joe gibbs

Erik Jones / No. 20 Sport Clips Toyota Camry Preview

by Mike
Erik Jones / No. 20 Sport Clips Toyota Camry Preview

Toyota Owners 150 at Virtual Richmond Raceway

eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series

 

No. 20 Sport Clips Toyota Camry News and Notes:

  • JONES AT RICHMOND RACEWAY: In actual NASCAR races at Richmond Raceway, Erik Jones has six Cup Series starts with four top-15 finishes and a best-career finish of sixth in 2017 during his Rookie Season. In addition to his Cup Series starts, Jones has four starts at the Virginia short track in the Xfinity Series earning three top-five finishes and one pole starting position. He recorded his best finish at the track in the Xfinity Series in 2016 when he finished second.
  • FORMAT: This week’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race at Richmond Raceway will consist of 150 laps with 30 drivers competing for the win. Drivers will qualify Sunday morning to set the field for the Toyota Owners 150.
  • ROUND 4: This week will mark round four of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. Jones has competed in the first three rounds and recorded his best finish of 10th at virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway.
  • VIRTUAL BRITSOL RECAP: Erik Jones started and finished the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway in the 31st position after technical issues plagued Jones in the heat race and the race.
  • RACE INFO: The Toyota Owners 150 at Virtual Richmond Raceway is scheduled for Sunday, April 19, 2020. Coverage will begin at 1:00 p.m. ET on FOX and FOX Sports 1.

 

From the Driver’s Seat:

Erik Jones: “I’m looking forward to Richmond. I’ve got a new Sim setup for this weekend, so I think that will go really well. Richmond has been a pretty good track to me in the past in the Cup Series and in the Xfinity Series as well. I hope that we can go and have a good run and get out there and contend in the top 10, top five and have a good shot at it. I’ve been putting in some good time this week on the sim trying to figure out the track and continue to improve. Hopefully it all pays off this Sunday when we get racing.”

 

About Sport Clips

Sport Clips Haircuts is headquartered in Georgetown, Texas. It was established in 1993 and began franchising in 1995. The sports-themed haircutting franchise, which specializes in haircuts for men and boys, offers online check in for clients, and is ranked by Forbes as “Best Franchise to Buy” in the medium investment category and named a 2020 Top Franchise by Franchise Business Review. There are more than 1,850 Sport Clips stores open in the U.S. and Canada. Sport Clips is the “Official Haircutter” of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), offers veterans preferential pricing on haircuts and franchises, and was named a 2019 Top Franchise for Veterans by Entrepreneur. Sport Clips provides “Haircuts with Heart” through its annual Help A Hero fundraiser that has contributed nearly $8 million to the VFW; national partnership with St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants; and other national and local philanthropic outreach. Sport Clips is a proud sponsor of Joe Gibbs Racing’s NASCAR drivers Erik Jones, Martin Truex, Jr., Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin; Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Indy Car driver Santino Ferrucci; and partners with numerous NCAA and professional sports teams. To learn more about Sport Clips, visit sportclips.com.

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On This Date in NASCAR History…

by Mike
On This Date in NASCAR History…

Sunday, April 14, 2002 – On this day in history, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Labonte took the lead with 55 laps to go from fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart to win the NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway – an event that ended under caution. In 42 starts at Martinsville the victory was Labonte’s lone win on the historic short track. (more…)

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Erik Jones – No. 20 STANLEY Toyota Camry Preview – iRacing Pro Invitational – Bristol Motor Speedway

by Mike
Erik Jones – No. 20 STANLEY Toyota Camry Preview – iRacing Pro Invitational – Bristol Motor Speedway

No. 20 STANLEY Toyota Camry News and Notes:

  • JONES AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY: In actual NASCAR races at Bristol Motor Speedway, Jones has six NASCAR Cup Series starts at the Tennessee track. In those six starts, his best finish is 2017 during his rookie season when he started from the pole and led 260 laps before finishing second to Kyle Busch. In the Xfinity Series, Jones has six starts with two wins, three top-five finishes, four top-10 finishes and three pole starting positions. In his lone Truck Series start at Bristol, Jones earned a sixth-place finish.
  • NEW FORMAT: This week’s eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway will feature a qualifying session to set the grid for two 50-lap heat races. The heat races will determine the starting order for the featured 150-lap main event.
  • ROUND 3: This week will mark round three of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. In the first two rounds, Jones has scored a 10th-place finish at Virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway and a 21st-place finish at Virtual Texas Motor Speedway. Each week, the series has set records for viewership with last weekend’s event at Texas Motor Speedway having 1.3 million viewers, another record for eSports.
  • VIRTUAL TEXAS RECAP: Erik Jones started the second race of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series from the 22nd position and crossed the finish line in 21st following a late-race accident.
  • RACE INFO: The Food City Showdown at Virtual Bristol Motor Speedway is scheduled for Sunday, April 5, 2020. Coverage will begin at 1:00 p.m. ET on FOX (where available) and FoxSports 1.

