Chad Knaus not on site at Kansas race (July 22)
© Motorsport Images
– –
Crew chief Chad Knaus does not travel to Kansas City for a reason Zoom
–
Chad Knaus’ wife is expecting their second child these days. For this reason, Knaus, the crew chief on # 24 Hendrick-Chevrolet from William Byron, has canceled his on-site participation for the Super Start Batteries 400 on Thursday at Kansas Speedway. He is represented by Keith Rodden, the former crew chief of the resigned Kasey Kahne. For Knaus and his wife Brooke Werner, a former Miss Sprint Cup, the expected birth of a girl will be the second child. Son Kip was born in August 2018.
NASCAR seeks conversation with Quin Houff (July 21)
© Motorsport Images
– –
Zoom
–
StarCom driver Quin Houff received Brad Keselowski’s criticism after Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (see Monday’s entry below). Now NASCAR is looking for a conversation with Houff at short notice and wants clarity until the next race (on Thursday at Kansas Speedway) what exactly happened when the pit stop attempt failed.
“I think everyone agrees that it was a very bad decision,” NASCAR Vice President Scott Miller told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio about Houff’s decision to pull down from the middle racing line on Turn 4 towards the pit lane entrance he cleared out Matt DiBenedetto and Christopher Bell. “We look at every incident of every race. We didn’t speak to the driver on Sunday, but we’ll do that before the Kansas race,” said Miller, clarifying Houff: “It needs to be done better. “
Keselowski wishes promotion and relegation system (July 20)
© Motorsport Images
– –
Zoom
–
Penske driver Brad Keselowski takes the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 from Fort Worth on Sunday as a (renewed) occasion to propose an ascent and descent system for NASCAR pilots. “I have said it several times: I would like to see drivers have the opportunity to push their way forward to this [Cup-]To earn levels and on the other hand would be downgraded if there are repeated problems. “
Reason for Keselowski’s current statements: Quin Houff (StarCom-Chevrolet) tried to turn into the pit lane on Sunday, overlooked two colleagues and, with the resulting crash, not only ruined his own race, but also that of Matt DiBenedetto (Wood -Ford) and Christopher Bell (Leavine-Toyota).
Underbody lighting at the All-Star-Race (July 10th)
© NASCAR Media
– –
Zoom
–
It was announced a few days ago that the number on the side of the NASCAR racers at the All-Star Race in Bristol was being moved further back (see entry from July 2 below). Now there is another innovation.
For show reasons, the cars will drive with underbody lighting at the night race not counting for the championship on the evening of July 15th. LEDs are used as they were first seen in December 2019 at the Burnout Show as part of the Champions Week in Nashville – at that time on the cars from Chip Ganassi Racing. On this occasion Kyle Larson moved out with blue LEDs, Kurt Busch with green ones.
Kyle Busch starts Kentucky race thanks to P1 luck (July 9)
© NASCAR Media
– –
Zoom
–
The three-stage draw for the upcoming NASCAR Cup race took place a day earlier than usual. For the Quaker State 400 at the Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kyle Busch got the best starting place, followed by Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Matt DiBenedetto .
However, the race only starts on Sunday and, strictly speaking, one day later than usual. Because in the years 2011 to 2019, the Kentucky race was scheduled as a floodlight race on a Saturday evening. In 2015, however, it had to be postponed to Sunday due to the weather. Now, for the first time, it has been officially scheduled as a daylight race. On-site spectators are not allowed on Sundays.
Injured Penske mechanic recovers at home (July 8)
© Motorsport Images
– –
Zoom
–
The mechanic of Ryan Blaney’s Penske crew, who was driven into the pit lane at Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis on Sunday, is no longer in the hospital. The team said on Tuesday afternoon: “Zach Price is recovering from an injury to his left lower leg at home that he sustained in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway pit lane incident on Sunday.” An operation was not necessary.
Current Top 10 Fan Voting for All-Star-Race (July 7th)
© NASCAR Media
– –
Zoom
–
In the run-up to this year’s NASCAR All-Star Race, which will take place on July 15 for the first time in its history at Bristol Motor Speedway, NASCAR announced the ten drivers who have received the most votes in fan voting. The winner of the fan voting is the last driver to qualify for the All-Star Race.
