HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (Jan. 27, 2021) – Joe Gibbs Racing announced today that Ty Dillon will drive the team’s No. 54 Toyota Supra in select NASCAR Xfinity Series races in 2021, including the season opener at Daytona International Speedway on February 13. Beyond Daytona, Dillon’s Xfinity Series schedule currently includes races at Homestead-Miami Speedway (February 27), Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March 6) and Talladega Superspeedway (April 24). (more…)
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Lawsuit, Defections, Camping World Highlight Tumultuous Year for NHRA
COVID-19 kept a top team on the sidelines, played a role in loss of series’ long-time title sponsor.
Note: the NHRA Camping World Series was unable to perform at the New England Dragway in Epping, NH due to the Pandemic. However, the 2021 schedule has that event set for June 11-13, 2021.
Source: AutoWeek
Somehow, Doug Kalitta and his drastically pared-down staff navigated the 2020 season, got lucky with an abrupt series-sponsor change at the start of its title stretch, and crowned champions in history-making fashion.
The Top Fuel landings through the first six of 11 races and never fell below second place as he compiled a 21-9 race-day record and won two of his four final-round appearances. Despite his stellar performance, he finished second for the fifth time. This time he was 133 points off Torrence’s; last year he missed his chance by a mere three points.
Even Torrence said, “I’m a big Doug Kalitta fan. The amount of time that he’s spent out here, to come up short, not just one time, but so many times, it’s a mixed emotion for me. I’m happy for my team and myself, but I was saddened for Doug and that whole Mac Tools team. They fought so hard. They had a great car. “The NHRA did not have a Countdown to the Championship for the first time in 12 years. It was the right decision, certainly, but it also proved the NHRA doesn’t need one.
That system whittled the title-eligible fields in each pro class to the top 10 in the standings following the U.S. Nationals, with a six-race runoff determining the champions. The purpose was to drum up excitement in the form of ticket sales and media coverage. No evidence exists that the Countdown yielded either of those results. Besides, the title chases this year had plenty of drama, down to the final day of the season.
Racers seemed to enjoy a return to how it used to be before 2007, with no Countdown and no points.
The biggest loser was Bruton Smith and his Speedway Motorsports Inc., which contracts for six NHRA events each year (at Charlotte, Las Vegas, Sonoma, and Bristol) but was able to host just one: the Finals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in November.
Kudos to the State of Indiana and Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, which took on four races altogether, three in addition to the U.S. Nationals.
Bob Tasca, III of Cranston, RI is expected to be in top form in his Ford Mustang Funny Car when he returns to his home track the New England Dragway in Epping, NH in early June of 2021.
Pay-to-race pricing is generally kept secret. Until today…So now you want to just up and drive NASCAR? You can, for a price. MBM Motorsports has released the cost to rent a full-time NASCAR ride for the 2020 season.
Carl Long Motorsports operates multiple cars across multiple NASCAR divisions. His MBM Motorsports operation is based in Statesville, North Carolina. Timmy Hill ran full-time for the team at the NASCAR Cup Series level in 2020. Chad Finchum also ran three races in a separate part-time NCS efforts for the team’s NASCAR XfSeries lineup, it’s a much larger rotation of drivers because it’s far cheaper to rent Xfinity rides.
Harold Crooms, Chad Finchum, Timmy Hill, Jesse Iwuji, John Jackson, Stephen Leicht, Carl Long, Stan Mullis and Reusall made NXS starts with the team during the 2020 racing season although only three of those drivers made more than 10 starts: Chad Finchum (25), Stephen Leicht (19) and Timmy Hill (15).
The team totaled up 96 NASCAR Xfinity Series entries in 2020. At season’s end they netted two top-5s and for top-10s. On average the team started 29th and finished 26th with 5 laps led.
No driver ran all 33 schedule Xfinity races for the team in 2020. However, for 2021, MBM Motorsports is looking to put a driver in the seat full-time, for a price.
Most of the underfunded teams have a rental program. You either bring money, you bring a sponsor or you watch from the grandstands. However, it’s rare that the actual cost of such a deal is released.
Until today…
Ahead of Christmas, Carl Long Motorsports and MBM Motorsports released the following message on social media. They are looking for a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver, at the cost of $650,000 to the driver.
“We need 1 more full-time driver in Xfinity to complete our line up. You will be going to all Xfinity races. So here is the bargain price of $650,000,” the release opened.
