2020 Racing News and Rules for Nascar...

[4me2c]

More STATS :

"2019 RACE WINNER

Kyle Busch, who has yet to win so far in 2020, took his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry to Victory Lane in last year’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to win the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series championship. Busch led 120 of the 267 total laps and finished with a 4.578-second margin of victory over Championship 4 contender and teammate Martin Truex Jr. Busch also won at Miami in 2015 for his first career title."...!!!

ACTIVE HOMESTEAD-MIAMI WINNERS

Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin (two each); Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr. (one each).

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Nascar "Hall of Fame"

By
Staff Report NASCAR.com June 16, 2020 at 10:04 AM

Rich with history and talent, the NASCAR Hall of Fame is the sport’s most exclusive club and highest honor.

On Tuesday night, the 2021 Class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame will be announced live on NASCAR America at
5 p.m. ET on NBCSN and the NBC Sports App.

This year’s voting process has been unlike any other.

For starters, voting was done last week, and via Zoom teleconference — due to the COVID-19 pandemic, voting did not happen in person and it did not happen on the same day the class was announced as usual.

https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2020/06/15/2021-nascar-hall-of-fame-everything-you-need-to-know-for-today/ :cool:

[dara]

Congrats to Dale Earnhardt, Jr, Red Farmer and Mike Stefanik

https://www.jayski.com/2020/06/16/nascar-announces-nascar-hall-of-fame-class-of-2021-landmark-award/

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https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2020/06/17/talladega-nascar-cup-series-pit-stall-assignments/

Chart showing who will bee in the Pits...!

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RULES PACKAGE

The 2020 NASCAR rules package for superspeedways will be in effect, with additional engine restrictions intended to drop the target horsepower to around 510 horsepower. The cars will use the superspeedway package, but aero ducts will be eliminated and a smaller throttle body will be used. Competition officials introduced the changes May 1 after Ryan Newman’s severe wreck in the season-opening Daytona 500. Learn more about the crash findings and the intent of the safety and competition changes here :

https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2020/06/18/talladega-superspeedway-101-tv-times-key-statistics-revised-procedures-geico-500/

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Rules con't :

GOODYEAR TIRES

Goodyear officials expect tire strategy and not tire wear to be a focal point this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, where traction fall-off is not as dramatic. Cup Series and Xfinity Series teams will run the same tire combination this weekend; it’s the same compound and code Cup Series teams ran last October, but it will mark a new combination for Xfinity Series cars for their 300-miler Saturday (5:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM).

“We have actually seen some tire wear at Talladega since it was repaved about a decade ago,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing, making a nod toward Talladega’s 2010 repave. “Having said that, wear is really not an issue. Teams will have the opportunity to take two tires, or even no tires on occasion, to gain track position and line themselves up with the other teams they are working with in the draft.”

Cup Series teams will have an allotment of seven sets of tires for their Sunday event. Xfinity Series teams will have a maximum of four sets for their race.

STATS TO KNOW

— Ford has won eight of the last nine Cup Series races at Talladega, with Chevrolet’s lone tally to break up the streak coming last April with Chase Elliott’s victory in a Chevrolet. Toyota’s last Talladega win came in May 2014 with Denny Hamlin prevailing. Expect manufacturer alliances to run deep both in the aerodynamic draft and planning pit strategy.

— Six different drivers have won the last six Talladega races. Since Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s springtime win in 2017, the list of winners reads in chronological order: Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Aric Almirola, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney.

— Brad Keselowski ranks as Talladega’s leader in career wins among active Cup Series drivers with five, but his recent run of luck at superspeedways (Talladega and Daytona) has been dreadful. Keselowski has finished outside the top 10 in his last nine superspeedway events, with six DNFs in that span.

— Martin Truex Jr. broke through in the 2020 win column on June 10, but he’s still waiting for his first Cup Series triumph on a superspeedway. He’s 0-for-60 for his career at those tracks, with 30 winless starts each at Talladega and Daytona and just four top-five finishes between the two tracks in his career.

— Hendrick Motorsports has the most Talladega wins of any organization with 13 victories, led by Jeff Gordon’s six triumphs. Seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson has two Talladega wins for the team, with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase Elliott, Terry Labonte, Ken Schrader and Brian Vickers netting one Talladega win each for HMS.

— Time for the Green Machine to Show Up...!!!

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https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2020/06/15/nascar-cup-series-talladega-superspeedway-rules-package-update-practice/

" By
Zack Albert NASCAR.com June 15, 2020 at 6:07 PM

NASCAR officials released additional findings Monday from Ryan Newman’s severe last-lap crash in the season-opening Daytona 500, saying that previously announced rules changes designed to improve safety and competition at superspeedways should limit engine strength by an additional 35-40 horsepower.

The details emerged from a Monday briefing with John Probst, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Innovation and Racing Development, and John Patalak, NASCAR Senior Director of Safety Engineering, who previewed the changes ahead of Sunday’s GEICO 500 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM) at Talladega Superspeedway.

