Another year in NASCAR is about to begin

2014 was an exciting year in NASCAR. Hopefully 2015 will see much of the same action. There will also be changes in the form of Comcast Xfinity replacing the Nationwide Series, the new Fox-NBC television contract that runs through 2024, a new Toyota Camry model, Darlington going back to Labor Day weekend, several drivers with new teams, new specifications for cars, and much more. 2015 is being promoted as the beginning of a new era with the new television contract. It will also be a new era for many drivers and fans. NASCAR has every reason to look forward to 2015 and it should be another great year for stock car racing.

Past national series tracks in trouble

Many auto racing tracks across the United States that previously hosted NASCAR national series races have now fallen on hard times. One track that has been in the news lately is the 1-mile oval Rockingham Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina. Rockingham, after having two Cup dates for many years, hosted its last Sprint Cup Series race in February of 2004, which was won by Matt Kenseth. The track's spring date went to Phoenix, Arizona and its fall date to Fontana, California. After being purchased by former driver Andy Hillenburg, Rockingham hosted a Camping World Truck Series race in 2012 and 2013. Another round of financial troubles caused the bank to attempt to take control of the track, with Hillenburg eventually agreeing to put it up for sale again. Fans have been asking NASCAR for a decade to put Rockingham back on the Cup schedule, but at this point it's little more than wishful thinking.

Wood Brothers hope to run full-time again someday

Wood Brothers Racing is one of NASCAR's all-time most famous and most successful teams. Their legendary #21 car, currently a Ford Fusion, has been a fixture in the Sprint Cup Series for decades, and has been piloted by such drivers as David Pearson, Junior Johnson, Buddy Baker, Neil Bonnett, Dale Jarrett, Ricky Rudd and Bill Elliott. But in recent years, sponsorship issues have forced the family from Virginia to cut back on the number of races in which they compete. The Wood Brothers did tend to run part-time schedules in their early years, like most teams in that era, although that was before teams running for the series championship were required to enter every race.

But the #21 team is hoping to eventually return to a full-time schedule and get back into the NASCAR spotlight. The Woods last visited victory lane in 2011, when 20-year-old Trevor Bayne shocked the motorsports world by winning the Daytona 500 in just his second Cup series start. It was the first win for the famed #21 machine since Elliott Sadler's 2001 Bristol win. The team last ran full-time in 2007 with a split between Elliott, Ken Schrader, Jon Wood and Boris Said. They did get more sponsorship following Bayne's Daytona 500 win, but they continued to run part-time with him, while at the same time entering into an alliance with Roush Fenway Racing, where Bayne was a research and development driver at the time.

Bayne is now going full-time to the Sprint Cup Series with Roush in the #6 Ford, which will take the place of Carl Edwards' #99 car from the past decade. The #21 will be taken over by three-time Truck and two-time Xfinity race winner Ryan Blaney, and the Woods have entered into a new Ford alliance with Team Penske, with whom Blaney is a development driver, and which Blaney's former truck team Brad Keselowski Racing is also aligned with since Keselowski is a Cup driver with Penske. The #21 will probably be most closely associated with Penske's part-time #12 car. It could be the first step toward the Wood Brothers going back to full-time competition, but we'll have to see how Blaney performs as the legendary team's newest driver.

Are Carl Edwards' JGR expectations too high?

Carl Edwards really thinks his first year with Joe Gibbs will be better than his last year with Jack Roush. In 2014, Edwards gave the Roush team its only two Cup victories. In 2015, as Edwards said recently, "I plan to win 10 races and the championship." Some people think Edwards is referring to his former Roush teammate Matt Kenseth's first season at JGR in 2013, in which he won seven races and finished second in points behind Jimmie Johnson. Kenseth has not won a points race in the Cup series since.


Similarly, Edwards finished second in points behind Johnson in 2008 after winning nine races, and then went winless in 2009. He then tied with Tony Stewart in 2011, but was credited with second place due to Stewart having won more races, and then endured another winless season in 2012. But people are expecting Edwards and Kenseth to work together and both find victory lane in their first year as reunited teammates. And while it does sound like a crazy thing for Edwards to say, maybe he might manage to win ten races and finally win the Cup championship in this coming season if he feels really determined.

New sponsorships abound for races in 2015

Along with the new Xfinity title sponsor for NASCAR's number two series, some races across NASCAR's top three series will also have new names. Perhaps the most notable is the withdrawal of Aaron's from the Talladega race weekend in May, meaning no more Aaron's 312 or Aaron's 499.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas today. I have a whole post about it on my other blog. For this blog, here's a picture of a Christmas-themed car I made in NASCAR Racing 2003 Season.

Drivers have fun at Christmas parties

Many NASCAR drivers have hosted or been guests at Christmas and holiday parties during the past several days, and shared their experiences to social media. Drive like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne from the Hendrick bunch sported ugly Christmas sweaters, with Earnhardt's depicting Jesus with "birthday boy" written underneath, and Kahne's filled with little kittens hiding in Christmas stockings. Users were asked which sweaters were the "worst," in this case meaning the best. On another side of the celebrations, Michael Waltrip posted a picture of an epic shrimp table at his race team's Christmas party at the shops in North Carolina.

My favorite Cup paint schemes, part 4

My favorite Cup paint schemes, part 3

My favorite NASCAR paint schemes, part 2

Sam Hornish Jr./Ryan Blaney/Juan Pablo Montoya #12 SKF Ford, Team Penske, 2012-2014

Mike Bliss/Rick Mast/Ron Hornaday/Stacy Compton/Mike Wallace #14 Conseco Pontiac, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, 2000-2002

Tony Stewart #14 Burger King Chevrolet, Stewart Haas Racing, 2009

Michael Waltrip #15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, Dale Earnhardt Inc., 2001-2005

My favorite Cup paint schemes, part 1

Mike Bliss #0 NetZero/Best Buy Chevrolet, Haas CNC Racing, 2005

Haas CNC Racing was car owner Gene Haas' first foray into NASCAR's top series. The #0 car sponsored by NetZero went full-time in 2003 as a Pontiac with three-time Truck Series champion Jack Sprague. After releasing Sprague midway through the season, Haas hired Jason Leffler, John Andretti and finally Ward Burton, who remained with the team in 2004 but left near the end of that season. That's where Bliss came in, followed by the beginning of 2005 by Best Buy as a new sponsor. The resulting paint scheme contained a black background with purple, yellow, orange and red lines containing a gradient pattern. Bliss almost took the #0 to the last spot in the 2005 Nextel All-Star Race but was spun by Brian Vickers coming to the checkered flag in the Nextel Open.

Bliss left the Haas team after the 2005 season, as did NetZero. 2006 saw Jeff Green pilot the renumbered #66 machine. Best Buy pulled their sponsorship after 2007 and for 2008 Scott Riggs took over as driver. Haas joined forces with former Joe Gibbs driver Tony Stewart to create Stewart Haas Racing in 2009. The #66 became the #39 driven by Ryan Newman, which then became the #4 of Kevin Harvick for the 2014 season. Harvick took the car to the Cup championship in his first year with the team.

Regan Smith #01 Principal Financial Chevrolet, Dale Earnhardt Inc., 2008

The #01 team at DEI had its roots in the #36 Pontiac at MB2 Motorsports, which opened in 1997. That car became the #01 U.S. Army car in 2003, and the following year they switched to Chevy. In 2006 MB2 became known as Ginn Racing. Midway through 2007 the team merged with DEI, and the result was the closure of the #13 and #14 teams at Ginn and the transfer of the #01 and the #14's owner points to DEI. Regan Smith had been lined up to replace Sterling Marlin in the #14, but after the merger he ended up in the #01.

This is the paint scheme that appeared on Smith's #01 Chevrolet Impala during his 2008 rookie Cup season. It was predominantly black with the Principal logo appearing in blue. The numbers also have a blue shadow underneath them. The car's look is completed by the "E" stripes on the bottom left, which added a nice touch to every DEI car. This simple, unique scheme almost went to victory lane at Talladega in October of '08, but Smith was disqualified because he was below the yellow line when he took the checkered flag, and the win was handed to Tony Stewart.

2008 would ultimately be DEI's last year as an active NASCAR race team. During the 2008-09 offseason, they merged with Chip Ganassi Racing to form Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Along with the #01 team, the #15 team at DEI and the #41 team at CGR ceased to exist after this second merger, leaving DEI's #1 and #8 cars and CGR's #42 car to enter 2009 as a three-car stable. The #8 team would also disappear before the end of '09, and after the 2013 season Teresa Earnhardt sold her share of the team to Chip Ganassi. Meanwhile, Smith ended up at Furniture Row Racing driving the #78 Chevrolet, winning at Darlington in 2011 before going back down to the Xfinity Series with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Clint Bowyer #07 DirecTV Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing, 2006-2008 (some races)

The #07 car at RCR started in 2001 as the #30 AOL car. Richard Childress picked up Jack Daniel's whiskey as a sponsor during the 2004-05 offseason, and changed the number to #07 as a reference to Jack. Below is the main paint scheme on that car from 2005 to 2009.

