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■■ Kyle Busch joined Jimmie Johnson as the only NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers with back-to-back wins on Indy’s 2.5-mile oval. Johnson won in 2008 and 2009.

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56. LEGEND PROFILE 57. HISTORY: REWIND

34. TONY STEWART’S BEST TRACKS

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28. YOUNG GUNS: NASCAR’S RISING STARS

TY DILLON: READY FOR THE CHASE 60. DRIVER MATT DIBENEDETTO

8. GREEN FLAG NEWS 10. BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW! 12. TRADIN’ PAINT

16. MY FIRST RIDE 18. TAILGATING: HONDA 36. SPOTLIGHT: COPD 61. 2016 SCHEDULES 62. GEAR POLE POSITION MAG.COM

GREEN FLAG Johnson Foundation Raises $730,000

fficials of the Jimmie Johnson Foundation announced that the organization’s annual Jimmie Johnson Foundation Golf Tournament and Dinner in early July raised more than $730,000. Jimmie Johnson hosted 116 golfers at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, California. The night before the tournament, Johnson and his wife, Chandra, hosted more than 200 guests during a special dinner and auction at The Lodge at Torrey Pines, with music from O.A.R. The tournament, which in 10 years has raised more than $6.3 million, benefits the Champions Grants program, a partnership between the Jimmie Johnson Foundation and Lowe’s Toolbox for Education. The grants range from $25,000-$100,000 and are distributed to K-12 public schools in Chandra and Jimmie Johnson’s hometowns in California and Oklahoma, as well as where they currently reside in North Carolina. DAN GUTTENPLAN

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards returns to Las Vegas this year and the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Awards will be back in Miami Beach, Florida. Continuing a tradition that started in 2009, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards will take place at the Wynn Las Vegas on Dec. 2. The NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Awards will be held Nov. 21 at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel in South Beach.

inalists for The NASCAR Foundation’s Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award Presented by Nationwide include Jim Giaccone of Bayville, New York, representing Tuesday’s Children; Andy Hoffman of Atkinson, Nebraska, founder of the Team Jack Foundation; Logan Houptley of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a founding member of Mikayla’s Voice; and Parker White of Greensboro, North Carolina, founder of BackPack Beginnings. The award will be showcased on Sept. 27 during the Foundation’s inaugural Honors Gala at the Marriott Marquis in New York City. The award honors volunteers – who are also NASCAR fans – who dedicate themselves to children’s causes in their communities throughout the United States. The award winner will be determined via an online vote now underway and running through 5 p.m. (EDT) on Sept. 26 at NASCAR.com/Award.

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efore heading to Kentucky Speedway for a race weekend in early July, Dale Earnhardt Jr. paid a visit to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Earnhardt spent a day in the city where his primary sponsor, Nationwide, is headquartered. He visited dozens of children and handdelivered a Victory Bell for the hospital.

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Sprint’s sponsorship of NASCAR’s top national series ends after this season, and negotiations are underway for a new title sponsor. It appears likely an announcement will come in early fall, according to NASCAR executive Steve Phelps. For now, the vetting process continues. Current agreements with Xfinity and Camping World extend through 2024 and 2022, respectively. Phelps also noted that NASCAR’s top series might have more than one title sponsor.

RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY WILL CELEBRATE NASCAR NATION WITH the inaugural Fan Appreciation Weekend Sept. 9-10. Drivers, teams, sponsors and NASCAR are joining RIR to recognize the pride and dedication of NASCAR Nation during this weekend-long celebration. Fans around the country will be showered with praise and thanks on social media, throughout the television broadcast and even through special messages on the race car’s B-posts from drivers like Martin Truex, Jr., Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney, to name a few. Fans also will receive unique giveaways and once-in-a-lifetime experiences, like an all-expensespaid trip to Richmond to ride in the two-seater with former driver and NBC analyst Jeff Burton.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame announced longtime High Point (N.C.) Enterprise sports editor Benny Phillips as the sixth recipient of the Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence. Phillips spent 48 years with the Enterprise. He will be honored during NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony festivities on Jan. 20.

DEWALT TOOLS HAS expanded its partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing, Matt Kenseth and the No. 20 team. DEWALT added four races – Chicagoland, Dover, Kansas and Homestead-Miami, to its 2016 primary sponsorship of the No. 20 Toyota Camry driven by Kenseth. DEWALT also announced that it will provide primary sponsorship for a total of six races in the NASCAR XFINITY Series during the remainder of the season with drivers Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez. Beginning with the 2017 season, DEWALT will take over the primary

sponsorship for the majority of races on the No. 20 Toyota Camry in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series. Along with the expanded schedule of primary paint schemes, DEWALT also has associate branding on the No. 20 Toyota in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series whenever the company is not already serving as the primary sponsor.

Darlington Throwbacks Coming to NASCAR Authentics

Over Labor Day weekend, NASCAR fans will be transported back in time to an era when life was simpler and the sport was experiencing an unprecedented amount of growth.

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Darlington Throwbacks arrive in NASCAR Authentics For stories and photos on each throwback paint scheme, please visit throwback.lionelracing.com. Below is a list of the throwback cars scheduled to arrive on store shelves shortly after Labor Day weekend.

ith drivers like Cale Yarborough, Buddy Baker and Darrell Waltrip in the prime of their careers and Dale Earnhardt and Ricky Rudd just starting out, the late 1970s and early 1980s saw NASCAR’s popularity soar with intense ontrack competition and iconic paint schemes. On Sunday, Sept. 4, Darlington Raceway will channel the excitement and energy from that era by bringing back its wildly popular throwback campaign after its successful debut last season. With even more drivers participating in this year’s program, the on-track action isn’t the only thing fans will be paying close attention to. They’ll be staring at the nostalgic designs that whisk them back to yesteryear, from Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s “Gray Ghost” tribute to Baker, to Austin Dillon and Ryan Newman’s homage to Rudd’s first win. Lionel Racing is getting in on the fun, too. In addition to producing 1:24-scale Darlington throwback die-casts, the company is also offering many of the throwback paint schemes in 1:64-scale as part of its NASCAR Authentics line. The first 15 cars are set to hit select Walmart and other mass retail stores shortly after the Bojangles’ Southern 500 with additional throwback 1:64-scale die-casts included in future waves.

Austin Dillon: No. 3 American Ethanol/Ricky Rudd Tribute Kevin Harvick: No. 4 Busch Darlington/Cale Yarborough Tribute Trevor Bayne: No. 6 AdvoCare/Mark Martin Tribute Regan Smith: No. 7 Nikko/Alan Kulwicki Tribute Danica Patrick: No. 10 Nature: Bakery Special Denny Hamlin: No. 11 Sport Clips Throwback Casey Mears’ No. 13 GEICO/Smokey Yunick Tribute Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: No. 17 Fastenal/Darrell Waltrip Tribute Kyle Busch: No. 18 Interstate Batteries/Dale Jarrett Tribute Carl Edwards’ No. 19 ARRIS Throwback Chase Elliott: No. 24 NAPA Throwback Paul Menard: No. 27 Valvoline Throwback Ryan Newman: No. 31 Caterpillar/Ricky Rudd Tribute Aric Almirola: No. 43 STP/Richard Petty Tribute Dale Earnhardt Jr.: No. 88 Nationwide/Buddy Baker Tribute

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A NUMBERS GAME

C True Road Racing From the mid-1940s until Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959, NASCAR cars raced on a combination beach/street course when they visited Daytona Beach, Florida. But few know that the roots of Watkins Glen International, which hosts the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen on Aug. 7, began on public roads. The ﬁrst Watkins Glen Grand Prix was in 1948 on a 6.6-mile course over public roads in upstate New York, including right through the heart of town. That route eventually became part of the National Register of Historic Places. Sadly, a spectator was killed and several others were injured when a car went out of control during the 1952 race. A permanent facility was built and opened in 1956.

BIG GAME

n Sept. 10, Bristol Motor Speedway will give new meaning to the term “pass in the grass,” as the track will set a college football attendance record. Three weeks after its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Aug. 20, Bristol Motor Speedway will be transformed into a college football gridiron for the Battle at Bristol. A sell-out crowd of more than 150,000 is expected to watch Tennessee square off against Virginia Tech. That would shatter the existing single-game college football attendance record of 115,109, set on Sept. 7, 2013, at Michigan Stadium between the host Michigan Wolverines and the visiting Notre Dame Fighting Irish. It’s not the first football game at BMS as the track hosted an NFL preseason game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins in 1961.

hicagoland Speedway, which hosts the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 on Sept. 18 – the start of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup – has a definite identity crisis when it comes to official length. To this day, NASCAR timing/ scoring measures Chicagoland Speedway at precisely 1.50 miles (or 7,920 feet around). However, the Verizon IndyCar Series, which last raced there in 2010, still lists the track length in its record books as 1.52 miles (or 8,025.6 feet). What’s .2 of a mile between friends, right? But when you say the difference is 105.6 feet, that’s a whole other story.Too bad Abbott & Costello aren’t still alive. They’d have had a field day with a “Who’s on First?” like routine about the suburban Chicago track.

GREAT DEAL

ichigan International Speedway, the fastest track on the NASCAR circuit, had rather modest beginnings. The two-mile D-shaped track was built by Detroit land developer Lawrence H. LoPatin for just under $6 million in 1968 and had just 25,000 seats when it hosted its first NASCAR race in 1969, won by Cale Yarborough. Ironically, Yarborough won

the only 500-mile NASCAR race ever run at MIS. It shifted to 400 miles in 1970 (Yarborough won that race, as well) and has remained that length ever since. LoPatin took a huge loss when he sold the track for just $2 million in 1972 to legendary NASCAR and Indy car team owner Roger Penske, who owned the track until 1999 when he sold it to International Speedway Corp.

REAL HORSEPOWER Richmond International Raceway, which hosts the Federated Auto Parts 400 on Sept. 10, has had a long history of horsepower. We’re not talking just about cars, we’re talking real horses. From 1898 until 1917, Ginter Park (now RIR) played host to the Deep Run Hunt Club’s annual steeplechase race. In 1946, a half-mile dirt track – for both horses and cars – was built as part of the new state fairgrounds near Ginter Park. The track was eventually paved and later expanded to its current .75-mile configuration. NASCAR has been a fixture there since 1953, although the track’s name has changed several times, known as Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway, Virginia State Fairgrounds, Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds, Rural Exposition Fairgrounds, Richmond Fairgrounds and Strawberry Hill Raceway until it was renamed Richmond International Raceway in 1999.

JERRY BONKOWSKI 10

POLE POSITION 2016

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TRADIN’ PAINT PRE S E N T E D B Y Iconic NASCAR Paint Schemes

hroughout NASCAR history, a race car’s paint scheme has become just as beloved by fans as the actual driver in the car. For instance, in 1971 Richard Petty originally walked away from a deal with STP because he didn’t want to paint his No. 43 Plymouth red. He held his ground, thus creating the Petty blue and red iconic paint scheme that is still used to this day. In this space, we’ll share some of the most iconic paint schemes in NASCAR history.

