NASCAR Pole Position 2018 Aug/Sep by A.E. Engine

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INITIATIVE

NASCAR’S GREATEST RACES: LAST VICTORIES PRESENTED BY OLIVA CIGAR

NASCAR ROOTS I FAVORITE FINDS I DRIVER PROFILES I SEAL THE DEAL I NASCAR BUILDS ESPORTS I TAILGATING I BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW I ON THE ROAD I NASCAR NEWS I TOOLS OF THE TRADE

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NASCAR DEFINED

PRESENTED BY

■■ The Truck Series does a fourwide salute to the fans prior to the start of the Eldora Dirt Derby at Eldora Speedway. ■■ Martin Truex Jr. on his way to victory during the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

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POLE POSITION 2018

■■ Kyle Busch’s colorful crew completes a pit stop during the Quaker State 400. ■■ Jimmie Johnson greets fans before the race at Daytona.

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CONTENT 18. NASCAR’S GREATEST RACES

5 REASONS WE LOVE NASCAR NIGHT RACING

64. 10 THINGS FANS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ARCA

62. NASCAR LEGEND 63. SEASON REWIND

68. ARCA DRIVERS TO WATCH

NASCAR POLE POSITION RACE FAN GUIDE AN OFFICIALLY LICENSED PUBLICATION OF NASCAR

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78 NASCAR ROOTS 80

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DRIVER PROFILES PRESENTED BY

PIT PASS 76. BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW! 77. BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS 12. GREEN FLAG 14. KIDS WISH NETWORK

28. CREW SPOTLIGHT

16. TAILGATING

30. NASCAR PETS

20. NASCAR BUILDS

32. SPOTLIGHT: SYLVANIA

38. FAVORITE FINDS

22. SPOTLIGHT: GEICO

34. SPOTLIGHT: OFF AXIS PAINT

42. TOOLS OF THE TRADE

24. SEAL THE DEAL

36. SPOTLIGHT: WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY

46. NASCAR HALL OF FAME

26. ON THE ROAD 10

66. SPOTLIGHT: MSG

GREEN FLAG Jeff Gordon Leads HoF Inductees Jeff Gordon headlines the list of five racing legends selected for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Joining Gordon in the Class of 2019 are former drivers Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison and longtime team owners Jack Roush and Roger Penske. “Man, I’m on cloud nine,” Gordon said during an interview after the announcement. A native of Vallejo, California, Gordon won 93 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races and four series championships. He drove the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in 797 consecutive races from his debut in 1992 until he bowed out of the ride at the end of the 2015 season. Kulwicki lost his life in a 1993 plane crash, less than five month after claiming the Cup Series championship. Allison, who won 19 races, was killed that same year when the helicopter he was piloting crashed. The induction ceremony will take place Friday, Feb. 1, at the Charlotte Convention Center.

he late Jim Hunter, a former NASCAR executive who also served as president of Darlington Raceway, is the 2019 recipient of the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR. Hunter worked as a journalist during the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s before moving into PR and administrative roles in NASCAR racing. BY DAN GUTTENPLAN

The Toyota Supra, one of the world’s iconic sports cars, will compete in the NASCAR Xfinity Series beginning next season. “Supra’s return in production form is huge news, but now we’re also going to see this iconic sports car return to American motorsport,” said Ed Laukes, group V.P. of Toyota Division Marketing. Using a familiar playbook, Toyota, Toyota Racing Development and Calty Design worked hand-in-hand to develop a Supra race car for NASCAR competition.

NASCAR FANS NOW HAVE AN OPTION other than Las Vegas to place wagers on races and drivers. Following a U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this year, the state of Delaware approved sports betting. Gamblers can now place wagers on a wide variety of sports, including auto racing, baseball, basketball, boxing/MMA, football, hockey and soccer, at Dover Downs Hotel & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The casino is located adjacent to Dover International Speedway, which hosts two NASCAR weekends each season. There are multiple ways to bet on Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series events, including winner-of-therace plays, proposition wagers and futures wagering. NASCAR Xfinity Series lines are also offered. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series lines will be available when the series returns to Dover in May 2019. 12

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Two close friends made NASCAR history during the July race weekend at Daytona International Speedway when they became the first two women to perform over-the-wall duties for the same team in the same race. Brehanna Daniels and Breanna O’Leary changed tires on the No. 51 Chevrolet driven by Ray Black Jr. in the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Daniels and O’Leary are the fifth and sixth female NASCAR Drive for Diversity crew members to reach the Cup Series.

NASCAR OFFICIALS ANNOUNCED THE RULES PACKAGE UTILIZED DURING THE Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May has been shelved for the remainder of the season. The package, which included aero ducts, a higher spoiler, a restrictor plate and a different front splitter, produced tremendous racing during the special event. According to NASCAR, using the package in additional races this season would have been a Herculean undertaking, and one that could have resulted in a rushed output. Instead, NASCAR will utilize the current rules package – one that has produced competitive racing – for the remainder of the season.

NASCAR Heat 3, the latest version of the console simulation-style NASCAR video game, will be released Sept. 7 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC via Steam. NASCAR Heat 3 includes a variety of new features, such as a deeper career mode, additional race tracks, expanded online multi-player features and a new fantasy dirt-racing experience. The Xtreme Dirt Tour allows players to compete across eight new dirt tracks. From there, players can tackle the competition in NASCAR’s three national series – the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The box art for NASCAR Heat 3 features Hendrick Motorsport’s NASCAR Cup Series driver lineup of Jimmie Johnson, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and William Byron. Fans purchasing or pre-ordering NASCAR Heat 3 at retail will receive a $50 raceticket coupon that can be redeemed at select speedways.

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GREEN FLAG Kids Wish Network Races into Action FOR SOUTH CAROLINA BOY TO MEET NASCAR’S KYLE BUSCH

ichael Carden has Crohn’s disease and struggles with many serious health issues. His happiness comes from NASCAR racing – collecting die-cast cars and especially watching his favorite driver, Kyle Busch. Kids Wish Network was fueled to create an amazing experience for Michael, placing him in the Winner’s Circle. Michael’s wish put him on track to a unique NASCAR experience and the opportunity to meet his racing idol. However, the week before Michael’s wish there was great disappointment. He had disturbing symptoms that prevented him from traveling, and had to postpone his trip. Due to Busch’s schedule, this was the only chance for Michael to meet him. He was devastated. Busch graciously recorded a personalized video message for Michael, giving him encouragement to get well, stay strong and follow his career goals of becoming an automobile engineer. Over the following days, Michael took medications to help alleviate some of his worst symptoms. A week later, he was cleared to travel. During the wish, Michael and his dad toured the Kyle Busch Motorsports facility. He felt like a VIP receiving a private tour and gifts. They also visited Joe Gibbs Racing. During his private tour, he met with team owner Joe Gibbs. Michael also enjoyed behindthe-scenes experiences of the shop, watched a pit crew in action and got a close-up look at several special race cars. Then the unexpected happened as a JGR staff member showed Michael a prized trophy. He was asked if he knew who won it. Michael said, “Kyle Busch.” When Michael turned around, a staff member said, “This guy here you mean?” Busch was standing right in front of him. Michael was a little star-struck by his amazing surprise. Busch spoke to him about the big day that he won the trophy, spent time getting to know Michael and had autographed gifts for him. “I’m glad that you were able to make it today,” said Busch. “You got a home tour … saw me … I saw you … now our days are made.” “Meeting Kyle Busch inspired Michael,” said his dad. “It was the best present he could ever receive.” Michael and his dad enjoyed beautiful accommodations at the Westin Charlotte. They also explored

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the Sea Life Charlotte-Concord Aquarium and the Carolinas Aviation Museum. They dined at Longhorn Steakhouse, and received a gift card from the Capital Grille and tickets to the Levine Museum of the new South, since he was not feeling well and unable to attend when scheduled. “The wish made him so happy,” said Michael’s dad. “I’ve never seen him smile as much as he did in the last four days.” “It was really heartbreaking when it appeared that his dream may not come true,” said Kids Wish Network Executive Director Tam Lai. “He’s struggled so much, and it would have been another huge disappointment. We’re thrilled that Michael’s wish brought him so much happiness.” Kids Wish Network is a national charitable organization dedicated to infusing hope, creating happy memories, and improving the quality of life for children with life-threatening conditions and those struggling with life-altering situations. Visit kidswishnetwork.org to learn more and find out how you can help make dreams come true and sponsor a wish for a deserving child.

BY BRENT LEWIS

TAILGATING PRESENTED BY

SEAN FLAHAVIN’S

BEER ‘N’ BRATS

Tailgating with Sean Flahavin

ince Sean Flahavin began tailgating in a big way a dozen years ago, he’s become increasingly adept at organizing tailgates to remember. Perhaps practice really does make perfect. When Flahavin tailgates at a NASCAR race, he typically goes all out – both in terms of the items and the people in his arsenal. “I actually keep a checkoff list for all things to remember to bring, but the important things other than food and drink are the essentials to bring in the track,” said Flahavin, a 34-year-old security engineer. Those essentials include: a canopy; a table and chairs; a charcoal grill; pans, skillets, tongs and a spatula; a knife, cutting board, can opener, lighter and matches; paper plates, eating utensils and napkins/wet wipes or a roll of paper towels; garbage bags; tarps; phone/other

electronic chargers; a portable radio, old iPod, Duracell battery pack and power inverter; bags/cornhole game; a football; small toys and his children’s wagon; a box fan; old decoration banners/flags; coolers [“But that should be a given,” Flahavin said]; solar panels and wiring to be able to charge the battery pack (for the longer race weekends and camping trips); koozies; and toilet paper. That’s a lot to pack and remember to bring. Of course, when you’re with as many people as Flahavin brings to the track, it’s paramount to be fully prepared. Flahavin’s tailgating cohorts through the years have included his dad, his two children and a mix of good friends and co-workers. “There were a few others that I wasn’t really close friends with, but other friends would bring them, back when we partied a bit more than we do today,” Flahavin said.

MUST-HAVE GEAR Richard Petty Motorsports Bubba Wallace Ceramic Mug

hat NASCAR fan doesn’t love Richard Petty’s iconic No. 43? A snazzy-looking, two-tone ceramic mug, available at the NASCAR.com Superstore, features Petty’s famous car number emblazoned below the Richard Petty Motorsports logo and above the name of “Bubba” Wallace – the ultra-charismatic, fan-friendly rookie now driving Petty’s old number. Wallace, who finished second in this year’s Daytona 500 in his first start as full-time driver of the 43, has a bright future in the sport. The mug is priced at only $9.99. “It’s got a great look so you can always remember Bubba Wallace when you sip your drink,” the NASCAR.com item description says.

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■■ Two or more beers, use normal domestic beer; ■■ Large pan with lid or foil pan and aluminum foil to cover; ■■ Pack of Brats; ■■ Onion (probably one, maybe more if making a lot); ■■ Green or Red Bell Pepper; ■■ Low heat (gas grill, or arrange charcoal for indirect heating); ■■ Hot dog buns/large roll; ■■ Condiments of your choice; ■■ Pour the beer into a pan, slice up the onion and pepper, place in the beer, keep the beer on low heat and cover; ■■ Brown the brats directly on the grill first. Then place them in the beer to slow cook and serve when ready to eat; ■■ Take some of the beer-soaked onions or peppers and place them on the roll with the brat. Add any additional condiments you might want like spicy mustard or barbeque sauce. ■■ Cooking time: 2 hours.

Q&A WITH SEAN WHO’S YOUR FAVORITE DRIVER? Kyle Busch. He was a newcomer when I got into NASCAR, and was a driver with personality. Any of the races I went to, he ran and was always a frontrunner. I also had a Toyota Tundra truck, and he was a Toyota driver. RESIDENCE? Crown Point, Indiana. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A NASCAR FAN? A bit over 15 years. WHEN AND WHERE WAS YOUR FIRST TAILGATE? 2006 at The Milwaukee Mile (in the infield). WHERE HAVE YOU TAILGATED? Chicagoland, Gateway, Iowa, Nashville, Kansas, Indianapolis, Michigan, Bristol and Daytona. WHAT MAKES A GOOD TAILGATE? Having a nice group of friends and family at the track; bringing my kids along; being parked next to friendly and easygoing neighbors; being properly prepared (not sure how many times someone always forgot something); decent weather; and an atmosphere created by the track/sponsors to make it more exciting (years ago, sponsors would hand out flags/banners and other things to the fans with a tailgate setup).

BY JARED TURNER

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NASCAR’S GREATEST RACES

SEPT. 14, 1986

MARCH 16, 1980

FEB. 23, 1964

PRESENTED BY

First-Time Superspeedway Winners

MAY 24, 1987

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hroughout NASCAR’s 70-year history, the Monster Energy Cup Series has raced on a variety of track configurations. Here are a few of the first superspeedway victories recorded by some of the sport’s greatest drivers. Feb. 23, 1964: Driving the No. 43 Plymouth fielded by Petty Enterprises, Richard Petty logged his first superspeedway triumph in the 1964 Daytona 500. The 26-year-old driver from Level Cross, North Carolina, dominated by leading 194 of the race’s 200 laps. Jimmy Pardue finished second in a similar Plymouth, but his car was no match for Petty’s. March 16, 1980: Dale Earnhardt, wheeling the No. 2 Chevrolet owned by Rod Osterlund, scored his first superspeedway victory in the Atlanta 500 at Atlanta International Raceway. The Kannapolis, North Carolina, driver led a total of 50 laps, taking the lead from Cale Yarborough with 29 laps remaining in the 328-lap event. Earnhardt went on to win four additional races that season. Sept. 14, 1986: Driving the No. 15 Bud Moore Engineering Ford, Ricky Rudd scored the victory at Dover Downs International Speedway after leading 141 of 400 laps on the one-mile track. The native of Chesapeake, Virginia, paced the final 93 miles, holding off the No. 12 Junior Johnson Chevrolet driven by Neil Bonnett. It was the first of four Dover victories for Rudd during his 33-year career. May 24, 1987: Kyle Petty, in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford, collected the biggest victory of his career in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The son of seven-time champion Richard Petty led 35 laps, including the final 17. Petty enjoyed nine additional Victory Lane celebrations during his 30-year career.

