May 4, 2017
- Logano and #22 team penalized, loses points, RIR win is encumbered: NASCAR on Thursday issued an L1-level penalty to Team Penske’s #22 team for a rear suspension violation discovered during teardown at the R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina. The penalty carries multiple consequences, which includes making Joey Logano’s win at Richmond on Sunday encumbered. The encumbered win is the first for a victorious Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team since NASCAR adopted that policy in 2016. What that means is Logano cannot use the Richmond win as consideration for an automatic playoff spot. Should Logano still make the postseason, the five playoff points that come with a victory would not apply for Richmond. The official race record will still list Logano as the winner. Additional penalties are a $50,000 fine and two-race suspension for crew chief Todd Gordon, and the loss of 25 driver points and 25 owner points.(NASCAR.COM)[More](5-4-2017)
TEAM PENSKE STATEMENT ON #22 CAR PENALTY “We understand and accept the penalty that was communicated to us today by NASCAR following last weekend’s victory by the #22 car at Richmond. We are disappointed by the notice, however, we do not plan to appeal the penalty. The #22 team remains focused on competing for wins as we work towards the NASCAR Playoffs and a Championship. Race Engineer Miles Stanley will serve as Joey Logano’s crew chief this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, while Greg Erwin will help call race strategy on Sunday.”(Team Penske)(5-4-2017) - Erik Jones to run Toyota Care colors at Talladega: Erik Jones and his Furniture Row Racing team return to NASCAR Cup Series action this week in the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway with a chip on their collective shoulder after their early exit from last Sunday’s race. The #77 Furniture Row Racing team is coming off its shortest outing so far in Jones’ rookie season. Damage from a Lap 5 crash last Sunday at Richmond International Raceway saddled the team with a 38th-place finish.
The pack racing Talladega provides may be one of the more challenging venues on the NASCAR schedule to get back in the saddle but Jones is confident heading into the weekend. He will be driving the #77 ToyotaCare Toyota Camry this weekend. ToyotaCare is a complimentary maintenance plan and roadside assistance program is provided with the purchase of every new Toyota vehicle for up to two years.(Furniture Row Racing)[More](5-4-2017) - Kyle Busch to driver a Skittles America Mix scheme at ‘Dega: Kyle Busch’s #18 racecar will feature a special Skittles America Mix scheme in Sunday’s Cup Series Geico 500. The Skittles America Mix is a must-have for summer gatherings, road trips and, of course, a great snack while watching a NASCAR Cup Series race either in-person or on television. Every bag contains red, white and blue Skittles with fruit flavors that include strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, wild berry and “yumberry” – the first white fruit-flavored Skittles candy – and are available from April-August this year.(JGR / TrueSpeed Communications)[More](5-4-2017)
- Alex Bowman leads field to replace Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2018: #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. will leave the building before 2018, this much is true. Who will replace him at Hendrick Motorsports? This much is speculation. Earnhardt’s departure will leave a void that ultimately must be filled, even if for all practical matters Earnhardt is irreplaceable as an iconic star of the sport. He moves the needle big-time. But we all must move on, and he will leave the seat warm anyway. So who’s next? Alex Bowman? William Byron? A wild-card entry in Carl Edwards? Early handicapping points to Bowman, who filled in for Earnhardt Jr. in 10 of 18 races that Earnhardt missed last season with concussion-related symptoms. Bowman wasn’t spectacular, but he was steady. Bowman, 24, posted an average finish of 19.7 in those races.