 

From the Driver’s Seat:

Erik Jones: “Bristol should be good. It’s one of my favorite tracks in real life that we get to go to each year. It’s probably going to be a lot different than the last two weeks. It’ll be interesting to see where the preferred grove is with it being split between the top and the bottom in real life racing, so not sure what it’s going to be like in iRacing. We’ll see how it goes. Hopefully we can run a little better than last week. I have more time this week to practice before the race now that I’m getting a little settled in to my house. Hopefully I can get on there, get some laps down and can go up front and contend for the win this week.”

 

About STANLEY Security:

STANLEY Security, a division of Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK), is a provider of integrated security solutions defining the future of the security industry. STANLEY delivers a comprehensive suite of security products, software and integrated systems with a strong emphasis on service. STANLEY is powered by a culture of continuous innovation, providing revolutionary technology and unmatched customer service to commercial, institutional and industrial businesses and organizations. We focus on complete customer transparency and operational excellence in the five customer touchpoints: account management, installation, service, monitoring and billing. STANLEY takes pride in our signature approach to doing business – offering global resources with a local touch. As one of the world’s and most comprehensive security providers, we’re protecting what’s important to you by designing, installing, servicing and monitoring an extensive array of products and solutions that span the entire security spectrum:

  • Intrusion Detection
  • Fire Alarms & Monitoring
  • Access Control Systems
  • Video Surveillance Systems
  • Systems Integration
  • Personal Safety and Security Response
  • Patient Safety Solutions
  • Business Intelligence & Analytics Solutions
  • Standards Development & Strategic Planning
  • Software Support, Consultation and Integration
  • System Design, Installation, Service and Monitoring
Views: 497
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Kyle Busch Texas Pro Invitational Race Report – Inaugural eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Race

by Mike
Kyle Busch Texas Pro Invitational Race Report – Inaugural eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Race
Details:
 

• Event:  eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series
• Date:  Sunday, March 29
• Location:  Virtual Texas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
• Distance:  125 laps (187.5 miles)

• Winner: Timmy Hill of MBM Motorsports in Overtime

• Note: Race extended five laps past its scheduled 125-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.

 

Kyle Busch Result:
 

• Kyle Busch (Started 19th, Finished 17th / Running, completed 130 of 130 laps)

 

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry:   
 

You got into an early accident, but you were able to recover and worked your way back into the top-10 late in the race. Can you take us through your race?

 

“The early wreck, I don’t know what happened there. I was just rolling down the straightaway – I was on the outside – and I just got clipped by the 12 (Ryan Blaney) and spun out and crashed and killed everything and we kept rolling under green because they didn’t throw a yellow for that one. So we rolled around to try and stay on the lead lap and wait for another caution that they would throw a yellow for. That didn’t happen until we went a lap down. But the caution came out and we were able to pit and use our reset and get some tires on it and then we got the wavearound, which was good. That kind of set up the run to the front. We drove from the back, I don’t know, 25th or 26th, all the way back up into the top-10. There was that one long run with a green-flag stop. We had a good roll, we were mowing some guys down and had a fast car on the long runs. There at the end we got caught up in a wreck again. I came off of (turn) two and was following the 43 (Bubba Wallace) and thought I saw a couple of guys get crossed up down low. So I wasn’t sure if the bottom was going to check up, so I was trying to stay high so I could see it and it looked like it was all good and I was going to go back down to the bottom. And when we were entering (turn) three, the 8 car (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) stuck it in there on the bottom on me and we ended up in the wall. There was a big wreck in front of us, too, on that same corner when we got back rolling again, and we were going through a couple of those guys and they did another yellow. We didn’t have a crash repair, so we fixed our car as best as we could fix it to finish the race. That was kind of all there was to it.”

 

Notes:
•  This was Busch’s second iRacing Pro Invitational start.

 

•   In addition to being the founding sponsor of Joe Gibbs Racing back in 1992, Interstate Batteries was also the founding sponsor of Gibbs Gaming and is a sponsor of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota in the weekly eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series.

 

• The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series is an exhibition esports series featuring a collection of actual racecar drivers from the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series.

 

• While the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series kicked off last weekend at virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway and continued at Texas this afternoon, it is a multiweek series emulating the original 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule.

 

• With the sports world on a necessary hiatus to combat the spread of the coronavirus, the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series exists in place of actual NASCAR events.

