KYLE BUSCH SURPRISES FAN WITH PHONE CALL

Kyle Busch and Dale Jarrett surprise a fan with a phone call asking him how he became such a big Kyle Busch fan.

NASCAR to honor Orlando shooting victims with special decal

NASCAR will honor the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting that killed 49 people, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

An #ORLANDOUNITED decal will be placed on the A-Post of all cars in the NASCAR Xfinity and Sprint Cup Series this weekend at Daytona International Speedway. The Xfinity Series races Friday night and the Sprint Cup Series races Saturday night.

NASCAR America: Austin Dillon and Ryan Newman on Daytona hopes

Austin Dillon and Ryan Newman talk about the Paralympic event, Coke Ride Along, and their hopes for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 on NBC.

DeWalt expands sponsorship with Joe Gibbs Racing

Joe Gibbs Racing announced Thursday that DeWalt will be the primary sponsor for 15 NASCAR Sprint Cup races next season for the No. 20 team for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Matt Kenseth‘s team needed sponsorship after Dollar General announced May 23 that it was not returning to the sport.

“I’m looking forward to getting the DeWalt colors back to victory lane,” Kenseth said at Daytona International Speedway.

Car owner Joe Gibbs was asked if this meant a contract extension for Kenseth. Gibbs said: “Our plan is Matt is going to retire here.”

DeWalt also announced that it has added four races as primary sponsor for Kenseth’s No. 20 team this year — Chicago, Dover, Kansas and Homestead. DeWalt will provide primary sponsorship for six Xfinity races this season with Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Gibbs said that the organization feels “pretty confident” about filling the remaining sponsorship gaps on Kenseth’s car for next season.

Kenseth enters Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 — which can be seen on NBC — with a win and is 10th in the season standings. DeWalt is Kenseth’s sponsor this weekend and also will be on Jones’ car for Friday’s Xfinity race on NBCSN.

Thursday schedule for Daytona International Speedway

NASCAR is back at Daytona International Speedway and the weekend begins with two practice sessions for both the Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series.

Here’s when and where to watch the action on NBCSN.

All times are Eastern.

9 a.m. – 8 p.m. – Xfinity garage open

10 a.m. – 6 p.m. – Sprint Cup garage open

2 – 2:55 p.m. – Xfinity practice (NBCSN)

3 – 3:55 p.m. – Sprint Cup practice (NBCSN, Motor Racing Network)

4 – 4: 55 p.m. – Final Xfinity practice (NBCSN)

5 – 5:55 p.m. – Final Sprint Cup practice (NBCSN, MRN)

NASCAR fines John Wes Townley, Spencer Gallagher for fight

NASCAR fined John Wes Townley $15,000 and Spencer Gallagher $12,500 for their fight last weekend during the Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park.

NASCAR issued the fines for the physical altercation and for being on the track during a caution period. Both drivers also were placed on probation through Dec. 31.

They made contact earlier the race, causing Townley to hit the wall. They wrecked in the final laps after a restart. After both exited their trucks, they scuffled, wrestled and threw a few punches before walking away.

Gallagher issued a public apology this week to Townley for the incident earlier in the race and his involvement in the fight. Townley has not issued a comment on the matter.

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Watch LIVE: NASCAR America at 6 p.m. ET: Previewing the Coke Zero 400

Today’s episode of NASCAR America, which airs from 6 – 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN, gives you one last preview of this weekend’s action at Daytona International Speedway.

Dave Briggs hosts with Parker Kligerman from Stamford, Connecticut.

Included in today’s show:

Hear from our crew at Daytona International Speedway, including Krista Voda, Kyle Petty, Dale Jarrett, Rick Allen, Steve Letarte and birthday boy Jeff Burton.
On Saturday, Tony Stewart makes his final start at Daytona as a full-time Sprint Cup driver. Stewart has never won the Daytona 500, but can tie David Pearson’s record of five July Daytona wins this weekend. We’ll look back on his summertime success.
Marty Snider is down in Daytona with the rest of the crew and he spoke with Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon and Ryan Newman as they get ready for Saturday night’s race.
The art of side-drafting has become critical to success everywhere – especially at Daytona. Parker Kligerman jumps in the simulator to break down how drivers use side-drafting to their advantage.
If you’re not near a TV, you can watch online or on the NBC Sports app via at the NASCAR stream on NBC Sports.

If you plan to stream the show on your laptop or portable device, be sure to have your username and password from your cable/satellite/telco provider handy so your subscription can be verified.

Once you enter that information, you’ll have access to the stream.

Click here at 6 p.m. ET to watch live via the stream.

NASCAR racing returns to NBC this weekend with the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. Coverage begins July 2 at 7:45 p.m. ET on NBC.

Fire at ThorSport Racing shop ruled accidental

The June 13 fire at ThorSport Racing’s shop was accidental and started outside the building in mulch underneath a stairway, according to a report by the Ohio State Fire Marshal.

About 40 percent of the building was lost because of the fire. The report listed fire damage as $10 million. The team fields entries in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes, Cameron Hayley and Rico Abreu. Fifteen of the team’s trucks were saved, but the suspension room and fab shop were destroyed. Fire units from four communities were called to the fire.

The report did not list an exact cause of the fire. The investigator wrote: “I was unable to eliminate careless smoking material discarded into the mulch bed on the exterior of the building as the heat source for this fire.”

The report noted that automatic sprinkler and fire alarms in the building did not activate because “the fire spread from the exterior into the roofline and walls. This was above and beyond the sensors and sprinkler heads. The interior alarms did activate once fire crews arrived and began to ventilate the interior rooms.”

The report also noted that “several sprinkler heads on the east side of the building activated once the roof collapsed and fire spread to interior portions of the building.”

The investigator detailed fire damage found in the patio area. After removing metal siding, the investigator reported that “fire damage was visible from the ground level into the void space between the metal wall covering and the original building. … Both the composite wood and wood framing was heavily damaged at ground level and evenly damaged on the interior facing side indicating fire spreading from the ground level upward.”

The report also included interviews with those who worked at the shop. They noted the patio area was often a place for employees to take lunch breaks during weekdays. No one reported seeing anyone smoke in that area that weekend before the fire.

“Copious amounts of water used during the fire attack washed a large portion of the mulch and other ground cover away from the building,” the investigator stated in the report. “I was unable to identify smoking materials in the area of origin but did see smoking materials on the grounds of the brick patio. The area of origin was the east side exterior of the building below the stairs. The mulch bed and ground cover is the specific area of origin.”

