Dale Earnhardt Jr. has shown drivers it’s OK to admit being hurt

 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. wasn’t looking to become an influential voice when he began opening up about his concussion.

But Earnhardt’s forwardness has resulted in other drivers following his ways. Something both Ryan Ellis and Sarah Cornett-Ching admit they wouldn’t have previously done.
“I don’t think I would have gotten checked out honestly,” Ellis told NBC Sports. “It’s not because I didn’t think I had (a concussion) or anything, it just kind of has that negative connotation when you take a hit. Like, ‘Oh that guy can’t take a hit.’ You don’t want to feel like a wuss out there.”
Ellis blew a right front tire in the Oct. 2 Xfinity Series race at Dover International Speedway and his car slammed the wall. He was checked and released from the infield care center but returned when he started to get a headache, felt dizzy, and become nauseous in the garage. Ellis then headed to a local hospital.
“When one of the leaders of the sport (Earnhardt) goes out there and takes the extra steps to get back and make sure he’s right when he comes back, that really gives you the feeling of comfort that you can go and get that checked out,” Ellis said. “No one is going to look at you differently the next week.”
Cornett-Ching had similar thoughts. She hit the outside and inside walls during the Sept. 23 ARCA race at Kentucky Speedway and suffered a headache. Cornett-Ching said it wasn’t until the next day “when everything started falling apart for me.” She said her brain couldn’t keep up with her surroundings and that night she became nauseous and had ringing in her ears.
Cornett-Ching spent the next few days laying in the dark before NASCAR called to check on her. They recommended she see Dr. Jerry Petty, one of the top neurologists in the Charlotte area.
“The decision to open up about what I was going through was influenced by Dale Jr. because initially, I thought it would make me feel weak,” Cornett-Ching told NBC Sports. “I didn’t really want people to know I had a concussion because if there was an opportunity to run a car or do something and advance my career, I didn’t want it to be hindered by the fact that I have a concussion right now.”
That Earnhardt has been a trendsetter in this area is something he didn’t anticipate nor takes the credit. Although he suspected a few individuals might be affected by watching his injury unfold, Earnhardt is glad to see drivers getting the necessary treatment.
“You’ve only got one brain,” Earnhardt told NBC Sports. “When that’s not working right you get scared into wanting to get fixed. When you get hurt, and you can’t see the way you want to see, or you can’t think straight, or your balance is off, that right there is enough to drive you to make the right decisions. So I can’t take much credit for it.
“I think that these folks when they hear somebody talking about it, and they hear about the symptoms, and then they experience it themselves, they realize this is serious, this is scaring me, this is what he did, and I know this path to take to get right. So, I’m glad they’re making good decisions.”
Earnhardt hopes more drivers continue to follow suit. As he’s learned, there are many educated doctors ready to help, in addition to exercises set to specific injuries. And it’s important, Earnhardt agrees, that drivers know it’s OK to come out and say they are hurt and need the help.
“That’s the smartest thing to do and especially when you’re dealing with your head,” Earnhardt said. “Trying to kind of soldier through it on your own is an easy choice to try to make but a lot of times you can get yourself in trouble if you happen to have another incident shortly after that. When you start to layer concussions and get two or three back-to-back is when you really get into the danger zone.”
Ellis had the chance to speak with Earnhardt last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway during an event for Earnhardt’s foundation. They discussed their symptoms and experiences.
“We had the same feelings of fogginess and stuff like that after the initial hit,” Ellis said. “He did help quite a bit. It’s really cool to have the leader of our sport there to kind of lean on.”
The most important thing Earnhardt told Ellis was to listen to his doctor.
“You can’t have any doubt in your mind about what you’re doing as far as whether it’s going to work or whether it’s not going to work,” Earnhardt said he told Ellis. “You’re going to get people coming from all over the place out of all kinds of corners saying, ‘Hey, this is what you need to do. Hey, this is what you need to do. You know, my buddy had that. I bet you have inner ear infection or your rocks are loose’ or what the hell ever.
“Everybody thinks that they know what is wrong with you and what to do. You just need to listen to one person, and that’s your doctor, and you gotta be completely transparent when you go to your doctor and you’re hurt.”

