The defending champion in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series took time out of his busy schedule to talk to Behind the Wheel Producer Anita Goodan.
Crafton had his daughter with him during this interview as he talked about the upcoming truck series race at Kansas Speedway, his career and his championship:
He’s the seventh different winner and seventh different driver in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
It took a long time to find out who would win the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway after Mother Nature once again played her hand in delaying a NASCAR event, but it was Joey Logano who was victorious in a green-white-checkered finish in Monday’s race.
Joey Logano ran in the top ten for the entire race and took the lead on lap 227. He would not give up that lead until a late-race caution flew as Kurt Busch was slow on the track. Jeff Gordon and Brian Vickers’ teams decided to take two tires for track position. Gordon had a good restart and had the lead on the first lap. The four tires Logano took proved to be a stronger choice as the powered past Gordon just after the white flag flew. Logano was able to secure the win.
They say everything is bigger in Texas. After Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, rookie Chase Elliott proved that even race wins are even bigger in Texas.
The win was so big, drivers from several teams made it a point to stop and give Elliott a high five for his effort for holding off Sprint Cup drivers Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Kyle Busch for the win in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300. Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson even made an appearance in Victory Lane to offer his congratulations to the 18-year-old winner.
The No. 31, No. 54 and No. 98 teams have received penalties after suspension parts were confiscated by NASCAR officials in a post-race inspection after Sunday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway.
The three teams violated a P3 level penalty for violating Section 20B-12.5 (D) (offset front hubs found in post-race inspection) of the 2014 NASCAR rule book.
The crew chief for the No. 31, Michael Shelton, the crew chief for the No. 54, Jerry Baxter, and the crew chief for the No. 98, Gene Wachtel, have been fined $10,000 each and each were placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.
Matt Crafton survived two green-white-checkered attempts and captured his fourth career win Sunday night in the Kroger 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Martinsville Speedway.
The race had been postponed after rain washed out the chance to race Saturday night. In fact, qualifying was called off due to rain and the field was set by how drivers finished in practice. That gave Darrell Wallace, Jr. (Bubba) the pole. He led the first 11 laps and then the caution came out. Timothy Peters took the lead away from Wallace, but he took it back on lap 30. A caution came out five laps later which would be used as the competition caution.
In a surprise move late last season, Gene Haas, co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, brought Kurt Busch into the fold with Tony Stewart, Danica Patrick and newcomer Kevin Harvick. It was questioned by most, but Busch proved that he’s found his home at Stewart-Haas Racing with the win in the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Martinsville Speedway is often dominated by Hendrick Motorsports drivers with current drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon with eight wins apiece at the track. Johnson led the most laps in Sunday’s race but couldn’t seal the deal in the last 30 laps of the race. Johnson clearly had a dominant car with everyone chasing him down throughout most of the afternoon. He led 296 laps on the day.
Denny Hamlin will race this Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.
Hamlin missed the race on Sunday, March 23 as he was having trouble with his vision and the medical staff would not clear him to race.
According to a press release from Joe Gibbs Racing, Hamlin visited the infield care center at Auto Club Speedway on Saturday night with an eye irritation. The issue worsened the morning of the race and medical officials could not clear him to race.
Lynda Petty, 72, one of the first women of NASCAR, passed away at her home in Level Cross, North Carolina on Tuesday.
She was the wife of NASCAR legend, Richard Petty.
“Mrs. Lynda”, as some affectionately called her, battled cancer over the past several years.
She was revered the the NASCAR community as one of the strongest people in the sport. She set the benchmark for being a leader in her local community while raising a family in the fast-growing sport of stock car racing, according to the Petty family.
A private memorial service for family and friends will be held at Reverie Place in Randleman, North Carolina. Memorial donations may be made to: Petty Family Foundation, 311 Branson Mill Road, Randleman, NC 27317.
It’s been a long time since the Daytona races, but the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to the track this Saturday for the Kroger 250 at Martinville Speedway.
It’s known as the paperclip which refers to its appearance. Martinsville Speedway is a one-mile track with 12 degrees of banking in the corners. That combined with a pavement combination of asphalt and concrete and two pit roads makes it one of the more fun tracks on the circuit.
While you’re there, don’t forget to stop and pick up the famed Martinsville hot dog.
More importantly, what are the drivers saying about the track?
A post-race inspection after Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California found that the No. 39 team committed a rules violation.
NASCAR officials found that Ryan Sieg’s car exceeded the maximum rear body height requirement during post-race inspection (Section 20A-12.8.1C). The team was also found to have violated Section 12-1: actions detrimental to stock car racing.
