SMI announces $10 children’s tickets for 2017 Sprint Cup races

Families attending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Speedway Motorsports Inc. facilities next season will spend less for children’s tickets for the 13 Cup races at the company’s eight racetracks.

SMI officials announced Monday a “Fans First” initiative: For every adult ticket purchased, up to two children’s (ages 12 and under) tickets will cost $10 each in select sections.

The move follows NASCAR’s announcement last week that children 12 and under will be able to attend Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series races starting next season for free with a paying adult.

“Coming to the races should be about fun, not finances,” SMI President/CEO Marcus Smith said in a statement. “Now a parent can get his or her child through the gates for an entire weekend of NASCAR events – including pole night, a Camping World Truck or Xfinity Series race and a Cup Series race – for just $10. This is one of the best, if not THE best, family values in all professional sports.

“NASCAR fans have passed down their passion for motorsports from generation to generation for decades, and through this new Fans First initiative, we’ll continue that legacy by introducing young fans to the sport and engaging them for years to come.”

Here’s a list of the 13 Sprint Cup races that will be held at SMI’s tracks. Tickets for some races have already gone on sale:

March 5, 2017 — Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Atlanta Motor Speedway
March 12, 2017 — Cobalt 400, Las Vegas Motor Speedway
April 9, 2017 — O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, Texas Motor Speedway
April 23, 2017 — Food City 500, Bristol Motor Speedway
May 20, 2017 — NASCAR All-Star Race, Charlotte Motor Speedway
May 28, 2017 — Coca-Cola 600, Charlotte Motor Speedway
June 25, 2017 — Toyota/Save Mart 350, Sonoma Raceway
July 8, 2017 — Quaker State 400, Kentucky Speedway
July 16, 2017 — New Hampshire 301, New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Aug. 19, 2017 — Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, Bristol Motor Speedway
Sept. 24, 2017 — New England 300, New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Oct. 7, 2017 — Bank of America 500, Charlotte Motor Speedway
Nov. 5, 2017 — AAA Texas 500, Texas Motor Speedway

As for International Speedway Corporation’s pricing for children’s tickets, a company spokesman told NBC Sports: “ISC tracks have offered affordable youth pricing (on an individual facility basis) for years, and while we will continue to evaluate the marketplace and make adjustments as necessary, we are very comfortable our existing offers are competitive, attractive and deliver a fantastic event experience for families and kids alike.”

Preliminary Sprint Cup entry list for Darlington

Forty cars are entered for this weekend’s Bojangles Southern 500 Sprint Cup race at Darlington Raceway.

This will be Darlington’s second consecutive “Throwback Weekend,” where numerous Sprint Cup cars will carry paint themes primarily from the 1975-84 era.

With Dale Earnhardt Jr. still sidelined for a sixth consecutive race due to a concussion, Jeff Gordon will return for the fourth race to drive the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Gordon was unable to race this past Sunday at Michigan due to previous commitments.

Alex Bowman filled in at MIS for the second time for Earnhardt during his absence, having previously raced at New Hampshire.

This will be the 113th time the Sprint Cup Series has raced at the unique, egg-shaped oval in South Carolina. Carl Edwards is the defending race winner from last year’s event.

Here’s the preliminary entry list:

DIVERSITY GRADUATE KYLE LARSON SCORES FIRST SPRINT CUP WIN

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 28, 2016) – Kyle Larson won Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway to become the first graduate of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity and the NASCAR Next programs to win at the sanctioning body’s top level.

Larson, the 24-year-old Elk Grove, California, native of Japanese-American heritage, has already won in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. His first win came in 2013 at Rockingham Speedway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He has since won another NASCAR Camping World Truck race, as well as four NASCAR XFINITY Series races.

The win at Michigan was the latest in a long line of 'firsts' accomplished by Larson in his young career. Among the highlights:

In 2014, Larson became the first NASCAR D4D and NASCAR Next product to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole (Pocono Raceway), as well as the first to win the Sunoco Rookie of the Year.

In 2013, he became the first NASCAR D4D graduate to win the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

Larson previously became the first NASCAR D4D competitor to win a NASCAR Touring Series championship. Driving for Rev Racing, Larson won the 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East title and the Sunoco Rookie of the Year.

On Sunday, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver won the Pure Michigan 400, driving the No. 42 Chevrolet, leading a race-high 41 laps in his 99th career start.

With the win, Larson clinches a spot in NASCAR’s playoffs – the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

NASCAR Next is an industry-wide initiative designed to spotlight to best and brightest rising young stars in racing. NASCAR Drive for Diversity, operated by Rev Racing, is an academy-style development program for female and multicultural drivers and crew members who have the potential and determination to succeed at the highest levels of NASCAR. Larson raced under both banners in 2012.

LAST-LAP PASS LEADS MOFFITT TO VICTORY AT MICHIGAN

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- In five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts, Brett Moffitt had never led a lap.