 

•Each race in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series consists of 35 drivers.

Views: 510
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FedEx Racing Express Facts – Virtual Texas Motor Speedway

by Mike
FedEx Racing Express Facts – Virtual Texas Motor Speedway

Denny Hamlin

#11 “Thank you FedEx team members” Toyota

Joe Gibbs Racing

 

Virtual Race Info:

Race: O’Reilly Auto Parts 125

Date/Time: Sunday, March 29/1 p.m. ET

Race Distance: 125 laps/187.5 miles

Track Shape: Oval

Track Length: 1.5 miles

Banking: 24 degrees

Express Notes:

eNASCAR Homestead Recap: Denny Hamlin took the FedEx Express Toyota to a virtual Victory Lane for the first time Sunday, winning the inaugural eNASCAR Pro Invitational event at a simulated Homestead-Miami Speedway. A barefoot Hamlin, who logged hours of practice time for the work-from-home event, started the race ninth from the seat of his simulator. He led 14 laps during the middle of the race and used a fresh set of virtual tires to surge back to the front in the closing laps. As sports-hungry fans watched the exhibition event unfold live on FS1, Hamlin passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. coming off Turn 4 of the 1.5-mile virtual oval to take the checkered flag.

eNASCAR Texas Preview: After a successful first week on the iRacing platform, the eNASCAR Pro Invitational Series will take a virtual trip to Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday for 125 laps around the high-speed, 1.5-mile oval. Hamlin took the FedEx Toyota to Victory Lane at the real Ft. Worth track one year ago and is logging plenty of practice hours in hopes of making a virtual trip to Victory Lane for a second consecutive week.

FedEx “Thank You” Paint Scheme: For Sunday’s eNASCAR event at virtual Texas, the #11 car will pay tribute to the 475,000 FedEx team members who are working to deliver shipments around the world safely and securely during the COVID-19 pandemic. A special “Thank You” FedEx paint scheme will recognize all the FedEx team members who are working hard to deliver critical medical supplies and equipment to the healthcare community as well as basic goods to people at home.

Hamlin Conversation – Virtual Texas:

FedEx has been very involved in COVID-19 relief efforts. You must feel free very proud to run this special paint scheme.

“Absolutely. They’ve got nearly half a million team members around the world who deserve a big ‘thank you’ right now. They’ve been working hard every day to make sure critical shipments are being delivered during a difficult time. It felt good to go out and get a win for them last weekend, and I hope we can do it again this Sunday in this special virtual FedEx Toyota.”

Do you think the participation and the competition level will go up after the first week of iRacing in this invitational series?

“You know, I don’t think you’re going to get everyone every week. That’s going to be a challenge. But you’re also going to have new guys coming in. There’s probably a lot of Cup guys that didn’t participate that saw this and were like, ‘I need to get back in this.’ Jimmie Johnson, I’m sure, is going to put more time in, Joey Logano, those guys. If you put the time in, you can get some of the benefits of running up front and you start to really like it.”

DATEEVENTLOCATIONSTARTFINISHLAPSSTATUSLED
Mar. 22Dixie Vodka 150Homestead91100/100Running14
Averages/TotalsN/A1100% 14
Views: 502
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KYLE BUSCH eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Homestead Advance

by Mike
KYLE BUSCH eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Homestead Advance
Details:
 

• Event: O’Reilly Auto Parts 125 eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series
• Time/Date: 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 29
• Location: Virtual Texas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
• Distance: 125 laps (187.5 miles)

 

Where to Watch:
 

• FOX network

•  Announcers: Jeff Gordon, Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds, with in-race commentary from Clint Bowyer.

• FS1 (DIRECTV Channel 219 and Dish Channel 150)

• FOX Sports Go app

• FOX Sports Racing for fans in Canada

 

Overview:
 

• The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series is an exhibition esports series featuring a collection of actual racecar drivers from the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series.

• The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series kicked off last Sunday at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway. Texas Motor Speedway serves as the second race of the series. The Pro Invitational Series is designed to emulate emulating the original 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule from week to week.

• With the sports world on a necessary hiatus to combat the spread of the coronavirus, the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series exists for the drivers to have a bit of fun until the resumption of their respective series schedules.

• Each race in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series will consist of 35 drivers.

 

 

KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Camry in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series:
How was your first iRacing experience last week?

“It was quite interesting last week. Ty Gibbs offered me up his rig because I did not have one and I was over at his place last weekend running on his rig. I made some phone calls this week to see who had one since I’m hoping after maybe six weeks we can get back to the racetrack and do what we do each week and I won’t really need to have one. So I’m going on the borrowed train right now for my rig.”