“I see Rick Hendrick going young,” said Steve Letarte, Earnhardt’s former crew chief and now an analyst with NBC Sports. “I do not think William Byron is the answer in 2018. I think Hendrick understands that drivers need to mature. We have already seen the struggle of Daniel Suárez this season, who is the Xfinity champion, perhaps getting moved up a little too quickly. I think that can be a detriment to a driver’s career. I have Alex Bowman circled on a piece of paper. I think Bowman is the perfect guy. I don’t mean a five-year contract, maybe a one- or two-year deal.”(Orlando Sentinel)[More](5-4-2017) - Brad Keselowski shares the secret to success at Talladega Some drivers relish Talladega. Some drivers hate it. I still remember this time-it was probably 2003-and there was this video game called “NASCAR Racing 2003 PC.” And I would run it and have a great time. There was this online community, and we would race all kinds of different tracks. It was a lot of fun, but there weren’t a lot of great drivers. I wasn’t a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver then, but I was a decent online racer. We’d go to all these different tracks. We’d go to a Bowman Gray or a Dover or a Michigan, and I had a blast with that. But you’d only get maybe five or 10 guys who were any good, and the rest were intimidated, so it was almost like it was too easy. So this online league I was racing with started this thing where we would race on Tuesday nights, and we had this series where we would race on superspeedways, and like 80 to 100 people would show up and race it. Talladega was two of the races, and my bother (Brian) and I would race on it together. I remember winning those races and thinking, ‘That’s so cool to beat all these guys’ and kind of almost falling in love with Talladega online.(as told to Reid Spencer of the NASCAR Wire Service by Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Team Penske Ford)[full post here](5-4-2017)
- Richmond XFINITY Series penalties announced: NASCAR has announced penalties to three NASCAR XFINITY Series teams following the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond International Raceway on April 29. The teams of #21-Daniel Hemric, #3-Ty Dillon, and #46-Quinn Houff were penalized for lugnut violations.[More](5-4-2017)
- Cobb announces plans on and off the track, team direction Jennifer Jo Cobb announced her plans to grow her family and continue her race team. The hope for the female racer is to maximize opportunities for development drivers to race and align the team for a more competitive 2018. Additionally, longtime crew chief Steve Kuykendall, will be stepping away from the track temporarily.[More](5-4-2017)
- Boyd partners with Excessive Carts The Excessive Carts logo will be featured on the #12 Grunt Style Chevrolet Silverado at Kansas Speedway on May 12 and at Texas Motor Speedway on June 9.[More](5-4-2017)
- Single-Day Tickets for Ford Championship weekend go on sale May 5th Single-day tickets to NASCAR’s season finale Ford Championship Weekend will go on sale to the general public this Friday, May 5. The three-day championship tradition at Homestead-Miami Speedway features a weekend full of scintillating racing by the world’s greatest stock car drivers. In addition to crowning champions in each of NASCAR’s three national series, all eyes will be on Homestead-Miami Speedway for another reason that weekend, as it will serve as the setting for the final laps of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Monster Energy Series career. Tickets to Ford Championship Weekend can be purchased by visiting HomesteadMiamiSpeedway.com or by calling (866) 409-RACE (7223).(HMS)[More](5-4-2017)
- Lethal Weapon star Clayne Crawford to drive ‘Dega pace car Alabama native Clayne Crawford, who portrays Detective Martin Riggs on the FOX hit show “Lethal Weapon,” will be the Honorary Pace Car driver for Sunday’s (May 7) GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. The actor, who has had a successful career with both television and film roles, hails from Clay, AL, less than 50 miles away from NASCAR’s biggest and baddest race track on the planet – Talladega Superspeedway. He will lead the field of 40 drivers around the mammoth 2.66-mile venue to the green flag of the 10th race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. Lethal Weapon first aired on FOX in September 2016, and after a successful first season, was renewed for a second. The action-filled show reimagines the 1987 hit movie franchise by following two detectives, Riggs (Clayne Crawford) and Roger Murtaugh (Damon Wayans). Crawford’s character is an ex-Navy SEAL who moves to California to start over at LAPD after a family tragedy. There, he is assigned to work with Murtaugh, who is just returning to the line of duty following a heart attack. Despite clashing at first, after working with Murtaugh, Riggs quickly realizes he’s found not only a coworker, but a friend. One of them has everything to live for, and the other has nothing to lose. Crawford also starred on the acclaimed cable series “Rectify,” which won the 2014 Peabody Award for Excellence in Television Broadcasting. He received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his part on the show. For ticket information regarding this weekend’s races, call the Talladega Ticket Office at 855-518-RACE (7223) or log on to www.talladegasuperspeedway.com.[More](5-4-2017)
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