NASCAR America: Should Sprint Cup drivers be allowed in Xfinity races?

After a weekend that saw Sprint Cup regular Kyle Busch win the Xfinity race at Kansas Speedway and Cup driver Kyle Larson hinder Xfinity title contender Erik Jones‘ chances of a win or strong finish, talk has again surfaced on if Cup drivers should be competing in the Xfinity Series.

Earlier this week, NASCAR executiveSteve O’Donnell told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that fans should “stay tuned” for an announcement “fairly soon” on the issue.

With all of that brewing, NBC Sports analysts Jeff Burton and Parker Kligerman debated the issue.

“It’s a very difficult solution,” Burton said on NASCAR America. “The reason I became a Cup driver is because of the opportunity to run in the Xfinity Series and race against Harry Gant, Mark Martinand Dale Earnhardt. Every now and then I could run with them. If none of them were there, I could win. But that propelled me, that gave me the opportunity to get to the Cup Series. A Cup owner, Billy Stavola and Mickey Stavola, they watched me run in the Xfinity Series, they said, ‘Hey that guy every now and then can run with Mark Martin, maybe he can be a Cup driver.’ Without that opportunity I don’t think I’m ever a Cup driver.

“I will say this, when I raced against Mark Martin, he didn’t drive (in the Xfinity Series) for Jack Roush. When I raced (against) Harry Gant, he did not drive for his Cup team. When I raced Dale Earnhardt, he ran his Xfinity team out of a small shop on his property. I wasn’t racing against Richard Childress Racing. I was racing against smaller race teams. As the Xfinity Series has evolved, they’re not miniature Cup teams.”

Burton also said that permitting Cup drivers to race in the series allows Xfinity drivers to stand out to show that they can compete in the Cup level.

Kligerman said: “I’m going to play some devil’s advocate with you and say, ‘OK, if tomorrow Kyle Busch and all the other Sprint Cup regulars could not run the Xfinity Series, then we would not evaluate drivers, young drivers coming up by saying ‘If they can beat Kyle Busch or beat Brad Keselowski.’ ”

Burton noted that “the way we’ve always done things doesn’t mean that is the right way to do it. Racing is always an evolution … and we need to be looking at better ways to do things.”

NASCAR executive hints at rule to limit Sprint Cup drivers in Xfinity,Camping World Truck Series

For fans who don’t like Sprint Cup drivers competing in Xfinity and Camping World Truck races, a NASCAR executive says “stay tuned’’ for an announcement “fairly soon’’ on the issue.

Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, uttered those words Monday on “The Morning Drive” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio when asked about limiting Cup drivers in the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series.

“It certainly is on our radar,’’ O’Donnell said. “We’ve heard the fans. It’s interesting, it’s been a balance throughout the years. We’ve always had Sprint Cup drivers come into the Xfinity Series and sometimes dominate, back in the Mark Martin days.

“As the sport has evolved one of the great things is we’ve got more of a fan following in the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series. They like seeing those drivers come up through the ranks and it’s our job to make sure that Xfinity is where names are made. We’ve got to do on that on the racetrack.

“That is something we’re taking a really hard look at for next year, I’d say stay tuned. We’re going to look at and probably have something to announce fairly soon.’’

NASCAR prohibits any Cup driver who was in last year’s Chase from competing in this year’s season finale for the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

One possibility could be for NASCAR to extend such a ban for all future Chase races in the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series.

This issue was raised after Kyle Buschwon Saturday’s Xfinity race at Kansas Speedway for his ninth victory of the season.

Since 2011, Cup regulars have won 138 of the 196 Xfinity races (70.4 percent).

Nineteen of the 30 Xfintiy races this season have been won by a driver who competes regularly in the Sprint Cup Series. While that is nearly two-thirds of the races won by a Cup regular, the total is down from recent years.

Last year, Cup regulars won 23 of 33 Xfinity races (69.7 percent)

In 2014, Cup regulars won 22 of 33 Xfintiy races (66.7 percent)

In 2013, Cup regulars won 28 of 33 Xfinity races (84.8 percent)

In 2012, Cup regulars won 18 of 33 Xfinity races (54.5 percent)

In 2011, Cup regulars won 28 of 34 Xfinity races (82.4 percent)

Here’s a look at the most wins by a Cup regular in the Xfinity Series since 2011

42 – Kyle Busch

22 – Brad Keselowski

19 – Joey Logano

9 – Carl Edwards

9 – Kevin Harvick

Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray prepare for 500th Sprint Cup starts

When the green flag drops on Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway, Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray will mark an achievement together with their 500th starts in the Sprint Cup Series.