But in Saturday's Careers for Veterans 200 at Michigan International Speedway, Moffitt picked the perfect time to take the point for the first time.

Powering around Red Horse Racing teammate Timothy Peters and five-time series winner William Byron off the second corner of the final lap at the two-mile track, Moffitt held off Peters by .098 seconds to win a NASCAR national series race for the first time.

Moffitt's victory, however, left Shane Huffman, Peters' crew chief, slapping his seat on the pit box in frustration. Peters, who led a race-high 42 laps, could have locked himself into the inaugural Camping World Truck Series Chase with a victory. Running a limited schedule this season, Moffitt is ineligible for the championship this year.

But Moffitt made no apologies for taking advantage of the opportunity that presented itself when Byron pushed Peters into Turn 3 on the white-flag lap, cut to the inside and slowed both trucks down. Moffitt cruised around the outside off Turn 2 on the final lap and kept Peters behind him.

"I'm here to win," Moffitt said. "I said it earlier and I'll say it again. I'm not going to wreck him (Peters) for it. I'm going to race him clean because I know he needs to get in the Chase, but this team needs to win and these guys deserve to win.

"That's what we come to do, and our partners at Toyota want to do the same, and we got it."

Daniel Hemric passed Byron on the last lap to come home third, with Byron following in fourth and Cameron Hayley in fifth.

The good news for both Peters and Hemric was the wide margin both drivers opened over their closest pursuers in the race to make the Chase. Though winless this year, Hemric and Peters lead Cameron Hayley by 55 and 47 points, respectively, in the battle for the last two Chase spots.

If no new winner surfaces in the final two regular-season races, both Hemric and Peters are highly likely to qualify on points.

"It's a good day for Red Horse Racing," Peters said. "Congrats to Brett Moffitt. One-two finish. I wish we were 'one,' but all in all, the company brings the trophy back. The 9 (Byron) locked onto our bumper there in Turn 2 and pushed us really hard down into Turn 3.

"We had to do all we had to do to stay in front. ... Tough to swallow right there, but it felt good to run the way we did all day."

Both Cole Custer and Tyler Reddick entered the race needing to win to make the Chase. Reddick's Ford bounced off the side of Johhny Sauter's Chevrolet on Lap 70 and sustained heavy damage during contact with the Turn 3 wall.

Custer, however, had the lead for a restart on Lap 84, only to lose control and spin into the Turn 4 wall, grazing the left rear of Moffitt's No. 11 Toyota in the process.

"We didn't have the raw speed of the guys up front, but it drove pretty well, and it was hard to keep those guys off of me," Custer said. "The 11 (Moffitt) stopped pushing me -- which it's his right to do that.

"We were kind of losing the 17 (Peters) there. He (Moffitt) went to the outside and I started getting tight. Once he got on my door, I got loose and over-corrected it. I just hate it for my guys that brought a great truck."

Like Hayley, Custer and Reddick will have two more chances to force their way into the Chase by winning one of the final two regular-season races.

BIFFLE HONORS KULWICKI WITH DARLINGTON SCHEME

CONCORD, N.C. – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Greg Biffle and his No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing team will honor 1992 premier series champion Alan Kulwicki during next month's Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Biffle, along with U.S. Congressman Richard Hudson and Andrew Collier, unveiled a Hooters paint scheme similar to the orange and white scheme featured on Kulwicki's Ford Thunderbird entries from 1991 through the first five races of the '93 season.

"The sport was built on guys like that," Biffle said Tuesday. "He ran his own deal and wanted to do stuff his way. He had five career wins and a championship in 92 -- that's a really, really neat story. It's unfortunate that I never got the chance to meet him."

The popular restaurant chain began its' sponsorship of the No. 7 team at the fifth race of the '91 season at Darlington. Kulwicki was both owner and driver for the single-team organization.

The 1.366-mile track was also the site of Kulwicki's final start – he placed sixth in '93 TranSouth 500.

Kulwicki, the series' 1986 Rookie of the Year, was killed in a plane crash in Blountville, Tenn., on April 1, 1993.

To possibly win with Hooters on the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford? "How cool would that be?" Biffle asked. "Then to do an Alan Kulwicki victory lap … would be a storybook ending."

Biffle will be making his 16th career start at Darlington, where he has two victories (2005, '06) and a pair of poles. His average starting position at the track is 11.1, best for the 46-year-old among the 22 venues hosting Sprint Cup Series races, while his average finish of 13.6 there is fourth overall.

He has led more laps at Darlington (718) than any track other than Texas Motor Speedway, where he has led 733.

This is the second season the legendary track has hosted a throwback-themed race weekend, with teams sporting paint schemes similar to those seen in the past. The Bojangles' Southern 500 is scheduled 6 p.m. ET, Sunday, Sept. 4 (NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR).

Hooters isn't just on the car as part of the throwback scheme, the restaurant chain is also taking an active role with the team, helping to promote National First Responders Day.

