Will past success at next four tracks help still-winless drivers make Chase?

While the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series enjoys its final in-season off-weekend, it seems everyone from drivers to crew chiefs to team owners and fans are breaking out their calculators.

They’re all trying to figure out who has the best chance of still making the upcoming 10 race Chase for the Sprint Cup – particularly those drivers who have yet to win a race thus far in 2016.

A total of 16 drivers will qualify for the Chase. As it stands now, 11 drivers are already qualified by virtue of winning at least one race already this season, plus they’re above 30th place, which is the cutoff for Chase eligibility.

A 12th winning driver, Chris Buescher, is not yet qualified for the Chase because he remains three points shy of the 30th place cutoff. If Buescher can leave Richmond in the top-30, he will make the Chase.

One of the most interesting stats is that of the four races remaining before the Chase, several drivers that remain winless this season have enjoyed past victories at those same tracks, particularly Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who both have won in the past at three of the next four tracks.

Can lightning strike again for them?

Here’s how it breaks down:

Bristol: Earnhardt, Kahne

Michigan: Greg Biffle,  Earnhardt, Ryan Newman, Kahne

Darlington: Biffle, Regan Smith

Richmond: Earnhardt, Clint Bowyer, Kahne, Newman

For each of those past winners that might triumph again at those tracks, or for other first-time winners in 2016, it would further reduce the number of drivers who make the Chase solely on points.

It remains uncertain whether Earnhardt will be able to make the Chase after having missed the last several races due to a concussion – and remains sidelined.

Given that Earnhardt is ranked 21st in the standings, 51 points behind 16th ranked Trevor Bayne, it would appear the only way he would make the Chase is to win one of the last four – provided he’s cleared to even race at some point during that period.

Right now, drivers who have yet to win a race this year that appear the safest to make the Chase are Newman (50 points ahead of Bayne on the cutoff line), Chase Elliott (+49), Austin Dillon (+47) and Jamie McMurray (+38).

Kyle Larson is also above the cutoff line, but with only an eight-point edge over Bayne, is the driver in the riskiest position.

Larson is still simmering at how AJ Allmendinger wrecked him on the final lap of Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen. It cost Larson what appeared to be a likely top-five finish and left him with a disappointing 29th-place result – which greatly impacted his Chase chances and ranking.

“Pretty dumb move right there,” Larson said of Allmendinger. “I was the smarter one racing for points, lifted, could have wrecked him, but didn’t.”

Instead, it was Larson who was wrecked by Allmendinger.

“He has run me hard, but we always race pretty well, but today was flat out stupid,” Larson said.

The drivers outside the top 16 with the best chance of still sneaking into the Chase on points are Kahne (three points behind Bayne), Ryan Blaney (-8), Allmendinger (-26), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (-37) and Earnhardt (-51).

Chase grid: Denny Hamlin vaults up standings, Kyle Larson on edge of top 16

With his win in the Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen International, Denny Hamlin became the sixth Sprint Cup driver to win multiple races in 2015. He jumped six spots on the latest Chase grid to fourth.

Losing spots were Jimmie Johnson and Austin Dillon, who each dropped two spots after being involved in a multi-car wreck Sunday that led to Johnson finishing last.

Luckily, Johnson is already locked into the Chase. Dillon is 14th on the grid and has yet to win this season.

Chris Buescher, who won last week at Pocono Raceway, is still not on the grid. After finishing 33rd due to being in a late wreck and being forced to go to the garage, Buescher is still three points out the top 30 in points. A driver must have a win and be in the top 30 to automatically qualify for the Chase.

AJ Allmendinger re-entered the top 20 after finishing fourth Sunday. He is now 34 points behind the cutoff spot of 16th. In 16th is Kyle Larson. Larson is teetering on the edge of the top 16, only eight points up on 17th, after Allmendinger wrecked him on the final lap of Sunday’s race, sending Larson to a 29th-place finish instead of a top five.

After frustrating results, AJ Allmendinger says Chase is ‘last thing on my mind’

After failing to finish three of the last six races and plummeting in the points, AJ Allmendinger says that “I feel like I’ve been gut punched and kicked in the not-such-fun place the last seven weeks.”

