Erik Jones to make first Sprint Cup start at Kansas

Erik Jones will start a Sprint Cup Series race for the first time at Kansas Speedway on Saturday night, May 9, driving the #18 Toyota as a substitute for Kyle Busch, replacing David Ragan in that role. Jones, who turns 19 next month, is a development driver for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series, having won at Texas earlier this month, and is a full-time driver for Kyle Busch's JGR-aligned Toyota team in the Camping World Truck Series with five wins in the series. Jones got his first taste of Sprint Cup action at Bristol Motor Speedway a week and a half ago when he was called from his Charlotte-area home to fill in for Denny Hamlin, who was having neck spasms during a rain delay after 22 laps after apparently pulling a muscle during that short green flag run. Jones quickly got his Sprint Cup license and drove Hamlin's #11 Toyota to a 26th-place finish.

Remembering Dale Earnhardt on his 64th birthday

Wednesday would have been the 64th birthday of seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt. He was born on April 29, 1951 and rose to superstardom in NASCAR, becoming most associated with the black #3 Chevrolet of Richard Childress Racing. Since 2001, April 29 has been celebrated in the NASCAR world as Dale Earnhardt Day in remembrance of the legendary "Intimidator."

GoDaddy ending Danica Patrick sponsorship at year's end

GoDaddy announced Wednesday that they will not resume sponsorship of the #10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet driven by Danica Patrick in 2016. The web hosting service has been affiliated with Patrick since her days in IndyCar, and they have produced many commercials with her, including in a number of Super Bowls. They moved with her to NASCAR when she drove the #7 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the then-Nationwide Series and then when Tony Stewart signed her to his Cup team. SHR still has a variety of another sponsors, some of which have featured on the #10 machine during Patrick's tenure.

Steve Byrnes remembered at memorial service

A memorial service for the late Fox commentator Steve Byrnes was held on Tuesday at a church near Charlotte, North Carolina.

Kurt Busch takes Sprint Cup Series win at Richmond

Kurt Busch won the rain-delayed Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway on Sunday afternoon, taking the #41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet to victory for the first time since his reinstatement from his suspension that covered the races at Daytona, Atlanta and Las Vegas earlier this year. Busch, who started third, led 291 of 400 laps. Polesitter Joey Logano led the first 94 laps before falling back several positions. Broadcaster Fox honored their late announcer Steve Byrnes, who died Tuesday after battling cancer, throughout Sunday as well as their short airtime on Saturday evening just after the race was postponed.

Logano's Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski also lost a cylinder during the race and had to ride it out on a long green flag run. Busch's teammate Kevin Harvick finished second, but not before having issues of his own right in the middle of the race, although he did lead two non-consecutive laps. After a competition caution on lap 50 due to the green track condition, the #98 Ford of Josh Wise brought out a pair of cautions for a stoppage on the track due to loss of oil pressure, and then for a fire on the front of the car. Joey Gase then spun the #32 Ford to bring out a caution, followed by Brett Moffitt cutting a tire on the #55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota (in his last Cup start for the time being) during green flag pit stops on lap 170. Keselowski, Busch and Justin Allgaier had not yet pitted when the caution was thrown, and the entire rest of the field was at least one lap down as a result of the pit cycles. The three leaders at the time pitted during the caution and the drivers one lap down took the wave-around to get back on the lead lap.

On lap 361, with Jamie McMurray getting into the battle for the lead, Tony Stewart, another teammate of Busch and Harvick as well as the co-owner of their cars, spun his #14 Chevrolet after apparent contact with the #88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Stewart was upset with Earnhardt because he believed that Earnhardt had tapped him and caused him to spin. Stewart's day was done and he wound up in 41st place, while Dale Jr. went on to finish 14th. On the ensuing restart, the #9 Ford of Sam Hornish Jr. and the #23 Toyota of Jeb Burton tangled on the backstretch bringing out the final caution. Kurt Busch then pulled away on the final restart to take his 26th series win, his first since last year's spring Martinsville race (also a Virginia short track).