“There are additions like a Cup pit crew, more tires, or engines leased from Gibbs that can be added to the cost.”
“Most teams will not post a cost and try to negotiate, sure I would like to get a 4+ million deal, and if we built 10 new cars each year, we would need big $.”
“Our cars, haulers, engines are all paid for, so there is no need for us to add that to our price. You would be teammates with Timmy, Chad, and Stephen, as well as John Jackson and I may also pop in for a race here and there.”
“I am not going to put someone in because they are a great driver in their local division, I need a person who has money, willing to listen / learn and hopefully do well enough to attract more $ so we can afford to go faster.”
VAIL, Colo. (CBS4/CNN) – Bob Lazier, Vail hotelier and Indianapolis 500 starter, died Saturday due to complications from the coronavirus, his family said. The Minneapolis native was 81.
Bob Lazier, center, with sons Jaques and Buddy at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2014. (credit: Dan R. Boyd/USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters)
“As in life, he fought the good fight with everything he had,” Lazier’s son Jaques told CNN in a statement. “He will be missed.”
Lazier’s death is the fifth of an Eagle River Valley resident and the seventh overall for Eagle County. On Saturday, the county reported 502 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
In 1981, Lazier earned Rookie of the Year honors after finishing ninth in the CART standings. That same season, he would make his only Indianapolis 500 start, starting 13th and finishing 19th. He was forced from the race because of engine failure after completing 154 laps.
The next year, Lazier chose not to attempt to qualify for the Indy 500 after his family expressed concerns following driver Gordon Smiley’s fatal crash during the opening day of qualifying, according to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Lazier, who began racing in the early 1970s, is the father of two IndyCar drivers: 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner and 2000 IndyCar champion Buddy, and Indy 500 and IndyCar veteran Jacques, who picked up an IndyCar win in 2001 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Bob Lazier won a class title in the 1972 SCCA National Championship Runoffs in a Formula Vee. He also raced in Formula 5000 and the USAC Mini-Indy Series before moving to Indy cars in 1981.
Lazier would stay involved in racing as a team owner and by driving vintage race cars. In 2013, he and son Buddy formed Lazier Partners Racing, with Buddy making four Indianapolis 500 starts between 2013 and 2017. Buddy Lazier was a graduate of Curry College in Milton, MA in 1986 and just ten years later won the 1996 Indy 500
The family confirmed Lazier’s death in a statement describing him as its “hero and pioneer.”
“We are all so blessed to have been able to call him husband, father, grandfather and friend,” the statement continued. “He will always be loved, and never forgotten. Go fast and win, Dad!”
Note: Lou Modestino is also a graduate of Curry College in Milton, MA earning a BA in Business in May of 1979.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Dec. 8, 2020) – Due to challenges resulting from the ongoing pandemic and the need for significant advance planning, NASCAR will adjust two race weekends immediately following the 63rd running of the DAYTONA 500 on Sunday, Feb. 14. All three NASCAR national series will now remain in Daytona to run a tripleheader at the storied road course Feb. 19-21 before the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series head down to Homestead-Miami Speedway on Feb. 27-28. (more…)
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
Next Race: Vet Tix/Camping World 200
The Place: Atlanta Motor Speedway
The Date: Saturday, June 6
The Time: 1 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 12:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 200.02 miles (130 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 30),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 60), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 134)
2019 Winner: Kyle Busch
Bounty acquired
The bounty hunter, Chase Elliott, set out to capture the win on Tuesday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway and on the first try, he was successful.
In the closing laps of the North Carolina Education Lottery 200, Elliott held off a hard-charging Kyle Busch to earn the victory and a $100,000 bounty, to be paid to a COVID-19 relief charity of his choice, offered to any full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver who could beat Busch in a Gander Trucks race.
Elliott, who hadn’t been behind the wheel of a truck since 2017, made it happen despite the fact that Busch had won each of his last seven races started in the Gander Trucks.
The idea of the bounty all started when Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick and chairman and CEO of Gander RV & Outdoors, Marcus Lemonis, each put up $50,000 following the Las Vegas event for any Cup driver who could beat Busch in a Gander Trucks race. The money is being donated to coronavirus relief in Elliott’s name.
Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Zane Smith finished third in his first national series start at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Brett Moffitt finished fourth and Sheldon Creed rounded out the top five. John Hunter Nemechek, who was also going after the bounty, finished sixth, Johnny Sauter finished seventh followed by Ty Majeski, Austin Hill and Ben Rhodes.