The last time two drivers made their 500th starts in the same race was Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Terry Labonte at Watkins Glen International in 1995.

“I’m really excited about making my 500th start,” said Biffle in a team release. “It’s been a great ride and it’s amazing how fast the time goes by. I’ve got a lot of memories, wins, close races and fun times. I’ve won a lot of great races and look forward to running for that third championship.”

Biffle and McMurray did not make their first starts together, but their careers are intertwined.

The oldest full-time driver on the Cup circuit at 46, Biffle broke into the series on April 28, 2002, in the NAPA Auto Parts 500 at Auto Club Speedway. After three seasons and one title (2000) in the Camping World Truck Series and one Xfinity season, Biffle started in the No. 16 for Roush Fenway Racing.

The native of Vancouver, Washington, qualified 29th and finished 13th in the first of six starts that season.

McMurray’s debut, 20 races later, is much memorable.

A native of Joplin, Missouri, McMurray had 21 truck starts and a season and a half of Xfinity starts with no wins when Chip Ganassi called. On Sept. 29, Sterling Marlin suffered a fractured vertebra in his neck in a crash at Kansas Speedway. The injury forced Marlin from Ganassi’s No. 40 for the rest of the season.

McMurray, then 26, stepped into the car the next week at Talladega Superspeedway, where he would start fifth and finish 26th, a lap down.

McMurray would start fifth again a week later at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the UAW-GM Quality 500. He would lead three times that night for 96 laps. He assumed the lead for the last time with 31 laps to go en route to his first Sprint Cup victory.

Both Biffle and McMurray would be full-time rookies in 2003, with Biffle driving the No. 16 for Roush and McMurray the No. 42 for Ganassi. Since that season, only Biffle has failed to make a start, when he did not qualify for the third race of the 2002 season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“If I wouldn’t have missed the Las Vegas race I would have won Rookie of the Year, except he did,” Biffle said last month at the unveiling of his car for the Southern 500.

Since 2002, Biffle has driven only for Roush, earning 19 victories (the first coming in the 2004 Pepsi 400) 92 top fives and 175 top 10s. Biffle will be the second driver to make his 500th Cup start at Roush. Mark Martin made his in March 2002.

Biffle hasn’t won since the spring Michigan race in 2013.

McMurray, now 40, is in his second stint with Chip Ganassi Racing after competing with Biffle at Roush from 2006 – 2009. The two remain good friends from their days as teammates, often vacationing together and sharing plane rides to races.

“More of a friendship of any other driver, a colleague at work that you respect their talent and ability,” Biffle said. “A lot of times friendships kind of stay intact … you can usually get over, ‘Hey I cut you off or you ran into you on accident.’ Typically you can put those behind you. We haven’t had too many of those.’’

While McMurray has only seven wins on his record – and none since 2013 – his victories tend to come on NASCAR’s biggest stages.

Nicknamed the “Big Game Hunter” by Ganassi, McMurray won the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and fall Charlotte race in 2010. His second Cup win was the 2007 Pepsi 400. He also has two wins at Talladega (2009, 2013). His last trip to victory lane was the 2014 All-Star Race.

Heading into Saturday’s race, McMurray holds the final provisional spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup and is 22 points ahead of Ryan Newman.

Biffle needs to win in order to qualify for the Chase.

Joey Logano earns Sprint Cup Series pole at Michigan

Joey Logano won the pole by posting the fastest time in the third round of Sprint Cup Series qualifying on Friday at Michigan International Speedway with a lap of 201.698 mph. It was Logano’s third pole at Michigan and his third of the season, which ties him for the second in the series this season.

The Team Penske driver enters the Pure Michigan 400 as the most recent winner at Michigan, having won from the pole in June. He will lead the field to the green flag alongside Jimmie Johnson, who posted a lap of 201.523 mph.

“I hope so, track position is a big deal here,” Logano told NBCSN of following up his June performance. “That pit stall number one is a big deal as well, so being able to give our pit crew the advantage of trying to keep the track position throughout the race is going to be key. Obviously, this race turns into a strategy fest but awesome for our Shell/Pennzoil team to get another pole here.”

The top five were Logano, Johnson, Denny Hamlin (201.416 mph), Kevin Harvick (201.382 mph), and Chase Elliott (201.303 mph).

With his third-place qualifying effort, Hamlin will have started in the top 10 in the last 22 races. That is the longest streak by a driver since Mark Martin went 22 straight between 1988-1989.