Collier, a machinist in the Hendrick Motorsports engine shop, has been a driving force in trying to establish a national day of recognition for first responders. His brother, Sean, was a police officer with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2013 when he was killed by one of two Boston Marathon bombers.

"Sean was planning on going and hanging out with some friends that night," Andrew Collier said. "He had no idea … that happens to a lot of first responders every year. It's time we honor them; they are our front line here at home. You have an accident … a fire, anything, none of us ever want to see it but if it does happen to us, the first thing we do is count on them.

"It's time to honor them and make this day a reality."

For more information about the effort to establish a national day of recognition, visit www.firstrespondersday.org.

TOP 10 CONSECUTIVE LAP AVERAGES AT MICHIGAN

Average speeds for drivers running 10 or more consecutive laps in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at Michigan International Speedway:

Practice 1
Pos
CarDriverFrom LapTo LapAvg Speed
142   
Kyle Larson110194.178
214    
Tony Stewart110193.710

Practice 2
PosCarDriverFrom LapTo LapAvg Speed
118Kyle Busch211199.713
248Jimmie Johnson110199.578
388Alex Bowman(i)211199.403
45Kasey Kahne110198.817
51Jamie McMurray1019198.165
619Carl Edwards1019198.115
724Chase Elliott #211197.939
84Kevin Harvick1019197.802
92Brad Keselowski1423197.462
1015Clint Bowyer110197.177
1183Matt DiBenedetto110192.298

Practice 3
PosCarDriverFrom LapTo LapAvg Speed
142Kyle Larson110196.346
224Chase Elliott110196.015
348Jimmie Johnson110195.995
45Kasey Kahne110195.789
547AJ Allmendinger110195.703
61Jamie McMurray110195.514
741Kurt Busch110195.442
831Ryan Newman110195.322
920Matt Kenseth110194.883
*Required to qualify on time, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, #Rookie

KAHNE SEEKS WIN WHILE IN FAMILIAR CHASE BUBBLE SPOT

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- It's an unfortunate yet familiar position for Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

Unfortunate because with only three races remaining before the 16-team field is set for this year's NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup, Kahne finds himself winless on the season and 17th in points.

Familiar because the 36-year-old has been here before.

Kahne slid into the Chase field in 2014, the inaugural season of the format awarding positions to full-time competitors that managed at least one victory through the season's first 26 races, with a late victory at Atlanta, just one stop from the cutoff event.

Three races remain before this year's field is set, beginning with Sunday's Pure Michigan 400 here at Michigan International Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Then it's on to Darlington and Richmond to determine the remainder of this year's Chase field before the playoff opener at Chicagoland Speedway.

Two years ago, the final three-race run consisted of stops at Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond.

"I don't think that was anything like this year; I think this is a lot different," Kahne said Saturday at Michigan. "That was a great night for us and we were right there all night, got in the right position on restarts … we were fast all night. I think restarts were big for us. I could run really fast for 15 laps. It's been a while since we've been like that."

Indeed. The Atlanta win was Kahne's 17th but it was also his last. He enters Sunday's race shadowed by a 70-race winless streak. In the meantime, Kahne's Hendrick teammates have won 14 times since his Atlanta victory.

"For us, I think it's been so many areas, so many little things that add up to being four-tenths (of a second) off per lap often," he said. "I don't think it's from a lack of effort because the effort is there. But it's maybe working in the right areas or trying to understand things that will make it easier for me to drive for my driving style. That's been a huge part of the last couple of years.

"It doesn't matter what other guys are doing, (it's) 'what will help Kasey? What will help him with his car because he drives a little different?' I feel like this weekend we've kind of done our thing and it seems to be working pretty well so car."

Ten Sprint Cup drivers have one or more wins this season and sit inside the top 16, virtually assuring themselves of a slot in the Chase. Tony Stewart and Chris Buescher also have one win each, and while further back in points, their status likely leaves only four Chase positions up for grabs.

Seventeen others are still mathematically alive, should they earn a win in one of the next three races. If no different winners emerge, points will be used to determine the remaining spots.

Kahne trails the holder of the last spot in the Chase Grid, Ryan Newman by 39 points, with Trevor Bayne and Kyle Larson sandwiched between the two and chasing one of the final playoff spots as well. Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott and Jamie McMurray and Newman are just on the right side of the Chase bubble as of now.

Hendrick drivers qualified second (Johnson), fifth (Elliott), sixth (Alex Bowman driving in place of Dale Earnhardt Jr.) and 11th (Kahne) at Michigan. It is the seventh time this season Kahne will start from the No. 11 spot on the 40-car grid.

"We run 13th to 18th every week; we qualify there and we race there," Kahne said. "That's just the speed we have. And then we do the same thing the next week. It's nice to do something a little different this week and to have speed to show it's helping."

Kahne, 10th in Saturday's morning practice and fourth in the weather-shortened final session, has qualified for the Chase five times, the last coming in '14.