Allmendinger finished 38th last weekend at Indianapolis because of overheating issues with his car. As the series heads to Pocono Raceway this weekend, Allmendinger is 21st in the standings, 51 points (more than a full race behind) out of the final transfer spot to the Chase. When the series raced at Pocono in June, Allmendinger was 17th in the points.

“Honestly, the Chase is the last thing on my mind,’’ Allmendinger said Tuesday during a break in testing at Watkins Glen International. “The string of the last six or seven weeks has been really tough. Just stuff that I guess you could say out of our control, in our control. Sonoma we had a chance to win and had a mistake there.

WATKINS GLEN TESTING: Brad Keselowski evaluated and released after crash

“We’ve got to run better, minimize our mistakes and each weekend try to get better. If we get into a position to win a race that’s great. If not, we’ve got to be a little bit better all around as a team. It’s tough in this sport. You look at the last two years, you look at this year, I think as a race team we are so much better than we were. You look at the points and we’re in the same spot. I think there’s a lot of good things happening to our race team, but we’ve got to get on track.’’

Allmendinger’s last top-10 finish was an eighth at Kansas in May. He started second and led 20 laps at Sonoma but finished 14th. He was poised to start sixth on a restart with less than 25 laps to go but was penalized when because his team failed to control a tire during the pit stop.

“We’ve just got to be better as a team, all of us together,’’ Allmendinger said.

BUSCH PICKS UP COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD IN SEARCH OF BRICKYARD DEFENSE

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – A sweep at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is nothing new to Kyle Busch.

But this year, he started early.

With a lap at 184.634 mph (48.745 seconds) in the final round of Saturday's knockout qualifying, Busch claimed the pole position for Sunday’s Crown Royal 400 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, IMS, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Earlier in the day, the driver who swept both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series races at Indy last year earned the pole award ahead of the heat races prior to Saturday afternoon’s Lilly Diabetes 250 XFINITY race.

But the Sprint Cup pole that completed the Saturday sweep was special, because it was the first for Busch at the vaunted Brickyard.

"I haven't been great at qualifying here, but the guys gave me a great piece this time around, and I'm real pumped about that," said Busch, who claimed his second Coors Light Pole Award of the season and the 19th of his career. "We're starting first in both of these (races), and hopefully we can end that way.

"It means a lot (to win the pole). It's definitely pretty special to be running the way that we're running and to have the success that we've had here the last couple of years at Indy, and I’d love nothing more than to try to win here again."

Busch’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was .023 seconds faster than the No. 19 of teammate Carl Edwards (184.547 mph).

"I was happy with my lap," Edwards said. "I was surprised Kyle got me. That was a good lap for him – I mean, that was a good lap that he ran because I felt like my lap was pretty good – but, yeah, it's frustrating right now to be second because it's so close, and the pole position is obviously huge here.

"But by tomorrow, the race gets started and I think I'll be pretty happy with that starting spot, so just good job by all my guys."

Making his last appearance at Indy as a Sprint Cup Series driver, Tony Stewart earned the third starting spot with a lap at 184.328 mph and knew exactly where he had lost critical speed.

"I just wish I could do lap three (final round) one more time and not clip the apron in (Turn) 4," Stewart said. "I think we could have been on the pole."

RELATED: Stewart discusses his qualifying effort

Denny Hamlin qualified fourth, giving JGR three of the top four spots. Brad Keselowski in fifth has the top Ford. Ryan Newman , Kevin Harvick , Martin Truex Jr. , Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson will start from positions six through 10, respectively.

The time trials were a disappointment for the Hendrick Motorsports drivers, who failed to place a car in the top 12.

Jimmie Johnson ran the fastest lap of the day in the first of three rounds, touring the 2.5-mile speedway in 48.435 seconds (185.816 mph). But the six-time series champion failed to advance beyond the second round, losing the 12th and final position to Kurt Busch by .008 seconds.

Johnson will start 13th, Chase Elliott 15th and Jeff Gordon , subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr. , who is out with concussion-like symptoms, claimed the 21st spot on the grid.

