Sprint Cup Series GarageCam Takes Over NHMS

GarageCam host, Matthew Dillner, takes you on an exclusive and interactive tour of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage before teams hit the track at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Preview Show New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Marty Snider and Chris Rice preview the upcoming weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as drivers gear up for the second race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Chase by the Numbers: New Hampshire

Here's all the info you need to know for the second stop in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, including a surprise statistic for 3-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, Tony Stewart. For more NASCAR news.

Watch Live: NASCAR America at 6 p.m. ET with Austin Dillon in studio

Today’s episode of NASCAR America airs from 6 – 7 p.m. on NBCSN and begins to preview the second race of the Chase at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Krista Voda hosts with Jeff Burton in Stamford, Connecticut. Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon will join them in studio.

On today’s show:

Austin Dillon will offer insight on how he’s handling his first playoffs so far after a 14th-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway. Dillon will also share how he’s looking forward to seeing his little brother, Ty, begin the Xfinity Series Chase at Kentucky Speedway.

And speaking of Ty, he’ll chat with NASCAR on NBC’s Marty Snider about what it’ll take to bring another Xfinity title to the Dillon family.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Dover International Speedway are the tracks left in the Round of 16. Matt Kenseth of Joe Gibbs Racing won at both those tracks earlier this season and he’ll talk to NASCAR America about his chances to advance deeper into the Chase.

There will also be a big announcement for the Sprint Cup Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

If you can’t catch the show on TV, you also can watch it via the online stream at http://nascarstream.nbcsports.com

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 plug in that information, you’ll have access to the stream.

Click here at 6 pm ET to watch live via the stream.

Matt Kenseth: ‘We shouldn’t be talking about a laser machine after the race’

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Matt Kenseth believes in checking cars before and after Sprint Cup races but said the recent spate of laser inspection failures does raise questions about the current process.

“I wish there was a better way to do it,” Kenseth told a group of reporters Wednesday at NASCAR Plaza during a round of media promotion for Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “Because we should be sitting here talking about Chase Elliott almost getting his first win (at Chicagoland Speedway), Martin (Truex Jr.) coming through at the end and getting a win, the first round of the Chase and trying to win championships.

“We shouldn’t be sitting talking about a laser machine after the race.”

The laser inspection has dominated much of the discussion since Sunday night when the cars of Truex and Jimmie Johnson both failed the postrace laser inspection system, which ensures teams have a properly aligned rear suspension.

NASCAR was expected to announce penalties Wednesday for Truex and Johnson, who likely will be hit with a 10-point deduction that would damage his playoff hopes over the next two races of the first round. Because NASCAR ruled his win in the playoff opener still would count toward advancement, Truex will be in the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup regardless of a points penalty. Last week, NASCAR issued new rules delineating how finishes and wins can be “encumbered” — which would prevent teams from advancing in the Chase or winning a championship — based on the severity of the violation

To prevent teams from using “skew” to gain sideforce that provides an aerodynamic advantage, NASCAR has cracked down in recent years by mandating parts, torque levels and welding restrictions.

Kenseth believes there are enough safeguards in place that if a car passes the LIS in prerace, the postrace inspection can be done without the laser.

“I feel like if it’s right before it goes out for the race, and then when they take all the pieces apart after the race again and everything is legal and torqued right and the right pieces are in there, then I question whether we really need to roll across the (laser) platform afterward,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said. “As long as something wasn’t done during the race — you don’t see someone come in and shorten track bars or do something to obviously cheat the situation. But that’s just my opinion. There might be way more to it than that.

“But obviously no one likes to see penalties after a race whether it’s a race winner, no matter where you finish. I don’t think the competitors like to see it. I know the fans don’t like to see it. I know the teams don’t like to see it. I know NASCAR doesn’t like to see it. If there’s a rule we’ve got to conform to it, and if there’s a better way to do it where they don’t have all that happen, I’m sure they’re looking into that.”

Truex joined Kenseth as the second winner whose car didn’t meet the LIS specifications in postrace since NASCAR began using the machines this season. Truex’s team has attributed its failure to damage sustained in contact with Kevin Harvick.

Kenseth’s No. 20 Toyota was hit with a P3 penalty for failing the LIS after a July 17 victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Kenseth attributed the infraction to a broken part during his celebratory burnout.

“(The team is) over 90% convinced it failed while I was doing a burnout,” he said. “I didn’t drive it in the fence like a lot of people do. I didn’t do anything. I just did a burnout and was told it was plenty safe, don’t worry about any of those shenanigans that some people were doing because we were all well within the rules.

“We took it apart, and NASCAR said, ‘Yeah, the part was bent. That’s why it didn’t pass,’ but they said it still doesn’t pass, which is the way it is.”

Kenseth said teams can ensure that their cars meet the strict specifications required by the LIS, “but they’re going to be giving up some performance. You could just make sure it’s way, way, way, way right. Well, everybody is trying to get to the edge of the rules, and you go through before the race, and it’s right. But man, you race for 4 hours. This measuring things in thousandths of an inch … you can’t just be so conservative to give it up. You’ve got to be able to get right next to the rule. The hard part is you get it through and have it to the rule, but yet everything moves a little bit during the race.

“I’m pretty sure if they said if it didn’t meet the LIS, you could never race again the rest of your life, that everybody would pass afterward. So there’s a way to physically get it to pass afterward, but how much performance are you going to give up? So I don’t know. I wish it wasn’t that technical.”

2006 Neighborhood 400 Qualifying Jimmie Johnson Spins and Amazin...

The 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season, the 58th season of professionalStock car racing in the United Statesand the 35th modern-era NASCAR season, started at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 12 with the Budweiser Shootout and ended on Monday, November 20, with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Chase for the Nextel Cup began with the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, September 17, at New Hampshire International Speedway. Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing, was the defending series champion, but lost out in defending his championship this year, having finished outside of the top 10 in the points standings after the Chevy Rock and Roll 400. He did, however, claim a $1 million (US) bonus as the best finisher outside the Chase for the Nextel Cup drivers, winning three of the ten Chase races. By the end of the season Chevrolet had captured 23 victories, and 270 points to win the NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship over Ford.

NASCAR America: Scan All: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 from Chicagoland

From Jimmie Johnson‘s speeding penalty frustrations, to Kevin Harvick‘s pit road confusion, Scan All brings you the best of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.