BRUCE: XFINITY CHASE INTENSITY RATCHETS UP AGGRESSION

SPARTA, Ky. -- Was Saturday night's opening Chase race for NASCAR’s XFINITY Series an example of good, hard racing or a case of folks driving over their heads?

That depends on who one asked afterward.

Race winner Elliott Sadler wasn’t pointing fingers, and race winners have rarely been heard to utter a discouraging word. But the JR Motorsports driver said he did notice an uptick in intensity during the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

"About halfway through the race, it was 'note to self; you can tell it's the Chase because it was caution after caution after caution," Sadler said afterward. "People were tense, eager, frustrated, nervous. A lot of different things going on with drivers right now ... trying to make it to the second (round).

"I think people are giving each other less room. Restarts are crazy in the back."

They were crazy up front, too. The race, which kicked off a seven-race, two-round elimination playoff for the series, saw the caution flag fly a track record 12 times. More than one-fourth of the race (64 laps) was run under the yellow. Yes, there was even a brief (5 min., 34 sec.) red-flag period.

Erik Jones, the top seed and regular-season leader in race wins, got crossed up while racing with Ty Dillon and both the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet ended up in the wall.

RELATED: See the wreck the caught two title contenders

Each is now outside eighth place in points with two races to try and improve their standing; only the top eight (with the exception of a Chase race winner that might be 9th-12th) advance to the second round.

Not surprisingly, Jones wasn't particularly pleased with the early ending to his night and said later that the aggressive driving does cause one to approach the race differently.

"Yeah, it makes me try to stay out of trouble," he said. "I didn't want to have something like that happen. ... You try to play defense some. I was for sure."

Of course, there was the matter of a reconfigured track that sports new asphalt and distinctly different turns. That, too, played a role in the difficulties for some.

And that was to be expected, said Brendan Gaughan, driver of the No. 62 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.

"It didn't seem like it was any more aggressive than normal," Gaughan said after finishing sixth.

"It's a very narrow race track here right now. That Turn 3 is treacherous, man. There's no grip on the entry, there's no width on the entry. It's a treacherous, treacherous place at the moment. ...

"It's still Kentucky. I love it."

The fight to advance into the next round began early, but it's not the only battle going on and Saturday night's race brought some of that to light.

In addition to the driver's championship, there's an owners title at stake and a couple of teams didn’t forget about that.

At the end of the regular season, the No. 2 team of RCR was atop the owners' standings, followed by the No. 18 of Joe Gibbs Racing, the No. 1 of JRM with Sadler behind the wheel, and the No. 22 of Team Penske.

Chevy, Toyota, Chevy and Ford. You think those folks aren't paying close attention?

RCR brought in Sam Hornish Jr. to keep the No. 2 team in the hunt; Penske handed the reins to Sprint Cup driver Ryan Blaney.

Sadler got the win, but a solid fifth-place run by Matt Tifft put the JGR No. 18 atop the owners' standings. JRM (No. 1) now sits second thanks to the victory while Hornish, who finished fourth, kept the RCR entry in the mix -- it's now third.

Blaney did not fare badly but the way it all shook out left him third on the track and the team now fifth in the owners' battle.

Dover, a fast, unforgiving mile of concrete, is up next. Some folks will be looking to rebound, some looking to continue to ride a hot start.

If Kentucky was any indication, they better hope they can just hang on.

Sadler Makes History, Wins And Advances

Elliott Sadler makes the most of a late-race restart at Kentucky Speedway to win the first ever NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase race and advances to the Round of 8.

Dillon 'There Was Nowhere I Could Go'

Ty Dillon talks about getting caught up in a late-race incident with Erik Jones and being told to park the No. 3 Chevrolet after the crew worked on the car on pit road and in the garage during a red flag.

First Chase Race For Jones, Dillon Ends In Trouble

Late in the race Erik Jones slips getting into Turn 3 and takes out fellow Chase contender, Ty Dillon, at Kentucky Speedway.

Jones 'I Just Couldn't Hang On To It'

Erik Jones discusses his race-ending mistake in the final laps at Kentucky Speedway, which collected fellow Chase driver, Ty Dillon.

NASCAR’s Saturday schedule at New Hampshire, Kentucky

 Both the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series Chases begin today. Xfinity teams compete at Kentucky Speedway and the Truck series is at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Here’s NASCAR’s full schedule for Saturday.