The report states the case is closed with no further investigate actions to be performed.

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Follow the leader: JR Motorsports carries Dale Jr.’s mantle in Xfinity plate races

The last time the Xfinity Series visited Daytona International Speedway, the race ended in the familiar sight of a bunch of drivers trying – and failing – to chase down a car with the No. 88 on its side.

But for once, the driver who emerged from the car wasn’t Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has won 10 times at Daytona in the Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series. It was Chase Elliott, who got to celebrate with Earnhardt the team owner.

Elliott’s win – his first on a restrictor-plate track – was the third JR Motorsports triumph at Daytona in five starts. It followed a sweep of the 2014 races by Regan Smith and Kasey Kahne.

In addition to his win in February, Elliott also earned the pole in both Sprint Cup plate races.

Like its owner, JR Motorsports’ restrictor-plate success is not limited to the Florida coast. The team has returned from Talladega Superspeedway victorious twice since 2013. Elliott Sadler claimed the win in May’s race after he was ruled to be the leader when the caution came out on the final lap.

“Our restrictor-plate program is very good right now,” Sadler said in a press release. “We had the lead at Daytona on the last lap to start the season and we just won Talladega a few weeks ago. We’re in a position, being locked in the Chase, where we can go down this weekend and be aggressive and do everything we can to just focus on winning the race.”

Sadler’s win gives JRM five in the last 10 races on plate tracks with four different drivers. The team’s avg finish of 4.57 in the first two plate races of 2016 is five positions better than any other team.

JRM will have Elliott, Sadler and Justin Allgaier on the track for this weekend’s Firecracker 250. The three drivers combined have three plate wins. Allgaier has three top fives in 17  Xfinity starts at plate races.

If one of them winds up in victory lane, it would make JR Motorsports the third team to sweep the Xfinity Series’ three plate races. The last two were Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008 and Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in 2003.

That year, Earnhardt pulled the feat off himself, leading 227 laps on the way to three wins.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team issued second written warning at Sonoma

The teams of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth each received written warnings last weekend at Sonoma Raceway, with Kenseth receiving his fourth and losing pit selections for the race.

Earnhardt, whose car failed pre-qualifying template inspection twice, received his second written warning. A fourth warning results in loss of pit selection for the following race

Kenseth’s fourth written warning was issued after failing pre-qualifying laser inspection.

Earnhardt’s team has already gone through the cycle of earning four warnings and losing pit selection. The No. 88 team lost pit selection for the Coca-Cola 600.

MORE: Townley, Gallagher fined for Truck race scuffle

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ROOKIE NO. 14 CREW CHIEF BUGAREWICZ REFLECTS ON STEWART'S VETERAN WIN

WATCH: Stewart's smoky burnout | Bird's-eye view of the last-lap pass

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. -- In a lightning-paced span of less than 24 hours, Mike Bugarewicz went from Sonoma Raceway's Victory Lane in the heart of California wine country to right back to work on the shop floor at Stewart-Haas Racing.

The first-year crew chief had just made the savvy pit call of a veteran, propelling Tony Stewart to his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win in more than three years and the brink of his first Chase playoffs appearance in almost four. Accordingly after such an intense day atop the No. 14 team's pit box and all the high-energy fanfare that followed, sleep did not come easy.

Movies replaced shut-eye on the plane ride back to North Carolina, and once Bugarewicz arrived at his home, he said he still didn't feel tired. So at 4 a.m. with a hoppy West Coast IPA by his side, he finally found a quiet moment to exhale.

Sonoma's celebratory drink of choice is typically served in a chalice; Bugarewicz's comes in a pint glass.

"I just needed a minute to myself to just reflect on the day and just enjoy a nice, cold beer," Bugarewicz said Monday from SHR's expansive stock-car headquarters. "I just sat and thought about everything that happened and how special it was for Tony and this whole organization…

"It's still kind of sinking in quite a bit, but seeing all the people here at the shop, how happy everybody is and all that, it's just a great feeling around the shop today."

Yeah it's 4am and just got home but I needed to sit alone for a bit and take all of today's event in... pic.twitter.com/DPdxHwb0xW
— Mike Bugarewicz (@BugaMike14) June 27, 2016

The joy was magnified by both the manner in which the owner/driver outdueled Denny Hamlin on the last lap and the protracted wait for his first checkered flag after an 84-race dry spell. That it also put Stewart one step closer to championship eligibility in his final Sprint Cup campaign made it that much more meaningful. Stewart now has the victory he needs; his next agenda item is to inch into the top 30 in driver points in the 10 regular-season races that remain.

Though the three-time champ's actions behind the wheel played a huge part in the Sonoma success, Bugarewicz's strategy play to give Stewart precious track position was similarly crucial. With NASCAR spotters searching to confirm reports of debris on the track, Bugarewicz called for Stewart to hit pit road ahead of the other frontrunners. When the yellow flag flew just one lap later, Stewart was out front and in control.

"I talked to him on the radio and said, well, our options here are either to ride it out and finish in the teens somewhere, and yeah, we'll gain some points on 30th (in the drivers' standings), but we all know at the end of the day we have to win to have an opportunity to compete in the Chase," Bugarewicz said. "So I said our other option is listen to radio and when we think a caution's going to come out, we'll hit pit road, we'll take the chance. If it works, yesterday's result could come, and if it doesn't work, well, we might finish 30th, but you know what, I don't think the losing 10 points versus gaining 10 points is really what we're looking for. We were shooting for wins."

In other words, no pressure. Taking late-race gambles weighs on even the most experienced crew chiefs. So is Bugarewicz, just 16 races into his first season atop a premier-series pit box, getting more comfortable with the weekly tension?

"It still makes you nervous because if it wouldn't have worked out, then I'd be kicking myself today, saying, 'well, that was dumb and we lost 10 points because of it,' " Bugarewicz said. "With the way the format is nowadays in NASCAR, and especially in our unique situation, winning is everything. People are taking the bigger risks and the bigger chances to try and get those wins because it does solidify your Chase hopes."

While Bugarewicz is less than halfway through his rookie season as a crew chief, he's spent even less time working directly with Stewart behind the wheel. The severe back injury that kept 'Smoke' out of the No. 14 Chevrolet's seat for the first eight races forced Bugarewicz to adjust, calling the shots for substitute drivers Brian Vickers (five races) and Ty Dillon (three races) in the interim.

