NASCAR Pole Position 2020 June/July Edition by A.E. Engine

BLUE-EMU POLEPOSITIONMAG.COM

@NPPMAG

Jimmie Johnson’s LEGENDARY VICTORIES

CHASE

Elliott

Growin’ Up

NASCAR FABULOUS FINISH

Enfinger and Anderson on Daytona Race

DIVERSITY PROGRAM

Bubba Wallace NASCAR PETS

Erik Jones & Oscar NASCAR ESPORTS

Evolution in Gaming

WE MISSED I WHO DOES THAT? I NA SC AR HE A LT G ATI NG I FI VE TH ING S H I FOR THE R IL TA I S T E P ECORD BUILDS I NASCAR HISTO RY I NAS CA R HO ME TR NASCAR AR LI FE ST YL E I NAS CAR NA SC P O T L IG H T I OWNERS S

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5 Things

Five things we didn’t realize we loved about NASCAR until it was gone

GROWIN’ UP NASCAR: CHASE ELLIOTT P.56

ENFINGER AND ANDERSON: FABULOUS FINISH P.40

JUNEJULY

CONTE NT 2020

! k c a B is TRUCK DRIVER TAKEOVER P.42

DIVERSITY PROGRAM: BUBBA WALLACE P.24

08 Johnson’s Legendary Victories 20 Owner Spotlight: Robert Yates 34 James Pike: Voice of eSports 10 Who Does That?

22 NASCAR Pets: Erik Jones

36 All About the Numbers

12 Tailgating

26 Partner Spotlight: ROXOR

38 NASCAR Health

14 NASCAR Lifestyle

28 NASCAR Builds

58 Favorite Finds

16 Crew Member Spotlight

30 NASCAR Home Tracks

62 NASCAR History

18 For the Record

32 NASCAR eSports

64 Speedway Sudoku

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.

POLE POSITION 2020

PRESENTED BY

FIVE THINGS WE MISSED

Things We Didn’t Realize We Loved About NASCAR Until It Was Gone

The long wait finally ended in mid-May. It had been more than two months since the engines fired and 38 drivers took the green flag at a real-life race track, but NASCAR made a triumphant return May 17 at South Carolina’s Darlington Raceway. BY JARED TURNER

With cars once again back on the track, here are five things we didn’t realize we loved so much about NASCAR until it was gone:

The Gamesmanship of the Competitors. True racers – it has

been said – will race anything, anytime, anywhere. That certainly proved to be true during this recent sabbatical from “real” racing. Motivated by their insatiable thirst to drive anything that moves and take advantage of any opportunity to outrun a fellow driver, competitors from each of NASCAR’s top three divisions convened on multiple occasions from the comfort of their respective at-home simulators to particulate in an iRacing experience on a virtual race track. Among the highlights of these races – some of which were broadcast live on FS1 and FOX and drew large TV audiences – were Jeff Gordon coming “out of retirement” to race at a virtual Talladega Superspeedway, and 15-time NASCAR most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. doing the same on more than one occasion. Not surprising in light of the drivers’ competitive fires, there were even a few moments of (somewhat) lighthearted tension among the competitors, who seemed to hate losing on a simulator as much as they do on an actual race track.

4 06

The Level of Fan Engagement from the Drivers. During their

time away from the actual race track, drivers engaged fans POLE POSITION 2020

in a number of ways. One of most unique ways drivers stayed connected was by signing their “digital autograph,” which usually happened when a fan would tweet a photo requesting a signature. To get the driver’s attention, the fan would generally tag the driver and include a short message noting their request. Once receiving the digital photo, the driver would screenshot it, sign it on their phone or another electronic device, and send it back to the fan. Among the drivers to get it on the “digital autograph” action were Corey LaJoie, Hailie Deegan and Austin Theriault. JR Motorsports went as far as to announce via the team’s official Twitter page that its drivers would be participating in a “digital autograph” session throughout the day on March 19. To get an autograph from a JRM driver, fans were encouraged to tag @JRMotorsports and use the hashtag #JRMDigitalAutograph on Twitter.

The Media-Friendliness and Fan-Friendliness. With a lot

more time on their hands, drivers were generally very accessible to both the fans and the media during the more than twomonth break from competition. This writer was afforded the opportunity to interview several drivers, including Alex Bowman, Matt DiBenedetto, Erik Jones, Jordan Anderson, Justin Haley, Riley Herbst and Grant Enfinger. In addition to being media-friendly to print reporters, drivers

also made numerous TV appearances – one of the more memorable coming from Jimmie Johnson, who surprised a Michigan-based ER nurse by showing up NBCSN’s “Lunch Talk Live” with Mike Tirico. The male nurse, who is a big fan of Johnson, was talking with Tirico on-air when Johnson suddenly appeared on the set and offered some words of gratitude for the nurse’s efforts while being on the frontlines of treating patients affected by COVID-19. “You are such an inspiration to all of us,” Johnson said. “I can’t imagine what you and your family are dealing with.”