NASCAR had announced rules updates for superspeedway events on May 1, introducing safety enhancements with the addition of two roll bars and competition changes intended to slow the cars, including the elimination of aero ducts and a reduction in the size of the throttle body. The rules will be in effect for this season’s remaining Cup Series races at Talladega and Daytona International Speedway. ...

Officials indicated that many of the changes were a result of NASCAR’s investigation of the final-lap crash in the Daytona 500 in February. That incident, which came at the end of a crash-filled season opener, resulted in serious injuries for Newman, who was hospitalized after being removed from his Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford. A NASCAR spokesperson indicated that a full, sit-down debrief with Newman and his Roush Fenway Racing team had not occurred because of COVID-19 restrictions.

“I think obviously when we go to superspeedways, as we said, any of our races, what we do is inherently dangerous,” Patalak said. “Stopping a wreck from happening, that would be pretty difficult. I would say that slowing the cars down surely should and would help from an aero liftoff standpoint. I would say our findings from the Ryan Newman crash, his liftoff was not due to an aero event but from him getting into the wall. The idea there is reducing the speeds of the car, slowing them down. We would expect speeds under the 200 mph barrier here. So from that standpoint slowing the cars down, keep from having as violent wrecks. ...

The changes announced in May are expected to shave horsepower figures from the 550 target at multiple tracks to around 510 for Daytona and Talladega. Probst said that the changes were expected to add more than a second to lap times at Talladega. For reference, Denny Hamlin led opening practice at the 2.66-mile Alabama track last October at 46.734 seconds for a speed of 204.904 mph. Adding one second to that clocking would net a lap speed of 200.612 mph. ...

The officials said an evolution of safety changes through the years kept Newman from being more seriously injured when his car made impacts with the outside retaining wall and Corey LaJoie’s No. 32 Ford. In the debut of the Gen-6 car for 2013, NASCAR added more roll bars, a laminate windshield and new window net mounting structure. ...

The officials also said that the addition of slip tape to the rear bumper cover at superspeedways would reduce friction during bump-drafting, decreasing the chance of hooking or spinning the lead car when bumpers make contact. “We’re trying to make the rear bumper of the car being hit like ice,” Probst said, “where they slide across, don’t contact and start influencing the car in front laterally, left to right, if you will.”

In another change adapted in the wake of Newman’s crash, NASCAR mandated a check valve for the oil reservoir tank or overflow expansion tank to mitigate the amount of fluid lost if a vehicle overturns in a crash.

Drivers’ first test run of the new superspeedway package will come in Sunday’s 500-miler, after NASCAR officials announced last weekend that the Cup Series will race without a scheduled practice session. The series has held eight races since returning to action after the COVID-19 outbreak, and none have included practice as officials try to limit travel time and exposure with coronavirus safety protocols still in place." ...!!!

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https://www.nascar.com/news-media/2020/06/22/richard-petty-statement-bubba-wallace-stand-shoulder/

Richard Petty statement: ‘I stand shoulder to shoulder with Bubba’...!

" By
Staff Report NASCAR.com June 22, 2020 at 12:44 PM

Team owner Richard Petty issued the following statement Monday morning:

“I’m enraged by the act of someone placing a noose in the garage stall of my race team. There is absolutely no place in our sport or our society for racism. This filthy act serves as a reminder of how far we still have to go to eradicate racial prejudice and it galvanizes my resolve to use the resources of Richard Petty Motorsports to create change. The sick person who perpetrated this act must be found, exposed, and swiftly and immediately expelled from NASCAR. I believe in my heart this despicable act is not representative of the competitors I see each day in the NASCAR garage area. I stand shoulder to shoulder with Bubba, yesterday, today, tomorrow and every day forward.”...!!!

[4me2c]

whoever the scumbag was who put that chit on Bubba's car will be found out.
I'd hate to be that guy when he is found out ! Frigging scumbag !

Go Go Bubba !!!

Just Heard on Me loco Fox News Chnl :

The noose found hanging in Bubba Wallace's garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway had been there since at least last October, federal authorities said Tuesday in announcing there will be no charges filed in an incident that rocked NASCAR and its only fulltime Black driver.

U.S. Attorney Jay Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr. said its investigation determined “although the noose is now known to have been in garage number 4 in 2019, nobody could have known Mr. Wallace would be assigned to garage number 4 last week.”

https://www.chron.com/sports/article/NASCAR-Bubba-Wallace-noose-garage-stall-no-charges-15361104.php

Meanwhile, another One has been FOUND at Sonoma Race Track...!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nascar/2020/06/23/nascar-noose-apparently-found-sonoma-raceway-police-investigate/3243197001/

[dara]

"Noose" turned out to be a garage door pull rope that had been here for months, per FBI investigation. Just a really bad misunderstanding.