NASCAR Pole Position 2020 April/May Edition

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GREAT AMERICAN TRADITIONS

NASCAR: The Quintessential American Sport

Driver Features MATT DIBENEDETTO

DANIEL

SUAREZ

JORDAN

ANDERSON

NASCAR Careers

CREW MEMBER

ROXOR: KING OF THE HAMMERS

BREHANNA DANIELS

ATIN G I FIVE HOT TOPIC S I WH O DO ES TH AT ?

I SEAL THE DE . N EW SC HO OL I TA ILG S V L O O H C S AL OLD CAR BUILDS I FOR THE RECOR D I NAS CA R SP EE DWAY NAS I ED FIN DE AR SC S I SP EE D WA R I NA Y SUD IN ’ U P N A SC A

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Top brands.

Found in our Auto Care Center at walmart.com/autocarecenter

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CONTE NT 2020

APR-M AY

The Quintessential American Sport 34 36 President Trump Visits The Daytona 500 37 FIMS 38 NASCAR Salutes 40 Hometown, USA 41 Extreme Fans 42 Gen Y 44 WorkArmor™

CREWMEMBER BREHANNA DANIELS P.18

BEHIND THE SCENES WITH JORDAN ANDERSON P.68

THE FAST & THE FURRY P.26

DRIVER PROFILES P.58

08 Green Flag

24 Leavine’s Journey

56 Daniel Suarez

10 Seal the Deal

28 Partner Spotlight: ROXOR

70 Growin’ Up NASCAR

12 Who Does That?

30 NASCAR Builds

72 Favorite Finds

14 Five Hot Topics

32 NASCAR Home Tracks

76 NASCAR Speedways

16 Tailgating

33 Old School vs. New School

78 NASCAR History

20 All in the Family

48 NASCAR Defined

80 Speedway Sudoku

21 Crew Member Spotlight

52 NASCAR Health

22 For the Record

54 Matt DiBenedetto

NASCAR POLE POSITION AN OFFICIALLY LICENSED PUBLICATION OF NASCAR // ADDRESS: 11880 28TH ST. N, SUITE 101 • ST. PETERSBURG, FL 33716 • PHONE: (727) 209-0792 • FAX: (727) 209-1776 // WEB: POLEPOSITIONMAG.COM, AE-ENGINE.COM // PUBLISHER: CRAIG BARONCELLI // SALES VICE PRESIDENT, SALES: DAVID WATSON • NATIONAL ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: PETER GILCHRIEST, JUSTIN HAND, MARK MORALES, DENNIS FASONE // PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR: JASON TEDESCHI • GRAPHIC DESIGNER: JOE RABUCK • WEB DEVELOPER: NICOLE COOPER • COPY EDITOR: KEITH WALTZ • EDITOR: DAN GUTTENPLAN • WRITERS: JARED TURNER, KEITH WALTZ, BEN WHITE, JOSEPH WOLKIN, MATTEO MARCHESCHI • OFFICE MANAGER: DENNIS FASONE • SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATORS: AIDAN ANDERSEN, ETHAN ANDERSEN • PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES, NASCAR/GETTY IMAGES • SPECIAL THANKS TO: MICHAEL FORDE (NASCAR), GREG CARTY (NASCAR) // A.E. ENGINE SPECIFIES THAT POST-PRESS CHANGES MAY OCCUR TO ANY INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS PUBLICATION AND TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR GOODS OR SERVICES ADVERTISED. NASCAR® IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR STOCK CAR AUTO RACING, INC. MAIL ORDER: TO RECEIVE A SUBSCRIPTION TO NASCAR POLE POSITION MAGAZINE, SEND A CHECK OR MONEY ORDER FOR $29.95 TO: NASCAR POLE POSITION, C/O A.E. ENGINE, 11880 28TH ST. N, SUITE 101, ST. PETERSBURG, FL 33716. PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR RETURN MAILING ADDRESS AND AN EMAIL ADDRESS. ONLINE ORDER: SUBSCRIPTIONS CAN BE ORDERED ONLINE AT POLEPOSITIONMAG.COM/BUY. DISTRIBUTION: IF YOU ARE A BUSINESS OR AN ORGANIZATION INTERESTED IN DISTRIBUTING COPIES OF NASCAR POLE POSITION MAGAZINE, PLEASE CONTACT CRAIG BARONCELLI AT (727) 209-1750 OR CB@AE-ENGINE.COM. SALES INQUIRIES: IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING IN NASCAR POLE POSITION MAGAZINE OR WOULD LIKE TO BECOME A FIELD REPRESENTATIVE, PLEASE CONTACT DAVID WATSON AT (727) 209-0789, OR DKW@AE-ENGINE.COM. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

PRESENTED BY

GREEN FLAG

DEEGAN PAYS TRIBUTE TO TRAILBLAZER ST. JAMES

DAYTONA 500 PURSE DRIVERS RACED FOR A record $23.6 million during this year’s Daytona 500.

HAILIE DEEGAN SPENT

This chart shows how

some time with Lyn

much the first-place prize

St. James Jan. 23 at

money has increased over

Daytona International

the years.

Speedway before attempting to continue to blaze a path St. James started in the 1980s.

Fan Enhancements Coming to Charlotte

St. James was the first

As Charlotte Motor Speedway gears up for its 60th anniversary season, Amer-

in 1985 and won three

ica’s Home for Racing is doubling down on its “Fans First” mantra with several new enhancements designed to deliver the ultimate race day experience for fans.

As fans look ahead to the NASCAR All-Star Race and Coca-Cola 600 weekends in May, perhaps the most intriguing enhancement is a program, Every Ticket is a Pit Pass. When asked how their race-day experience could be improved, “access” is among race fans’ most common replies.

Charlotte Motor Speedway implemented the first-of-its-kind program for the NASCAR All-Star Race on May 16. What that means for fans: before the track goes hot, fans will have access to the frontstretch infield for Trackside Live driver appearances, access to Chris Janson’s high-energy, pre-race concert and access to cars racing in the All-Star Open minutes before they take to the track for a bumper-banging, last-chance qualifier to make the All-Star field.

BY DAN GUTTENPLAN

FRINGE BENEFITS VIP ALL-STAR GARAGE EXPERIENCE

ENHANCED GRANDSTAND SEATING

SPEEDWAY MARKETPLACE

ultimate access to drivers,

NEWLY INSTALLED

concessions at Charlotte

cars and crews with

food and beverage

Motor Speedway, fans will

exclusive entry into the

trays will greet fans

enjoy a first-of-its-kind

Cup Series garage on

throughout the

grab-and-go concession

All-Star race day. The VIP

frontstretch grandstands

stand as part of the latest

All-Star Garage Experience

this May. The new

facility modernization ef-

includes premium

enhancements not only

forts. Located on the Gen-

grandstand tickets for the

provide visitors added

eral Motors concourse, the

N.C. Education Lottery

room to accommodate

new stand will offer fans a

200 on May 15 and the

beverages and snacks,

quick and easy alternative

NASCAR All-Star Open and

they also create ample

for snacks, beverages and

All-Star Race on May 16.

leg room and storage

more, getting them back to

Additionally, the package

for coolers, purses and

their seats without missing

includes a scanner rental,

souvenirs. In addition,

a minute of the action on

stage-front access to

select seating areas will

the track. Fans will have

the Chris Janson pre-race

feature new, breathable

their choice of chips, candy

concert and a driver intro

mesh seating surfaces

and other pre-packaged

pass (All-Star Race only).

for added fan comfort.

snacks.

FANS CAN GET THE

08

POLE POSITION 2020

A NEW CONCEPT IN

woman to earn an IMSA GT-class solo victory times competing in a Ford Mustang for Jack Roush that season. In January, Deegan made her IMSA

DAY TO N A 50 0 PRIZE MONEY 1995 $300,460 2000 $1,277,975 2005 $1,497,150 2010 $1,508,449 2015 $1,586,503 2020 $2,596,000

debut driving the No. 22 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 in the Michelin Pilot Challenge four-hour race - the car designed with a tribute livery to St. James’ 1985 car.

“YOU KNOW I’M GOING FOR THE WIN.”

–T O N Y S T E W A R T, ON HIS RETURN TO RACING IN THE XFINITY SERIES O N J U LY 4

NASCAR PARTNERSHIPS IMPACT THE SPORT

NASCAR GENERATED OR

extended several partnerships at the start of the season that will help keep the sport modern and environmentally friendly.

1

NASCAR and

As the sport ushers in a new era, it’s fitting that my father’s name is associated with the highest mark of excellence in our sport.”

– JIM FRANCE, NASCAR CHAIRMAN AND CEO

PROMOTING THE CENSUS NASCAR AND THE U.S. Census Bureau announced a partnership designed to spread awareness and encourage participation in the once-a-decade national census.

Verizon announced a multi-year partnership

to modernize 12 NASCAR-

H O N O R I N G T H E F R A N C E FA M I LY

owned race tracks and

To honor the legacy of the sport’s founding family, NASCAR announced that the Bill France Cup will be

bring race fans, drivers

awarded to the champion of the NASCAR Cup Series, beginning this season. The renamed trophy pays tribute to Bill France Sr., who founded NASCAR in 1947, as well as his son, Bill France Jr., who elevated the sport to a national phenomenon as the sanctioning body’s chief executive from 1972 to 2003.

and teams improved connectivity to enhance the at-track experience.

The partnership designates Verizon as the Official Wireless Telecommunications and 5G Mobility Partner of NASCAR, as well as the Official At-Track Wi-Fi Partner of 12 NASCARowned tracks.

NASCAR and Blue-

2

Emu announced a multi-year

agreement designating the company as an Official Partner of NASCAR, Martinsville Speedway and Motor Racing Network.

As part of the agreement, Blue-Emu will serve as the title sponsor of NASCAR Cup Series spring events

Bill France Jr. (left) and Bill France Sr. (right) meet with a contractor to discuss the plans for Daytona.

at Martinsville Speedway, with the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 debuting under the lights on Saturday, May 9.

NASCAR and Elgin

3

Sweeper announced a multi-year

partnership renewal, continuing the designation of the leading manu-

facturer of street sweepers for special industrial and airport applications as the Official Sweeper of NASCAR Green.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

ICONIC BRANDS SIGNS CHASE ELLIOTT Iconic Brands recently signed Chase Elliott as a brand ambassador for its premium line of Hooters Spirits in a multi-year deal that includes personal appearances at select Hooters Spirits events.

Elliott, the reigning, two-time NASCAR Cup Series Most Popular Driver, has qualified for the NASCAR Playoffs each season since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2016.

Hooters Spirits launched its premium line of alcohol beverages in August 2019 with first tastings taking place in and around Bristol, Tennessee. The No. 9 Hooters Spirits Chevrolet show car was at each event with the world-famous Hooters Girls on site taking pictures with customers and fans. The debut events led up to the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops 500 on Aug. 17 at Bristol Motor Speedway, where Chase Elliott drove the No. 9 Hooters Spirits Chevrolet to a top-five finish.

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

09

PRESENTED BY

SEAL THE DEAL

Johnson’s Clutch Performances Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Jimmie Johnson has 83 series victories on his résumé. Here are four instances when he sealed the deal in pressure situations.

BY BEN WHITE AND JARED TURNER WIN NO. 1 AT HIS HOME TRACK On April 28, 2002, at the age of 26, Johnson notched his first NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Fittingly, that win came at Auto Club Speedway – the two-mile Southern California track that’s located less than two hours from Johnson’s hometown of El Cajon.

As Johnson reflects on his amazing career almost 18 years later, the Hendrick Motorsports driver views his maiden victory as the one he cherishes the most.

“My dream was to be a Cup driver and to win a race,” Johnson said. “So, that first win was the top for me. To be able to do that in my 13th start and at my home track, that was a very special moment.”

Johnson has since collected five more victories at Auto Club Speedway. Today, he owns more top-five finishes (13) and more top-10 results (17) than any other driver at the track.

COCA-COLA 600 TRIUMPH NO. 4 Johnson earned his fourth Coca-Cola 600 victory on May 25, 2014, at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He sealed the deal by passing Matt Kenseth with nine laps remaining to log his first victory of the season.

The triumph broke a 13-race winless streak that dated back to November 2013 at Texas Motor Speedway and put to rest any concerns about the No. 48 team’s chemistry. Johnson would go on to win three more Cup Series races by season’s end.

The 2014 Coca-Cola 600 triumph was Johnson’s seventh points race win at the 1.5-mile tracking, breaking a tie with

NASCAR legends Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison.

“To deal with all the things that are thrown at a race team through the evening with the track changing, the mechanical obstacles that you have to overcome, keeping an engine alive, tires alive, all of it, it means a lot,” Johnson said in a post-race interview.

PURE MAGIC AT THE MONSTER MILE Johnson, driving the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, won the FedEx 400 Benefitting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway on May 31, 2015.

Johnson led only 23 of the 405 laps as the event went into overtime due to a late-race caution flag. He sealed the deal by taking the lead from Kevin Harvick on lap 383 and held it the rest of the way.

Racing among cars that were just as strong as his made for a long afternoon. However, the key to winning came when crew chief Chad Knaus elected to have Johnson stay out on old tires as other contenders pitted for fresh rubber during the closing laps.

“I really felt like it was going to be a game of inches today, and as the race progressed, my team did a great job on pit road,” Johnson said. “It all came together for us very late in the race, but once we had our opportunity, we took advantage of it and got our 10th win here.”

CHAMPIONSHIP EFFORT AT HOMESTEAD It wasn’t Jimmie Johnson’s most dominant or impressive performance, but the 2016 NASCAR Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway might have been his most clutch.

Part of the Championship 4 for the first time since NASCAR instituted a “winner-take-all” finale showcasing four title contenders who enter the last race with equal points, Johnson did not come into the weekend as the title favorite. And for 95 percent or more of the race’s 268 laps, he didn’t look like the favorite, either.

But after running behind championship foes Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch for most of the evening, Johnson grabbed the lead for the first time on a pit strategy call with three laps to go. From there, he held on to win the race and make history by joining Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt as the only seven-time champions of NASCAR’s premier series.