In 2006, rookie Clint Bowyer replaced Dave Blaney in the #07, which quickly became one of the best-known NASCAR cars of the period. But one lesser-known special paint scheme was the DirecTV scheme that Bowyer drove in a few races during his three seasons driving the car. The blue-and-white paint job on the DirecTV car stands out a lot from the black Jack car. The top and back contain baby blue, while the bottom is a darker blue. There is a medium-blue stripe on either front quarter panel and plain white on the hood behind the DirecTV logo and the rear quarter panels, which still contain the Jack Daniel's logo. The numbers are also outlined in blue.

After 2008, Bowyer moved to the #33 car at RCR, giving the team four full-time cars. The new driver of the #07 machine was Casey Mears. DirecTV did not appear as a primary sponsor at all in 2009. Mears was released from RCR after a mediocre season and the #07 team was shut down after Jack Daniel's pulled their sponsorship. After taking 2010 off, the team was revived in 2011 as the #27 driven by Paul Menard and sponsored by his father's hardware store Menards. The #27 and #30 iterations of this car will also be covered in other posts in this series.

Dale Earnhardt #3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing, 1988-2001

One of the best-known and most recognizable cars in NASCAR history, the black #3 car of "The Intimidator" will always be regarded along with Richard Petty's #43 as one of the sport's best paint schemes. After driving it as a special scheme in a couple of races, Earnhardt picked up Goodwrench as the replacement for the blue and yellow Wrangler paint scheme on his Richard Childress-owned Chevy in 1988. He took the black car to four of his seven Winston Cup championships in the 1990s. Earnhardt also took Goodwrench to victory in the 1998 Daytona 500.

Earnhardt died in a crash with Ken Schrader on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 with two of his Dale Earnhardt Inc. drivers, new recruit Michael Waltrip and son Dale Earnhardt Jr., running first and second. "The Intimidator" was my first favorite NASCAR driver, and I as an almost six-year-old had the misfortune of watching him die on live television, while at the same time I was helping driver-turned-commentator Darrell Waltrip cheering on his brother Michael to the win. Even at my young age I knew Dale was dead when he didn't get out of his car, and ever since then I have rooted for a long succession of Cup drivers; my current favorite is Joey Logano. Meanwhile, Dale's replacement at RCR was Kevin Harvick, and the #3 car became the #29 car with an inverted paint scheme. Goodwrench was replaced by Shell/Pennzoil in 2007, which in turn gave way to Budweiser in 2011. This year, the #3 car came back as Richard Childress' grandson Austin Dillon began his full-time Cup career. Nearly 14 years later, the memory of Dale Earnhardt and that black #3 car still live on in NASCAR.

#4 Kodak Oldsmobile/Pontiac, Morgan-McClure Motorsports, 1986-2003

The #4 Kodak car stood out in the Cup series for nearly two decades. It had a solid yellow-orange background with red numbers and various Kodak fixtures, including a rainbow pattern at the bottom that existed in a number of variations. Early drivers included Phil Parsons and Rick Wilson. In 1989 Ernie Irvan was hired to drive the Kodak machine, and won several races including the 1991 Daytona 500. Late in 1993, he moved to the #28 of Robert Yates Racing to replace the deceased Davey Allison. In 1994, Sterling Marlin took over and won the '94 and '95 Daytona 500s along with four other races, before departing for Team SABCO after the 1997 season. Marlin's successor was Bobby Hamilton, who won at Martinsville in 1998, and left after the 2000 season for Andy Petree's team. A series of drivers followed, including Robby Gordon, Kevin Lepage, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Mike Skinner and Stacy Compton.

In 2004, Kodak moved their sponsorship to the #77 Dodge of Jasper Motorsports, owned by Doug Bawel. The #4 at MMM subsequently picked up Lucas Oil as a new sponsor and Jimmy Spencer as their driver. Spencer was eventually replaced by Mike Wallace, who then gave way in 2006 to Scott Wimmer. In 2007, now sponsored by State Water Heaters, the #4 was piloted by Ward Burton during most of the season. MMM shut down during the 2008 season after failing to qualify for a few last races.

Kyle Busch/Casey Mears/Mark Martin #5 Kellogg's/Carquest Auto Parts Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports, 2005-2009

The #5 Chevrolet was Rick Hendrick's first Cup car back in 1984 with Geoff Bodine driving. The car was then driven by Ricky Rudd, who was succeeded in 1994 by Terry Labonte. This is when the car got the famous Kellogg's Corn Flakes paint scheme. It was changed to Frosted Flakes in 2001. Labonte, the 1996 series champion at Hendrick, switched to part-time driving after 2004.

Replacing Labonte in the #5 car was rookie Kyle Busch, the 19-year-old brother of then-defending series champion Kurt Busch. Kellogg's remained a sponsor with Tony the Tiger on the car, and the car also picked up Carquest Auto Parts as another sponsor. This began a series of schemes that were slightly varied over the next few years. All of these schemes contained a mix of blue, red and yellow, with the number decals usually yellow as well. The hood contained either Tony the Tiger, Carquest or sometimes Cheez-It crackers. Busch left Hendrick for Joe Gibbs Racing after 2007 and Casey Mears moved over from the #25 car to make way for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2008. Veteran Mark Martin, after two part-time seasons, took over the #5 full-time in 2009 and won five races.

In 2010, Kellogg's moved over to the #99 Ford of Carl Edwards at Roush Fenway Racing. The #5 at Hendrick got GoDaddy.com (made famous by Danica Patrick) as a new primary sponsor. Martin left Hendrick after the 2011 season and was replaced by Kasey Kahne, who is currently signed until 2018. Current sponsors include Farmers Insurance and Pepsi.

Mark Martin #6 Pfizer Ford, Roush Racing, 2001

Mark Martin was Roush Racing's first full-time driver in the #6 Ford in 1988. After going through a series of sponsors, Pfizer and their drug Viagra came on board in 2001 to replace Valvoline, with whom Martin had enjoyed great success. The number decals also had a new look. One variant of the Viagra/Pfizer scheme only had Pfizer logos on it. Both with and without Viagra, this version of the Roush #6 car, at the time a Taurus, contains a grey-silver top and hood with medium and dark blue shades zig-zagging across the hood and sides, with white at the bottom, white side number decals and a blue top number.

The Viagra schemes went through a few more variations before the sponsor left following the 2005 season. Replacing them as the main sponsor of the #6 car was AAA auto insurance, with Mark Martin driving for Roush for one last year.

Mark Martin/David Ragan #6 AAA Ford, Roush Fenway Racing, 2006-2008

Mark Martin signed an extension with Roush for 2006, with the #6 car becoming a Ford Fusion and with AAA insurance as a new sponsor. The resulting paint scheme had a mostly white front with the AAA logo on the hood, a half-white, half-blue setup on the side panels with a streak of red at the bottom and a red spoiler (later a black wing). In 2007 martin went to Ginn Racing to drive part-time and was replaced by rookie David Ragan. The main sponsor of the #6 car became UPS in 2009.

Michael Waltrip/Mike Wallace/Robby Gordon/Ted Musgrave/Kevin Lepage #7 NationsRent Chevrolet/Ford, Ultra Motorsports, 2000-2001

The Ultra Motorsports #7 Cup team evolved out of the late Alan Kulwicki's self-run operation. Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup championship as a driver-owner, and died in a plane crash the following April. The #7 Chevrolet team was eventually bought out by Geoff Bodine, who went on to win a number of races, his last win coming at Watkins Glen in 1996. Bodine went to another team after the 1998 season, and the #7 team was rebranded as Mattei Motorsports. Michael Waltrip was the new driver, while Philips Light Bulbs came on as a new sponsor. In 2000, with the addition of Nations Rent, the #7 car got a new look with a yellow and black paint job. The Nations Rent logo appeared in a yellow diamond on the hood, while the number decals were featured in black in the same diamonds on the sides, as well as on a solid yellow top. The look was completed by a yellow and black construction-type pattern along the bottom.

Midway through 2000, future Truck Series champion Jim Smith purchased the #7 team and renamed it Ultra Motorsports. Waltrip left for Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2001 and was replaced by Mike Wallace. The #7 car also became a Ford Taurus and Philips left, leaving Nations Rent on its own. Robby Gordon piloted the car at Sonoma and came close to pulling off a win, while Ted Musgrave took over at Pocono. Wallace was released late in the season (he found a ride briefly at Penske Racing as a replacement for the fired Jeremy Mayfield) and Kevin Lepage drove the #7 for the rest of the season.

Casey Atwood #7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge, Ultra-Evernham Motorsports, 2002

After the aforementioned 2001 Winston Cup season, Jim Smith and Evernham Motorsports owner Ray Evernham formed a partnership named Ultra-Evernham Motorsports. Smith's #7 car became a Dodge, for which Evernham had been a flagship team a year earlier, and in 2002 sophomore Cup driver Casey Atwood moved over from Evernham's #19 Dodge, which Jeremy Mayfield took over, to drive the #7 car, which picked up Sirius satellite radio as a new sponsor. Sirius gave the #7 Ultra-Evernham Dodge a black hood with the Sirius logo on it outlined in orange, a blue body and top with the number decals now in Evernham style in orange, and silver-white lines on the edges of the hood and body with an orange line below the grille.