(All times are Eastern)

AT NEW HAMPSHIRE

7 a.m. — Truck Series garage opens

7 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. — Sprint Cup garage open

9 – 9:55 a.m. — Sprint Cup practice (CNBC)

10:10 a.m. — Truck qualifying; multi-vehicle/three rounds (FS1)

11:20 a.m. — Truck driver/crew chief meeting

11:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. — Final Sprint Cup practice (CNBC)

12:30 p.m. — Truck driver introductions

1 p.m. — Truck race UNOH 175; 175, laps, 185.15 miles (FS1, Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

AT KENTUCKY

11 a.m. — Xfinity garage opens

4:45 p.m. — Xfinity qualifying; multi-vehicle/three rounds (NBCSN)

6:15 p.m. — Xfinity driver/crew chief meeting

7:30 p.m. — Xfinity driver introductions

8 p.m. — Xfinity race VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300; 200 laps, 300 miles (NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Entry list for Xfinity Series’ first Chase race at Kentucky Speedway

There are 39 cars on the preliminary entry list for the Xfinity Series’ Chase opening VisityMyrtleBeach.com 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

Ryan Blaney is the only Sprint Cup driver in the field, driving the No. 22 for Team Penske. Blaney is the defending winner of the race.

Matt Tifft will drive Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18. It will be Tifft’s first Xfinity start since undergoing brain surgery on July 1. Tifft made his first NASCAR start since the surgery last weekend in the Camping World Truck Series.

Only one car, the No. 72, does not have a driver attached to it.

NASCAR America: Scan All: Kentucky

Scan All brings you the scanner sounds from the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. Listen to Brad Keselowski‘s radio communication with his team as they attempted to win the race on fuel mileage.

NASCAR to ‘reiterate’ pit road rule this week to teams after penalty to Martin Truex Jr.

All NASCAR executive said series officials will “reiterate” this week the rule that drivers cannot pass to the inside on pit road after penalizing Martin Truex Jr. for that Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway.

Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, made the comments Monday on “The Morning Drive” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Truex was penalized on Lap 196 for passing leader Kevin Harvick on the inside on pit road before heading to his stall. Truex was upset with the penalty.

“You get to your timing line, you step on the gas and you head straight toward your pit,’’ he told NBCSN after the race. “Obviously, I turned left and came up next to (Harvick) and passed him … as I was driving to my pit, guys do it every week. I don’t know why it was different today.

“I would think that if they didn’t want us doing that anymore, they would tell us in the drivers meeting. Hell, it’s every week. I’ve been passed on pit road 15 times this year that same exact way and I didn’t see guys get penalized. So I guess when you’re doing it for a win it’s different circumstances or something.’’

Truex was the first Sprint Cup driver penalized this season for that specific violation.

O’Donnell said series officials saw this issue happening more often this season and described what Truex did as “blatant,’’ leading to the penalty.

“It is clear in the rule book that you can’t pass to the left,’’ O’Donnell said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “It’s also brought up in every drivers meeting. If you look at drivers pulling off just as they pull into their pits and kind of pull up alongside a car, sure, that’s happened.

“I would probably relate this to other sports. If you look at the three-second rule (in the NBA), it’s always there but it’s rarely called because you don’t see it blatantly, and then you’ll see a coach or some teams say, ‘Hey, you’ve got to focus on this rule, it’s getting out of hand.’

“That was the case certainly for us. We saw a trend that was getting bigger and bigger. For us, that was a blatant pass to the left. We felt we had to make that call. We’ll certainly address it with the industry prior to New Hampshire again to reiterate what the rule is as well, and if there’s any questions where we have to make it more clear, we’ll certainly do so.’’

On the pit road penalty card issued to all teams, Section 20 states that entering pit road: “Vehicles must enter the pit road in single file. After a vehicle commits to their assigned pit box, the vehicle behind may pass to the outside.’’

Truex was cited for a safety violation for passing on entry to pit road. Safety violations are defined in the pit road penalty card as: “Violation of NASCAR safety precautions or careless acts during a NASCAR Event.’’

Crew chiefs are reminded by the rules video that plays during each drivers meeting to “have the current crew chief handout and pit road penalty card with you for the race.”

Section 10.11.4.c of the Sprint Cup Rule Book states: “After a vehicle commits to their assigned pit box, the vehicle behind may pass to the outside.”