Seal the Deal KEY CAREER MOMENTS

2016

2015 2002

10

2014 CHARLOTTE MOTOR S P E E D W AY

AUTO CLUB S P E E D W AY Jimmie Johnson

Johnson wins

collects his first

HOMESTEADMIAMI S P E E D W AY Johnson clinches his

NASCAR’s battle

DOVER I N T E R N AT I O N A L S P E E D W AY

NASCAR Cup

of attrition – the

Johnson pushes his

Series championship

Series victory at

Coca-Cola 600 – for

career win total to 10

with a win in the

his home track.

the fourth time.

at the Monster Mile.

season finale.

POLE POSITION 2020

seventh NASCAR Cup

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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WHO DOES THAT?

T.J. Davenport Manages NASCAR’s Air Titan Program

Being prepared to dry the race track in case of adverse weather is a vital part of each weekend on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule.

BY BEN WHITE

T

homas “T.J.” Davenport, the manager of NASCAR’s Air Titan program, coordinates an army of people who are dedicated to ensuring fans see as much on-track action as possible, no matter the weather conditions.

Davenport gained fire department and emergency medical service experience while working in his hometown of Rockingham, North Carolina. In 2013, he joined NASCAR to serve as a fire and EMS specialist in the track services department.

The following year, he was promoted to manager of the sanctioning body’s Air Titan program.

“At track services, we are the liaison between NASCAR and the track as it relates to fire, clean-up or restoration on the race track,” Davenport explained. “I’m in race control as an emergency services coordinator. I do the dispatching of service vehicles around the race track. I’m also responsible for the drying efforts and manage those folks.”

Davenport can be found in a variety of locations during race weekends, depending on the situation at hand.

“Sometimes I’m with the series director, race director, timing and scoring,” Davenport said. “When I’m not there, I’m in a drying vehicle on the race track and I kind of coordinate that. I’m also like a band director, if you will. I help to position equipment to where we feel it’s best for us.”

Davenport often needs to prepare for the unexpected. He has to rely on instinct to keep his equipment available at a moment’s notice.

H O W T H E A I R T I TA N W O R K S

“The biggest challenge is the weather,” he said. “At the end of the day, whatever happens, happens. It’s tough to have a plan in place for every situation. Temperature, humidity and wind – all those play a factor in drying a race track.

“Upper management wants to know a pretty solid time frame on what we think it’s going to take to get to racing again,” Davenport added. “That’s a little stressful sometimes because there are a lot of components to that. The biggest challenge is trying to guess right.”

Davenport’s job is proof that variety is the spice of life. Plus, there’s never time to become complacent in his role of giving the drivers a dry surface on which to compete.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s work because I do enjoy what I’m doing,” Davenport noted. “The flexibility of being able to wear all the hats I wear when things develop week to week is what I like most. I never get burned out on one thing.

My responsibilities are the same but I’m always moving around and that’s what I like best about it.”

“It’s a direct-dry blower,” T.J. Davenport

DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE RACE

explained. “It puts air out to what we call an air

track, NASCAR has up to 21 Air Titan 2.0 units

knife. It creates something similar to a squeegee

that can be deployed to dry a track’s racing

that’s used to move water on a shop floor. That’s

surface prior to practice periods, qualifying

the same concept except it uses air without

sessions and races.

actually having to touch the race track.”

An Air Titan is a self-contained and self-powered unit that’s placed in the rear of a standard pickup truck. It uses compressed air to push water off of the racing surface. Overall, the Air Titan 2.0 emits 80 percent fewer emissions than traditional track-drying methods.

Several of the Air Titan units travel together, positioned to cover the entire racing surface. The vehicles are followed by jet dryers that remove the last of the moisture.

12

POLE POSITION 2020

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

HOT TOPICS

PRESENTED BY

FIVE HOT TOPICS

As the NASCAR season moves into its spring months and temperatures start to climb, conversation surrounding certain hot topics will also heat up. Here are five things everyone will be talking about.

BY JARED TURNER

1

Who’s going to fill the seat of the No. 48? With

each passing week, speculation is only going to intensify about who’s going to replace Jimmie Johnson next season in the iconic No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. While a driver might not be named until the fall or even after the season, it’s likely that more names will begin to circulate as possible successors to the seven-time champion.

One driver to keep an eye on is Corey LaJoie, a somewhat unknown talent who prior to the season starting handed team owner Rick Hendrick a handwritten letter pleading his case to be considered for the ride.

Schedule changes. The months of April and May feature a couple of notable changes to the schedule from previous years.

It all starts on Mother’s Day weekend, when the NASCAR Cup Series will compete under the lights at Martinsville Speedway on a Saturday night. Fans have long dreamed of a Saturday night race at Martinsville, and they’re finally going to get their wish on May 9. Kansas Speedway’s first race – which has been run on the Saturday night of Mother’s Day weekend the past several years – moves to the afternoon of Sunday, May 31.

2

3

Where JGR stacks up to the competition. One of the biggest question

marks coming into the season was whether anyone could close the gap on Joe Gibbs Racing, which dominated in 2019. JGR appeared primed for perhaps an equally fruitful 2020 when Denny Hamlin opened the season with his third Daytona 500 victory in five years. But by April and May, where JGR stacks up to the competition will really start to come into focus.

14

POLE POSITION 2020

The return of Ryan Newman. While as of press time there was no timetable for Ryan Newman’s return, the veteran driver fully plans to be back behind the wheel of the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford this season. Newman – who suffered an undisclosed head injury in a harrowing accident on the final lap of the Daytona 500 – will be welcomed with open arms whenever he is medically cleared to race again.

4

5

The impact of the 2020 rule changes. NASCAR introduced a reduced-

downforce aero package for select tracks this season, with the goal of enhancing the competition on road courses and the shorter oval tracks. The changes include significantly smaller spoilers, splitters and other aerodynamic devices. By early May, everyone will have a good sense of how much impact these changes will have, since NASCAR will have raced at five tracks where they apply.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

We’ve taken the bold, balanced flavor of Texas Pete® Hot Sauce and created Texas Pete® Original Dust Dry Seasoning to rev up your kitchen. Race over to your local grocer and ask for Texas Pete® Dust today. Actually, maybe wait until tomorrow because it will be late when the race is over and the traffic will be really bad. In the meantime learn more at TexasPete.com

©2018 Texas Pete® is a registered trademark of TW Garner Food Company. 205-0718

TAILGATING

Tailgating with Samantha Wilson

With Martinsville Speedway’s spring race moving from late March to May 9 this year, tailgating is going to be in full swing at the .526-mile short track. Among those who plan to take full advantage of the balmier temperatures is longtime NASCAR fan and Martinsville area resident Samantha Wilson.

“I love tailgating and camping at Martinsville because of the friendly atmosphere,” said Wilson, a high school science teacher who lives about 15 minutes from the track. “When my children were young and we first started tailgating, people

thought we were crazy for taking our kids.

They thought it was a party atmosphere and not good for the kids to see. But that is not true at all.

“We look forward to meeting new people and just sitting around a fire. Several of the people we tailgate near look forward to seeing our boys and have seen them grow up.”

Wilson, who estimates she’s tailgated at Martinsville “at least 50 times,” has made some incredible memories over the years at the popular Virginia short track.

“My favorite memories aren’t really just tailgating but things that happened while we camped during the week,” she said.

“When we were camping at the track in March of 2018, it snowed the Friday night before the race. With the track lights on, reflecting against the clouds and snow on the ground, it looked like it was daylight even at midnight. I think that is my most beautiful memory of the track.”

Not so beautiful – but memorable, nonetheless – was an occasion when an

unwelcomed guest made his presence known during a tailgate.

“One year when we were tailgating, a woman had a pet skunk,” Wilson said.

“She let it out. People did not know it was a pet and were hiding from it. Someone even called animal control. Animal control stood for a minute trying to figure out what to do about it, and the woman ran over and picked it up. I think the officers were stunned.”

BY JARED TURNER

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SAMANTHA WILSON’S

Tailgating Dips

BUFFALO CHICKEN DIP

SAUSAGE DIP

■■ Extra shredded cheese for topping, if

■■ 1 can of chunky chicken breast (10 ounces or a

■■ 1 pound of sausage ■■ 1 can of diced tomatoes and green chili peppers

combining in a bowl and then baking in a dish ■■ Crackers, pita chips or Tortilla chips for dipping

12.5-ounce can) ■■ 1 eight-ounce package of cream cheese (room

■■ IF IN A BOWL: Combine ingredients in the bowl

■■ 1 pack or block of cream cheese (8 ozs.)

temperature or slightly heated to make easy

and then transfer to a small baking dish – or

■■ Tortilla or corn chips for dipping

to blend)

aluminum pan, if I need it to be disposable.

■■ Cook the sausage and drain any grease. You can either add the next ingredients to the

■■ 1/4 cup of ranch dressing

Then sprinkle a little extra shredded cheese

■■ Approximately 1/4 cup of Frank’s RedHot

on top and bake in oven at 400 degrees until

warm pan or combine them in a crockpot to

Buffalo Wings Sauce (may add a little less if

mix. Add the cream cheese and can of toma-

you don’t prefer the spiciness, or add more

toes and chili peppers. Heat the ingredients

after tasting)

and turn the crockpot on low. Stir ingredients

■■ 3/4 cup of shredded cheese (cheddar or Colby-

slowly until the cream cheese is melted and all of the ingredients combine into a nice dip.

Jack are my favorites)

cheese is melted on top.

■■ IF IN A CROCKPOT: Combine all ingredients periodically until everything is blended well and ready for dipping.

M U S T- H A V E G E A R

be able to question who you’re rooting for as you down your

ALREADY ONE OF NASCAR’S MOST POPULAR

favorite beverage,” the official item description says. This

drivers, veteran Ryan Newman has enjoyed a surge in

is also the perfect way to keep your beverage chilled during

popularity since walking away from a harrowing crash in

those hot summer tailgates at the track. Given Newman’s

this year’s Daytona 500 with non-life-threatening injuries.

current “tough guy” status, it seems only appropriate that

Newman fans both old and new can honor the veteran

the can cooler – which is priced at only $5.99 – features

driver’s toughness by visiting the NASCAR.com Superstore

Newman’s No. 6 car splashed in the colors that adorned the

to purchase a Ryan Newman WinCraft 12-ounce Oscar

Roush Fenway Racing driver’s car during last year’s annual

Mayer Darlington Throwback Logo Can Cooler. “No one will

throwback weekend at the track “Too Tough to Tame.”

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NASCAR CAREERS

PRESENTED BY

Daniels’ Journey from Hoops to NASCAR Brehanna Daniels didn’t grow up watching NASCAR. She barely knew anything about stock car racing.

BY JOSEPH WOLKIN

•• Norfolk State graduate Brehanna Daniels, a star on the basketball court in college, is the first African-American female tire changer in NASCAR Cup Series history.

Daniels went to college in Nebraska during her freshman year, but transferred to Louisburg College in North Carolina.

Eventually, she found a home at Norfolk State University, rising to become a starting guard for the school’s Division I women’s basketball team.

While attending Norfolk State, Daniels had an opportunity she never expected.

The rising basketball star had dreams of playing in the WNBA, and she credits head coach Larry Vickers with making her believe in herself.

“Ever since I was a little girl, my mom told me I was going to be a star one day,” Daniels said. “Everything’s happening the way she thought.”

Within the span of less than 72 hours, Daniels’ life completely changed. She went from being the go-to player on the basketball court with the Spartans to competing for a shot in NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity pit crew program.

“I was at Norfolk State at the time, around the end of the basketball season,” she recalled. “I was on campus at Chickfil-A, eating a sandwich, a No. 1. I take a bite and I get a tap on my shoulder.

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“Someone named Tiffani Sykes from our basketball program was like, ‘I see you’re enjoying your sandwich. We have a NASCAR diversity program that’s coming to our school to host a tryout on Wednesday.’ At the time, it was Monday. I was like, ‘I don’t even watch NASCAR. What are you telling me this for? What is a pit crew?’”

Tuesday came and Daniels didn’t know what to do. At the time, she was working as a video intern with the university’s athletic program.

Daniels, preparing to go overseas to play basketball, had a daily routine of stretches. She did exactly that on Tuesday. When Wednesday arrived, she had to decide whether to attend the pit crew tryout or work her previously scheduled gig, which was to record a baseball game.

“I woke up Wednesday morning and it was like God said, ‘You have to go to this tryout,’” Daniels said. “I don’t know why, but I ended up going to the tryout.

I walked in the gym and it wasn’t what I was expecting.”

Daniels thought she’d see a race car in the gym. Instead, she met Phil Horton, the director of athletic performance for Rev Racing.

She was the only female participant at the tryout. An intense fitness test ensued.

“You’ll definitely be hearing from us soon,” Horton said to Daniels.

And she did. Within a month, the college basketball player was suddenly at a national combine to become a NASCAR pit crew member.

She placed in the top 10 and rapidly worked her way through the sport to become the first African-American female tire changer in NASCAR Cup Series history.

“It really is surreal to go from not growing up watching NASCAR to being in it now,” Daniels said. “NASCAR has taken me to a lot of places I hadn’t been before.”

Since Daniels made her way to the Cup Series, she’s been on a plethora of television programs, including “Good Morning America” and “The Titan Games.”

Daniels is currently working with multiple teams in each of NASCAR’s top divisions. She is not signed to one particular organization, so she often has to adjust to change.

“I find out week-to-week who I’m pitting for,” she said.

The journey has been surreal for the young woman who never dreamed this would happen. The Drive for Diversity program gave her a new life, one for which Daniels is thankful.

Her work ethic is second to none, and she credits that to her life as a studentathlete. She’s been playing sports ever since she was a little girl.

Now, Daniels is prepared to prove even more people wrong and become the first full-time African-American female tire changer in NASCAR racing.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Family Time

■■ Denny Hamlin with his daughters in Victory Lane after winning the 62nd annual Daytona 500.

■■ Kyle Busch with his son, Brexton, after winning the Truck Series at Las Vegas.

■■ Jimmie Johnson is introduced with his family before the Auto Club 400.