Atwood returned to drive full-time in the Busch Series in 2003, although he competed in the Brickyard 400 in the #91 Dodge before formally leaving the Evernham team. Jason Leffler drove the #7 in the last two Cup races of 2002, after which Smith and Evernham ended their partnership and Smith's team reverted to the Ultra Motorsports banner. Jimmy Spencer drove the #7 Dodge, featuring a new light blue, black and white paint scheme, in 2003 and part of 2004. By 2005, Robby Gordon had purchased Ultra Motorsports and began driving the #7 car under the name Robby Gordon Motorsports.

Johnny Benson/Scott Riggs #10 Valvoline Pontiac/Chevrolet, MB2 Motorsports, 2001-2004

Jason Leffler/J.J. Yeley/Denny Hamlin #11 FedEx Chevrolet, Joe Gibbs Racing, 2005

Darrell Wallace Jr. going to the Roush Xfinity team

Darrell Wallace Jr. will drive the #6 Ford Mustang in the upcoming Xfinity Series season at Roush Fenway Racing. Wallace is replacing Trevor Bayne, who went full-time in the Sprint Cup Series with Roush and brought the #6 back to that series. Wallace asked out of Joe Gibbs Racing, with whom he had a driver development contract, about two weeks ago. This year he drove the #54 Toyota truck for Kyle Busch, who has an alliance in that series with Joe Gibbs, to four wins, including the most recent race at Homestead last month. Wallace also made his Xfinity debut driving for Gibbs at Daytona in July. Wallace joins Elliott Sadler as newcomers at Roush.

Sprint leaving as Cup title sponsor after 2016

The Sprint phone company will end its tenure as the title sponsor of NASCAR's top series after the 2016 season, which will make the "Sprint Cup" era a total of nine seasons. Sprint took over from Nextel in 2008 following the 2005 Sprint-Nextel merger. The Nextel Cup era, following the 2003 departure of tobacco company Winston, took place between 2004 and 2007, making the Sprint Cup name essentially an extension of the Nextel Cup brand. Sprint took over from Nextel by heavily promoting mobile phone usage in NASCAR, leading to a rule that caused car sponsors AT&T (as a Cingular rebrand) and Alltel to pull out. This will be the series' third title sponsor change in what will be 13 years after the end of Winston's sponsorship.

Back in June, Sprint and fellow mobile phone service T-Mobile were considering a merger under the T-Mobile name, which would have forced the NASCAR series to be renamed the "T-Mobile Cup Series." The merger was ultimately called off in August, leaving Sprint as the title sponsor originally through 2018, but now only through 2016 as announced on Tuesday. A rumor has been flying around the internet that Budweiser has already been lined up to replace Sprint starting in 2017, but this is likely little more than a speculative fan-made logo, and there are a lot more potential sponsors for the series as well.

NASCAR expands Sprint Unlimited lineup

NASCAR has changed the eligible drivers for this year's Sprint Unlimited exhibition race at Daytona in February. Along with polesitters of the 2014 season and past winners of the race, the field will now include all 16 Chase drivers regardless of whether they won any poles (most Chase drivers did in 2014 or are past race winners).

The eligible drivers:

• #1 - Jamie McMurray
• #2 - Brad Keselowski
• #3 - Austin Dillon
• #4 - Kevin Harvick
• #5 - Kasey Kahne
• #10 - Danica Patrick
• #11 - Denny Hamlin
• #14 - Tony Stewart
• #16 - Greg Biffle
• #18 - Kyle Busch
• #19 - Carl Edwards
• #20 - Matt Kenseth
• #22 - Joey Logano
• #24 - Jeff Gordon
• #31 - Ryan Newman
• #33 - Brian Scott
• #38 - David Gilliland
• #41 - Kurt Busch
• #42 - Kyle Larson
• #43 - Aric Almirola
• #47 - A.J. Allmendinger
• #48 - Jimmie Johnson
• #55 - Brian Vickers*
• #78 - Martin Truex Jr.
• #88 - Dale Earnhardt Jr.

*Brian Vickers will miss the early part of the 2015 season after heart surgery, and his teammate Clint Bowyer could be lined up to replace him in the Unlimited.

Update 1/8/15: Bowyer has been confirmed as Vickers' replacement in the Unlimited.

Brian Vickers has heart surgery

Brian Vickers had surgery on Saturday to repair a hole in his heart caused by an aid for blood clots he has suffered on multiple occasions. The surgery will cause the driver of the #55 Toyota at Michael Waltrip Racing to miss the beginning of the upcoming Sprint Cup season. Vickers was talking to media about his surgery on Monday.


Vickers' blood clots, which appeared in his legs and lungs, were first discovered in 2010, during his tenure behind the wheel of the #83 Toyota at Red Bull Racing Team. He ultimately missed much of that season. In 2012 and 2013, Vickers drove full-time in the Nationwide Series for Joe Gibbs while driving part-time in the #55 at MWR with Michael Waltrip and Mark Martin. He was named the full-time driver for 2014, but before that was sidelined for the last four races of 2013 and replaced by his Nationwide teammate Elliott Sadler.

Joey Logano gets married, social media has a field day

Joey Logano got married to his girlfriend fiancee wife Brittany Baca on Saturday. The date, 12/13/14, was chosen intentionally because Baca said the sequential numbering would be the best way for Logano to remember it for years to come. Among the guests at the wedding was Brad Keselowski, Logano's teammate at Team Penske. Keselowski, an expert of social media, made several posts to Twitter and Facebook. Logano and Baca also took pictures for Instagram. Some of the NASCAR media was on top of the wedding as well.

This caps a thrilling year for the 24-year-old Logano, who gave car owner Roger Penske five of his eleven Cup wins in 2014, made the final round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup at Homestead and finished fourth in the final standings, making it his best season in the series by far. Logano said more than once about the wedding that it was the "best day of his life." That could change, however, if he wins a championship or major race in NASCAR, which fans hope his new wife won't get in the way of too much.

More tire testing opportunities provided to Cup drivers

It was previously announced that Sprint Cup testing at Daytona in January would no longer be held in 2015, no would any private testing for that matter. However, there will still be many more chances for Cup teams to test their Goodyear brand tires at other tracks. There are also plans for general team and Goodyear testing lined up at several tracks throughout the year.

The first testing session will be held on January 19 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and participants will be Stewart-Haas Racing (#4, #10, #14, #41), JTG Daugherty Racing (#47), Team Penske (#2, #22) and Joe Gibbs Racing (#11, #18, #19, #20).The next group session will take place at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 2 and 3, the day after the Cup race, and will feature Richard Childress Racing (#3, #27, #31, #33), Chip Ganassi Racing (#1, #42), Roush Fenway Racing (#6, #16, #17) and Michael Waltrip Racing (#15, #55). The last initial group session will be on March 10 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, featuring Hendrick Motorsports (#5, #24, #48, #88), Furniture Row Racing (#78), Richard Petty Motorsports (#9, #43) and BK Racing (#23, #26, #83, #93).

Drivers get new paint schemes for 2015

A number of Cup drivers will have new looks on their cars in 2015.

Kasey Kahne #5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet: This new look was designed by a fan.

Greg Biffle #16 Ortho, Cheez-It Ford: The longtime Roush Fenway driver has picked up some new sponsors to replace 3M. Biffle debuted Ortho on his car in September.

Kyle Busch #18 M&M's Crispy Toyota: Busch will carry this predominantly light green paint job in 24 of 36 races to celebrate the return of this M&M's variety after nearly a decade away. This also comes with a new body style for the Camry.

Matt Kenseth #20 DeWalt Toyota: The tools company reunites with Kenseth after several seasons at Richard Petty Motorsports.

Jimmie Johnson #48 Lowe's Chevrolet: The dark blue scheme that is entering its fourth season will be joined by some grey.

Brian Vickers #55 Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine:  The addition of baby blue coincides with a new look for the Camry.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 Nationwide Chevrolet: Earnhardt, an official spokesman for the insurance company, is helping Nationwide move into the Cup series after they left as the title sponsor of NASCAR's number two series. Earnhardt debuted this scheme in September.

Cale Conley signs with TriStar Motorsports in Xfinity

Cale Conley will drive full-time for TriStar Motorsports in the Xfinity Series in 2015. This year, Conley drove part-time in the #33 Chevrolet at Richard Childress Racing, which will be mostly piloted by Austin Dillon this coming season. Although Tristar has gained a reputation for being a start-and-park team, they appear committed to attempting every race in the Xfinity Series in 2015.

Bobby Labonte to appear at Daytona with Go FAS Racing

Bobby Labonte will compete during Speedweeks at Daytona in February and attempt the Daytona 500 driving the #32 Ford of Go FAS Racing. This is the car that his older brother Terry Labonte drove in his final Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega in October after a three-and-a-half decade career. The champion Labonte brothers both made the 500 last year with come-from-behind finishes in the second Budweiser Duel after avoiding a big crash along the frontstretch. Bobby Labonte, whose 2000 series championship makes him eligible for a provisional, was driving a second car for Harry Scott in that event.