Upon Further Review: Kentucky

So when does it become time to wonder about Hendrick Motorsports?

Now? Or is it too soon?

Saturday’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway was a forgettable night for the four-car team, as Hendrick Motorsports failed to place a car in the top 10 for the second consecutive race.

That’s been part of a rough month for the organization. In the last four Sprint Cup races, Hendrick has scored two top-10 finishes with a lineup that boasts Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase Elliott and Kasey Kahne.

To compare, Chip Ganassi Racing, Roush Fenway Racing and Richard Childress Racing each has had twice as many top-10 finishes during the same span as Hendrick Motorsports.

So what to make of that?

Consider the last four races: Michigan and Kentucky were run with an aero package that won’t be used again this season. Another race, Sonoma, was on a road course, which isn’t represented in the playoffs. The fourth track, Daytona, is one where results can be skewed by how many cars are collected in crashes.

Then factor in that Chase Elliott was eliminated in a crash at Kentucky while battling for sixth, all four Hendrick cars were involved in the 22-car crash at Daytona, and Johnson was hurt by the late caution that put Tony Stewart in a position to win at Sonoma.

In one sense, it’s easy not to take too much from the past four races. That doesn’t mean one ignores those facts or what has happened this season.

There’s a concern because Hendrick cars are not leading laps as has been customary.

Hendrick’s four drivers have combined to lead 399 of 5,202 laps this season (7.7 percent). A key reason that total is down 54.5 percent from this time last year is the strength of the Toyota teams, but those are cars Hendrick will have to beat to capture its first title since 2013 and avoid the organization’s longest title drought in more than a decade.

Leading fewer laps shows that Hendrick cars are not having as many opportunities to win races. That can mean fewer bonus points that can help a driver advance to the second round of the playoffs. It also means fewer opportunities to win a race to make the playoffs. Elliott should make the Chase unless his team dramatically falters in the next eight races before the playoffs begin. Earnhardt also should make it, but his margin for error is thinning. Kahne might have to win a race, and he hasn’t led a lap all season.

The next three weeks should provide a clearer picture on Hendrick Motorsports. This weekend’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway marks the final race on a Chase track before the playoffs begin.

The series then goes to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a track that shows off horsepower and aerodynamics — areas Hendrick typically excels — followed by Pocono Raceway, a track that also highlights horsepower and aerodynamics.

While there are questions about Hendrick Motorsports after its recent showings, what happens in the next few weeks should show how close or how far Hendrick is from its competition heading toward the Chase.

21 AND COUNTING

Brad Keselowski’s victory Saturday night was his 21st career Sprint Cup victory, and it came in his 251st career series start.

Here’s how he compares with active series champions on how many races it took them to score their 21st career Cup victory.

Jimmie Johnson … 156 races
Tony Stewart … 229 races
Kyle Busch … 231 races
Brad Keselowski … 251 races
Kurt Busch … 332 races
Matt Kenseth … 431 races
Kevin Harvick … 442 races
FAST AND FURIOUS?

Saturday night’s race marked the 15th time since the start of last season that Kevin Harvick has led the most laps in a race.

He’s won four times.

Harvick finished ninth at Kentucky after having to pit late. In the five times he’s led the most laps in a race this season, he’s won once (Phoenix).

In the other races he led the most laps in a race this season:

He was collected in the 18-car crash at Dover.
Jimmie Johnson passed him on the overtime restart to win at Auto Club Speedway; Harvick finished second.
He was shuffled back on a final restart and finished sixth at Atlanta.
PIT STOPS

— Two drivers have finished in the top 10 in each of the six races on 1.5-mile tracks this season: Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick. Busch was fourth at Kentucky, while Harvick placed ninth. Kentucky was the last race on a 1.5-mile track before the playoffs begin at Chicagoland Speedway. Five of the 10 Chase races are on 1.5-mile tracks.

— Josh Wise’s 24th-place finish was his best of the season. His previous best was 27th at Pocono.

— Brad Keselowski’s victory snapped Toyota’s three-race win streak on 1.5-mile tracks.

— After winning seven of the first 12 races, Joe Gibbs Racing is winless in the last six races.