Cale Yarborough drove the No. 11 Junior Johnson and Associates Chevrolet to a total of 55 wins. In 1975, the Holly Farms poultry company of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, began a four-year primary sponsorship program.

Veteran wheelman Jody Ridley drove the red, white and blue No. 90 Truxmore Sunny King Ford, owned by “Junie” Donlavey, to his only career victory at Dover Downs International Speedway on May 17, 1981.

In 1994, Sterling Marlin replaced Ernie Irvan in the No. 4 Kodak Film Chevrolet and opened the season with a win in the Daytona 500. Marlin won the 500 again for Morgan-McClure in 1995.

Mark Martin drove the solid blue No. 6 Stroh’s Light Ford Thunderbird, owned by mechanical wizard Jack Roush, starting in 1988. Martin recorded his first career Cup win at Rockingham in 1989.

BEN WHITE 12

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G WIVES & GIRLFRIENDS

PRE S E N T E D B Y

â&#x2013; [Top left] Justin Allgaier with his wife, Ashley, and their daughter, Harper Grace, at Dover; [top left lower] Austin Dillon with his girlfriend, Whitney Ward, at Charlotte; [top right] Brittany Logano with her husband, Joey Logano, at Michigan; [lower left] DeLana and Kevin Harvick pose for a portrait during the New Era Cap Celebrates NASCAR All-Star Weekend; [lower right] Kurt Busch and his girlfriend, Ashley Van Metre, in Victory Lane at Pocono Raceway.

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G MY FIRST RIDE NASCAR Legends Reflect Horsepower was at a premium for many of NASCAR’s stars when they ﬁrst secured a driver’s license and got behind the wheel. Some drivers are even willing to share their experience of purchasing their ﬁrst rides.

REX WHITE 1938 FORD HUMPBACK

CAR FACTS The 1938 Ford 2-door Humpback sedan is equipped with a ﬂat-head V-8 engine (85 HP) and 3-speed manual transmission. ENGINE: 136 CID (2.2 L) Flathead V-8; 221 CID (3.6 L) Flathead V-8 WHEELBASE: 2,845 mm (112.0 in)

Rex White, NASCAR’s 1960 Sprint Cup Series champion, bought his first car in 1948 – the same year NASCAR was officially founded by Bill France. White remembers a 1938 Ford Humpback he bought at the age of 17 of 18. He was initially attracted to the Humpback due to the unique paint job of gray, rather than the standard black. “The Fords we raced at the time were flat-backs, but this one was a Humpback where the trunk area was flat and stuck out,” White said. “Believe it or not, it had a gray factory paint job, which was unusual. It was a two-door and had the stick shift in the floor until they switched it to the column in 1939.” Being a racer, White couldn’t help but make a few modifications to his classic ride, as the 80-horsepower flat-head engine and single carburetor needed some work. “I ran the thing about two years and the engine started burning oil,” White said. “I bought a rebuilt block and took the heads off the original engine and sold that motor with the car. At about 80,000 miles on those old Fords, you had to pour oil in them all the time. They burned oil like mad.”

RYAN NEWMAN 1974 TRIUMPH TR6

CAR FACTS The Triumph TR6 is a British six-cylinder sports car and the best-seller of the TR range built by Triumph when production ended in July 1976. ENGINE: 2,498 cc (2.5 L) I6 TRANSMISSION: 4-speed manual with optional overdrive WHEELBASE: 2,235 mm (88.0 in) LENGTH: 3,950 mm (155.5 in) WIDTH: 1,550 mm (61.0 in) HEIGHT: 1,270 mm (50.0 in) CURB WEIGHT: 1,130 kg (2,491 lb)

Ryan Newman’s first ride was a gift that was given under less-than-ideal circumstances. His grandfather suffered a stroke, leaving him unable to operate a motor vehicle. Newman received the 1974 Triumph TR6 at the age of 15 and still owns it today. Newman, driver of the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, was not yet of legal age to drive when the idea surfaced for his grandfather to pass down the Triumph TR6 to his grandson. “My grandfather couldn’t drive it anymore,” Newman said. “My dad talked him into giving it to me for my 16th birthday. I was actually 14 at the time and got it when I was still 15. It was my ‘going out’ car when I was in high school and college.” Newman and his father put a lot of work into the vehicle – work the future NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race winner enjoyed. A lot of late nights and early mornings were spent on the car before and after school, but the end result was well worth the effort. “Dad and I restored it, and both of us basically drove it on and off,” Newman said. “He rebuilt the engine and I rebuilt the suspension. We both stripped the paint but had someone else paint it because we didn’t have a paint booth. It was pretty much a full body-on restoration. I still have it and drive every once in a while.”

BEN WHITE 16

POLE POSITION 2016

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G TAILGATING Tailgating at NHMS is a Way of Life

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At New Hampshire Motor Speedway, tailgating isn’t just an extracurricular activity designed to kill time. It’s a way of life. “We get to the track at about 8 in the morning,” said Bill McRae, of East Taunton Massachusetts. “I really like the N3 lot. That lot sort of overlooks the frontstretch of the track. We set up our spot the same way every time, flagpole stand under the front tire, and we raise the American flag with a smaller Carl Edwards flag underneath it. We have a 12-by-12 canopy. We set up the small grill and propane stove and get the percolator going for coffee, or more than likely open the cooler and crack a beer. “On the grill is anything from steak tips, burgers and pulled pork, to bratwurst. The crowds in the lots are always the same. Everyone is in a great mood and having a great time, listening to music and playing cornhole. After the race it is much of the same. Traffic is backed up, so why rush to get out? Fire up the grill and have supper. We pull out around 7:30, and every time I think to myself, ‘I can’t wait to come back!’” Jeff Brown, of Manchester, New Hampshire, has enjoyed an equally positive tailgating experience. “NHMS has done a lot to give fans something to do in the downtime; in the last few years they’ve

Q&A WITH A TAILGATE TITAN

JEFF BROWN MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

added attractions like a zip-line, a Ferris wheel and go-karting, to the fan Midway outside the track,” he said. “There are a couple different stages with live music, plus a pre-race concert for early grandstand dwellers. But it’s more restful to just chill back at the car with friends.” JARED TURNER

CORNBREAD & CHILI

ill McRae and his wife share a campfire chili and cornbread recipe: ■■ Start with about 20-25 charcoal briquettes and a 10-inch cast-iron Dutch oven. Once the charcoal is ready, set the Dutch oven on the coals, with the lid on for about 15 minutes. ■■ Add two pounds of ground beef to the pot. Then add one chopped onion and two chopped green peppers. Add your desired chili seasonings, stir it all up and add: ■■ 1 large can of tomato puree ■■ 1 can of diced tomatoes (not drained) ■■ 1 can of red beans (drained)

POLE POSITION 2016

■■ 1 can of black beans (drained) ■■ Return the lid and let it all come to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Mix up two packages of your favorite cornbread mix. ■■ Once your chili is how you like it, spoon the cornbread mixture evenly over the top of the chili. Return the lid, split up about half of the coals from the bottom and arrange them evenly on top of the lid. ■■ After about 20 minutes, check the cornbread. It will have puffed up and absorbed some of the chili. Poke a toothpick a few inches down in the middle, and if it comes up clean, it’s ready to go.

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MUST-HAVE PRODUCT There’s cornhole – and then there’s the official Dale Earnhardt Jr. Pit Row Cornhole Game Set, which takes this popular tailgating experience to an entirely new level of fun for Junior fans. Painted like the No. 88 car belonging to NASCAR’s most popular driver, the Dale Jr. cornhole game set comes equipped with folding legs for portability and a clear gloss sealant for protection. It also includes a complete cornhole bag set made of Duck Cloth canvas. Officially licensed and made in the USA, the game is high quality and sturdy enough to last for many years – even for NASCAR’s most frequent tailgaters.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A RACE FAN? I’ve followed racing for just over 20 years now. And I’m a Matt Kenseth fan. FAVORITE TAILGATING FOOD? Breakfast is sausage and eggs, cooked in a cast-iron pan. Lunch is hot dogs, grilled up a little early so we’re fed before we hit the track gate. For dinner, we’ll grill up some marinated steak tips. WHO ATTENDS YOUR TAILGATES? Since we got our current tickets for New Hampshire, it’s been just my dad and me, and the family pickup truck is long gone, replaced by a Honda minivan with a wheelchair conversion for my dad. The wheelchair van is actually a great tailgating vehicle, though I’ve taken to calling it “liftgating,” for obvious reasons! WHAT MAKES FOR A GOOD TAILGATE? I’d argue the crowd makes the tailgate every time. Over the years, we’ve upgraded from old folding chairs to comfortable camp chairs, from the tailgate of a truck to a small folding table, from a pile of Match Light in the dirt to a small gas grill.

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NASCAR DEFINED

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This edition of NASCAR Defined showcases the excitement, intensity and fun of this dramatic, high-speed sport in a behind-the-scenes look at life at the track. GETTY IMAGES ■ [Top] Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 Ford EcoBoost Ford, and Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 19 Subway Toyota, led the field during the pace laps prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. Biffle finished eighth, while a wreck dropped Edwards to 25th. ■ [Middle] Aric Almirola won the NASCAR XFINITY Series Subway Firecracker 400 at Daytona in an overtime finish – marking his second career victory at the track. He also scored his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series triumph there in 2014. ■ [Bottom] A view of the stickers honoring the victims of the Orlando massacre and their families during practice for the NASCAR XFINITY Series Subway Firecracker 250 at Daytona.

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NASCAR DEFINED PRE S E N T E D B Y

■■ [Top] Fireworks explode over Daytona International Speedway after the conclusion of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola. ■■ [Middle left] Joey Logano congratulates Coke Zero 400 winner and Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski in Victory Lane. ■■ [Middle right] NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kyle Busch and son Brexton enjoy pre-race festivities at Daytona. ■■ [Bottom left] Greg Biffle holds daughter, Emma, on the grid before the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola. ■■ [Bottom right] Danica Patrick waves from the stage during driver introductions prior to the Coke Zero 400.

OPPOSITE PAGE: ■■ [Top] Recent University of North Carolina graduate Dylan Lupton makes his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut at Sonoma Raceway. ■■ [Middle left] The No. 14 team celebrates with team owner and driver Tony Stewart after he snapped an 84-race winless streak at Sonoma. ■■ [Middle right] Danica Patrick relaxes with the No. 10 team prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350. ■■ [Bottom left] Dale Earnhardt Jr. signs autographs at Sonoma. ■■ [Bottom right] A gutsy decision to use the bottom lane for a restart with two laps to go paid off for Christopher Bell, who earned his second career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory in the Drivin’ for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park.