 

Who has been helping you out and what are you using for a rig?

“I got the sim guys over to my house to set one up. Last week, I had to drive 45 minutes over to Ty’s to practice and then 45 minutes back. So now, after we put Brexton (Busch, son) to bed, I can go down there and start working on getting better. Texas seems like it’s going to be a heck of a lot more simple than Homestead was as far as the driving aspect. You just have to hit your marks in turns one and two and get back to the gas and turns three and four, which are going to be wide open. Happy to have Interstate Batteries on board with us this week. They have been a part of iRacing since the beginning with Joe Gibbs Racing, so they’ve been a big supporter of JGR’s regular eNASCAR team. Everyone’s doing it – it’s the hot thing to do – and it was certainly fun to do last weekend to help everyone forget about everything that is happening in the real world. Everyone seems to enjoy it. A lot of guys are getting a little more serious about it and everyone is spending more time, so I figured if I’m going to stop running 30th, I’m going to need to get some more laps (laughing).”

 
Busch Homestead Invitational Notes:
• This will be Busch’s second ever iRacing start in a virtual NASCAR Cup Series race.

 

• This is not Interstate Batteries’ first foray into the world of eNASCAR, as the company was the first partner to join Joe Gibbs Racing’s eSports effort last year in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. For 2020, Interstate Batteries is a weekly sponsor on the No. 18 Toyota driven by Graham Bolin in the regular iRacing Series. Not only was Interstate Batteries the founding sponsor of JGR back in 1992, it was the first to join JGR’s iRacing and NASCAR Heat teams beginning in its inaugural season in 2019.

 

• In addition to Interstate’s extensive involvement in iRacing, Busch’s Rowdy Energy Drink is a sponsor on the No. 51 Toyota driven by Malik Ray in the weekly eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series for JGR.

 

• Last weekend, ARCA Menards Series driver Ty Gibbs helped Busch get up to speed in his iRacing rig as Busch had never tried iRacing until practice the day prior to the first iRacing Pro Invitational race last Sunday at virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway. This week, Busch has had a rig brought to his house and has been busy practicing for Sunday at virtual Texas. William Hartman, Busch’s engineer on his regular No. 18 Toyota Camry Cup Series car, also helped Busch last weekend and will serve as crew chief for this weekend. In addition to Hartman, Busch’s real-life spotter Tony Hirschman is setting up to spot Busch on Sunday from his home in Pennsylvania.

 

• In actual NASCAR Cup Series racing on the 1.5-mile Texas oval, Busch has three wins, 12 top-five finishes and 15 top-10s in 28 starts.

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FedEx Racing Express Facts – Virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway

by Mike
FedEx Racing Express Facts – Virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway

Denny Hamlin

#11 FedEx Express Toyota

Joe Gibbs Racing

 

Virtual Race Info:

Race: eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series event

Date/Time: Sunday, March 22/1:30 p.m. ET

Race Distance: 100 laps/150 miles

Track Shape: Oval

Track Length: 1.5 miles

Banking: 18-20 degrees

Express Notes:

 

New Series: With the on-track action of the NASCAR Cup Series postponed for the next several weeks, Denny Hamlin is among the drivers slated to compete in the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series, a simulation-style eSports program, with the inaugural event on Sunday, March 22, at the virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Hamlin Conversation – Virtual Homestead:

How much will this Sunday’s iRace feel like real racing?

“The simulators are pretty realistic. We’ve all used them to help ourselves improve on some of the tracks and road courses over the years. It will feel just like I’m turning laps at Homestead-Miami Speedway.”

Obviously, a virtual race doesn’t replace on-track racing, but do you feel like this will help boost the mood of race fans?

“We sure hope so. You can’t replace the real thing, but fans will still be able to sit down and watch a race on TV on Sunday afternoon. The cars will all look realistic. I’ll be racing my FedEx Express Toyota, which looks just like the real race car. And even though it’s a virtual race, I’ll still be proud to represent FedEx. They’ve got nearly half a million team members working hard right now to keep critical shipments moving in a challenging time.”

Views: 562
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Ryan Newman Thankfully Survives Scary Daytona 500 Crash

by Chuck Abrams
Ryan Newman Thankfully Survives Scary Daytona 500 Crash

First of all, let’s get right to what really matters and thank God (or whatever higher power you believe in) that Ryan Newman survived what looked to be one of the worst wrecks in recent NASCAR history. There have been some pretty awful wrecks in automotive racing in various forms, NASCAR, IRL, F1, and other but this one had all the earmarks of a very serious accident, reminding many of the terrible crash that killed Dale Earnhardt. (more…)

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