With Johnson second, Elliott fifth, Alex Bowman (in for Dale Earnhardt Jr.) sixth and Kasey Kahne 11th, it marks only the second time this season that all four Hendrick Motorsports cars have started in the top 12. The only other time that happened was at Talladega in May.

Here is how qualifying played out:

Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough to drive Southern 500 pace car

NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough, a five-time winner at Darlington Raceway, will once again be at the front of a Sprint Cup field on Sept. 4.

That’s when Yarborough will be the honorary pace car driver for the Southern 500, leading the field of 40 cars prior to the green flag for the race at the South Carolina track.

A native of Timmonsville, South Carolina, about 20 minutes south of Darlington, the three-time Cup champion earned 83 Sprint Cup wins in his career. All five of his Darlington wins came in the Southern 500.

“This is quite an honor and I’m really looking forward to being the honorary pace car driver for the Bojangles’ Southern 500,” Yarborough said in a press. “The Southern 500 is the reason I got into racing. When I saw my first one, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. Darlington is a tough, ol’ race track that can give you fits. When I was racing, I wanted to win the Southern 500 more than any other race. I still get goose bumps when I drive by the race track. I just may have to run a few laps and show those young folks how it’s done.”

Yarborough last competed in 1988 and was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2012.

Members of the 2017 class, Rick Hendrick, Mark Martin and Richard Childress, are the grand marshals for the Sept. 4 race, which can been seen on NBC.

After a down 2015, Roush Fenway Racing drivers enjoying ‘new normal’

There’s a “new normal” at Roush Fenway Racing.

After a dismal 2015 there’s more structure, less finger-pointing and all three teams are competing toward the front.

To top it off, Trevor Bayne is getting some sleep.

“Last year I feel like I had to beat myself up a little bit,” Bayne recently told NBC Sports. “I’d be looking at data and having sleepless nights trying to figure how I could drive the car different, and now this year that we have faster cars, I feel like I can kinda do what I know how to do naturally.”

Bayne is 20th in the Sprint Cup standings after 14 races. At this point last year, his first full season with Roush, he was 30th. Heading to Michigan International Speedway, Bayne has one top five and two top-1o finishes.

The biggest sign of improved speed for Roush is in qualifying. Bayne has advanced to the second round of qualifying 10 times and the final round five times. Bayne has an average start of 16.8. His average last year was 27.9.

“Last season I feel like qualifying was one of the hardest parts of my weekend,” Bayne said. “We would be 30th, you know? Hardly making the second round at times, and this season we’ve made it to the final round almost every week, and I think (crew chief) Matt (Puccia) does a really good job.”

The improvements are even more significant for fourth-year driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Stenhouse has started in the top 10 seven times. Last year, Stenhouse started in the top 10 just three times. For the Coca-Cola 600, all three of Roush’s car qualified in the top 10 for the first time since 2013 at Chicagoland Speedway.

“The new normal at Roush Fenway is everybody is working together,” Stenhouse told NBC Sports. “It’s not blaming this department or this department … I feel like everyone has been hands on, in the ditch with each other, you know digging and trying to claw our way out of this and I think it’s been showing.”

Greg Biffle‘s best finish through 14 races is 11th in the Coke 600, which he started a season-best sixth in.

“We’re definitely on an upswing, especially the 16 team,” Biffle told NBC Sports. “The problem is we don’t have any results to show for it. Meaning we’re not able to close right now. So, we’re getting to the three-quarter point in the race, things are happening, we’re getting involved in stuff. Or particularly Dover, the big wreck. Probably had one of the best cars we did all season.”

Biffle isn’t sitting by as the team tries to return to the level of competition it enjoyed when he started racing full-time for Roush in 2003.

That’s included Biffle coordinating pit stop practices among the teams and driving the pit stop car. It’s one way Biffle has committed to show he’s in “100 percent” to build Roush back up.

“I took charge and went down to pit stop practice and told the guys, ‘Hey, I’m going to be here every week for the next month, or one day a week, and I’m going to drive the pit stop car and we’re going to practice other things,’ ” Biffle said. “I recognized that they were kind of stuck in the same old routine and it needed to be changed up. And it brought so much energy and life back into my team that at Dover we had the best pit stops we’ve had in six months. And so then I went to Trevor and Ricky and asked them to do the same thing with their team.”