BY BEN WHITE | PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF NASCAR

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NASCAR BUILDS PRESENTED BY

FROM BEGINNER TO EXPERT WELDERS

Welders Key in Race Car Construction

he art of welding is incredibly important in constructing the very best machines for competition in NASCAR’s three national series. Even though referred to loosely as “stock cars,” they are quite a bit different than the everyday vehicles that are driven on America’s highways. Tommy Wheeler, operations director of Roush Fenway Racing, helps oversee the process of building chassis for the organization. The method for welding a chassis together is carefully planned from start to finish and begins with a series of prefabricated pieces that must be assembled in a specific order. “The race car chassis is completely different from a passenger car,” Wheeler explained. “The passenger car is sort of a stamped construction and for us, we are effectively all tube-frame construction. So in layman’s terms, it’s either round tube or it’s rectangular or square tubing. So the whole foundation of our house is the frame rails themselves, which is the lowest point and foundation on the chassis. We have three-by-five rails and then we have tube-framed rails that go around the driver. “Basically, our chassis are constructed in three pieces. You have the center where the driver is, which is the cockpit or cocoon that protects the driver. Then you have a front clip and rear clip. They are really the vehicle’s dynamic pieces, where the center is the safety element. “We are exclusively MIG and TIG here,” Wheeler said. “MIG is effectively wire welded where TIG is

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effectively stick welded. That’s the best way to think about it; where you’re taking a rod to it, as opposed to taking a wire to it. MIG welding is so much faster than the TIG welding. We have booms that hold the welders over the chassis plate just so they [employees] can do the welding as fast as they can.” Roush Fenway Racing has a plan in place so every weld is uniform and looks the same, even when the job is switched to someone else in the department. “We have several guys doing the welding on the chassis before it goes out the door,” Wheeler said. “We have a welding procedure that’s documented as far as steps, which tube is first, second and so forth so we can keep the consistency from chassis to chassis. So no matter who welds it, they’re going to react the same way.” From the time the rails are placed on the chassis jig to the time there are wheels and suspension parts that support them, welders are vital for making sure every piece is solidly in place. “We use welders everywhere, such as our Cup car fabrication, which is still steel construction,” Wheeler said. “The only thing that’s composite is the nose, tail, deck lid and hood. Everything else is steel. Everything is tack welded or stitch welded. We put in a minimum amount of welds due to weight. That’s a big one, the body itself. All of the suspension components are effectively welded. The large majority of those are TIG welded because they are parts we will have technicians and fabricators make on their bench.”

orney Industries has been welding in America since the beginning. They have held a leadership position in the welding industry for over 80 years with their comprehensive line of welding and plasma cutting machines built for novice to professional welders. The Forney Easy Weld line of machines were created for the beginner or do-it-yourself welder. These machines are simple to use and can run off standard 120-volt garage power. There are currently five machines in this line including a multi-process for MIG, TIG and Stick welding, and a plasma cutter that easily attaches to a small air compressor to cleanly cut ¼” metal. If you prefer to weld without gas, try stick welding with the less than 10-pound Stick/TIG machine, or use flux-core wire with the flux-core inverter machine. Easily turn inspiration and ideas into masterpieces, and see how this novice welder line can take the fear and intimidation out of welding. For the advanced or professional welder who needs 140270 amps to weld a variety of thicker, larger material, try the Forney line of machines. Various machines have a cast aluminum wire drive system, dual geared idler and drive roll with de-spooler as well as expanded cabinet size. Forney machines have nice, clean, smooth arc characteristics which produce better quality welds. This rugged line of welding and plasma cutting machines offers an upgrade in performance at an affordable price. To find your next machine that gives the power, performance and portability you deserve, visit forneyind.com. –Blair Weilnau

BY BEN WHITE

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SPOTLIGHT PRESENTED BY

A NEW APPRECIATION

Dillon Learned by Getting His Hands Dirty Growing up the grandson of an accomplished NASCAR team owner, Ty Dillon heard it suggested all too often that he didn’t have to earn his way up through the NASCAR ranks like most drivers. Today, Dillon acknowledges that in all reality, being the grandson of NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Childress and the son of Mike Dillon – a former racer turned team executive – probably did afford him some unique opportunities. This much is certain, however: Dillon was never handed anything. From the time he first jumped into a Legend Car at age 13 until the time he joined the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series full time at age 20, the native of Lewisville, North Carolina, rolled up his proverbial sleeves and went to work, learning everything he could about race cars. “Part of the deal as far as my family was, if I wanted to do this, I was definitely going to have to be a mechanic on the car and have appreciation for the sport,” Dillon said. During his early days in Legend Cars, Bandoleros and dirt Late Models, Dillon would race up to three times a week with a small “pit crew” of no more

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than three or four guys. If he wanted to continue to compete and pursue a career as a NASCAR driver, he had no choice but to get his hands dirty. “I would help out lashing the motors, and if I tore [up the body], I would help cut out a new side or hammer out the one that we had,” said Dillon, now in his second season as driver of the No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. “And then once I’d get done with all that, I’d have to grease the heim joints and nut and bolt everything – every single bolt on the car. From that point, I had to learn the importance of a driver taking care of his equipment and how it can make a difference in getting to run a long season. It’s not always about running as fast as you can and if you tear it up, you tear it up.”

hen Ty Dillon decided he was serious about chasing a career as a NASCAR driver, his grandfather and father sat him down and wanted to make one thing crystal clear from the outset. Thankfully, Dillon took his elders’ advice to heart. “There was never a point where it was, ‘OK, you’re going to have to start working,’” said Dillon, now 26 and himself a father. “It was always, ‘You’re going to work on your stuff from the time you race until the end so you know what you’re talking about, you know what you’re driving, you know what’s going on.’ “You gain so much more appreciation for the sport that way.” When Dillon wasn’t racing, he would often serve as a mechanic on older brother Austin’s Late Model cars. There was also a particularly memorable two-week stretch – which he recalls in vivid detail – that considerably broadened his understanding of how race cars actually work. “I even spent some time working at ECR (Earnhardt Childress Racing Engines), tearing down motors just to learn a little bit more about motors and the process and what goes on inside the motor after a race, and what it looks like,” Dillon said. “I just tried to explore as much as I could about the operation – not only just trying to be a driver but trying to understand the sport as a whole. I gained so much appreciation through that for the people working on my equipment. I think that was the biggest thing I learned more than anything.”

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SEAL THE DEAL JEFF GORDON THE ROAD WARRIOR ENJOYED WINNING AT SONOMA Jeff Gordon, driver of the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, collected five Cup series wins at Sonoma Raceway, the last coming on June 25, 2006. The native of nearby Vallejo, Calif., led the final 44 laps of the 110-lap race and sealed the deal with a pass for the lead over teammate Terry Labonte on lap 88. Team Penske’s Ryan Newman also passed Labonte in the closing laps to secure a second-place finish. Gordon also enjoyed victories on the 1.9-mile road course in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2004 prior to securing the win in front of a crowd of 102,000. Gordon did not lead the field until gaining the top position with 22 laps remaining. The talented road course ace had mastered Sonoma Raceway so many times in the past that it taught him exactly when to make his move for the victory. Gordon was able to miss the multi-car accident that involved J.J. Yeley, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte and Reed Sorenson in turn two with four laps remaining. “I have always enjoyed Sonoma Raceway in part because I have friends and family there,” Gordon said. “It’s a track that’s been so good to me over the years. Every time we went there, we knew we had a real shot to win, thanks to Hendrick Motorsports and a great crew. The 2006 win was my last there but a very special win.”

POLE POSITION 2018

PRESENTED BY

BOBBY ALLISON ELDER ALLISON TAKES TALLADEGA On May 4, 1986, Bobby Allison, driver of the No. 22 Stavola Brothers Racing Buick, sealed the deal by taking the lead over Buddy Baker with only five laps remaining to win the Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Dale Earnhardt dropped Baker to third and challenged Allison for the win. On the final lap, Earnhardt made his move for the lead in turn three, taking the point but slipped briefly. Allison overtook him on the high side in turn four as they raced for the checkered flag. An interesting storyline prevailed throughout the race weekend. All 42 cars in the field qualified over 200 miles per hour led by Elliott, the pole sitter at 212.229 to set a world record for a stock car that remains today. Elliott led 116 of the race’s 188 laps but fell off the pace with a blown engine 13 laps from the finish. After Elliott’s issues, the trio of Allison, Earnhardt and Baker battled closely for the win with Allison out powering them at the finish. “It’s been a little too long for me,” Allison said that day about his two-year winless drought. “I’ve had a habit of having things slip out of my grasp. I may be over the hill [at age 48] but I’m enjoying what I’m doing. But I have to admit, I wouldn’t have won without Bill’s troubles.”

BY BEN WHITE | PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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ON THE ROAD PRESENTED BY

TALES FROM THE ROAD

GET TO KNOW

BRENDAN GREENE NICKNAME: Slim HOMETOWN: Midland, North Carolina TWITTER: @ BrendanSlim18 HOBBIES: Fishing and deer hunting FAVORITE MEAL ON ROAD: Mexican food TRAVELING COMPANIONS: The hauler driver for the 20; and the 11 sometimes. That’s about it. If you get too many trucks together, nobody can stop and pee together, eat together or fuel together so you end up killing a lot of time making extra stops. So you try to keep the group small. DAYTIME DRIVING VS. NIGHTTIME DRIVING: Night, because there’s less traffic. There’s a couple-hour window in there that you might have some crazy stuff until about 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning, but after that, it’s smooth sailing and wide open roads. FAVORITE DRIVE TO A TRACK: Probably Sonoma. It’s beautiful out west up in Wyoming and Nevada. It’s a long way, but it’s pretty. FAVORITE TRACK: Dover International Speedway.

POLE POSITION 2018

Truckin’ with Brendan Greene

rendan Greene didn’t always aspire to be a truck driver for a NASCAR team. His passion as a teenager was Harleys – not haulers. “At the time, I was working on motorcycles,” Greene said. “That’s what I went to school for – Harley-Davidson stuff. And I had a buddy that was driving a show car, and it looked like a lot of fun back when I was like 19 or 20 years old. And I beat the door down with him just because I wanted to travel and see the country. That’s how it started out; I really didn’t know a whole lot about racing, at that point.” Roughly a year as a show car driver convinced Greene to ditch motorcycles for a career as a NASCAR team hauler driver. “I decided, ‘You know what? This looks like fun and something I could enjoy, working on cars and driving a truck,’” he said. “It just looked like a fun gig, so the year after that, I started driving the hauler.” And he’s been at it ever since. Now in his 12th year as NASCAR team hauler driver, Greene is in his fourth season as co-driver of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 big rig that transports the cars of Kyle Busch to and from race tracks. Greene started with JGR in January 2013 and spent his first two years with the company as the driver of JGR’s No. 54 NASCAR Xfinity Series truck. “In my opinion, it’s probably the best place to work in the sport, just for the family atmosphere, and they truly care about their employees and want to make things better for you and your family,” Greene said. “With JGR, I feel like every week somebody’s got a chance to win.” Of course, one of the keys to being a successful NASCAR team is having dedicated employees. When it comes to his role as a truck driver, Greene couldn’t take it any more seriously. “We’re A to B,” he said. “There’s no in-between like stopping here and sightseeing or anything like that. It’s you start and you drive until you get there. It’s no vacation, per se.”

TALE NO. 1: “Everybody’s asking for candy. I had a lady when we left Pocono in June and were sitting in traffic on the interstate by the track. … I look and this lady gets out of her car like three or four cars ahead of us and she walks all the way back to the truck, and I’m looking at her and open the door, and she’s like, ‘Hey, where’s my M&M’s?’ I’m like, ‘I’m out of M&M’s, you know.’ It kind of blew my mind that she would get out in the middle of traffic on the interstate and ask somebody for candy.” TALE NO. 2: “People ask for your autograph all the time. I had a couple ladies up in Fernley, Nevada, on the way to Sonoma, they walked up with a notepad and asked me for my autograph because I was sitting in the driver’s seat and we were about to fuel. They were turning around to walk off and my co-driver, he was standing outside, so I sent them over to him. He looked up at me and he knew what had happened. I’d sent them over there. So they snagged him, too.”

BY JARED TURNER

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CREW SPOTLIGHT JAKE LIND LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

STEPHEN APPELL LIVING HIS DREAM YOU KNOW WHEN YOU’VE HAD A REALLY GOOD STOP JUST FROM SEEING IT SO MANY TIMES. YOU DON’T REALLY GET SURPRISED ABOUT IT ANYMORE. NOW I CAN GET WITHIN A COUPLE OF TENTHS OF WHAT THE ACTUAL STOP WAS WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE WATCH.”

Jake Lind, rear-tire changer for Richard Childress Racing and driver Austin Dillon, set out to follow in the footsteps of his famous father, Will PLAYING Lind. The elder was a tire changer for FAVORITES RCR when seven-time NASCAR Cup WITH JAKE Series champion Dale Earnhardt drove the team’s No. 3 Chevrolet in 1981 and VACATION again from 1984 to 2001. SPOT “I was always interested in (changing ■■ The beach tires), but my dad didn’t really want me SEASON to do it,” Lind said. “Back in his day, it ■■ Fall was a lot harder. He basically wanted HOLIDAY me to go to school and get a real job. ■■ Christmas As a teenager, I would do what I was allowed to do. Someone would put TV me to work on something and my dad ■■ Mickey Mouse with the kids would run me off and tell me not to touch the car.” MOVIE For a time, Lind attended Davidson ■■ Christmas Vacation County Community College but realized MUSIC that wasn’t for him. He found work at ■■ Old Country RCR mowing lawns, driving a motor coach and working in the maintenance shop. He even volunteered with a Cup Series team to learn the ropes and finally earned a full-time team position in 2001. Lind realized his dream of changing tires in 2002, working his way through the ranks in the NASCAR Xfinity Series before advancing to the Cup Series level. He joined the crew of Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet at the start of the current season. During the week, Lind works with fuel systems for RCR’s NASCAR Xfinity Series teams. “It’s changed a lot in 17 years,” Lind said. “It used to be a whirlwind and now it’s calmed down a lot. I see more of what’s going on. … It feels like you’re creeping. Then you go back and see it’s a 12-second stop.”