POLE POSITION 2016

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

NASCAR DEFINED PRE S E N T E D B Y

■■ [Above] Carl Edwards and A.J. Allmendinger pace the field for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma. ■■ [Left] Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Cares Toyota, came close to earning his first road-course victory. ■■ [Left bottom] Danica Patrick finished 19th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Sonoma. ■■ [Right] After winning the NASCAR K&N West Series Chevys Fresh Mex 200 at Sonoma, 20-year-old Chase Elliott had to celebrate with water rather than wine in Victory Lane.

POLE POSITION 2016

■■ [Top left] Dale Earnhardt Jr. signs autographs at Pocono Raceway. Earnhardt finished second for the fourth time in only 14 races this season. ■■ [Top right] Austin Dillon boards the No. 3 Dow (STEM) Chevrolet prior to practice at Pocono. ■■ [Middle left] Kyle Larson scored his first win of the NASCAR XFINITY Series season in the Pocono Green 250. After the race his son, Owen, took a ride on the trophy. ■■ [Middle right] Kurt Busch celebrates his first victory of the season in ski goggles at Pocono to avoid the spray of the champagne shower. ■■ [Bottom] Brad Keselowski and Team Penske teammate, Joey Logano, started on the front row for the Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 at Pocono. POLE POSITION MAG.COM

NASCAR DEFINED PRE S E N T E D B Y

■■ [Top] Fireworks prior to the start of the NASCAR Camping World Series 4th Annual Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby150, at Eldora Speedway ■■ [Middle left] Kyle Larson and son Owen with the NASCAR Camping World Series 4th Annual Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby 150 trophy. ■■ [Middle right] Ray Black Jr. takes a selfie on the grid at Indianapolis. ■■ [Bottom left] Kyle Busch dominated the Lilly Diabetes 250, leading all 20 laps of the first Xfinity heat race, before carving up his competition in the 60-lap finale. ■■ [Bottom right] Matt Kenseth sits in the garage before practice for the Crown Royal presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard.

POLE POSITION 2016

■■ [Top] Danica Patrick and the No. 10 team on pit road at Michigan. ■■ [Middle left] University of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh talks to team owner and former NFL coach Joe Gibbs during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan. ■■ [Middle right] Sam Hornish Jr. applies the winner’s decal after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series American Ethanol E15 250 Presented by Enogen at Iowa. ■■ [Bottom left] Matt Kenseth signs autographs for fans at Michigan before the FireKeepers Casino 400. ■■ [Bottom right] Kyle Busch and wife Samantha prepared to kiss the bricks after the Lilly Diabetes 250, while their son, Brexton, races away.

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

Young Guns NASCAR’S RISING STARS NASCAR’s talent pool runs deep and numerous young racers are currently honing their skills in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Five of those young guns are tabbed as future stars of the sport.

John Hunter Nemechek

n a sport known for second- and even third-generation racers, meet John Hunter Nemechek, son of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran Joe Nemechek. The younger Nemechek, named after Joe’s late brother, John, who died in a wreck at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 1997, is in his first full season of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competition after making select Truck Series starts in each of the past three years. Success has come quickly for Nemechek, a fan favorite who notched his first win last September at Chicagoland Speedway

and added a second at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February. Just 19 years old, Nemechek continues to compete for the NEMCO Motorsports organization owned by his father, a veteran of more than 660 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts and a four-time winner in NASCAR’s top series. Father and son actually shared a Truck Series ride in 2014 and 2015 before John Hunter, whose Truck Series career began at age 16, received full clearance from NASCAR to compete at all tracks. “It was a fun two years,” said the younger Nemechek, who was only permitted to compete at tracks 1.25 miles and shorter

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while under age 18. “It was a fun experience working with him, and it’s good that I can bounce ideas off of him since he’s run the truck and we kind of know what each other needs. He’s taught me a lot.” In addition to his quick success in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the younger Nemechek was named to the 2015-2016 NASCAR Next class, and was voted the 2015 Most Popular Driver for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He’s already garnered high praise from numerous veterans of the sport, including several who’ve used Twitter to show their support. “It feels good to know that people are paying attention, but also you can’t mess up, so you have to run good each and every week you show up at the race track,” Nemechek said. “It definitely feels good to know that (Dale Earnhardt) Jr. and Kyle Busch and all those guys talk about you some. The same with Danica and Ricky Stenhouse – it feels good to have them talk about you. You kind of know how you’re doing.”

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YOUNG GUNS

Cole Custer Cole Custer turned a lot of heads in 2014 when at the age of 16 he became the youngest driver in history to reach Victory Lane in one of NASCAR’s top three divisions. Among those who really took notice of Custer were Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller, whom together made the young driver an offer he couldn’t refuse – to wheel a part-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series entry for JR Motorsports in 2015. Custer, who is the son of Stewart-Haas Racing Executive Vice President Joe Custer, made nine truck starts in 2014 – all in a Haas Automationsponsored Chevrolet. The youngster from Ladera Ranch, California, finished in the top 10 six times and ended up outside the top 15 only once. The performance that really landed him on the map came that September at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where he led 148 of 175 laps on the way to his history-making victory. So when JR Motorsports announced plans to launch a part-time Truck Series team beginning in 2015, Custer was a logical choice to fill the seat. Custer not surprisingly made the most of the opportunity, netting four top-10 finishes highlighted by a victory at Gateway Motorsports Park in his 10-race schedule. Earnhardt Jr. sees a lot of potential in the now18-year-old Custer, who remained with JR Motorsports for this season and saw his Truck Series schedule balloon from part time to full time. 30

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“We have a young kid with Cole,” Earnhardt said. “We have great expectations and a vision for the next several years of what we want to do. Obviously, we want to win all the races we enter, but we don’t want to put all that pressure on him to go out there and light the world on fire.” After nine races in his first full season in a JR Motorsports truck, Custer had three top-10 finishes that included a pair of top fives. While Custer’s learning curve remains a bit steep, his boss believes the potential for growth is strong. “But by all means, if he gets it done, he gets it done,” Earnhardt said. “He’s got a great opportunity here to pace himself and learn on his own terms and become the driver he wants to be.”

YOUNG GUNS

Rico Abreu Born with achondroplasia, a genetic disorder that is the most common cause of dwarfism, Rico Abreu stands just 4-foot-4. But his dreams are a lot bigger than his stature. After scoring back-to-back victories the past two years in the prestigious Chili Bowl Nationals midget race in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Abreu was offered a full-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ride by ThorSport Racing for the 2016 season. The opportunity to compete for the organization that captured back-to-back Truck Series titles in 2013 and 2014 with Matt Crafton was one that Abreu wasn’t about to pass up – especially after spending 2015 honing his skills in the K&N Pro Series East, a feeder series to NASCAR’s highest levels. “Competing full time in the NASCAR K&N East Series prepared me the most for this opportunity,” Abreu said. “My first time being in stock cars and getting a full season under my belt helped me understand how to race and put together full races, longer races, than I was used to running in open-wheel cars.” Abreu earned one victory, four top-five finishes and eight top-10 results last year on the way to finishing his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season fifth in points. To gain eligibility for the 2016 season in trucks, Abreu also competed in the 2015 Truck Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, coming home 13th. But it was Abreu’s startling success at the Chili Bowl – where he beat the likes of NASCAR Sprint 32

POLE POSITION 2016

Cup Series drivers Kyle Larson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – that really landed him on the map. Just days after his 2015 Chili Bowl triumph, Abreu was signed by HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks to run the full K&N Pro Series East season. Abreu competed in more than 100 open-wheel races in 2014 in the United States and New Zealand. He posted 26 wins across 410 winged and non-winged sprint cars, 360 winged sprints and USAC midget competition in which he also won the national championship. “Rico has proven himself at every level in racing to date, and is a winner and true racer in every sense of the word,” ThorSport Racing co-owner Duke Thorson said. “He brings a style and attitude that reflects who we are, and what we are all about.”

Daniel Suarez If you’re looking for the poster boy for NASCAR going international, look no further than 24-year-old Daniel Suarez. A native of Monterrey, Mexico, Suarez spent four years in the NASCAR Mexico Series before landing a full-time NASCAR XFINITY Series ride with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2015, in addition to a part-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule with Kyle Busch Motorsports. Although he didn’t win in 2015, Suarez was highly competitive in both kinds of vehicles, finishing an impressive fifth in XFINITY Series points. But it was in June of this year that the Mexican born-driver’s dreams of winning in NASCAR’s big leagues came true. Suarez passed 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and teammate Kyle Busch with one lap remaining to win the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Michigan International Speedway. In the process, Suarez became the first Mexican to win in any of NASCAR’s top three national touring series. “Honestly, it means a lot,” said Suarez. “Winning the way we did, beating one of the best drivers in NASCAR today. And not only that, but also having some issues at the beginning of the race. The truth is that the team worked very hard, they never gave up.” In addition to helping Suarez write his name in the history books, the victory also punched

the young driver’s ticket into this year’s inaugural XFINITY Series Chase that will determine the series champion. Just as important, however, was the fact that it immediately lifted from his shoulders the weight of having never been to Victory Lane. “Definitely it feels different – less pressure,” he said. “Right now, I

feel like we are going to go to the race track a little bit more relaxed knowing that we know how to win races now. We finally learned how to close the deal off. That was something really good.” Now as he pursues a championship, the future looks more promising than ever for the driver who was in NASCAR’s Drive

Erik Jones Erik Jones became the youngest champion in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series history when he captured the title for Kyle Busch Motorsports at Homestead-Miami Speedway last November at just 19 years, 5 months and 21 days old. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Austin Dillon, who won the Truck Series title in 2011 at 21 years, 6 months and 22 days old, had been the series’ youngest champion before Jones. A Byron, Michigan, native and Joe Gibbs Racing development driver, Jones first gained national exposure when he won the prestigious Snowball Derby Late Model race in 2012 by outdueling Kyle Busch, his future boss, during the final laps. “I never would have expected to get beat by him in that race,” Busch later said. “The last run of the race he did a great job, we raced clean, we raced hard and he scored the victory. I knew he was going to be good that day.” Jones’ performance helped convince Busch to offer him a part-time ride with KBM in 2013, which led to another partial schedule in

for Diversity program in 2013 and is also a graduate of the NASCAR Next program that promotes up-andcoming drivers. “I think the first win is always the most difficult to get in every series, pretty much in everything,” Suarez said. “We finally got that one. So from now on, hopefully we can keep this momentum.”