■■ Hailie Deegan with her father, Brian, prior to the ARCA Menards Series opener at Daytona.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

MADE IN THE U.S.A.

Crew Member Spotlight

These NASCAR pit crew members do the work behind the scenes to keep drivers in contention – or put them over the top – on race day.

BY BEN WHITE

LAMINATE & TILE

Jarrett Schalch

FLOOR CLEANER

R A C E E N G I N E E R AT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS

Jarrett Schalch, race engineer for Front Row Motorsports and driver Michael McDowell, followed a rather unique path into NASCAR Cup Series competition. He saw his first NASCAR race the day he went to work for the Mooresville, North Carolina-based team at Kansas Speedway in 2018.

Prior to NASCAR, the 2017 graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology was deeply involved in another form of auto racing.

“I was finishing my master’s degree in engineering at Cranfield University in Cranfield, England,” Schalch said. “While going to school, I would help smaller Formula Three race teams that needed a hand.”

Schalch is constantly crunching numbers throughout any given NASCAR Cup Series race to make sure the team is prepared to go the distance.

“I love the action,” Schalch said. “I couldn’t do a 9-to-5 job.”

HARDWOOD

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Andrew Lackey

F U E L M A N AT T E A M P E N S K E

Andrew Lackey, fuel man for Team Penske and driver Brad Keselowski, was introduced to NASCAR as a child when his family got together on Sundays to watch televised races.

Lackey was doing an internship at North Carolina’s Davidson College as a strength and conditioning coach when an unexpected opportunity came his way that proved to be a dream-come-true.

His athletic background and 6-foot-5 stature provided the perfect prerequisite for handling 90-pound fuel cans.

“I played a year of football at UNC Pembroke and majored in exercise science,” Lackey said. “I decided to transfer to UNC Charlotte and graduated from there in 2014. Someone from Penske was looking to bring in some former college football players, and he asked if I would like to come for a tryout. I’m now in my eighth year with Penske and haven’t worked for any other team.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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FOR THE RECORD FOR THE RECORD

1960 NASCAR Champion Rex White

Competing in NASCAR’s premier stock car series between 1956 and 1964, Rex White won 28 races and claimed the 1960 championship. He was one of the most successful drivers of that era as he finished among the top-five in nearly half of his 233 starts.

BY BEN WHITE

How were you introduced to NASCAR racing?

In 1951, a guy came by a service station where I worked and put a poster in the window advertising stock car races. I looked at it for quite some time but didn’t have the money to go. I finally scraped up enough to get a ticket.

What was it like racing against Fireball Roberts, Joe Weatherly and Ned Jarrett?

(Laughter) It was good to beat them and outrun them. They were tough competitors. When you outrun the best, it makes the win even more enjoyable. They were always tough to beat for sure because they were the best drivers in NASCAR.

What do you consider your greatest victory?

I would say the 1962 Dixie 400 at Atlanta was the biggest race that I won. Marvin Panch was leading in the Wood Brothers Ford at the end of the race. Our gas schedule was off and my crew chief, Louis Clements, kept flashing to me “Gas?” on our pit board. We figured we’d have to pit before the end. I really didn’t try to race him there at the end. I drafted him and saved all I could. He ran out of gas and I won the race.

How did it feel to win the 1960 championship?

It was definitely the biggest thrill of my life, other than being inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015. That championship was the biggest accomplishment I ever achieved.

What did it mean to be inducted into the Hall of Fame?

I was totally surprised to be going into the NASCAR Hall of Fame that soon.

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I didn’t even really think about it until I got word I was chosen. I was absolutely surprised and honored to be in that class that year. To be inducted into the Hall of Fame with all the people that’s already in there, that’s a huge honor.

Why did you decide to retire?

It was financial. It was pretty rough to step away. I didn’t want to leave it, but I just wasn’t making the money I needed to make to stay in it. I needed something with a steady paycheck to support my family.

What did you do after you retired?

I met a guy back then who wanted to open a Chrysler dealership in Forrest Park, Georgia. I helped cut the trees down, build the dealership and we opened it. It became very successful. In 1970, I started driving a truck and did that until 2002.

Since 2003, I really haven’t done very much except attend some races and sign autographs.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

OWNER SPOTLIGHT

LEAVINE’S JOURNEY From Casual Fan to Cup Series Team Owner

Bob Leavine, owner for Leavine Family Racing, has built one of the most promising NASCAR Cup Series teams in quite some time. BY BEN WHITE

F

ormed in 2011 as a way to help driver David Starr get his career on track, the team has grown into one of the sport’s up-and-coming organizations with rookie sensation Christopher Bell now driving the No. 95 Toyota.

Leavine’s business background is in industrial construction.

The native of Tampa, Florida, graduated from the University of South Florida in 1968 with a degree in industrial management.

Two years after college, while employed by DuPont in Camden, South Carolina, Leavine got his first taste of racing and became a NASCAR fan.

In 1976, he and his wife, Sharon, moved to New Mexico and founded WRL General Contractors. A move to Texas in 1985 made the construction company even stronger and it continues to prosper today.

Levine became a team sponsor in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series in 2010. Doing so fueled his excitement for the sport and prompted the formation of Leavine-Fenton Racing with partner Lance Fenton in early 2011.

Based in Tyler, Texas, with its race shop in Concord, North Carolina, the team made its Cup Series debut at Texas Motor Speedway in April of that year with Starr driving. Leavine soon bought Fenton’s share of the operation and renamed it Leavine Family Racing.

“I was a casual fan,” Leavine said. “This all goes back to trying

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to help David get into a Cup car. He wasn’t able to and I thought I could help him. That was it. There was no other reason other than helping him. We only ran eight races that year and made our first four against 48 or 49 cars back when we were running 43 cars in the field. We didn’t make the last four races and I didn’t like that because I’m very competitive. Then I had an opportunity to get other drivers and it all snowballed.”

The roster of drivers who have raced for Leavine Family Racing includes familiar names such as Ty Dillon, Michael McDowell, Kasey Kahne, Reagan Smith and Matt DiBenedetto. There is great hope that Bell will take the team to Victory Lane for the first time this season en route to possibly being named rookie of the year.

“I like the racing,” Leavine said. “I like the challenge of it. I liked learning, and I knew nothing about racing. So that was part of my learning process, which was a big deal.

“It’s totally beyond my wildest dreams,” Leavine added. “I was standing there outside the fence and was in awe of the teams.

Now, we are kind of in the mix. We are one of the competitive teams in NASCAR. If you’re out there, you have a chance to win.

Christopher is a great talent and Toyota is a great partner, as is Joe Gibbs Racing, our alliance organization. We have an outstanding race team that I’m really proud of.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

NASCAR PETS

THE FAST & THE FURRY Natalie Decker’s Love for Animals

BY JARED TURNER

N

atalie Decker couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity to pursue her dreams as a NASCAR driver. Competing for a second season in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, Decker is able to travel the country and see lots of great people and places while participating in a sport she truly loves. Being at the track and out on the road is especially enjoyable thanks to some furry companions she brings along.

Those companions are a mixed greyhound dog named Cash, an aging cat appropriately named NASCAR, and two dogs – a black-and-brown beagle named Hoosier (after the tire brand) and a white beagle named Camber (after the tilt of a race car wheel).

Cash lives with Decker and her boyfriend in Charlotte, North Carolina, while the other pets reside with her parents at their more pet-friendly estate in Eagle River, Wisconsin. Decker adores all of the animals as if they were her own, however. In fact, the three animals that don’t live with Decker travel with her parents in their motor home to all of her races and are reunited with Cash on weekends at the track.

“They’re so special, and my mom is such a dog person,” Decker said. “I think one of her dreams is to have a beagle farm and have just a bunch of beagles everywhere.

My mom loves traveling with them, and it’s great because she and my dad will bring

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PRESENTED BY

Z LP3 ENZYME SYSTEM

them to all the races and I get to see them every weekend. I swear they know how I do – if it’s a bad weekend or a good weekend – from the way they greet me when I come back into the motor home after the race.”

Decker’s affinity for animals began in childhood.

“I always had a beagle growing up, and when I was really young, we had a Doberman pinscher,” she said. “So, there was always more than one dog in the house.”

When it came time for Decker and her boyfriend to search for a dog of their own, Cash was the perfect fit. From the moment they laid eyes on this sweet brown-and-white canine at a humane society near their North Carolina home, they knew he was the pet for them.

“When we got there, all the dogs were barking but Cash. I was like, ‘Oh my goodness. I need this dog,’” Decker said. “I don’t like really ‘barky,’ loud dogs.

I was like, ‘He doesn’t bark. We need him.’ But we were leaving for the Michigan race so we filled out all the paperwork and got approved to adopt the dog, but we had to wait until we came home to get him and pray that he would still be there. He was still there, so it was totally meant to be to adopt him.”

For reasons they aren’t sure of, Decker and her boyfriend don’t typically refer to Cash by his real name.

“We named him Cash, but we call him Monkey,” Decker said with a laugh. “I don’t know how that all started.”

Regardless of what they call him, Decker’s dog is pretty big for his age. As of late February, he weighed in at around 40 pounds – heavier than the other three animals who Decker looks forward to being with at the track.

“If he was a human, he would definitely be a basketball player,” Decker said of her beloved 1-year-old dog. “He’s definitely the biggest and the heaviest and the strongest.”

Although Decker spends more time with Cash than her parents’ dogs, she holds a special place in her heart for the two beagles she sees at the track. Along with Cash and NASCAR the cat, they make her race weekends just a little more care-free.

“They’re kind of stress-relievers, and they’re so fun to play with, and they always make me happy,” she said. “They’re so cute. I mean, they’re beagles, so they bark a lot and they’re hairy, and I hate dog hair, so I have to have that little (hair) roller with me everywhere … but I love them so much.”

A SPONSOR’S DREAM LIKE THE ULTIMATE MATCHmade-in-heaven, Natalie Decker has sponsorship this season from Pet King Brands – a company developing new and innovative pet care products, all designed to be not only beneficial to pets, but safe as well.

She couldn’t be any happier to be partnered with a sponsor in which she truly believes.

“I like to say they sponsor Cash and I,” Decker said. “It’s so cool. We use all of their products, and I’ve used their products growing up with my dogs at home before we even partnered with them – and that was what was so cool.

“Our dog that stays at home with my grandpa, he’s a Lab and he loves swimming. So, we always needed to clean his ears and we were using their ear cleaner, so it’s so cool that it has circled back around and we are partnered with them and still use all of their products.”

SPOTLIGHT

HAMMER DOWN! ROXOR Wins Stock Class at King of the Hammers

BY ERIC ANDERSON

T

he King of the Hammers, staged in southern California’s Mojave Desert and known as the toughest one-day race on the planet, combines desert racing with massive rock climbs made of boulders the size of single-car garages. With names like Chocolate Thunder, Sledgehammer, Backdoor and Jackhammer, you can imagine what these torture-tests do to any four-wheeled racing vehicle.

The Every Man Challenge (EMC) is an event for stock-configured, mass-produced vehicles with names like Toyota, Ford and ROXOR. No specialty rock crawlers are allowed in this field. The 4600 class has the most restrictive rules at King of the Hammers, requiring the factory engine, stock frame, full-body, single shock and 35-inch tall DOT-approved tires.

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Winning driver Jesse Haines kept his ROXOR semi-stock to comply with the class rules – only beefing up the leaf-spring suspension, tweaking the stock turbo diesel engine and installing his own portal axles. “The ROXOR’s turbo diesel engine was a real advantage today,” Haines revealed. “The torque is such a benefit in the rocks, and our fuel economy allowed us to pass several other teams that had to make pit stops and add fuel.” Starting with a vehicle featuring a boxed steel frame, a heavy-duty Mahindra turbo diesel four-cylinder engine, and a truck-style transmission gave Haines the reliability he needed on race day. With over 70-years of making vehicles that tackle the most challenging terrain, Mahindra prides itself on the ROXOR’s simplicity and durability under the most demanding of conditions.

Attrition is extremely common, even for purpose-built Ultra4 class race cars designed for these two opposite ends of the spectrum. This year, only 38 of the 122 EMC vehicles that took the green flag in the 4600 stock class reached the finish line. Haines started 110th in the field and was able to move up to finish 19th overall and first in class. “The first lap in the desert we knew that we were outgunned by more powerful vehicles with coil suspensions,” Haines confessed. “But the ROXOR just never stopped chugging along.”

The punishing, 143-mile course consisted of high-speed lake beds, whooped out roads and some of the hardest rock crawling canyons in the world.

At one point, halfway through the race, Haines rolled onto his side in a rocky canyon attempting to pass the class leader. He and Justin Sexton, co-driver, were able to right the vehicle and continue on leading the 4600 class for the remainder of the race.

“We had very few issues, we got out of the car a couple of times but nothing major,” Haines shared at the finish line. “I was excited just to finish the race, to win the class with my ROXOR is more than I could have ever hoped for.”

PHOTOGAPHY: HARLEN FOLEY

THE BEAST HAS ARRIVED XOR and you know it means One look at the 2020 RO e gressive grille, and 5:38 axl business. A new, more ag of a monster on the trails. ratio makes it even more , r, thanks to its steel body Durable and capable as eve bo L 4-cylinder Mahindra tur boxed steel frame and 2.5 20 ROXOR is truly a diesel engine. The new 20 er. side-by-side unlike any oth

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NASCAR BUILDS

Jordan Anderson Partners with Forney Industries

One of NASCAR’s most engaging upand-comers has formed a partnership with America’s longest operating family-owned tool, welding equipment and accessory product company.

BY DAN GUTTENPLAN 2 02 0 R A C I N G B U I L D P R O J E C T

Jordan Anderson, driver of the No. 3 in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, has partnered with Forney Industries, one of America’s longest operating family-owned tool, welding equipment and accessory product companies, for the 2020 season.

The partnership continues a trend in which Anderson serves as an authentic representative for his sponsors. He plans to use Forney welding products in his race shop in North Carolina.