POLE POSITION 2018

WHEN I GOT THE CALL THAT THEY WERE GOING TO HIRE ME, I THOUGHT, ‘MAN, I GET TO WORK FOR THE WOOD BROTHERS.’ EVERYBODY WAS TELLING ME HOW AWESOME LEN AND EDDIE (WOOD) ARE TO WORK WITH. MY FAVORITE PART IS WHEN THEY START TELLING STORIES FROM BACK IN THE DAY DIRECTLY FROM THE SOURCE.”

Stephen Appell, interior specialist for Wood Brothers Racing and driver Paul Menard, was introduced to NASCAR racing at the age of 4 after taking a trip with his family to Disneyland. When he became scared by the costumed characters, his father took him back to the hotel where they watched PLAYING the 1995 Daytona 500. Upon returning FAVORITES home, they discovered a race track nearby and found their new passion. WITH “Both my dad and I fell in love with STEPHEN racing when we went to California’s VACATION Irwindale Speedway,” Appell said. “My SPOT: dad had gotten on to a West Coast Pro ■■ Wrightsville Beach, Truck team. Just a couple of weeks North Carolina ago, a guy that worked with him on one SEASON: of the first truck teams showed him ■ ■ Spring a photo of me at about 10 years old HOLIDAY: inside the truck. I began working on ■■ Thanksgiving race cars at age 14.” A decade later in 2013, Appell was TV SHOW: offered a chance to work in public rela■■ Friends tions, but his heart was set on working MOVIE: on race cars. A friend from California ■■ Days of Thunder working in the NASCAR Monster Energy MUSIC: Cup Series for BK Racing helped him ■■ Blues land a job as a tire specialist. Appell continued in that role for HScott Motorsports and then Kaulig Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series before changing to interior specialist for Wood Brothers Racing. He makes certain Menard has what he needs wherever the NASCAR Cup Series schedule takes them. “Basically, I make sure everything is in the cockpit that needs to be there,” Appell said. “The biggest thing is that Paul is comfortable and has his gloves and ear buds and things where he wants them, especially right before the race. It’s all the comfort stuff.”

BY BEN WHITE

ClearMinis Cle

™

^It's possible while taking Nexium® 24HR. Use as directed for 14 days to treat frequent heartburn. Do not take for more than 14 days or more often than every 4 months unless directed by a doctor. Not for immediate relief. †May take 1 to 4 days for full effect. All Nexium® 24HR products have the same effectiveness. The stylized No. 3 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. 3 race car are used under license from their owners.

NASCAR PETS PRESENTED BY

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Elliott Sadler’s Unique ‘Teammates’

ASCAR racing is a team sport, and for NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Elliott Sadler the same is true with deer hunting. However, in the latter case, Sadler’s teammates aren’t burly men in fire suits running up and down pit road. In fact, they’re not people at all. They’re Walker Coonhound hunting dogs that Sadler raises and breeds on a sprawling, privately owned farm in the southern part of his home state of Virginia. “We hunt on about 35,000 acres of land, so we have a lot of land to cover,” said Sadler, a three-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race winner before returning to the Xfinity Series in 2011. “I think that’s the best part about having dogs – we can kind of run them and have a good time and not bother anybody.” Sadler currently has 43 Walker Hounds on his property, where he tries to spend as much time as possible. When Sadler can’t be there due to his busy NASCAR schedule, which takes him away more than 30 weekends a year, the veteran driver and father of two has a groundskeeper who’s been with him for 18 years.

POLE POSITION 2018

“He helps raise the dogs and take care of them, and he makes sure they’re all where they need to be,” Sadler said. “When I’m not there, he’s the headman.” Sadler doesn’t buy or bring in hunting dogs from the outside, choosing to instead to raise them himself – with some help, of course. “I’ve been breeding them since I was about 20 or 21 years old,” said Sadler, a native of Emporia, Virginia. “For a little bit over 20 years, I’ve been breeding them. My dad used to do a little bit of it, and then I kind of got into doing it with him and started breeding them. I love them and now my kids love them. They’re very helpful and important to what we do and the style of hunting that we use. There’s no baiting in the state of Virginia; it’s more of a fair chase, fair game – which is a lot more fun, in my opinion.” Sadler usually raises a couple litters of Walker Hounds at a time, which usually comes out to a total of about 10 or 12 new canines. “Any more than that, it gets kind of hard to give special attention to each and every one,” the JR Motorsports driver said.

ELLIOTT SADLER strives to maintain a personal connection with each of his 40-plus hunting dogs. This is accomplished in part through a rather sophisticated method of nomenclature. “I usually name them all according to something that’s going on, compared to the litter that they’re in,” Sadler explained. “So if they’re all brothers and sisters, maybe I’ll use a ‘Star Wars’ theme. The last one we had, the names were Rey, Leia, Luke, Vader and Chewie. I’ve had some named after candy, like Snickers, M&M’s and Skittles. “I’ve had some named after country music artists, like Blake, Willie, Waylon, Dolly and Luke. That’s kind of how I name them, to keep up with which ones are in which litter.” Sadler wouldn’t trade his hunting partners for the world. “I love them to death, and they’ve all got their little personalities, and it’s easy to tell them apart,” he said. “They’re just like your kids – you’re proud of them most of the time, and they all have their little quirks about them. I can actually tell them apart in the woods by the sound of their voice. When you spend a lot of time with them, you are able to figure those things out.”

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SPOTLIGHT

PRESENTED BY

TWO AT A TIME

Don’t Neglect Your Headlights

eadlights dim over time. The concept, simple as it might sound, often goes unconsidered by drivers on the highway – many who don’t give any thought to the necessity of periodically replacing their vehicle’s headlights. “Like tires, like brakes, like batteries, headlights are not at max performance their whole life,” said Brian Noble, marketing manager for OSRAM SYLVANIA, the world’s leader in automotive lighting. “Most people actually think light bulbs are on or their off, and that’s not true at all. They’re wearing and they’re dimming the whole time they’re on.” By the time a headlight completely stops working, it’s possibly emitting up to 30 percent less light than it originally did. The gradual dimming is a result of the tungsten filament inside the bulb wearing out over time and not having the same amount of material that was there when it was new. “We’ve all seen those cars where they have lights on, you know they’re on, but they’re very yellow and very dim,” Noble said. “I’ve had people write emails that say, ‘My first headlight burned out on my 17-year-old car. You do amazing work.’ I’m like, ‘That’s really not good, because you’ve been seeing very poorly for a very long time.’” While it’s difficult to pinpoint an exact timetable for when drivers should replace their headlights, Noble offers a common-sense recommendation.

POLE POSITION 2018

“We try to say, ‘Try to change every other year,’ but you have people that are driving 10,000 miles a year, and you have people that are driving 30 and 40,000 miles a year,” he said. “It’s really impossible to say how much of that driving’s done in the day and at night. You could have somebody driving 30,000 miles a year and they’re never driving at night, so their lights are never on. Or you can get somebody driving 10,000 miles a year and their lights are always on. “So it’s really hard to come to an answer. We say every other year, but if you feel like you’re just not seeing as well down the road, it’s probably a good idea to take care of it.”

AS TEMPTING AS IT might be to replace just one headlight at a given time, it’s always a better idea to go ahead swap out both headlights in one swoop. To have one new headlight and old one going simultaneously poses risks that are too significant to ignore. “If one of them goes out, the other is not too far behind,” said SYLVANIA’s Brian Noble, noting that the process of replacing headlights is simple enough for people to do it at home on their own, instead of making a special trip to see a mechanic. “They’re made to be almost identical, so if one’s out, the other one is going to go pretty soon, and you might as well replace them in pairs,” Noble added. “And because they’ve been wearing over time, that one is probably going to have considerably less light output than the other one. So now you have an uneven field of vision which distracts the driver, because you’re seeing one side better than the other and your eyes are focusing because one headlight shows further down the road and you’re not seeing the whole picture. All of that can be an extra distraction, and that’s not a good thing.”

BY JARED TURNER

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SPOTLIGHT KEYS TO SUCCESS

PRESENTED BY

What’s in a Helmet Design?

or NASCAR drivers, it’s personality and character. For Off Axis Paint founder and owner Greg Stumpff, it’s long days, intense labor and even the occasional sleepless night. But it’s all so worth it. Based out of a 5,000-square-foot facility equipped with a state-of-the-art airbrush booth, Stumpff and his team of talented helmet designers work tirelessly to deliver quality products that have gained notoriety throughout the motorsports world. The company’s growing clientele includes the likes of 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Martin Truex Jr., two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton and retired fan-favorite Mark Martin. When Stumpff painted his first NASCAR helmet in 2010 for J.J. Yeley, he had no idea that Off Axis Paint would morph into an enterprise that today includes six full-time employees, boasts more

■■ Left to right: Dustin Pleasanton, Noel McEwen, Matt Crafton, Stuart Ellis, Greg Stumpff and Michael Sauers

POLE POSITION 2018

than 50 clients, and creates between 200 and 250 unique helmets in a given year. Off Axis often paints helmets for big events — one being the 2017 Monster Energy Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where Truex claimed the championship. Stumpff was talking with Truex’s girlfriend, Sherry Pollex, on the Tuesday before Homestead when he broached the possibility of designing a helmet that would encompass some of the driver’s more memorable moments from the season. Pollex loved the idea but figured it would be impossible to execute before that Sunday. Stumpff promptly pulled three all-nighters and hand-delivered the helmet the day before the race. “That was the most hours I’ve ever put in a helmet in that short of time,” Stumpff said. “It was just the coolest and most rewarding thing in the world to see him win his first championship and capture their story on the helmet.” In addition to requiring the driver’s approval and being in full compliance with NASCAR safety standards, each helmet produced by Off Axis must get a full sign-off from the driver’s primary sponsor for that particular race. “Sometimes we nail it the first time but sometimes when you’re working with a new sponsor for that first time, you might go through five to 10 renderings,” Stumpff said, noting that his team designs up to eight unique helmets annually for some drivers. “It just kind of depends on how much they trust you. If you do that first helmet and knock it out of the park and they love it, it’s a lot easier for the years to come.”

TO WHAT DOES GREG Stumpff attribute the growth and success of Off Axis Paint? One key, he believes, is location. In 2012, Stumpff moved his business from Missouri to North Carolina. Today, the company is based in Mooresville, North Carolina — the heart of NASCAR country. “Drivers can actually stop in and see the helmet being done or even help on it,” Stumpff said. “I’ve had Chris Buescher and Justin Allgaier and Noah Gragson in the booth painting their own helmet. I think they enjoy seeing the level of difficulty involved, and they have even more respect for the process after they do something like that. It’s a very personal thing to get your helmet painted.” Another factor, in Stumpff’s view, is Anest Iwata — his longtime preferred choice of airbrush. “I’ve used about every other airbrush I could possibly use, and Iwata is the best product on the market,” Stumpff said. “I’m not just saying that because I use it every day; it’s because I’ve tried them all. I’ve been airbrushing since I was 14 years old, and I’m 31 now, so literally half my life I’ve had an airbrush in my hand five to seven days a week, and 95 percent of that time it has been Iwata.”

It’s OK, we can’t agree on how to pronounce it correctly either. Maybe that’s why we love that DiBenedetto guy so much...

Anest Iwata USA www.AnestIwata.com

Thank you to all the fans who gave us a shot and now love our spray guns, airbrushes, and our favorite driver, Matt “The People’s Racer” / “DiBurrito” DiBenedetto even if you can’t say our names!

SPOTLIGHT

STAR POWER

F A New Technology Partnership

hen World Wide Technology and Richard Petty Motorsports came together May 1 to unveil details of a six-race partnership, RPM got more than a world-class sponsor to adorn driver Bubba Wallace’s No. 43 Chevrolet in select events over the remainder of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. In addition to being a financial resource to Wallace and the team co-owned by seven-time NASCAR champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty, World Wide Technology — a marketleading technology solution provider with $10.4 billion in annual revenue and integration labs across the globe — is providing Richard Petty Motorsports with tools that typical sponsors can’t. “What got me excited about the partnership around NASCAR is it’s one where technology and

POLE POSITION 2018

working with data can make a real, meaningful difference in the outcome for a team that’s trying to win each week,” said Chris Infanti, senior engagement manager with WWT. “In other sports, I think you have to do a little more work to figure out what the connection might be or how a company like ours can impact things, but I think with what a prominent role technology, data and engineering play in NASCAR, it’s a really great story for us to tell.” Indeed it is. Throughout each race, every team — Richard Petty Motorsports being no exception — uses various software applications to receive information that includes timing and scoring stats, car telemetry (such as throttle, brake and RPMs), pit road officiating updates, radio transmissions from rival teams, and quick-turn image data. This is where WWT has made a big difference. The first step was bringing all the team’s data together in an easy-to-use web application. Step No. 2 is analyzing that data to help the team make better decisions in the heat of battle. In the coming weeks, WWT hopes to use its vast resources to help the team create a more accurate fuel calculator that would provide a better recommendation on the optimal time for a pit stop. And there’s much more yet to come. “The goal is always to find ways to make the data more useful to the analyst or the engineer that needs to use it to do their job,” Infanti said. “It’s not about using data analysis to replace the role of somebody on the team. It’s about allowing them to spend less time focused on figuring out where the data is and pulling it together on spreadsheets, and more time focused on actual decision-making during the race.”

ounded in 1990 and based in St. Louis, WWT is a newcomer to NASCAR through its partnership with Richard Petty Motorsports. Rest assured, though: The star power of the team’s namesake isn’t lost on the more than 4,600 employees of WWT. “When you see ‘The King’ walking through your offices with his trademark cowboy hat and the sunglasses, it’s hard not to get excited about that,” WWT senior engagement manager Chris Infanti said. “Even the people who might not have been NASCAR fans and don’t really know the specifics, they see that something cool is going on and they know Richard Petty.” Not as widely known but equally aligned with the company’s brand is driver Bubba Wallace, a 24-yearold Monster Energy Series rookie who has all the makings of a future NASCAR star. “It’s just been really easy to work with these guys,” Infanti said. “There hasn’t been much of a feeling out process or, ‘Are we on the same page?’ It’s kind of like we’ve been working together as one team, and Bubba’s been great, too. He’s been to some of our offices and we’ve done the meet-and-greet type events and he’s really been awesome to work with, in particular. We found a team that really syncs up with WWT and our core values.”