2014 and then a full season last year. “I’m thankful that he stuck with me and he believed in what our plan was for him to give him this shot and to give him this opportunity,” Busch said. Now with a Truck Series title under his belt, Jones is competing full time in the NASCAR XFINITY Series for Joe Gibbs Racing. As of press time, he’d already scored four XFINITY Series wins – including two in 2015 while running a partial schedule for JGR. Jones, who has subbed multiple times for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers at JGR, is admittedly eager to go full-time Cup Series racing in the near future. At the same time, he understands there’s a natural progression. “The XFINITY Series is completely necessary,” Jones said. “I have no problem with running as long as I need to be here. I don’t know what the exact career path is for me down the road, and at some point, I want to race in the Cup Series every weekend, and I feel like there’s a plan in place for that opportunity to arise, and I’ll just keep taking what’s given to me every week and go out and try to win races.” POLE POSITION MAG.COM

TONY STEWART’S

BEST TRACKS

Some tracks have been particularly kind to Tony Stewart over the course of his Hall-ofFame career in NASCAR’s top series. Here are five race tracks that stand out above the rest:

WATKINS GLEN. There was a time when Stewart all but owned Watkins Glen International, a 2.45-mile upstate New York road course. In fact, a quick look through the annals of Watkins Glen history reveals that Stewart has more wins – five – at Watkins Glen than at any other track. Of Stewart’s five wins at The Glen, all but the most recent came during his time at Joe Gibbs Racing – where he began his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in 1999 and captured two titles before joining Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009. Stewart’s third victory at Watkins Glen – in 2005 – was by far his most dominant. He started from the pole and led 83 of 92 laps in a race that was extended two laps past the original distance.

DAYTONA. Although he will end his illustrious career without a coveted Daytona 500 victory, Stewart has won pretty much everything else there is to win at the famed 2.5-mile superspeedway. His impressive list of Daytona accomplishments includes four wins in the July NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race along with seven NASCAR XFINITY Series victories. He’s also won Daytona 500 qualifying races and the Sprint Unlimited exhibition race. “Daytona is a pretty special place to every racer,” Stewart said. “It’s been a good place for us and I’m honored that I could be part of its history. I’m proud of what we have done there. It seems like, when you are there in February, everybody has an even shot at it.”

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INDIANAPOLIS. No track means more to Stewart on a personal level than Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A native Hoosier who grew up and still lives in Columbus, Indiana, Stewart dreamed as a youngster of racing and winning at the fabled 2.5-mile speedway where some of the world’s greatest racers have left a lasting mark. After numerous failed attempts to win both the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, Stewart finally broke through with a Brickyard 400 victory in 2005, and then added a second in 2007. As of press time, Stewart boasted a stellar average finish of 9.6 over 17 NASCAR starts at Indianapolis. He also won the pole for the Brickyard in 2002 – the year of his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title. CHICAGOLAND. When it comes to racing at Chicagoland Speedway, no one has been better than Stewart. He leads all drivers at the 1.5-mile track in the most important category – wins, with three (2004, 2007 and 2011). As of press time, the three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion also boasted an impressive average finish of 10.4 over his 14 starts

at the track located in Joliet, Illinois. From 2001 to 2012, Stewart finished outside the top 10 at Chicagoland just twice. “It’s one of those places where, as long as I get through Friday, I feel like we’ve got a shot at it,” he said, noting two occasions when he’s crashed in practice on a Friday at Chicagoland. “But I don’t watch the stats very much.” RICHMOND. Richmond International Raceway was the site of Stewart’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory, which came in the fall of 1999, and it is a track where the now veteran driver has excelled through the years. Since winning at Richmond as a rookie, Stewart has taken home two more trophies from the three-quarter-mile Virginia short track. “It’s not one of my favorite tracks, it is my favorite track,” Stewart said. “The other short tracks we run – Bristol and Martinsville – they’re cool in their own right, but there’s a lot of congestion at those two tracks. But at Richmond, it just seems like that extra quarter-mile, and that three-quarter-mile shape, and how wide the groove gets there, allows for good racing.”

SPOTLIGHT PRESENTED BY

The Importance of Education JOHN LINNELL LEARNS TO LIVE AGAIN

ohn Linnell didn’t really comprehend the magnitude of a COPD diagnosis when his doctor delivered the news in early 2006 – after Linnell had struggled to maintain his energy in the months prior. “I never had the ‘woe is me’ attitude because I didn’t really understand it,” said Linnell, a resident of Chatfield, Minnesota. “I just said, ‘Well, OK. I guess that’s what it is.’ In the back of my mind, I guess it was some form of denial. I continued to smoke and went about my life for a few more years.” COPD is a life-threatening lung disease, the fourth-leading cause

of death globally, and affects more than 300 million individuals worldwide. Within the United States, COPD ranks as the third-leading cause of death, with more than 30 million Americans affected and approximately 12 million symptomatic but undiagnosed. However, a simple, painless breathing test, called spirometry, can determine whether or not a person has COPD. For Linnell, life didn’t change for the better until he educated himself on the ways to live with COPD. That change occurred in 2011 after low energy levels and trouble breathing forced him

to leave his job. He finally quit smoking and learned that a healthy diet and exercise could lead to a better quality of life. “There’s not a lot of education out there,” Linnell said. “I stay as active as I can at doing things. Your body gets good at doing what you train it to do. If you sit on the couch all day watching TV, you’ll get really good at working the remote. But when you get up to go to the bathroom, you’ll struggle. You’ve got to get up and keep moving.” Linnell also discovered ways to receive medical treatment and support – even

before he was accepted for Social Security Disability benefits. “I had no insurance and no income,” Linnell said. “It takes six months to get approved for Social Security Disability. I thought, ‘What do I do?’ I connected with the COPD Foundation and signed up for clinical trials. Not only was I getting a chance to see doctors for free, they paid me. I learned a lot about COPD that way.” Linnell became the Minnesota state captain for the COPD Foundation in November 2011. He is involved with lobbying efforts and advocacy to bring education and awareness of COPD to the public. He also started a COPD Breathing Buddies support group on Facebook in June 2012. “Patients can get involved in research,” Linnell said. “As scientists work toward a cure, they are constantly seeking consumer reviews. I sit on a table and have a chance to find out what’s going on with research. I speak from the patient standpoint, and it opens up avenues to a doctor’s way of thinking.”

DEALING WITH A COPD DIAGNOSIS

ohn Linnell is careful about the way he words his COPD diagnosis – he “deals” with the condition; he does not suffer from it. He has been diagnosed as a Stage 4 patient with 22-percent lung capacity. “I’m only on oxygen when I sleep,” Linnell said. “Even when I go on long walks, I don’t need oxygen.” In his “retirement,” Linnell has discovered a host of volunteer opportunities. In addition to serving as the Minnesota state captain for the COPD Foundation, he takes part in a COPD patient study through the University of Chicago Medical School, runs a COPD Breathing Buddies on Facebook with more than 3,200 COPD patients and caregivers, and writes a blog for COPD.com. “I knew I wasn’t the type of person who can sit around and do nothing,” Linnell said. “Getting involved in so many things is what kept me going. I want to share all the things I learned along the way so others can benefit. COPD patients will say, ‘My doctor said I have five years left.’ I tell them to take off their shoes and socks and look at the bottom of their feet. Unless you see an expiration date on the bottom of your feet, you can live your life to the fullest.”

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COPD making you huff and puff?

SYMBICORT does not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. COPD can make it hard to get air out, which can make it hard to get air in. SYMBICORT is a twice-daily maintenance medication for adults with COPD, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema, that could help make a significant difference in your breathing.* *Results may vary.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT SYMBICORT Important Safety Information About SYMBICORT SYMBICORT contains formoterol, a long-acting beta2 -adrenergic agonist (LABA). LABA medicines such as formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems. It is not known whether budesonide, the other medicine in SYMBICORT, reduces the risk of death from asthma problems seen with formoterol. • Call your health care provider if breathing problems worsen over time while using SYMBICORT. You may need different treatment • Get emergency medical care if: ° Breathing problems worsen quickly, and ° You use your rescue inhaler medicine, but it does not relieve your breathing problems SYMBICORT does not replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms. Be sure to tell your health care provider about all your health conditions, including heart conditions or high blood pressure, and all medicines you may be taking. Some patients taking SYMBICORT may experience increased blood pressure, heart rate, or change in hear t rhythm. Do not use SYMBICORT more often than prescribed. While taking SYMBICORT, never use another medicine containing a LABA for any reason. Ask your health care provider or pharmacist if any of your other medicines are LABA medicines. SYMBICORT can cause serious side effects, including: • Pneumonia and other lower respiratory tract infections. People with COPD may have a higher chance of pneumonia. Call your doctor if you notice any of the following symptoms: change in amount or color of mucus, fever, chills, increased cough, or increased breathing problems • Serious allergic reactions including rash, hives, swelling of the face, mouth and tongue, and breathing problems

Print your coupon at symbicort25guarantee.com or call 1-800-236-9933 For commercially insured patients *Subject to eligibility. Restrictions apply.

• Immune system effect and a higher chance of infection. Tell your health care provider if you think you are exposed to infections such as chicken pox or measles, or if you have any signs of infection such as fever, pain, body aches, chills, feeling tired, nausea, or vomiting • Adrenal insufficiency. This can happen when you stop taking oral corticosteroid medicines and start inhaled corticosteroid medicine • Using too much of a LABA medicine may cause chest pain, increase in blood pressure, fast and irregular heartbeat, headache, tremor, or nervousness • Increased wheezing right after taking SYMBICORT. Always have a rescue inhaler with you to treat sudden wheezing • Eye problems including glaucoma and cataracts. You should have regular eye exams while using SYMBICORT • Lower bone mineral density can happen in people who have a high chance for low bone mineral density (osteoporosis) • Swelling of blood vessels (signs include a feeling of pins and needles or numbness of arms or legs, flu like symptoms, rash, pain or swelling of the sinuses), decrease in blood potassium and increase in blood sugar levels Common side effects in patients with COPD include inflammation of the nasal passages and throat, thrush in the mouth and throat, bronchitis, sinusitis, and upper respiratory tract infection. Approved Uses for SYMBICORT SYMBICORT 160/4.5 is for adults with COPD, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. You should only take 2 inhalations of SYMBICORT twice a day. Higher doses will not provide additional benefi ts. Please see full Prescribing Information and Medication Guide and discuss with your doctor. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Ask your doctor about SYMBICORT Learn more at MySymbicort.com

I M P O R TA N T I N F O R M AT I O N A B O U T S Y M B I C O R T Please read this summary carefully and then ask your doctor about SYMBICORT.

WHAT SHOULD I TELL MY HEALTH CARE PROVIDER BEFORE USING SYMBICORT?

No advertisement can provide all the information needed to determine if a drug is right for you or take the place of careful discussions with your health care provider. Only your health care provider has the training to weigh the risks and benefits of a prescription drug.

