Furniture Row Racing, Maaco team up for sponsorship

Martin Truex Jr. will return to the site of his history-making Coca-Cola 600 win with the same car, but with a new sponsor on board.

Furniture Row Racing announced Thursday that Maaco has signed on as a sponsor of its No. 78 Toyota entries in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The partnership with the auto painting and collision repair company starts with Saturday night's Bank of America 500 (7 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM) at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

"This has been such a great season for Furniture Row Racing, bringing on new partners," Truex said. "This is just another step in that direction."

Truex has a career-best four Sprint Cup victories this season, kicked off by the most dominant win in Coca-Cola 600 history at Charlotte in May. Truex won the Coors Light Pole Award and led 392 of the 400 laps.

Truex said during his media availability Thursday that the Colorado-based team will use the same car from their Memorial Day romp this weekend.

Unifirst, Hendrick Motorsports strike 8-year sponsorship agreement

CONCORD, N.C. -- UniFirst and 11-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions Hendrick Motorsports have reached an eight-year agreement that will make the workwear and textile service company a primary sponsor of the No. 5 Chevrolet SS driven by Kasey Kahne. The contract runs through the year 2023.

As the new Official Workwear Provider of Hendrick Motorsports, UniFirst will be a two-race primary sponsor in both 2016 and 2017, with the relationship increasing to three primary races annually from 2018-2023. In addition, UniFirst will be a full-season associate sponsor of the No. 5 team.

UniFirst will make its Sprint Cup Series primary sponsorship debut later this season with back-to-back races Oct. 23 at Talladega Superspeedway and Oct. 30 at Martinsville Speedway.

"UniFirst is excited to be a primary sponsor of Kasey and Hendrick Motorsports," said Adam Soreff, director of marketing and communications for UniFirst. "This partnership is a great opportunity for our company because Hendrick Motorsports is one of the premier -- and most highly respected -- teams in professional auto racing. UniFirst's broad customer base, which includes 300,000 business locations across North America, employs thousands of enthusiastic NASCAR fans, so this relationship is a natural fit. We're extremely proud to have the UniFirst brand represented in such a dynamic atmosphere."

UniFirst is one of North America's largest workwear and textile service companies, providing managed uniform, protective clothing, custom corporate image apparel, and ancillary facility services programs to businesses in virtually all industries. As part of the new relationship, UniFirst will supply work clothing and uniforms to Hendrick Motorsports and sister company Hendrick Automotive Group, which is the largest privately held retail automotive organization in the United States.

"When a sponsor feels strongly enough to commit for eight years, it sends a clear message," said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. "There's tremendous excitement about the opportunities our team and our sport present for UniFirst. They have a reputation for world-class service, the highest quality products and services, and having incredible people. We share a similar mindset and culture, and we're looking forward to working together across our entire organization."

Since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2012, Kahne, 36, has earned three Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup berths and five race wins with the No. 5 team. The Enumclaw, Washington, native has 17 career victories, 27 pole positions and 166 top-10 finishes in NASCAR’s top division.

"UniFirst will be a great addition to our partners at Hendrick Motorsports," Kahne said. "They're a reliable company that we've worked with at Kasey Kahne Racing for a long time, so I was happy to hear they are coming on board. I'm looking forward to having them as part of the No. 5 team and working with them in the years to come."

No. 48 team remains optimistic despite recent blunders

RELATED: Johnson loses lead at Dover after costly pit road penalty

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Despite a cumulative 208 laps led throughout the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup's first three races, Jimmie Johnson remains frustratingly winless thanks to a string of costly mistakes during the playoff's first round.


To be more precise, pit road mistakes.


Albeit frustrating, it has been highly motivating.


The Chase opener at Chicagoland Speedway saw the dominant No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet atop the leaderboard for 118 circuits -- a race high -- in the 270-lap event. A pit road speeding penalty changed everything, though, preventing "Six-Time" from reaching Victory Lane.


