GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. may not be competing in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series as the 2016 season begins to wind down, but the series' most popular driver still has plenty to keep him busy.
"Going to the races, doing all my (sponsor) appearances, doing everything I was doing before, just not driving," Earnhardt said Wednesday during a stop at the corporate headquarters of Wrangler.
"Take the driving part out of it and everything else I'm still doing."
Earnhardt was joined by team owner Richard Childress to help kick off the second annual "Jeansboro Day" celebration and reminisce about the long relationship Wranger has enjoyed with Childress and Earnhardt.
Earnhardt has been sidelined since midseason after suffering concussion-like symptoms following a pair of crashes. In his absence, drivers Jeff Gordon and Alex Bowman have handled the driving duties in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet.
After missing two races in 2012, this marks the second time in his premier series career that Earnhardt has missed races due to a concussion or concussion-like symptoms.
Although he won't be back behind the wheel this season, Earnhardt told the crowd that he plans to be back in the car when the 2017 season gets underway atDaytona International Speedway.
"It's coming along pretty good," Earnhardt said when asked about his recovery. "We got dinged up, had a lot of wrecks this year, got dinged up pretty good. …
"(I'm) starting to feel real good, starting to be able to get out and do things, enjoy myself.
"I miss being in the car but we have every expectation of being in the car come February for the Daytona 500."
The Sprint Cup Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend for Sunday's Hellman's 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It is the final race of the Round of 12 in this year's Chase, with only the top eight advancing to the next round.
Earnhardt, who has six career victories on the 2.66-mile track, said he plans to be at Talladega "all three days."
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. and CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- FS1 and NASCAR Productions will present the second season of the acclaimed documentary series Beyond the Wheel as part of FS1's NASCAR RACE HUB. Created to depict the sport's most pivotal moments and compelling narratives, the short films focus on influential characters -- both past and present -- and the unique stories that have shaped NASCAR as a sport since its inception. The first film premieres on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 6 p.m. ET during NASCAR RACE HUB on FS1.
The second season of the documentary short film series is comprised of the following:
·Bonneville 71 details how NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Bobby Isaac set 28 land speed records with a banned Dodge Charger Daytona on the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1971, accompanied only by his crew members, a USAC official and a Chrysler engineer. Using the authentic No. 71 K&K Charger and featuring interviews with original crew members Buddy Parrott and Ken Troutt, the documentary pays homage to Isaac's historical runs by revisiting the Salt Flats to shoot all-new footage down a 10-mile straightaway. A remarkable story of innovation, the short film depicts Isaac's desire and dedication to always test the limits of speed, no matter the barriers.
· Sueños de NASCAR follows NASCARXFINITY Series driver Daniel Suárez from his roots in Monterrey, Mexico, to his rise in one of the sport's top series through the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program. As Suárez returns home to visit family and friends, the film explores his place in Mexican racing culture, how the country has embraced stock car racing, and the impact of Mexican drivers on the future of the sport. Illustrating the young driver as a source of inspiration, the documentary also examines Suárez's success as the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR national series race and his current pursuit of the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship.
· Miracle at Daytona -- The Tiny Lund Storyrecounts how DeWayne "Tiny" Lund risked his life to rescue fellow driver, Marvin Panch, from his burning Maserati atDaytona International Speedway before going on to win the 1963 Daytona 500 just days later. The true story of a journeyman driver who was one of the most likeable characters of his era, Lund was also awarded the Carnegie Hero's Medal for his selfless bravery in what became one of the greatest Daytona 500 stories of all time.
The second film in the series featuring Daniel Suárez will premiere on Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. ET, while the original special on Tiny Lund will air in early 2017. Each documentary will also be available on FOX Sports GO and FOXSports.com following its premiere.
Daytona International Speedway didn’t escape the wrath of Hurricane Matthew.