The more cohesive operation at Roush has the team the closest it’s been to consistently competing since Carl Edwards won at Sonoma Raceway in 2014. It’s seen Bayne, who hasn’t won since his 2011 Daytona 500 upset, lead a career-high 22 laps at Talladega Superspeedway to make his season total 34, also a career best.

After struggling in the back of the pack in 2015, Roush is showing signs it can turn its “new normal” into the kind of success Mark Martin helped create for the team during the height of his Hall of Fame career in the 1990s.

“It takes time to catch up and it’s hard to catch up,” Bayne said. “The guys that you’re trying to beat are also getting better. So you have to make huge gains to do what we’re doing this season.”

Fun Fact Friday: 15 things you can see at the Museum & Team Store

CONCORD, N.C.—The Hendrick Motorsports campus, located in the heart of Concord, North Carolina, has a plethora of historic exhibits and a wide variety of merchandise items inside the on-campus Museum & Team Store.

Check out the fun facts below to make sure you’re prepared for your next visit.

1) Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and past drivers for the organization Benny Parsons and Mark Martin – all three of whom are NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2017 inductees -- have pieces of history on display inside the Museum & Team Store.

2) Among the cars displayed in the museum are Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s 2014 Daytona 500-winning No. 88 Chevy, Jimmie Johnson’s 2007 and 2008 championship cars, and Jeff Gordon's 1997 and 1999 Daytona 500 cars, inaugural Brickyard 400-winning car and Jurassic Park-themed "T-Rex.”

3) There are four trophies from Pocono Raceway – the site of this weekend’s race -- displayed in the museum, including Johnson’s first Pocono trophy from 2004.

4) Johnson’s Superman firesuit from his win in Fontana, California, is on display alongside Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Batman firesuit from the same race, when the two were helping to promote "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."

5) Currently, there are 23 famed cars in the Museum & Team Store.

6) Visitors can also take a close look at Johnson’s 2006 championship pit box.

7) Replicas of all six of Johnson’s championship trophies are present inside Museum & Team Store.

) The NASCAR Expansion to XBOX game Forza Motorsports 6 is the newest addition to the store, including a driver’s seat, steering wheels and pedals connected to an Xbox One, giving fans the ability to test out the game.

9) An average of 3,000 race fans visit the Museum & Team store on the Friday before the grueling 600-mile race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

10) There are approximately 500 items of merchandise in the team store, including sheet metal and race tires from previous events in the 2016 season.

11) In the Museum & Team Store, there is a diecast collection display case with a total of 477 diecast cars.

12) There are two tech walls displaying various engine components including three Hendrick Motorsports engines.

13) There is a chassis exploded view that shows the frame and body of the car along with a template NASCAR uses to inspect the cars before each race.

14) The first chassis constructed by Hendrick Motorsports can also be seen in the museum.

15) The Museum & Team Store was built in 1995 and renovated in May 2008.

Mark Martin returns to track as pace car driver for Coca-Cola 600

Newly elected NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin hasn’t been to a NASCAR race since the 2013 Sprint Cup finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He’ll return in a big way Sunday at the Coca-Cola 600, serving as the race’s pace car driver prior to the green flag..

The honor will cap off a day for Martin that starts off in Indianapolis, where Martin will watch the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. Then in his own version of “The Double,” the 2002 winner of the Coke 600 will fly to Charlotte to jump in the Toyota pace car.

“When the speedway called to ask me if I’d do it, my first reaction was ‘Hell, yeah!’” Martin said in a press release. “Originally I’d planned to be at Indy, but now I get to do the ‘double’ in a way, and I can say I’ll be driving at Charlotte. Charlotte Motor Speedway was always my favorite race track.”

In addition to his Coke 600 win, Martin won at Charlotte a total of four times in the Cup series and had 18 top fives. In the Xfinity Series, Martin earned another six wins at the 1.5-mile track.

“I was fortunate enough to have a lot of success there, including winning a Coke 600,” Martin said. “Bruton and Marcus (Smith) always put on a fabulous show, and this will be cool to lead the field to green in front of thousands of fans that I enjoyed racing for all those years.”

‘The Double’ awaits Mark Martin, who will commute often between Indy and Charlotte

INDIANAPOLIS — Though he will attend Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, Mark Martin will have the chance to celebrate his NASCAR Hall of Fame election with some of his closest friends in racing.

Martin, who will be inducted in the 2017 class with Rick Hendrick, Richard Childress, Raymond Parks and Benny Parsons, told NBC Sports that he will be leaving a few hours after the 100th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing begins and catching a flight to North Carolina.