In the two months since Stewart's April return at Richmond, Bugarewicz said the communication has improved, with the 34-year-old engineer trying to keep Stewart loose and reminding him to have fun. Though the farewell season now has its defining highlight to date, Bugarewicz said he hopes to add an equally compelling postseason chapter to the story.

"We keep meshing better and better every week and I think if it keeps progressing like it has and we can still show that every week that we can contend, we can lead laps, we can run up front, in the top 10, top five and so forth, then absolutely we can be a contender," Bugarewicz said. "Heck, we've really only had eight races together now, me and him working together and the rest of the team. We've got a lot of time yet to prepare for the Chase and there's still going to be a lot of that prep work going on."

Bugarewicz said the focus wouldn't necessarily change over the regular season's home stretch, indicating that the No. 14 team will still aggressively pursue victories when the chances arise, but with a measured approach to minimize any subpar results in the points standings.

Stewart sits 32nd in the driver standings, just nine points behind Brian Scott and the 30th-place threshold he needs to cross. That quest continues this weekend at Daytona International Speedway in the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola (7:45 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM), a race Stewart has won four times in his career.

Though Bugarewicz was already back to business Monday, his spirits were lifted by watching a jubilant Stewart's long-awaited celebration, a festive memory to carry through one special sleepless night and beyond.

"It was a genuine happiness that I haven't seen on his face in a long, long time," Bugarewicz said. "I've seen a drive in him that, it's what we all remember and we see in the highlight films and remember Tony as. I mean, that guy just wanted it yesterday and just seeing that sheer happiness in his face is definitely going to stick with me."

NASCAR America: ‘Scan All’ revisits Tony Stewart’s Sonoma win

 

Take a look at the highlights from the weekend at Sonoma, including audio from the drivers and their crew, and the nail-biting finish between Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin

Matt Tifft to undergo surgery for tumor in his brain

Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Matt Tifft will undergo surgery for removal of a low-grade glioma in his brain.

The slow-growing tumor was found during treatment and evaluation for a recent disk condition in his back. Tifft, who turned 20 years old two days ago, is expected to undergo surgery and rehabilitation soon afterward and is expected to return to racing once cleared by doctors.

David Ragan will drive for Tifft in Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity race at Daytona International Speedway.

Tifft did not drive in either the recent Xfinity or Camping World Truck Series races at Iowa Speedway. Sam Hornish Jr. won the Xfinity race at Iowa with Joe Gibbs Racing. German Quiroga drove in the Truck series race for Tifft.

Tifft had driven in three Truck series races and six Xfinity races. He won the pole for the Xfinity race at Talladega.

Ragan drove nine races for Joe Gibbs Racing last season in the Sprint Cup Series after Kyle Busch was injured. Ragan had three top-10 finishes, including a fourth-place result at Auto Club Speedway. He finished the season with Michael Waltrip Racing. Ragan is driving in the Cup series this year for BK Racing.

Jimmie Johnson decal honors veteran killed in Orlando shooting

The No. 48 Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson will have a special tribute during this weekend’s race at Daytona International Speedway.

A decal will be placed on the car honoring Antonio Brown, one of the 49 people killed in the June 12 Pulse club shooting in Orlando, which is about 60 miles south of Daytona Beach.

Brown, 30, was a human resources manager at a Lowes’ store in Fern Park, Florida. Brown was also a former U.S. Army captain who served in Kuwait during the Iraq War.

1. The decal is below 

NASCAR on NBC podcast, Episode XXVII: Rick Allen

Rick Allen, the lead announcer for NBC Sports’ NASCAR Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series race coverage, joined the NASCAR on NBC podcast to discuss his circuitous route to becoming one of the sport’s most recognizable voices.

While competing as a decathlete who once was ranked in the top 10 in the world and trained for the 1992 Olympics with bronze medalist Dave Johnson, Allen discovered his calling for PA announcing. After a stint as the PA announcer for the University of Nebraska, Allen moved into NASCAR broadcasting and joined NBC Sports in 2014.

He explains how he handles the serious and uncertain moments of racing (such as Austin Dillon‘s crash at the end of last year’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway), but he embraces its chaos.

“I’ve always felt comfortable,” he said. “I think under pressure situations, I think clearer. I feel like when the intensity is really high, I think I have better focus.

“The very first race we have on NBC goes rain delayed for almost eight hours, and the way it ends, we think that someone dies. That chaos, I knew I’m not going to say the wrong thing. That’s in me. I know the situation and the magnitude and how to convey that. I have a lot of confidence that I believe I’m in the right job.”

You can listen to the podcast by clicking below or download and subscribe to it on iTunes by clicking here. The free subscription will provide automatic downloads of new episodes to your smartphone. It also is available on Stitcher

Stay tuned for time cues to provide easy referencing while listening to the episode.

Reed Sorenson sponsored by Royal Teak Collection at Daytona

Premium Motorsports has announced that the No. 55 Chevrolet driven by 12-year Sprint Cup veteran Reed Sorenson will be sponsored by RoyalTeakCollection.com for the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

Royal Teak Collection is a manufacturer of patio/casual furniture that offers Solid Teak and All-Weather Wicker collections.

Sorenson is in his second season with Premium Motorsports and is a veteran of 243 Sprint Cup starts. The native of Peachtree City, Georgia, has started in nine races this season while failing to qualify for the Daytona 500. If he starts the Coke Zero 400, it will be his first start at Daytona since the 2015 Daytona 500.

“Claus and Julia Villebro through their company Royal Teak Collection.com has been a partner of our race team since 2012,” said team owner Jay Robinson in a press release. “The team has enjoyed many great runs with Royal Teak Collection.com and expects to continue with great results in Daytona.”

Sorenson’s first start this year came at Martinsville Speedway. His best finish through his nine starts was 28th at Pocono Raceway.

“I am always excited to go to Daytona, it provides our team with a great opportunity to run competitive the entire race and come away with a great finish,” said Sorenson in a press release. Sorenson’s best finish at Daytona in 12 starts is fifth in the 2008 Daytona 500.

NASCAR America: Dissecting Stewart’s win at Sonoma

Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton and Kyle Petty breakdown Tony Stewart‘s dramatic last-lap win at Sonoma Sunday, his first Sprint Cup win in three years.