Ty Dillon to attempt Daytona 500 with Richard Childress

Ty Dillon will attempt to qualify for his first Daytona 500 in February in the #33 Chevrolet at Richard Childress Racing with sponsorship from Cheerios. Dillon made his Cup debut at Atlanta in August, and appears to be following in the footsteps of his older brother Austin Dillon, a rising Cup sophomore in the #3 Chevrolet. Ty Dillon took his own #3 car to his first Nationwide Series win at Indianapolis in July, and will keep running for points in what will soon be known as the Xfinity Series in 2015.

The #33 car has been shared between the Dillons' grandfather Richard Childress and Joe Falk since early in the 2012 season. Before that, the #33 was a full-time car at RCR driven by Clint Bowyer. This year, besides with Dillon at Atlanta and fall Phoenix, Childress' version of the #33 was piloted by Nationwide/Xfinity driver Brian Scott in the Daytona 500, Aaron's 499 (where he won the pole), the spring race at Phoenix and  both races at Charlotte. It is not known if Falk will turn full control of the car back to Childress so he can field a four-car Cup team again, but for now he seems content using the #33 as a development car for drivers like Dillon and Scott.

Darrell Wallace Jr. leaves Joe Gibbs Racing

Darrell Wallace Jr., who drove one of Kyle Busch's Camping World trucks to four wins this year, is out of his contract at Kyle Busch's alliance Joe Gibbs Racing, it was announced Monday. Kyle Busch's truck team is experiencing sponsorship and funding issues, which is standing in the way of Busch trying to expand the team. Busch has signed ARCA driver Justin Boston, who like Wallace has a driver development contract with Joe Gibbs. Boston will likely be regarded as Wallace's replacement in trucks. It's an unfortunate situation for a driver who has showed real talent and skill in NASCAR's number three series over the past two seasons.

John Hunter Nemechek wins Snowball Derby

John Hunter Nemechek won the Snowball Derby race at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida on Sunday, beating Dalton Sargeant, Derek Thorn and a variety of other drivers. The Snowball Derby is a famous dirt track late model race that has been held every December since 1968, and has featured drivers from all levels of stock car racing such as Darrell Waltrip, Kyle Busch, Rich Bickle, Johanna Long and Chase Elliott, just to name a few.

Nemechek, the 17-year-old son of four-time Sprint Cup race winner Joe Nemechek, led 68 of the 323 laps in the Derby, and had to hold off several more experienced drivers during the final laps. He had competed in the Snowflake 100 event the night before and was running on little sleep. But Nemechek stayed focused on racing and was able to take the victory. He ended Erik Jones' streak of victories in the race. Jones and Elliott were expected to be among the top contenders, but ran into problems and ultimately finished near the back of the field. Also running into trouble was Matt Kenseth's son Ross Kenseth, who suffered a mechanical problem and was disappointed about his early exit.

My predicted vs. actual Sprint Cup winners in 2014

I made predictions of who I thought was going to win before every race this year. Quite a few of my predictions turned out to be right. Here is a full list of my predicted winners and the actual winners of each Cup race this year.

Drivers shine at Sprint Cup awards

The Srpint Cup Series awards banquet was held on Friday evening at the Wynn hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Host Jay Mohr started it off with a comedic monologue that made fun of many of the happenings this year, such as Denny Hamlin missing Fontana due to a piece of metal in his eye, the fights involving Brad Keselowski throughout the Chase, Michael Waltrip's stint on Dancing With The Stars, and the mistake made by Joey Logano's pit crew at Homestead. There were also some other humorous and satirical pieces that Mohr made with the drivers.

After Mohr's introduction, the first four drivers eliminated from the Chase - A.J. Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch, gave short talks. They were followed by the next four eliminated drivers - Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne. Then, third group of four eliminated drivers (Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski) went up to the podium to give individual speeches. This was followed by the presentations of some other awards, including Most Popular Driver, which Dale Earnhardt Jr. won for the 12th year in a row, Rookie of the Year to Kyle Larson and manufacturer's trophy to Chevrolet. There was also a couple of musical performances and a tribute to those who died during the year.

Finally, it was time for the final four championship drivers - Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman and champion Kevin Harvick. They each all got even longer speeches, and Harvick naturally had the grand speech complete with the official presentation of the champion's trophy. Harvick remarked about his championship, "If a kid from Bakersfield can do it, so can anyone." Car owners Tony Stewart and Gene Haas were also there to celebrate with Harvick, whose speech closed out a wonderful night for NASCAR in Las Vegas.

Lower series teams struggling to find sponsors, funding

Several teams in the Camping World Truck and Xfinity series are scrambling to find sponsorship for 2015. A number of drivers are uncertain whether they'll have rides next year. This is especially evident in the Turner Scott Motorsports stable, whose drivers include Kyle Larson, Dylan Kwasniewski and Ben Kennedy. There have been rumors that TSM will shut down or merge with Chip Ganassi Racing, with whom they have an alliance that formed with Larson's signing to the team in the Sprint Cup Series. TSM already shut down their #30 Truck team in August, leading driver Ron Hornaday to eventually go back to his old team from 2013 for a short stint.

Furniture Row, Joe Gibbs switch up crew chiefs

There will be some new driver-crew chief pairings at Furniture Row Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing in the Cup series in 2015. Canadian engineer Cole Pearn has been named as the new crew chief of the #78 Chevrolet at Furniture Row driven by Martin Truex Jr., replacing Todd Berrier in that position. Pearn has been a crew member at FRR since 2010 when he moved there from Richard Childress Racing. Next year's plans for Berrier, who was previously Kurt Busch's crew chief when Busch drove the #78 from late 2012 to the end of 2013, are not yet known.

Meanwhile, JGR president J.D. Gibbs has overseen a crew chief shakeup in the newly expanded four-car Sprint Cup team as well as the Xfinity Series. Darian Grubb has been moved from the #11 Toyota of Denny Hamlin to the new #19 Toyota team created for Carl Edwards, who came from the #99 Ford at Roush Fenway Racing. Dave Rogers is going from the #18 Toyota driven by Kyle Busch to Hamlin's team, and Adam Stevens has been promoted from Xfinity as Busch's new crew chief. Jason Ratcliff is staying with Matt Kenseth and the #20 Toyota. JGR's Xfinity division has Eric Phillips going to the #18 Toyota of rookie Mexican driver Daniel Suarez, while Mike Wheeler is going to the #20 car that has a long list of drivers signed on for the season, and Chris Gayle has been sent to the #54 car that also has multiple drivers, but primarily Kyle Busch.

Joe Gibbs Racing had somewhat of an off-year in Cup in 2014, as the team won just two races in the series in the spring, Busch at Fontana and Hamlin at Talladega, which were also Toyota's only two wins in the series all year. Hamlin did make the final four of the Chase at Homestead but ultimately finished third in the final standings. Matt Kenseth, who won the most Cup races (seven) last year, failed to visit victory lane in the series this year, although he did pull off a win in the Homestead Nationwide finale. Coincidentally, this was previously done by Carl Edwards in 2009, who gave Roush its only two Cup wins in 2014.

Tony Stewart has fourth leg surgery

Tony Stewart has had a fourth surgery on the leg that he broke in a sprint car crash at an Iowa dirt track last August (2013). Stewart had his first two surgeries in quick succession right after the crash, followed by the third a few days later. Stewart was forced to miss the rest of the 2013 Sprint Cup season (Watkins Glen to Homestead) but came back for Speedweeks at Daytona in February. Since his return, Stewart has sat out three more races after the sprint car accident on August 9 in Canandaigua, New York, again before the Watkins Glen race, that killed fellow competitor Kevin Ward Jr. Since Stewart was believed to be fully healed when he was cleared to return to racing in February, it is unclear what necessitated this fourth surgery. Stewart will show up at Friday's Sprint Cup awards banquet in Las Vegas on crutches as he celebrates his driver Kevin Harvick's championship.

Kevin Harvick takes California media tour

Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick is currently going around California with the championship trophy and making visits with various people. He made a surprise trip to his hometown of Bakersfield and went to his old high school, North High School, to visit with students there. Harvick, who brought crew chief Rodney Childers along with him, took pictures with the students and the trophy in front, behind a shrine in the gym of the school's famous alumni that included Harvick's 2007-10 Shell/Pennzoil firesuit. Aside from Bakersfield, Harvick is going to other cities such as Los Angeles to participate in media events leading up to the Sprint Cup awards banquet in Las Vegas on Friday.

Can Kenseth, Stewart, others win again in 2015?

Some of the dominant Sprint Cup drivers in 2013 were not as good in 2014. One of these drivers was 2013 champion Jimmie Johnson, who finished 11th in the final standings, making it his first such finish outside the top ten in his full-time Cup career. Johnson, who also won every series championship from 2006 to 2010, still pulled off four wins, but it took him twelve races - a full third of the season - to get his first win of the year, which finally came in the Coca-Cola 600. After winning two of the next three races as well, Johnson made the chase with his three Hendrick Motorsports teammates, but was eliminated at Talladega in the second-round finale.