“This partnership is a throwback to how it used to be in the sport,” Anderson said. “We have a small, growing team, and it aligns well with their business. They started with humble beginnings in 1932, and have grown and evolved over time. When I think about the foundation of racing in NASCAR, I think about the chassis and bodies being welded together. We have to have reliable products that are consistent, and Forney provides those products for us to get out on the race track.”

With over 80,000 fans across all the major social networks, Anderson not only provides a fascinating level of access to his fans, but also delivers his sponsors millions of impressions every month purely from his social media content.

Over 15 years, he has built his racing career from the ground up, handled several marketing programs from concept to reality, been a brand ambassador for more than two dozen companies, and recorded over 200 race wins and 10 championships along the way.

Headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado, Forney was founded in 1932 and introduced the first publicly available arc welder in

WELDING AND METALWORKING

the 1940s. Today, the company offers close to 5,000 metalworking products within four categories: welding, abrasives, personal protective equipment and shop tools.

Forney Industries issued the following statement: “Forney Industries is proud to partner with Jordan Anderson Racing and support their daily fabrication with our quality welding and metalworking products. The Jordan Anderson Racing team represents integrity, hard work and passion which aligns with our company’s values. We’re excited for this partnership and to see what’s in store for this team!”

Anderson plans to share the Forney partnership experience with his fans by posting videos of the welding process on his various social media outlets.

“I’ll show our followers behind-the-scenes action of welders using the products in the shop,” Anderson said. “We have a couple of guys who focus on fabrication. Being able to let the fans see that process of how the product is used will be really cool. That will be something our followers want to see – what it takes to make a NASCAR race car.”

FORNEY INDUSTRIES STARTED IN 1932

1943, Forney Industries had more than

and is one of America’s oldest family-owned,

1,400 products from 150 outside suppliers.

welding and metalworking companies.

Founder James D. Forney invented the Forney

Today, Forney offers thousands of metalworking products within four

Instant Heat Soldering Iron and first publicly avail-

categories: welding, abrasives, personal

able arc welder. Selling these items door to door, it

protective equipment and shop tools.

didn’t take long for farmers and ranchers to real-

JD Forney’s grandson, Steve Anderson,

ize how useful his inventions were. Eventually, the

is now the president and CEO of Forney

Rural Electric Association granted permission for

Industries, and is committed his custom-

salesmen to climb utility poles to hook up welders

ers’ success; a legacy his grandfather

for demonstrations. With the increased exposure

began all those years ago. One day, J.D.’s great

Much has changed in 88 years, but the founda-

to J.D.’s products, his business began to expand.

grandson, Dane Anderson, will lead the com-

tion of Forney Industries remains the same. After

pany and that same legacy will be running four

all, Welding in America isn’t just a slogan, it’s the

generations strong.

backbone of this company. –Rachel Bigum

Soon he would broaden his product variety with battery chargers, welding supplies and more. By

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NASCAR HOME TRACKS

Madison International Speedway

Gregg McKarns, owner of Madison International Speedway in Oregon, Wisconsin, was literally born to be a racing promoter.

BY KEITH WALTZ “My parents (John and Sue McKarns) had the ARTGO Challenge Series. Mom was actually in the hospital having me in February 1979 and that’s when they signed the papers to take full ownership of ARTGO,” McKarns shared. “Dad and Art Frigo started the series in 1975 and my parents took full control in 1979. I grew up knowing nothing other than having a family business that was a touring late model series.”

Today, McKarns and his wife, Angie, own and operate Madison International Speedway along with the nomadic ARCA Midwest Tour for super late models.

Featuring both quarter- and half-mile paved ovals, MIS hosts a diverse schedule of NASCAR-sanctioned racing that runs from late April through mid-September, while the ARCA Midwest Tour has 10 points races at nine tracks on its 2020 schedule.

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‘ W I S C O N S I N ’ S FA S T E S T H A L F - M I L E ’

FAMILY BUSINESS “My wife, Angie, handles everything outside the wheel fence. She’s in charge of the staff, payroll and all of those things. In addition, she’s in charge of the concession stands and various other tasks,” McKarns explained. “We have a 15-year-old and a 12-year-old and there is a lot that goes on in keeping their lives in order, too. She handles all of those things, which allows me to concentrate on the racing aspect, the promotions and the sponsorships.”

ONE SIMPLE GOAL McKarns’ goal for each race night at Madison International Speedway is simple.

“Our primary goal is to put on the best show possible. That sounds cliché, but that means everything from having the most cars possible, the best drivers possible,

running a show that’s on time and having a show that’s well officiated,” he said. “We hire the best folks possible to officiate our events and I think our staff does a good job.”

MEET THE DRIVERS McKarns encourages fans to visit the pit area after the races.

“We stress a 30-minute no-move rule after our races. We strive to be finished by 10 o’clock and then we have a 30-minute no-move rule for our teams, so they leave their cars out and we really push for the fans to go down in the pits,” McKarns said.

“Our teams do a good job with having hero cards to hand out and buckets of candy.”

Gregg and Angie McKarns

PHOTOGRAPHY: BRUCE NUTTLEMAN

OLD SCHOOL VS. NEW SCHOOL

Rusty Wallace and Kevin Harvick

BY JARED TURNER

Rusty Wallace and Kevin Harvick competed in mostly different NASCAR eras, their careers overlapping by only five years. However, you don’t have to look hard to find five compelling similarities in how the two race and express themselves: Confidence. Throughout the 70-plus year history of NASCAR, it’s virtually impossible to find two drivers with more self-confidence than Wallace and Harvick.

Wallace, who once bragged that he had “won at every track in the country” (although he actually hadn’t), had a way of casting himself as the favorite to win – which tended to deflate his competition before the race weekend even began. Harvick likewise has never missed an opportunity to tout his own successes and boldly predict that more are forthcoming.

Propensity for Revenge. No driver from Wallace’s era despised being pushed around more than he did. Ditto for Harvick in this era. Remember that time at the 1995 Bristol night race when Wallace was wrecked by Dale Earnhardt early in the event? Despite having ample time to cool off, Wallace threw a water bottle at Earnhardt hours later after the race had ended. Harvick, meanwhile, carries the distinction of being the only driver to land a punch on Jimmie Johnson – which he did after a race at Chicagoland in 2015.

Clutch Performances. Multiple occasions have arisen when Harvick faced a must-win scenario, only to deliver a clutch performance. It happened when facing playoff elimination at Phoenix in November 2014 and Dover in October 2015, and it happened in the season-ending Championship 4 race at Homestead in 2014 when Harvick had to win the race to win the championship. Prior to NASCAR’s move to a playoff format in 2014, Wallace had won a title by the fourth-narrowest margin in NASCAR history – 12 points. That’s pretty clutch.

Track Mastery. There was a period of several years in the 1990s when Wallace was virtually unbeatable every time NASCAR’s premier series competed at Bristol Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway and Richmond Raceway. So dominant was Wallace at the short tracks that it seemed almost inevitable that everyone else was racing for second. A similar situation has existed for Harvick over the years at Phoenix Raceway, a 1-mile track where he owns a record nine wins, including four in a row and five in six races.

Beer Branding. Beginning in 1990 and extending through his final season of 2005, Wallace was sponsored primarily by Miller Brewing Co. Harvick, meanwhile, has been sponsored by an Anheuser-Busch brand since 2011. Both drivers have been amazing ambassadors for their respective – albeit rival – beer companies, never failing to plug and promote their primary sponsor on every possible occasion.

Like Wallace, Harvick aligned with a beer brand in the middle of his career and it appears he will carry the sponsorship into retirement.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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The Quintessential American Sport As great American pastimes go, it’s virtually impossible to find one more American than NASCAR.

BY JARED TURNER

T

he fans who follow the sport certainly know it.

The drivers, team owners, track promoters and sponsors know it. Even the sitting president of the United States knows it. As a matter of fact, he even said as much not all that long ago.

Making a visit to Daytona International Speedway in February for the 62nd running of the Daytona 500 – appropriately nicknamed The Great American Race – U.S. President Donald Trump called the 500 “a legendary display of roaring engines, soaring spirits and the American skill, speed and power that we’ve been hearing about for so many years.”

Then, he added: “The tens of thousands of patriots here today have come for the fast cars and the world-class motorsports. But NASCAR fans never forget that no matter who wins the race, what matters most is God, family and country.”

Trump, who took a lap around Daytona’s 2.5-mile track in the presidential motorcade and served as the race’s grand marshal, was not the first sitting U.S. president to attend a NASCAR event at the World Center of Racing. Ronald Reagan did it in July 1984, and George W. Bush made a stop at the 2004 Daytona 500.

Trump referred to the pursuit of a Daytona 500 victory as 40 drivers’ “play for pure American glory.”

While most NASCAR fans are proud to wear the colors of their favorite driver, those same fans oftentimes possess an even deeper loyalty to the “Red, White and Blue.” And they show it with patriotic T-shirts and bumper stickers and, of course, by displaying the American flag – a frequently seen symbol at most NASCAR events.

But what is it exactly that makes NASCAR the quintessential American sport? It really depends on whom you ask.

“I feel that what makes NASCAR the ‘American sport’ is what you see from the pre-race ceremonies to the fall of the checkered flag,” said Matt Beamer, a 34-year-old longtime NASCAR fan who lives in Summerville, South Carolina.

“The invocation, national anthem, the flyover, then the command to start the engines, you mix all of that together and every drop of that is pure America. No other sport can match that, in my opinion.”

Following are six reasons NASCAR is the true American sport.

Great American Traditions

THE PATRIOTIC CUSTOMS OF NASCAR AND ITS FANS

1

AMERICAN-MADE CARS. Nothing about NASCAR is more synonymous with the American way of life than the race cars

themselves. Built to resemble the cars that

2

PRE-RACE CEREMONIES. Want to know how deep patriotism and loyalty to country run in NASCAR? Just watch

the pre-race ceremonies on any given

3

MILITARY SUPPORT. As great as waving an American flag or singing along to a patriotic song might be,

some drivers take their support of their

motorists drive every day of the week, NASCAR

weekend. Regardless of the race track or the

country – and, in particular, the U.S. military

stock cars look more like street cars than the

date on the calendar, there’s never a dearth

– to a whole other level. One of those

vehicles used in any other genre of motorsports.

of pre-race tributes to the United States

drivers is Keselowski, whose Checkered Flag

Appropriately, all three of the vehicles involved

armed forces – whether they be in the form

Foundation has been known to raise upward

in NASCAR Cup Series racing — Ford Mustang,

of a military flyover, patriotic songs or a

of $450,000 in a single year to support

Toyota Camry and Chevrolet Camaro — are

military formation on pit road.

veterans and first responders.

manufactured in the United States.

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POLE POSITION 2020

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

4

PATRIOTIC PAINT SCHEMES. Whether for the annual race held during July 4 week or the Coca-Cola

600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway every

5

ROBUST TAILGATES. It’s hard to find something much more American than a group of people standing around

the bed of a pickup truck throwing back

6

FLAG-WAVERS. Fans aren’t the only ones who tend to wave and proudly display American flags at various

points during a NASCAR weekend. Drivers

Memorial Day weekend, patriotic paint

cold beverages, listening to country music

have been known to do the same thing. The

schemes are a familiar sight when America’s

and playing cornhole while they wait for a

driver perhaps most commonly associated

two most patriotic holidays are nearby on

sporting event to officially get underway.

with patriotic displays is 2012 NASCAR Cup

the calendar. These special car designs have

This happens every weekend at NASCAR

Series champion Brad Keselowski, who

historically been a major hit with fans, who

races, where fans congregate both inside and

likes to hoist an American flag out of his

tend to buy the corresponding apparel and,

outside of the track for tailgating experiences

window as part of any post-race victory

especially, die-cast cars in vast quantities.

typically of the more robust variety.

celebration.

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PROUDLY MADE IN THE USA

PRESIDENT TRUMP VISITS THE DAYTONA 500

•• Top: President Donald Trump signs Hailee Deegan’s race helmet.

•• Bottom left: President Trump acknowledges NASCAR legend Richard Petty.

•• Middle right: President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at Daytona.

•• Bottom right: Air Force One arrives at Daytona.

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POLE POSITION 2020

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

FIMS FIREARMS

Family Business Making an Impact in the Defense Industry

T

hrough well thought-out equipment upgrade and investment, as well as a sharp focus on the highest level of customer service, FIMS Manufacturing continues to thrive and grow as a third-generation machine shop.

In the 1950s, Italian machinist Mario Facchini settled in the United States with a hope and dream of providing his wife and son a better life. That dream came true in 1962 when his sacrifice and work ethic came to fruition in the form of his own business.

Mario’s son, Sergio, didn’t reap the rewards of his father’s business initially, as he instead chose to serve the country during the Vietnam War. After his tour came to an end, Sergio joined his father’s efforts to build a family business.

In 1988, a third generation of Facchinis, Mike, joined the family empire, and he worked alongside his successors to build

P H O N E : 2 01- 8 4 5 -70 8 8

the business to what it is today – a worldwide leader in machine technology.

The origin of the shop’s name tells the whole story — “F” (Facchini, the family name) “I” (Irma, Mike’s grandmother) “M” (Mario, Mike’s grandfather) “S” (Sergio, Mike’s father). FIMS is, in every sense, a family business. In 2016 FIMS acquired its Class 07 FFL in order to expand into the manufacturing of firearms. Hiring several engineers, FIMS is now paving the way to make an impact in the defense industry.

Mike Facchini believes FIMS has a natural partner in NASCAR. “I was and still am a huge Haas customer,” Mike Facchini said. “I’m also friendly with a lot of people at the factory in California and was invited many times over many years to attend NASCAR events with Haas. One day, I was asked if I’d be interested in sponsoring, and the rest is history.”

EMAIL: FIMSMFG@OUTLOOK.COM

SOCIAL: @FIMSFIREARMS

CHeCk out tHe CuStom rifle Builder on our weBSite FIMS IS, In every SenSe, a FaMIly buSIneSS. In 2016 FIMS acquired its Class 07 FFL in order to expand into the manufacturing of firearms.

Hiring several engineers, FIMS is now paving the way to make an impact in the defense industry. vISIt uS onlIne at

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PROUDLY MADE IN THE USA

NASCAR Salutes

Throughout its storied history, NASCAR has expressed its respect, appreciation and reverence for those who have served this country both past and present.