— Ryan Newman has finished in the top 15 in six of the last eight races. He’s climbed from 19th in the points to 13th in that span.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. candidly assesses 2016 struggles: ‘Things aren’t coming as easy’

SPARTA, Ky. – More than 20 minutes after the Quaker State 400, there was only one driver still lingering with his team in the pits at Kentucky Speedway.

As a group of a half-dozen reporters stood on the periphery of the scene at the No. 88 Chevrolet as several blue and white-uniformed team members scrambled to pack up after a 13th-place finish, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Greg Ives calmly debriefed on their Saturday night. Earnhardt animatedly gestured with his hands several times to Ives, who silently nodded with his arms crossed.

It seemed an intense dissection of a fairly nondescript finish.

But if Earnhardt is to sew up his sixth consecutive berth in the playoffs of NASCAR’s premier series, the discussion symbolizes the path forward in his second season with Ives, who guided the team to three wins last year.

“Communication, talking and sitting down,” Earnhardt said when asked how his team can fix its recent struggles. “It starts with me and Greg. Last year, it came real easy. We get along great. It’s just we’re kind of faced with some adversity. Things aren’t coming as easy on the racetrack. The car’s got speed, but the finishes aren’t there.”

NASCAR’s 13-time most popular driver took a baby step toward improvement Saturday at Kentucky with his third top 15 in five races. After falling from seventh to 13th in the points standings during a four-race stretch in May, Earnhardt’s results have stabilized during the summer, and he currently holds a provisional spot on the Chase for the Sprint Cup grid.

It’s the deepest Earnhardt has gone in a season without a victory since going winless three years ago, but he also has four runner-up finishes — three in the first seven races.

“We had a really rough May that disappointed us,” he said. “We just started off the season so good, and it just ended. We couldn’t get anything right.”

The struggles have been nowhere more evident than at the restrictor-plate tracks of Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, where he crashed and finished last in the May 1 race to start the slump.

After that wreck, Earnhardt vowed the team would address his car’s handling problems before the July 2 race at Daytona. But two months later, nothing had improved. Complaining of handling problems for much of the race, Earnhardt finished 21st in the Coke Zero 400, bringing his average finish to 32.3 on plate tracks in 2016.

“How we’ve negotiated the plate tracks this year has been a real disappointment, because those are easily places we can go get a top 10 or a top five when we need it,” he said. “So we’ve given away 60 points at those races. That’s a lot of damn points, man, those three races. We’ve got to do something. We’ve got to build another car and go to Talladega, and hopefully we’ve got the gremlins figured out and the issues we’ve had.

“But me and (Ives), we talk. We communicate. We talk, text. We spend time together during the week. We’re in meetings together.  So we’re around each other working. We’re trying to figure it out.”

It was encouraging for Earnhardt that the team got a reasonable handle on Kentucky after “we sucked on Thursday and Friday.”

NASCAR provided a break by canceling qualifying in favor of more practice time the team desperately needed.

“If you’d have told me I was going to finish 13th Friday, I’d have took it, happily,” he said. “After the way we ran (Saturday), I’m a little frustrated because I thought we should have finished a little better than 13th. We had good speed and a good car at times, but I told Greg, we have the speed, and that’s the hardest thing to get in this sport. If we can fix the little flaws — the human error that I’m doing or anyone else is doing — if we can fix the flaws that we’re creating ourselves that’s easier to do than finding true speed.”

With eight races remaining until the 16-driver field is set for the playoffs, Earnhardt remains 13th in the points standings with a 32-point cushion on the current cut line for the provisional field.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver isn’t nervous.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he said. “What am I going to do? We’re running as good as we can. It’s either going to be good enough or won’t be enough. I’m not really going to lose any sleep over it, at least at this moment.

“When we miss the Chase, it’ll be frustrating and disappointing, but we’re going to plan on not doing that. We’re going to plan on making it.”

With first top five of season, Newman nearly matching 2014 performance that led to final four

Ryan Newman had a decent car at Kentucky Speedway, but not one that would have placed him in the top five on its own.

Newman made sure to thank the person who came up with the strategy that saved him enough fuel to place him third at night’s end in the Quaker State 400, his first top five in 28 races.

“A good well-played race by (crew chief) Luke (Lambert) and all of us to get the finish that we did,” Newman said Saturday night. “We did have a good car. We just never seemed to be able to get good track position and played the fuel game there at the end, did what I thought I had to do, and with no fuel gauge or any kind of telemetry was able to make it to the end.”