Another big story was Xfinity Series driver Chase Elliott competing in his second Cup race in the part-time #25 Hendrick Chevrolet. Elliott, who had trouble in his series debut at Martinsville four weeks ago, drove to a 16th-place finish on the lead lap this time around. Next Sunday, the series races in Talladega, Alabama at the sister track of Daytona.

Race Results:

1. (3) 41-Kurt Busch - Chevrolet - 400 laps, led 291 laps
2. (5) 4-Kevin Harvick - Chevrolet - 400 laps, led 2 laps
3. (36) 48-Jimmie Johnson - Chevrolet - 400 laps
4. (9) 1-Jamie McMurray - Chevrolet - 400 laps, led 9 laps
5. (1) 22-Joey Logano - Ford - 400 laps, led 94 laps
6. (40) 5-Kasey Kahne - Chevrolet - 400 laps
7. (8) 20-Matt Kenseth - Toyota - 400 laps
8. (11) 24-Jeff Gordon - Chevrolet - 400 laps
9. (17) 15-Clint Bowyer - Toyota - 400 laps
10. (6) 78-Martin Truex Jr, - Chevrolet - 400 laps

Sprint Cup race at Richmond postponed to Sunday afternoon

The Sprint Cup Series race in Richmond, Virginia scheduled for Saturday evening has been postponed by rain to Sunday afternoon, still on the regular Fox channel.

Denny Hamlin dominates Xfinity Series at his home track

Denny Hamlin led all but two of 250 laps in Friday night's Xfinity Series race in Richmond, Virginia en route to victory lane in the #20 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing. It was a hometown victory for Hamlin, who is from nearby Chesterfield. Hamlin started on the pole and only gave up the lead to the #2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Brian Scott for one lap just past halfway, and then to the #1 Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Elliott Sadler for another lap during the last set of green flag pit stops late in the race. There was a scary moment on pit road during a caution in which some gasoline spilled in the pit of the #62 RCR Chevrolet of Brendan Gaughan, igniting a decent-sized fire that hospitalized two of Gaughan's crew members and one of the #24 car of Eric McClure, who ran into the fire to pull the other crew members out. Members of Scott's pit crew substituted for the injured Gaughan crew members while also still attending to Scott's car. When the race was over, RCR driver Ty Dillon had taken the #3 Chevrolet back to the points lead, while Chase Elliott in the #9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet went up to second and Chris Buescher of the #60 Roush Ford moved down to third.

Race Results:

1. (1) 20-Denny Hamlin - Toyota - 250 laps, led 248 laps
2. (2) 22-Joey Logano - Ford - 250 laps
3. (8) 7-Regan Smith - Chevrolet - 250 laps
4. (3) 54-Erik Jones - Toyota - 250 laps
5. (7) 9-Chase Elliott - Chevrolet - 250 laps
6. (9) 18-Daniel Suarez - Toyota - 250 laps
7. (5) 2-Brian Scott - Chevrolet - 250 laps, led 1 lap
8. (13) 33-Austin Dillon - Chevrolet - 250 laps
9. (15) 3-Ty Dillon - Chevrolet - 249 laps
10. (21) 01-Landon Cassill - 249 laps

David Ragan reportedly being signed by Michael Waltrip

Michael Waltrip Racing is planning to sign David Ragan to drive the team's #55 Toyota in the Sprint Cup Series for at least most of the rest of the 2015 season, according to reports on Friday. Ragan started the season at Front Row Motorsports in the #34 Ford, but has been substituting for the injured Kyle Busch at Joe Gibbs Racing in the #18 Toyota since the second race of the season at Atlanta. Brian Vickers, the regular driver of the #55, drove at Las Vegas and Phoenix last month before once again being sidelined by his blood clots. Development driver Brett Moffitt has been in the car since then. He, Joe Nemechek and Chris Buescher have also driven the #34 in Ragan's absence.