NASCAR America: The state of Stewart-Haas Racing

The NASCAR America team talks about the state of Stewart-Haas Racing after Tony Stewart‘s surprising victory at Sonoma.

Gatorade | Beat the Heat | Jimmie Johnson Rides Watkins Glen

As part of the Gatorade Beat the Heat program, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson gives a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into a race weekend for him and the Hendrick Motorsports 48 pit crew team on-site at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in Watkins Glen, New York. The sport of NASCAR has evolved over the years; now, drivers and the crew members make fitness, nutrition and hydration a big part of their preparation and routine to gain an edge on their competition.

NASCAR executive on Townley-Gallagher fight: ‘Certainly not our best moment’

A NASCAR executive stated Monday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that “there will be repercussions” for the incident between John Wes Townley and Spencer Gallagher during Saturday night’s Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Townley and Gallagher had contact during the race that caused Townley’s truck to hit the wall. They both wrecked in the final laps. After exiting their vehicles, they soon began scuffling, tumbling to the track and throwing a few punches.

“We’ll look at the all the video feeds we have, we certainly talked to both drivers postrace,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. “We’ll have our discussions. We’ll kind of have an evaluation and talk to everyone about where we stand from that. Certainly not our best moment, for sure, two passionate drivers. That’s part of things sometimes when emotions run high, but certainly don’t like to see that to occur when they’re especially on the racetrack.”

O’Donnell told “The Morning Drive” that a key issue is what led to the final accident between them.

“We certainly like to see drivers who are going to express their emotions be outside of a race car, that’s where we really, really jump in and react when it’s drivers using their race cars beyond what is normal for a race,” O’Donnell said. “We’re going to react heavily when we have to. There will still be repercussions for sure. We want to make sure drivers, if they’re going to do anything, are outside of their car but certainly don’t encourage what happened at Gateway.”

Tony Stewart, who won Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Sonoma Raceway, said he was looking forward to how NASCAR will react to the Townley-Gallagher incident.

“I can’t wait for (the penalty announcement) because I told Mike Helton I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time to see how much you get fined for a fight,” Stewart said, referring to the NASCAR vice chairman. “He laughed at me. I said, ‘Well, look at it this way, I’ve got a lot of scores to settle with people and I’ve only got six months to do it.’ I’ve just got to figure out if it’s economically feasible to do it, so I’m waiting to see what ‑‑ I’ll be the one by 5 p.m. on Tuesday reading every social media thing out there.

“But I’m going to go to (Townley’s sponsor) Zaxby’s and eat chicken all week just in support of John Wes. Hey, I’m all for it. I’m glad to see somebody had some emotion and actually did something with it. I’m going to live my life through him for this week.”

Denny Hamlin on losing to Tony Stewart: ‘It’s not like I gave him one by any means’

Denny Hamlin did everything he could to hold off a last-lap charge by Tony Stewart, but he just couldn’t hang on.

Stewart got by Hamlin on the final turn of Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway to earn his first win since 2013 – and left Hamlin to ponder how this one got away.

“I shouldn’t have given him that opportunity (on the last lap),” Hamlin said over his team radio.

In a postrace interview on Fox Sports 1, he expanded on that.

“I got in there, didn’t wheel-hop or anything, just slid up a little bit in the middle and allowed him to get a real good run on me,” Hamlin said. “Once (Stewart) had inside position; we weren’t going to drag-race at that point.

“I knew he was going to put me in the wall. He’s doing what he has to do, and we’re trying to do what we have to do. All’s fair in love and war.”

Hamlin finished 0.625 seconds behind Stewart.

“We had a really good car,” Hamlin said in a postrace media session. “Obviously the best road course car I’ve had.”

Hamlin leaves Sonoma still looking for his first career Sprint Cup road course win. His career best at Watkins Glen International also is a second (in 2007).

Hamlin took the lead on the last lap, passing Stewart in Turn 7 after the latter made a mistake by overdriving the turn.

“I thought with two or three (laps) to go, he pretty much had it, but he made a couple mistakes and allowed us to get pretty close,” Hamlin said. “We just both wheel-hopped into 7, and I just let off my wheel-hop a little bit so I could get to his rear bumper and get him out of the groove just a touch.

“It was perfectly executed, but … I didn’t run a low enough line in Turn 11 from wheel-hopping in Turn 7. I got the rears hot, wheel hopped it a little bit again, got out of line, and obviously gave him the inside line. … We definitely had a car that should have won, but we were on the bad end of the deal.”

Hamlin admitted he was worried that if Stewart could get to his back bumper heading into the 11th and final turn of the last lap, that his rival might try to turn him.

“I didn’t know if he would physically spin us out,” Hamlin said. “I thought there was a very good chance of it because that’s his opportunity to get in the Chase ultimately.”

Hamlin then said with a laugh, “I mean, how many more chances is he going to have? I think this is by far the best he’s run all year, and he’s in his final season, so his give a (expletive) factor is probably really low to be honest with you.”

Still, though disappointed at his runner-up finish, Hamlin was philosophical about it, coupled with the relationship he’s had with Stewart – a former teammate, as well – over the years.

“Tony has been ultra fair to me quite a bit,” Hamlin said. “He’s treated me really well my entire career. It’s not like I gave him one by any means. He gave us an opportunity to move him, we did, and then we got it back. It’s just part of the deal.”

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NASCAR says Austin Dillon’s frightening crash launched a dozen safety projects

Austin Dillon’s airborne crash that left a gaping 60-foot hole in the catchfence at Daytona International Speedway last July spawned a dozen safety projects at NASCAR’s R&D Center.

president Steve O’Donnell said in a recent interview with NBC Sports. “But it’s led us to some initiatives with the race teams, through the floorboards, through different protection areas, through some anti-intrusion in the car. We’re working with the teams now to implement as early as 2017, if not earlier, depending on as they develop new cars.”

Two of the most significant wrecks in NASCAR since last year occurred at Daytona: Dillon’s wreck on the last lap in the rain-delayed Coke Zero 400 resulted in five fans being treated for injuries caused by debris from his No. 3 Chevrolet, but the Richard Childress Racing driver walked away.

In the Xfinity Series opener on Feb. 21, 2015, Kyle Busch slammed into an unprotected interior wall in Turn 1 after skidding through fronstretch grass that since has been paved over. Busch missed nearly three months with a broken right leg and fractured left foot.

