup machines at the Bojangles’ Southern 500 on Saturday, April 12, at Darlington Raceway, it also will be waving the green flag for a year-long recognition of Mustang’s 50th anniversary. U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is the honorary pace car driver for the event and will start the race behind the wheel. NASCAR veteran Brett Bodine will pilot the Mustang GT Aluminator XS pace car for the remainder of the event. The Mustang GT Aluminator XS pace car started its life as a 420-horsepower 2013 Mustang GT, but with the Aluminator XS crate engine and a mix of parts from the Ford Racing Boss 302S and the Cobra Jet programs, it makes 500 horsepower. The Aluminator XS engine itself features a lightweight aluminum cylinder block with cross-bolted main bearing caps and thick main bearing bulkheads for bottom-end strength. It has four-valve-per-cylinder BOSS, fully CNC-machined aluminum heads. In addition, the 5.0L, 302 cubic-inch powerplant features forged pistons with low-friction coating. Mustang’s 50th anniversary celebrations will begin with concurrent events April 17-20 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Ford Motor Company and its dealers will host other national and local anniversary events throughout 2014.(Ford Racing), see images of the car on the 2014 Pace Car page.(4-11-2014)
- Great Clips makes its debut at Darlington: Great Clips will adorn the hood of Kasey Kahne’s #5 Chevy this weekend at Darlington and will be the primary sponsor on the car for nine more Sprint Cup Series events this year (HMS), see images of the scheme on the #5 Team Schemes page.(4-11-2014)
- Darlington Notes and Facts – Friday: poles:
· Curtis Turner won the inaugural Coors Light pole at Darlington in 1950 with a speed of 82.034 mph.
· 47 drivers have Coors Light poles at Darlington, led by David Pearson with 12. Kasey Kahne leads all active drivers with four.
· Nine drivers have won consecutive Coors Light poles at Darlington. David Pearson holds the record for most consecutive poles at Darlington with five (1975 – 1977).
· Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Darlington with a 6.758.
· 19 of the 110 (17.2%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Darlington have been won from the Coors Light pole; the most recent was Dale Jarrett in 1997. NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson has won from the pole four times at Darlington – the series’ most.
· The Coors Light pole starting position is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more winners (19) than any other starting position at Darlington. The outside front row (second-place) has produced the second most wins (17).
· Qualifying has been cancelled due to weather conditions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Darlington Raceway five times; most recently was the fall race of 2004.
· 36 of the 110 (32.7%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Darlington have been won from the front row: 19 from the pole and 17 from second-place.
· 95 of the 110 (86.3%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Darlington have been won from a top-10 starting position.
· Six of the 110 (5.4%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Darlington have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.(NASCAR)(4-11-2014) - Chase Elliott wins Nationwide race at Darlington: #9-Chase Elliott won the VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway for his 2nd career win and his 2nd consecutive win. He is also the youngest driver to win a race at Darlington. #11-Eliott Sadler finished second followed by #20-Matt Kenseth, #54-Kyle Busch, #22-Joey Logano, #42-Kyle Larson, #5-Kevin Harvick, #7-Regan Smith, #6-Trevor Bayne, and #3-Ty Dillon.
Elliott now leads the points by 13 over Regan Smith.
There were 7 cautions for 31 laps and 13 lead changes among 6 leaders. Complete results are on the Darlington race results page (pdf).
(4-11-2014) - Darlington Nationwide Race Fast Facts:
Chase Elliott won the 32nd Annual VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200, his second victory in seven NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
This is his second victory and sixth top-10 finish in 2014.
This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in one races at Darlington Raceway.
Elliott Sadler (second) posted his fifth top-10 finish in 11 races at Darlington Raceway. It is his fifth top-10 finish in 2014.
Matt Kenseth (third) posted his 14th top-10 finish in 18 races at Darlington Raceway.
Chase Elliott leads the point standings by 13 points over Regan Smith.
Chase Elliott becomes the youngest driver to win two NASCAR Nationwide Series races (18 years, 4 months, 14 days). Joey Logano previously held the record (18 years, 10 months, 18 days).
(NASCAR Integrated Marketing)(4-11-2014) - Nationwide Driver standings following Darlington:
1) #9-Chase Elliott# 271
2) #7-Regan Smith, 258, 13
3) #11-Elliott Sadler, 251, -20
4) #3-Ty Dillon# 248, -23
5) #6-Trevor Bayne 241, -30
6) #2-Brian Scott 225, -46
7) #62-Brendan Gaughan 215, -56
8) #31-Dylan Kwasniewski# 200, -71
9) #31-James Buescher 195, -76
10) #16-Ryan Reed# 172, -99
See complete standings on the driver standings page (pdf).(4-11-2014) - Nationwide Owner Standings following Darlington are posted (pdf).(4-11-2014)
- Kyle Busch on Nationwide pole at Darlington: #54-Kyle Busch won the Coors Light Pole for the VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway with a speed of 173.681mph. #9-Chase Elliott will start second followed by: #20-Matt Kenseth, #5-Kevin Harvick, #3-Ty Dillon, #60-Chris Buecsher, #2-Brian Scott, #7-Reagan Smith, #11-Elliot Sadler, #6-Trevor Bayne, #33-Cale Conley, and #42-Kyle Larson.