BY BEN WHITE

RICHARD PETTY SEVEN-TIME NASCAR CUP SERIES CHAMPION “TO SEE WHAT THESE GUYS IN THE SERVICE have to go through, it gives you a different perspective when you see them, talk to them and thank them for being able to do what we want to do,” Petty told USA Today about his 1971 Christmas trip to Vietnam.

KEVIN HARVICK 2014 NASCAR CUP SERIES CHAMPION “I’M ALWAYS AT A LOSS FOR HOW TO EXpress my utmost gratitude to the men and women who serve our country. I know the entire NASCAR community is behind me when I say I can’t thank these individuals enough for their dedication and

CALE YARBOROUGH THREE-TIME NASCAR CUP SERIES CHAMPION

service,” Harvick said at Fort Bragg in 2013.

“I WON MORE RACES, MORE MONEY THAN anyone that year. Most of the guys over there (Vietnam) were young, they had a car back home, they had racing magazines, so I wasn’t a stranger to them. That made me feel good,” Yarborough said in a 1978 issue of Vault Magazine.

Go to www.wholesomehide.com for dealers

DALE EARNHARDT JR. 16-TIME MOST POPULAR DRIVER

WARD BURTON 2002 DAYTONA 500 WINNER

“IT’S REALLY POWERFUL TO ME KNOWING

“I REMEMBER ONE YEAR WHEN I WAS WITH

that you are making this commitment to the coun-

Bill Davis Racing, our sponsor cleared the hood of

try. … I can see you’ve got a great group, and it’s very

the car so we could display a big American flag.

personal to me to see it happening from the very

I thought that was an incredible way to show love

beginning,” Earnhardt Jr. said while visiting the Navy

and respect for our country to the fans with every

Recruit Training Command Center in August 2008.

lap we completed.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

PROUDLY MADE IN THE USA

HOMETOWN, USA Below is a breakdown of the home states represented by drivers on NASCAR’s top three circuits. Did you know there are three drivers in the National Series who hail from Iowa? Can you name them?

N O R T H C A R O L I N A (11) AUSTIN DILLON: Cup Series

1

RYAN BLANEY: Cup Series TY DILLON: Cup Series WILLIAM BYRON: Cup Series COREY LAJOIE: Cup Series

3

JOHN H. NEMECHEK: Cup Series JESSE LITTLE: Xfinity Series

1

AUSTIN CINDRIC: Xfinity Series TATE FOGLEMAN: Gander Truck Series

1

10

C A L I F O R N I A (10 )

3

KEVIN HARVICK: Cup Series

2

3

4

HARRISON BURTON: Xfinity Series TODD GILLILAND: Gander Truck Series

1 3

TYLER REDDICK: Cup Series

1

3

1

1

11

1 2 1

MATT DIBENEDETTO: Cup Series

3

1 1

1

2

2

4

5

COLE CUSTER: Cup Series KYLE LARSON: Cup Series

4

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Cup Series ZANE SMITH: Gander Truck Series MATT CRAFTON: Gander Truck Series TYLER ANKRUM: Gander Truck Series SHELDON CREED: Gander Truck Series TEX AS (5) BRENNAN POOLE: Cup Series

MICHAEL MCDOWELL: Cup Series

W I S C O N S I N ( 3) JOHNNY SAUTER: Gander Truck Series

CHRIS BUESCHER: Cup Series

J.J. YELEY: Cup Series

TY MAJESKI: Gander Truck Series

DAVID STARR: Xfinity Series

ALEX BOWMAN: Cup Series

DEREK KRAUS: Gander Truck Series

CORY ROPER: Gander Truck Series

I N D I A N A ( 3)

A L A B A M A (2)

AUSTIN W. SELF: Gander Truck Series

RYAN NEWMAN: Cup Series

BUBBA WALLACE: Cup Series

K E N T U C K Y (1) BEN RHODES: Gander Truck Series M A R Y L A N D (1) TIMMY HILL: Cup Series M I S S I S S I P P I (1) RICKY STENHOUSE JR.: Cup Series

FLORI DA (4)

CHASE BRISCOE: Xfinity Series

GRANT ENFINGER: Gander Truck Series

ARIC ALMIROLA: Cup Series

JUSTIN HALEY: Xfinity Series

M I S S O U R I (1) SPENCER BOYD: Gander Truck Series

ROSS CHASTAIN: Xfinity Series

C O N N E C T I C U T (2)

I O W A ( 3)

JOEY LOGANO: Cup Series

JOEY GASE: Cup Series

RYAN PREECE: Cup Series

N E W M E X I C O (1)

JOSH WILLIAMS: Xfinity Series

MICHAEL ANNETT: Xfinity Series

G EORG IA (4)

BRETT MOFFITT:

N E W J E R S E Y (2)

CHASE ELLIOTT: Cup Series

Gander Truck Series

JOE GRAF JR.: Xfinity Series

RYAN SIEG: Xfinity Series

O K L A H O M A (1)

M I C H I G A N ( 3)

S O U T H C A R O L I N A (2)

CHRISTOPHER BELL: Cup Series

JEREMY CLEMENTS: Xfinity Series

T E N N E S S E E (1)

RAY BLACK JR.: Xfinity Series

BRANDON JONES: Xfinity Series

BRAD KESELOWSKI: Cup Series

MARTIN TRUEX JR.: Cup Series

TANNER GRAY: Gander Truck Series N E W YO R K (1) CHRISTIAN ECKES: Gander Truck Series

AUSTIN HILL: Gander Truck Series

ERIK JONES: Cup Series

JORDAN ANDERSON:

N E VADA (4)

VINNIE MILLER: Xfinity Series

Gander Truck Series

KURT BUSCH: Cup Series

W A S H I N G T O N (1)

V I R G I N I A ( 3)

I L L I N O I S (1)

ANGELA RUCH: Gander Truck Series

JUSTIN ALLGAIER: Xfinity Series

W E S T V I R G I N I A (1)

KYLE BUSCH: Cup Series

40

A R I Z O N A ( 3)

DENNY HAMLIN: Cup Series

NOAH GRAGSON: Xfinity Series

BRANDON BROWN: Xfinity Series

RILEY HERBST: Xfinity Series

MATT MILLS: Xfinity Series

POLE POSITION 2020

CHAD FINCHUM: Xfinity Series

K A N S A S (1)

CODIE ROHRBAUGH:

CLINT BOWYER: Cup Series

Gander Truck Series

Extreme Fans

Meet two fans who personify NASCAR and take their fandom of the sport to an extreme level.

JARED TURNER

JARRET ZENDT A 34-year-old Hershey’s Ice Cream employee from Loysville, Pennsylvania, Jarret Zendt has been a NASCAR fan since birth.

“My grandparents and parents were big fans so I naturally took after them,” he said. “It’s neat seeing old birthday party videos of me as a baby in the ’80s, and you can see and hear the race on TV in the background.”

Zendt’s favorite track is Bristol, but he’s also been to Pocono, Dover, Richmond, Kentucky, Martinsville and Darlington. He grew up a fan of Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. and now supports Chase Elliott.

“I watch NASCAR’s top three series every week, every race,” Zendt said. “Never miss one. I’ve only missed one Cup race since I was in my teens. It was when we went on a family vacation to Disney. If we have a family function, everyone knows I have it DVR’d for when I get home.”

MATT BEAMER

Make life simple get a

SPORTS

A firefighter and 10-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Matt Beamer could easily be considered the ultimate NASCAR fan. Since becoming hooked on the sport 19 years ago after driving a full-motion NASCAR simulator, Beamer has attended races at Atlanta, Charlotte, Bristol, Watkins Glen, Pocono, Darlington and Daytona. In the case of Charlotte, he’s been there no fewer than seven times.

Beamer wears his enthusiasm for NASCAR on his sleeve.

“It was tough for me to find people while serving in the Marine Corps who matched my passion for the sport,” he said. “Though I met other fans, I was known as the ‘NASCAR guy’ in my platoon.”

Now a civilian, Beamer remains enamored by the sport.

“One of the biggest ways that I show my support for NASCAR is through my weekly racing podcast, ‘In the Marbles,’” he said. “I also get the winner’s 1:24 scale die-cast car and display that by the race ticket and a picture of the driver doing his burnouts.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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SECTION PROUDLYTITLE MADE IN THE USA

Gen-Y Hitch: No Other Hitch Like It

GEN-Y HITCHES

What started as a pet project for an owner of a tree-trimming business has turned into a multi-million dollar business that has set the standard for hitches and towing in the United States.

THE BOSS (TORSION-FLEX) GEN-Y’S BOSS ADJUSTable Drop Hitches start at 10,000 lb. towing capacity and go up to 21,000 lb.

BY DAN GUTTENPLAN

towing capacity. The Torsion-Flex Drop Hitch is the best hitch for ultimate control and safety while towing any bumper style trailer on the market including pintle style couplings.

■■ Protects cargo from harsh bumps ■■ Increases fuel economy ■■ Up to 90% smoother ride than traditional hard connections ■■ Reduce tire wear on truck and trailer ■■ 100% satisfaction guarantee

Carl Borkholder was tired of buying hitches for his fleet of vehicles in his tree-trimming business back in 2011. The hitches he bought never seemed to be the right size for the trailers, and he was in a constant cycle of purchasing new ones.

He decided to design a hitch system that was compatible with all trucks and towable units for his former company’s operation. What he ended up creating instead was a new company, Gen-Y Hitch, which manufacturs two of the most versatile, fully adjustable hitches on the market.

“Once he started, he thought, ‘Hey, this isn’t on the market currently,’” said Donna Drepin, Marketing Director of Gen-Y Hitch. “It eventually grew into a multi-million dollar company that sets the standard for hitches and towing.”

Borkholder’s first hitch was the Mega-Duty, which offered the strongest adjustable drop hitch in the industry. It can be used in the rise or drop position with trailers of all different sizes and heights.

“This is the only hitch you’ll ever need for any variation of trailer,” Drepin said. “It’s a one-stop shop.”

More recently, Borkholder and the Gen-Y Hitch engineers released The Boss with Torsion-Flex.

This adjustable drop hitch starts at the 10,000 lb. towing capacity and can do the job with rigs up to 21,000 lbs.

P H O N E : 574 -218 - 6 3 6 3

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POLE POSITION 2020

The Torsion-Flex Drop Hitch is the best hitch for ultimate control and safety while towing any bumper-style trailer. The hitch also helps improve fuel economy and reduce tire wear.

“It isolates the truck and trailer to remove 90 percent of the inertia while driving down the road,” Drepin said. “We have customers call and say they save three miles to the gallon. They’re saving money and not experiencing a harsher driver experience while towing.”

As Gen-Y continues to expand, the company’s executives will look to form partnerships in the racing industry, as well as with companies that manufacture RVs and fifth-wheel vehicles.

“As NASCAR drivers and crew teams are traveling, we know they put a lot of money into their gear and investments,” Drepin said. “We ensure those investments will make it to the track safely and smoothly.”

With headquarters in Northern Indiana, Gen-Y Hitch products are built in the USA. The employees continue to pride themselves on maintaining a small-town approach to customer service by building quality relationships with their clients.

“We are a smaller company with 15 to 20 employees at our home plant,” Drepin said. “The feedback and reach we get is awesome and overwhelmingly positive.”

EMAIL: SALES@GENYHITCH.COM

FA C E B O O K : /G E N Y H I T C H

MEGA-DUTY CLASS V 32 K D R O P H I T C H THE GEN-Y 32K DROP Hitch is built to accommodate towing heavy loads, up to 32,000 lbs.

The receiver size comes in 2 1⁄ 2” and 3”. The 2 1⁄ 2” can be used on any standard 2 1⁄ 2” ID hitch receiver and the 3” is compatible with all 3” I.D. receivers including the 2017 F-350 Super Duty and Reese Super Titan Hitch.

■■ Includes 2 Hitch Pins, Versa-Ball Mount (2“ & 2 5⁄ 16“) and Pintle Lock ■■ Drop/Raise Range: 6“ to 12“ ■■ Fabricated with heavy duty steel ■■ Precision milled and drilled ■■ Easy 1-pin adjustment ■■ Call for special colors or custom sizes

TWITTER: @GENYHITCH PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

PROTECT YOUR RACING INVESTMENTS WITH

THE HIGHEST QUALITY TRUCK HITCHES ON THE MARKET Our TORSION-FLEX Technology gives the user both power and control over adverse road conditions by isolating truck and trailer. It ensures cargo is delivered safely and smooth.

The combination of control, safety and a smoother ride creates the ultimate towing experience to the racetrack.

RACING & MOTORHOME HITCH With a specific flatplate that will slide in on a C-channel on the Super C hitch, this is ideal for towing race haulers or motor homes.

GOOSENECK COUPLERS GEN-Y’s Gooseneck Couplers range in tongue weight and go up to 30,000 LB towing capacity. The Torsion-Flex coupler is the best hitch for ultimate control & performance.

DROP HITCHES Our Boss Adjustable Drop Hitches start at 10,000 LB towing capacity and go up to 21,000 LB towing capacity. The Torsion-Flex Drop Hitch is the best hitch for ultimate control and safety while towing any bumper style trailer on the market including pintle style couplings.

PIN BOXES

The Executive pin boxes are available in 2 different styles. The King Pin allows you to connect to the 5th wheel hitch, while the 5th to Goose conversion style frees up your truck bed

sales@genyhitch.com | (574) 218-6363

www.genyhitch.com

PROUDLY MADE IN THE USA

WorkArmor™: The Best Work Gloves in the Industry

In our Made In America section, NASCAR Pole Position features products that are manufactured in the United States. This month’s American-made product is WorkArmor™ gloves.

BY DAN GUTTENPLAN Scot Thomasson, VP of Business Development for WorkArmor’s™ parent company Shadow Works, has spent 25 years in federal law enforcement and understands the value of tough, dependable work gloves.

He recently joined NASCAR Pole Position for a Q&A.

What separates WorkArmor™ gloves from the competition?