Tell your health care provider about all of your health conditions, including if you: have heart problems have high blood pressure have seizures have thyroid problems have diabetes have liver problems have osteoporosis have an immune system problem have eye problems such as increased pressure in the eye, glaucoma, or cataracts are allergic to any medicines are exposed to chicken pox or measles are pregnant or planning to become pregnant. It is not known if SYMBICORT may harm your unborn baby are breast-feeding. Budesonide, one of the active ingredients in SYMBICORT, passes into breast milk. You and your health care provider should decide if you will take SYMBICORT while breast-feeding Tell your health care provider about all the medicines you take including prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. SYMBICORT and certain other medicines may interact with each other and can cause serious side effects. Know all the medicines you take. Keep a list and show it to your health care provider and pharmacist each time you get a new medicine.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION I SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SYMBICORT? People with asthma who take long-acting beta2-agonist (LABA) medicines, such as formoterol (one of the medicines in SYMBICORT), have an increased risk of death from asthma problems. It is not known whether budesonide, the other medicine in SYMBICORT, reduces the risk of death from asthma problems seen with formoterol. SYMBICORT should be used only if your health care provider decides that your asthma is not well controlled with a long-term asthma control medicine, such as an inhaled corticosteroid, or that your asthma is severe enough to begin treatment with SYMBICORT. Talk with your health care provider about this risk and the benefits of treating your asthma with SYMBICORT. If you are taking SYMBICORT, see your health care provider if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. It is important that your health care provider assess your asthma control on a regular basis. Your doctor will decide if it is possible for you to stop taking SYMBICORT and start taking a long-term asthma control medicine without loss of asthma control. Get emergency medical care if: breathing problems worsen quickly, and you use your rescue inhaler medicine, but it does not relieve your breathing problems. Children and adolescents who take LABA medicines may be at increased risk of being hospitalized for asthma problems.

WHAT IS SYMBICORT? SYMBICORT is an inhaled prescription medicine used for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It contains two medicines: Budesonide (the same medicine found in Pulmicort Flexhaler™, an inhaled corticosteroid). Inhaled corticosteroids help to decrease inflammation in the lungs. Inflammation in the lungs can lead to asthma symptoms Formoterol (the same medicine found in Foradil® Aerolizer®). LABA medicines are used in patients with COPD and asthma to help the muscles in the airways of your lungs stay relaxed to prevent asthma symptoms, such as wheezing and shortness of breath. These symptoms can happen when the muscles in the airways tighten. This makes it hard to breathe, which, in severe cases, can cause breathing to stop completely if not treated right away SYMBICORT is used for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as follows: Asthma SYMBICORT is used to control symptoms of asthma and prevent symptoms such as wheezing in adults and children ages 12 and older. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease COPD is a chronic lung disease that includes chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both. SYMBICORT 160/4.5 mcg is used long term, two times each day, to help improve lung function for better breathing in adults with COPD.

WHO SHOULD NOT USE SYMBICORT? Do not use SYMBICORT to treat sudden severe symptoms of asthma or COPD or if you are allergic to any of the ingredients in SYMBICORT.

Visit www.MySymbicort.com Or, call 1-866-SYMBICORT

HOW DO I USE SYMBICORT? Do not use SYMBICORT unless your health care provider has taught you and you understand everything. Ask your health care provider or pharmacist if you have any questions. Use SYMBICORT exactly as prescribed. Do not use SYMBICORT more often than prescribed. SYMBICORT comes in two strengths for asthma: 80/4.5 mcg and 160/4.5 mcg. Your health care provider will prescribe the strength that is best for you. SYMBICORT 160/4.5 mcg is the approved dosage for COPD. SYMBICORT should be taken every day as 2 puffs in the morning and 2 puffs in the evening. Rinse your mouth with water and spit the water out after each dose (2 puffs) of SYMBICORT. This will help lessen the chance of getting a fungus infection (thrush) in the mouth and throat. Do not spray SYMBICORT in your eyes. If you accidentally get SYMBICORT in your eyes, rinse your eyes with water. If redness or irritation persists, call your health care provider. Do not change or stop any medicines used to control or treat your breathing problems. Your health care provider will change your medicines as needed While you are using SYMBICORT 2 times each day, do not use other medicines that contain a long-acting beta2-agonist (LABA) for any reason. Ask your health care provider or pharmacist if any of your other medicines are LABA medicines. SYMBICORT does not relieve sudden symptoms. Always have a rescue inhaler medicine with you to treat sudden symptoms. If you do not have a rescue inhaler, call your health care provider to have one prescribed for you.

Call your health care provider or get medical care right away if: your breathing problems worsen with SYMBICORT you need to use your rescue inhaler medicine more often than usual your rescue inhaler does not work as well for you at relieving symptoms you need to use 4 or more inhalations of your rescue inhaler medicine for 2 or more days in a row you use one whole canister of your rescue inhaler medicine in 8 weeks’ time your peak flow meter results decrease. Your health care provider will tell you the numbers that are right for you your symptoms do not improve after using SYMBICORT regularly for 1 week

WHAT MEDICATIONS SHOULD I NOT TAKE WHEN USING SYMBICORT? While you are using SYMBICORT, do not use other medicines that contain a long-acting beta2-agonist (LABA) for any reason, such as: Serevent® Diskus® (salmeterol xinafoate inhalation powder) Advair Diskus® or Advair® HFA (fluticasone propionate and salmeterol) Formoterol-containing products such as Foradil Aerolizer, Brovana®, or Perforomist®

WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS WITH SYMBICORT? SYMBICORT can cause serious side effects. Increased risk of pneumonia and other lower respiratory tract infections if you have COPD. Call your health care provider if you notice any of these symptoms: increase in mucus production, change in mucus color, fever, chills, increased cough, increased breathing problems Serious allergic reactions including rash; hives; swelling of the face, mouth and tongue; and breathing problems. Call your health care provider or get emergency care if you get any of these symptoms Immune system effects and a higher chance for infections Adrenal insufficiency–a condition in which the adrenal glands do not make enough steroid hormones Cardiovascular and central nervous system effects of LABAs, such as chest pain, increased blood pressure, fast or irregular heartbeat, tremor, or nervousness Increased wheezing right after taking SYMBICORT Eye problems, including glaucoma and cataracts. You should have regular eye exams while using SYMBICORT Osteoporosis. People at risk for increased bone loss may have a greater risk with SYMBICORT Slowed growth in children. As a result, growth should be carefully monitored Swelling of your blood vessels. This can happen in people with asthma Decreases in blood potassium levels and increases in blood sugar levels

WHAT ARE COMMON SIDE EFFECTS OF SYMBICORT? Patients with Asthma Sore throat, headache, upper respiratory tract infection, thrush in the mouth and throat Patients with COPD Thrush in the mouth and throat These are not all the side effects with SYMBICORT. Ask your health care provider or pharmacist for more information. NOTE: This summary provides important information about SYMBICORT. For more information, please ask your doctor or health care provider. SYMBICORT is a registered trademark of the AstraZeneca group of companies. Other brands mentioned are trademarks of their respective owners and are not trademarks of the AstraZeneca group of companies. The makers of these brands are not affiliated with and do not endorse AstraZeneca or its products. © 2010 AstraZeneca LP. All rights reserved. Manufactured for: AstraZeneca LP, Wilmington, DE 19850 By: AstraZeneca AB, Dunkerque, France Product of France Rev 11/11 1504903

DRIVER PROFILES

PRESENTED BY

NASCAR DRIVERS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS Good quotes from professional athletes can be hard to come by, especially from NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers who have a reputation for being a bit canned in their refrains. So when good soundbites do come along, they are keepers. Here are some of the best from a few of NASCARâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stars.

JARED TURNER

GETTY IMAGES POLE POSITION MAG.COM

DRIVER PROFILES PRE S E N T E D B Y NUMBER

88 INFO

OWNER RICK HENDRICK TEAM HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS SPONSORS NATIONWIDE, AXALTA, TAXSLAYER.COM MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET CREW CHIEF GREG IVES

Dale Earnhardt Jr. “Winning isn’t everything to me, but it’s a close second. Losing isn’t something that I can just brush off and fake a smile to hide my frustration. It’s that will and determination I hope will get me where I want to go.” ■■ “I felt like the track came to us, but then it went beyond us. It’s the greatest feeling you can have as a driver in NASCAR at a single event in a single day. Just trying to explain what that feeling is to people, I’ve been trying to tell people for 10 years what that felt like. It’s just hard to put it into words what winning this race really means to you.” – ON WINNING HIS SECOND DAYTONA 500, IN 2014

■■ “Years ago, you used to get out and fight and run around and chase each other with a jackhammer and stuff like that. Those were the good ol’ days.” ■■ “It’s not a weight when you’re able to deliver. It’s a weight when you’re not able to deliver. When people say you’re the face of the sport, you’re running fifth or 10th every week, it’s very challenging because you want to deliver and you’re not delivering.” – ON BEING NASCAR’S PERENNIAL MOST POPULAR DRIVER

■■ “The reason why we all get along so well and tend to want to work with each other and even seek each other out at times on the track at Talladega and Daytona is because of the culture in the company. There’s no favorite. No one’s singled out. No pressure on one guy more than the other. Everybody has the same commitment, whether it is the fabricators or the engine room. Every team sort of gets the same commitment. It’s a very well-run machine. Just the culture in there, how everybody enjoys working together, we feed off of that.” – ON THE CHEMISTRY AMONG THE TEAMS AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS

■■ “I’m perfectly comfortable forcing my way in any situation when I know the car’s capable of carrying its load and doing its job.” ■■ “Whether it was fair or not, he’ll still need extra security.” – AFTER GETTING WRECKED BY KYLE BUSCH IN 2008

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DRIVER PROFILES PRE S E N T E D B Y NUMBER

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Jimmie Johnson “I’ve had the most impactful lessons given to me through failure. If failure falls on your shoulders solely, it’s real easy for me then. I know where to look and dig. It’s a little more painful and probably a longer process. If it’s shared between me and the team, it’s probably a little easier.”

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■ “I’ve always just had a better appreciation for life and things in general by traveling and experiencing other cultures, and I usually come home and I realize the things about America that I love and then that I also dislike. I think having that worldly mindset is important. It’s easily forgotten once you’re back home, so to have that exposure and really see so many other people across the world and what their cultures are about and what their lifestyles are like is always interesting to me.” ■ “We’re in such a rush in America. We make sure we go to a big box and buy 20 of everything that we need, usually ﬂip off two or three people on the way to the big-box retailer, fight for a parking spot, stuff some fast food down our throats while we’re inside and then head home and have a little bit of road rage again and pull in the driveway and try to be a good

parent. It’s just different. And the places I’ve experienced so far, you really wake up and live for the day and just have a different appreciation for the day.” ■ “I’ve always felt that I was a patient man, but being a parent has taken my skill set for patience to a whole new level. I do find that I’ve got to put these little compartments together so there’s the work face, the race face. Then there’s the at-home presence, and I’m working hard to keep those two worlds as separate as possible.” ■ “I wish I could always spin things in a positive manner. Some people just have that peaceful presence. It’s very easy in our sport to live by your success on the track, and having a year like this year where we’ve been frustrated, it’s very easy to have that drag you down. So I just wish that I could naturally stay just peaceful and happy at all times.”