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POLE POSITION 2018

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ALLSHOP PRODUCTS™ ALLSHOP™ Hand Cleaner is the “nextgen” alternative to older, harsh solutions. Our Hand Cleaner is an antibacterial, detergent-based cleaner that features micro-scrubbing polymers. No skin damaging petroleum-based solvents or harsh grit pumice ingredients. You get clean without the dryness, cracking and stinging from waterless products, plus a pleasing fragrance. ALLSHOP™ also offers these fine automotive care family of products: WICKED or X-TREME Tire Shine, Final Detail Spray and Engine Degreaser. These quality products all feature an easy-to-use, high-gloss spray to brighten any rubber, plastic or vinyl. WICKED for Cherry Fragrance or go with X-TREME for a superior high-gloss, long-lasting look. Engine Degreaser is a noncorrosive, spray-on that rinses off with water, leaving no residue. Final Detail Spray cleaner and wax repels water and prevents discoloration, drying and cracking. ALLSHOP™ is a Veteran-Owned company committed to offering our customers superior products for work or home, at affordable prices. allshopproducts.com

HONDA GENERATORS

FOLEX

Honda’s Super Quiet Series generators – the EU1000i, EU2000i, EU3000is, EU3000i Handi and EU7000is – are inverter-equipped, lightweight models that feature extremely quiet performance. Designed for the ultimate in quality, portability and convenience, these models are ideal for tailgating, camping or any trip to the great outdoors. Honda is proud to support several teams such as Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Stewart-Haas Racing, Kyle Busch Motorsports and Rev Racing with EU series generator products that provide smooth, reliable power for their racing needs.

FOLEX® is perfect for removing stains from upholstery, vinyl, clothing and practically any other material that is “colorfast” and “color-stable.” Even hard surfaces, painted surfaces, walls and woodwork that can be safely dampened with water will be quickly and easily cleaned with FOLEX®! Please visit folex.net for a list of retailers in your area and other useful information!

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Goes to work in minutes on tough pain. This Advil® has a Rapid Release formula to stop tough pain before it gets worse – in fact, nothing is proven to work faster.* Use fast-acting Advil® Film-Coated for headaches, muscle aches, toothaches, menstrual cramps, back pain, and aches and pains associated with the common cold. Fastacting Advil® Film-Coated leverages the rapid absorption properties of ibuprofen sodium, which dissolves faster than standard ibuprofen.

Cain Daytona is the latest release from Studio Tobac. The Jalapa Ligero is more refined than other Ligeros. Jalapa Ligero, plus Cain’s triple fermentation, makes Cain Daytona a medium to fullbodied, smooth, rich and flavorful smoke. Making a Straight Ligero cigar requires a unique understanding of the leaf. Ligero comes from the top of the tobacco plant. Its direct exposure to the sun darkens and thickens the leaf. Smaller than leaves lower on the plant,

it also enjoys a concentration of nutrients. Habano Seed Ligero is recognized as the most full flavored leaf. Additionally, the region in which this Habano Seed is grown plays a significant role in its flavor and strength. Jalape Ligero is the smoothest of these powerhouses. Jalapa is the northernmost tobacco region of Nicaragua. Jalapa Ligero is grown in a valley and enjoys less direct sun. The result is a full-bodied leaf with a more noticeable range of flavor. Cain Daytona is exclusively manufactured and distributed by Tabacalcera Oliva Cigar Co. Learn more at CainCigars.com.

GEICO Great news! There’s a quick way you can save money: Switch to GEICO. All it takes is 15 minutes to find out if you could save 15 percent or more on car insurance. And GEICO offers coverage for more than just car insurance. Got a motorcycle? GEICO’s got you covered. Got an RV? Covered. Got a boat? Covered. How about homeowners or renters insurance? You bet GEICO’s got you covered. And there’s so much more GEICO could help with, plus don’t forget the discounts. Go to geico.com today and see how much you could save. That’s geico.com!

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BFGOODRICH RUGGED TERRAIN T/A Are you driver enough? Just because a tire looks good on your truck doesn’t mean you have to hear it on the highway. Introducing the BFGoodrich® Rugged Terrain T/A® tire – it sounds nothing like it looks. Learn more at Walmart.com. BFGoodrichTires.com © 2017 MNA, Inc. All rights reserved.

NEXIUM 24HR Nexium® 24HR is the No. 1 selling frequent heartburn brand*. More than 10 years and millions of prescriptions later, The Purple Pill® you know and trust is available without a prescription for frequent heartburn. Nexium® 24HR works by blocking acid directly at the source, giving you complete protection^ from frequent heartburn – no matter what triggers it. This is Nexium Level Protection®. * Based on IRI sales data 52 weeks ending 2/14/16 among OTC brands. May take 1 to 4 days for full effect. Use as directed. ^ It’s possible while taking Nexium 24HR. Use as directed for 14 days to treat frequent heartburn. Do not take for more than 14 days or more often than every 4 months unless directed by a doctor. Not for immediate relief.

POLE POSITION 2018

BOND BEAUTY & BRAINS: Ceiling fans and fireplaces make your home beautiful and comfortable, and BOND makes them smarter! The BOND is a wireless device that connects remote-controlled ceiling fans and fireplaces to Wifi and lets you control them from anywhere using smart phones or tablets, or with voice control using Google Home or Amazon Echo. As demand for smart products skyrockets, BOND is perfect for consumers interested in getting more smart home control. BOND saves you money: use your existing appliances, no need to buy a new expensive “smart device” or modify your appliance; one BOND can control up to six devices; improve energy efficiency and lower your electric bill by connecting BOND to your smart thermostat using IFTTT applets. Set it up in minutes, and never worry about losing your remote control again! (Future use cases: electric window shades, security gates and garage doors.) Learn more at Walmart.com and bondhome.io.

WYLER’S LIGHT® Put a smile on your water and add flavor to your life with Wyler’s Light® drink mixes! Whether you’re looking to cut back on carbonated soft drinks or want to add some excitement to your water, Wyler’s Light is here for you. We know your life gets busy – crazy busy – which is why our convenient, Singles to Go drink mix packets are there for you every step of the way. Simply add one fruitflavored drink stick to 16 oz. of water to create a tasty, sugar-free refreshment. Open up a world of endless flavor possibilities and visit us at wylerslight.com to find a retail store near you. And don’t forget to share your #WylersLife with us!

SPEED CRATE

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Your driver, your gear, every month, right to your door! With Speed Crate, you just sign up for your favorite driver, pick your apparel size and awesome boxes of gear come straight to you. Each month we feature all new items such as T-shirts, hats, flags, accessories and so much more. Speed Crate is the first monthly subscription service created by race fans, for race fans. It has never been this easy to keep your racing wardrobe fresh, collect great products and support your favorite driver. The Speed Crate platform allows you full control of your subscription. You can cancel at any time, switch drivers or skip a month if needed. Head over to speedcrate.co for all the information and join Speed Crate Nation today! Use coupon code POLE for 15% OFF your first Speed Crate.

The AL20R is a lightweight, compact, fully rechargeable flashlight with a stunning maximum output of 1180 lumens. It features High, Medium and Low intensities as well as powerful Strobe and SOS functions. The sealed body sports a 2m impact resistance and IPX-8 waterproof rating. The light comes with a micro-USB Rechargeable 18650 Li-ion Battery, among several other attachments and accessories. The battery can either be charged on its own, or through the AL20R’s external micro-USB Port. This port can also turn the AL20R into an on-the-go power source for other devices such as smart phones and tablets. adventurelights.com

NEANDERTHAL With 1.5 inches of arctic-like insulation, Neanderthal’s Wanderer Cooler can help you have that cold beverage of choice while tailgating before or after the race. Heavy-duty backpack design, built-in 10-watt Bluetooth speaker, solar charger for your phone and an anti-microbial liner, removable for easy cleaning. Supercomfy, ventilated straps for carrying convenience. Your friends at Neanderthal pride themselves on going the extra mile – that’s why we only use heavy duty nylon for all of the pockets and tie-down strap – and include a ton of pockets, zippers and “bells and whistles” in additional to the features you expect. NeanderthalTailgate.com

ELEKTROPLATE Personalize your very own license plate frame with us today! Comprised of an all-metal frame with striking customizable 3D text options, there are over 25 different combinations of colors and designs to choose from, so you’re sure to find one that works perfectly for you. Own a company or organization? We also work with many of the country’s largest auto manufacturers, dealerships and automotive organizations on custom automotive accessories! Whether you are looking to garner brand recognition or generate revenue, we can find the perfect solution for you. Elektroplate specializes in high-end automotive accessories that are guaranteed to

withstand harsh outdoor environments. Product lines include chrome emblems, hitch covers, front license plates, license plate frames, and specialty decals. Product categories include collegiate, military, religious, masonic, hunting and fishing, flags, letters and numbers, ribbons, fire, EMS, police, DC Comics and many more. Race to chromeemblems.com to see all the possibilities!

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TOOLS OF THE TRADE

PRESENTED BY

Racers’ Tape: Sticking to the Plan

housands of parts and pieces are carefully assembled to construct a winning NASCAR race car. But there’s one rather simple product that all race teams rely on to help make their cars go faster and keep them in competition after a crash during any given event on the 36-race Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule. It’s known as racers’ tape, those multi-colored rolls of adhesive that can be used to keep damaged hoods from flying up, fenders from flapping in the wind and deck lids in place after outside retaining walls cause heavy damage. For years, it’s been commonly referred to as duct tape and its creation dates back to World War II. Initially made by Revolite (a division of Johnson and Johnson), the tape was then a rubber-based adhesive applied to a durable cloth backing. It resisted water and was used by the military as a sealing tape on ammunition cases. That same style of tape has long been used for sealing heating-and-airconditioning ducts and is utilized every day in households across the land. It’s also been a staple in NASCAR racing since the early 1960s. One of the first uses for the gray tape in NASCAR came during the 1963 Daytona 500. When Marvin Panch was badly burned in a sports car race at Daytona international Speedway prior to NASCAR’s premier event, Panch asked the Wood Brothers Racing team to use Tiny Lund as his replacement. Before the race, crew chief Leonard Wood covered Panch’s name on the roofline and had a sign painter inscribe Lund’s name on the tape that covered it. Lund went on to win the race, the biggest victory of his 12-year career. Mike Smith, paint specialist and longtime general mechanic for Wood Brothers Racing, has seen the tape evolve through the years.

POLE POSITION 2018

“Well, it’s come a long way,” he said. “Years ago, when you tore a quarter panel off where metal comes to metal at the top of the fender, you would take two-inch wide duct tape and build a patch say 10 inches by 10 inches. You would build it on the pit wall. Now, we have something called ‘Bearbond’ that really sticks. It came into NASCAR about 2007 or 2008 and has a cardboard backing. You cut it to the size you want and put it on.” Since the mid-1980s, racers’ tape of various widths has been available to NASCAR teams in a variety of colors that closely resemble the paint on their race cars. It comes in standard and florescent colors of yellow, orange, green, blue, red, black and white. It’s also been called “200-mile-per-hour tape” by fans that closely follow the sport. “We have red-and-white tape for our red-and-white cars and black-and-yellow tape for the yellow ones,” Smith said. “We have a five-minute window now that NASCAR gives us for repairs, so it would take too long to make patches from strips. But we do use the tape to put on the front grill of our cars to help create downforce. We use racers’ tape for a lot of things.” Whether using it to hold damaged fenders and deck lids in place or make cars run faster on superspeedways, racers’ tape is a necessary tool every crew chief depends on.

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TOOLS OF THE TRADE Jack Stands Keep Crew Members Safe

ince NASCAR was formed on Dec. 21, 1948, safety for drivers, crew members and fans has been a top priority. When working around the 3,400-pound race cars in the garage area or at the shop, one tool of the trade is vitally important in preventing crew members from being seriously injured. That tool is jack stands, adjustable, tripod-shaped objects designed to support the weight of a raised race car. They are placed under the vehicle’s frame to provide four points of support when the car is elevated. Once a race car is jacked up and the stands are put in place, the car is lowered onto them. Jack stands are used on level concrete or asphalt surfaces and are designed for a specified load capacity. Jeffrey Baker, a former crew member and department manager, is presently the facilities manager for Team Penske. He has relied on jack stands throughout his racing career. “I would say jack stands are the most important tool in the garage,” Baker noted. “Sadly, we hear about people in everyday life that have crawled under cars with only a jack and have gotten hurt badly or have lost their lives. Jack stands are vital for keeping crew members safe at the shop and at the track. “We make certain employees here at Team Penske never crawl under a race car without them.” –Ben White

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FAVORITE FINDS

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POR-15 RUST REMOVER Fast-Acting, Water-Based, Rust-Dissolving Solution. POR-15 Rust Remover will safely and completely remove light to even heavy rust from metal surfaces without affecting non-rusted steel, plastic, PVC and most paints. POR-15 Rust Remover is formulated with a fast-acting, water-based technology that is biodegradable and reusable with no fumes or bad odors. The easy-touse formula requires no sanding or scrubbing and is ideal for all metal parts, including small delicate items with hard-to-reach surfaces. Available for purchase at POR15.com.