But Johnson, who has never been considered to have had a truly horrible season especially given his six championships, had it good compared to other drivers. Matt Kenseth, who was ultimately Johnson's main opponent for the championship in 2013, won seven Cup races last year, more than any other driver. And while Kenseth started 2014 with a win in the first Budweiser Duel qualifying race at Daytona, he didn't win a single points race all year, shocking many fans who believed he would be a championship contender again this year.

Then there's Tony Stewart, whose last Cup win came at Dover in June of last year. Since then he's been involved in a sprint car crash that broke his leg and caused him to miss the rest of the season, followed by another sprint car incident leading to the death of young driver Kevin Ward Jr., after which Stewart sat out three more NASCAR Cup races. Stewart's failure to win this year broke his streak of 15 consecutive seasons, starting in his 1999 rookie season, in which he won a race. He will certainly be hungry for wins in 2015 along with Kenseth.

Other drivers who won in Cup in 2013 but not 2014 are Greg Biffle, David Ragan, Brian Vickers and Ryan Newman. Clint Bowyer, Trevor Bayne, Marcos Ambrose and Paul Menard hadn't seen victory lane in NASCAR's top series in two or more seasons. Similarly, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch broke winless streaks in 2014.

Paint scheme posts coming

Since there's no offseason news from any official NASCAR sources right now I'm going to start preparing a series of posts about my favorite NASCAR paint schemes that I've been thinking of doing   for a couple of months. I already posted a lot of them on some video slideshows that I uploaded to my second channel on YouTube. Most of the pictures on my blog will be the same exact ones on my YouTube videos. Now I have a chance to explain those pictures in greater detail on this page, like explaining why I like these schemes.

NASCAR drivers give thanks on Thanksgiving

Many NASCAR drivers had reasons to be thankful today. That especially goes for Kevin Harvick, who just won his first Sprint Cup Series championship in his fourteenth season on the circuit. Harvick is grateful to car owners Tony Stewart and Gene Haas as well as his crew chief Rodney Childers for helping him toward his championship, as well as the moments he has shared with his wife DeLana and son Keelan. Also posting pictures on sites such as Instagram and Twitter were Michael Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and other drivers. NASCAR themselves even photoshopped a bunch of raceday pictures from this year with Thanksgiving stuff like turkeys and kitchen aprons. It just goes to show that these people celebrate Thanksgiving with the rest of us.

Cole Whitt not driving for BK Racing or Front Row Motorsports in 2015

On Tuesday, a tweet on Twitter stated that Cole Whitt was leaving the #26 Toyota of BK Racing for the #34 Ford of Front Row Motorsports to replace David Ragan. While it's true that Whitt is no longer at BK Racing, Front Row Motorsports has denied that he has signed with them for the upcoming Sprint Cup season. It can be assumed from that that Ragan, who gave FRM their first Cup series win at Talladega last May, will stay in the #34 in 2015 for a fourth season with the team. It is unclear how the rumor that Whitt was headed to FRM was created, and why it was posted on Twitter without confirmation from NASCAR or NASCAR-related sources.

Austin Dillon to compete in majority of 2015 Xfinity races

Austin Dillon will pull double duty in NASCAR in 2015, running the full Sprint Cup schedule as well as most Xfinity Series races. Dillon is staying in the #3 Chevrolet owned by his grandfather Richard Childress, despite rumors to the contrary, and running for points in the Cup series. In Xfinity, Dillon will drive the RCR #33 Chevrolet that was mostly driven by Cale Conley and Dillon's Cup teammate Paul Menard in 2014. He drove the #33 at Texas three weeks ago, while Matt Crafton drove it at Las Vegas in March. Dillon will probably not compete in the standalone Xfinity races since he will continue to drive for points in Cup. He last ran for points in what was then the Nationwide Series in 2013, when he won the championship but not any races.

Phil Parsons replacing Darrell Waltrip at Fox?

We all know that unlike TNT and ESPN, Fox is keeping NASCAR coverage in 2015, adding more Cup races and also getting back the first half of what will soon be known as the Xfinity Series. But what could be uncertain is three-time Cup champion Darrell Waltrip's status as a commentator with Fox. Since its debut in 2001, NASCAR on Fox has featured Waltrip, Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds as its commentators in races (except standalone Xfinity races from 2001-2006) and some practices and qualifying sessions. But Waltrip's latest contract with Fox had him through the 2014 season, which is now over. Furthermore, fellow former driver Phil Parsons has appeared in place of Waltrip during many practice and qualifying telecasts on Fox Sports 1 this year.


Is this a sign that Parsons has been lined up to replace Waltrip in race broadcasts? It's possible since Waltrip has yet to sign another extension, but I don't want to start any rumors either. Either way, Parsons is no stranger to commentating. He first appeared on telecasts with Joy as early as 1984, a good three decades ago, and was one of the standalone Xfinity commentators on Fox/FX during their original six-season NASCAR television contract. Some things like Waltrip's famous "boogity boogity boogity" would be gone, and NASCAR on Fox wouldn't be the same as it once was. But maybe this is all speculation and Waltrip could be staying after all.

#17 Roush Cup team penalized

The #17 Sprint Cup team of Roush Fenway Racing has been penalized for rules infractions discovered following last Sunday's race at Homestead. It was a P3-level penalty that involved the confiscation of an unapproved rear suspension. While driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. managed to avoid a 50-point penalty, his crew chief Mike Kelley has been fined $50,000 and is on probation from January 1 through June 30, including every Cup race from the Daytona Speedweeks events in February to just after the series' first of two annual road course trips in Sonoma, California on June 28. Car chief Patrick Magee is also on probation during the same period.


The Roush penalties are part of a number of middle to upper-level penalties handed out by NASCAR in the organization's top series in 2014. These have also included a P5-level penalty given to the #11 team at Joe Gibbs Racing resulting in the suspension of Denny Hamlin's crew chief Wesley Sherrill, who along with Hamlin, fellow JGR driver Matt Kenseth and other crew members were later involved in two separate scuffles with Team Penske's Brad Keselowski following the Chase race at Charlotte in October, as well as penalties given to the #5 and #24 teams at Hendrick Motorsports for another incident with Keselowski, this time with #24 driver Jeff Gordon. The #5's crew chief Kenny Francis was notably put on probation and has since been moved to another position at Hendrick, putting an end to his professional relationship with driver Kasey Kahne.

My offseason plans for this blog

Now that NASCAR is in its offseason, I don't have any race previews, write-ups or points standings updates to post for three months. So I'll mainly be doing news about drivers and crew members along with posts about some of my personal NASCAR favorites like past races and paint schemes to fill the gap. I also plan to report on the Sprint Cup awards banquet at Las Vegas and also announce the official changing of the Nationwide Series to the Xfinity Series on January 1. I like NASCAR too much to not post anything between the Homestead championship weekend and the net year's Daytona Speedweeks. And besides, there's always plenty of NASCAR news during every offseason, as in all other major sports. So I'm still going to keep busy on this blog fro now until February, when I'll get right to work on blogging about Speedweeks.

Kahne signs extension with Hendrick through 2018

Kasey Kahne has signed a contract extension with car owner Rick Hendrick in a deal that goes on through the end of the 2018 Sprint Cup season. Kahne took over the #5 Chevrolet at Hendrick from Mark Martin in 2012. He is coming off his third season with Hendrick and has won five Cup races with the team. It has also been announced that Keith Rodden will be Kahne's new crew chief in 2015. Kahne's previous crew chief Kenny Francis is on probation for his involvement in the altercation between Kahne's teammate Jeff Gordon and Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski following the Cup race in Fort Worth, Texas on November 2. Francis has since been reassigned to a vehicle technical director position at Hendrick, thus ending his nine-year partnership with Kahne.


Recent speculation by fans had reigning Nationwide/Xfinity Series champion Chase Elliott going to the #5 Cup car at Hendrick around 2016 or 2017. Elliott, who signed with Hendrick in 2011, drives for JR Motorsports, a joint venture between Hendrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. since Earnhardt's move to Hendrick in Cup in 2008. Now that the #5 won't be vacant until at least the beginning of the 2019 season, it looks like the rumors will be back to Elliott replacing Jeff Gordon upon Gordon's retirement, and the #24 car possibly being renumbered to #94. But that's all speculation. Earnhardt and Gordon are both signed with Hendrick through 2017, and Jimmie Johnson through 2016. That creates yet another rumor that Elliott could replace Johnson in the #48. The only thing that's certain is that Elliott could race in a part-time fifth Cup car at Hendrick in 2015. But with Kahne signing an extension, he's not going to the #5 car.

Kyle Larson worked hard for Cup ROTY title

Kyle Larson replaced Juan Pablo Montoya this year in the #42 Chevrolet owned by Chip Ganassi and got into the running for the Rookie of the Year award. Some fans were skeptical of this move when it was announced last August, as Larson had just made his Nationwide Series debut that February, in a race at Daytona that saw him finish in spectacular fashion, airborne against the catchfence. His debut with Ganassi in this year's Daytona 500 was less than spectacular, and at first it looked like Richard Childress's grandson Austin Dillon in the reactivated #3 Chevrolet was the top rookie contender.