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DRIVER PROFILES PRE S E N T E D B Y Kyle Busch “I guess we’ve all heard that old saying, ‘Break a leg,’ which means good luck in show biz. But I stand here today and think about how lucky I am, I can say without a doubt that breaking a leg — and a foot — works just as good in racing.” – ON RECOVERING FROM A BROKEN LEG AND FOOT TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP

■■ “You feel like you’re always fighting for a job. There’s always younger, better people coming up through the ranks behind you. I was just like, ‘You know what, if I am meant to be a race car driver and if I am meant to be champion, then I’ll continue to be here for long haul. So I’ll stop focusing on worrying about my job and just let it be.’”– ON WHETHER HE WAS WORRIED ABOUT HIS FUTURE WHILE SIDELINED WITH INJURIES EARLY IN 2015

■■ “I think becoming a champion doesn’t necessarily change fans’ opinion of you, but I think how you are the sport’s champion will change perception of how people think of you.” – AFTER WINNING THE 2015 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES TITLE

■■ “It blew my eyelid open it hit so hard.” – ON GETTING CHAMPAGNE IN HIS EYES AFTER WINNING THE CHAMPIONSHIP

■■ “There was some emotion that came through, crossing the start-finish line. Actually

POLE POSITION 2016

NUMBER

coming out of Turn 4, not being crazy, but there was a tear that did go across my cheek because of the G-forces I was pulling out of Turn 4, and I was like, ‘Are you serious? Like wow,’ and then I crossed the start-finish line, and I was just so excited and yelling at my team and everything, and then it was like trying to keep it all together and it was starting to fizzle up.” – ON HIS EMOTIONS MOMENTS AFTER WINNING THE TITLE

■■ “I don’t know if you get to 100 wins and call it good or what you do. If we’ve got sponsors that continue to want to be on my race car and to go out there and to put a good show on, then I’ll continue to do it. It’s a job, it’s a paycheck for these guys and it’s fun for me to be able to do and to collect trophies and also just kind of set that mark a little bit higher. Hopefully, nobody will get it.” – ON CONTINUING TO COMPETE IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES

18 INFO

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DRIVER PROFILES PRE S E N T E D B Y Kyle Larson “It seems like California has always kind of been a racing hotbed. California is a really long state, but all the way from Southern California to Northern California there are a lot of people that make it in racing. In the Cup Series alone, there are a lot of Californians. California has got the best food there is, so that is probably why.” ■ “I’ve always enjoyed nighttime but I’ve been starting to wake up earlier, so now it’s starting to turn into daytime.” ■ “He figured out how to walk in the offseason so he’s been pretty crazy to keep up with and is making race car noises all the time. We couldn’t even get him to go to sleep last night. He was just lying in bed making race car noises. I was just like, ‘Dude, chill out and go to sleep.’ But no, he is really pretty funny and is a good kid.” – ON HIS SON, OWEN, BORN IN DECEMBER 2014

■ “It’s like people’s jobs. Or some of them; that’s all some people do. You just try and block it off. We get more positive tweets than negative tweets. For every hundred positive tweets, you might get two negative ones. So I just try to pay

POLE POSITION 2016

attention to them, or just laugh at them.” – ON THE NEGATIVITY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

■ “It’s just a lot of exciting times in my life right now between racing and starting a family and all that. It’s been fun. The whole baby-thing; everybody warned us that it’s going to be extremely challenging. It has its moments. But for the most part, it’s just been a lot of fun to see how he grows every day. It’s pretty cool.” – ON BECOMING A FATHER ■ “My parents always taught me to have fun with whatever I was doing, and if you weren’t having fun in the activity that you were doing, there’s really no point in doing it. Also, some good advice that I think is great for life is always have a positive attitude. David Robinson Jr. gave me that advice a long time ago. He actually made me watch this movie called, ‘The Secret,’ which is all about teaching you about how a positive attitude can change the way things happen.”

NUMBER

42 INFO

OWNER CHIP GANASSI TEAM CHIP GANASSI RACING WITH FELIX SABATES SPONSOR TARGET MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET CREW CHIEF CHAD JOHNSTON

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DRIVER PROFILES PRE S E N T E D B Y Danica Patrick “I think you can be happy and still be competitive. A good lesson for everybody is to think a bit before you speak and represent who you really are instead of the brash emotional you.” ■■ “I have been mad before, but we talk about it, and then we get over it and we don’t go to bed mad. Or we’re just not going to bed. Sometimes we don’t mean to. They’re just accidents.” – ON GETTING

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WRECKED BY BOYFRIEND RICKY STENHOUSE JR.

■■ “It’s mostly really fun. It’s a lot of work at times, too. My office is very hot sometimes. It gets like to over 130 degrees in my office – that’s my race car.” – ON LIFE AS A NASCAR DRIVER ■■ “I don’t think about it. I don’t look at myself as being any different. I’m just a race car driver like they are.” – ON BEING THE NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES’ ONLY FEMALE DRIVER

■■ “I don’t feel any different. I maybe take fancier vacations. Actually, I might do less. I might relax at home more because NASCAR is such a grueling schedule I actually find I vacation at home more than I ever used to.” – ON HOW SHE’S CHANGED OVER TIME IN NASCAR

■■ “There’s a lot of stressing out. But there’s not much you can do about it. You just have to hope

POLE POSITION 2016

and pray for the best, be as smart as you can out there. That’s all you can do.” – ON TRYING TO QUALIFY FOR THE DAYTONA 500

■■ “Every single aspect of myself, let me put it this way, it’s all about trying to incorporate. It’s about trying to weave the web and keep everyone happy. And of course, it’s about giving value to those people so they continue to sponsor me.” ■■ “I’m a big believer in everybody being themselves. If not doing a swimsuit calendar is yourself, that’s great. But if doing a swimsuit calendar is yourself, then you should be able to do it. What I do outside the car adds to who I am and expresses a different side of me.” ■■ “Sometimes it takes looking at the past to really be able to move forward and learn from it.”

10 INFO

OWNERS TONY STEWART/GENE HAAS TEAM STEWART-HAAS RACING SPONSORS NATURE’S BAKERY, ASPEN DENTAL, TAXACT MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET CREW CHIEF BILLY SCOTT

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DRIVER PROFILES PRE S E N T E D B Y A.J. Allmendinger “I’d rather be successful, but as an alternative to that, I’d rather be respected. I’ve always said you don’t have to necessarily be liked by your opponents, although in NASCAR it helps a little bit because they can dictate where you ﬁnish, and that was something right away as a rookie I learned. You’ve got to play the game a little bit. I’d rather be successful, but I’d rather have people respect me. That’s the biggest deal. They don’t have to like you, but I feel like if they respect you, you’re doing it the right way.” – ON WHETHER

NUMBER

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES WIN

■ “I was hoping to make it boring, honestly. I wanted to lead all 90 laps and just have a cruise control. But that’s what makes the Sprint Cup Series so fun. You know you’re not going to get that.” – ON HIS FIRST NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES VICTORY

HE WOULD RATHER BE LIKED OR SUCCESSFUL

AFTER A LATE BATTLE WITH MARCOS AMBROSE

■ “I would say Lap 1 through 200. That’s pretty much it. Laps 1 through 200 are pretty stressful.” – ON THE MOST STRESSFUL PART OF THE DAYTONA 500, A 200-LAP RACE

■ “Coming from open-wheel racing and coming into NASCAR, I watched it my whole life, and I thought, ‘Yeah, it looks tough but it can’t be that tough,’ and then I got in these cars, and I was like, ‘What the heck are these things?’ These are the toughest things I’ve ever had to learn to drive.”

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POLE POSITION 2016

47 INFO

OWNERS BRAD DAUGHERTY/ TAD GESCHICKTER TEAM JTG DAUGHERTY RACING SPONSORS KROGER, BUSH’S BAKED BEANS, KINGSFORD CHARCOAL, CLOROX MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET CREW CHIEF RANDALL BURNETT

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■ “You can at least say, for that one moment, I am a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner. You want more, but for that one moment, it has finally happened.” – ON WHETHER HE REFLECTS MUCH ON HIS LONE

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DRIVER PROFILES PRE S E N T E D B Y NUMBER

JAMIE MCMURRAY OWNER CHIP GANASSI TEAM CHIP GANASSI RACING WITH FELIX SABATES

NUMBER

SPONSORS MCDONALD’S, CESSNA

3 NUMBER

OWNER RICHARD CHILDRESS TEAM RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING

NUMBER

MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET

CREW CHIEF RICHARD “SLUGGER” LABBE

CREW CHIEF RODNEY CHILDERS

KASEY KAHNE OWNER RICK HENDRICK TEAM HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS

REGAN SMITH OWNERS TOMMY BALDWIN JR./ AL HEINKE TEAM TOMMY BALDWIN RACING SPONSORS TOY STATE, GOLDEN CORRAL MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET CREW CHIEF TOMMY BALDWIN JR.

POLE POSITION 2016

TEAM STEWART-HAAS RACING

MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET

NUMBER

TREVOR BAYNE OWNERS JACK ROUSH/ JOHN HENRY TEAM ROUSH FENWAY RACING SPONSOR ADVOCARE MANUFACTURER FORD CREW CHIEF MATT PUCCIA

CREW CHIEF KEITH RODDEN

OWNERS TONY STEWART/ GENE HAAS

SPONSORS BUSCH BEER, JIMMY JOHN’S, DITECH

MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET

KEVIN HARVICK

SPONSORS DOW CHEMICAL, CHEERIOS

SPONSORS FARMERS INSURANCE, LIFTMASTER, GREAT CLIPS

NUMBER

SPONSORS MILLER LITE, ALLIANCE TRUCK PARTS

CREW CHIEF PAUL WOLFE

CREW CHIEF MATT MCCALL

AUSTIN DILLON

TEAM TEAM PENSKE

MANUFACTURER FORD

MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET

NUMBER

BRAD KESELOWSKI OWNER ROGER PENSKE

NUMBER

DENNY HAMLIN OWNER JOE GIBBS TEAM JOE GIBBS RACING SPONSORS FEDEX, SPORT CLIPS MANUFACTURER TOYOTA CREW CHIEF MIKE WHEELER

NUMBER

CASEY MEARS OWNER BOB GERMAIN TEAM GERMAIN RACING SPONSOR GEICO

NUMBER

15 NUMBER

OWNER HARRY SCOTT TEAM HSCOTT MOTORSPORTS SPONSORS 5-HOUR ENERGY, PEAK ANTIFREEZE & MOTOR OIL

CREW CHIEF MICHAEL BUGAREWICZ

NUMBER

OWNER JACK ROUSH/ JOHN HENRY TEAM ROUSH FENWAY RACING

MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET

MANUFACTURER FORD

CREW CHIEF STEVE ADDINGTON

CREW CHIEF BRIAN PATTIE

RICKY STENHOUSE JR. OWNERS JACK ROUSH/ JOHN HENRY TEAM ROUSH FENWAY RACING

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SPONSORS FASTENAL, FIFTH THIRD BANK