The track announced early Friday evening that “moderate damage” had
occurred around its property. Lights, speakers, signage, fences, gates,
awnings and palm trees were affected by the storm, which has battered
Florida’s Atlantic Coast since Thursday night.
The 2.5-mile track’s “Daytona Rising” refurbishing
made its debut with the 2016 Daytona 500 in February. The $400 million
project featured new frontstretch grandstands, five fan entrances and
other amenities.
On Saturday, Florida Power and Light trucks began staging at Daytona International Speedway to assist in the recovery efforts. Here’s the full news release from the track:
Daytona International Speedway experienced moderate
damage from Hurricane Matthew with impacts to lights, speakers, signage,
fences, gates, awnings and palm trees. Daytona International Speedway
Ticket Office and Tours and the Richard Petty Driving Experience will be
closed on Saturday and Sunday for facility cleanup. We will provide
more updates through the weekend. Pictures of a past weather event at Daytona International Speedway
have been circulating on social media during the storm. Those pictures
are from a weather event in 2009. There was no flood damage to the
facility from Hurricane Matthew. We are working with local, regional and state officials on recovery
efforts following Hurricane Matthew. Daytona International Speedway is
once again serving as a staging site for Florida Power & Light
crews. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has been impacted
by this weather system.
Florida Power and Light trucks stage Saturday at Daytona to assist with recovery in the area.
NASCAR officials said they are closely monitoring the track of Hurricane Matthew ahead of Saturday night's race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. No decision has been made that would potentially alter the status of Saturday night's Bank of America 500 (7 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the fourth event in the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.
Weather outlooks for Thursday's
on-track activity are encouraging, but rain is currently forecast Friday
and early Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. The next
race in the XFINITY Series Chase -- the Drive for the Cure 300 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC -- is scheduled for Friday (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). As of noon ET Thursday, Matthew
was a Category 4 hurricane lashing the Bahamas and threatening landfall
on Florida's Eastern coastline. Hurricane warnings stretched from just
north of Miami to southern South Carolina. Charlotte Motor Speedway
is located in Concord, North Carolina, roughly 200 miles inland. The
latest proposed track for the storm projects a looping course away from
North Carolina, which could spare the state from the brunt of its
damage. The looming hurricane leaves
teams plotting strategies for Thursday's on-track action, particularly
the first afternoon practice. "I feel like we're going to race Saturday night, but you never know with the weather," Martin Truex Jr. said. "We're definitely going to do a little race trim (Thursday), which is uncharacteristic for our group."
Daytona International Speedway,
located in the heart of the storm's potential route, faces a more
imminent hurricane threat. The 2.5-mile track closed its track tour and
ticketing operations Thursday and Friday in advance of the worsening
weather in Daytona Beach, Florida. The National Weather Service's
Thursday morning forecast for Daytona and its vicinity called Matthew
the strongest hurricane to affect Florida's eastern central region in
decades. "We are working closely with
local officials here in Volusia County and throughout the region to
monitor Hurricane Matthew and to ensure that our facility is as secured
as possible," track officials said in a statement. "While it is too
early to predict the effect and exact path of the storm, our team has
prepared extensively for weather systems such as this and our emergency
safety procedures are in place." Atlanta Motor Speedway
is doing its part to help with the relief efforts. The 1.54-mile
Georgia track has opened its campgrounds as a free-of-charge refuge for
storm evacuees.
John R. Cooper, a former president of Daytona International Speedway, passed away Wednesday at 84, International Speedway Corporation announced.
Cooper served as president of Daytona from 1987 -1990. Previously, he had served as president and CEO of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, beginning in 1979 and until he resigned in 1982.
Prior to that, Cooper was involved in the national sports programs for the Coca-Cola Company for two years.
Cooper also served as vice president of corporate development for ISC until July 1994 while also working on ISC’s Board of Directors from 1987 until April 2003, before being elected director emeritus.
NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France released a statement on Cooper’s passing.