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Full Throttle Series High-Performance AGM batteries are designed to tackle the real-world needs of high cranking, accessories and components that draw on batteries. Our TPPL Technology (Thin Plate Pure Lead) and brass terminal connections ensure the power in your battery flows efficiently whenever you need it. Full Throttle Series AGM batteries are built for both performance and reliability. So, go ahead, crank it up and enjoy extreme power on demand! fullriverbattery.com/series/batteries/ full-throttle

If it’s rusted ... it’s busted. Introducing the Bolt Buster BB2X HIGH POWER lightweight, portable, magnetic heat-induction tool. Use it to heat up anything metallic quickly and precisely without an open flame. This all-in-one patented design now features twice the power (1,800 watts at 95 percent efficiency!). Heat a three-quarter-inch nut cherry red hot (1,200 degrees Fahrenheit) in seconds. Torch-less heat induction is a proven time-saving alternative for the removal of rusted-on bolts, nuts, pins, any metal fasteners, frozen brake calipers, side moldings, frozen gas tank strap bolts, wheel bearings and more. The BB2X comes complete with an Advanced Coil Kit. Learn more at boltbusterinc.com.

SYLVANIA HEADLIGHTS LUBRIPLATE LUBRIPLATE Chain and Cable Fluid – Penetrating Oil. A superior, cleansing, nongumming penetrating oil for wire rope, chains, cables and general lubrication. Prevents rust and corrosion, protects brightwork and loosens rusty nuts and bolts. Excellent for drilling, tapping and sawing. Available in a 12-ounce spray can, Part No. L0135-063. Buy it today at lubriplate.com or CARQUEST Auto Parts stores.

Do you want to see better and farther downroad when driving at night? You can actually affect your nighttime driving experience through better headlights because there are choices. SilverStar® Ultra is SYLVANIA’s brightest downroad headlight family. SilverStar® Ultra is also designed with a whiter light that improves contrast and clarity. Greater clarity improves the visibility of road markings, street signs and objects on the side of the road like deer. Upgrade today to get SYLVANIA’s brightest downroad headlight, SilverStar® Ultra! Available at most automotive retailers. sylvania.com/auto

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HALL OF FAME Benny Parsons

enny Parsons spent some time wheeling a taxi cab through the streets of Detroit before eventually becoming a NASCAR champion. A native of Wilkes County, North Carolina, Parsons’ family relocated to Detroit when he was 19 and he worked for the cab company and gas station owned by his father. That’s when he began tagging along to local races with a pair of gas station customers who owned a race car. In 1963, Parsons started driving and excelled at the local level before graduating to the ARCA Racing Series, where he won the series championship in 1968 and 1969. NASCAR was the next step. Parsons ended up winning 21 NASCAR Cup Series races in 526 starts, and he claimed the 1973 championship in what many consider to be the most dramatic title fight in series history. His roster of victories includes the 1975 Daytona 500 and Parsons was the first driver to qualify a stock car at more than 200 mph (200.176 mph) at Talladega Superspeedway in 1982. After hanging up his helmet following the 1988 season, Parsons transitioned into the role of television analyst and he became one of the sport’s most popular figures Parsons passed away on Jan. 16, 2007, at the age of 65 following a battle with lung cancer. He was posthumously inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in January 2017.

Bobby Allison

obby Allison was one of NASCAR’s most successful and most popular drivers during the era when stock car racing transitioned from a regional sport to a nationwide sensation. Born in Miami, Florida, on Dec. 3, 1937, Allison began driving race cars while still in high school and quickly matured into one of the nation’s top short-track racers. He and his brother, Donnie Allison, eventually relocated to Hueytown, Alabama, where Bobby became the de facto leader of a group of drivers known as the “Alabama Gang” that barnstormed major events across the country. Allison claimed multiple NASCAR modified championships before becoming a NASCAR premier series regular in 1965. Over more than two decades at stock car racing’s highest level, he won 84 races, including three Daytona 500s, and captured the 1983 NASCAR Cup Series championship. His NASCAR career also included being voted the sport’s Most Popular Driver seven times between 1971 and 1983. Allison’s driving career ended on June 19, 1988, when he was critically injured in a crash at Pennsylvania’s Pocono Raceway. The 50-year-old driver suffered a severe head injury and endured an extensive rehab process. He became a car owner and fielded NASCAR premier series entries for drivers such as Mike Alexander, Hut Stricklin, Jimmy Spencer and Derrike Cope between 1990 and 1996. Allison was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2011.

POLE POSITION 2018

BY KEITH WALTZ

DRIVER PROFILES

PRE S E N T E D BY

NASCAR National Series

Driver Profiles As the NASCAR season moves into its pivotal late summer and fall stretch, get to know some of the sportâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top drivers a little better and maybe learn something new.

POLE POSITION 2018

BY JARED TURNER | PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

Kevin Harvick BRIMMING WITH CONFIDENCE Fast, dominant and borderline unstoppable: Kevin Harvick has been all of these at various times this season, stockpiling more wins – five – in the season’s first 12 races than he did in all of 2017. How confident was Harvick after notching that fifth win by the one-third mark of the season? “Now it feels like a game,” he said. “It really does, because of the fact that you want to see how many races you can win. You want to see how many laps you can lead. We know that we’re riding a momentum wave that is hard to come by, and you need to capitalize on it as many times as you can because it may never come again. I’ve never had it in my career, and I’ve been doing this for 18 years.” While Harvick will certainly have his work cut out for him when it comes time for the playoffs, given that both Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. have at times looked just as stout, the 2014 champion has an excellent shot at claiming NASCAR’s ultimate prize for the second time in his career. And if he does, much of the credit will go to his veteran crew chief, Rodney Childers, and StewartHaas Racing as a whole. SHR, co-owned by Tony Stewart and businessman Gene Haas, has been the sport’s leading organization all season. “It’s just a good time to be at SHR,” Harvick said. “They’re doing a great job of putting fast race cars on the track.”

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APPROACHING THE MIDWAY point of the season, three drivers – Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. – had combined for 13 victories in 17 races. While this level of dominance by so few drivers is extremely rare, Harvick has been anything but caught off guard. “Nothing surprises me,” he said. “I think as you look at really the past few years, I think it is pretty consistent as to who the good teams and cars have been.”

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5 BIGGEST COMPETITORS

Kevin Harvick. Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick entered the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series within a year of each other, and today – not quite two decades later – the two are the Monster Energy Series’ oldest full-time drivers. While Harvick has only won one championship compared to Johnson’s record-tying seven, the driver whose nickname is “Happy” has consistently been one of the biggest threats to Johnson’s dominance. And there have been stretches (this season being a good example), when Harvick has actually performed better than Johnson. Kyle Busch. If there’s one active driver whose overall list of accomplishments even remotely compares to Johnson’s, it’s Kyle Busch. While Busch certainly doesn’t have the championships or the wins in NASCAR’s premier series to match Johnson, his overall body of work – which includes right at a combined 190 victories among the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – is arguably just as impressive as Johnson’s. Matt Kenseth. One driver who has never backed down from Johnson is 2003 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth, who battled Johnson down to the wire for the championship in 2013 before ultimately finishing as championship runner-up to the Hendrick Motorsports driver. After sitting out the first third of the 2018 season, Kenseth is back in a part-time driving role with Roush Fenway Racing – the organization he joined as a Cup Series rookie in 2000 and competed for until joining Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013. Denny Hamlin. A consistent championship contender since moving to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2006, Denny Hamlin has never managed to claim the sport’s biggest prize, but he’s been in the thick of the hunt for it on more than one occasion – the most memorable being in 2010 when he raced Johnson toe to toe for the title over the season’s final weeks. Although Hamlin ultimately lost out to Johnson, who claimed a record-tying fifth consecutive championship, Hamlin made Johnson sweat more than he did in any of his previous championship seasons. Martin Truex Jr. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ reigning champion, Martin Truex Jr., hasn’t had a lot of memorable head-to-head battles with Johnson, but there hasn’t been a driver more difficult for Johnson to beat the past two seasons than the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. Since the beginning of 2017, Truex has won far more often than Johnson – who, as of press time, was still seeking his first victory of 2018, compared to Truex, who had three wins. Last season, Truex captured a series-high eight victories compared to Johnson’s three.

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Kyle Busch

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Winning at Every Current Monster Energy Cup Series Track. Prior to this season, there was only one track on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule where Kyle Busch had never been to Victory Lane. That track, Charlotte Motor Speedway, was checked off by Busch in a big way back in May when the driver of the No. 18 Toyota won the Coca-Cola 600 by sweeping all four stages of the race and leading 377 of 400 laps. Now, Busch just needs to win at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s new road course, known as the ROVAL, which debuts this fall. All-Time Xfinity Series Wins Leader. With 92 NASCAR Xfinity Series victories to his credit as of press time, Busch is the all-time wins leader in NASCAR’s No. 2 division – where he’s made at least a handful of starts every season since 2003. Back before NASCAR changed the rules to allow drivers to be eligible for only one NASCAR series championship per season, Busch won the 2009 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship while also competing as a full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver. 50 Camping World Truck Series Wins. As of press time, Busch had earned 50 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victories – just one win shy of the mark set by the series’ all-time wins leader, 2018 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Ron Hornaday Jr. Except for 2012, when he made only three Camping World Truck Series starts, Busch has won at least one truck race every year since 2005, which coincidentally, was his rookie season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Busch’s Truck Series victories have been divided almost evenly between Kyle Busch Motorsports and Billy Ballew Motorsports. 2015 Monster Energy Series Championship. Busch’s crowning achievement to date has been his amazing and improbable run to the 2015 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship. After missing the first 11 races of the season while sidelined with major foot and leg injuries suffered in a crash during February Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver returned with vengeance by winning five of the 25 races he entered. Busch’s defining performance came in the season-ending championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he held off fellow title contender Kevin Harvick for the victory. Kyle Busch Motorsports. Since Busch founded Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2010 alongside his wife, Samantha, the organization has earned more than 55 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race wins (a series record) along with two driver championships and a record six Truck Series owners’ titles. KBM also holds the record for most wins in a Camping World Truck Series season, with 14, which were recorded in 2014. KBM drivers have won two of the past three Camping World Truck Series drivers’ championships, courtesy of Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).

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Kurt Busch

5 WAYS HE’S UNIQUE

He Shares a Primary Sponsor with NASCAR. Before Monster Energy became the title sponsor for NASCAR’s premier series in 2017, the energy drinks company was already a primary sponsor for Kurt Busch – and that remains the case today. How fitting it was, then, that Busch – driving a No. 41 Ford proudly adorned in Monster Energy colors – won the 2017 Daytona 500, Monster Energy’s first official race as the title sponsor of the sport’s No. 1 division. Monster Energy’s first race as a primary sponsor for Busch was the fall 2015 race at Martinsville Speedway. He’s Won in All 3 Major NASCAR Series. There’s an extremely short list of drivers who’ve won at least one race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Busch is on that list, having won four truck races, five Xfinity Series events and – as of press time – 29 Cup Series races. Of course, perhaps even more impressive than winning races in all three series is the fact that Busch is a former champion of the Monster Energy Series and a former championship runner-up in trucks. He’s the Only Active Monster Energy Series Driver Racing Against a Sibling. From the Bodines to the Wallaces to the Waltrips, Labontes and Burtons, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series has long been a haven for sibling racers. Today, however, only one set of siblings currently competes in NASCAR’s top division, and that would be Kurt and Kyle Busch. Kurt, who is the older sibling by nearly seven years, joined NASCAR’s premier division full time in 2000. Kyle didn’t make the jump until 2005. The two have battled each other hard on the track for nearly a decade-and-a-half now without major incident. He’s Competed for Numerous Teams and Manufacturers. Busch has never been one to shy away from change. From his rookie Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season of 2000 through today, the Las Vegas native has competed for five different teams: Roush Fenway Racing, Team Penske, Phoenix Racing, Furniture Row Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing. Busch has also been aligned with three different manufacturers: Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge. Busch is actually in his second stint with Ford, having started with the Blue Oval brigade as a rookie and returned last year when SHR changed manufacturer allegiances. He Was NASCAR’s First Champion Under a Playoff Format. When NASCAR introduced a 10-race playoff format for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2004, Busch embraced the concept and wasted little time adapting to the new model. After starting the playoffs seeded seventh out of 10 championship-eligible drivers, Busch won the opening playoff race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He went on to finish outside of the top 10 only once in 10 playoff races and was ultimately crowned series champion with a fifth-place finish in the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

POLE POSITION 2018

The Kurt Busch, name, likeness and signature, are used under license from Kurt Busch, Inc. The Stewart-Haas Racing® logo and the #41 State Water Heaters race car are trademarks of Stewart-Haas Racing and are used under license. © State Industries, LLC.

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Alex Bowman UNDER THE RADAR

Handpicked by legendary team owner Rick Hendrick as the successor to Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the familiar No. 88 Chevrolet, Alex Bowman has managed to fly under the radar a lot better than his predecessor – NASCAR’s 15-time most popular driver.

Bowman’s first season as the full-time driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet started with a bang, however, when he captured the pole for the Daytona 500. Dubbed “Bowman the Showman” in the days surrounding his pole-winning run, Bowman understandably downplayed the moniker – which seems to run almost antithetical to his quiet persona. Bowman has steadily started to make some noise on the track, however. As the season approached the halfway point, the Tucson, Arizona, native had six top-10 finishes in 17 starts and stood a good chance of qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Still, he sees major room for improvement and won’t be completely satisfied until it comes. “We have had some ups and downs,” said Bowman, who spent 10 races in 2016 as a substitute driver for Earnhardt Jr. when the third-generation driver was sidelined due to multiple concussions. “We are working really hard. We have a lot of really smart people trying to get all four of our [Hendrick Motorsports] cars better. But, it’s no secret we are off of where we want to be. It’s been a little frustrating, but we are not terrible in the points right now. It’s a dream come true to just be driving for Hendrick Motorsports. I really can’t complain too much.” FAVORITES

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A pet lover, Bowman often tweets photos of animals, and he lives with two dogs – Roscoe, a rescue Beagle mix, and Finn, a charcoal Labrador retriever.

