Nascar Rules

[the H team]

The Top 10 finishers;

Jimmie Johnson
Kyle Larson
Kevin Harvick
Joey Logano
Jamie McMurray
Kyle Busch
Matt Kenseth
AJ Almendinger
Denny Hamlin
Michael McDowell

[rockit]

He very well could win 8...or more

[the H team]

Other faves finish;

11-Chase
13-Kurt
19-Danica
22-Tony
34-Carl
35-Brad
36-Martin
37-Kasey

[the H team]

He very well could win 8...or more

I know. He will be the 1st to break the 3 way tie.

[the H team]

7th Heaven

Jimmie Johnson has a new nickname: Seven-Time.

The 41-year-old driver captured his seventh Sprint Cup championship -- and his first in three years -- on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Johnson joins Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt as a seven-time premier series champion, the most by any driver. It is Johnson's first title since 2013, and his first with this current Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format that began in 2014.

Johnson also becomes the youngest seven-time winner; Petty was 42 when he amassed his seventh title in 1979 while Earnhardt was 43 in 1994 when he completed the feat.

The title comes after one of Johnson's most difficult seasons, when he endured the longest winless stretch (25 starts) of his career.

[rockit]

That's another season down...

Keep warm race fans and I'll see ya in February!!!

[bluerose]

Great race watched most of it so happy for Jimmie & his team.

[rockit]

Also to note, yesterdays winning Bullseye number was...



48

[the H team]

Also to note, yesterdays winning Bullseye number was...



48

I know. I was trying to get thru to pick that number. Didn't get thru.

[the H team]

A big surprise.

CARL EDWARDS STEPS AWAY FROM NASCAR RACING; DANIEL SUÁREZ WILL DRIVE NO. 19 TOYOTA CAMRY IN MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES..




Huntersville, NC (January 11, 2017) – Joe Gibbs Racing announces that driver Carl Edwards has stepped away from racing in NASCAR. 2016 NASCAR XFINITY Series Champion Daniel Suárez will drive the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series No. 19 Toyota Camry in 2017.
Edwards, 37, joined Joe Gibbs Racing prior to the 2015 season and amassed five wins, 16 top-five and 33 top-10 finishes to go with nine pole awards in his two seasons with the organization. Over his 13-year career in NASCAR’s premiere series he totaled 28 wins, 124 top-five, and 220 top-10 finishes, along with 22 pole awards. His 28 career wins ties him for 23rd all-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
“This has been a very difficult decision for me, but I’m confident that it is the right one for several reasons,” said Edwards. “It would be impossible for me to thank everyone I need to, but I do want to take a moment to say I greatly appreciate the support from Coach and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, especially my team and teammates, my sponsors and of course my fans. I could not have a better situation in racing than the one I currently have, so stepping away from that certainly took a lot of consideration.”
Edwards was the 2005 NASCAR XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year and captured the Series Championship in 2007. He amassed 38 wins in the NASCAR XFINITY Series in his career. Edwards also won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year honor in 2003 and totaled six career wins in the Series.
“Certainly this was not something that we were expecting as we prepared for the 2017 season,” said Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. “However, it was clear in our conversations with Carl that he had given this careful consideration and believes strongly that it is the direction he needs to go. We support him in that. We loved having him be part of our team the past two years and we will miss him, but we hope he is happy in whatever is next for his life.”
Daniel Suárez captured the NASCAR XFINITY Series Championship in 2016 in just his second full season in the Series. He is the first foreign-born driver to win a NASCAR Championship. He won three races and earned 19 top-five and 27 top-10 finishes along with three pole awards last season.
“This is amazing. I really can’t believe it. It is my dream, but I did not expect it right now,” said Suárez. “I can’t wait to get started. I have a lot to learn, but I couldn’t ask for a better situation. I have the support of a great team around me.”
“I have so many people to thank that helped get me to this point of my career, starting with my family of course, but it would be impossible for me to list everyone. I do want to thank Coach (Gibbs) and everyone at JGR for this opportunity,. and I also want to thank ARRIS, STANLEY, Subway, Interstate Batteries and Toyota for their support. I can’t wait for Daytona.”
Suárez will make his first-career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start in the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 26, 2017.
“We are thrilled for Daniel,” said Gibbs. “Once we learned that Carl would not return next season, Daniel was really the obvious choice to take the wheel of this newly redesigned 2018 Camry. He is a great fit for our team and our partners. He has worked extremely hard and proven to be a quick learner. He will have a great team around him and he will have great teammates to lean on. This might be a bit earlier than we anticipated, but he has earned the opportunity and we are excited for his future.”