Tuesday’s race marked the return for the Gander Trucks, which had been off since Feb. 21 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
They enter another off weekend while the Xfinity Series and Cup Series head to Bristol Motor Speedway, but return on June 6 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Starting lineup, pit stall selection process updates
NASCAR recently announced how the lineup will be set for the two Gander Trucks races through mid-June (Atlanta, June 6; Miami, June 13).
• Positions 1-10: Random draw of teams in those positions in owner points
• Positions 11-21: Random draw of teams in those positions in owner points
• Positions 22-32: Random draw of teams in those positions in owner points
• Any vehicles that are eligible for the Event in position 33rd – 40th will be assigned starting positions based on their order of eligibility.
Like the other two series, pit stall selections will be ordered based on finishing positions from the series’ previous race, followed by new entries in order of points.
Here is a look at the Gander Trucks points standings:
| DRIVER | POINTS | BEHIND | WINS |
| Austin Hill | 120 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnny Sauter | 103 | -17 | 0 |
| Zane Smith | 103 | -17 | 0 |
| Ben Rhodes | 99 | -21 | 0 |
| Brett Moffitt | 98 | -22 | 1 |
| Sheldon Creed | 90 | -30 | 0 |
| Grand Enfinger | 81 | -39 | 1 |
| Christian Eckes | 78 | -42 | 0 |
| Tyler Ankrum | 76 | -44 | 0 |
| Codie Rohrbaugh | 12 | -48 | 0 |
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Fresh off a ninth-place finish at Darlington Raceway on Wednesday night, Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/FVP team head to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Cup circuit’s annual Memorial Day weekend tradition – the Coca-Cola 600.
DiBenedetto, who enters the weekend ninth in the Cup standings, said he’s expecting to run well in his first start there in the iconic No. 21 Mustang.
“It’s a fun place to race,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
DiBenedetto, driving for another team last year, had a fast car in for the Monster Energy Open that preceded the All-Star race at Charlotte, finishing fourth. He said he can build on that as well as his second-place finish earlier this year at a similar track – Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“We were fast at the end at Las Vegas, so I feel good about that,” he said. “And Greg (Erwin, crew chief) and the people on the team feel good about the car and the set-up.”
The Wood Brothers will be making their 117th start at Charlotte, where they have six wins, 24 top-five and 39 top-10 finishes. They also have 19 poles, including 13 in a row from 1973-1979.
As part of NASCAR’s and Charlotte Motor Speedway’s annual 600 Miles of Remembrance, each car in the Coca-Cola 600 will carry the name of a service member who died serving their country.
This year, the Menards/FVP Mustang will carry the name of Air Force Major Lucas F. Gruenther, who was an F-16 Flight Lead and the Chief of Flight Safety for the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base in Italy.
As Chief of Flight Safety, he developed and executed all aspects of the wing commander’s flight safety mishap prevention and response program. He was responsible for conducting mishap investigations and safety inspections. Additionally, Major Gruenther directed various working groups, wrote and maintained the wing Mishap Response Plan, and coordinated safety concerns on all matters relating to airfield construction and maintenance.
Major Gruenther earned his commission from the United States Air Force Academy in 2003, where he was a Distinguished Graduate and member of the Parachute Team, the “Wings of Blue.”
He had more than 400 combat hours, including his service in Operation Enduring Freedom.
Major Gruenther, from Twain Harte, Calif., died Jan. 28, 2013, from injuries suffered when he ejected from his F-16 during a nighttime training flight.
He is survived by his daughter Serene Gruenther, who was born on February 7, 2013, just after he died, and his wife of seven years, Cassy Gruenther. He also is survived by his mother Romel Mathias, and numerous other relatives and friends.
Qualifying for the Coca-Cola 600 is scheduled for Sunday, May 24, at 2:05 p.m., and the race is set to start just after 6 p.m., also on Sunday, with TV coverage on FOX.
There will be no practice, and fans will not be allowed at the track.
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Menards
A family owned company started in 1958, Menards is headquartered in Eau Claire, WI. Menards has more than 300 retail stores located throughout the Midwest in the states of IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI and WY. Menards is known throughout the home improvement industry as the low price leader. It’s famous slogan “Save Big Money at Menards” is widely known and easy to remember. For more information, visit Menards.com, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.