Our SWX™ textile is designed to provide the highest level of protection against slash, stab, cut, puncture and fire. While most competitive products deliver in a single area, our unique multifaceted fabric allows WorkArmor™ gloves to be used regardless of the job. Combining these protective elements with our breathable and washable fabric, you have a glove that delivers for the long haul.

Why aren’t other manufacturers able to produce gloves that can do all of those things?

It all comes down to the textile. WorkArmor’s™ patented SWX™ fabric is constructed from lightweight composite fibers in a double-knit weave, providing superior protection that can’t be duplicated by the competition. In addition, we made a commitment to a USA production model that is contrary to the foreign outsourcing numerous companies have pursued to cut costs.

What is the target market?

Our original Shadow Works gloves were developed for military, law enforcement and first responders to meet the unique demands of their daily jobs. However, we quickly recognized that individuals in all walks of life, manufacturing, mining, construction, building and more, needed the same level of protection for their hands. We developed the WorkArmor™ brand from the same SWX™ fabric to protect the men and women who build America.

How can you be so sure these are the best gloves out there?

First, our material is independently tested in six key areas – Abrasion, Circular Cut, Straight Cut, Tear, Puncture and Flame Resistance – to determine overall safety. Second, we perform our own “torture” tests against the leading gloves in the market to see how they all react to the typical dayin and day-out job stresses. Finally, we field test our

gloves with real people on the job to get their feedback regarding overall performance and durability.

The combination of these elements tells us that our WorkArmor™ gloves are the most comprehensive performance gloves on the market. And to top it off, we received the 2019 National Hardware Show Best New Product Made in the USA Award. I can’t say it enough: It is all about the textile and WorkArmor™ is the only glove with the patented SWX™.

Are there plans to improve the product in any way in 2020?

WorkArmor™ is a relative newcomer to the glove market, but we are always looking at product enhancements. Our first step is to expand the uses of SWX™. For instance, our fabric is currently being used in the construction of riot suits and we have partnered with companies to enhance articles of clothing – hoodies, T-shirts, double-front pants and arm gauntlets to name a few. Additionally, we’ve developed a geo-textile for a paving manufacturer.

WorkArmor™ is always open to explore new possibilities and uses for our patented SWX™ textile.

SAFETY SAVINGS MOST WORK-RELATED insurance claims are the result of one of three injuries – related to either eyes, ears or hands. By investing in WorkArmor™ gloves, businesses can reduce the risk of filing insurance claims for injuries related to the hands that range from $7,000 to $70,000, depending on the extent of the damage. The cost benefit for manufacturers is significant when you consider the savings related to a reduction in worker’s comp, lost wages and medical bills. “This is a win-win for everybody,” Thomason said. “The risk is reduced

W E B : W O R K A R M O R . C O M E M A I L : I N F O @ W O R K A R M O R . C O M FA C E B O O K : / N E W M A R K E TA P PA R E L

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POLE POSITION 2020

through a pair of gloves.”

W ORK A RMOR BUILT TO LAST

the last gloves you’ll ever need puncture, tear, flame, abrasion, and cutresistant SAVE 10%. USE CODE ‘VETERAN’ A portion of all proceeds go to the Gary Sinise Foundation

learn more at workarmor.com

NASCAR DEFINED

The 2020 Season is Heating Up! ■■ SUNSET STRIP. General view as the sun sets following the NASCAR Xfinity Series LS Tractor 200.

■■ THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT. Rapper Pitbull and singer Blake Shelton perform prior to the FanShield 500 at Phoenix Raceway.

■■ ON FIRE TO START. Noah Gragson celebrates winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series NASCAR Racing Experience 300.

■■ DECALING WITH DAD. Kyle Busch and his son, Brexton, apply the winner’s sticker after the the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Strat 200.

■■ HAPPY HARVICK. Kevin Harvick and his daughter, Piper, before the NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix.

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POLE POSITION 2020

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

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NASCAR paid respect to the victims of the tragic helicopter crash that claimed the lives of nine people, including Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna.

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POLE POSITION 2020

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

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NASCAR DEFINED

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POLE POSITION 2020

■■ HAT TIP TO HARRISON. Harrison Burton celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Production Alliance Group 300 at Auto Club Speedway.

■■ IN AND OUT. Alex Bowman pits during the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.

■■ A STAR IN THE MAKING. Hailie Deegan stands on the grid prior to the ARCA Menards Series Lucas Oil 200 Driven by General Tire at Daytona International Speedway.

■■ MR. INCOGNITO. Ryan Blaney signs autographs during practice for NASCAR Cup Series Penzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

■■ CHASING THE 9. Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick lead the field at the start of the NASCAR Cup Series FanShield 500.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

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NASCAR HEALTH

PRESENTED BY TM

Precautions to Decrease Risk of Coronavirus

Motorsports Safety Group is a collaboration of innovators who are determined to improve the safety of racing. Like most medical professionals, the doctors with MSG are focused on limiting the risk of coronavirus.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS? CORONAVIRUS SYMPtoms include coughing, fever and shortness of breath. Those typically

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. Dr. Cormier’s work with MSG ties together his passion for racing with his professional expertise.

For the April/May edition of NASCAR Pole Position, Dr. Cormier shared some preventative measures people can take to decrease the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

How do you think the coronavirus will affect NASCAR? “The drivers range in age from 15 to 54. They’re relatively healthy otherwise, but when you talk about the wear and tear on the body during a race, when they’re losing 2,000 or 3,000 calories, it certainly puts them in a situation where their immune system won’t function at its best. The body can become vulnerable to opportunistic organisms.

Hydration and nutrition is so important, as is making sure to keep their bodies in tip-top shape before they even get around the circuit.”

What preventative measures can fans take before heading to the track races?

“At this point, I don’t feel that fans should avoid racing events, but this could change. I would encourage all fans to follow the latest updates from the CDC, FDA and your local outlets. If people are sick, don’t go near them until they come out of it.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. In these

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POLE POSITION 2020

appear 2 to 14 days after

times, it’s important to pay attention to how much we touch our eyes, noses and mouths. Stay home if you’re under the weather. If you really want to see a race, you can probably watch it on TV so that you’re not exposing yourself to the outdoors. Some people cough and sneeze and don’t cover up. It’s very important to cover your nose, mouth and face whenever you sneeze. Keep tissues on hand. Once you’re done with the tissue, throw it in a garbage can. Keep disinfectants and anti-bacterial oils that you can put on your hands, something that kills viruses. That’s good to have every day.

“Clean and disinfect things you frequently touch.

Use a cleaning spray with Klorox to disinfect surfaces. The same goes for an ice chest, mobile homes and RVs. Make sure to clean them daily. Wipe down doors daily.”

exposure. Symptoms can range from mild to severe.

“Symptoms are similar to the normal flu,” Cormier said. “You could think you have the flu. The most important thing to do when you start having symptoms is to avoid contact with other people. That’s when it’s most appropriate to put on a mask.”

Cormier also recommended people who feel they may have contracted the virus to call ahead to the hospital so that the staff can prepare for the patient.

Do you recommend people wear face masks?

“People don’t have to wear face masks everywhere they go. The CDC doesn’t recommend that. Those should be worn by those who show symptoms to help prevent the spread. If you’re a healthcare worker or care-taker, then it’s probably appropriate. Other than that, if you’re above the age of 60, it might be a good idea to have it. That’s the opportunistic demographic.

“Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds, especially after you use the restroom or before eating.

Use soaps and detergents with an anti-bacterial base. If that’s not available, use one with at least 60 percent alcohol.”

“It’s something they’ll want to pay attention to,” Cormier said. “Make sure they know what your symptoms are.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

NASCAR CUP SERIES

Opportunity Knocks for Matt DiBenedetto

By Jared Turner

They’re such good people, so the fact I’m driving for them is probably one of the most comfortable transitions I’ve ever made, just because they’re such great people.”

– M AT T D I B E N E D E T T O , O N D R I V I N G FOR WOOD BROTHERS RACING

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POLE POSITION 2020

E

Enjoying the most successful season of his young NASCAR Cup Series career, Matt DiBenedetto was dealt a gut-wrenching blow last August when he learned he would not be retained as driver of Leavine Family Racing’s No. 95 Toyota in 2020.

Thankfully for DiBenedetto, he didn’t stay down long. Within a few weeks of finding out he wouldn’t be back with LFR, DiBenedetto was handed the proverbial keys to Wood Brothers Racing’s iconic No. 21 Ford – a car driven by legends of the sport such as David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Junior Johnson, Bill Elliott and the team’s founder, the late Glen Wood.

Upon securing his new ride, DiBenedetto immediately went from the lowest of emotional lows to the highest of emotional highs.

“It’s the best opportunity of my life,” the 28-yearold Grass Valley, California, native said.

Few could argue with that assertion, given not only the Wood Brothers’ deep and glorious history, but the fact that the No. 21 car has shown tremendous speed on occasion over the past few seasons with now-former team drivers Ryan Blaney and Paul Menard. Credit that in large part to the team’s ongoing technical alliance that began in 2015 with perennial powerhouse Team Penske – which now fields the cars of Blaney, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski.

Last season, DiBenedetto recorded a career-high seven top-10 finishes that included three top-five results and a career-best runner-up finish in August at Bristol Motor Speedway. When Menard revealed his plans to retire at season’s end, DiBenedetto was the obvious choice for Wood Brothers Racing co-owners Len and Eddie Wood, who are the sons of Glen Wood.

“When Paul let us know he was going to step away from Cup, our first question was, of course, ‘Who should we get?’” Eddie Wood recalls asking. “First thing out of Paul’s mouth was, ‘Get Matt.’ So, we did.”

Along with being excited about his on-track potential, DiBenedetto – one of the most humble and down-to-earth drivers in the NASCAR garage – sees his personality as a great fit for the family-run team.

Despite growing up on the opposite coast, DiBenedetto actually has a longstanding connection with Len Wood, Len’s wife, Nancy, and their son, Keven – a former Late Model driver turned Wood Brothers Racing shop employee.

“I’ve known them for quite some time,” DiBenedetto said. “I’ve known Len, Nancy and Keven Wood

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

since I raced at Hickory Motor Speedway (in North Carolina) against Keven when I was a teenager. So, I’ve known them and gone to the Wood Brothers for advice many times. They’re such good people, so the fact I’m driving for them is probably one of the most comfortable transitions I’ve ever made, just because they’re such great people.”

Understandably, DiBenedetto has a tremendous appreciation for the team’s rich history, which began 70 years ago in the small town of Stuart, Virginia, with Glen Wood and brothers Leonard and Delano.

Although the team relocated to the Charlotte, North Carolina, area more than a decade ago, its popular museum remains in Stuart, where DiBenedetto had the opportunity to visit not long after he was named Wood Brothers Racing’s newest driver.

While spending a day at the museum, DiBenedetto was able to go back and retrace many of the great moments in the Wood Brothers’ fabled history.

“The one thing that stood out over everything, over all the amazing accomplishments, achievements and all that, was the pride and passion that the Wood Brothers have for every single one of those stories and the way that they tell it,” DiBenedetto said. “That’s something I could never explain to anybody unless they witnessed it, because it was so cool and so heartwarming, and it made it even all that much more special that I can drive this race car and hopefully make a lot more memories with them. The way they tell those stories and the pride they have for their team and every accomplishment they’ve done makes it so special.”

Wood Brothers Racing has been sitting on 99 wins in NASCAR’s premier series since Blaney took the team to Victory Lane at Pocono Raceway in June 2017. DiBenedetto would like nothing more than to be the driver who gives the renowned organization its landmark 100th win.

“There is some pretty cool stuff that’s on the cusp of happening, and that 100th win, hopefully, we can get that and many more,” DiBenedetto said. “It’s just an honor to be in the position of trying to get that. I’m not big on chasing certain things or chasing wins; I’m just big on doing my job to the best of my ability, but if that does happen – and that’s the plan – it would be pretty special.”

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

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PRESENTED BY

DRIVE 4 DIVERSITY

Daniel Suarez Making an Impact

Daniel Suarez earned his first big career break in 2013 when he was selected to be part of NASCAR’s Drive 4 Diversity program. Two years later, Suarez made another huge leap when he landed a full-time ride with Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

BY JARED TURNER By the end of 2016, Suarez had won three Xfinity Series races and made NASCAR history by becoming the first Mexicanborn driver to capture a top-tier NASCAR national championship, but an even more exciting moment came after the season had ended. Suarez – who hails from Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico – was tabbed

by NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Joe Gibbs to replace Carl Edwards in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 NASCAR Cup Series car when Edwards abruptly retired.

Suarez spent two seasons in NASCAR’s top division with JGR and one with StewartHaas Racing before joining Gaunt Brothers Racing for the current campaign. Although Suarez has yet to achieve the success he desires in NASCAR’s premier division, his impact on the sport of auto racing – and on the Latin American community, in particular – has been significant.

“For me, it’s amazing to be able to be a role model for so many future (Latin American) drivers,” Suarez said. “It’s been a lot of fun going through this journey, and it’s just going to get better and better.”

Suarez has reason to be upbeat about his influence on both the sport and aspiring racers not only in his native Mexico but in other Latin American countries around the world.

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POLE POSITION 2020

“I feel like now that we are in the Cup Series, I feel like there are a lot of drivers in Mexico and in all these places that they are trying to make it here,” Suarez said. “I have a few friends from Mexico that they are working hard to try to make it to the U.S. And from Brazil, as well. It’s great for me to have a lot of friends and drivers, great drivers to follow the path that we have done with a lot of help from a lot of people. I feel like that’s something special, and, hopefully, we can help them as much as we can.”

Suarez knows he likely wouldn’t be

where he is today if it wasn’t for the NASCAR Drive 4 Diversity program, an initiative that serves to groom female and minority drivers and pit crew members in NASCAR’s development series for future competition at the sport’s highest levels.

Suarez calls the Drive 4 Diversity program “very important to me, for sure.”

“It helped me a lot,” the 28-year-old driver noted. “For the two years that I was there, it really helped me a lot, but it’s a combination of things. The program helps you a lot to develop yourself and to learn in the regional series like the (NASCAR) K&N Series, but to make the next step, that’s maybe one of the toughest things you have to do, and sometimes you have to do that with different resources. Luckily, I had help from some other people that was able to take me to the next level.”