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TEAM HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS SPONSORS NATIONWIDE, AXALTA MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET CREW CHIEF GREG IVES

HIS OWN MAN

hile Alex Bowman has great respect and admiration for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who endorsed him to fill the seat of the No. 88 car, Bowman isn’t overly worried about trying to win over all of Earnhardt Jr.’s massive fan base. Instead, he’s more concerned about winning races. “It’s hard to say where Dale’s fans are going to go,” Bowman said. “I just hope to keep the 88 up front and give them something to cheer for.”

Joey Logano MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

On the heels of his worst season since joining Roger Penske’s organization in 2013, Joey Logano entered 2018 looking to return to his familiar status as a consistent frontrunner. Mission accomplished. After finishing 17th in points a year ago and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2012, Logano punched his ticket into the playoffs relatively early in 2018 with a win at Talladega Superspeedway. While Logano had not been back to Victory Lane as the season’s midway point approached, the Team Penske driver was solidly in the top five in points thanks to outstanding consistency that had produced 13 top-10 finishes in 17 races. The results marked a vast improvement from 2017 when Logano and his team uncharacteristically struggled over long stretches. “Anytime you go through times of trial like that, that’s very challenging for everyone,” said Logano, who prior to the disappointment of 2017 had qualified for the Championship 4 in two of the previous three seasons and finished as the championship runner-up in 2016. “If you can get through that together, you’re stronger. For that reason, I feel like my team’s never been stronger.” However, Logano knows there is work to do to catch up to this year’s dominant trio of Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. “I feel like we still need to make our cars a little bit faster,” he said. “As a race car driver, I think I’ll say that forever. You’re never fast enough, but we’re getting closer.”

A LEGEND IS BORN

Behind every Icons 1:24 scale die cast replica is a memorable story of passion, dreams and commitment to excellence.

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SPONSORS SHELL/PENNZOIL, AUTOTRADER MANUFACTURER FORD CREW CHIEF TODD GORDON

FAMILY MAN

hen Joey Logano won at Talladega Superspeedway in April, the victory carried special meaning because it was the first time that he, wife Brittany and their infant son, Hudson, had been in Victory Lane together. “That’s the coolest feeling,” Logano said. “When I turned around and saw Hudson and Brittany over there, I may have cried a little bit. Now having a little guy, seeing him there, he may not remember, but for me, that was very special.”

Icons goal is to recognize these competitors and their amazing racecars that made stock car racing what it is today. They are the true “LEGENDS.”

FAVORITES

SMILING Have you ever seen Logano when he wasn’t smiling? Other than maybe after just getting wrecked by a competitor, Logano always smiles. He must enjoy it.

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DRIVER PROFILES

PRE S E N T E D BY

Josh Bilicki

5 FAST FACTS

1 2

Social Media Following. Josh Bilicki has over 5,800 Twitter followers along with nearly 7,000 “likes” on Facebook. He Has a Cool Blog. Bilicki writes a monthly blog, “The Podium Finish,” where he connects with fans by giving insight into his life at the track and beyond. In his June blog, Bilicki wrote about aero packages, how he stays hydrated in a 140-degree race car, video games and more. He Has a Lot Going On. Due to his busy schedule, this is the first year since 2011 that Bilicki has not participated in the SCCA June Sprints at Wisconsin’s Road America. Bilicki has competed in the super competitive Spec Miata class for six years and the GT2 class for two years. He’s Making Big Gains in Stock Cars. Bilicki made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Road America in 2016. In his return to the Wisconsin road course in 2017, Bilicki earned his career best Xfinity Series finish of 12th. He Has a Great Primary Sponsor. Bilicki has full primary sponsorship this season from Prevagen, the No. 1 selling brain health supplement in America. Prevagen sponsored Bilicki in four NASCAR Xfinity Series races last season, as well is in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.

4 5

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OWNERS JERRY AND PHYLLIS HATTAWAY TEAM JP MOTORSPORTS SPONSORS PREVAGEN MANUFACTURER TOYOTA CREW CHIEF DAVID JONES

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POLE POSITION 2018

Kyle Larson HIGH, WIDE AND HANDSOME

After a stellar 2017 season that ended in disappointment with an earlier-than-expected exit from the playoffs, Kyle Larson rolled into 2018 with heightened expectations.

Aside from a highly disappointing 28thplace finish in June at Michigan International Speedway – where he’d won three consecutive races and was expected to challenge for a fourth consecutive win – Larson performed reasonably well over the season’s first 17 races, racking up four second-place finishes but being shut out of Victory Lane. Larson’s most gut-wrenching defeat came July 1 at Chicagoland Speedway where he passed Kyle Busch for the lead with half a lap to go before being spun by Busch in Turns 3 and 4. Larson still managed to finish second, and, perhaps surprisingly, wasn’t angry about the contact. Instead, he was thrilled to be mixing it up for the win with Busch, who as of press time was one of the season’s three standout drivers along with Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. “If I wasn’t able to run up against the wall, I wouldn’t have been as fast as them, but I was still comparable. I was happy about that,” Larson said after his runner-up result at Chicagoland, where he used a higher line around the track to cut into Busch’s lead near the end. “Proud of my team. They have been working really hard all year, bringing better and better cars every week. I can’t thank them enough, and can’t thank everybody at the shop enough.”

FAVORITES

DIRT

Larson jumps at just about any opportunity to go racing on dirt, especially when it comes to the prestigious Chili Bowl Nationals held each January in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET CREW CHIEF CHAD JOHNSTON

A GRACIOUS LOSER

o one enjoys finishing second, but if faced with that reality, why not see the proverbial glass half full? Kyle Larson made a habit of this in the first half of the season, when he often sniffed victory but repeatedly fell short. Nowhere did Larson lose more graciously than at Chicagoland Speedway, where he led before being spun by Kyle Busch in the final corner. Rather than pouting, Larson congratulated the race winner in an admirable display of sportsmanship.

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DRIVER PROFILES

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Matt DiBenedetto MOVING ON UP

Competing for a small team against NASCAR’s leading organizations, the efforts of Matt DiBenedetto and GoFas Racing have not been in vain. Five top-20 finishes in the first 19 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races of 2018 was a major accomplishment for DiBenedetto and his bunch, who finished a season-best seventh in the July race at Daytona International Speedway. It wasn’t the first time DiBenedetto has been a factor at a restrictor-plate race, however. “It’s just an opportunity where it evens everybody out a little bit, so we can position ourselves right and then be there at the end,” DiBenedetto said. “The big pack evens out a lot of things, so we can have a good run here.” After performing so well in his most recent trip to The World Center of Racing, DiBenedetto was ecstatic. “I guess that was probably one of the craziest races I’ve ever taken part of,” he said. “I’m glad we survived and we seem to always position ourselves in a spot to be up front and competing for the win at the end of these speedway races at Daytona quite often. We’ve got that down pat and I’m really, really glad we got a good run for [our sponsor] Zynga Poker. They’re a huge part of our team. They’ve stepped up and helped us a ton this year, so I’m pretty proud of that.”

FAVORITES

MAKING VIDEOS

DiBenedetto has become a pro at making short but effective videos for Twitter. Whether to praise his sponsors, court new ones or applaud his team, DiBenedetto seems to have the magic touch. AR18-03 ©2018 Lincoln Electric Global, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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OWNER ARCHIE ST. HILAIRE TEAM GOFAS RACING

SPONSORS ZYNGA POKER, CAN-AM, WHOLEY, COSMO MOTORS, KEEN PARTS MANUFACTURER FORD CREW CHIEF RANDY COX

CLIMBING THE RANKS

rior to joining NASCAR’s premier series in 2015, Matt DiBenedetto dabbled in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, drove the full 2011 season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and spent most of 2009 in K&N. Over those two seasons, he earned three victories— positioning himself to move up through the ranks. DiBenedetto spent his first two Monster Energy Series seasons with BK Racing before joining GoFas Racing in 2017. As of press time, he owned four top-10 finishes.

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NASCAR HISTORY PRESENTED BY NASCAR LEGEND

Darrell Waltrip

Darrell Waltrip entered his first NASCAR Cup Series race on May 5, 1972, at Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway. Throughout a 29-year career, he won 84 Cup Series races and claimed championships in 1981, 1982 and 1985.

BIRTHDATE ■■ February 5, 1947 BIRTHPLACE ■■ Owensboro, Kentucky NOTABLE SPONSORS ■■ Gatorade ■■ Budweiser ■■ Western Auto

orn on Feb. 5, 1947, in Owensboro, Kentucky, Waltrip began his racing career in go-karts at the age of 12. By the age of 16, he was racing stock cars, beginning with a 1936 Chevrolet coupe at a local dirt track near his home. After high school graduation in 1965, he became one of the most successful asphalt racers in the region. Local car owners such as Harry Pedley and P.B. Crowell helped Waltrip make a name for himself at Kentucky Motor Speedway, Ellis Raceway and Fairgrounds Speedway at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville, where he won track championships in 1970 and 1973. Waltrip proved he was a showman by talking up rivalries between himself and Coo Coo Marlin (father of two-time Daytona 500 winner Sterling Marlin) and James Buford. Track management loved his antics as they helped sell tickets. Waltrip’s short-track success prompted a move to NASCAR’s premier series at age 25 where he competed against superstars Richard Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison, among others. Even though he didn’t hesitate to make his voice known, Waltrip eventually earned the respect of his more experienced peers. His first NASCAR Cup Series victory came at his home track, Nashville’s Fairgrounds Speedway, on May 10, 1975, as he beat the field by two laps in his own No. 17 Chevrolet. Waltrip went on the score 83 additional Cup Series victories for such premier racing organizations as DiGard Racing, Junior Johnson and Associates, Hendrick Motorsports and his own Darrell Waltrip Motorsports.

ALL I EVER WANTED TO DO WAS DRIVE IN NASCAR. I WAS BLESSED WITH A TREMENDOUS CAREER WITH SOME OF THE VERY BEST TEAMS AND TEAM OWNERS IN THE SPORT. –DARRELL WALTRIP BEST SEASON DURING HIS FIRST year driving Junior Johnson’s No. 11 Chevrolet in 1981, Waltrip logged 12 victories, 21 top-five finishes and 11 pole positions en route to his first of three NASCAR Cup Series championships. His biggest victory that year came in the fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

POLE POSITION 2018

RECORD-SETTER FORTY OF WALTRIP’S 84 victories came on short tracks such as Bristol, Martinsville, North Wilkesboro and Richmond. His average start was 13.7 and average finish was 15.1. An aggressive style on and off the track made him a hero and a villain throughout his 29-year driving career that ended in 2000.

THE NO. 17 CAR

SMART TALENTED VERBAL DARING BOLD

INSIGHTFUL AGGRESSIVE SHOWMAN KNOWN FOR A TOUGH COMPETITOR in anything he drove, Waltrip developed a reputation for provoking his closest rivals and working on them mentally, causing them to make mistakes. His boisterous personality was new to NASCAR, often predicting he would win the race and then backing up his words.

BY BEN WHITE | PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

RACE REWIND

1966: Pearson’s First Title Drivers David Pearson and James Hylton proved best during the 49-race NASCAR Cup Series season of 1966. Pearson logged 15 victories and the championship, while Hylton challenged with 20 top-five finishes. Having been in NASCAR’s premier division for only five seasons, Pearson, a native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, had one of his best rides with team owner Cotton Owens, also based in the same city. Pearson drove Owens’ white-and-red No. 6 Dodge in 42 of 49 races but managed to post enough top finishes to score his first-career championship. Ironically, all of his victories that year came on short ■■ Pearson tracks throughout the Southeast and New England. Pearson logged 25 top-five finishes and fell out of only nine events due to mechanical issues. Pearson’s biggest victory of the season came at Virginia’s Richmond Raceway in the Capital City 300 on Sept. 11, 1966, where he led 242 of 300 laps. Hylton, his closest championship rival, had served as a crew chief for Rex White in 1960 before fielding and driving his own Dodge. The native of Inman, South Carolina, was able to build his season on consistent top-five and top-10 finishes en route to his best championship finish to date. Hylton also finished second in points to Richard Petty in 1967. Sadly, Hylton was killed in a highway accident earlier this year while traveling home form Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway, a track where he won in 1972. Superstars Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett retired from driving at the end of the 1966 season, each having 50 wins to their credit. Johnson said years later, “Had I known we were tied, I would have raced a little longer so I could have gotten ahead of him.”