He will be headed to Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he will take in the Coca-Cola 600 (which he won in 2002) and the congratulations of those he raced against in the Sprint Cup Series.

Martin also is expected to be at Charlotte for a NASCAR-arranged media availability Saturday.

Martin, who was in his second year on the ballot, felt he had such little chance to be chosen for the Hall of that he left his native Arkansas earlier this week to attend the Indy 500.

“It was a bucket list sorta thing,” he said.

But then came Wednesday’s announcement that he had been elected – while he was on the road headed to Indy, no less – and Martin’s travel plans suddenly became a lot more complicated.

He attended Thursday’s Indy 500 Media Day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He will fly Friday afternoon to Charlotte and returns to Indy later Saturday after his appearance at the Charlotte track. Then it’s back to Charlotte again after watching the start of Sunday’s race.

“I was speechless, still not sure what to say, other than I’m surprised,” Martin said of his selection for the NASCAR Hall. “If I’d been voting, I’d have voted another way.

"But I’m humbled and honored and not only to be in this class because of the performance of the people in this class and the people, the persons they were. … I just feel really fortunate. It’s like icing on the cake, like the race you never won but always wanted to, and more.”

To further illustrate his total surprise at being chosen for the Hall, Martin quipped, “I did not expect it, or otherwise I wouldn’t have been in the motor home driving up here yesterday.

“I hadn’t been to (the Indy 500) in my lifetime, so now it appears I’m going to be doing the ‘double.’ I’m not driving, but I’m doing the ‘double’ anyway.”

Here’s a few posts from Martin’s Twitter account about his time at IMS on Thursday as well as his selection for the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

NASCAR America: Mark Martin inducted into Hall of Fame

Considered the greatest driver to never win a Sprint Cup championship, Mark Martin is part of the 2017 Hall of Fame class. The native of Batesville, Arkansas, was runner-up five times. Martin won the Southern 500 twice and and earned 96 victories in NASCAR’s national series.

Hall of Fame selection ensures Benny Parsons’ last remaining wish

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Shortly before he died in 2007, former NASCAR champion and broadcaster Benny Parsons gave his wife a list of 10 things to do.

Some were personal: He wanted her to grow a vineyard, something he had wanted but hadn’t done.

Some were about community: He wanted her to help find a way for racing to return to North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Some were for family that remain private.

She completed those tasks, but for years, the last item on the list haunted Terri Parsons.

“The one that kept throwing me was ‘Don’t let people forget me,’ ’’ she told NBC Sports. “How does one person do that? There is only so much Facebook you can do.’’

Voters for the NASCAR Hall of Fame showed they had not forgotten Wednesday. While it took until the eighth class for one of the remaining inaugural nominees to be selected, Benny Parsons made it after receiving 85 percent of the vote. He’ll be joined by Mark Martin, Rick Hendrick, Richard Childress and Raymond Parks.

Terri Parsons had a feeling that this year would be different from all the times she had come before, hoping the man she loved and fans adored would be inducted.

She had a restless night of sleep. She was nervous on the drive to the Hall of Fame. Then shortly before the announcement, Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett told her he thought this would be Parsons’ year based on the talk about the 1973 champion among voters.

“When his name was announced, it hit me, this is it,’’ Terri Parsons said. “Nobody is going to forget him. People will know the history of Benny forever.’’

Still, she sat stoically. Jarrett, who spoke to his fellow voters earlier in the day about Parsons’ credentials, reached over and shook Terri Parsons’ wrist. Hall of Famer Bobby Allison turned around and shook her knee.

“I was numb,’’ Terri Parsons said. “I wanted to make sure I heard it right.’’

And then she saw the face of the man she married in 1992 on a video board as the first member of the new Hall of Fame class.

“He’s in,’’ she said to herself.

She later described it as “an awesome moment for me.’’

And for her husband, who became as well known to many fans for his role as broadcaster with NBC and other networks as for his success on the track.

“Somewhere tonight he’s saying fantastic, I’m sure, and we all know the smile he would have on his face,’’ Terri Parsons said.

It’s the smile that will be etched on his pylon when he’s inducted Jan. 20, 2017, into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Poll: Who would you select for next NASCAR Hall of Fame class?

Voters will gather Wednesday in Charlotte, North Carolina, to select the next five-member class to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

The class will be introduced on NASCAR America at 5 p.m. ET Wednesday on NBCSN. Krista Voda will host and be joined by analysts Steve Letarte and Jeff Burton.