Last weekend at Sonoma Raceway, Busch was critical of NASCAR for keeping the rules static for Daytona after three cars got airborne May 1 at Talladega Superspeedway. Danica Patrick also was involved in a heavy wreck similar to Busch’s at Daytona.

“As far as rule changes in Daytona, I was certainly hoping that we would see something coming off the race that we saw at Talladega,” Busch said. “No rule changes is not a welcoming sight for me, but it is what it is. We’ll go and crash some more.”

O’Donnell defended NASCAR’s deliberate approach to safety advances, noting that a 2015 initiative in which safety harnesses/belts were mounted to seats instead of the chassis “certainly allowed (Dillon) to walk away” from the Daytona crash.

“If we can see something, we’re going to implement it as quickly as we can, but you’ve got to make sure it works,” O’Donnell said. “To do that, you’ve got to study it, test it and validate it. You’ve got to make sure you get the correct results, and it’ll hold up at high speeds at the track. That’s not just something we can say we think it works. It has to work when we put it in place.

“That’s one of the things that you look at with Austin prior to the crash. The belts adjustment worked. And we’re proud of the fact that worked, and he was able to get up and walk away.”

O’Donnell said NASCAR always was evaluating liftoff speeds but also was focused on the incident involving Matt Kenseth’s No. 20 Toyota, which got airborne during a spin at Talladega.

In the case of the other airborne wrecks at Talladega, and Dillon’s crash at Daytona, the cars took flight after contact with another vehicle.

“Where we’re most concerned is where a car gets airborne on its own,” O’Donnell said. “That’s very rare. If you look at Talladega and the 20 car, that happened. The others are really a result of what we call “ramping up” in terms of Austin Dillon getting into another car and getting airborne, which happened twice at Talladega as well.

“It’s inherent in racing, and it can happen really at any racetrack we’re at, it’s not something we like to see, but where we’re really focused is a car on its own getting sideways, getting up in the air. Still a rare occurrence, but any occurrence is more than we’d like to see, so we’re constantly focused on that.”

Another focus is catchfence technology. O’Donnell hinted in the wake of Dillon’s crash last year that a future iteration “may not be a fence.”

O’Donnell said last week there “still is a lot of ongoing studying with the fencing” but indicated there weren’t any imminent changes. As part of the Daytona Rising overhaul that made its debut in February, Daytona removed the first few rows of grandstands and prevented fans from the “rim road” encircling the track (changes that were planned before Dillon’s crash after airborne wrecks that injured fans in 2012 and ’13).

“First and foremost, the fence did its job” in Dillon’s crash, O’Donnell said. “Its job is to keep that vehicle back on the racetrack side, which it did. Certainly the seating area was adjusted in Daytona, we learned to keep some of the fans off the rim road. As we go forward, we’ll be studying some more aspects with our track safety experts to look at what if anything we can do in addition to the fencing and cabling.”

NASCAR conducts exhaustive internal studies after major crashes similar to Busch’s and Dillon’s. An incident data recorder provides information on rates of acceleration and deceleration, as well as the G forces sustained by a driver at impact. NASCAR also consults with the driver, team members who built the car and sometimes outside experts to consider potential improvements.

After Dillon’s crash, his No. 3 Chevrolet was brought to the R&D Center for a complete teardown (before being returned to the team), and photos and videos gathered at the track also were studied.

“You combine that with the incident data recorder and then you’re able to, when you test and try new things, you can reenact that incident almost in its entirety, and it’s as exact as possible,” O’Donnell said. “You can reconstruct the speeds and angles to see if the new things you’ve put in place did work and are something you want to take the next step with.”

Advancements showing the most promise from the dozen projects launched by Dillon’s crash are in anti-intrusion areas, and O’Donnell said some of the developments involve plates within the cockpit that help protect drivers’ feet. NASCAR also has studied floorboard designs after Busch’s crash and has shared data with teams to develop directions on safety features.

“There are a lot of different things that we’re looking at and also studying what is unique in Austin’s crash,” O’Donnell said. “We’re looking at the floorboards and protecting the foot box area. Those are some of the things if you look specifically at Kyle’s incident that we’ve worked with the teams to try to implement going forward.”

In a buzzword that’s been sounded throughout the industry this year, the research also has become more collaborative this season with the formation of a safety council (one of several new committees introduced with the team charter system).

“I’ve said many times we have some of the smartest people in the industry working on our race teams,” O’Donnell said. “So we’ve worked hand in hand with them as well to look at different safety initiatives. It’s tough to pinpoint a number, but I’d say it’s in the hundreds of folks who are daily focused on safety. Again, it’s safer than it’s ever been, but we’re in a dangerous sport, and we’ve got to learn each and every day and apply those (lessons) as quickly as we can.”

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Who had more fun Sunday, Tony Stewart or crew chief for first career win?

Mike Bugarewicz has a hard enough job as a NASCAR Sprint Cup crew chief.

But that job just got a little easier – at least for one race – after his driver, Tony Stewart, won Sunday at Sonoma.

Not only was it Stewart’s first win since 2013 – and the 49th of his Sprint Cup career – it was also Bugarewicz’s first win atop a Cup pit box.

“I’ve only worked at Stewart-Haas (Racing), this is my third year, (the first) two years with Kevin (Harvick) as his engineer,” Bugarewicz said. “Every win is sweet whether I’m a race engineer or crew chief or whatever, it’s all great.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet that it was my first, but our goal from the beginning of the year was to get Tony back in victory lane, and I’m just so glad that we could get him there.”

Stewart made headlines Friday when he said during his weekly media availability that “driving a Sprint Cup car does not make me happy right now” ,and that is why he’s looking so forward to retiring at season’s end.

But after Sunday’s win, Bugarewicz said his driver’s mindset might have changed a bit more to the positive side of things – and that he certainly had some fun in Sunday’s win.

“I did not remember to ask him that,” Bugarewicz said about failing to ask Stewart if he was having fun before Sunday’s race. “I just assumed by the look of his face that he was enjoying it.

“One thing I will say, no matter what, every week it’s the last thing I say to him before I leave the car and he actually reminded me of that today.

“He said, ‘If I get angry and start yelling at you today, just remind me to have fun.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I know how that’ll work out for me.’ But no, we always talk about that. What’s most important for all of us is just enjoy it, take it in. You have to do that.”