Steve Byrnes meant many things to many people

Where Fox NASCAR announcer Steve Byrnes died on Tuesday, it meant that the NASCAR world, and beyond, lost many types of people rather than simply another man.

Steve Byrnes 1959-2015

Fox Sports announcer Steve Byrnes died Tuesday after a nearly two-year battle with head and neck cancer. Byrnes had turned 56 years old one week ago. Sunday's Sprint Cup Series race in Bristol, Tennessee was named in honor of Byrnes and the organization Stand Up to Cancer. Despite his declining health, Byrnes remained brave and confident during the last couple of months.

Byrnes first worked as an announcer with TNN in 1985. He joined the then-new NASCAR on Fox (now officially named Fox NASCAR) in 2001 and joined pit reporters such as Dick Berggren, Krista Voda and Matt Yocum as well as Hollywood Hotel analysts Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond, and commentators Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip. Byrnes was born in 1959 in Chicago, but lived for many years in the Washington, DC suburb of New Carrollton, Maryland and graduated from the University of Maryland College Park campus in 1981, eventually moving to Fort Mill, South Carolina near Charlotte. Byrnes leaves behind his wife Karen and 12-year-old son Bryson.

Erik Jones reflects on first Sprint Cup experience

Truck Series driver and newest Xfinity Series winner Erik Jones was called to replace Denny Hamlin in the remainder of the Sprint Cup race at Bristol on Sunday after the race resumed from the first, long rain delay, when Denny Hamlin decided he couldn't go the rest of the way after pulling his neck during the short opening green-flag run.

Matt Kenseth wins rain-filled and crash-filled Bristol Sprint Cup race

Matt Kenseth won Sunday's Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, a long, crash-filled and rain-filled affair similar to the spring race weekend at the track last year. The race this year was honoring Steve Byrnes, the Fox Sports announcer bravely battling cancer. All of the events throughout the race shook up the points standings as well as the Chase grid. Kenseth won the race from the pole. It was his fourth Cup win at Bristol and his first in the spring.

The race started more than an hour late, and only 22 laps were completed before another big rain shower came through. Just before that, Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski (#2) and Joey Logano (#22) collided on the backstretch with the first couple of lapped cars in the way. There was a caution and then a more than three-hour red flag as the field waited out the rain. Denny Hamlin encountered neck spasms during the delay and Xfinity Series driver Erik Jones was brought in to drive the #11 Toyota for the remainder of the race. The track finally got dried and the race went back green. After a competition caution, there was a long green run, during which Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth led. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle and Martin Truex Jr. also encountered mechanical problems. After another brief red flag for a shorter rain shower, there were a few more green laps before Landon Cassill hit one of the SAFER barriers under construction. Cassill got out of his #40 Chevrolet okay.

There was then a pair of wrecks taking out drivers such as Jimmie Johnson, points leader Harvick, David Ragan, Jeb Burton and Casey Mears. Kyle Larson led late, but had to pit for fuel as he was short, turning the lead back over to Busch, who was then passed by Kenseth. At about the same time, fellow sophomore got up to second place behind Kenseth. Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch also got caught up in a crash that set up a green-white-checkered finish, during which yet another rain shower passed through. Finally, the track was dry enough for a two-lap sprint to the finish. Matt Kenseth held off Jimmie Johnson and his teammate Jeff Gordon to bring the #20 Toyota to victory lane for his first Cup points win since New Hampshire in September of 2013. Kenseth also won the Sprint Unlimited at Daytona this year, the week before the Daytona 500.

Harvick still has a 30-point lead over Logano, who is three points over Truex for second. All three of these drivers failed to finish in the top ten for the first time this season. The series next races in Richmond, Virginia in another Saturday night short-track showdown. Richmond is not very far from Bristol, so there wouldn't have been any big issues had Sunday's race at Bristol been delayed until Monday or possibly Tuesday.