“On behalf of NASCAR and the entire France family, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the friends and family of John Cooper. John served in many motorsports roles throughout his life, including president of two of the most iconic race tracks in the world – Daytona International Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But beyond any of his exemplary career stops, there was one role that was personally even more important – dear friend. John was a cherished confidant of both my father and my grandfather. My family has relied on his counsel – both personally and professionally speaking – countless times. We are all saddened by his passing, and will miss John dearly.”
Statement from Lesa France Kennedy, CEO of ISC
“The impact that John Cooper had on the International Speedway Corporation, Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR and the motorsports industry overall cannot be overstated. In addition to being a legendary voice of executive leadership, he also was a longtime friend and confidant to the France Family, starting with his close relationship to my grandfather Bill France Sr.
“John was one of only two people who have served as president at both Daytona International Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway – and that represents only a portion of his career and achievements.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with John’s family and friends. We have lost a cherished link to our industry’s past.”
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It was a first place finish of firsts — one involving fatherhood — for Brad Keselowski.
The Team Penske’s win in the Coke Zero 400 was his breakthrough at Daytona International Speedway. But just as special was the company he kept in victory lane while enjoying his 20th career triumph in NASCAR’s premier series.
For the first time, Keselowski’s 13-month -old daughter, Scarlett, joined her dad and mother Paige White for the postrace celebration of a Sprint Cup victory.
“That was really cool,” the 2012 series champion told NBC Sports. “She’s been in victory lane once with the Xfinity car last year in Kentucky, but every time we win in Cup it seems like she’s asleep, or we didn’t bring her that weekend or something happens.
“So I was beginning to think it was maybe a bit of a curse.”
Instead, it was a blessing to watch her absorb the scene just a few weeks after she began taking her first steps. Keselowski said Scarlett seemed to grasp the significance “a little bit. I think she was really mesmerized.”
NASCAR America analyzes the crash that damaged 22 cars on Lap 90 of the Coke Zero 400, explaining how it happened and what implications it had on the drivers and the rest of the race.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — If it isn’t one thing, it seems to be another for Kurt Busch at restrictor-plate tracks.
Saturday night he was racing for second when he spun on the last lap after contact from Joey Logano. Busch finished 23rd.
“One day the chips are going to fall in my direction, there’s no way it can’t,’’ Busch said afterward. “It’s almost two rotations around a roulette wheel on how many times we’ve been here and haven’t won. We’ll keep trying.’’
It’s not like he hasn’t been close. He has 10 top-three finishes in 62 career Sprint Cup restrictor-plate starts (16.1 percent).
Saturday night’s race at Daytona only added to the litany of close calls that have kept the former series champion winless in his career in Cup points races at Daytona and Talladega.
Among those races:
— He briefly led with less than two laps left at Talladega in May but watched the outside line motor by. Busch finished eighth.
— He led a race-high 95 laps in the 2007 Daytona 500 before a wreck with Tony Stewart. Busch finished 41st.
— Three times he’s finished second in the Daytona 500, including 2008 when he pushed then-teammate Ryan Newman to the win.
Only Ken Schrader has led more laps (298) than Busch (290) in Sprint Cup races at Daytona without winning a points race there.
The most notable winless driver in a restrictor-plate points race is Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace. He was winless in 72 career starts at Daytona and Talladega after restrictor plates debuted in 1988 (Wallace was 0-for-90 in his career in all starts at those tracks).
That wasn’t the only streak that continued Saturday night for Busch. He did complete the last lap and remains the only driver this season to run all 4,935 laps run this year.
His car’s consistency and speed this season put him in position to be the points leader Saturday after teammate Kevin Harvick finished 39th because of a crash. Busch lost that opportunity with the last-lap incident.
“It’s just a feather in the cap,’’ Busch said of what it would have meant to have taken the points lead. “There are more important things to do. Winning a plate race is one them.’’
FEELING GOOD
Although two of Brad Keselowski’s three wins this season have come at restrictor-plate tracks, he says he feels good about where his team is heading toward the playoffs.