MATT KENSETH OWNER JOE GIBBS TEAM JOE GIBBS RACING SPONSORS DOLLAR GENERAL, DEWALT MANUFACTURER TOYOTA CREW CHIEF JASON RATCLIFF

CARL EDWARDS OWNER JOE GIBBS TEAM JOE GIBBS RACING SPONSORS ARRIS, STANLEY, SUBWAY, SPORT CLIPS MANUFACTURER TOYOTA CREW CHIEF DAVE ROGERS

CREW CHIEF NICK SANDLER

GREG BIFFLE

SPONSORS CHEEZ-IT, KFC, KELLOGG’S

MANUFACTURER FORD

NUMBER

TEAM STEWART-HAAS RACING

MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET

CREW CHIEF ROBERT “BOOTIE” BARKER

CLINT BOWYER

OWNERS TONY STEWART/ GENE HAAS

SPONSORS MOBIL 1, BASS PRO SHOPS

MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET

NUMBER

TONY STEWART

NUMBER

RYAN BLANEY OWNER LEN AND EDDIE WOOD/ KIM (WOOD) HALL TEAM WOOD BROTHERS RACING SPONSORS MOTORCRAFT, QUICK LANEE MANUFACTURER FORD CREW CHIEF JEREMY BULLINS POLE POSITION MAG.COM

DRIVER PROFILES PRE S E N T E D B Y NUMBER

22 NUMBER

JOEY LOGANO OWNER ROGER PENSKE TEAM TEAM PENSKE SPONSORS SHELL-PENNZOIL, AUTOTRADER

NUMBER

MANUFACTURER TOYOTA

CREW CHIEF TODD GORDON

CREW CHIEF PATRICK DONOHUE

CHASE ELLIOTT OWNER RICK HENDRICK TEAM HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS

NUMBER

RYAN NEWMAN OWNER RICHARD CHILDRESS TEAM RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING

NUMBER

TEAM STEWART-HAAS RACING SPONSORS HAAS AUTOMATION, MONSTER ENERGY

POLE POSITION 2016

CHRIS BUESCHER OWNER BOB JENKINS TEAM FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS SPONSORS LOVEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TRAVEL STOPS, CSX TRANSPORTATION MANUFACTURER FORD CREW CHIEF BOB OSBORNE

CREW CHIEF LUKE LAMBERT

TEAM RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING

CREW CHIEF JUSTIN ALEXANDER

MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET

OWNERS GENE HAAS/ TONY STEWART

OWNER RICHARD CHILDRESS

MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET

SPONSORS CATERPILLAR, QUICKEN LOANS, WIX, GRAINGER, WHELEN

KURT BUSCH

PAUL MENARD

SPONSOR MENARDS

CREW CHIEF ALAN GUSTAFSON

NUMBER

TEAM BK RACING

MANUFACTURER FORD

MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET

OWNERS RON DEVINE/ WAYNE PRESS

SPONSORS DR. PEPPER

SPONSORS NAPA, 3M, KELLEY BLUE BOOK

NUMBER

DAVID RAGAN

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ARIC ALMIROLA OWNERS RICHARD PETTY/ ANDY MURSTEIN TEAM RICHARD PETTY MOTORSPORTS SPONSOR SMITHFIELD FOODS

MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET

MANUFACTURER FORD

CREW CHIEF TONY GIBSON

CREW CHIEF TRENT OWENS

NUMBER

BRIAN SCOTT OWNERS RICHARD PETTY/ ANDY MURSTEIN TEAM RICHARD PETTY MOTORSPORTS

NUMBER

SPONSORS ALBERTSONS, SHORE LODGE

MICHAEL ANNETT OWNER HARRY SCOTT TEAM HSCOTT MOTORSPORTS SPONSORS PILOT, FLYING J MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET CREW CHIEF JAY GUY

MANUFACTURER FORD CREW CHIEF CHRIS HEROY

NUMBER

MARTIN TRUEX JR. OWNER BARNEY VISSER TEAM FURNITURE ROW RACING SPONSORS BASS PRO SHOPS, FURNITURE ROW MANUFACTURER TOYOTA CREW CHIEF COLE PEARN

NUMBER

MICHAEL MCDOWELL OWNERS BOB LEAVINE/JOE FALK TEAM CIRCLE SPORT-LEAVINE FAMILY RACING SPONSORS THRIVENT FINANCIAL, K-LOVE, WRL CONTRACTORS MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET CREW CHIEF DAVE WINSTON

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H LEGEND PROFILE Simply the King RICHARD PETTY SET THE STANDARD IN NASCAR Richard Petty entered his first NASCAR race at Canadian Exposition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario, on July 18, 1958, at age 20. Over 35 seasons, the seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion recorded an incredible 200 career victories.

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INSIGHTFUL

PATIENT DEDICATED

MY NAME IS BESIDE ALL THOSE WINS, BUT IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT RICHARD PETTY. SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE WORKED COUNTLESS HOURS AND CONTRIBUTED SO MUCH TO ALL THAT SUCCESS. IT’S NOT ABOUT ME.

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BEST SEASON IN 1967, PETTY ENJOYED his greatest season with 27 victories in 48 Cup Series starts. Driving the famed 1966 Petty blue No. 43 Plymouth, his triumphs included a string of 10 in a row that began on Aug. 12 at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and continued through Oct. 1 at North Carolina’s North Wilkesboro Speedway.

orn in Level Cross, North Carolina, on July 2, 1937, Petty is the older of Lee and Elizabeth Petty’s two sons. His father worked in the mills, farmed cotton and even sold moonshine before discovering NASCAR at age 35 in 1949. He was the first racer to make a living driving in NASCAR competition. Young Richard and his cousin, Dale Inman, serviced Lee Petty’s Plymouth as teenagers after school. During many late nights, they turned wrenches on the family’s racing machine while Petty’s brother, Maurice, kept the engines running at full song. Richard Petty helped his father win NASCAR championships in 1954, 1958 and 1959 before focusing on his own driving career. The second-generation speedster scored his first NASCAR victory on Feb. 28,

RECORD-SETTER PETTY’S SEVEN DAYtona 500 victories and seven championships as a NASCAR driver and team owner best define his career. Many of his accomplishments still stand as records and it is widely believed that no one will ever reach the 200-win milestone that tops his list of untouchable records.

1960, at the Southern States Fairgrounds in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1964, he won his first of seven Daytona 500s and first of seven championships. Other titles followed in 1967, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1979. Petty’s final victory came at Daytona International Speedway on July 4, 1984. All told, his 555 top-five finishes, 712 top-10 results and 123 pole positions chronicle the greatest success story in NASCAR history. Petty’s 1,184th and final start came at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Nov. 15, 1992, where he finished 35th after being caught up in a crash. Since then, Petty has fielded cars for many of the sport’s top drivers while also serving as NASCAR’s greatest ambassador. He is one of the most recognized icons in all of professional sports.

THE NO. 43 CAR

KNOWN FOR

COURTESY NASCAR

THROUGHOUT A CAREER that spanned from 1958 to 1992, Petty was one of the NASCAR’s most popular drivers, winning the Most Popular Driver Award from the National Motorsports Press Association nine times. He had a reputation for signing autographs for every fan requesting one, even after winning 500-mile races.

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REWIND Veteran Gordon Dominates Title Hunt LOSS OF DALE EARNHARDT CLOUDS SEASON The 2001 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season was one of triumph and tragedy, as stock car racing lost is brightest star while a popular champion visited Victory Lane six times en route to his fourth series title. The season-opening Daytona 500 transformed into an afternoon of tremendous excitement and deep sadness at the conclusion of the 200-lap race. Michael Waltrip, a longtime driver with no victories in 463 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, pulled off the biggest upset in the history of Daytona International Speedway. As he celebrated in Victory Lane following NASCAR’s most prestigious event, word spread that his team owner, Dale Earnhardt, had lost his life during a multi-car crash in Turn 4 of the final lap. Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr., both drivers for Dale Earnhardt Inc., were just ahead of Earnhardt’s No. 3 Chevrolet coming to the checkered flag. Each looked forward to Earnhardt’s presence when trophies were awarded as word quietly spread that the crash had taken his life. In the weeks that followed, Steve Park, a third DEI driver, won at North Carolina Motor Speedway and helped ease the incredible pain everyone was experiencing. Then relative newcomer Kevin Harvick was hired by Richard Childress Racing to replace Earnhardt in the renumbered 29 Chevy and he won the Atlanta race by a fender over Jeff Gordon. Gordon’s 40th-place finish in the Daytona 500 threatened to curtail his championship hopes. But his first win came just weeks later at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and from there the native of Vallejo, California, used strong, consistent finishes to climb to the top of the standings. Additional victories at Dover, Michigan, Indianapolis, Watkins Glen and Kansas paved the way for Gordon’s fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title.

2001

■■ Jeff Gordon

SEASON RECAP DATE Feb. 18 Feb. 26 March 4 March 11 March 18 March 25 April 1 April 8 April 22 April 29 May 5 May 26 June 3 June 10 June 17 June 24 July 7 July 15 July 22 July 29 Aug. 5 Aug. 12 Aug. 19 Aug. 25 Sept. 2 Sept. 8 Sept. 23 Sept. 30 Oct. 7 Oct. 15 Oct. 21 Oct. 28 Nov. 4 Nov. 11 Nov. 18 Nov. 23

EVENT & LOCATION Daytona International Speedway North Carolina Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway Darlington Raceway Bristol Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway Martinsville Speedway Talladega Superspeedway California Speedway Richmond International Raceway Charlotte Motor Speedway Dover International Speedway Michigan International Speedway Pocono Raceway Sonoma Raceway Daytona International Speedway Chicagoland Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway Pocono Raceway Indianapolis Motor Speedway Watkins Glen International Michigan International Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway Darlington Raceway Richmond International Raceway Dover International Speedway Kansas Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway Martinsville Speedway Talladega Superspeedway Phoenix International Raceway North Carolina Motor Speedway Homestead-Miami Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway

WINNER Michael Waltrip Steve Park Jeff Gordon Kevin Harvick Dale Jarrett Elliott Sadler Dale Jarrett Dale Jarrett Bobby Hamilton Rusty Wallace Tony Stewart Jeff Burton Jeff Gordon Jeff Gordon Ricky Rudd Tony Stewart Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kevin Harvick Dale Jarrett Bobby Labonte Jeff Gordon Jeff Gordon Sterling Marlin Tony Stewart Ward Burton Ricky Rudd Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jeff Gordon Sterling Marlin Ricky Craven Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jeff Burton Joe Nemechek Bill Elliott Bobby Labonte Robby Gordon

PRESIDENT: GEORGE W. BUSH NO. 1 SONG: “ALL OF YOU” BY JANET JACKSON MAJOR NEWS STORIES: WORLD TRADE CENTER AND PENTAGON ATTACKED ON SEPT. 11; GOV. GRAY DAVIS ORDERS POWER BLACKOUTS IN CALIFORNIA; “HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE” RELEASED, FIRST MOVIE IN HARRY POTTER SERIES

BEST DRIVER KEVIN HARVICK, DRIVER OF THE NO. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, won at Atlanta and Chicago during his rookie Cup Series season. Even though he had ARCA, NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series experience, Harvick had spent little time in the highly competitive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars. Driving in place of the late Earnhardt, the pressure subsided enough to finish ninth in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points.