1966

1966 SEASON RECAP DATE CIRCUIT November 14 Augusta Speedway January 23 Riverside International Raceway February 25 Daytona International Speedway February 25 Daytona International Speedway February 27 Daytona International Speedway March 13 Rockingham Speedway March 20 Bristol Motor Speedway March 27 Atlanta Motor Speedway April 3 Hickory Motor Speedway April 7 Columbia Speedway April 9 Greenville-Pickens Speedway April 11 Bowman Gray Stadium April 17 North Wilkesboro Speedway April 24 Martinsville Speedway April 30 Darlington Raceway May 7 Langley Field Speedway May 10 Middle Georgia Raceway May 13 Starlite Speedway May 15 Richmond Raceway May 22 Charlotte Motor Speedway May 29 Dog Track Speedway June 2 New Asheville Speedway June 4 Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds June 9 Smoky Mountain Raceway June 12 Asheville-Weaverville Speedway June 15 Beltsville Speedway June 25 Greenville-Pickens Speedway July 4 Daytona International Speedway July 7 Old Dominion Speedway July 10 Bridgehampton Raceway July 12 Oxford Plains Speedway July 14 Fonda Speedway July 16 Islip Speedway July 24 Bristol Motor Speedway July 28 Smoky Mountain Raceway July 30 Fairgrounds Speedway August 7 Atlanta Motor Speedway August 18 Columbia Speedway August 21 Asheville-Weaverville Speedway August 24 Beltsville Speedway August 27 Bowman Gray Stadium September 5 Darlington Raceway September 9 Hickory Motor Speedway September 11 Richmond Raceway September 18 Orange Speedway September 25 Martinsville Speedway October 2 North Wilkesboro Speedway October 16 Charlotte Motor Speedway October 30 Rockingham Speedway

WINNER Richard Petty Dan Gurney Paul Goldsmith Earl Balmer Richard Petty Paul Goldsmith Dick Hutcherson Jim Hurtubise David Pearson David Pearson David Pearson David Pearson Jim Paschal Jim Paschal Richard Petty Richard Petty Richard Petty Darel Dieringer David Pearson Marvin Panch David Pearson David Pearson Elmo Langley David Pearson Richard Petty Tiny Lund David Pearson Sam McQuagg Elmo Langley David Pearson Bobby Allison David Pearson Bobby Allison Paul Goldsmith Paul Lewis Richard Petty Richard Petty David Pearson Darel Dieringer Bobby Allison David Pearson Darel Dieringer David Pearson David Pearson Dick Hutcherson Fred Lorenzen Dick Hutcherson LeeRoy Yarbrough Fred Lorenzen

PRESIDENT: LYNDON B. JOHNSON NO. 1 SONG: “CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’” BY THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS NO. 1 BOX OFFICE: THE BIBLE: IN THE BEGINNING

BEST DRIVER DAVID PEARSON, WHEELING the No. 6 Dodge owned by Cotton Owens, logged a season-high 15 victories, double the amount of wins by any other driver. His smooth driving style allowed him to save his equipment until the final laps before making his charge to the front. Short tracks proved to be where Pearson shined. His strategy of laying back prompted media outlets to dub him “The Silver Fox” as his hair turned gray during later years.

BEST RACE ON AUG. 27, 1966, NEWCOMER Bobby Allison battled veteran Curtis Turner in a crowd-stirring, carsmashing event at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem, North Carolina. Turner hooked Allison’s Chevrolet and spun him out on lap eight of 250. Allison returned the favor, spinning Turner on lap 98. Turner waited on Allison to come back by, but Allison crashed into Turner again. The two made contact twice more before being separated by NASCAR officials.

TOP CARS DAVID PEARSON drove Cotton Owens’ white-and-red No. 6 Dodge to 15 NASCAR Cup Series victories during the 1966 season. JAMES HYLTON’S NO. 48 Hylton Racing Dodge had no victories but was a consistent second-place finish in NASCAR Cup Series points.

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

ARCA

10 Things Fans Should Know About ARCA

n a move certain to bolster an already close relationship birthed more than six decades ago, NASCAR announced in April its blockbuster acquisition of the Automobile Racing Club of America. The decision makes as much pragmatic sense as it does business sense. ARCA, a Midwest-based sanctioning body for stock car auto racing, has long provided a valuable platform for talented drivers looking to reach NASCAR’s upper levels. And for many years, the two sanctioning bodies have competed at the same tracks on various weekends throughout the racing season. Here are 10 things that every race fan should know about ARCA:

It Stays in the Family. As the grandson of series founder John Marcum, ARCA Racing Series president Ron Drager has deeper roots in the series than just about anyone. The president of ARCA since 1996, Drager has been an ARCA employee since 1982. When it was announced that NASCAR had acquired ARCA, Drager had a personal, vested interest in the new partnership, even beyond the business side. “The significance of it is not lost on anyone – me included,” he said. The ARCA/NASCAR Relationship Runs Deep. Before John and Mildred Marcum founded ARCA in 1953, NASCAR founder “Big Bill” France and John Marcum were close personal friends. Marcum raced against France and later worked as a NASCAR official. ARCA began competing at Daytona International Speedway in 1964 at France’s invitation. “In the ’40s, the Marcum and France families predate NASCAR, predate ARCA,” said Drager. “In professional motorsports, I don’t know that there’s been any longer [relationship], looking back over all these years.” The Schedule Is Diverse but Has Remained True to Its Roots. ARCA administers nearly 100 events each year in multiple racing series, including the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, the ARCA/CRA Super Series and the ARCA Midwest Tour, plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways. “We’re still running a couple of mile dirt-track races every year, and we have some really tradition-rich short-track races,” Drager explained. “We’ve got race dates and traditions built up that reach all the way back to the ’50s.” ARCA Once Had a Different Name. ARCA was originally known as the Midwest Association for Race Cars, or MARC. In 1964, “[NASCAR founder] Bill France Sr. said to [ARCA founder] John Marcum, ‘If you’re going to be running at Daytona and out West and out East where it looks like your series is going, you really need a name that’s more reflective of the broad base of

POLE POSITION 2018

BY JARED TURNER | PHOTOS COURTESY ARCA

operations,’” Drager recalled. “Bill France Sr. developed the name Automobile Racing Club of America.” ARCA Has Always Been a Driver Development Series. Nelson Stacy won ARCA championships from 1958-1960, before advancing to NASCAR’s top series. Charlie Glotzbach was ARCA’s rookie of the year in the 1960s, before reaching NASCAR’s premier division. Benny Parsons was a two-time ARCA champ before winning the Daytona 500 and a NASCAR premier series title. “Before there was ever a term called ‘driver development,’ drivers came to ARCA as a way to get legitimate, valuable, applicable experience to be able to move on and try to be successful at the highest level,” Drager said. Some Big Names Have Moonlighted in ARCA. “I can go to open-wheel racing and there’s Dario Franchitti and Danny Sullivan, Christian Fittipaldi, Juan Pablo Montoya – go F-1 guys and IndyCar guys – they all raced in our series,” Drager noted. “So it’s not just stock car racers. It’s a broad base of people. The vast majority of Cup drivers that are racing today – Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and others – have raced in ARCA over the years. At some point, they made a stop here.” For Some, ARCA Isn’t a Stepping Stone – It’s Home. “There’s a core group of racers who decided this was a place they were going to make their living,” Drager said. “The Venturinis and the Kimmels and the Hillenburgs and the Schraders have decided, ‘This is where I’m going to make my investment, and I’m going to be a team owner and be here for the foreseeable future, because this is a series I’m familiar with and feel like I can be successful at and make a living in.’” ARCA Cars and NASCAR Stock Cars Were Once a Lot Alike. ARCA cars once bore striking similarities to those raced in NASCAR. “In the ’80s, ’90s and early 2000s, those cars were pretty much identical,” Drager said. “You could roll a Cup car into the ARCA garage and race it, and vice versa.” Similarities still exist today. “An ARCA car is a big heavy stock car with a lot of horsepower running on many of the same race tracks that the Cup cars are racing on,” Drager added. ARCA Cars and NASCAR Stock Cars Are Now Mostly Different. The similarities between ARCA cars and NASCAR stock cars all but ceased in 2007 when NASCAR’s premier series switched to its Gen-5 model – and that’s still true in the Gen-6 era. “The technology there currently is in Cup – whether it’s the bodies for the aero side of things or the chassis or the technology in the safety side of things – it’s removed from our division,” Drag explained. “We’re still racing Gen-4 chassis. The engine packages are also completely different.” ARCA in 2019 Will Look Much Like ARCA in 2018. Although ARCA’s formal integration as a NASCAR property will take place on Jan. 1, 2019, ARCA’s operating procedures and race schedule won’t undergo significant changes until 2020 at the earliest. Even then, some continuity will remain. “I think there’s a pretty strong sentiment both on the side of ARCA and NASCAR, to be sure that what we do going forward does not change for the sake of change, and that our model is not broken,” Drager said.

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

ARCA PRESENTED BY

MEET MSG ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER DR. JULIAN BAILES

MSG: Making Racing Safer Motorsports Safety Group is a collaboration of innovators in the sport who are determined to improve the safety of racing. MSG shares tips for race car drivers and fans to help avoid injuries during races and practice sessions. Acknowledged as one of the country’s leading neurosurgeons, Dr. Jason Cormier has helped MSG provide a comprehensive, grassroots marketing campaign focused on preventative health care education and wellness training. With an emphasis to educate and engage race fans in their growing role as health care consumers, the objective is to influence behavioral changes, to provide racing’s brand-loyal audience with the medical knowledge to make informed, preventative decisions that directly affect the wellness of their families. Cormier has established many working relationships with drivers in the ARCA Racing Series, so he was pleased earlier this year when NASCAR acquired the stock car series, reaffirming its commitment to the next generation of racers. “Overall, it’s a very good thing for both atmospheres,” Cormier said. “It brings more eyes to the ARCA Series and provides the drivers with better equipment, technology and oversight. NASCAR brings attention to some of the rising stars of ARCA that will be superstars once they make it to the Cup Series.” Cormier makes himself available to all ARCA Series drivers at races, and also accepts calls from any driver who might require further insight or advice. “Before each of the races I’m able to attend, I walk from the start to finish and shake every driver’s hand,

POLE POSITION 2018

wish them luck and let them know I’m here,” Cormier said. “I think that makes them feel more secure and supported. We let them know, if there’s some sort of injury, ARCA has a close circle of support.” Cormier mentioned ARCA drivers like Sheldon Creed, Zane Smith, Natalie Decker and Chandler Smith as some of the future stars of the sport. The doctor met with many drivers and their parents in Daytona during February to review racing-specific injuries and the protocols for rehab. Cormier is also a strong supporter of the I-PAS technology for concussion testing, a series of highquality diagnostic tests to evaluate patients with symptoms of dizziness and/or balance disorders, especially those associated with medical conditions such as concussions, migraines or BPPV (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo). “It’s a system that can detect brain injuries and concussions inside 90 seconds and up to 10 minutes,” Cormier said. “It takes the subjectivity out of the examiner, and cannot be manipulated like some other tests.” Cormier is also working with the After the Impact Fund, a nonprofit that facilitates custom treatment plans for veterans and athletes with traumatic injuries. ATIF provides a clear path to healing for these individuals and their families.

FOR THE LAST FIVE years, Dr. Julian Bailes has been the chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery, co-director of the NorthShore Neurological Institute and clinical professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine. Bailes is a recognized leader in the field of neurosurgery and the impact of brain injury on brain function. He is the chair-elect of the AANS/CNS Joint Section on Neurotrauma and Critical Care. He has been instrumental in the understanding of the clinical evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive degenerative disease found in individuals who have been subjected to multiple concussions and other forms of head injury. Since 1994, Bailes has been a neurological consultant to the NFL Players’ Association (NFLPA), which has supported research on the effects of head injuries on professional athletes. He is the medical director for the Center for Study of Retired Athletes based at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Bailes has been an adviser to the NCAA and also is chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee for Pop Warner Football, the largest youth sports association in the U.S. “From my standpoint, Julian is a friend and mentor,” Cormier said. “In terms of concussion technology and his work spearheading initial studies, I can’t think of a better person to have on my team. He continues to be an international leader in concussions associated with high contact sports. Additionally, he continues to pioneer some of the most cutting edge technologies in neurosurgery.”

BY DAN GUTTENPLAN

ARCA DRIVERS TO WATCH

Sheldon Creed

resident of El Cajon, California – the place well known in NASCAR circles as the hometown of seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson – Sheldon Creed has the potential to be racing’s next big star from the Southern California town. Creed, an X Games gold medalist and twotime Stadium Super Trucks Series champion, has enjoyed a spectacular first season as a fulltime driver in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. As of press time, he led the ARCA standings on the strength of three wins and 11 top-five finishes in 12 starts. Creed made his NASCAR debut by participating in the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway, and returned to compete at the fabled half-mile dirt track one year later. Creed proverbially stuck his toes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series waters in 2017, competing in the road course races at Mid-Ohio and Road America.

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Zane Smith

n his second year as part of the NASCAR Next program, 19-year-old Zane Smith made his ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards debut in September 2016 at Indiana’s Salem Speedway. One year later, Salem was the site of another first for Smith – his first start with MDM Motorsports. Smith is competing full time in ARCA for MDM this season, and as of press time, ranked second in the standings after notching three wins. Smith began racing at age 3 and has recorded more than 100 victories across various levels. He gained real attention from the NASCAR world for the first time by winning the Super Late Model championship during the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing and finishing runner-up in the 2015 Snowball Derby. Smith made his NASCAR national series debut in the June NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park, finishing fifth.

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BY JARED TURNER

ARCA DRIVERS TO WATCH

Riley Herbst

Joe Gibbs Racing development driver since 2017, Riley Herbst caught the racing bug at a young age as he grew up watching his father and grandfather compete in off-road racing classics such as the Baja 500 and Baja 1000. After starting his racing career in go-karts at the age of 5, he progressed to trophy karts, Legend Cars, Speed trucks, Super Late Models and the NASCAR K&N Series before landing with JGR in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. Now in his second ARCA season, the Las Vegas native appears poised to record a second consecutive top-five finish in the points. Herbst, a NASCAR Next driver, won for the first time in just his sixth ARCA start. The victory came in June 2017 at Pocono Raceway, where he led 45 of 80 laps. “It’s great to have Riley at Joe Gibbs Racing,” said Steve de Souza, JGR’s executive vice president of Xfinity/Development.

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Natalie Decker

atalie Decker turned a lot of heads in February 2018 when she won the pole and finished fifth in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards season opener at Daytona International Speedway. Competing at NASCAR’s most famous track, she added her name to the record books by becoming just the third woman in ARCA history and the fourth woman in Daytona’s 59-year track history to start a race from the pole. Notoriety is nothing new to Decker, however. A part of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program since 2015, Decker has amassed a huge following on social media compared to most of her ARCA peers. As of press time, the 21-year-old native of Eagle River, Wisconsin, had nearly 22,000 Twitter followers and nearly 49,000 followers on Instagram. Her popularity certainly hasn’t been hurt by her on-track performance, as 12 races into the 2018 season, she’d amassed four top-10 finishes and was seventh in the ARCA standings.