"I felt really comfortable right there," said Gordon, who was 15th fastest in the first round. "I feel like today I’m much calmer than I was yesterday (in practice). Usually, my heart is beating more for qualifying than it is for practice, but that wasn't the case.

"So, today I feel more relaxed and comfortable in the car. I hope to feel the same way tomorrow. Tomorrow's challenge is going to be being around traffic, and also trying to get the balance of the car right and do that when you're by yourself as well as when you're around other cars."

Josh Wise failed to make the 40-car field.

Retro Rundown 2016: Throwback paint schemes for the Southern 500

It’s almost here. By almost, we mean less than two months.
That’s how long we have to wait for this year’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, which can be seen Sept. 4 on NBC. It’s also how long we have to wait to see the second batch of retro paint schemes dedicated to honoring the sport’s history after last season’s successful venture into nostalgia.
What makes it even better this time around is that the entire field will likely be in on the fun. Last season, Joe Gibbs Racing stood out as one of the few teams not to participate. The team has already announced paint schemes for Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards.
Here’s a rundown of the retro paint schemes announced to date. Which is your favorite?
Brad Keselowski – The No. 2 Ford will feature the design of the original Miller Lite can that was produced before 1974.

Austin Dillon – Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet will bare the paint scheme driven by Ricky Rudd in 1983 when he earned Richard Childress Racing’s first Sprint Cup win at Riverside International Raceway.

Kevin Harvick – The No. 4 Chevrolet will look just like the Busch-sponsored car driven by Cale Yarborough during the 1979-1980 Sprint Cup seasons. Yarborough earned 10 of his 83 careers win during that span.


Trevor Bayne – No matter what anyone tells you, the 1990s were awesome and so were Mark Martin‘s paint schemes. For the second year in a row, Bayne’s No. 6 Ford will have a ’90s flavor to it. After bringing back memories of Martin’s career-best season in 1998 last year, Bayne’s car will have the paint scheme Martin used in the 1996 and 1997 seasons.

Regan Smith – The “Underbird” will fly again. Sort of. Smith’s No.7 Chevrolet, instead of a Ford Thunderbird, will have the paint scheme, sans Hooters sponsorship, that was driven by the late Alan Kulwicki. The paint scheme was on track for 59 Sprint Cup races, including his 1992 championship campaign.


Danica Patrick – Patrick’s sponsor, Nature’s Bakery, hasn’t been around very long. So there’s not a 20-year-old paint scheme for Stewart-Haas Racing to blow the dust off of. But Patrick’s No. 10 Chevrolet still has a late 70s/early 80s vibe to it.

Casey Mears – The No. 13 Geico Chevrolet will pay tribute to the career and legacy of Smokey Yunick. The paint scheme and number were used by drivers Mario Andretti and Curtis Turner in 1966 and 1967 when they raced for Yunick. Turner sat on the pole for the 1967 Daytona 500 with this paint scheme.


Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Darrell Waltrip won a lot of races in his Sprint Cup career, including five at Darlington. But the first of his 84 wins came in the No. 17 in 1975 at Nashville Speedway. The paint scheme Waltrip carried in that race will be resurrected by Stenhouse, 41 years later.

Kyle Busch – Just days after Matt Kenseth won at Dover International Speedway to give Joe Gibbs Racing its 135th Sprint Cup win (tying it for third all time with Roush Fenway Racing) the team showed off Busch’s paint scheme. The No. 18 will look like it did when it was driven by Dale Jarrett in 1993, the year he won JGR’s first Cup race in the Daytona 500.

Carl Edwards – The No. 19 Arris Toyota will have the paint scheme that was used by Tony Stewart when he drove the No. 20 Home Depot car for Joe Gibbs Racing from 1999-2008.

Joey Logano – The No. 22 Ford will pay tribute to the first paint scheme used on a car sponsored by Shell. The look was used by Bobby Labonte on his No. 44 Pontiac in the Xfinity Series in 1998. Labonte drove the car to a win at Darlington that season.

David Ragan – The No. 23 Toyota for BK Racing will be sponsored by Dr. Pepper and feature the soft drinks classic “I’m a Pepper” slogan.

Chase Elliott – The No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet will have a paint scheme inspired by the look of NAPA’s old delivery trucks from the 1960s. NAPA’s original colors were yellow and black before transitioning to yellow and blue.