The question is why should he with only one restrictor-plate track in the Chase?
“We’ve had a lot of consistency the last few weeks,’’ said Keselowski, who has seven top-10 finishes in the last eight races. “There’s been some races that haven’t quite been as strong, as well, in fairness, but even the races where we’re not quite as strong, we seem to be right there in that fifth‑ to 10th‑place range, which is a lot of what the Chase is.
“A lot of what the Chase is go run fifth to 10th every week and you’ll find yourself at Homestead, and then you’ve got to go win Homestead. Good consistency is a great trademark of a championship‑winning team, and I feel that out of my team right now.’’
PIT STOPS
— Roush Fenway Racing placed all three of its drivers in the top 10 with Trevor Bayne third, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fifth and Greg Biffle eighth. It marked the first time Roush Fenway Racing has had three cars finish in the top 10 since Bristol in August 2014.
— Kyle Busch finished second on Saturday night. He’s placed in the top three in each of the restrictor-plate races this season. He was third in the Daytona 500 and second at Talladega in May.
— Austin Dillon finished seventh Saturday night. He’s placed in the top 10 in each of the first three restrictor-plate races. He was ninth in the Daytona 500 and third at Talladega in May.
— Trevor Bayne’s third-place finish was his best result since he won the 2011 Daytona 500.
— Michael McDowell finished 10th Saturday. It marked his third career top-10 finish. All three have been at Daytona. He finished a career-high seventh in the 2014 Daytona 500 and placed ninth in the 2013 Daytona 500.
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 13th in the points standings. It is the lowest in the points he’s been at this time of the season since 2010 when he was 13th.
— Restrictor-plate races have not been kind to Chris Buescher this season. He has failed to finish all three this year because of an accident, including his tumble down the backstretch at Talladega in May. His finishes are 39th in the Daytona 500, 37th at Talladega in May and 40th on Saturday at Daytona.
For the third restrictor-plate race in a row, Dale Earnhardt Jr. factored into the outcome by not being a factor at all.
The four-time winner at Daytona International Speedway never appeared in the top five after starting 16th in Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 and eventually finished 21st.
But at least he finished.
Earnhardt had three plate race wins (not counting exhibition events) in the last two seasons with the now famously named chassis “Amelia.” But the defending Coke Zero 400 winner had failed to finish the Daytona 500 or the May Talladega race after wrecking on his own in each race.
Earnhardt was once again seen as a favorite entering Saturday night, but the driver tweeted Sunday that “gremlins” kept his No. 88 Chevrolet from being able to compete in the larger draft and leading to a “miserable night.”
Earnhardt’s effort wasn’t helped when he received minor damage from the Lap 90 crash that included 22 cars.
With Saturday night’s result, Earnhardt has failed to finish in the top 1o in eight of the last nine races. He finished second at Pocono Raceway. However, Earnhardt was the highest-placing Hendrick Motorsports driver in the race. Chase Elliott (32nd) and Jimmie Johnson (35th) were eliminated in the Lap 90 crash. Kasey Kahne, who was also involved, finished 30th, 38 laps down.
With nine races left before the start of Chase for the Sprint Cup, Earnhardt is currently 13th in the points standings, 30 above the cutoff for the Chase.
Earnhardt and his team now hope they can turn their season around next Saturday at Kentucky Speedway. In his five starts at the 1.5-mile track that was repaved earlier this year, Earnhardt has two top fives (2012, 2014) and one pole (2013).
Trevor Bayne led Roush Fenway Racing’s effort in the Coke Zero 400 with a third-place finish. All three Roush cars finished in the top 10 after Greg Biffle started the night on the pole. Bayne earned his best result since he won the 2011 Daytona 500.