NASCAR’s Resolve to Go Racing. While execu-

How Much NASCAR Gives Back. Despite taking

tives from other sports leagues weren’t able to make up their minds about when to resume play, NASCAR execs were decisive in announcing the sport would return to on-track action beginning with a May 17 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway. Although Darlington originally wasn’t supposed to host a race until Labor Day weekend, NASCAR’s top brass realized that if racing was going to return anytime soon, they were going to have to think outside the box. So, Darlington will now host three Cup Series races (up from one race on the original schedule), as will Charlotte Motor Speedway (up from two points races originally). NASCAR executives clearly thought long and hard about a way to bring the sport back – even if meant doing so without fans being allowed to attend, and that’s exactly what happened when Cup Series racing took place at Darlington on May 17 and 20, and at Charlotte on May 24 and 27.

its own proverbial punch to the gut as a result of having to postpone numerous events in response to COVID-19, NASCAR should be applauded for still making a difference. The sport teamed with “The Real Heroes Project” to recognize the courage of frontline workers who stepped up and put others before themselves throughout this pandemic. Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick are the drivers who participated in the project by honoring a special healthcare hero who helped the community on the forefront of the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, NASCAR utilized 3D printers at its Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, to produce face shields for healthcare workers. In total, 2,000 face shields were sent around the country for medical professionals. Meanwhile, the NASCAR Foundation joined the #GivingTuesdayNow movement, standing together in unity with people around the world to share the same mission of helping children in need.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

PRESENTED BY

SEAL THE DEAL

Johnson’s Legendary Victories

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Jimmie Johnson has 83 career race wins to his record. Here are some instances when he sealed the deal in pressure situations. BY JARED TURNER A MARATHON VICTORY FOR J.J.

None of Johnson’s wins have been as big as the two he captured in the Daytona 500 — a race he won for the first time in 2006 and then won again in 2013. In pursuit of his third win in NASCAR’s longest race, Johnson spent much of the 600-mile distance battling a less-than-dominant car that didn’t appear to be headed for Victory Lane. But thanks in large part to some major attrition that took its toll in the form of 22 cautions that wiped out a considerable chunk of the field and caused the race to take an inordinately long 5 hours and 24 minutes to complete, Johnson was running fourth and still in the hunt when the race restarted for the final time with five laps to go. Pushing his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy to its absolute maximum capabilities, Johnson closed in on race leader Bobby Labonte on the white flag lap and inched ahead of Labonte at the checkered flag to win by a scant .027 seconds. JOHNSON’S 2006 DAYTONA 500 WIN WAS CHALLENGING None of Johnson’s wins have been as big as the two he captured in the Daytona 500 — a race he won for the first time in 2006 and then repeated as champion of in 2013. Johnson’s first triumph in The Great American Race couldn’t have come under any more challenging circumstances, as it happened with interim crew chief Darian Grubb atop the No. 48 team’s pit box while crew chief Chad Knaus served a suspension for a major rules infraction discovered earlier during Speedweeks.

Johnson refused to be denied, however, leading 24 of 203 laps in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on the way to winning the 500 in just his fifth try. A RARE ROAD COURSE WIN FOR J.J. By all accounts, road courses have not been Jimmie Johnson’s strength over the years. If in doubt, just consider his numbers: one victory in 38 career road-course starts. It’s no wonder, then, that Johnson’s lone road course victory — which he recorded at Sonoma Raceway in his home state of California on June 20, 2010 — will go down as one of the now-seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion’s most cherished triumphs. In fact, Johnson’s breakthrough in the Wine Country was a burden lifted from the shoulders of not only him but his entire No. 48 team led by crew chief Chad Knaus. One of the most gratifying aspects of Johnson’s victory at Sonoma was the fact he didn’t just win; he prevailed in style, leading 55 of 110 laps and taking the checkered flag by a comfortable 3.105 seconds over road racing ace Robby Gordon. DALE JR.’S PUSH AT ’DEGA Most of Jimmie Johnson’s NASCAR Cup Series victories have come without an assist from a teammate. A notable exception to this occurred on April 17, 2011, at Talladega Superspeedway when Johnson won the Aaron’s 499 in simply dramatic fashion. With eight drivers paired up in twos and batting for the win on the final lap, Johnson got a huge push from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. to nip Clint Bowyer at the finish line by a scant .002 seconds. Johnson and Earnhardt, whose cars at the time were built in the same shop on the Hendrick Motorsports campus, enjoyed a unique exchange just moments after Johnson scored his 54th career victory, first of the 2011 season and second victory at Talladega. In a nice gesture for Earnhardt’s drafting help on the final lap, Johnson pulled alongside Earnhardt’s car on the cooldown lap and handed him the checkered flag, which Earnhardt initially refused.

Seal the Deal

FOUR CLUTCH VICTORIES 2010 2011 2005

2006

CHARLOTTE MOTOR S P E E D W AY marathon Coca-

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

Cola 600 victory in 5 hours, 24 minutes.