Ryan Newman – Just like teammate Austin Dillon, Newman’s paint scheme will evoke RCR’s first win in 1983 with Ricky Rudd.

Jeffrey Earnhardt – The grandson of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. will drive a paint scheme based on the seven-time champion’s time being sponsored by Wrangler in the 1980s.


Kurt Busch – Last year, Busch’s No. 41 car used the paint scheme that was first used in the Sprint Cup Series by Gene Haas in 2002. This season, Busch’s car will honor the VF-1, the first CNC machine built by Haas Automation in 1988.

Aric Almirola – The No. 43 Ford will carry the colors used by Richard Petty when he won his sixth Daytona 500 in 1979.

AJ Allmendinger –  It’s a bit of a deep cut, but Allmendinger’s car is still a love letter to NASCAR history. The No. 47 will look just like it did in during the 1977 Sprint Cup Season when it was driven by 1975 Rookie of the Year Bruce Hill. The Kansas native never won a Sprint Cup race, but he earned one of his three career top-five finishes at Darlington Raceway in 1975.

Matt DiBenedetto – The No. 83 Toyota for BK Racing will be sponsored by Orange Crush and will have the soft drink’s 1970s design.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Earnhardt will drive his favorite paint scheme in the history of the sport. His No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet will look like the “Gray Ghost,” the car driven by Buddy Baker in 1979 and 1980.


Michael McDowell – The No. 95 team of Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing, which is part of a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing, will honor Childress with a paint scheme based off a car he raced in the 1970s.

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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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:

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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Fourteen teams testing Monday and Tuesday at Kentucky Speedway

Fourteen teams will take part in a test at the repaved Kentucky Speedway today and Tuesday.

NASCAR is allowing a car from each organization to test at Kentucky because next month’s race will be the first on the repaved surface. Teams also will use the same lower downforce package at Kentucky as they did this past weekend at Michigan International Speedway.

Teams scheduled to test at Kentucky:

• Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing)
• Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing)
• Kasey Kahne (Hendrick Motorsports)
• Greg Biffle (Roush Fenway Racing)
• Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing)
• Ryan Blaney (Wood Brothers Racing)
• Joey Logano (Team Penske)
• Paul Menard (Richard Childress Racing)
• Chris Buescher (Front Row Motorsports)
• Aric Almirola (Richard Petty Motorsports)
• Michael Annett (HScott Motorsports)
• AJ Allmendinger (JTG Daugherty Racing)
• Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing)
• Matt DiBenedetto (BK Racing)

Sam Hornish Jr., AJ Allmendinger among four who will drive RCR’s No. 2 Xfinity car in five races

Richard Childress Racing announced Wednesday four drivers who will pilot its No. 2 Chevrolet in select Xfinity Series races in the place of Austin Dillon and Paul Menard.

Sam Hornish Jr., AJ Allmendinger, Ben Kennedy and Michael McDowell will split time in the car for five races.

Hornish, who hasn’t raced since the 2015 Sprint Cup finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, will drive the No. 2 car for two races – the July 30 event at Iowa Speedway and at Kentucky Speedway on Sept. 24.

Hornish spent 2015 driving full-time for Richard Petty Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series before being replaced by Brian Scott. The 2006 Indianapolis 500 winner has three Xfinity Series wins, the most recent coming at Iowa in 2014.

MORE: Sam Hornish Jr.’s Alaska adventure

Allmendinger, who drives for JTG-Daugherty Racing in the Sprint Cup Series, will step into the No. 2 for the Aug. 13 race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. That weekend is an off week for the Cup series.

Allmendinger has two Xfinity Series wins. Both came in 2014, including one at Mid-Ohio.

Kennedy, who drives full-time in the Camping World Truck Series, will make his Xfinity Series debut at Iowa Speedway on June 19. Kennedy has made three starts at Iowa in the Truck series and has one top-10 finish.

McDowell, who competes full-time in Sprint Cup for Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing, will make his first start in Xfinity since 2014 at Road America on Aug. 27. McDowell will seek to defend the No. 2 team’s win at the Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, road course in 2015 with Menard.