But Larson slowly started to prove himself, both in Cup and Nationwide. He got his first Nationwide win in Fontana, California in March. This delighted many fans, since California is Larson's home state. The next day, Larson finished second in the Cup race to Kyle Busch, who has defeated him in a number of races in what will soon be called the Xfinity Series, including two straight spring races at Bristol. Larson then won the 300-mile race the day before the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May, and soon he was running in the top-ten in Cup almost every week. Larson finished in the top ten in the first two Chase races in September, at Chicagoland and New Hampshire. He finished the season with a good run at Homestead, after almost winning the Truck and Nationwide races, and ultimately won the Rookie of the Year award over Dillon. Larson has now proved the haters wrong, and now fans are eager to see him take it to the next level in his sophomore Cup season in 2015.

Summary of the 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup

Here is a summary of the ten races that made up this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup, the first with the new format.


Chicagoland, September 14: Rain sets the field based on practice speeds. Polesitter Kyle Busch and Jamie McMurray lead early. Kevin Harvick takes the lead around the middle of the race. During pit stops late in the race Aric Almirola has a blown engine while running fifth. McMurray's teammate Kyle Larson then finds himself in the lead but is passed by Harvick and Brad Keselowski after two final cautions. Keselowski goes on to win his second straight while his teammate Joey Logano blows his engine, but still finishes fifth.


New Hampshire, September 21: Dale Earnhardt Jr. loses a couple of laps early after an unscheduled pit stop and has to fight his way back to the front. A crash involving four Chasers including Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch takes place on lap 188. Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth get into each other a few laps later. With seven laps left in the scheduled distance Jeff Gordon crashes, and one last crash with Tony Stewart and David Gilliland sets up a green-white-checkered finish. Joey Logano, after crashing in the July race, pulls away to take his second series win at the track, and seventh overall.


Dover, September 28: This was the last race of the Contender round and four drivers were facing elimination. The Chase grid gets shuffled many times throughout the race. There are few cautions and several long green flag runs. Polesitter Kevin Harvick leads more than 200 of 400 laps, but he cuts a tire while leading and has to go to pit road, he finishes 13th one lap down. A similar problem befell Harvick late in the June race. Brad Keselowski leads some laps, but then Jeff Gordon finds himself out front. Gordon leads the last 71 laps to get his fourth win of the season and advance to the second round of the Chase, along with Keselowski, Logano and nine others. The first four Chase drivers eliminated are A.J. Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch, who was making his 500th series start.


Kansas, October 5: Once again, Kevin Harvick wins the pole, but after a pair of early cautions he falls back. Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving the same car with which he swept Pocono, eventually takes the lead, but then hits the wall after leading several laps and has to get repairs. Earnhardt's teammate Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle also get into a crash on the backstretch with Josh Wise and Justin Allgaier, who also had a hard crash with David Gilliland during the May race. Chasers Brad Keselowski and Kasey Kahne run into problems as well. Joey Logano first takes the lead at lap 123, and ends up leading 122 of 267 laps to score his fifth win of 2014 and his second of the Chase.


Charlotte, October 11: The first 25 laps are missed by TV due to other sports games that ran over. ABC finally joins the race during an early competition caution. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who turned 40 years old the day before, takes two tires and comes out in the lead. Several cars have issues and cause a string of oil cautions. Earnhardt later breaks his shifter and ends up a lap down. On lap 247 Danica Patrick and Chasers Joey Logano and Ryan Newman get in a crash, leading to some frustration on the part of all three drivers. Brian Vickers also spins and then later lays down some oil on the track. During the final caution, Brad Keselowski makes Denny Hamlin mad. Kevin Harvick leads the most laps to get his first series win since Darlington in April. and after the checkered flag Hamlin hits Keselowski's car. On pit road a few minutes later, Keselowski bumps into Tony Stewart and Stewart retaliates by backing into Keselowski's car, damaging both cars. In the garage Hamlin and some of his crew members go after Keselowski. When Keselowski is walking to his trailer, Hamlin's teammate Matt Kenseth comes out of nowhere and jumps Keselowski. After exchanging shouts, Keselowski, Kenseth and mayn crew members are sent to the NASCAR hauler.


Talladega, October 19: This race is the Contender round finale. Two-time champion Terry Labonte makes his final start, qualifying ninth in a weird session that sees a driver from a top team (Ricky Stenhouse Jr. of Roush) fail to qualify, Joe Nemechek disqualified and Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon having to get in on champion's provisionals. Truck Series driver Ryan Blaney leads several of the opening laps. Dale Earnhardt Jr., on the brink of elimination, slowly makes his way up front, but later gets shuffled back due to getting stuck in the middle lane. Kyle Busch gets into a crash that collects A.J. Allmendinger, Brian Vickers and others. Martin Truex Jr. and Danica Patrick both get up front late before Ryan Newman gets on the point. A caution with a handful of laps left prompts a green-white-checkered and on the first attempt, Greg Biffle touches off a crash that also involves Earnhardt and Paul Menard. Then on the final lap, Brad Keselowski gets by Newman with help from Matt Kenseth to win and advance to the Eliminator round. Busch, Earnhardt and Earnhardt's teammate Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson are eliminated from the Chase.


Martinsville, October 26: Jamie McMurray wins the pole and leads the first 83 laps. Soon, Jeff Gordon takes over and his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets up to the lead pack after starting in 23rd. Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne have a couple of angry run-ins on the track, and NASCAR tells the to stop. A little later, Matt Kenseth gets into Kevin Harvick, after Harvick had been in the garage for repairs from a spin into the wall. Several spins and debris cautions later, there are two red flags for big crashes in the final 100 laps, one of which involves Kahne, Brad Keselowski and Danica Patrick. After the first stoppage, Earnhardt gets by Clint Bowyer to take the lead. After the second red flag, Gordon leads at the restart but Earnhardt passes him to take his fourth win of the season and his first at Martinsville.


Texas, November 2: Jimmie Johnson leads much of the 500-mile race. The top-ten doesn't change much during the race. As usual, there are multiple debris cautions. There is a long string of yellow flags near the end of the race, starting when Brett Moffitt gets into the wall. Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne also get into trouble. Clint Bowyer brings out a caution to prompt a green-white-checkered finish, and on the first attempt Jeff Gordon is bumped from behind by Brad Keselowski, who has fresher tires. Gordon gets a flat tire and spins, causing a second GWC. Johnson ultimately wins, while Kevin Harvick pushes Keselowski on pit road and then Gordon and Keselowski get into a scuffle along with crew members.


Phoenix, November 9: Four more drivers prepare for elimination as the four who advance get set to race for the championship. Denny Hamlin wins the pole but has some early issues. Joey Logano also spins and has to fight his way back to the front to stay in championship contention. Jimmie Johnson has a pair of spins and ends up in the garage. Late in the race, Matt Kenseth finds himself suddenly pushed out of the running for the championship round. Kevin Harvick once again dominates and pulls away from the field on a late restart to take his sixth series win at the Arizona track and the season sweep. Meanwhile, Ryan Newman sends Kyle Larson into the wall on the final turn to send Jeff Gordon out of the Chase. Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski are also eliminated.

Homestead, November 16: Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick prepare tp compete for the Sprint Cup championship, which none of them have won before. Polesitter Jeff Gordon leads the most laps and stays out of trouble. The race sees a mixture of cautions for debris and crashes. Dale Earnhardt Jr. makes an unscheduled pit stop but later gets a lucky dog. There is a long series of yellows in the closing laps, one for a crash involving Blake Koch. Joey Logano's pit crew loses a lot of time on their last stop, sending Logano way back in the field. On one of the last restarts, Harvick and Newman get by Hamlin. Harvick pulls ahead of Newman during the last laps to win the race and the championship in dramatic fashion.

ESPN leaves the NASCAR business

Sunday's race at Homestead was the last Sprint Cup telecast for ESPN, ending an eight-season stint broadcasting the last 17 races of that season as well as the entire season of what will soon be known as the Xfinity Series (previously the Busch and Nationwide series). ESPN's final trio of NASCAR commentators - former Motor Racing Network and NBC announcer Allen Bestwick, 1999 Sprint Cup champion Dale Jarrett and former Dale Earnhardt crew chief and Cup and Truck series team owner Andy Petree - said goodbye as race and championship winner Kevin Harvick celebrated on the championship stage with his crew and family. They gave a shout-out to other NASCAR on ESPN crew members (pit reporters, infield studio reporters, etc.) such as Dave Burns, Dr. Jerry Punch, Marty Reid, Jamie Little, Vince Welch, Brad Daugherty and Ray Evernham.


ESPN's first Cup Series telecast came in 1981 at the spring race in Rockingham, North Carolina, which was won by that year's series champion Darrell Waltrip. ESPN continued to broadcast various races in the Cup and Xfinity series until the end of the 2000 season. They also carried Truck Series races from 1995 to 2002. From 2001 to 2006, Cup and Xfinity telecasts belonged to Fox and NBC, and their respective cable partners FX and TNT. In 2007, NASCAR returned to ESPN, which became the exclusive home of the Xfinity Series for eight seasons, and the home of most of the second half of the Cup season, until the end of the 2014 season, which we have now reached. TNT, which split from NBC after 2006 and continued doing Cup telecasts with the six-race Summer Series in those same eight seasons, also had their final telecast at New Hampshire in July. From 2015 until 2024 the Cup and Xfinity series will once again be split between Fox and NBC, but this time with new cable partners Fox Sports 1 and NBC Sports Network.