[the H team]

Carl gave 3 reasons for leaving;

I'm satisfied with my career, even without a championship
This is a full encompassing thing. It's full-time & I need to devote my time to other things
My health. I stand here healthy. I'm a sharp guy & I want to be that guy in 30 years.

He also said that it was 100% personal & contract negotiations had nothing to do with it at all. He also mentioned Jr's concussion issues last year.
Good Luck Flipper.

[Tweets77]

Well I hope he still broadcasts from the booth occasionally!!!

[the H team]

February 26 | 2 PM ET | FOX 16
DAYS
| 4
HOURS
| 51
MINUTES
| 11
SECONDS

Till the Daytona 500

[the H team]

CONCORD, N.C. -- Repairing damaged vehicles during a NASCAR race sometimes is as common a sight as pit stops, restarts and checkered flags.


But the extent to which teams can make repairs will be more tightly policed beginning with the 2017 season.


NASCAR officials unveiled a new Damaged Vehicle Policy on Wednesday at the sanctioning body's Research & Development Center, a policy that will be enforced in all three national series -- Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series.


Under the guidelines, teams no longer will be allowed to replace damaged body parts that are the result of accidents or contact. Repairs, such as fixing damaged sheet metal, will be allowed; however, teams will be given five minutes to fix damage once they enter pit road. If the damage requires the car to go behind pit wall or to the garage for repairs, the car will not be allowed to return to the race. Also, if the repairs take longer than the five minutes allowed, the car will not be permitted to return to the race.
Once repairs have been made, a car is still required to maintain the minimum speed determined for that event. Once that has been accomplished, the five-minute clock is reset in case the car needs to come back down pit road.
Previously, teams were allowed to replace any damaged panels or parts with no time limit and no penalty. Quarter panels, splitters, hoods and deck lids damaged in accidents were often removed and replaced. Some repairs were completed on pit road; more extensive damage often meant a trip to the garage. Each time, the driver was sent back out onto the track as quickly as possible.


That will no longer be the case.


"We have a lot of cars that are going back on the track that end up in 38th position, for instance, that probably don't need to be out there from a safety and competition aspect," Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, told NASCAR.com, "because they always tend to bring out more yellows with stuff falling off."


Heavily damaged cars that need extensive repairs that can't be done on pit road, Miller said, "are essentially going to be out of the race.


"There will be many circumstances and many things happen and you will continue to see it where cars are in wrecks and never go to the garage area. They come down pit road, they work on things … and they go back out and make minimum speed. They continue to work on the car as the race goes on. That will still completely be in play."


Miller said the move is to help officials, who didn't often see what goes on in the garage but can better observe repairs on pit road.



Miller has worked "on the other side of the fence" as a crew chief and is aware of the hurried atmosphere surrounding a car undergoing significant repairs in the garage.


"I've been involved in crash repairs and that's not a great situation down there in the garage with 20 people running around, oil leaking on the floor, things catching on fire and sharp sheet metal being cut off," he said. "It's a fairly unsafe situation. And at times it would be unsafe really for the driver to get back in a car that was damaged that heavily. There's nothing that doesn't come with some downside, but I think there is a lot of upside to where we are going with this."


Safety is a crucial component of the policy, and for any vehicle undergoing repairs, the integrity of the safety systems "must be maintained."


Teams will be allowed to correct mechanical or electrical failures that aren't the result of an accident or contact without penalty. Such repairs may be done on pit road or in the garage area, and the five-minute clock will not be in play in those instances.


"We're not going to tell a guy who breaks his transmission at Watkins Glen or Pocono, for instance, and coasts into the garage area that he's out," Miller said. "Because that doesn't create an unsafe situation; that is a mechanical failure.


"It's more about crashed vehicles and all that is involved with that, from the crew guys to the drivers to dropping more debris on the track, which always happens. … So there are exceptions for mechanical failures, those things can be rectified in the garage. That's going to be up to the series director's discretion to make those calls, but it's not going to be that difficult."
There will be modifications to at least two pit-road penalties under the policy for those making repairs. Any driver receiving a pit-road speeding penalty (entry or exit) will lose 15 seconds from the five-minute clock. Any team sending too many men over the wall will result in that car being removed from the race.


"Speeding comes with an additional penalty because speeding in or out is a way to circumvent the clock," Miller said.


When a car is damaged and repairs are made on pit road, teams know they will be at the tail end of the longest line, so extra men often go over the wall. (Each team is allowed six to work on the car and one to service the driver and/or windshield.)


"That's another thing we discussed with the teams and internally," he said. "Too many men over the wall is also defeating the purpose of the policy; it would encourage teams to bring extra people well-versed in going over the wall to repair cars. So too many men over the wall just has to signal the end of that car's day."