McDowell has 12 road course starts in the Xfinity Series, earning three top fives and five top-10 finishes with two pole awards.

Dillon and Menard will split time in the No. 2 for the rest of the season.

NASCAR drivers to carry names of fallen service members in Coca-Cola 600

For the second consecutive year, all 40 drivers in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway will pay tribute to fallen members of the U.S. Armed For

As part of “600 Miles of Remembrance,” the top part of the windshield on each driver’s car will carry the  fallen service member’s rank and last name in place of where driver names are usually located.

Names of fallen service members also will adorn the pace car and grand marshal cars.

The tribute serves as the commemorative launch of “NASCAR: An American Salute,” an initiative within the industry to express collective respect and gratitude to members of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Fans can follow the conversation on social media using #NASCARSalutes.

“Each of the names proudly displayed on these race cars tells a story of honor and sacrifice,” said Brent Dewar, NASCAR chief operating officer. “As the NASCAR industry reflects on Memorial Day Weekend, we’re proud to honor these and all fallen service members in a way that helps ensure their stories and lives are never forgotten.”

Many of the fallen members that will be remembered have direct links to individuals who work for NASCAR teams, including:

* Navy SEAL Denis Miranda, who was killed in a helicopter crash in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2010, trained in BUD/S alongside Graham Molatch, jackman for the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team. Miranda’s name will appear on Kyle Larson’s car during the Coca-Cola 600.

* Lance Corporal Scott Lynch served in the United States Marine Corps with Mark Singleton, tire changer for Chip Ganassi Racing, and will be honored on Jamie McMurray’s No. 1 car.

* Furniture Row Racing employee John Parks served in the Marines with Jeffrey Bohr, Jr., a gunnery sergeant who was killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom and whose name will be carried on Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 78 car.

In addition, Charlotte Motor Speedway will once again play host to and salute more than 6,000 active-duty military members and their families through the weekend.

Other activities scheduled for the weekend include:

* During Saturday’s Hisense 4K TV 300, NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers will display red, white and blue Xfinity windshield decals on their race cars.

* Goodyear will replace the “Eagle” sidewall design with “Support Our Troops” messaging on all tires used during the weekend.

* NASCAR, Coca-Cola and Mars will offer a sweepstakes to shoppers at more than 180 military commissaries who will have a chance to win a trip for two to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion’s Week in Las Vegas.

* Race fans can help assemble care packages for the troops in the midway at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The care packages will include Mars candy and be shipped following the Coca-Cola 600 to deployed military members.

* NASCAR and Honor and Remember, Inc. will display specially prepared Honor and Remember flags representing those who lost their life in service to our country from each of the 50 United States throughout the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

* During the Fox Sports broadcast of the Coca-Cola 600, the names and branch of all service members who have lost their lives in the past year will by displayed on a graphic scroll.

* SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90) will have a special military tribute Sunday at 1 p.m. ET., that will include interviews with drivers as well as service men and service women from different branches of the military.

Here’s the list of service members who will be honored with their names atop driver windshields in Sunday’s race:

2016 600 Miles of Remembrance
Car No.DriverSoldierBranchSoldier Hometown

1Jamie McMurrayLCPL Scott Albert LynchMarinesGreenwood Lake, NY
2Brad KeselowskiSPC Joseph T. PrentlerArmyFenwick, MI
3Austin DillonSOC Mark T. CarterNavyFallbrook, CA
4Kevin HarvickLCPL Nathan Ross ElrodMarinesRockwell, NC
5Kasey KahneLCPL Eric Levi WardMarinesRedmond, WA
6Trevor BayneCW4 Jason William McCormackArmyEnterprise, AL
7Regan SmithLCPL Cody Steven ChildersMarinesChesapeake, VA
10Danica PatrickLCPL Benito “cheeks” Ramirez
11Denny HamlinSGT John Davis HarveyMarinesRoanoke, VA
13Casey MearsSPC Christopher Shane WrightArmyTollesboro, KY
14Tony StewartMSG Paul D. KarpowichArmyFreeland, PA
15Clint BowyerMSGT Tara BrownAir ForceLong Island, NJ
16Greg BiffleSPC Joel A. TaylorArmyPinetown, NC
17Ricky Stenhouse Jr.SP4 James (Jim) H. WoolardArmyManchester, OH
18Kyle BuschPFC Robert Stephan UnderwoodArmyO’ Fallon, MO
19Carl EdwardsCPT Edmond Jablonsky Jr.ArmyPasadena, TX
20Matt KensethPFC Christopher Neal WhiteMarinesElizabethtown, KY
21Ryan BlaneySMSN Cherone L. GunnNavyVirginia Beach, VA
NASCAR Select Driver
Kevin Harvick carried the name of fallen military member Sgt. Mracek in last years Coca-Cola 600.
(Matt Sullivan/NASCAR via Getty Images)
NASCAR drivers to carry names of fallen service members in Coca-Cola 600
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By Jerry BonkowskiMay 23, 2016, 1:13 PM EDT
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For the second consecutive year, all 40 drivers in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway will pay tribute to fallen members of the U.S. Armed Forces.