During the race, Johnson could be heard bellowing "No! No!" on the team radio when he learned of the penalty. After rallying to a disappointing 12th-place finish, Johnson admitted post-race that he was "dumbfounded" by the penalty.


Fast forward to two weeks later at Dover International Speedway, Johnson again served a pass-through after NASCAR tagged the team with having crew members over the wall too soon. Following the gaffe, Johnson -- who had led for 90 laps -- ended the day eighth.


Chris Krieg, head coach of the Nos. 48 and 88 pit crew teams, has refused to let these playoff errors lessen the morale of his championship-contending team.


"In athletics you're going to have negative things happen and you have the ability to either stand back up and put your chin up and get 'em next time or you can choose to go in the corner and run from it," an upbeat Krieg said Wednesday at the Nos. 48 and 88 shop in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"Our guys are standing up and they're working harder than they ever had. And we will absolutely bounce back."


Saturday's Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is the team's chance to put the hard work to practice at a track where Johnson has collected seven wins.


"Our goal is just to be consistent and give our car and our driver the best ability to finish a race well and win a race," Krieg said. "(We want to) go out there and be consistent and clean and smooth and if we can do that, we'll have a good ending to the race."


Wednesday, Krieg also welcomed five new pit crew members during Hendrick's second-annual pit crew signing day. The group joining the four-car organization are: TJ Semke, Mason Harris, Austin Holland, Timmy Hall and Dylan Intemann.

Gus the Bandit strikes again, claims Charlotte Motor Speedway as victim

He gone done it again.


Gus the Irish Setter Landscaping Bandit was back at work Tuesday night, fertilizing the infield grass at Charlotte Motor Speedway, free of charge.


Thanks to those giant security/regular track lights atop the CMS stands, Gus' owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., was able to catch the outlaw red-pawed.

Gus fertilized the lawn @CLTMotorSpdwy tonight. pic.twitter.com/hkdfxdhwH1

— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) October 5, 2016

As we all know -- or if you need an updated briefing on this high-priority case -- this isn't the first time Gus' clock has struck "2."

Last year, Gus introduced himself to the world by ... leaving Martin Truex Jr. a present in his bus.


RELATED: Junior's new puppy poops in Truex's bus


And then some "unnamed" pooch found out Joey Logano had to fifth-wheel it with Junior, Truex and their respective lady friends on the flight to Phoenix and took a stand (squat?) in protest.

When u realize "Dammit he's Tweeting a picture. There's gonna be like eight blogs posted tomorrow about this." #NASCAR (h/t @DaleJr) pic.twitter.com/TYSFWkjiuk

— nascarcasm (@nascarcasm) October 5, 2016

Of course we blogged about it. Gotta bring awareness to this heightened threat of future landscaping vandalism. Gus the Bandit must be stopped.

Championship winning crew chief returns to Sprint Cup

CONCORD, N.C. -- Team leadership at Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing has announced that Todd Parrott will assume crew chief duties for the No. 95 entry in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the remainder of the 2016 season. Dave Winston will move to a race engineer role within the organization.

"Todd brings a depth of knowledge to our team and I'm excited to have him on top of the pit box at all of our races for the remainder of 2016," said Jeremy Lange, VP of CSLFR. "Todd has been calling the races while Ty Dillon has been in the car and we're pleased to be able to continue our alliance with Richard Childress Racing and use their resources to help our growing team."

Parrott has more than 20 years of experience in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage and won a championship with driver Dale Jarrett in 1999.

Nine Sprint Cup teams receive warnings post-Dover

NASCAR gave warnings to nine Sprint Cup Series teams for failing in passes through the laser inspection station (LIS) during last weekend's events at Dover International Speedway, including the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team for Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Kevin Harvick.

The No. 4 team, which received a warning for failing LIS twice in pre-qualifying, served its penalty at Dover, as did the No. 46 team of Michael Annett, the No. 47 team of AJ Allmendinger and the No. 88 team of Jeff Gordon.