After starting the night at Kentucky Speedway in 14th, the Richard Childress Racing car had an average running spot just outside the top 10 (11.80). But staying out during the final 68 caution free laps, as leaders Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick pitted, proved a worth calculation on Lambert’s part. Newman saved enough to score his first top five since Chicagoland Speedway last year, the first race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

“Was hoping that we were going to be the first guy that could pull that one off, not the third guy,” said Newman, whose previous best result this year was seventh at Kansas Speedway.

“It’s four places better than our best finish all year,” said Newman. “Our first top five … that’s a big deal. Proud of that effort. Leading into this stretch of races, especially where we are in the Chase, to have good points tonight, even though it wasn’t a win. It’s a small victory in itself.”

It might be small, but it could be a big sign of what the team is capable of. Newman didn’t earn his first top five of the 2014 season until the Cup series came to Kentucky in its 17th race. The team went on to qualify for the Chase and then the final four at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where it finished second in the race and the championship to Kevin Harvick.

Also like 2014, Newman entered Kentucky this year with five top 10s.

But after that 2014 Kentucky race, Newman was eighth in the points and earned four more top fives before the end of the season.

Newman’s result Saturday night has him at 12th in the point standings, the second-highest driver without a win and not qualified for the Chase. The highest is Chase Elliott, who is eighth in the standings.

“We started the season off decent but not where we wanted to be or where we thought we should’ve been,” Newman said. “We’ve still got some more work to do. We’re not leading a bunch of laps or leading the most laps in a given race and talking about how we didn’t win. We’re talking about how we can finish in the top five. We’ve got some work to do, don’t get me wrong, but I’m proud of the effort that went into tonight.”

Now Newman’s team heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway (July 17) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 24). Newman has three wins at Loudon, but none since 2011. Since then he has one top five and four top tens. Indianapolis was the site of his last win in 2013. He finished 11th there the last two years.

TONY STEWART CHASE WATCH

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 fifth-place finish in the Quaker State 400 Presented by Advanced Auto Parts at Kentucky, the season's 18th of 26 regular-season races.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED
The Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner/wheelman had one of his best races of the season in his 600th career Sprint Cup start, finishing fifth. It was Stewart's second top-five finish of the season; his only other finish among the top five was his win at Sonoma. Stewart started 22nd, and had enough fuel left to continue running near the front at the end.

He now sits 31 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.

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 248 points, 31 points ahead of  Brian Scott ’s 217 points. Stewart is 15 points back of David Ragan for 29th in the standings. 

WHAT'S NEXT
"Smoke" heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway (July 17 at 1:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), where he has three victories. In his 33 starts there, Stewart has 14 top fives and 18 top 10s. 

Tonight’s Sprint Cup race at Kentucky: start time, weather, TV/radio info and lineup

SPARTA, Ky. — The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will play host Saturday to the Quaker State 400 at Martinsville Speedway.

Here are the particulars (all times are ET):

START: George Sherman, president of Advance Auto Parts, will give the command for drivers to start their engines at 7:37 p.m. ET. The green flag is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is scheduled for 400.5 laps (267 miles) around the 1.5-mile oval.

PRERACE SCHEDULE: The Sprint Cup garage opens at 1:30 p.m. The drivers meeting is at 5:30 p.m. Driver introductions are at 7 p.m.

NATIONAL ANTHEM: It will be performed by Marlana VanHoose at 7:31 p.m.

TV/RADIO: NBCSN will broadcast the race. Performance Racing Network will broadcast the race on radio and at GoPRN.com. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry PRN’s broadcast.

FORECAST: The wunderground.com site predicts 82 degrees at race time with a 0% chance of rain.

LAST TIME: In the debut of the lower-downforce package that became the template for this season’s rules, Kyle Busch outdueled Joey Logano to capture his second victory at Kentucky and the first of three consecutive wins for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

STARTING LINEUP:

Danica Patrick: ‘There’s potential sitting there. We’ve got to figure it out’

SPARTA, Ky. – With her three Stewart-Haas Racing teammates having won this season, it would be natural for Danica Patrick, whose average finish is 23.4 in 2016, to feel performance pressure.