Kevin Harvick wins Sprint Cup championship

Kevin Harvick took the 2014 Sprint Cup Series championship by winning the race at Homestead on Sunday. Harvick held off Ryan Newman, who finished second in the final points with his second-place finish. There was a long series of cautions near the end of the race due to crashes and debris, setting up a three-lap dash to the checkered flag and the showdown between Harvick and Newman. Harvick had a faster car and Newman, who barely made it into the final four coming to the finish at Phoenix last week, couldn't catch him. It was a close race, as Harvick beat Newman in the final standings by just one point.


This is the first Cup championship for the almost 39-year-old Harvick, coming in his 14th season in the series. He won two championships in what was then the Busch Series (soon to be the Xfinity Series) with Richard Childress in 2001 and 2006. Harvick spent his first 13 years in Cup at Richard Childress Racing as well, making his series debut in the second race of 2001 in Rockingham, North Carolina, following the death of Dale Earnhardt in the Daytona 500 the week before. Earnhardt's #3 Chevrolet was changed to the #29 upon Harvick's sudden promotion to Cup. Harvick finished third in points three times with RCR, in 2010, 2011 and 2013. After the 2013 season, Harvick replaced Ryan Newman at Stewart Haas Racing in the #39 Chevrolet, which became the #4. Newman did the reverse, going from SHR to RCR to replace Jeff Burton in the #31 Chevrolet. As it turned out on Sunday, the championship this year would come down to Harvick and Newman, with Harvick coming out on top with five wins in his first year with a new team.


Finishing third in the championship and seventh in the race was Joe Gibbs' driver Denny Hamlin, the runner-up to Jimmie Johnson in 2010. Hamlin won one race this season, the spring outing at Talladega. Fourth was Team Penske's Joey Logano, a former teammate of Hamlin. Logano had a bad pit stop late in the race and ultimately finished the race in 16th place. Logano's teammate, 2012 champion Brad Keselowski, who won more races (six) than any other cup driver in 2014, finished third in the race, while Newman's teammate Paul Menard, who had a tire explosion in this race last year, finished fourth. Polesitter Jeff Gordon, one of the four Chasers eliminated last week, led 161 of 267 laps and finished tenth. Last year's champion Jimmie Johnson finished eleventh in the final points, making this his first-ever points finish outside the top ten in Cup excluding his three-race practice run at the end of the 2001 season. Following the race, Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus was called to the NASCAR hauler for an undisclosed reason, and this along with Harvick's race and championship wins were widely discussed on social media.


It was a wild season, with moments such as most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. having his most successful season in a decade, including his second Daytona 500 win in a rain-delayed marathon, underdogs Aric Almirola and A.J. Allmendinger winning races, that crazy rain-filled weekend at Daytona in July that was the site of Almirola's Cup win, the spring race at Bristol getting rained out until after dark and then ending under caution due to an accidental light trigger, the new Chase and qualifying formats, and all of those fights during Chase races, including those involving Brad Keselowski at Charlotte and Texas. And it all led to the final battle at Homestead on top, with Kevin Harvick getting that much-awaited Sprint Cup trophy.

A farewell to the Nationwide Series

Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Homestead marked the final time NASCAR's number two series operated under that name. It was announced in August that the series will be known as the Xfinity Series, after the Comcast Xfinity cable and internet service, effective January 1. Matt Kenseth won the race on Saturday and will therefore be known as the winner of the last-ever Nationwide Series race, although he has been a Cup driver since 2000. Similarly, rookie Chase Elliott, who clinched the title in Phoenix last week, has the honor of being the last Nationwide Series champion, as well as the first rookie and youngest champion of a NASCAR national series.


This was also the last series broadcast for ESPN and the broadcasting team of Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree. ESPN had been the exclusive home of the series for eight seasons, starting in 2007 when it was still known as the Busch Series. It was renamed the Nationwide Series in 2008. Starting next year and through 2024 the series will be split between Fox and NBC, as it was from 2001 to 2006. Nationwide is not leaving NASCAR; in fact, it is expanding its presence as it has been selected as the official insurance provider of NASCAR. Nationwide is also replacing the National Guard as one of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s primary sponsors in the Sprint Cup Series on the #88 Chevrolet at Hendrick Motorsports. Nationwide already appeared on Earnhardt's Cup car in a few races this year.

Matt Crafton wins second straight Truck Series championship

Matt Crafton locked up his second consecutive championship in the Camping World Truck Series with his ninth-place finish in the Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead on Friday evening. Crafton, the 38-year-old driver of the #88 Toyota at ThorSport Racing, won twice this year, at Martinsville in March and Texas in June. It was the first multiple-win season of Crafton's career, which has seen 338 consecutive starts. His rookie season in the series was 2001, but he did not visit victory lane for the first time until 2008. Crafton also won once in 2011 and 2013 en route to his first championship. Crafton's second championship makes him the first driver in the history of the Camping World Truck Series to win back-to-back championships. The series debuted in 1995 and has seen non-consecutive repeat series champions in the past.


Finishing second in the final standings was 20-year-old (soon to be 21) Ryan Blaney, who won at the road course in Bowmanville, Ontario in August with a narrow victory over German Quiroga. Blaney encountered a loose-handling truck and a broken shifter during the race on Friday, but came back to finish fifth. Since Crafton finished higher than 22nd place, Blaney kept his runner-up position in the points. Blaney drove the #29 Ford owned by Brad Keselowski this year but is not returning to the team in 2015. However, he plans to stay in trucks full-time, and also compete in some Xfinity and possibly Cup races. Blaney's teammate in the #19 Ford, Tyler Reddick, who spun late in the race after also getting loose, finished a close second to Ben Kennedy of Turner Scott Motorsports' #31 Chevrolet in the running for the Rookie of the Year award.


Darrell Wallace Jr. was the winner of Friday's 200-mile, 134-lap race. The 21-year-old driver of the #54 Toyota owned by Kyle Busch held off Busch himself, Blaney, polesitter Kyle Larson (who also led the most laps) and Timothy Peters to pick up his fourth win of the season. This gave Busch a total of 14 wins this season as an owner, seven of which he also got as a driver, and he easily took the 2014 Truck Series owner's championship. Busch has also selected ARCA driver Justin Boston, who signed with Joe Gibbs earlier this year, to drive one of his trucks in 2015. With that, another Truck Series season has ended and the 2015 season begins at Daytona in February.


One additional thing: I started a Tumblr account to count down to the 2015 Daytona 500. When that race is over I may do other posts on it. Here is the link:

NASCAR teams come up with hashtags for championship

Once again, NASCAR is using social media like Twitter to get fans hyped for the Sprint Cup season finale in Homestead, Florida on Sunday. Richard Childress Racing is supporting the #31 team of Ryan Newman and his fans with the Twitter hashtag #b31ieve, which has carried over to other sites like Facebook. At Joe Gibbs Racing, the #11 team of Denny Hamlin posted a picture with the text "We Can, We Wi11," with the #11 logo placed within the text. Of course, NASCAR is still referring to the fanbases of the final four drivers as "Nations," as in "Hamlin Nation", "Logano Nation", "Newman Nation" and "Harvick Nation", all of which are obviously properly formatted as hashtags on Twitter. Maybe after Sunday NASCAR will take a break from hashtags until Speedweeks at Daytona in February, when they will definitely fire up again on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites.

What should we expect at Homestead?

The first edition of the new Chase for the Sprint Cup format has been wild and unpredictable. Several of the winningest drivers all year have been eliminated, and two of the final four have just one win between them. There have also been a lot of short tempers, like at Charlotte and Texas involving now-eliminated Brad Keselowski. This has arguably led up to what could very well be a spectacular finale at Homestead on Sunday. Of course, the Truck and Nationwide series races are before that, and the race for the Truck championship is still alive. But most of the attention this weekend will be on the battle for the Sprint Cup championship, and which driver will be the next new series champion.

Cup will have a first-time champion this year

None of the final four drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, determined at Phoenix on Sunday, have won a championship in the series. Of the original 16 Chase drivers, the former series champions were Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski. Busch was eliminated after Dover, Johnson after Talladega and Gordon, Kenseth and Keselowski on Sunday. Johnson has six championships under his belt, Gordon four and Busch, Kenseth and Keselowski one apiece. Tony Stewart was the only full-time former champion to miss the Chase this year, while champion brothers Bobby Labonte and the now-retired Terry Labonte only started a handful of races.


The four teams represented in the final four at Homestead will be Joe Gibbs Racing (Hamlin), Richard Childress Racing (Newman), Stewart-Haas Racing (Harvick) and Team Penske (Logano). SHR and Penske are Newman's two former teams, RCR is Harvick's old team and JGR is Logano's former team. Harvick has been in Cup full-time since 2001, Newman since 2002, Hamlin 2006 and Logano 2009. This gives the four drivers 42 full seasons of experience in the series, yet none of them have won a Cup championship. But that will change at Homestead on Sunday.