Joey Logano leads every lap in Xfinity Series race at Bristol

Joey Logano led all 300 laps of Saturday's Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway to pick up his 23rd win in the series, driving the #22 Team Penske Ford. This is the second time in seven months that an Xfinity driver has led a race wire-to-wire, following Kyle Busch's dominant race in Richmond, Virginia (another short track) last September in the #54 Joe Gibbs Toyota. Challengers for the lead throughout the day included last week's winner Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez in the #18 and #20 Gibbs Toyotas, Chris Buescher in the #60 Roush Ford and Brian Scott and Austin Dillon in the #2 and #33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets. Suarez went on to finish right behind Logano. Dillon suffered a flat tire midway through the race, while Denny Hamlin, subbing for Kyle Busch in the #54 machine, had engine problems after having a fast car during both practice sessions on Friday. That #54 car had been driven by Busch to victory lane at Bristol in the past two years.

Other incidents during the race included Jeremy Clements bringing out two separate cautions behind the wheel of the #51 Chevrolet, Daniel Suarez leaving a piece of debris on the track after brushing the wall right after a restart, and J.J. Yeley crashing his #28 Ford into a SAFER barrier under construction (in response to the Busch wreck at Daytona) which prompted a red flag as track workers made repairs. The Xfinity Series next races at Richmond in another Friday night race.

Ross Kenseth to make Xfinity debut at Chicagoland

Ross Kenseth, the son of 2003 Sprint Cup Series champion and current Joe Gibbs Racing Cup driver Matt Kenseth, has been lined up to make his first Xfinity Series start at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois in June driving the #20 Toyota that has been piloted by multiple other drivers in the series this year. Kenseth, 21, has spent multiple years racing in the ARCA Midwest Tour and the CRA Super Series. This will be his foray into national-level stock car racing.

When could we see the digital dashboards?

Jamie McMurray recently posted a picture on his Twitter account displaying a test of a new digital dashboard for the NASCAR top series vehicles. But when will they replace the old traditional dashboards that have been used in some form or another ever since NASCAR's establishment? And are they going to be more hype than reality? Or will they actually be a useful tool for the sport? Given all of the technologies, electronic and not, that have improved NASCAR over the years, especially the modern-day digital scoring systems, it's likely that digital dashboards will actually come in handy in the sport in the next couple of years.

RCR #31 penalty upheld; fines, point deductions reduced

NASCAR has upheld the P5 penalty of the Richard Childress Racing #31 Chevrolet Sprint Cup team, whose driver Ryan Newman was one of those affected by the penalties, the result of a major violation found during a tire impound carried out by NASCAR officials following the race in Fontana, California on March 22. Newman and Childress did get 25 points back in their respective standings, and crew chief Luke Lambert's fine was reduced to $75,000.

Update, 4/17: Richard Childress has convinced NASCAR to set up one final appeal right before the Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Kevin Harvick upset with drivers blocking him late at Texas

Kevin Harvick has revealed his displeasure with drivers such as Joey Logano blocking him too hard in the closing laps of Saturday night's Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Harvick got into the wall trying to maintain position with a few laps to go, dropping him to third behind Logano. Harvick managed to get back ahead of Logano as well as stay ahead of the Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Jr. to finish second behind Earnhardt's teammate Jimmie Johnson. Harvick and Logano previously had a run-in at Daytona in February following the Sprint Unlimited race, one week before Logano took his Ford to victory in the Daytona 500 with Harvick finishing second. Harvick has since won back-to-back Cup races at Las Vegas and Phoenix in March, and he and Logano have been first and second in the Cup standings (but not the Chase grid) for multiple weeks.