The top 10 with the most fan votes currently are: Darrell “Bubba” Wallace, Clint Bowyer, Matt DiBenedetto, William Byron, Corey LaJoie, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Timmy Hill, Aric Almirola and Austin Dillon. Voting runs until July 14th. Whoever won them will only be announced on July 15, immediately before the start of the All-Star Race.
Already qualified as participants due to their success in the 2019 season or previous editions of the All-Star-Race: Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Justin Haley, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson (subject to medical approval), Erik Jones, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr. In addition there are the stage winners and the winner of the qualification race (All-Star Open) and just the winner of the fan -Votings.
Old Guard prevails in Indianapolis (July 6)
© Motorsport Images
– –
Zoom
–
Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis on Sunday ended in second place with Kevin Harvick as the winner and Matt Kenseth. This means that the two oldest drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series 2020 starting field finished in the first two positions. Stewart / Haas driver Harvick, the 2004 champion and current league leader, is 44 years old. Kenseth, the 2003 champion who succeeded NASCAR’s Kyle Larson on the Ganassi team, is the oldest driver in the field at 48.
Logano starts in Indianapolis thanks to lottery luck from P1 (July 3rd)
© Motorsport Images
– –
Zoom
–
Also for the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis, which will take place on Sunday as a “ghost race”, the starting line-up was again drawn in three stages. The best starting place was drawn for Joey Logano, followed by Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman, Jimmie Johnson, Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex jun., Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott.
The IndyCar race will take place on Saturday in Indianapolis as part of the historic double header. In contrast to the Brickyard 400, this is not driven in an oval, but on the infield circuit. And on this circuit, the race of the second NASCAR league (Xfinity series) takes place immediately after the IndyCar race.
For the Xfinity race, Tony Stewart had actually planned a one-time comeback in the NASCAR cockpit. But now “Smoke” has canceled. He cites the reasons for the fact that it is a “ghost race” without on-site spectators. In addition, logistics in corona times are difficult. The use of an additional Xfinity car (besides that for Chase Briscoe) is currently not easy to handle for Stewart / Haas.
All-Star Race in Bristol with two innovations (July 2)
© NASCAR Media
– –
Zoom
–
On Wednesday, July 15th, NASCAR’s traditional all-star race will take place in a place that is anything but traditional. After once in Atlanta (1986) and 34 times in Charlotte, it is taking place in Bristol for the first time. Now the format for the pointless race has been determined. After the qualification race (All-Star-Open) over 85 laps, the All-Star-Race itself goes over 140 laps and is divided into four segments (55-35-35-15). The prize money for the winner is again one million US dollars. Apart from that, there are two innovations.
The first innovation: Under yellow, drivers can choose from two lanes from which lane they want to start the next restart. In point races, this right to vote is reserved only for the front-runner. The second innovation concerns the position of the start number on the cars. As had been leaked in advance, the number on the side moved to the rear fender to make room for sponsors on the (non-existent) door. This innovation also initially only applies to the All-Star Race.
The best Denny Hamlin ever? (July 1)
© Motorsport Images
– –
Zoom
–
When Denny Hamlin won the second of the two 2020 Pocono races last Sunday, he surpassed the Mark Martin mark with his 41st victory in the top NASCAR league. Just like Martin, Hamlin has not (so far) managed to win the title. This could change in 2020 after being one of the four finalists in 2019. With Chris Gabehart as crew chief, Hamlin scored ten of his 41 wins and two of his three Daytona 500 wins – even though the duo has only been working together since the start of the 2019 season. Why is the collaboration working so well?
“In the first half of last year, we created a basis,” Gabehart explains, adding: “It was about finding a common language with Denny and the engineers and mechanics in order to optimize the schedule of a weekend. Now that we have this basis, it shows in the results [Hamlin] has experienced ups and downs in this sport and knows how to deal with the pressure. He knows the routes and how changes in the rules affect them. These are all experiences that younger drivers still have to make. I think he’s at the peak of his career and it will continue for a few years. “
–