Tony Stewart returned from a back injury in April, and the three-time Sprint Cup Series champion is in pursuit of one of the 16 spots in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in his final season. Here's a look at where the driver of the No. 14 Chevrolet stands in his hunt after Saturday's 26th-place-finish in the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway, the season's 17th of 26 regular-season races.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED
The Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner/wheelman had an above-average night at Daytona run afoul after wrecking out with 12 laps remaining.
Running in the top five as the race wound down, Stewart got loose before getting into the wall and taking major damage. A promising points run ended in a disappointing way for the three-time Sprint Cup Series champion, but he will leave Daytona higher in the standings than when he arrived.
"I just got loose ... definitely my fault," Stewart told NBC. "I don't know why I got loose."
He now sits three points inside of the top 30 -- which is where he needs to be in order to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and compete for his fourth championship. As it stands now, he's in.
RELATED: Stewart wrecks out of final Daytona race
WHAT HE NEEDS
Stewart received a waiver from NASCAR for Chase eligibility. The surest way into the Chase is by winning before the end of regular season (at Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 10) -- which Stewart did at Sonoma -- and remain in the top 30 in the points standings. En route to his 2015 championship, Kyle Busch faced a similar path after missing the first 11 races with a leg injury. With the win now in the bank, Stewart can focus on reaching the top 30. He sits 30th in the standings with 212 points, three points ahead of Brian Scott's 209 points.
WHAT'S NEXT
"Smoke" heads to Kentucky Speedway (July 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), where he's never won. In his five starts there, Stewart has led just one lap and has never finished in the top 10.
RELATED: See all of Stewart's wins | "Smoke" granted Chase waiver
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. --Brad Keselowski had an excellent solution for the massive wrecks that scrambled the finishing order of Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
He stayed ahead of all of them.
Leading 115 of 161 laps in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford, Keselowski sped away from his pursuers after a restart in overtime and posted his third victory of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season in thoroughly convincing fashion.
The victory was Keselowski's first at Daytona and the 20th of his career, and it reinforced his mastery of restrictor-plate racing -- Keselowski already had four wins at sister track Talladega.
When the race restarted in overtime, after a caution for a four-car wreck on Lap 155, eventual runner-up Kyle Busch simply couldn't keep up with Keselowski, once he lost his push from third-place finisher Trevor Bayne. Keselowski's teammate, fourth-place finisher Joey Logano, shoved the No. 2 car to the front on the Lap 160 restart, and then it was over.
"Joey Logano was a huge part of this today," Keselowski said. "We had two great cars here with Team Penske and worked together really well. Joey has won here and he's really a pro, especially on that restart.
"He gave me that push I needed to get to the front, and here we are at Daytona in Victory Lane. I don't care if it's not the 500. It's Daytona. This is huge. I love this place, and here we are in Victory Lane with the Detroit Ford."
That there were 27 lead changes between 13 drivers belied Keselowski's dominance. While in the lead, the 2012 series champion was able to block both the inside and outside lanes, moving back and forth at will to impede the progress of whichever line developed momentum.
With a daring move to the inside of race runner-up Kyle Busch on Lap 145, Keselowski took the lead for good and held it through two subsequent cautions for multi-car wrecks. The first wiped out Sonoma winner Tony Stewart, who was running in the top 10 at the time. The second was the coup de grace for Carl Edwards, who had qualified second but finished 25th.
Busch, who tried in vain to regain the top spot, could only admire the handling of Keselowski's Ford.
"He definitely just had way more maneuverability it seemed like than anybody, but especially than I did," Busch said. "I don't know how he got the kind of run that he got (to make the decisive pass), but when he got that run down the front stretch getting into Turn 1 and was able to turn to the bottom, my car would be kind of loose doing that.
"It would just over rotate on me a little bit, and I just never really had that opportunity from behind me besides Trevor, and I never was in the right position when I had that big of a run in order to get the lead back.
"Really, it took a lot of guys ganging up and getting together in order to make a move on him. He was pretty smart about where he positioned his car on the race track, and I could see that, and I tried to do some of those same things, but, man, it just never really worked for me as good as he could handle it."