Elliott celebrates Nationwide championship

Chase Elliott has made many headlines in 2014 as a rookie of the Nationwide (soon to be Xfinity) series. When Dale Earnhardt Jr. signed him to JR Motorsports to drive the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro in January, he made a decision he won't regret. Elliott won three races en route to wrapping up the title at Phoenix on Saturday, and now has one more chance to get a fourth win on the season in the finale at Homestead this coming Saturday. He beat out his teammate, former Sprint Cup driver and winner Regan Smith, who won this year's opener at Daytona in which Elliott made his series debut.


Elliott, who turns 19 years old later this month and is just six months out of high school, is the son of 1988 Cup champion Bill Elliott, who was at Phoenix to see his son win the title. The Dawsonville, Georgia duo are the fifth father-son combo to both win championships in a NASCAR national touring series (Cup, Nationwide/Xfinity and Trucks). All signs point to Elliott driving for Rick Hendrick in Cup, possibly starting in a few races next year. It's a fast start for the career of one of NASCAR's newest champions.

Harvick wins Phoenix, three others join him in Championship round

Kevin Harvick won Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Phoenix, the last race of the Eliminator round of the Chase and penultimate race of the season. This was Harvick's third straight Cup win at the Arizona track, his sixth overall and second season sweep of the track, after 2006. Harvick, in his first season at Stewart-Haas Racing after more than a decade with Richard Childress, joins Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman and Joey Logano in the Championship round, which will be contested at Homestead next week with the highest-finishing driver being declared the 2014 series champion. None of the final four drivers have won a Cup championship, although Harvick is a two-time Nationwide champion, in 2001 and 2006.


The race contained several debris cautions as well as a number of crashes. During the first caution, polesitter Denny Hamlin, after leading the first 24 laps, broke a valve stem on pit road, putting him a lap down. Casey Mears appeared to blow a tire early while running in 12th and spun. Last week's winner Jimmie Johnson got damage from another early incident, then spun later and went to the garage. On a restart approaching lap 200 Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer got caught up in a crash along with Cole Whitt. Championship contender Joey Logano had problems of his own and also found himself a lap down. Hamlin and Logano both rebounded to finish in the top ten.


As the race drew to a close, Jamie McMurray spun and hit the wall, and the final caution came after Landon Cassill and Mike Wallace tangled in turn 4. In that turn on the final lap, as Harvick took the checkered flag, Ryan Newman, the former driver of Harvick's current car at SHR, practically wrecked Kyle Larson to squeeze past Jeff Gordon and get the last spot for the Championship round. Gordon said he had no hard feelings toward Newman and that last week's incident with Brad Keselowski still upset him more. Keselowski was also eliminated after the race. He and Gordon had won a combined ten races this year and were top contenders throughout the Chase, although they almost got eliminated on previous occasions.


Harvick led all but 48 of the race's 312 laps, including all of the last 187 laps. Logano also led 17 laps, while Dale Earnhardt Jr., David Ragan and Michael Annett led some laps under caution during pit cycles.


The four Championship round drivers, with points reset to 5,000:

1. 11-Denny Hamlin - 1 win
2. 22-Joey Logano - 5 wins, 2 in Chase
3. 31-Ryan Newman
4. 4-Kevin Harvick - 4 wins, 2 in Chase

And the four eliminated drivers:
     5.  2-Brad Keselowski - 2,320 points, 6 wins (2 in Chase)
     6.  24-Jeff Gordon - 2,312 points, 4 wins (1 in Chase)
     7.  20-Matt Kenseth - 2,296 points
     8.  99-Carl Edwards - 2,278 points, 2 wins

A wild truck race at Phoenix

Friday night's Camping World Truck Series race, the penultimate race of the season, will probably be remembered more for the multiple delays than the actual racing. It started about an hour an a half late due to a power outage in parts of the Phoenix suburbs, including the track. It took a while for the lights between turns 3 and 4 to come back on, but once they did the race was finally able to get started.


However, a couple of seconds before the green flag came out, the Chevrolet of Brandon Jones slowed, causing a chain-reaction crash that collected Bryan Silas, John Wes Townley and German Quiroga. The caution came out as the leaders entered turn 1, making the race's first green flag run just a quarter of a lap long. After a long caution, the race restarted on lap 19, but then there were three more crashes in the next 23 laps, one of which involved top drivers Jeb Burton and Timothy Peters, and another, in which Joey Coulter hit the wall, briefly putting the red flag on lap 43.


After going green for 55 laps following the red flag, there were two more crashes, and then the lights went out again on lap 125. The red flag was thrown again, and shortly afterwards the race was called 24 laps short with Kyle Busch's driver Erik Jones winning the race for the second year in a row. Jones led all but 114 of the 126 laps completed, once again showing the dominance of Kyle Busch's truck team this year. The series championship is now down to defending champion Matt Crafton and Ryan Blaney next week at Homestead.

Chase Elliott could make history at Phoenix

Nationwide Series driver Chase Elliott could clinch the series title on Saturday after the race at Phoenix. This would make him the youngest NASCAR top series champion, at just under 19 years. Elliott is ahead of JR Motorsports driver Regan Smith by 48 points, and he is hoping to have a good race on Saturday. The son of former Cup champion Bill Elliott has had a great rookie season in the Nationwide series, considering just over a year ago he was a full-time K&N Pro Series East driver and had yet to make his first Camping World Truck Series start. But Elliott has shown that he is a fast learner in NASCAR's number two series by being one of the series' top drivers in 2014.

"Harvicking" gives NASCAR another Twitter moment

The aftermath of Sunday's big fight after the Cup race at Texas has led to the rise of a Twitter trend known as "Harvicking". This is defined as "the act of pushing someone from behind." It is named after Kevin Harvick, who pushed Brad Keselowski as Jeff Gordon was walking up to Keselowski's car to confront him. For this reason, many fans have credited Harvick with triggering the fight between Keselowski and Gordon, and this is how #Harvicking quickly became a trending hashtag on Twitter. Many NASCAR fans and figures, including most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., posted their own versions of Harvicking in tweets on Monday. Interestingly, it was Keselowski who helped make Twitter a prime social media outlet for NASCAR during the 2012 Daytona 500, when he posted a photo from his car of the fiery aftermath of Juan Pablo Montoya's crash into a jet dryer, a tweet that earned him thousands of followers in a few hours.


Some people believe that NASCAR is trying to make fighting seem like a good thing, and they are trying to use this as another thing to get their ratings up and create yet another side-story for the already dramatic Chase for the Sprint Cup. These people are upset because they think NASCAR should focus more on racing and less on what they see as manufactured drama. Nevertheless, Harvicking has already been immortalized on some websites that explicitly state "the 2014 AAA Texas 500" as its origin, and it has created another fine social media moment for NASCAR on Twitter.

Chase standings after 8 races

Here are the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings after Texas, the eighth of 10 races.

1. 22-Joey Logano - 4,072 points, 5 wins (2 in Chase)
2. 11-Denny Hamlin - 4,072 points, 1 win
3. 31-Ryan Newman - 4,070 points
4. 24-Jeff Gordon - 4,060 points, 4 wins (1 in Chase)
5. 20-Matt Kenseth - 4,059 points
6. 99-Carl Edwards - 4,059 points, 2 wins
7. 2-Brad Keselowski - 4,055 points, 6 wins (2 in Chase)
8. 4-Kevin Harvick - 4,054 points, 3 wins (1 in Chase)

Once again, the standings have changed a lot in the last week. Kenseth, Edwards, Keselowski and Harvick, the latter two being top contenders last week, are currently facing elimination at Phoenix.

Penalties given to Hendrick crews

NASCAR has penalized crew members of the #24 team of Jeff Gordon and the #5 team of Kasey Kahne at Hendrick Motorsports following Sunday's fight after the race at Texas, that involved Gordon, Brad Keselowski and to a lesser extent Kevin Harvick. Keselowski, the driver of the #2 Ford at Team Penske, and his crew did not receive any penalties probably because Gordon was considered to be the instigator in the fight.


Gordon's crew chief Alan Gustafson and Kahne's crew chief Kenny Francis have each been fined $50,000 and put on probation for the next six Sprint Cup points races. This means that in addition to Phoenix and Homestead in the final two weeks of this season, their probations will carry over to 2015 and continue at Daytona, Atlanta, Las Vegas and Phoenix in February and March. Also, Kahne crew member Jeremy Fuller and Gordon crew members Dwayne Doucette and Jason Ingle have been fined $25,000 and suspended through the Phoenix race in March, while another Gordon crew member, Dean Mozingo, has been fined $10,000 and suspended until after the Daytona 500 in February.


Gordon was previously in a fight with Jeff Burton in the 2010 fall race at Texas, and in a bigger fight with Clint Bowyer in the fall Phoenix race in 2012, both following crashes. This is why many people will be thinking of the Gordon-Bowyer incident at Phoenix next week, and expecting a crazy race in general since along with the aftermath of the Gordon-Keselowski fight, four drivers will be eliminated and the last four will make one last run for the championship at Homestead the following week.