Michael Waltrip cars get new sponsor Maxwell House

Michael Waltrip Racing has picked up a new sponsor for two of its Toyotas in the Sprint Cup Series. This new sponsor is Maxwell House coffee, whose famous slogan is "Good to the Last Drop." Maxwell House has sponsored other NASCAR cars in the past, such as the #22 Ford/Pontiac of Bill Davis Racing in the early 1990s and the #1 Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Inc. as part of a special paint scheme in 2004. This time, Maxwell House will feature on the #15 Toyota of Clint Bowyer in a couple of races, as well as on whichever car Michael Waltrip drives (possibly the #66, which has been inactive since the Las Vegas weekend) in the next few Cup restrictor plate races, including the 2016 Daytona 500.

Jimmie Johnson wins Sprint Cup Texas night race

Jimmie Johnson took the win in the first Sprint Cup Series night race of 2015 at Texas Motor Speedway, driving 501 miles and 334 laps in the #48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to pick up his second points win of the season. It was his 72nd career win in the series and continued his streak of winning multiple races every season of his Cup career. Johnson led 128 laps, more than a third of the total race distance, and held off the Hendrick-powered #4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick and the #88 Chevrolet of his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. during the last green flag run. The other two Hendrick drivers, Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon, also had good cars at various points during the race.

The #2 and #22 Team Penske Fords of Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano as well as the #1 and #42 Chip Ganassi Chevrolets of Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson also got in on the action, with Logano and McMurray each leading late but getting passed by the Hendrick engines that had fresher tires from the final pit stops. Another story of note was Martin Truex Jr. taking the lower-level #78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet to a seventh-straight top-ten finish, which may be as remarkable as Kevin Harvick's top-two streak that started at the last Texas race in November and ended when he finished eighth at Martinsville two weeks ago. Polesitter Kurt Busch, Harvick's teammate, finished 14th in the #41 Chevrolet.

Race Results:

1. (5) 48-Jimmie Johnson - Chevrolet - 334 laps, led 128 laps
2. (2) 4-Kevin Harvick - Chevrolet - 334 laps, led 96 laps
3. (25) 88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Chevrolet - 334 laps
4. (6) 22-Joey Logano - Ford - 334 laps, led 19 laps
5. (3) 2-Brad Keselowski - Ford - 334 laps, led 27 laps
6. (10) 1-Jamie McMurray - Chevrolet - 334 laps, led 9 laps
7. (12) 24-Jeff Gordon - Chevrolet - 334 laps, led 3 laps
8. (4) 5-Kasey Kahne - Chevrolet - 334 laps, led 6 laps
9. (15) 78-Martin Truex Jr. - Chevrolet - 334 laps
10. (16) 19-Carl Edwards - Toyota - 334 laps

Erik Jones takes maiden Xfinity Series win at Texas

Erik Jones took the #20 Joe Gibbs Toyota to victory lane in the 300-mile Xfinity Series race in Fort Worth, Texas on Friday evening. It was Jones' first win in the series in just his ninth start, following a similar pattern set by last year's winner and defending series champion Chase Elliott. Jones, who is currently a full-time Camping World Truck Series driver piloting the #4 Toyota owned by Kyle Busch in an alliance with Gibbs, started the race on the pole and led 79 of 200 laps, a good fifth of the total race distance. Jones held of Brad Keselowski in the #22 Team Penske Ford, Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the #88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet and Darrell Wallace Jr. in the #6 Roush Racing Ford in the late stages of the race, which featured such incidents as Wallace's teammate Chris Buescher hitting the frontstretch wall just after the start, and Cale Conley getting caught up in a wreck with Brendan Gaughan.

Race Results:

1. 20-Erik Jones
2. 22-Brad Keselowski
3. 88-Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4. 7-Regan Smith
5. 33-Austin Dillon
6. 6-Darrell Wallace Jr.
7. 54-Denny Hamlin
8. 9-Chase Elliott
9. 60-Chris Buescher
10. 2-Brian Scott
11. 1-Elliott Sadler
12. 3-Ty Dillon
13. 42-Brennan Poole
14. 98-Sam Hornish Jr.
15. 16-Ryan Reed
16. 43-Dakoda Armstrong
17. 25-John Wes Townley
18. 18-Daniel Suarez
19. 28-J.J. Yeley
20. 39-Ryan Sieg

Steve Byrnes' name added in Sprint Cup Bristol race title

The Sprint Cup race in Bristol, Tennessee next week has been changed to honor cancer-stricken Fox commentator Steve Byrnes, who is back in the hospital this week with more medical issues. The spring Bristol race this year will be called the Food City 500 In Support Of Steve Byrnes and Stand Up To Cancer.