The No. 6 team of Trevor Bayne, the No. 19 team of Carl Edwards and the No. 23 team of David Ragan also failed LIS twice in pre-qualifying but did not have to serve penalties.

The No. 27 team of Paul Menard failed LIS three times, pre-qualifying. It received a written warning and lost 15 minutes of practice time at Dover.

The No. 30 team of Josh Wise failed pre-race LIS three times. The team received a written warning and will lose 15 minutes of practice time. 

In the NASCAR XFINITY Series, the No. 20 team of Erik Jones received a warning for failing template inspection three times pre-race at Dover.

Heads up: Charlotte weekend

Here are the hot topics, trending news and key story lines to get you ready for this weekend's races at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

WEATHER

Hurricane Matthew could make this weekend very soggy. Or, Matthew could take a turn and not affect Charlotte weather much at all. Right now, the National Weather Service says a high of 73 and partly sunny Thursday, with Sprint Cup Coors Light Pole Qualifying scheduled for that evening at 7:20 p.m. ET. Rain is expected to roll in Friday afternoon after 3 p.m. ET, with a 60-percent chance of rain. The chance of rain rises to 70 percent Friday evening -- the XFINITY Series Drive for the Cure 300 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC is scheduled for 8 p.m. -- and settles at 60 percent Saturday.

All of this is subject to rapid changes, however, with Matthew's path uncertain.

KEY TIMES



Sprint Cup Series: The Sprint Cup Series holds its first practice Thursday at 1:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App), with Coors Light Pole qualifying at 7:20 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App).

 The Bank of America 500 is at 7 p.m. ET Saturday (NBC/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

XFINITY Series: The XFINITY Series opens practice Thursday at 3 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App) and qualifies Friday at 4:45 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App). The Drive for the Cure 300 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC is Friday at 8 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).



CATCH DRIVERS LIVE



We'll stream every driver press conference in the Charlotte media center at NASCAR.com/presspass. Click here for a full schedule. Click here to tune into the live stream.

LAST TIME

The Bank of America 500 in 2015 was rained out and postponed until Sunday, but Joey Logano didn't suffer any ill effects from the delay. Logano led 227 of 334 laps en route to the first victory of his dominating Round of 12 in which he won all three races (Charlotte, Kansas and Talladega). 

YOU SHOULD KNOW


• Joey Logano returns to the race where his (shortlived) 2015 postseason dominance began. Logano swept the Round of 12 a year ago, but hasn't been nearly as triumphant this season, with just one win at Michigan in June. Still, in Logano's last eight races this season, he's had only one finish outside the top 10, and that was a near miss (11th). Is he on the verge of rediscovering last year's magic?

• Martin Truex Jr. has won three of the last five races (Darlington, Chicago and Dover), which now gives him more wins this season (four) than in the rest of his career, combined. And who can forget how Truex Jr. led all but eight laps at this track in May at the Coca-Cola 600? He's en fuego.

• This is a cut-off race for the inaugural XFINITY Series Chase, with only Elliott Sadler and Daniel Suarez guaranteed trips to the Round of 8 by virtue of their first-round victories. Early title favorites Ty Dillon (ninth) and Erik Jones (10th) currently are on the outside looking in, and a Charlotte win would guarantee a spot in the next round.

THE FAVORITE

Martin Truex Jr. Is there anyone hotter right now? Truex Jr. won at both Chicago and Dover in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup's opening round. Now, he's returning to the track where he had one of the most dominating performances in NASCAR history when he led 392 of 400 laps at the Coca-Cola 600 in May. It's hard to bet against him right now.

Others to consider: Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson.

THE SLEEPER

Austin Dillon. When Dillon needed a clutch performance last week in Dover, he came through with an eighth-place finish that pushed him through to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup's Round of 12. Charlotte is Dillon's second-best track, with a 12.8 average finish. Is he ready for a breakthrough?


Others to consider: Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin.

STAFF PICKS

Martin Truex Jr.: 3
Jimmie Johnson: 2
Kevin Harvick: 2
Brad Keselowski: 1
Kyle Busch: 1