While Bugarewicz and his team did everything they could to help Stewart to victory lane, in the end it was Stewart who did what he needed to do.

That included being mum on the team radio on the final lap.

“I stayed pretty quiet,” Bugarewicz said. “The spotter was keeping in touch with him. He didn’t say much, either.

“In those situations I just like to let (Stewart) concentrate and let him do his thing. He’s got a lot going on, especially at a place like this, so we just let him focus.”

But Bugarewicz also had something that only one other Sprint Cup team (six-time champ Jimmie Johnson) has — a driver with multiple Cup titles.

“Having a three-time champion who knew he had an opportunity today is a big thing,” Bugarewicz said. “At the end of the day, we only won because of his desire and his drive and his want.

“I truly believe that with these competitors and how good all the cars are and these top-tier drivers, that’s all it is. It’s a matter of who wants it more at the end of the day in most cases. Today, Tony wanted it more.”

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What drivers said after Sonoma race

Drivers had much to say after Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 won by Tony Stewart. Here’s what drivers said:

TONY STEWART — Winner: “I made mistakes the last two laps. I had just a little bit too much rear brake for Turn 7, and wheel-hopped it two laps in a row. But I felt a nudge when I got down there, and he knew where it was, and (Denny Hamlin) did the right thing doing it there; but if I could get to him, he knew what was coming. He told me he was proud of me. He knows what it means. We were teammates for a long time, and we respect each other a lot.”

DENNY HAMLIN — Finished 2nd: “Just like you heard Tony say, I thought with two or three to go, he pretty much had it, but he made a couple mistakes and allowed us to get pretty close, and then we just both wheel-hopped into (Turn) 7, and I just let off my wheel hop a little bit so I could get to his rear bumper and get him out of the groove just a touch. It was perfectly executed, but I was going through the esses knowing that I needed to get the biggest gap that I could … I didn’t run a low enough line in Turn 11 from wheel-hopping in Turn 7. I got the rears hot, wheel-hopped it a little bit again, got out of line and obviously gave him the inside line. We definitely had a car that should have won, but we were on the bad end of the deal.’’

Joey Logano — Finished 3rd: “I thought I could win the race there at the last lap when you are watching those two going into 7 and 11, and you’re running third.  You think you’re in a pretty good spot to win this thing.  I’m thinking that they’re most likely going to crash each other.  It was a fun race to watch.  Going into Turn 11 I was 100 percent sure that Denny was not going to win just by watching it, and we were right there on the cusp of trying to sneak one by.  It would have been a gift if we got it, but hey, take them anyway you can.”

Carl Edwards — Finished 4th:“I appreciate Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. giving me the space there. Joey (Logano) got loose, I got under him, and Dale was three-wide. It was fun to race. Congrats to Tony; I know he drove his heart out there. It’s pretty neat to see him in victory lane.”

Martin Truex Jr. — Finished 5th: “It was a lot of fun racing out there today. Feel like we had the best car, we just couldn’t get track position. Every time we would get past the guys that we were racing on the racetrack, caution would come out, and guys would beat us out of the pits. Little frustrated with that. Thought we had the car to win, and then that last set of tires we just got in position, and we just got too loose.”

Kevin Harvick – Finished 6th: “I’m just really proud of Tony (Stewart). That is really the best thing. We didn’t have a lot of good happen today. We fought all day on pit road and got a decent finish out of it. But other than that we had a little bit of a struggle with getting it to turn.”

Kyle Busch — Finished 7th: “I don’t know what happened at the end of the race, but thought we had a shot to end up in the top four at least. For some reason there at the end, it blew the rear tires off there at the end on the last run when I was trying to race those guys for the top four. I couldn’t even gain on them. I was just trying to hang with them. We just burned the rear tires off on that last run just trying too hard and went backwards.”

Kasey Kahne – Finished 9th: “We started off pretty good, and I just needed to be a little looser. We were on the tight side. So, we tried to loosen it up and for whatever reason it was the exact opposite. I got really tight then. So then we started going the other way with adjustments. We just kind of gave up the middle portion of the race.  If we hadn’t done that I think we were maybe bet

Kurt Busch – Finished 10th: “We battled really hard, I was somewhat surprised by the lack of grip in the rear of the car. It showed a little bit of that in practice, and some of the other guys had the same issues as far as our teammates. We just didn’t correct it enough. It’s my fault that I didn’t relay the information well enough. Congratulations to Tony Stewart, this is a huge day for SHR. To have three cars in the Chase, to have Tony’s confidence up, to have him battle Denny Hamlin like that this is the best way for a champion like him to go out.”

Jimmie Johnson – Finished 13th: “We were OK. We had the same strategy as the No. 14 going and then we were coming in the next lap, and the caution came out.  It kind of hurt us there to leap frog those guys and the transition we were looking for. We just kind of rode from there.”

AJ Allmendinger – Finished 14th: “Randall Burnett (crew chief) and all the guys Brain Burns, Tony Palmer, all my guys they did a great job.  We weren’t very good. We were pretty junky on Friday.  They worked hard to get this thing as good as it could be. Such a strange race. At one point you think the tires go off and then you find something and manage them again. I thought whatever it was, 25 to go, we were coming. So in the end just a bad pit stop and let the tire get away and penalty. That took away our chance to win the race.”

Brad Keselowski — Finished 15th: “It was a hot day. We had better speed than we’ve ever had before, but I just made too many mistakes.”

Greg Biffle — Finished 18th: “We had about a 16th-place car and that’s right about where we finished. We just fought all day and tried to hold our track position, but that’s just as fast as our car was. It was a really good call by Brian Pattie and the team on how to call the race. They did a great job. It couldn’t have worked out better for us, but that’s all we had.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. — Finished 26th: “We just weren’t very good. We were really good on the long run, if I could save my tires, but I didn’t have any short-run speed. That really made the restarts tough to not lose any track position, but still not wear out my tires. We’ve got to go back to the drawing board for the road course here. We definitely struggled today.”

Ryan Blaney — Finished 23rd: “It was a long day. Early on we short-pitted and got some track position. We had some good fortune (with the second caution), but I gave all the spots right back.”

Trevor Bayne — Finished 25th: “We just ran around 25th all day. We tried some different strategies, but none of them seemed to work, and we never got any track position. I feel like I learned a lot, and we had decent speed at the end. We had top-15 speed, but we just never had track position.”