But the driver of the No. 10 Chevrolet, who has one top 15 (a 13th at Dover International Speedway), is choosing to look at the positives.

“It’s only really an upside,” she said Thursday at a sponsor event near Kentucky Speedway. “There’s potential sitting there. We’ve got to figure it out. You just never know when that day could come. I feel like you just have to be ready.”

There have been few highlights for Patrick in her first season with new crew chief Billy Scott. She is ranked 26th in the points standings and has slipped in qualifying with an average starting spot of 25.6 (more than three positions lower than each of the past two seasons).

She will enter Saturday’s Quaker State 400 with four finishes outside the top 20 in the past five races.

“I don’t feel confident enough in how it’s gone that we’ve been so fast that I feel like a win is around the corner,” she said. “But you just never know what can happen, and there are all kinds of things that can happen in a race. Someday you might show up like it’s happened to me over the last couple of years where you’re just good, and that might be the day, so you have to be ready, and you have to be focused.

“But until it becomes more of an expectation, it’s about working on all the details and improving every aspect, so it is a more normal objective of ours instead of top 15.”

The most memorable example of the switch suddenly flipping on for Patrick was the May 10, 2014 race at Kansas Speedway, where she qualified ninth and finished seventh – her first top 10 in 45 Sprint Cup races.

That was the fourth race on a 1.5-mile oval that recently had been repaved. Kentucky’s recent resurfacing offers some hope of being an equalizer Saturday night.

Patrick recalls a restart at Kansas in which she passed Kasey Kahne for third despite being on the nonpreferred top line as a good example of capitalizing with a strong car.

“(Kansas) is what I mean by you have to be ready, and certain races like Martinsville and some other places have been really good races, and those are the days that you have to mentally put yourself there so you’re not surprised when it happens,” she said. “What’s funny is usually when it’s going really well, and I feel fast, I have even more confidence. That’s not a crazy thought, but I feel very comfortable. I don’t feel out of place.

“That’s the kind of confidence I feel when the car is right, so it’s a matter of finding a way to get there more consistently.”

Pit stall selections for tonight’s Sprint Cup race at Kentucky

Kevin Harvick, who will start on the pole for tonight’s Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway, will have the pit stall closest to the exit of pit road. Austin Dillon will be pitting behind him.

Jimmie Johnson‘s team took the first pit stall near pit entrance.

Here’s where teams will pit tonight. The number inside each box represents the car number. The number below the box is the pit stall number.

DRIVERS MUST PREPARE FOR KENTUCKY DIFFERENTLY AFTER TRACK REPAVING

The Kentucky Speedway has promoted itself as the roughest track in NASCAR thanks to its bumpy surface, but thanks to some repaving and other upgrades the track may be unrecognizable to drivers.

Truck series points standings after Kentucky Speedway

SPARTA, Ky. — William Byron maintained his grip atop the Camping World Truck Series points standings with his fourth victory of the season Thursday.

Byron, who clinched a spot in the inaugural truck series Chase spot with the win, leads Matt Crafton by 13 points in the rankings.

Daniel Hemric moved up a spot into third in the points standings

The series’ next race is July 20 at Eldora Speedway.

The truck points after Kentucky:

Friday schedule for NASCAR at Kentucky Speedway

Sprint Cup teams have two practices today, and the Xfinity Series will qualify and race at Kentucky Speedway.

Here is today’s schedule:

(All times are Eastern)

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

11 a.m. – 12:25 p.m. – Sprint Cup practice (Online at 11 a.m. at  www.nbcsports.com/live and on the NBC Sports app with NBCSN broadcasting the session at 11:45 a.m. after the Tour de France)

1:30 – 2:50 p.m. – Final Sprint Cup practice (NBCSN)

4:45 p.m. – Xfinity qualifying; three rounds/multi-car (NBCSN)

6:15 p.m. – Xfinity driver-crew chief meeting

6:45 p.m. – Sprint Cup qualifying; three rounds/multi-car (Online at  www.nbcsports.com/live and on the NBC Sports app, Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

8 p.m. – Xfinity driver introductions

8:30 p.m. – Alsco 300; 200 laps, 300 miles (NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

You can watch Sprint Cup and Xfinity online or on the NBC Sports app via at the NASCAR stream on NBC Sports.

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

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