As part of “600 Miles of Remembrance,” the top part of the windshield on each driver’s car will carry the  fallen service member’s rank and last name in place of where driver names are usually located.

Names of fallen service members also will adorn the pace car and grand marshal cars.

The tribute serves as the commemorative launch of “NASCAR: An American Salute,” an initiative within the industry to express collective respect and gratitude to members of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Fans can follow the conversation on social media using #NASCARSalutes.

“Each of the names proudly displayed on these race cars tells a story of honor and sacrifice,” said Brent Dewar, NASCAR chief operating officer. “As the NASCAR industry reflects on Memorial Day Weekend, we’re proud to honor these and all fallen service members in a way that helps ensure their stories and lives are never forgotten.”

Many of the fallen members that will be remembered have direct links to individuals who work for NASCAR teams, including:

* Navy SEAL Denis Miranda, who was killed in a helicopter crash in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2010, trained in BUD/S alongside Graham Molatch, jackman for the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team. Miranda’s name will appear on Kyle Larson’s car during the Coca-Cola 600.

* Lance Corporal Scott Lynch served in the United States Marine Corps with Mark Singleton, tire changer for Chip Ganassi Racing, and will be honored on Jamie McMurray’s No. 1 car.

* Furniture Row Racing employee John Parks served in the Marines with Jeffrey Bohr, Jr., a gunnery sergeant who was killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom and whose name will be carried on Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 78 car.

In addition, Charlotte Motor Speedway will once again play host to and salute more than 6,000 active-duty military members and their families through the weekend.

Other activities scheduled for the weekend include:

* During Saturday’s Hisense 4K TV 300, NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers will display red, white and blue Xfinity windshield decals on their race cars.

* Goodyear will replace the “Eagle” sidewall design with “Support Our Troops” messaging on all tires used during the weekend.

* NASCAR, Coca-Cola and Mars will offer a sweepstakes to shoppers at more than 180 military commissaries who will have a chance to win a trip for two to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion’s Week in Las Vegas.

* Race fans can help assemble care packages for the troops in the midway at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The care packages will include Mars candy and be shipped following the Coca-Cola 600 to deployed military members.

* NASCAR and Honor and Remember, Inc. will display specially prepared Honor and Remember flags representing those who lost their life in service to our country from each of the 50 United States throughout the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

* During the Fox Sports broadcast of the Coca-Cola 600, the names and branch of all service members who have lost their lives in the past year will by displayed on a graphic scroll.

* SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90) will have a special military tribute Sunday at 1 p.m. ET., that will include interviews with drivers as well as service men and service women from different branches of the military.