The race ran without major incident for the first 89 laps, with a competition caution on Lap 21 and a black flag to Danica Patrick for driving through too many pit boxes on a Lap 67 green-flag pit stop first providing the bulk of the excitement.
But that was the calm before a violent storm.
As the field roared into Turn 1 on Lap 90, Jamie McMurray's Chevrolet got loose, made side-to-side contact with Ganassi Racing teammate Kyle Larson, got out of shape and veered sharply into the outside wall after contact from Jimmie Johnson's Chevrolet.
That was the spark that ignited a wreck that collected 22 of the 40 cars in the field and eliminated McMurray, Johnson, Paul Menard and series leader Kevin Harvick, while heavily damaging the cars of Sunoco Rookie of the Year leader Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth and Patrick, among others.
Harvick said he was expecting the powder keg that is restrictor-plate racing to explode at any minute -- and on Lap 90 it did.
"You really think it's going to happen from Lap 1," said Harvick, who now leads the Cup series by 14 points over Keselowski. "It's hard to make ground, so you have to be pretty aggressive when you start making ground.
"Just kind of riding there, just maintaining until that next pit stop so we could get my car off the ground and then really start being aggressive. I really couldn't be aggressive, and unfortunately, I was in the back of that front pack and ended up getting in the wreck."
But Keselowski was ahead of the wreck, as he was throughout the night, and in staying at the front he earned owner Roger Penske his 100th victory in the series.
Aric Almirola won by less than a nose on the front end of his Ford Mustang, capturing Friday night’s Subway Firecracker 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
Justin Allgaier finished second. Here’s the finishing order:
Even though he was involved in a late wreck and finished 32nd in Friday’s Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway, Daniel Suarez remains atop the NASCAR Xfinity Series point standings.
But things remain tight between Suarez, second-ranked Elliott Sadler (just six points behind) and third-ranked Ty Dillon (16 points behind Suarez).
Here’s how the standings stack up as the series leaves Daytona:
Although Austin Dillon walked away from a horrific wreck at the end of last year’s Coke Zero 400, NASCAR saw that more improvements could be made in safety.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s goodbye to his beloved “Amelia” – retired after crashing in the season’s first two restrictor-plate races — also was goodbye to monikers for his Sprint Cup cars.
“No, we’re not going to be naming cars anymore,” Earnhardt said Thursday at Daytona International Speedway when asked if he had waved goodbye when passing by the “car graveyard” on his property where Amelia sits. “I knew as soon as we did that, it sort of took off and put a lot of pressure on that car and the team.”
“Amelia” was named for legendary aviator Amelia Earnhardt after the car won at Talladega and Daytona in 2015 because it was the first name that came to mind for Earnhardt when he thought of someone who accomplished a significant and inspiring achievement.
It’s a long-running concept for NASCAR drivers to name their cars (see this 2007 story by NBC Sports’ Dustin Long). When he drove for crew chief Ray Evernham, Jeff Gordon’s favorite in the No. 24 stable was nicknamed “Blacker” (because of its dark paint scheme).
At Team Penske, Rusty Wallace once nicknamed his cars after they won races – ‘Midnight’ was coined after he won the 1992 night race at Richmond International Raceway. “Mad Max” was spawned by an August 2000 win at Michigan in which Wallace won after leading the most laps with a car that had finished second four times (“I was madder than hell”). The car from his final win at Martinsville Speedway in April 2004 was christened “Predator.”
But in the new era in which multicar teams churn out fleets of standardized cars with production-line efficiency, the days of having a “favorite” car have been confined to the dustbin of history. It’s become easier for teams to produce virtual duplicates in shape and speed, and the constant progression of development and technology makes cars outmoded much more quickly.
“These cars just don’t stick around long enough to get names,” Earnhardt said. “You used to race cars for years and years, and they would show a personality. These days, you only keep a car for maybe a year before it’s unrecognizable or it’s cut out of the herd.