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Jesse Iwuji

he first active duty U.S. Navy officer to compete in NASCAR, Jesse Iwuji has taken a path much different than most of his peers in the motorsports world. Iwuji, who played college football at Navy, is currently a lieutenant in the Navy Reserves – on top of his roles as a parttime driver in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. “My time spent playing football for Navy and serving our country taught me the priceless lessons of teamwork and trust – all skills that translate well into my racing journey,” Iwuji explained. With only about three years of experience in competitive stock-car racing, the 21-year-old native of Carrollton, Texas, harbors dreams of reaching NASCAR’s upper levels. Earlier this year, Iwuji was honored with the NASCAR Diverse Driver Award, which goes to a minority or female NASCAR development driver who exemplifies outstanding performance both on and off the race track.

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Chase Purdy

college student at the University of Alabama when he’s not busy making lefthand turns, NASCAR Next driver Chase Purdy has enjoyed a solid first season as a full-time driver in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. Purdy, 18, was fourth in the standings after 12 races but still seeking his first ARCA win. The native of Meridian, Mississippi, ran the full NASCAR K&N Pro Series East schedule in 2017, finishing fourth in the standings after claiming four consecutive poles and five runnerup finishes. Purdy, who spent part of 2016 and 2017 competing on the CARS Super Late Model Tour, started racing go-karts at age 9 before advancing to Bandoleros at 12 and Legend Cars at age 15. Purdy made his ARCA debut last year, notching two top-10 finishes in three starts – good enough for him to secure a ride with MDM Motorsports for the entire 2018 ARCA season.

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Lexi Gay

nly 17 years old and a high school senior, Lexi Gay couldn’t be faulted one bit for still trying to settle on a definite career path. However, Gay’s mind is already made up – and it actually has been for quite a while. “Racing is just something that’s been a passion of mine for a really long time, and I had an opportunity when I was 12 and 13 to pursue my dreams – and that was incredible,” said Gay, a native of Canton, Georgia, whose first foray into organized motorsports came in a weekly Bandolero series at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Now in her first full season of Late Model racing under the guidance of former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series crew chief Lee McCall, Gay is laser-focused on ascending the ranks and eventually reaching NASCAR’s premier division. “It takes a lot of hard work and marketing, but I’m definitely determined to get myself there,” she said.

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Reasons We Love NASCAR Night Racing

BY JARED TURNER | PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

SPARKS, FIREWORKS AND CAMERAS: Who doesn’t like to see sparks shooting out from underneath race cars? Whether at a superspeedway like Daytona or a short track like Bristol, sparks are a popular fixture of night racing. The same goes for fireworks and flashing cameras. In NASCAR, there’s nothing more fun to watch than thousands of cameras – most of them these days on cell phones, of course – lighting up at the same time. And, almost without exception, night races include some kind of fireworks show, which usually occurs immediately after the race while the winning driver is performing a burnout or celebrating in Victory Lane.

HOT TEMPERS: It’s certainly no coincidence that some of the most memorable fights in NASCAR history have occurred at night races, where tempers seem to flare and scores are often settled. Mad about getting wrecked by a competitor? At nighttime, drivers seem more prone to air out their grievances with each other – whether it is in the form of a punch, a shove or a stern lecture. Case in point: the fall 2014 night race at Texas Motor Speedway where Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski – normally two of the sport’s more mildmannered drivers – engaged in an all-out post-race fisticuffs that also involved team members.

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INCREASED AGGRESSION: With NASCAR drivers, it’s a simple fact that when the sun goes down and the lights come on, the aggression goes up. History has proven this to be especially true at Bristol Motor Speedway and Richmond Raceway – two of the three short tracks that currently play host to Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series events. Anytime there’s a night race at Richmond or Bristol, fans better fasten their proverbial seat belts and hold on tight; that’s because there’s at least a decent chance that their favorite driver is going to leave with a torn-up race car due to his over-aggressive driving or someone else’s.

FASTER SPEEDS: Ever noticed that it looks like race cars move faster at night than in the daytime? Well, that appearance is no grand illusion – it’s reality. Drivers almost always turn quicker laps in cool nighttime temperatures than in the heat of the day when the sun is beating down on everything. Depending on the track, speeds can increase as much as 3-5 mph in nighttime conditions. This is particularly true at the larger tracks such as 2.5mile Daytona International Speedway and 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway and Kansas Speedway where aerodynamics plays a more critical role in a car’s performance.

IT’S SPREADING: Once considered a novelty, night racing is more prevalent in NASCAR than ever. Tracks that currently host night races include Charlotte Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Richmond Raceway, Kentucky Speedway, Daytona International Speedway, Kansas Speedway and Darlington Raceway. Chicagoland Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, though not actively hosting night races for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, have held night races in recent years. The Monster Energy Series’ season-ending Championship 4 race – at Homestead-Miami Speedway – begins in the day but ends at night. The most recent track to add lights is Martinsville Speedway, which could eventually land a night race.

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F Dillon’s Crew Visits Fort Bragg NASCAR driver Austin Dillon and members of his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing pit crew visited Fort Bragg in late April as part of a military tour to promote the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Dillon and his crew met with soldiers, witnessed an infantry squad demonstration and took part in rappel-wall exercises. “We had a blast rappelling down the wall. It was really cool,” Dillon said. “It’s a tough task, but they’re great about getting the equipment on you and making sure you’re safe. People say, ‘Oh, you’re crazy to be driving a race car,’ but I know my safety equipment just like they know theirs. That’s why they trust it to jump off helicopters. I love it. What the Army does is unbelievable.” HOW DO YOU USE MAPLE SYRUP? “I add some great Anderson’s Maple Syrup to meatballs in the crockpot and they taste awesome!” –@PerrinMonica “I used it to make a rub for ribs and they were amazing. Sweet with a little heat!” –@JGfan24ever “Mix it in with pecans when making homemade ice cream, add it to pecan pralines, but its best use is on waffles or pancakes with enough to drag your bacon or sausage thru it!” –@gomangohemi20 “I just pour it into my mouth honestly.” –@BeccaJSkywalker

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edEx is once again tying the on-track performance of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota driven by Denny Hamlin in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series to the company’s effort to improve road safety. Through its Delivering Laps for FedEx Cares, FedEx is donating $111 for each lap Hamlin leads and $11,000 for each race victory to Safe Kids Worldwide, a nonprofit organization working to protect kids on the road, at home and at play. FedEx will also contribute $111,000 to Safe Kids if Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing team win the NASCAR Cup Series championship. New for this season, the Denny Hamlin Foundation has agreed to match FedEx’s total donation to Safe Kids Worldwide. The program generated a $108,810 donation a year ago.

‘MORE FUN THAN BASEBALL’

t a very young age, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series star Kyle Larson made the decision to give up baseball and concentrate on racing. “My dad built me a little go-kart when I was 4 years old to play around in. Then I got into competitive racing when I was about 7,” Larson said. “I played baseball from the time I was like 5.

Once I started racing, I had to miss a lot of baseball games and I realized racing was a lot more fun than baseball. “From there, I kind of focused on racing, moving up through the divisions in go-karts and got into sprint cars when I was 14.” Larson was 20 years old when he made his Cup Series debut in 2013.

ROAD LESS TRAVELED On his journey from the dirt tracks of Northern California to victory lane at Daytona Int’l Speedway, Tyler Reddick took the road less traveled. Instead of ascending the traditional career path of outlaw karts, mini sprints, midgets and sprint cars, Reddick took a detour and ended up racing something with fenders – a dirt late model. “It came down to age and what I was able to run at that time,” Reddick recalled. “I was racing mini sprints and we were trying to run some midgets and sprint cars, but I wasn’t old enough to race a midget or sprint car. So after running sprint cars for about a summer in Indiana, we shifted to late models.” Reddick now drives in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports.

BY KEITH WALTZ | PHOTOGRAPHY: HHP/GARY ELLER

Breakfast of Champions It has often been said breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and these NASCAR drivers agree. KASEY KAHNE, MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER: I really like eggs, bacon and hash browns – maybe not all three of them every breakfast, but quite often I have at least one of them or maybe two or three of them. My son, Tanner, also enjoys those, so that’s kind of my breakfast when we do something. I just pretty much drink water, and Tanner drinks chocolate milk, so we’re on two different pages there. KYLE LARSON, MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER: I probably just eat oatmeal or something. We had a team meeting a couple weeks ago and we actually brought everybody a McDonald’s breakfast. I had their oatmeal, and it was really good. I drink either orange juice or apple juice. Those would be my go-tos.

AUSTIN DILLON, MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER: Sunday is actually the only day I eat breakfast, and it’s usually an omelet with avocados on it, and every now and then we will throw in some fruit and hash browns. I like hash browns, but the omelet with avocado and salsa in the morning is pretty good. It’s like a western omelet on Sundays. MATT DIBENEDETTO, MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER: Usually, it consists of quite a few eggs and maybe some source of carbs along with that. So like maybe a bagel or something. But a lot of eggs — like usually at least four to five; usually scrambled. My favorite breakfast beverage is typically apple juice. I’m usually starving in the mornings.

TODD GILLILAND, NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES DRIVER: I’d say Dunkin’ Donuts is my favorite fast-food place, but bacon and eggs – you know – all good stuff. NOAH GRAGSON, NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES DRIVER: I cook cereal in the morning. I’m pretty good at getting the Fruity Pebbles out and the milk, so I eat that. Every now and then, I try eggs, but it’s just a mess. It’s more of a hassle than it is good. I probably don’t have the healthiest diet out there.

BY JARED TURNER

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Aric Almirola: ‘Talent Is Not Enough’

ong before Aric Almirola made it to the high banks of Daytona International Speedway, he was toiling in go-karts around central Florida. From the time he was 8 until he turned 15, Almirola drove in hundreds of go-kart races – eventually venturing into Virginia, Tennessee and other parts of the Sunshine State. His accomplishments in karting included numerous victories at the national and state levels, along with multiple track and state championships. Now a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver for Stewart-Haas Racing, Almirola looks back on his time in go-karts with a special fondness that hasn’t diminished with time and age. “Go-kart racing for me was a hobby, but I also felt like it was my own,” said the now 34-year-old native of Tampa, Florida. “It was up to me how good or bad I did. I played stick-and-ball sports growing up. Stick-and-ball sports, while you play as an individual, you either reap the benefits as a team, or you drown in your sorrows as a team. When I raced go-karts, I felt like I had a bigger impact on the results.” That impact came primarily through preparation. “I raced against friends that they and their dads would run the race on Saturday night and

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wouldn’t take their go-kart out of the trailer until the next Friday night or Saturday morning prior to going to the race track to race that night,” Almirola recalled. “They would just let their go-kart sit in the trailer, thinking it would magically make itself faster throughout the week. I was taught we race on Saturday night, and Sunday we get up, go to the shop, take the go-kart out of the trailer, clean it and wash it and have everything ready and waiting so that on Monday after school we could fix anything that needed to be fixed, or work on anything.” And the work didn’t stop. “You were focused on trying to get your tires prepped for that week, or any sort of maintenance that needed to be done,” Almirola added. “By Thursday or Friday, after working a few hours each night, we were 20 hours ahead of people who didn’t work on their stuff, and I feel like that as much as anything else – even beyond talent – was a lot of the key to the success that I had growing up and racing go-karts. “I feel like that carried with me to the level where I’m at now. Talent is not enough. It takes a certain work ethic to be successful at this level, and I feel like I learned that when I was young.”

hen it comes to laying the groundwork for a potential future in NASCAR racing, Aric Almirola believes there’s no better or more economical approach than karting. “I think go-kart racing can be a relatively inexpensive way to get into racing,” he said. “As you continue to climb the ranks of racing, the expense grows exponentially. I think gokart racing is probably the cheapest kind of racing you can get involved in to figure out if you’re going to like racing or not.” Go-kart racing is also suitable for all ages – not just kids and teens. “There are a ton of adults that love to race, really enjoy it and want to do it as a hobby but can’t afford to do it at the stock car level because stock car racing is extremely expensive, so they go-kart race,” Almirola said. “There are many 30-, 40- and 50-year-olds who go-kart race and have a ball doing it. “I think that’s the thing I really enjoy about go-kart racing – it’s for 4-year-olds that are just trying to figure it out and learning how to drive, and 40-year-olds who love racing and just want to go have fun and do it as a hobby but don’t want to spend thousands of dollars to go stock car racing.”

BY JARED TURNER

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Erik Jones

rik Jones is expected to be the future of Joe Gibbs Racing. Team owner Joe Gibbs put the 22-year-old native of Byron, Michigan, in the seat of his No. 20 Toyota this year and Jones is settling into his new ride. You entered this season in a tough situation, replacing Matt Kenseth. How have you settled in? It’s been good with a good, solid group of guys that I enjoy working with. We’re having fun this year. Having Chris [Gayle, crew chief] come over from Furniture Row Racing was big, too. Having the same leader on top of the box is a great thing for a driver, especially for me, because I wanted to have someone to work with for multiple years in a row. You always know when you show up to the track, you’re going to go out and have a shot to be competitive. How much pressure do you put on yourself to perform at the level of your teammates?

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I think Kyle [Busch] is our benchmark at Joe Gibbs Racing, for sure. He’s been running the strongest out of all of us. I’ve been trying to base my running off where Kyle is, and try to be up there with him. I think there are some other teams that are a little bit faster than us right now. There are tracks where we go that I feel like I need to lean on Kyle and learn from him. He’s been a big resource for me for years now and still is today. In what areas can the No. 20 team improve as the playoffs approach? I think there are a lot of areas we can improve. It’s funny because I feel like we’ve ran well in some of these areas when we haven’t had that good of a car. Chris knows that as well. If we can get to that point when the car is driving really well, we’re going to be really competitive. We have some stuff coming down the pipeline that will hopefully make our stuff faster, so, hopefully, it all works out and we get more speed out of our race cars.

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Terminology Stage Racing: NASCAR introduced stage racing in 2017 to add a new element of excitement. There are three stages in each race and four for the Coca-Cola 600. After each stage, the top-10 finishers earn bonus points toward their regular season totals, with the stage winner receiving a single playoff point.

BY JOSEPH WOLKIN | PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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