Kyle Busch was good on restarts and proved that in a Green-White-Checkered finish in the Auto Club 400 race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California on Sunday afternoon.
Busch displayed speed on restarts throughout the race but couldn’t make the charge to the front. That would change in the last three laps of the race. In the G-W-C situation, Busch started in the sixth position and had a chance to sneak by Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch who were challenging each other for the lead. Busch’s No. 18 brought Rookie Kyle Larson with him and they battled each other for the lead by the time the checkered flag flew. Larson nearly made it a weekend sweep at Auto Club Speedway.
It took a multiple-lap battle between Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch to crown a winner in the TREATMYCLOT.com 300 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California Saturday afternoon.
Kyle Larson fought to keep the top spot as the laps kept ticking down and veteran racers Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch didn’t let him breeze to the finish. Larson skillfully focused on his lead and took the checkered flag after 15 hold-your-breath laps.
Larson had been running in the top ten all afternoon and had to fight through traffic through the entire race to get to Kyle Busch and Joey Logano who had fast cars on the day. Both Logano and Busch led the most laps in the race.
The Sprint Cup Series teams are headed to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California this weekend. The drivers are talking about this weekend’s race – here’s what they are saying:
“Fontana’s a different racetrack. It’s a two-mile track, so you’re going really fast, but it never feels like it has quite enough banking. You get down there in the corner, and it just feels like you need about 10 degrees more banking. And it’s gotten rougher and rougher over the years. So, it definitely presents its own set of challenges. It’s unique as a racetrack.
“It’s my home track, so I always look forward to going there. There are so many people out west who helped my career and helped me get where I am today. Whenever we visit California, we always try to visit with everybody and try to do what we can to remind them how grateful we are. And this week we get to show off our awesome Love’s Travel Stops paint scheme to everybody.”
The RAB Racing team of James Buescher in the NASCAR Nationwide Series team was penalized after NASCAR officials found added car weight, improperly attached weight and loss of weight during the race at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon.
More importantly, Stewart’s appearance is to support the Little Hoosier 100, a race at the Newton Park in Lakeville that features young drivers racing quarter midget cars from all over the world. In a previous visit to the Newton Center, Stewart said that these young drivers could be the up-and-coming Jeff Gordon or Helio Castroneves.
It rained and delayed the race. The rain stopped and 124 laps were run before it rained again. It stopped and the race was able to go the distance, but with three laps to go, a caution was called and then a downpour erupted and the race was called. It was Carl Edwards with the win in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
As if the rain didn’t cause enough drama, NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton stated in a press conference following the race that someone in flag stand leaned on the caution light switch and six seconds after the lights came one, the flagman saw that the lights were on and waved the caution flag with three laps to go. It was when the lights came on, Pemberton said, when they froze the field and that made up the finishing order. Just as the yellow flag came out, the sky opened up and started to pour on the racetrack.
Brendan Gaughan is a fun guy and he’s fun to watch at the racetrack as well.
In this Behind the Wheel interview, he tells Anita Goodan about the excitement that awaits drivers this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway and where he might end up if things don’t work out at RCR (smile):
Brendan Gaughan Behind the Wheel
David Ragan took time out of his busy schedule at the shop to talk a little racing and about his expectations for Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend.
He also gives a little insight into his opinion on the new qualifying and Chase format changes in this Behind the Wheel interview with Anita Goodan:
The teams of Elliott Sadler, Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski were penalized after violations were found during inspection processes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Inspections of Elliott Sadler’s car, the No. 11 for Joe Gobbs Racing, found a weight attached in an unapproved location. Crew Chief Chris Gayle was fined $10,000 and placed on probation until Dec. 31 Car Chief Todd Brewer was also placed on probation under the same time frame.
A post-race inspection after Saturday’s race found the No. 9 car of Chase Elliott exceeded the minimum front height. Crew Chief Greg Ives was placed on probation until Dec. 31.
In another post-race inspection Saturday, Brad Keselowski’s No. 22 car was found to have a shock absorber that exceeded maximum gas pressure. With that, Crew Chief Jeremy Bullins was fined $5,000 and placed on probation until Dec. 31.
NASCAR has made modifications in the qualifying process effective immediately.
A group qualifying format was released at Phoenix International Raceway and through continued evaluation, officials have decided to make the following changes during qualifying including the breaks:NASCAR notified its teams this afternoon that effective immediately the following modifications apply to all elements of its national series qualifying including the breaks: Continue reading