Here’s the list of service members who will be honored with their names atop driver windshields in Sunday’s race:

2016 600 Miles of Remembrance
Car No.DriverSoldierBranchSoldier Hometown

1Jamie McMurrayLCPL Scott Albert LynchMarinesGreenwood Lake, NY
2Brad KeselowskiSPC Joseph T. PrentlerArmyFenwick, MI
3Austin DillonSOC Mark T. CarterNavyFallbrook, CA
4Kevin HarvickLCPL Nathan Ross ElrodMarinesRockwell, NC
5Kasey KahneLCPL Eric Levi WardMarinesRedmond, WA
6Trevor BayneCW4 Jason William McCormackArmyEnterprise, AL
7Regan SmithLCPL Cody Steven ChildersMarinesChesapeake, VA
10Danica PatrickLCPL Benito “cheeks” RamirezMarinesEdinburg, TX
11Denny HamlinSGT John Davis HarveyMarinesRoanoke, VA
13Casey MearsSPC Christopher Shane WrightArmyTollesboro, KY
14Tony StewartMSG Paul D. KarpowichArmyFreeland, PA
15Clint BowyerMSGT Tara BrownAir ForceLong Island, NJ
16Greg BiffleSPC Joel A. TaylorArmyPinetown, NC
17Ricky Stenhouse Jr.SP4 James (Jim) H. WoolardArmyManchester, OH
18Kyle BuschPFC Robert Stephan UnderwoodArmyO’ Fallon, MO
19Carl EdwardsCPT Edmond Jablonsky Jr.ArmyPasadena, TX
20Matt KensethPFC Christopher Neal WhiteMarinesElizabethtown, KY
21Ryan BlaneySMSN Cherone L. GunnNavyVirginia Beach, VA
22Joey LoganoSPC Cindy BeaudoinArmyPlainfield, CT
23David RaganLT COL Paul Keith MikealAir ForceMooresville, NC
24Chase ElliottGYSGT Justin MartoneMarinesBedford, VA
27Paul MenardSPC Zachary Lee ShannonArmyDunedin, FL
30Josh WiseSSG Robert A. MassarelliArmyHamilton, OH
31Ryan NewmanSSGT Jason C RamseyerMarinesWest Palm Beach, FL
32Jeffrey EarnhardtCPT Christopher CashArmyOld Orchard Beach, ME
34Chris BuescherSSGT Eric A. McIntoshMarinesIndianapolis, IN
38Landon CassillPVT Earl PlattArmyVestaburg, MI
41Kurt BuschSGT Nicholas Ray GibbsArmyStokesdale, NC
42Kyle LarsonSO3 Denis Christian MirandaNavyToms River, NJ
43Aric AlmirolaSSGT Forrest B. SibleyAir ForcePensacola, FL
44Brian ScottPFC John G. BorbonusUS ArmyBoise, ID
46Michael AnnettPFC Jacob Henry WykstraArmyThornton, CO
47AJ AllmendingerYN3 Wendell WilliamsNavyCincinnati, OH
48Jimmie JohnsonSFC Kyle B. WehrlyArmyGalesburg, IL
55Reed SorensonPFC Jason Hill EstopinalMarinesDallas, GA
78Martin Truex Jr.GYSGT Jeffery E. Bohr, Jr.MarinesOssian, IA
83Matt DiBenedettoCPL Jared C. VerbeekMarinesVisalia, CA
88Dale Earnhardt Jr.LCPL Aaron Howard ReedMarinesChillicothe, OH
95Michael McDowellPFC Andrew Mark KrippnerArmyGarland, TX
98Cole WhittCPL Michael D. Anderson Jr.MarinesModesto, CA
Pace CarCAPT Matthew RollandAir ForceLexington, KY
Split Pace Car1SG Kevin A. DupontMarinesChicopee, MA
Grand Marshal Car 1SGT Bryan Paul AbercrombieArmyClinton, UT
Grand Marshal Car 2SPC Tony J. GonzalesArmyNewman, CA

Branch Breakdown
Army20
Marines 16
Air Force 4
Navy 4
Total Pairings 44

Chase Grid: Kenseth qualifies, Elliott earns big gain after Dover

With his win at Dover International Speedway, Matt Kenseth became the first driver to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup in the last five races.

There have now been seven different winners through the first 12 races of the Sprint Cup season. With Denny Hamlin‘s poor performance since winning the Daytona 500, Kenseth was able to move up eight spots on the latest Chase grid to sixth, ahead of Hamlin.

Chase Elliott, who finished third Sunday for a career-best result, moved up three spots on the grid to ninth. The only driver ahead of him on the gird who hasn’t won a race is Kurt Busch. Busch is the only driver with 10 finishes in the top 10 through 12 races.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Austin Dillon had the biggest drops, each falling three spots to 13th and 12th, respectively.