Clint Bowyer – Finished 40th: “It had to be the ignition. It was a wiring fire. I’ve had oil smoke and stuff like that before in the car blowing out but I’ve never had an electrical fire. Man it shook me out. I couldn’t breathe. I bailed out and the thing starts rolling, so I had to reach in and put it in gear. That’s a great start to the day.”

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Tony Stewart describes wild last-lap finish at Sonoma (video)

Tony Stewart has had some wild finishes in his career, but Sunday’s last lap victory — passing Denny Hamlin (and punting him slightly into the wall) on the last turn of the race — will likely rank among one of the wildest of Stewart’s career.

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STEWART SNAPS 84-RACE SKID, FOILS HAMLIN IN SONOMA THRILLER

Tony Stewart rolled to victory Sunday at Sonoma Raceway, bumping past Denny Hamlin in the final turn to post his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win of the season and keep his hopes alive for a fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title in his final championship campaign.

Stewart, who led 22 of the 110 laps, guided the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Chevrolet to a .625-second margin of victory in the Toyota/Save Mart 350. His third win on the 1.99-mile road course was the 49th of his Sprint Cup career.

Stewart, who missed the first eight races of his final NASCAR championship campaign, now has one component accomplished of his goal to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series playoffs. He'll need to advance into the top 30 in points, a position he's just nine points away from in 32nd.

Hamlin, who grabbed the lead from Stewart in Turn 7 on the final lap before sliding high in the last of 11 turns, led a race-high 33 laps and ended up second in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota. Joey Logano, the winner at Michigan in the series' previous race, took third place.

Edwards, who won the Coors Light Pole Award in Saturday's qualifying, led 24 laps and finished fourth in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota. Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top five in the first of two road-racing events this season for the Sprint Cup Series.

Road-racing expert AJ Allmendinger led 20 laps in the JTG Daugherty No. 47 Chevrolet and finished 14th. His team was penalized for an uncontrolled tire on a Lap 88 pit stop, knocking him from contention.

Kyle Busch, a Sonoma winner one year ago, wound up seventh in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota.

Home-state driver Kyle Larson spent much of the day in the top five, but fell from contention with a pit-road speeding penalty in a Lap 70 stop. He finished 12th.

Notes: Clint Bowyer, a winner at Sonoma in 2012, was sidelined after completing just five laps by an electrical issue that filled the cockpit of his No. 15 Chevrolet with smoke. "Smoke is never good in the cockpit and it stinks. Hell, I couldn't breathe," said Bowyer, who finished last in the 40-car field. … Former NASCAR Next driver Dylan Lupton finished 35th in his Sprint Cup debut, the last driver on the lead lap. … Sunday before the race, Toyota -- the race co-sponsor and the track's official vehicle -- announced a three-year extension of its partnership with Sonoma Raceway. The deal continues a sponsorship that has been in place since 2007. … The series' next race is scheduled Saturday at Daytona International Speedway, which will host the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola (7:45 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM).

This story will be updated.

Sprint Cup pit stall assignments for today’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma

While Carl Edwards will start Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 from the pole at Sonoma Raceway, he’ll be in pit stall No. 11 and have an opening in front.

California native AJ Allmendinger has the first pit stall (stall No. 2) with Chase Elliott behind him.

By contrast, Aric Almirola and Tony Stewart have the last stalls on pit road.

Matt Kenseth lost his selection of pit stalls because his team received a fourth warning for an inspection issue that came before qualifying Saturday at Sonoma. Kenseth will have Brian Scott in front of him and Josh Wise behind.

Here’s how the pit stall assignments look:

Today’s Sprint Cup race at Sonoma: Start time, weather, radio/TV info and lineup

Here’s all you need to know for the first Sprint Cup road course race of the season.

(All times are Eastern):

START: Ruben Arminana, Sonoma State University President, will give the command to start engines at 3:08 p.m. Green flag is set for 3:20 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is 110 laps (218.9 miles) around the 1.99-mile road course.

PRERACE SCHEDULE: Sprint Cup garage opens at 10 a.m. Driver/crew chief meeting is at 1 p.m. Driver introductions begin at 2:30 p.m. The invocation will be given at 3 p.m. by Tim Bove, track minister at Sonoma Raceway.

NATIONAL ANTHEM: Q Smith, Transcendence Theatre’s Broadway Under the Stars in Sonoma Valley, will perform the anthem at 3:01 p.m.

TV/RADIO: Fox Sports 1 will broadcast the race at 3 p.m. (RaceDay begins at 1:30 p.m.) Performance Racing Network’s broadcast on radio and at goprn.com begins at 2 p.m. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the PRN broadcast.

FORECAST: wunderground.com forecasts a temperature of 83 degree with 0 percent chance of rain at the start of the race.

LAST TIME: Kyle Busch took the lead with five laps left to win this race a year ago. Kurt Busch finished second with Clint Bowyer third. Jimmie Johnson led a race-high 45 laps and finished sixth.

STARTING LINEUP:

Byron takes over lead in Truck Series standings after Gateway

William Byron failed to earn his third straight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win in Saturday’s Drivin for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Although he finished 17th, it still was a good day for the rookie driver as he jumped to the top of the Truck Series point standings.

Byron knocked Matt Crafton from the top spot. Byron leads Crafton by one point. Timothy Peters is five points behind Byron.

The series’ next race is July 7 at Kentucky Speedway.

Here’s how the Truck Series points look after Gateway:

Victimized by cyber attack, NASCAR Sprint Cup team finds help from new partner

A NASCAR Sprint Cup team was the victim of a cyber attack earlier this year and paid a ransom to retrieve valuable information.

Since the attack, the No. 95 Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing team has partnered with Malwarebytes, a malware prevention and remediation solution company.

The team stated in a release that computers with track data from races and test facilities and personnel information were infected. Those responsible demanded the team pay a ransom within 48 hours or lose their data.

The team valued the information being held hostage — car part lists, custom high-profile simulation setups, etc. — at $2 million. The team stated that it would have taken 1,500 man-hours to recreate the information.