“We had so much success with that car last year that we ran it this year, and we probably shouldn’t have. There are newer ideas and theories and better ways to do things that car didn’t have. But we assumed, ‘Hey, it was doing so well, why wouldn’t it keep going?’
“But it seems like over the offseason there’s so much improvement and gains made by every organization that you can’t afford to rest on what you did the year before. Anyhow, we’ll see how this car does. We’ve got some good direction on trying to improve and built this car with some newer ideas and hopefully it’s going to go out there and be quick.”
When the idea first surfaced of honoring active military units on the windshields of NASCAR XFINITY Series cars at Friday's Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), someone asked Jesse Iwuji which driver's car he'd like his last deployment station, USS Comstock, featured on.
Iwuji, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West driver in his first full season who also is in active service in the U.S. Navy until 2017, didn't hesitate: Darrell Wallace Jr.
"I've followed him a lot and I really love what he's done in the series," said Iwuji, who will attend this weekend's races at Daytona.
Like Wallace, Iwuji is African-American and a lifelong race fan. Like Wallace, Iwuji is trying to make a name for himself in the sport.
Like Wallace, Iwuji has shown great promise, but still is searching for his first win this season.
With so many similarities, somehow when Wallace first heard that his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford would honor Iwuji at Daytona International Speedway for Friday's race, his predominant thought settled on the major difference between the two drivers.
"I didn't know he was a Navy Lieutenant, so that's really cool," Wallace said.
Many XFINITY Series drivers will learn new facts about the units displayed on their race cars this weekend. Part of 'NASCAR: An American Salute,' the program honoring military units and installations is a counterpart to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' tribute during the Coca-Cola 600 over Memorial Day weekend where cars featured names of service men and women who died while in active duty.
Several XFINITY Series teams have direct connections to the units, such as driver Elliott Sadler, whose windshield will be adorned with Fort Campbell's "3RD BCT 101ST ABN" to honor JR Motorsports employee Lee Langley, who served for six years at the Army base as an infantry team leader in the 101st Airborne Division.
And then there's Iwuji and Wallace. The two drivers met a couple times in the past year that Iwuji has been driving professionally, but rather than discuss Iwuji's six years of active duty in the Navy, each time the two settled on their shared passion: racing. Iwuji peppered Wallace with questions about how he prepares for races, and how he manages the full-time job of driving.
"I'm still brand new and still learning a lot," said Iwuji, who earned his first top 10 in his fifth start, "so I definitely have a long way to go."
Sometimes, Wallace has the same feeling. But after 14 XFINITY Series races this season, Wallace has five top 10s and two top fives. He's currently ninth in the driver's standings, with seemingly a fairly secure spot in the 12-driver XFINITY Chase.
But he's also winless. His second-place finish at Dover in May was a career best -- and it was just enough to leave Wallace yearning for more.
"We're knocking on the door for our first win," Wallace said. "We need to clean up some areas that we're lacking in right now. We're kind of treating this (Daytona) as a test session because we have the Chase format. We can go to the race track and bring a different package to try each and every weekend. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. ... Hopefully we can get a win to lock us into the Chase, and then win a Chase race each and every segment, and then put ourselves in a position to win the title, win the title and everybody's happy."
It seems a simple formula, though Wallace also knows there are significant strides to be made in the second half of the season.
It all starts with this weekend's race, when he'll have USS Comstock plastered atop his windshield.
"Hopefully it brings us some good luck, and hopefully it makes us 'military strong' so we can muscle some guys out of the way and get our first win," Wallace said.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has won four times at Daytona International Speedway: twice in the Daytona 500 and twice more in the Coke Zero 400.
Junior is the defending winner of last year’s Coke Zero 400.
More than any other track, Daytona has long been the most important and meaningful track for the entire Earnhardt family, including the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt. Here’s why.