And now that Suarez is at the top level, he still often leans on the folks back home in Mexico.

“I have a lot of people helping me out, different friends, family, other drivers,” he said.

“Just trying to go through this situation, it’s way easier that way. I know a lot of people with more experience than me. It’s just good to have support from my country.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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DRIVER PROFILES

KEVIN HARVICK OWNERS TONY STEWART AND GENE HAAS

TEAM

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S T E W A R T- H A A S R A C I N G

SPONSORS B U S C H L I G H T, JIMMY JOHN’S

MANUFACTURER FORD

CREW CHIEF RODNEY CHILDERS

Kevin Harvick began the season in solid but unspectacular fashion by finishing fifth in the Daytona 500 and eighth the following weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

He’ll take those results, however, after starting the 2019 season uncharacteristically slow out of the gate – at least by his lofty standards. In last season’s first 19 races, Harvick finished no better than fourth and seemed frustrated by the overall lack of speed in the four Stewart-Haas Racing Fords.

Harvick finally broke through in Week 20, however, going to Victory Lane at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to formally punch his ticket into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Over the remainder of the season, Harvick looked a lot more like his typical front-running self as he prevailed three times and qualified for the Championship 4 for an incredible fifth time in six seasons. Racing straight up for the championship against Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. in the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Harvick fell short in his quest to earn his second career title as he finished fourth in the race and third in the final standings.

Still, it was a solid season for the veteran driver, especially when considering how he and his team rallied from a disappointing first half.

“As we went through the late summer and in the playoffs, I feel like we obviously got our cars back to being competitive, and when I say ‘competitive,’ I mean able to lead laps without circumstances (falling into place),” Harvick said.

WRITTEN BY JARED TURNER

STILL TOGETHER THE OLD ADAGE holds that if it’s not broken, don’t fix it, and so it is with Kevin Harvick and crew chief Rodney Childers. The two remained together for the 2020 NASCAR season despite Stewart-Haas Racing making offseason crew chief changes on the organization’s other three teams.

Prior to the start of the current schedule, Childers and Harvick had captured 26 victories, 25 poles, 106 top-five finishes and 153 top-10 results in six seasons together.

Their crowning achievement to date is winning the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series title.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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RICKY

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47

BRAD DAUGHERTY AND TA D G E S C H I C K T E R

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his entire career prior to this season with Roush Fenway Racing – didn’t know necessarily what to expect when he joined JTG Daugherty Racing over the winter.

Turns out the transition couldn’t have been much smoother. Stenhouse began his run at JTG Daugherty on an extremely positive note by winning the pole for the Daytona 500 and finishing third the next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“I know everybody at JTG Daugherty Racing worked really hard this offseason, and I think that’s what makes it special to me is knowing that those guys put in the effort,” Stenhouse said. “They put in the work. Not only just the work, but they know exactly what to do to make our cars fast, and it’s a good way to start our new relationship with JTG.” Unscripted though it certainly was, Stenhouse and Chris Buescher basically swapped teams as Buescher took over Stenhouse’s former seat at Roush Fenway, while Stenhouse slid into the No. 47 JTG Daugherty seat and his new teammate, Ryan Preece, moved from the No. 47 to Buescher’s former No. 37 car.

The shakeup was set in motion when Stenhouse was dismissed from Roush Fenway after seven NASCAR Cup Series seasons with the organization where he won backto-back NASCAR Xfinity Series championships in 2011 and 2012. Stenhouse is glad to begin a new chapter.

“I feel like the culture at JTG Daugherty Racing is something that I have missed,” he said. “It’s a family atmosphere.

It’s, ‘Whatever you need, we’ll help you get it accomplished.’”

FAMILIAR FACES WHILE RICKY Stenhouse Jr. is in a new place at JTG Daugherty Racing, he’s surrounded by some familiar faces – including those of Brian Pattie and Mike Kelley, two crew chiefs he worked with during his time at Roush Fenway Racing. Pattie, in fact, was Stenhouse’s crew chief last season.

“I’ve got a lot of motivation,” Stenhouse said. “Brian Pattie has got a lot of motivation.

Mike Kelley, they both were in the shop, all hands-on deck with our race cars this offseason.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

WILLIAM BYRON OWNER RICK HENDRICK

TEAM HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS

SPONSORS

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CREW CHIEF CHAD KNAUS

After two winless seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series with

Hendrick Motorsports, William Byron is eager to take the next step in his career progression.

Byron hopes to build on the success he achieved in 2019 – his first season with legendary crew chief Chad Knaus calling the shots – when he reached the playoffs and enjoyed major statistical improvements in virtually every category from his rookie season of 2018.

“I think it’s all about working with Chad and feeling like I can go to him with any question I have and give him an honest answer on any answer that he needs,” said Byron, the 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion. “That’s a big step, the relationship here. There’s really no other relationship out there besides you and your guys and your crew chief. I think that’s where the confidence for me comes from.”

Knaus, who won seven NASCAR Cup Series championships with Hendrick driver Jimmie Johnson, believes Byron has what it takes to enjoy a long, successful career at the sport’s highest level.

“To be working here with William, watching him mature, watching him just get the experience and everything that he’s got going on, the confidence to go out there and race with those guys, it’s been a pleasure, to be honest with you,” Knaus said. “With Jimmie, we were just digging, clawing and scratching for everything we could. This has been a lot of fun. It’s been a very calculated path. Hopefully, we can continue to go down this road.”

IRACING PRODIGY ONE FACTOR THAT led to William Byron being discovered by team owner Rick Hendrick years ago was his success at iRacing – a hobby he continues to this day.

“My idea with iRacing, I love having something to do during the week that involves what I try to work on,” Byron said. “It’s fun to get on there with your buddies and race. I meet a lot of good race car drivers.

There’s definitely a difference in racing a real car. There’s a lot of adrenaline that goes into it.”

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Erik Jones spent much of 2019 not knowing if he

would be back at Joe Gibbs Racing in 2020. In early September, however, the youngster from Byron, Michigan, signed a contract extension with the organization owned by legendary NFL coach and NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs.

Jones, who made the playoffs and scored a lone victory in each of his first two NASCAR Cup Series seasons with JGR, could be poised for a truly breakout campaign this year – when the goal is to win multiple races and challenge for a championship. The past two seasons, Jones was eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs and finished 15th and 16th in the standings, respectively.

“I’m excited to be staying with Joe Gibbs Racing and the 20 team and to continue the success that we have built over the last two years in the Cup Series,” Jones said. “I put my heart and soul into this and this race team. This is my living and how I want to make a career and what I want to do. I’ve been racing with JGR since 2014, and it’s really cool to be able to continue with the foundation we’ve built over the years and hopefully win more races and contend for championships together.”

After earning NASCAR Cup Series career victory No. 1 in the July 2018 race at Daytona International Speedway, Jones returned to Victory Lane on Labor Day weekend 2019 by winning the prestigious Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway – a victory that undoubtedly helped shore up his plans for this season.

JUST GETTING STARTED PRIOR TO JOINING Joe Gibbs Racing’s NASCAR Cup Series program in an official capacity in 2018, Erik Jones was technically part of JGR’s driver development program when he won a Gander Truck Series title in 2015.

Jones then earned four Xfinity Series victories on the way to a fourth-place championship finish for JGR in 2016.

“Erik has accomplished so much in our sport already and yet, he really is just at the start of a long career,” team owner Joe Gibbs said.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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ROSS CHASTAIN OWNERS

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JACK ROUSH AND JOHN HENRY

TEAM R O U S H F E N W AY R A C I N G

SPONSORS WYNDHAM REWARDS, O S C A R M AY E R , KOCH INDUSTRIES

MANUFACTURER FORD

CREW CHIEF SCOTT GRAVES

Ross Chastain started the season with plans to run a full NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule for Kaulig Racing. Little did he know that plans would change before he even got to Week Two. While Chastain has competed for Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series as expected, he’s also serving as a substitute driver for Ryan Newman in Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 6 car that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. Chastain was tabbed by team owner Jack Roush to fill in for Newman beginning with the second race of the season – held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – after Newman suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries in a vicious crash on the final lap of the Daytona 500.

Chastain, who began the season with two Xfinity Series wins and three victories in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, just wants to help RFR in any way he possibly can.

“No one could ever take the place of Ryan Newman on the track, and I can’t wait to have him back,” Chastain said of the veteran driver, who hopes to return later this year. “As we continue to pray for a full and speedy recovery, I’ll do my best to make him and everyone at Roush Fenway Racing proud.”

As for when Newman will return and how long Chastain will be in the seat, no indication had been given as of the beginning of March.

“Right now, we’re just taking it one step at a time,” RFR president Steve Newmark said. “Our arrangement with Ross is that if we need him, he should be available.”

OUT OF THE GATE IN HIS DEBUT AS THE fill-in driver for Ryan Newman’s No. 6 NASCAR Cup Series car, Ross Chastain showed speed early on at Las Motor Speedway and made his way inside the top 10 to earn opening-stage points.

He appeared poised for a solid day before being caught up in a pair of late-race incidents to finish 27th.

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JEB T R A ST BURTON RUN STORE OWNER

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Second-generation driver Jeb Burton is back in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for a second year of part-time competition in JR Motorsports’ No. 8 Chevrolet. This year, however, Burton is scheduled to compete in 11 races – up from seven a year ago.

And unlike last season, when Burton shared the No. 8 car with eight other drivers, he and only two others – Daniel Hemric and team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. – will fill out the 33-race Xfinity Series schedule.

While Burton still harbors aspirations of landing a full-time ride, he’s happy to have the opportunity to run an expanded schedule this season for one of the series’ premier organizations. Burton’s itinerary includes the season opener at Daytona International Speedway (where he finished 23rd) along with both Texas Motor Speedway events (March 28 and Oct. 24), Talladega Superspeedway (April 25) and Dover International Speedway (May 2).

Then it’s off to Michigan International Speedway (June 6), Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 4), New Hampshire Motor Speedway (July 18), Richmond Raceway (Sept. 11), Bristol Motor Speedway (Sept. 18) and Martinsville Speedway (Oct. 31).

“The biggest thing is just trying to prove people wrong,” said Burton, whose father, Ward, is the 2002 Daytona 500 winner and a veteran of NASCAR’s premier series. “People thought we were done (before 2019) and I was going to quit and I don’t have what it takes. That’s the kind of stuff that keeps me going. We’re getting close to where we want to be. We’re working really hard and we’re ready to get to Victory Lane.”

MR. PART-TIME ALTHOUGH JEB Burton has never run a full season or really anything close to a full season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, he is no stranger to NASCAR’s No. 2 division.

Between 2013 and 2019, Burton earned nine top-10 finishes while making a total of 32 starts. His busiest Xfinity Series season to date has been the 2016 campaign, when he made 14 starts – most of them coming for Richard Petty Motorsports.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

DRIVER PROFILES

BEN RHODES OWNER DUKE THORSON

TEAM

99

THORSPORT RACING

SPONSORS C A R O L I N A N U T, FOOD LION

MANUFACTURER FORD

CREW CHIEF M AT T N OY C E

One of the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series’

most consistent drivers over the past several seasons, Ben Rhodes has managed to establish himself as a perennial playoff contender.

Rhodes has not won a championship nor has he been particularly close to winning one, however. The Louisville, Kentucky, native hopes to change that this year – his fifth season as a full-time driver for the powerhouse ThorSport Racing organization based out of Sandusky, Ohio.

ThorSport managed to place three of its four drivers in last year’s eight-driver Truck Series playoff, with Rhodes being the odd man out and finishing ninth in the final standings – best among those who missed the playoff cut. In addition to wanting to return to the playoffs this season after a one-year hiatus, Rhodes also would like nothing more than to get back to Victory Lane after a winless 2019.

Rhodes scored a single victory in both 2017 and 2018, making the playoffs in each season and finishing a career-best fifth in the standings in 2017. Perhaps this will be a season when Rhodes not only wins a race and returns to the playoffs but also breaks into the Championship 4 for the first time. And with a little bit of luck and good fortune, he could even walk away with his first championship – which would be the fourth title for ThorSport and second in a row for the organization, which captured last year’s title and its two previous titles all with veteran Matt Crafton.

NO MORE MR. NICE GUY BEN RHODES typically isn’t one to be overly aggressive on the track, but he’s admittedly changed his approach a bit over the last year. This year, look for Rhodes to pretty much do whatever it takes to win.

“I’ve moved people out of the way, but I’ve never wrecked anybody,” he said. “But things have changed, man. I don’t see a ton of respect being given out on the race track for me, and I haven’t been really happy with that.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

PRESENTED BY

Four Questions with Record Rack Driver Spencer Boyd You have a passion for hunting. What’s your favorite memory?

Hunting takes me back to my roots, growing up in the Midwest in St. Louis, Missouri. My grandparents had a farm down South in Missouri, and my dad hunted whitetail a lot. It was something I started doing at an early age, probably four or five years old, just going out there with my grandpa or my dad. My coolest memory of deer hunting is very recent. I was down in Texas and harvested a huge whitetail buck that was 180-plus inches.

That’s like a record-type buck.

Record Rack is a sponsor of yours. What makes that a good fit for you?

My love for the outdoors is definitely what tied me to Record Rack. We tried Record Rack for a year or two, and I was like, ‘Hey, let me reach out to these guys.’ It’s an American-made product, I saw they were

doing a lot of cool stuff with veterans, and that’s something I like to do, so that led to the conversation about sponsorship. Record Rack and I have a lot of the same values.

How does it feel to be known as one of the most patriotic drivers in NASCAR? I have a lot of cousins, and quite a few went into the military. Growing up, my grandparents always had the American flag up in the front yard, and it was a big deal. If the national anthem was on TV, everyone was standing in the living room.

NASCAR is so involved with the military and all the stuff that they do, that they give us a pretty cool platform. I appreciate

what those guys and gals in the military do for us, and I definitely have seen the sacrifice that my cousins and others have had to make. I love our country and love our flag. I wear patriotic, American flag socks every day. I’ve wore those socks every day for probably six years now, and people love seeing it.

