Wood Brothers Racing revealed their Darlington throwback scheme for Ryan Blaney on Tuesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, in an event that was live streamed on NASCAR.com.
Photo credit: Wood Brothers/Ford Motorcraft
The look that their No. 21 Ford will sport for the 2016 Bojangles' Southern 500 (Sept. 4, 6 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is reminiscent of one David Pearson drove during the 1976 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.
During that year, Pearson won 10 races, including the Southern 500 at Darlington. The Wood Brothers must be hoping some of that success will carry over to Blaney, a Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate.
Blaney is tied with Trevor Bayne for 17th place in the point standings, 28 points behind Kyle Larson, the final driver in the provisional Chase Grid. Blaney's one career Sprint Cup appearance at Darlington came last year when he started ninth and finished 30th.
It was a day late, but certainly not a dollar short for Front Row Motorsports' Chris Buescher, who won a weather-shortened Pennsylvania 400 on Monday at Pocono Raceway after the race was postponed from its original Sunday start time.
For Buescher, it was the rookie's first victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and the surprise win put a few drivers who are on the Chase bubble on notice. Buescher was 31st in points after his win, six points behind David Ragan for the 30th-place spot required for a Chase berth.
Buescher grabbed the lead before a caution flag on Lap 132 for limited visibility as fog rolled into the area of the 2.5-mile track. A red flag was displayed at Lap 138, and the race was called when fog did not clear adequately for the race to continue.
Brad Keselowski finished in second place. Regan Smith, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart rounded out the top five.
Polesitter Martin Truex Jr. hit the wall on Lap 19 and fell a lap down, the first of three incidents for the Furniture Row Racing driver during a tough day in which he finished 38th, 56 laps down.
Chase Elliott and Joey Logano collided on Lap 104, bringing out the caution after their accident in Turn 2. Elliott finished 33rd and Logano was 37th.
The race was under caution after Lap 85 because of precipitation, but the cars stayed out on the track until NASCAR cleared a restart.
The Sprint Cup Series will go road-course racing next weekend at Watkins Glen International for Sunday's Cheez-It 355 at The Glen (2:30 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Martin Truex Jr. was running third when he hit the wall in Turn 2 on Lap 19 of 160 of Monday's Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway. He came in for repairs and fell a lap down. On Lap 40, Truex's right-front tire went down, and he came down pit road for more repairs. The four-time winner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series went to the garage for repairs shortly thereafter.
Truex came in as the polesitter and was one of the favorites after leading final practice. He was also running the same car that dominated to the tune of leading 392 of 400 laps in the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The Furniture Row Racing Wheelman led the first 16 laps of Monday's race at Pocono before a scheduled competition caution.
Brad Keselowski and Greg Biffle, who stayed out, were the lead cars on a Lap 18 restart.
During that restart, Paul Menard lost power and fell back in the field, causing cars to maneuver around him. Menard went to the garage and appeared to be done for the day.
Goodyear tweeted out the official diagnosis on both of Truex's incidents.
Damp conditions persisted at Pocono Raceway throughout Monday morning, creating weepers and delaying the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Pennyslvania 400 (160 laps, 400 miles) after it was postponed Sunday.
Originally scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday, the series' second stop at the 2.5-mile track was moved to Monday at 11 a.m. ET. Green flag for Monday was originally set for 11:07 a.m. ET.
Polesitter Martin Truex Jr. will lead the field to green with Joe Gibbs Racing's Carl Edwards lining up alongside his Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota. Richard Childress Racing's Paul Menard, JGR's Denny Hamlin and RCR's Ryan Newman round out the top five qualifiers.
The June Sprint Cup Series Pocono event also was postponed by weather and eventually ran the following Monday. Three-time "Tricky Triangle" winner Kurt Busch was the victor in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with Hendrick Motorsports' Dale Earnhardt Jr. locking in the runner-up position.
This week, as Earnhardt Jr. continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms, Jeff Gordon is wheeling the No. 88 Chevrolet for the second time this season. He will start 24th.
Intermittent fits of rain postponed the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway to an 11 a.m. ET Monday start.
Wet weather moved into the area Saturday evening, and it was raining hard Sunday morning as teams went through pre-race inspection. A fleet of Air Titan 2.0 trucks were on hand to get the track ready as the clouds broke near the scheduled 1:30 p.m. ET start time, but rain began to fall again at approximately 2:30 p.m. ET to halt the track-drying process.
The rescheduled 400-mile event will be broadcast on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM.
Martin Truex Jr. is the polesitter for the 21st of 36 points-paying races of the Sprint Cup season. Truex, who prevailed in Friday's Coors Light Pole Qualifying, is one of five drivers who can clinch a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with a victory at Pocono.
MORE: Full starting lineup
The series' first stop at the 2.5-mile triangular track was delayed until Monday due to rain, and Kurt Busch went on to find Victory Lane. This is the first time in a single year that both Pocono races have been postponed to the next day.
Rain also affected on-track activities early Saturday, canceling qualifying for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. William Byron went on to win the Pocono Mountains 150 later Saturday.
NEWTON, Iowa -- The team is a question mark, the number is uncertain and the logistics are still behind closed doors.
But one thing's for certain: If he has his way, Ty Dillon will be in a Sprint Cup Series ride next season.
"I fully plan on being in the Sprint Cup Series next year full time," Dillon said Friday at Iowa Speedway. "We've got a lot of options on the table. A lot of chips still left to fall before we kind of get to that point, but hopefully we'll have something really close to getting done in a month or so."
Dillon has made eight Sprint Cup starts this season, driving both the No. 95 Circle Sport -- Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet and filling in for then-injured Tony Stewart in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing ride. He etched a season-best Cup result of 15th at Phoenix in the No. 14 Chevrolet. He also served as a relief driver for Stewart at Talladega.
RELATED: Dillon subs for Stewart
With No. 31 driver Ryan Newman's RCR contract up after this season, it looks to be seen whether or not Dillon will take his place as the driver of the team’s third car or if organization will add a fourth car. The possibility of driving for a different team also looms.
"Talks have progressed a lot further than they have in past years," Dillon said. "I had talks with other teams in the past couple years and had opportunities, but it's always been my dream to drive for RCR and be teammates with my brother.
"But now it seems like the time's more and more important. We've got some things going with RCR but we're still slowly working on other options. So, I have plenty of options and we're going to make sure it's the right decision because I want to be able to compete and win races and I want to be part of a team I know I can do that with."
MORE: 'Hero' moment for Dillon as Richard Childress makes NASCAR Hall
William Byron won his fifth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race of the season, this time taking the checkered flag in the Pocono Mountains 150 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday.
The 18-year-old Kyle Busch Motorsports driver led a race-high 44 laps and set a record for the most wins by a rookie in the Camping World Truck Series.
Cameron Hayley came in second in the No. 13 Toyota.
Brett Moffitt in the No. 11 Toyota finished third, while Timothy Peters in the No. 17 Toytota and Cole Custer in the No. 00 Chevrolet rounded out the top five.
The 60-lap race was beset by a bevy of spinning trucks and wrecks, as the caution flag flew nine times; the race did not run more than eight laps at a time without a caution.
The Camping World Truck Series is off for two weeks before returning to the track at Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug. 17 for the UNOH 200 (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, Sirius XM).