BEST RACE

TOP CARS

THE SPRING EVENT AT BRISTOL Motor Speedway on March 25, 2001, saw Elliott Sadler and John Andretti battle for the win with Sadler going to Victory Lane. Sadler and Andretti were driving a Ford and Pontiac, respectively, for Wood Brothers Racing and Petty Enterprises. The two revered NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams finished first and second to each other 63 times with David Pearson winning 33 and Richard Petty winning 30 while with those teams.

BEN WHITE

JEFF GORDON collected five wins in 36 starts driving the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet. Dale Jarrett won races at Darlington, Martinsville, Texas and New Hampshire in the No. 88 UPS Ford.

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X NASCAR XFINITY SERIES

TWEET, TWEET

I New Chase Format Excites Ty Dillon Back in January, when NASCAR officials announced the implementation of a playoff system for the XFINITY Series, many drivers in NASCAR’s No. 2 division quickly voiced their approval of the change.

he new, elimination-style championship format, similar but not identical to the one used with great success the past two years in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, will inevitably inject added drama into the final weeks of the NASCAR XFINITY Series season. Among those excited about the change is Richard Childress Racing’s Ty Dillon, a driver who was in the thick of the battle for the XFINITY Series title in 2014 and 2015, only to come up short. “The last two years have been successful years,” said Dillon, who’s in his third season as the full-time driver of Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro in the XFINITY Series. “I’ve been in the hunt to win the championship and there have been a couple of races that have taken us out in the old-style points format.” The seven-race XFINITY Series Chase begins at Kentucky Speedway on Sept. 24, and features 12 drivers and two elimination rounds, with four drivers competing in the Championship 4 at HomesteadMiami Speedway. A win in the first 26 races all but guarantees a driver entry into the XFINITY Series Chase, provided the driver is in the top 30 in points and has

attempted to qualify for each race. Drivers who win two Dash 4 Cash bonuses are also all but guaranteed a Chase berth. The first round, called the Round of 12, consists of the races at Kentucky, Dover and Charlotte. All drivers will start with their points adjusted to 2,000, with three bonus points added to their total for each win in the first 26 races. If a driver wins a race in the Round of 12, the driver automatically advances to the next round. The remaining available positions (1-8) will be filled based on points. Each driver who advances to the Round of 8 (Kansas, Texas and Phoenix) then will have his points reset to 3,000. Drivers who win a race automatically advance to the Championship 4. The remaining available positions (1-4) will be filled based on points. The four drivers who advance to the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway will have their points reset to 4,000. The highest finishing Championship 4 driver will be crowned the champion. “I think the format is cool, especially with the series so young and full of drivers who are hoping, like myself, to go full time in the Sprint Cup Series and race in the Sprint Cup Chase,” Dillon said.

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f Ty Dillon wins the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship or accomplishes anything else of note the rest of this year, he won’t be celebrating alone. Through the power of Twitter – where Dillon had 139,000 followers as of press time – his fans from all over the globe will get to share in the joy. Dillon, who joined the popular social-networking website in April 2009, tweets on a regular basis. “It is just another way to reach out to people who care a lot about you,” the youngest grandson of team owner Richard Childress said. “Fans are the coolest thing about any sport, and obviously in NASCAR we are so close for the fans. It is a cool way to reach out because you can’t always answer every question for every fan at the race track; you are always busy doing something. “It gives you more opportunity on a different platform and a different setting to communicate with our fans and let them know what kind of a person you are outside the race track and outside the hustle and bustle of race day,” Dillon continued. “They only get to see a glimpse of you for a second. I think it is a really unique platform that allows you to connect to your fan base.”

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Nexium Level Protection . ™

From Start To Finish.

The Purple Pill

Once a day can give you all-day, all-night protection from frequent heartburn. The stylized No. 33 and the RCR checkered flag logo are registered trademarks of RCR Enterprises, LLC. Ty Dillon’s name, likeness, signature and the TD stylized logo are registered trademarks of Ty Dillon. All trademarks and the likeness of the No. 33 race car are used under license from their owners. NASCAR® is a registered trademark of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. May take 1 to 4 days for full effect. Use as directed. ©2015 Pfizer Inc.

N HOMETRACKS

EARLY INDICATIONS

M The Little Team that Could Driving for the underfunded, understaffed BK Racing organization, Matt DiBenedetto understands that the races in which he is going be truly competitive are few and far between.

hen DiBenedetto scored his first career top-10 finish with a stellar sixth-place showing at Bristol Motor Speedway in April, the young driver from Grass Valley, California, couldn’t help but be emotional. After all, a sixthplace finish is like a victory for many in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage. “We have a really close group here at BK Racing and our whole team works together so well,” said DiBenedetto, whose best NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finish prior to that weekend was an 18th at Talladega Superspeedway in May 2015. “They work so hard, they put in countless hours during the week and do whatever is necessary for me to be behind the wheel of a race car, which is a privilege.” The days following the Bristol race were extra exciting for DiBenedetto, who for the first time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career was being widely sought for interviews. A graduate of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, where he won three of the 20 races he entered between 2009 and 2012, DiBenedetto wasn’t recruited by any of NASCAR’s elite team owners to compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. But the man who did hire him – owner Ron Devine – wasn’t surprised by

the 25-year-old’s performance at Bristol. “It was special for us and we were all so emotional,” Devine said. “We have a lot of confidence in this guy and I say he’s kind of like ‘my guy’ because we found each other along the way.” Although unable to offer him a full-time ride, Joe Gibbs Racing is partly responsible for DiBenedetto making it this far. The four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion organization put DiBenedetto in a NASCAR XFINITY Series car for six races in 2010 after J.D. Gibbs, president of JGR, discovered DiBenedetto and asked for a meeting with the young man and his family. Making select starts for JGR in NASCAR’s No. 2 series allowed DiBenedetto to gain exposure in front a national audience for the first time while competing for one of the sport’s elite organizations. “I have a lot of respect for the Gibbs organization – Joe Gibbs and myself have been friends for many, many years,” Devine said. “So I said, ‘Let’s take a look at him.’ We looked at his test when he was over there and then we started just examining him and J.D. Gibbs was the first one that said, ‘Hey, we really like this young man and we think he’s something special and you should get him.’”

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att DiBenedetto knew from a very early age that he wanted to be a professional race car driver. At 5 years old, he was adamant that his father, Tony, leave the family TV on the race as he flipped channels on Sunday afternoons. As a kindergartner, DiBenedetto wrote, “When I grow up, I want to be a race car driver.” Although DiBenedetto played Little League baseball on the team his dad coached, it was obvious that his true passion was racing. After convincing his dad to buy him a competitive go-kart, DiBenedetto won his first race and claimed a class championship in his first season. As DiBenedetto advanced through the classes, the youngster kept adding to his win total. He won more than 100 feature and trophy-dash events, along with five championships, by age 11. To help make DiBenedetto’s dreams a reality, the family loaded up and moved from California to Hickory, North Carolina, where 16-year-old Matt competed in the Limited Late Model division at historic Hickory Motor Speedway. And the rest, as they say, is history. It was at Hickory Motor Speedway that he competed against a Joe Gibbs Racing car, which led to the meeting with J.D. Gibbs – and his eventual move to the big leagues.

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2016 SCHEDULES

GETTY IMAGES NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES Feb. 13 Feb. 18 Feb. 21 Feb. 28 March 6 March 13 March 20 April 3 April 9 April 17 April 24 May 1 May 7 May 15 May 20 May 21 May 29 June 5 June 12 June 26 July 2 July 9 July 17 July 24 July 31 Aug. 7 Aug. 20 Aug. 28 Sept. 4 Sept. 10 Sept. 18 Sept. 25 Oct. 2 Oct. 8 Oct. 16 Oct. 23 Oct. 30 Nov. 6 Nov. 13 Nov. 20

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway Phoenix International Raceway Auto Club Speedway Martinsville Speedway Texas Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway Richmond International Raceway Talladega Super Speedway Kansas Speedway Dover International Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway Pocono Raceway Michigan International Speedway Sonoma Raceway Daytona International Speedway Kentucky Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway Indianapolis Motor Speedway Pocono Raceway Watkins Glen International Bristol Motor Speedway Michigan International Speedway Darlington Raceway Richmond International Raceway Chicagoland Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway Dover International Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway Kansas Speedway Talladega Superspeedway Martinsville Speedway Texas Motor Speedway Phoenix International Raceway Homestead-Miami Speedway

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES Feb. 20 Feb. 27 March 5 March 12 March 19 April 8 April 16 April 23 April 30 May 14 May 28 June 4 June 11 June 19 July 1 July 8 July 16 July 23 July 30 Aug. 6 Aug. 13 Aug. 19 Aug. 27 Sept. 3 Sept. 9 Sept. 17 Sept. 24 Oct. 1 Oct. 7 Oct. 15 Nov. 5 Nov. 12 Nov. 19

Daytona International Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway Phoenix International Raceway Auto Club Speedway Texas Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway Richmond International Raceway Talladega Superspeedway Dover International Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway Pocono Raceway Michigan International Speedway Iowa Speedway Daytona International Speedway Kentucky Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway Indianapolis Motor Speedway Iowa Speedway Watkins Glen International Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Bristol Motor Speedway Road America Darlington Raceway Richmond International Raceway Chicagoland Speedway Kentucky Speedway Dover International Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway Kansas Speedway Texas Motor Speedway Phoenix International Raceway Homestead-Miami Speedway

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES Feb. 19 Feb. 27 April 2 May 6 May 13 May 20 June 10 June 18 June 25 July 7 July 20 July 30

Daytona International Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway Martinsville Speedway Kansas Speedway Dover International Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway Iowa Speedway Gateway Motorsports Park Kentucky Speedway Eldora Speedway Pocono Raceway

Aug. 17 Aug. 27 Sept. 4 Sept. 16 Sept. 24 Oct. 1 Oct. 22 Oct. 29 Nov. 4 Nov. 11 Nov. 18

Bristol Motor Speedway Michigan International Speedway Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Chicagoland Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway Talladega Superspeedway Martinsville Speedway Texas Motor Speedway Phoenix International Raceway Homestead-Miami Speedway

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POLE POSITION 2016

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POLE POSITION MAG.COM

CHECKERED FLAG

No. 88 Jeff Gordon subbed in at Indianapolis (pictured) and Pocono for former teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was suffering from concussion symptoms.

POLE POSITION 2016

–Scott Mendelson, FORBES

CRUDE SEXUAL CONTENT INCLUDING BRIEF GRAPHIC NUDITY, LANGUAGE THROUGHOUT, DRUG USE AND TEEN PARTYING

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