Jeff Gordon ready for commentating debut

Jeff Gordon, who announced plans in January to step away from driving the #24 Chevrolet at Hendrick Motorsports that he has driven for more than two decades and taken to four then-Winston Cup championships, will make his debut as a television commentator on Friday evening for the Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway on Fox Sports 1. Gordon is one of five current Cup drivers who will provide commentary as part of the Fox team during the first half of the NASCAR season alongside Adam Alexander and Michael Waltrip, who are in the booth for all Fox Xfinity races. Fox, along with NBC, regained the rights to Xfinity Series television coverage after ESPN let their contract expire at the end of the 2014 season. Fox and NBC also took over the former "Summer Series" races from one-time NBC cable partner TNT starting this year, and NBC also retook the second half of the Cup season. Along with Gordon, Fox's Xfinity Series guest commentators through the Chicagoland race in June will include Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer and even Danica Patrick.

2015 Sprint All-Star Race format, changes announced

NASCAR announced on Wednesday the format for this year's Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday night, May 16. The race will consist of 110 laps - four 25-lap segments plus a fifth ten-lap segment in which only green flag laps will count, for a total of 165 miles. Also, drivers who have won the All-Star Race in any of its past runnings, rather than only in the last ten years, will be eligible even if they meet none of the other requirements for making the race, which are winning any of the 36 races of 2014 and/or any race this year between the Daytona 500 and the Kansas race on May 9, one week before the All-Star weekend. That means 2002 All-Star winner Ryan Newman and 2004 winner Matt Kenseth, both of whom went winless in the Sprint Cup series in 2014, will race in the main feature without having to get in via the last-chance Sprint Showdown on Friday night, May 15. Kenseth's last two Cup wins were non-points events at Daytona, which do not get drivers into the All-Star Race. The new rule also means that defending race champion Jamie McMurray will be in the race for the rest of his career rather than specifically through the year 2024, as the ten-year rule previously dictated. The Showdown, which will be held before the Camping World Truck Series race the same evening, will consist of two 20-lap heats. The winners of each heat plus the winner of the Sprint fan vote will transfer to the 110-lap main event on Saturday night.

Steve Byrnes in intensive care

Fox NASCAR announcer Steve Byrnes, who has been battling cancer for some time and has been on and off the job during his treatments, has been placed in the intensive care unit of an unspecified hospital due to contracting pneumonia as well as developing blood clots. Byrnes has stage 4 head and neck cancer, which appeared in October after he was in remission for several months. Still, he has continued to be persistent and courageous enough to let fans know everything about his situation and how he is feeling.

Travis Kvapil joins Hillman-Circle Sport team for Texas race

Travis Kvapil, whose #44 Team Xtreme Chevrolet team has faced several troubles over the last month, will be driving a new Sprint Cup car, the #39 Chevrolet, as part of the Hillman-Circle Sport Racing collective at Texas Motor Speedway this coming weekend, making a total of 46 cars on the entry list for the Saturday night race. The Hillman-Circle Sport team also includes the #33 Chevrolet, a joint venture run as Circle Sport Racing between Joe Falk and Richard Childress, whose grandson Ty Dillon and Xfinity Series driver Brian Scott are splitting time in the car in a handful of Cup races this year, as well as the #40 Chevrolet, driven in most races by Landon Cassill under the Hillman Racing banner. Since this is the first Cup race attempt for the #39 team, the team has no provisionals and Kvapil needs to place in the top 36 during the first round of Cup qualifying at Texas to be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. Ryan Blaney of the #21 Wood Brothers Ford and Brendan Gaughan of the Richard Childress-aligned Premium Motorsports #62 Chevrolet  are in the same situation.