Here are the Hall of Fame candidates followed by a poll for you to make your selection. Which five would you choose?

Buddy Baker, won 19 times in NASCAR’s premier (now Sprint Cup) series, including the Daytona 500 and Southern 500

Red Byron, first NASCAR premier series champion, in 1949

Richard Childress, 11-time car owner champion in NASCAR’s three national series

Ray Evernham, three-time NASCAR premier series championship crew chief

Ray Fox, legendary engine builder, crew chief and car owner

Rick Hendrick, 14-time car owner champion in NASCAR’s three national series

Ron Hornaday Jr., four-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion

Harry Hyde, 1970 NASCAR

Alan Kulwicki, 1992 NASCAR premier series champion

Mark Martin, 96-time race winner in NASCAR national series competition

Hershel McGriff, 1986 NASCAR west series champion

Raymond Parks, NASCAR’s first champion car owner

Benny Parsons, 1973 NASCAR premier series champion

Larry Phillips, five-time NASCAR weekly series national champion

Jack Roush, five-time car owner champion in NASCAR’s three national series

Ricky Rudd, won 23 times in NASCAR’s premier series, including the 1997 Brickyard 400

Ken Squier, legendary radio and television broadcaster; inaugural winner/namesake of Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence

Mike Stefanik, winner of record-tying nine NASCAR championships

Waddell Wilson, won three NASCAR premier series championships as an engine builder

Robert Yates, won NASCAR premier series championship as both an engine builder and owner

Who would you select for the next NASCAR Hall of Fame class? (Pick 5 only)
Buddy Baker
Red Byron
Richard Childress
Ray Evernham
Ray Fox
Rick Hendrick
Ron Hornaday Jr.
Harry Hyde
Alan Kulwicki
Mark Martin
Hershel McGriff
Raymond Parks
Benny Parsons
Larry Phillips
Jack Roush
Ricky Rudd
Ken Squier
Mike Stefanik
Waddell Wilson
Robert Yates

Vote

View ResultsPolldaddy.com

NASCAR on NBC podcast, Episode XII: Trevor Bayne and Danica Patrick

Trevor Bayne’s undulating career path and Danica Patrick’s connection with kids are among the highlights of the latest NASCAR on NBC podcast.

Bayne joined the podcast before his Tuesday appearance on NASCAR America, discussing his wild ride after winning the 2011 Daytona 500. After winning NASCAR’s biggest race in one of the major upsets in history, Bayne suffered through health problems (eventually leading to a diagnosis of MS) and a lack of funding kept him from racing full time in 2012.

“I’ve got a very strange career so far,” he said. “Even just my first year, going from a victory to the hospital, I said, ‘We just went through 10 seasons worth of a drama in one year.’ ”

Bayne persevered and moved full time into NASCAR’s premier series last season with Advocare, a sponsorship that materialized after his chance meeting with the company’s president.

“It’s crazy how it worked out,” the No. 6 Ford driver. “Five months before, I didn’t know what Advocare was.

"I tell young drivers all the time how important relationships are, You never know who you’re talking to, and some of my biggest breaks in racing have come from talking to people who most of the time I didn’t know who they were and what they did.”

Bayne also discussed his renewed commitment to triathlon training, his throwback paint scheme tribute to Mark Martin for the Southern 500 and his improvement in the 2016 season. Some of his results can be credited to a working relationship with crew chief Matt Puccia, who has bonded with Bayne as the father of a newborn.

The second guest on the podcast is Danica Patrick, who joined by phone from Chicago where she was promoting a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sponsorship. The Nickelodeon promotion, which is in conjunction with the Chase for the Sprint Cup opener at Chicagoland Speedway, is the latest chance for Patrick to connect with younger fans, who seem to be drawn to racing’s most successful female driver.

“I think it’s because I’m their size,” the 5-2 Patrick said with a laugh. “I actually do think it’s because I’m small, it helps.

“But I’m probably someone their parents have pointed out to tell them a good story that you can do whatever you want. Just because you’re a girl doesn’t mean you can’t do something that boys do.”

Patrick also discusses how it felt to have Tony Stewart back at the track, her 2016 season with new crew chief Billy Scott and the new NASCAR news on lug nuts (“I plead the fifth.”).

Finally, NASCAR Talk editor Dustin Long will join us after covering the past two races at Bristol Motor Speedway and Richmond International Raceway. Dustin provides insight on the repercussions of Carl Edwards’ winning bump on Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch and how Tony Stewart seemed in his return to racing after missing two months.

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