Wood Brothers Racing
Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glen Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glen’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Matt DiBenedetto in the famous No. 21 racer.
No. 54 APP State Class of 2020 Toyota Supra News and Notes:
Busch Career Xfinity Series Stats at Charlotte Motor Speedway:
| Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Poles | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
| 25 | 8 | 18 | 21 | 2 | 1,381 | 8.4 | 6.6 |
Busch 2020 Season NASCAR Xfinity Series Stats:
| Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Poles | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 123 | 8.8 | 13.2 |
Busch Career NASCAR Xfinity Series Stats:
| Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Top 10 | Poles | Laps Led | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
| 354 | 96 | 218 | 256 | 68 | 19,626 | 7.5 | 9.0 |
Despite struggling to find the speed he hoped to have at Darlington Raceway, Matt DiBenedetto came away from two races in four days with two solid finishes, including his second top-10 finish of the season, a ninth-place effort in Wednesday night’s 500-kilometer race at the Lady in Black.
DiBenedetto and his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang fired off fast in Wednesday’s race, the start of which was delayed by rain throughout the day.
He started seventh after the qualifying order was set through an inversion of the finishing order of Sunday’s Darlington race in which he finished 14th.
He had driven up to fifth place, but made an early pit stop because he and the team were worried that there might be an issue with his car.
The decision to pit cost DiBenedetto and the team track position and caused them to use up one of the eight sets of tires each team was allotted for the race.
DiBenedetto restarted 27th and passed 15 cars in just 10 laps.
“It was fun to fly through the field like that,” he said. “I was surprised how many cars I could just fly by.”
But as the track took on more rubber, the results weren’t as good.
“We were a lot better on the green track,” he said. “When the track rubbered up, we just weren’t where we needed to be.”
Still he was able to finish 10th in the second 60-lap stage, earning one stage point.
As the laps wound down, DiBenedetto and his team, led by crew chief Greg Erwin and spotter Doug Campbell, used strategy to move into the top 10 when it counted.
Sensing rains would arrive before the race reached the advertised distance, the decision was made to leave DiBenedetto on the track when the caution flag flew with 32 laps remaining.
DiBenedetto moved up to second for the restart and was hanging on to ninth place when the race was called for rain 20 laps shy of the planned 228 laps.
“We gambled at the end and got lucky, but we’ll take it,” he said of his second top-10 finish of the season, the first a runner-up run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the second race of the season. “All of the tracks except for Darlington we have had really good speed, so I know we will take a little luck from this one and moving forward we should be fast at a lot of places and be better at Charlotte.”
DiBenedetto and the team remain in ninth place in the Cup standings heading into this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
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About Motorcraft:
Motorcraft offers a complete line of replacement parts that are recommended by Ford Motor Company. From routine maintenance to underhood repairs, Motorcraft parts offer value with high quality and the right fit at competitive prices. Motorcraft parts are available nationwide at Ford and Lincoln Dealers, independent distributors and automotive parts retailers, and are backed by the Service Parts Limited Warranty of Ford Motor Company. For more information, visit www.motorcraft.com.
About Omnicraft:
Omnicraft is part of the Ford lineup of parts brands: Ford Parts, Motorcraft and Omnicraft. Omnicraft is the exclusive non-Ford/Lincoln parts brand of premium aftermarket parts. With over a century of parts heritage to build upon, Omnicraft provides excellent quality and fit and is a preferred choice of professional automotive technicians. To find out more about Omnicraft, visitwww.omnicraftautoparts.
About Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center
Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center offers extraordinary service for routine vehicle maintenance including tire repair and replacement with a Low Tire Price Guarantee and a full menu of automotive services including oil and filter, brakes, alignments, batteries, and shocks and struts on all vehicle makes and models. Service is performed by certified technicians at more than 1,000 locations worldwide while you wait, and no appointment is necessary. For more information about Quick Lane, please visit www.quicklane.com.
About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan. The company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of Ford cars, trucks, SUVs, electrified vehicles and Lincoln luxury vehicles, provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company and is pursuing leadership positions in electrification, autonomous vehicles and mobility solutions. Ford employs approximately 200,000 people worldwide. For more information regarding Ford, its products and Ford Motor Credit Company, please visit www.corporate.ford.com.
Wood Brothers Racing
Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glen Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glen’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Matt DiBenedetto in the famous No. 21 racer.