What will race fans see with the new policy? It's what they won't see, Miller said, that is behind the change.


"What they won't see is stuff we don't like to see, cars running around out there with stuff flying off," he said. "We don't like that because it creates yellows, it creates debris for other cars to run over, it creates a dangerous situation. That's what they won't see. What they will see are quality cars on the race track racing one another."

[the H team]

Here's one from the rumour mill.

NASCAR Report: Carl Edwards To Team Penske In 2018?

With NASCAR’s Daytona 500 less than two weeks away some of the NASCAR Universe is still focused on Carl Edwards and his sudden departure from the sport. A new report makes the tale all the more fascinating.

Why did Carl Edwards leave NASCAR? That is the question all of his fans are still asking. The 37-year-old driver was laps away from winning his first championship in 2016 and seemed to have at least another 3-5 years left in the tank before stepping away from it all back in January.At the time of the announcement, Edwards said it was about spending time with his family, walking away 100 percent healthy and starting a new chapter in his life. According to one Motorsports writer, there might be a bit more to it. Award-winning author and Motorsports writer Gordon Kirby wrote a column on Monday talking about how his NASCAR sources say Edwards will be back in 2018 with Team Penske, and that they are the reason he isn’t racing in 2017.


Their (his sources) telling of the tale goes as follows. Suarez comes from a wealthy Mexican family. His father’s assets includes a broadcasting company that has been pitching for the rights to televise NASCAR in Mexico. More to the point, Suarez Sr. has made a deal with Joe Gibbs to buy Gibbs’ team which is Toyota’s factory-backed operation.Gibbs has run a NASCAR team since 1991 and has won three championships in 2000, 2002 and 2005. His operation became Toyota’s lead team in 2007 and won Toyota’s first NASCAR title in 2015 with Kyle Busch. Gibbs originally made his name as a successful NFL coach with the Washington Redskins and may well be ready to retire after a long career. It’s said that Suarez Sr. intends to keep Gibbs’ current team intact, including its partnership with Toyota and TRD.

Meanwhile, I’m told that Edwards is being paid more than $15 million to sit-out this year and that he will return to action next year at the wheel of a third Penske Racing Ford. Penske runs two cars for Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano and has been planning to expand to three cars. Penske currently runs a third car for Ryan Blaney in partnership with the Wood Brothers, one of NASCAR’s longest-running teams, so RP’s team is entirely prepared to run Edwards next year.


So where does this leave us?
Despite the work that Franck did to confirm the story, which ended up denying the story, Kirby has not retracted it. Kirby seems to be standing firm by his sources that Edwards will be racing for Team Penske in 2018. Moreover, he seems to also stand firm that some (or maybe all) of JGR is being sold to Suarez’s father and that Team Penske is responsible for Edwards not racing this season with JGR.
That’s where the story stands but where does the truth lie?If any of this were remotely true, neither JGR or Team Penske would confirm it, that’s number one. Number two, we obviously don’t know Kirby’s sources but it seems they are not people who other well-known writers like Bob Pockrass of ESPN know seeing as how Pockrass said he hasn’t heard such rumblings. Now that doesn’t mean Kirby is wrong, his sources really could be saying this and those sources really could be right, all we know is that other insiders aren’t hearing the same thing.


Digging deeper one has to wonder why Team Penske would pay Edwards not to run in 2017. Sure one could argue that it’s less competition on the track but not many teams have an extra $15 million laying around to convince a driver not to race. Also, is it really in the best interest of Edwards to sit out a season and then come back? Jeff Gordon missed half of a season and he looked rusty filling in for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Gordon was coming off of a season where he also made it to the championship race in Miami.The story might be more believable if it was being reported that Edwards needed a mental break and that’s why he took 2017 off and then Penske approached him about jumping ship in 2018. This makes more sense because if Edwards did want to come back in 2018, where would he go? Is JGR going to demote Suarez? Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch aren’t going anywhere so where is the opening at JGR? Would they bump Erik Jones and put Edwards into the No. 77 over at Furniture Row Racing? That doesn’t seem like the best option either.
What gives this report legs is the fact that Edwards most likely would need a new home in 2018 if he were to come back. Team Penske does have Ryan Blaney waiting in the wings but if Edwards came back on a two-year deal, it would be his exit strategy and Blaney’s opening to step into a third car.
Kirby does end the report by noting that nobody in Penske or JGR will confirm, obviously. But just because the won’t confirm it doesn’t mean it’s not true or that there isn’t some truth to it. I guess in one year we will know if Kirby broke one of the biggest NASCAR stories in recent years or if his sources played him like a fiddle.

Makes you say hummmmmm.......................