“Just knowing that we could lose everything that we had worked so hard to achieve was terrifying,” crew chief Dave Winston said in a team release. “The data that they were threatening to take from us was priceless, we couldn’t go one day without it greatly impacting the team’s future success. This was a completely foreign experience for all of us, and we had no idea what to do. What we did know was that if we didn’t get the files back, we would lose years worth of work valued at millions of dollars.”

After paying the ransom, the team sought a company to protect its computer data. After running and installing Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, the company found and eliminated malware infection from more than 10,000 files.

“Like most companies, we felt we had solid security in place on our digital intelligence with our software and firewalls, but this is a very new threat,” said Jeremy Lange, vice president at Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing. “It’s an area of coverage that you don’t realize you need until it happens to you. We’re lucky that it all worked out, and now having this partnership with Malwarebytes, we hope to inform NASCAR fans and the industry of this threat and the solution.”

Ben Rhodes sweeps Camping World Truck practices at Gateway

Ben Rhodes posted the fastest lap in Saturday’s final practice session for the Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park with a lap of 135.755 mph. Rhodes also was the fastest in the opening session Saturday at 135.738 mph.

Johnny Sauter was second in Saturday’s final practice at 135.510 mph with John Hunter Nemechek third at 135.054 mph.

Rico Abreu, who crashed in the first practice session, did not make it on the track for the final session. His team was busy preparing the backup. He will have no laps on that vehicle at Gateway when he qualifies at 5:45 p.m. ET today. The race is at 8:30 p.m. ET.

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Jeff Gordon open to co-hosting morning talk show with Kelly Ripa

Jeff Gordon says he’ll be back in the Fox Sports booth next season but the question is if he’ll have other broadcasting work.

The four-time champion said he would “welcome” the opportunity to succeed Michael Strahan as “Live” co-host with Kelly Ripa on the morning talk show. Gordon has co-hosted the show nine times with Ripa. A recent report stated he was on a short list of candidates to replace Strahan, who left the show for a full-time job on “Good Morning America.’’

“I’m flattered that my name has been associated with that,’’ Gordon told reporters Saturday at Sonoma Raceway. “I’ve always maintained a great friendship with the show and some of the producers and folks within the show. I had a great time co-hosting on that show, and I mean, I certainly would welcome it.

“My priority is Fox and Fox Sports and NASCAR, so I will definitely be back in the booth next year. If there was something that would fit into and around that, great. I don’t know if that’s a reality, but it’s been really interesting kind of seeing that unfold. I really don’t have anything that I can say about it.’’

This weekend marks the final Sprint Cup race broadcast for Fox Sports. NBC Sports takes over the broadcast of Cup and Xfinity races the rest of the year.

Heading into his final race broadcast of the year, how does Gordon rate his rookie season in the booth?

“I feel a lot more confident and comfortable,’’ he said. “I know my colleagues that I’m working with far better. I kind of know what to look for, what to ask for, and where I fit in better than I certainly did then. It’s been a lot of fun.

“I still have a lot of things to work on. Somebody talking in your ear while you’re trying to create a thought … start it and finish it and do it in 20 seconds is not an easy task, certainly not for me, so there’s certainly plenty of things there that I’d like to do better, but I like what I’m seeing out there.’’

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Carl Edwards cruises to Sonoma pole

Carl Edwards won the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Sonoma Raceway with AJ Allmendinger, the pole-sitter in this event a year ago, qualifying second Saturday.

Edwards won the pole with a lap of 95.77 mph. Allmendinger qualified at 95.676 mph.

This is the first Sonoma pole for Edwards. He won at this 1.99-mile road course in 2014. Edwards has a series-high three poles this season.

“I can’t say enough about my guys, our car is fast,” Edwards told FS1. “This place is so much fun.”

Allmendinger told FS1: “A big gain from where we were (Friday). Still got work (for the race).”

Martin Truex Jr. qualified third at 95.672 mph and was followed by Kurt Busch (95.654 mph) and Kyle Larson (95.362)

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Dale Earnhardt Jr., Casey Mears fastest in 2nd Cup practice at Sonoma

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (95.298 mph) and Casey Mears (95.255 mph) paced the field in Friday’s second and final practice session for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

Denny Hamlin was third fastest (95.243 mph), followed by former Sonoma winner Carl Edwards (95.157 mph) and defending race winner Kyle Busch (95.145 mph).

Qualifying will take place at 2 p.m. ET Saturday.

Here’s how the final practice session played out:

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Saturday schedule for Sprint Cup, Camping World Truck Series

The Sprint Cup Series has a light day with only qualifying at Sonoma Raceway, but the Camping World Truck Series has a full schedule at Gateway Motorsports Park with practice, qualifying and the Drivin’ for Linemen 200.

Here’s today’s schedule:

All times are Eastern

Sprint Cup Series

(Sonoma Raceway)

10 a.m. – 6 p.m. – Sprint Cup garage open

2:15 p.m. – Sprint Cup qualifying; multi-car/two rounds (FS1, Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Camping World Truck Series

(Gateway Motorsports Park)

8 a.m.  – Truck garage opens

9:30 – 10:25 p.m. – Truck practice (No TV)

11: 30 a.m. – 12:55 p.m.  – Final Truck practice (FS1)

4 p.m. – Driver-crew chief meeting

5:45 p.m. – Qualifying; multi-car/three rounds (Fox Sports 2)

8 p.m. – Driver introductions

8:30 p.m. – Drivin’ for Linemen 200; 160 laps, 200 miles (Fox Sports 1, Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

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What’s the word for Chip Ganassi? Clean language on team radios

NASCAR and IndyCar team owner Chip Ganassi prides himself in running a clean and professional racing operation.

That extends to language on his race team’s radio communications. With conversations between drivers, crew chiefs, spotters and others on the team freely available to fans with scanner radios, the onus is on everyone in the team to keep their language clean and above board.

“I have always found that the drivers I respect the most are the guys that win races and win championships,” Ganassi said Friday at Sonoma Raceway. “If you look at the guys that win races and win championships, nine times out of 10 those are the calmer, succinct communicators on the radio.

“They don’t get into a lot of poor language or obscenities. The guys that win on a regular basis or the guys that win championships don’t feel the need to do that. I think that probably should tell you something.”

When asked if he has ever had to take a driver aside and discuss their language with them, Ganassi concurred and then added a laugh for emphasis.

“Sure,” he said. “Let’s just say that now that the scanner traffic is more in the public domain I’m glad that certain driver’s aren’t with us anymore.  I’ll say that much.”

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