No national series races this weekend

Just a reminder that as Sunday is Easter, there is no Sprint Cup race on that date. The next Cup race will be next Saturday night, April 11 in Fort Worth, Texas. There was not an Xfinity Series race or a Camping World Truck Series race on Friday or Saturday either, nor any practices or testing for anything in any of these series. Enjoy your Easter and get ready for NASCAR's first night race weekend at Texas.

RCR-affiliated teams appeal major penalties

The #31 Chevrolet team of Richard Childress Racing and driver Ryan Newman have appealed a P5-level penalty, the second-highest possible infraction in the rulebook, that was given to the team following the Sprint Cup Series race in Fontana, California on March 22. The tires used on the #31 car for the Fontana race were found to have been illegally tampered with when they were impounded during post-race inspection. Newman lost 75 points and dropped from sixth to 27th in the standings, falling 11 spots off the grid for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, which starts in September. Newman's crew chief Luke Lambert was suspended six races, through Kansas on May 9, and fined $75,000.

Many new things announced for NASCAR in 2016

NASCAR revealed many new, exciting changes for the sport on Wednesday that should go into effect starting next season, involving racing teams, car manufacturers, television rights and even another modification to the already spectacular Chase for the Sprint Cup!

• After more than a year of rumors and speculation, it was confirmed that Dodge is making another return to NASCAR in 2016 with the Charger model, and that Richard Childress Racing will indeed be the manufacturer's flagship team this time around. Previously, Evernham Motorsports held that role when Dodge made its first comeback in 2001. Dodge's last race was the 2012 Sprint Cup season finale, which saw then-Dodge driver Brad Keselowski bring them out on top by clinching the series championship. RCR will now leave Chevrolet, the manufacturer it has been with since Richard Childress started his career as a driver 46 years ago. RCR and Chevrolet have been a winning combination, especially with the six championships the legendary Dale Earnhardt won with the team. Now, a new chapter begins as RCR becomes a Dodge team. Their Xfinity cars will also become Dodges and they will field Rams (Dodge's truck division) in the Camping World Truck Series. The RCR-aligned Germain Racing #13 car driven by Casey Mears, the #47 JTG Daugherty Racing car driven by A.J. Allmendinger and the Furniture Row #78 car driven by Martin Truex Jr. will also become Dodges as well.

• Michael Waltrip Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing, arguably the top two Toyota teams in NASCAR, will form an alliance in 2016 to essentially create a Toyota "superteam". MWR and JGR promise they will help each other succeed and win, and that this alliance could help Toyota start winning more races and beat the Chevrolets, Fords and next year, the new Dodges.

• Speaking of Toyota, its luxury brand Lexus will replace the Toyotas in the Xfinity Series next year. While Chevrolet and Ford have different models in the Xfinity Series (Camaro, Mustang) than they do in Cup (SS, Fusion), Toyota fields the Camry in both series, but they want to change that by having the same setup as Chevrolet and Ford. Dodge will also be like the other manufacturers by fielding the Challenger in Xfinity races.

• Thanks to the success of the first-ever Sprint Cup race on cable channel Fox Sports 1 at Martinsville on Sunday, and with more fans requesting the channel, it was announced that starting next year, all of Fox's 16 Cup races will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1, including the Daytona 500. This will free up space on the main Fox channel for other programs on Sundays.

• The Chase format is being modified once again. Starting in 2016, it will be expanded to 15 races, and one of the 16 drivers will be eliminated from championship contention after each of the first 14 races. For the 15th and final race, two remaining drivers will battle for the championship, and the higher-finishing driver will be crowned the series champion.

All of these things should make for a very exciting year in NASCAR starting next year!