The first four drivers out of the 16 spots that will qualify for the Chase are AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Newman, Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

AJ Allmendinger honors 1975 Rookie of the Year with Darlington paint scheme

AJ Allmendinger‘s No. 47 Chevrolet will fly the colors of former Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year Bruce Hill in this year’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

While keeping its traditional red, white and blue colors, Allmendinger’s car will look like the one driven by Hill from 1974- 1977. The Topeka, Kansas, native was Rookie of the Year in 1975.

“Being remembered for something is always an honor especially as big as the sport has gotten,” Hill said.

In the 1975 season, Hill recorded three top-five finishes, including a fifth-place result at Darlington.

“I thought it was kind of neat when they decided to do the throwback schemes at Darlington Raceway,” Hill said. “I had good memories of Darlington. It was a track that you either loved or hated and that probably hasn’t changed over the years. I loved the track because it was slick and I ran better on a slick racetrack because it was all about getting your car to handle. I always loved Darlington and you always love a track you have good luck at.”

Hill finished 16th in the points in 1975 and beat out a driver named Carl Adams for the rookie award.

“My overall best NASCAR memory is winning Rookie of the Year mainly because I came out of Kansas and that was unheard of back then because it was a Southeastern sport,” Hill said. “I think a lot of people thought I was crazy when I thought I’d take a jump and go down there and try it.”

Hill would stay in the sport for 100 races, his last start coming in the Champion Spark Plug 400 at Michigan International Speedway in 1981.

Hill still resides in Kansas and will be in attendance this weekend at Kansas Speedway, where he will meet Allmendinger for the first time.

“I’m really looking forward to meeting Bruce on Friday,” Allmendinger said in the press release. “I think what Darlington Raceway does to recognize former NASCAR drivers and the heritage of the sport is unprecedented. It’s a great way to celebrate our sport and the people who made it what it is today. It’s pretty neat to see all the sponsors and teams really get into it.”

The Southern 500 is scheduled for Sept. 4 on NBC.

Landon Cassill calls Harvick ’emotional,’ ‘thin skinned’ after comments about last-lap crash

Landon Cassill calls Harvick ’emotional,’ ‘thin skinned’ after comments about last-lap crash

After the conclusion of the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Kevin Harvick put the blame on a seven-car crash coming to the checkered flag on Landon Cassill of Front Row Motorsports.

Cassill made contact with Cole Whitt in the No. 98, starting an incident that included Harvick, AJ Allmendinger, Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Martin Truex Jr.

“Landon Cassill was trying to cause a wreck for the last 40 laps and he finally got it done there at the end,” Harvick told Fox after the race in which he finished 15th.

Cassill, who finished 11th, learned of the 2014 Sprint Cup champion’s comments on Twitter as he left the track, the driver told Jeremiah Davis of The Gazette in a phone interview.

Cassill told the paper the wreck incident was the result of the field not letting up coming to the checkered flag and said he “laughed off” the comments as an “emotional” reaction from Harvick, who he doesn’t take anything “personally” from.

“Because he’s got a reputation for being fairly emotional and can’t handle himself,” Cassill said. “He’ll get over it. Two of the last few superspeedway races ended under a huge wreck because of him. I find it kind of funny he’s mad at me. His reputation is pretty thin-skinned. That’s just who he is.”

Cassill mentioned the conclusions of both last year’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway and the fall race at Talladega, which saw Harvick at the epicenter of two wrecks that caused mayhem in the closing laps.

“You saw the 4 car, Kevin Harvick, wreck the whole field at Daytona last year in very similar fashion,” Cassill told The Gazette. “He drove right over the 11 car (Denny Hamlin) and that was the wreck that caused the 3 car (Austin Dillon) to go up in the grandstands. How are you supposed to say that’s anybody’s fault? It’s superspeedway racing, really.”

Then in the fall Talladega race, a wreck began on a restart attempt after Harvick made contact with Trevor Bayne right before the start-finish line. The resulting accident would pave the way for the new rules on Overtime finishes.

Cassill’s 11th-place finish is his best result this season.