Fastest in the second round of qualifying was #9-Chase Elliott at 172.662 mph.
#22-Joey Logano was quickest in the opening qualifying session at 172.287 mph
Did Not Qualify:none. The starting lineup is posted on the Darlington starting lineup page (pdf).(4-11-2014) - Darlington Nationwide Qualifying Notes:
Kyle Busch won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 32nd Annual VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 with a lap of 28.314 seconds, 173.681 mph.
This is his 37th pole in 277 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
This is his first pole and fifth top-10 start in 2014.
This is his third pole in ten races at Darlington Raceway.
Chase Elliott (second) posted his fourth top-10 start of 2014 and his first in his Darlington Raceway debut.
Matt Kenseth (third) posted his 11th top-10 start at Darlington Raceway. It is his seventh in seven races this season.
Chase Elliott (second) was the fastest qualifying Sunoco Rookie.(NASCAR Integrated Marketing)(4-11-2014) - Minor planning multiple races: It’s taken some time and a lot of work, but Ted Minor has joined the world of NASCAR. Minor took part in a practice session in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Martinsville, Va., late last month. Due to some mechanical problems, he was unable to race, but Minor said he learned a lot during his time in Virginia. After working at the Pentagon in the Air Force, Minor returned to Dallas to work in the telecommunications field. Upon his return, he turned his love of watching racing into racing itself, competing on local dirt tracks at Kennedale Speedway Park and Cowtown Speedway in 2001. Over the next several years, Minor continued to develop the rental property business and race locally, moving from dirt to asphalt tracks at Red River Speedway in Wichita Falls and Altus Speedway in Altus, Okla., with a goal of taking part in a NASCAR race. At the end of 2013, after a long application and approval process, Minor was able to get his NASCAR clearance and license as a driver with the condition that he started at Martinsville Speedway under the strong evaluation of NASCAR pending further approval. Minor’s next race is scheduled to be at Gateway in St. Louis on June 14, and then possibly Iowa Speedway July 12.(Weathorford Democrat)(4-11-2014)
- Over 10,000 books read at local Darlington schools: Elementary students in the Darlington County School District (DCSD) read more than 10,500 books in three weeks, as part of Darlington Raceway’s “Race Into Reading” Program. Designed as a way to celebrate “March is Reading Month” and to get children excited about reading, the “Race Into Reading” Program challenged first through fifth graders across the county to read as many books as possible. Students from Rosenwald Elementary/Middle School in Society Hill swept the competition, winning both the Top Class award and all three Top Reader awards! The Top Class award went to Ms. Allicyn Steverson’s first grade class. They read an astonishing 722 books! The top three readers were K’Anndra Dickey, a first grader who read 102 books; Shareah Milling, a first grader who read 90 books; and Shaila Vickery, a fifth grader who read 88 books. The Race Into Reading Program kicked off on March 10 and ran through March 28, 2014. As part of the program, all Darlington County School District early childhood and elementary students received a Darlington Raceway bookmark, a Darlington Raceway magnet and a youth admission ticket to the NASCAR Nationwide Series VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 on Friday, April 11. The winning classroom visited Darlington Raceway on Thursday, April 10, and met NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers Dakoda Armstrong and Dylan Kwasnieswki. They also toured the track, made duck houses at the Chevy display, and watched the cars warm up and practice for the following day’s Nationwide Series VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 race. Tickets to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 on Saturday, April 12 and Nationwide Series VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 on Friday, April 11 are now on sale. Remember, kids 12 and under are half off for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 and FREE for the VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 in general admission sections. Visit www.DarlingtonRaceway.com or call 866-459-7223 for more information.(Darlington Raceway)(4-11-2014)
- Pocono Raceway Announces All-New Kids Club: Pocono Raceway and their official mascot, Tricky, announced they will start a Kids Club for younger race fans, ages 14 and under. This membership will feature an exclusive welcome package, at-track benefits, two member-only events during the year and automatic entry into a drawing where one lucky member will be selected to wave the green flag to start one of Pocono Raceway’s ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards or Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire races in 2014. After becoming a member, kids will receive a welcome bag containing their membership card, two-pocket folder, writing utensils, Tricky the Fox hero card, stuffed Tricky animal and more. A lucky kids club member will have the once-in-a-lifetime chance to be the Honorary Starter for either the June 7 Pocono 200, July 5 Pocono Indy Lights race or the August 1 ModSpace 125. Kids Club members will also receive free admission, with ticketed adult, to all Friday and Saturday race weekend events at “The Tricky Triangle.” For more information and to join our Kids Club, visit poconoraceway.com/kidsclub. Tickets to all three of Pocono Raceway’s NASCAR and INDYCAR race weekends are now available, with Kids (ages 12 and under) Sunday Grandstand tickets being offered at half price. To purchase tickets, please visit www.poconoracewayor call our ticket office at 1-800-RACEWAY (1-800-722-3929).(Pocono Raceway)(4-11-2014)
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