You’ve helped support Record Rack’s “Bucks for the Brave” hunt the last two years.

Can you describe what this is?

It’s an experience. It’s like going to Talladega or Bristol for the first time. They’ve been doing it for a while, and basically, family members and friends will nominate someone from one of the five branches of the military, or a police officer or firefighter or someone like that. You’re nominating someone that you feel deserves an opportunity to go on a hunt of a lifetime. It lasts five days, and Record Rack hooks them up with things associated with the cowboy lifestyle — from boots to jeans to cowboy hats — and they get to ride in a big stretched out Hummer Ford limousine. They’re treated like royalty, as they should be.

PRESENTED BY

BEHIND THE SCENES

What a finish!

Jordan Anderson raced to second place at Daytona – the best finish in his Truck Series career.

Jordan Anderson Racing at Daytona NASCAR Pole Position spent time with Jordan Anderson Racing and sponsor K-Seal at Daytona International Speedway to provide fans with a behindthe-scenes look at a Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race. What we didn’t script was the result — a career-best finish from Jordan Anderson and his team — which excited the NASCAR world. This was truly a wild ride!

Anderson fired up his fans before the start of the race.

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POLE POSITION 2020

Members of the K-Seal team meet with Jordan prior to qualifying. That fire suit pops!

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

69

GROWIN’ UP NASCAR

Growin’ Up NASCAR with

Tommy Joe Martins

2

BY JOSEPH WOLKIN

Tommy Joe Martins is one of NASCAR’s true throwback drivers. The 33-year-old Mississippi native is climbing the racing ladder the old-fashioned way. Martins pilots the No. 44 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for his family-run team, and he’s ready to show why he belongs.

1) Martins strapped into his first go-kart at age 5. Does it look familiar? It’s based on Kyle Petty’s Mello Yello paint scheme.

2) In 1997, Martins went to Daytona International Speedway with his family, not knowing he’d one day race at the famed oval.

3) The first time Martins raced competitively was in 2007, participating in Sports Car Club of America events.

4) Within two years, he climbed into a NASCAR truck for the first time thanks to the help of Rodney Riessen, who is now a co-owner of Martins Motorsports.

5) Martins made his NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series debut at Lucas Oil Raceway, finishing 22nd for his familyrun team. He competed in three more series races in 2009.

6) As Martins, a former journalism student at the University of Mississippi, sought a competitive gig, he worked as an instructor at a racing school and was featured on NASCAR on NBC with Kyle Petty.

7) B.J. McLeod hired Martins to run a partial NASCAR Xfinity Series slate in 2017.

He earned a career-best finish of 11th at Iowa Speedway, running about half of the schedule for McLeod in 2018.

8) Martins moved to MBM Motorsports with Carl Long in the middle of 2019 after running the first half of the year with B.J. McLeod Motorsports.

9) Martins became a staple in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, known as a fan-friendly driver and a voice for those attempting to make a name for themselves in underfunded equipment.

10) This year, Martins returned to his family-run team, piloting his traditional No. 44 car as he looks to expand his schedule.

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NASCAR SPEEDWAYS

SMALL TRACKS EQUAL

BIG DRAMA Bristol Motor Speedway, Richmond Raceway and Martinsville Speedway are all located in the Southeast and within a five-hour radius of each other. All three short tracks are known for close-quarters racing and high drama – often in the form of fender-banging, frequent spinouts and down-to-the-wire finishes.

BY JARED TURNER Fights and post-race skirmishes of various varieties have also been known to crop up at all three short tracks from time to time. Yet, as similar as the NASCAR Cup Series’ trio of short tracks might appear on the surface, the reality is they couldn’t be much different.

Consider, for example, reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch’s response when asked to compare Bristol and Richmond – which are both longer and considerably faster than Martinsville but yet really not that much alike.

“There’s really no comparison between race tracks, honestly, because Charlotte,

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Texas, Atlanta – they all look the same from overhead, but they drive not even close to the same,” Busch said. “Richmond and Bristol are more than oil and water, more than day and night. Bristol is an attack-type race track yet, when you attack, you can get yourself in trouble. Richmond is a very methodical race track, and you’re very on edge there all the time, especially corner entry, getting into the corners. You’re always loose there and you have to be able to be loose there in order to carry the speed through the middle and have good drive-off.”

With the three short tracks all being so different, success at one doesn’t

necessarily bode well for success at another. In fact, it’s virtually unheard of these days for a driver to win at all three short tracks in the same season – something that happened with considerably more regularity in the 1980s and ’90s when Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon were around.

Perhaps the tie that binds Bristol, Richmond and Martinsville together the most is the simple fact that all three tracks are enormously popular – so much so that NASCAR has long seen fit for all three of them to host a pair of NASCAR Cup Series race weekends each year.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

•• Brad Keselowski leads the field at Richmond Raceway.

current size, however; it was .542 miles in length prior to being reconfigured in the fall of 1988. Every other track on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is at least a mile long.

Layout. While Richmond is one of several tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule that is a “D”-shaped oval, Bristol is shaped like a traditional oval while Martinsville’s unique configuration is most commonly referred to as that of a “paperclip-shaped oval.” The start-finish line is in the middle of the frontstretch at Martinsville and Bristol, but at Richmond it’s in a slight curve.

History. Of the three short tracks, Martinsville is the oldest, having joined the premier series schedule in 1949 after being built the previous year by the late H. Clay Earles. Richmond – albeit in the form of a half-mile dirt track then known as Richmond Fairgrounds – became part of the premier series tour in 1953. Bristol, meanwhile, didn’t take its place on the schedule until 1961.

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This season, for the first time, all three short tracks are also part of the seasonending NASCAR Cup Series playoffs – which adds one more layer of suspense and excitement to the race that each venue will host this fall. Up next are six factors that differentiate Bristol, Richmond and Martinsville: Speed. Of the three short tracks that host races on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, Bristol (track record of 131.713 mph) is historically the fastest, with Richmond coming in at a close second. Martinsville, meanwhile, is not only slower than Bristol and Richmond – by about 30 mph in terms of average lap speeds – it’s also the slowest track on the entire Cup Series tour.

Ownership. Richmond and Martinsville are considered “sister” tracks because they are owned by NASCAR, which not long ago merged with International Speedway Corp. – a company where members of NASCAR’s France were the primary shareholders. Bristol, meanwhile, is a property of Speedway Motorsports Inc. – the company founded by motorsports tycoon and NASCAR Hall of Famer Bruton Smith and today managed by Smith’s son, Marcus.

Banking. While Richmond and Martinsville feature relatively flat corners, banked at 14 and 12 degrees, respectively, Bristol – with turns banked between 24 and 28 degrees – is one of NASCAR’s steepest tracks. As a result, Bristol is slightly

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faster than Richmond despite being almost a quarter of a mile shorter. Bristol is significantly faster than Martinsville, despite being just .7 of a mile longer.

Length. Of the three short tracks, Richmond – at exactly three quarters of a mile – is the longest, followed by Bristol (.533 miles) and Martinsville (.526 miles). Richmond hasn’t always been its

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NASCAR HISTORY NASCAR LEGEND

A True Showman

Curtis Turner was one of the most popular and competitive drivers in NASCAR history. The native of Floyd, Virginia, competed in 184 NASCAR premier series races from 1949 to 1968 and collected 17 victories.

BY BEN WHITE

Turner discovered stock car racing in 1946 when he finished last in a field of 18 cars during a dirt-track event in Mt. Airy, North Carolina. The famed moonshiner from the foothills of Virginia returned the next week and won the race in only his second start.

Turner saw stock car racing as the perfect way to find fortune and fame. Racer and promoter Bill France invited Turner to join a group at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Dec. 14, 1947, to set the rules for a new sanctioning body known as NASCAR. During his driving career, Turner won more than 350 races with a variety of different racing series, including 22 in NASCAR’s Convertible Division during the 1956 season.

Turner was considered a showman who brought fans into the grandstands. His ability to master roads with loads of moonshine translated well to the skills required to be successful on the track.

By the late 1950s, Turner gained the nickname “Pops” because he would often pop the rear bumpers of competitors ahead of him. He also called everyone by the same name as an easy way to address them.

The tall and handsome driver was banned for life from NASCAR in 1961 after a failed attempt to unionize the drivers. France reinstated him in 1965 to help bring fans back to the sport.

Turner’s last NASCAR start came on Sept. 15, 1968. Sadly, he perished in a private airplane crash on Oct. 4, 1970, near Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

Curtis was one of the finest race car drivers we ever had.

Had Curtis been in a different era of NASCAR, he would have won a lot more races than he did. He was exciting to watch.”

–H.A. “HUMPY” WHEELER

BEST SEASON TURNER ENJOYED HIS BEST SEASON IN 1958 WHEN HE won three times – at Champion Speedway in Fayetteville, North Carolina; Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia; and Southern States Fairgrounds in Charlotte, North Carolina – while driving for the famed Ford factory team of Holman Moody. He led 320 total laps in those three races.

RECORD-SETTER PRIOR TO THE 1967 DAYTONA 500 AT DAYTONA International Speedway, Turner posted a track record speed of 180.831 mph in qualifying. He was considered a favorite to win each time he took the green flag. He logged 54 top-five finishes, 73 top-10 results and 16 pole positions during his NASCAR premier series career.

KNOWN FOR TURNER WAS MOST COMFORTABLE LEADING AS HE could get the most out of every car he drove. His hard-charging style was a delight to his fans, especially during his final victory in 1965 at Rockingham Speedway. It came in only his seventh race after being reinstated for competition by NASCAR.

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PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY NASCAR

SEASON REWIND

1969: Title No. 3 for Pearson

1969 SEASON RECAP DATE CIRCUIT November 17 Middle Georgia Raceway December 8 Montgomery Speedway February 1 Riverside International Raceway February 20 Daytona International Speedway February 20 Daytona International Speedway February 23 Daytona International Speedway March 9 Rockingham Speedway March 16 Augusta Speedway March 23 Bristol Motor Speedway March 30 Atlanta Motor Speedway April 3 Columbia Speedway April 6 Hickory Motor Speedway April 8 Greenville-Pickens Speedway April 13 Richmond Raceway April 20 North Wilkesboro Speedway April 27 Martinsville Speedway May 4 Asheville-Weaverville Speedway May 10 Darlington Raceway May 16 Beltsville Speedway May 17 Langley Speedway May 25 Charlotte Motor Speedway June 1 Middle Georgia Raceway June 5 Smoky Mountain Raceway June 15 Michigan International Speedway June 19 Kingsport Speedway June 21 Greenville-Pickens Speedway June 26 State Fairgrounds Speedway July 4 Daytona International Speedway July 6 Dover International Speedway July 10 Thompson Speedway July 13 Trenton Speedway July 15 Beltsville Speedway July 20 Bristol Motor Speedway July 26 Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville July 27 Smoky Mountain Speedway August 10 Atlanta Motor Speedway August 17 Michigan International Speedway August 21 South Boston Speedway August 22 Bowman Gray Stadium August 24 Asheville-Weaverville Speedway September 1 Darlington Raceway September 5 Hickory Motor Speedway September 7 Richmond Raceway September 14 Talladega Superspeedway September 18 Columbia Speedway September 28 Martinsville Speedway October 5 North Wilkesboro Speedway October 12 Charlotte Motor Speedway October 17 Savannah Speedway October 19 Augusta Speedway October 26 Rockingham Speedway November 2 Jeffco Speedway November 9 Middle Georgia Raceway December 7 Texas World Speedway

BY BEN WHITE

David Pearson won 11 races in 1969 and claimed his third NASCAR Cup Series championship aboard the No. 17 Ford Torino fielded by Holman Moody, Ford’s factory racing operation.

The end of the decade marked Pearson’s 10th season of racing in the NASCAR premier series and the 34-year-old native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, was on top of his game.

John Holman and Ralph Moody formed the Holman Moody race car factory in 1956 with Ford Motor Co. supplying cars, parts and engineering. In order to showcase the team’s craftsmanship, the powerhouse organization fielded top drivers in NASCAR with Pearson as the primary wheelman. He had joined the operation the previous year after scoring championships with team owner Cotton Owens in 1966 and 1967.

Pearson was victorious in one of the 50-mile qualifying events at Daytona International Speedway early in 1969. He also scored superspeedway victories at Rockingham Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Trenton Speedway and the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, North Carolina. He notched short-track victories at Augusta Speedway, Richmond Raceway, Langley Speedway, Thompson Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and North Wilkesboro Speedway.

With so many wins, Pearson remained a strong championship contender throughout the year and found Richard Petty to be his toughest rival for the title.

BEST RACE ON MONDAY, Sept. 1, 1969, the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway came down to LeeRoy Yarbrough in the Junior Johnson and Associates Ford and Pearson’s Holman Moody Ford. In a race shortened from 367 to 230 laps by rain, Yarbrough pitted for hard tires while Pearson took soft tires. On lap 220, Pearson raced past

WINNER Richard Petty Bobby Allison Richard Petty David Pearson Bobby Isaac LeeRoy Yarbrough David Pearson David Pearson Bobby Allison Cale Yarborough Bobby Isaac Bobby Isaac Bobby Isaac David Pearson Bobby Allison Richard Petty Bobby Isaac LeeRoy Yarbrough Bobby Isaac David Pearson LeeRoy Yarbrough Bobby Isaac Bobby Isaac Cale Yarborough Richard Petty Bobby Isaac David Pearson LeeRoy Yarbrough Richard Petty David Pearson David Pearson Richard Petty David Pearson Richard Petty Richard Petty LeeRoy Yarbrough David Pearson Bobby Isaac Richard Petty Bobby Isaac LeeRoy Yarbrough Bobby Isaac Bobby Allison Richard Brickhouse Bobby Isaac Richard Petty David Pearson Donnie Allison Bobby Isaac Bobby Isaac LeeRoy Yarbrough Bobby Isaac Bobby Allison Bobby Isaac

Yarbrough but lost traction in the third turn on the final lap,

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opening the door for

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Yarbrough to win.

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