Johnson records a

POLE POSITION 2020

TA L L A D E G A S U P E R S P E E D W AY

Johnson’s first triumph

S O N O M A R A C E W AY Johnson’s 1-for-38 road-

Earnhardt Jr. provides

in The Great American

racing record includes his

a push to Hendrick

Race comes in 2006.

2010 win at Sonoma.

teammate for ‘Dega win.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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WHO DOES THAT?

Always Up Front: Childress Enjoys Pacing Cup Series Fields

During NASCAR Cup Series races, the pace car is there to bring the field to the green flag or keep the competitors at a reduced speed during caution periods.

BY BEN WHITE

But who is the person behind the wheel? His name is Kip Childress, one of NASCAR’s most highly respected officials. The longtime resident of Midway, North Carolina – located between Welcome and Winston-Salem – has been around NASCAR as long as he can remember. His father, Lance Childress, was also a longtime NASCAR official. There are also strong family ties to North Carolina’s legendary North Wilkesboro Speedway. “Enoch Stanley (builder of the track) was my great uncle,” Childress said. “So come race time, I was hanging banners, handing out brochures, stuffing tickets in envelopes, whatever the need was. All of us cousins were pulled into service. I had my opportunities in racing through my dad being a NASCAR official and my great uncle being a track owner.” Childress’ father left NASCAR in 1984 and worked as race director at Franklin County Speedway in Callaway, Virginia, and also at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, North Carolina. There was a time during a race in 1993 when the unthinkable happened on the track. “The pace car driver was coming off

POLE POSITION 2020

Turn 4, lost control and crashed it,” Childress remembered. “Dad pointed at me and said, ‘Find something to drive. You’re the new pace car driver.’ I was already working as an inspector for Late Model shows at Martinsville and North Wilkesboro. I also worked as an announcer and track clean up. I was doing it all.” In 1995, Childress joined NASCAR as an official with the sanctioning body’s new Truck Series, working part time to finish the season and full time beginning in 1996. Through 1999, he worked as an inspector, pit road official, pace truck driver and fire safety equipment manager. Childress left NASCAR for eight years to spend time with his family but returned in 2008. He has worked as the director of what is now known as the ARCA Menards Series East and West and was the assistant director of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, among other roles Last year, he became the pace car driver for all Cup Series races. According to Childress, pacing the field for a NASCAR race offers the absolute best seat in the house. “We have the opportunity to have honorary pace car drivers with us throughout

the year,” Childress said. “I always tell them one of the biggest rushes I can ever explain is when you’re driving down the backstretch, look in the mirror and there are 40 drivers behind you warming their tires, revving their engines, coming up alongside and getting ready to go. “They are 40 of the angriest race cars you’ll ever see and the only thing between them going racing is you. You’re in the way. When you drive off the track onto pit road on the initial start, it is unlike anything that you have ever felt.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

TAILGATING

Tailgating with Scott Pruitt

EXTRA LAPS WITH SCOTT

While Scott Pruitt the tailgating enthusiast might

FAVORITE DRIVER:

not be as well-known as Scott Pruett the internationally known driver, it’s hard to believe the latter could have more fun at a race track. Pruitt the fan has been tailgating with his companions for 15 years at California’s Sonoma Raceway. When NASCAR shows up in the Wine Country each summer, Pruitt, his wife and a group of around 15 friends come together for an experience that typically proves to be nothing less than memorable. Consider, for example, a certain ritual they’ve dubbed “The Redneck Train.” “There is a guy who puts together a train made out of various items like a wheelbarrow and a bucking bronco made out of an old metal drum and recliner and radio flyer wagon, etc.,” Pruitt explained. “Every year it is different and fun.” While Pruitt and his crowd enjoy certain tailgating traditions, they can also be unpredictable. “One year we all piled up in the golf cart and went out looking for a lively group, as it was a pretty quiet night,” Pruitt recalled. “We stopped at one campsite that looked like they were having a party.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., because I’ve been following the Earnhardts for more than 30 years. I started with Dale Sr. TRACKS WHERE YOU’VE TAILGATED: Sonoma (15 times), Fontana (4) and Las Vegas (1) FAVORITE TAILGATING

Unbeknownst to the golf cart driver, one of the passengers – John – jumped off the cart. The driver of the cart started to leave and ran John over. John jumped up to say, ‘I’m fine.’ “We proceeded to a camp that was dancing, and John went out of his way to dance enthusiastically. The next morning, when asked, he said he was fine, but he could barely walk and his legs were bruised from his ankles to his knees where he was run over.”

BY JARED TURNER

FOODS: Ribeye steaks, hamburgers and hot dogs, Jello shots, beer … and let’s not forget the ice cream! TAILGATING ESSENTIALS: An outdoor kitchen, which includes my tailgating smoker, golf-cart, my Earnhardt flags and my music.

SCOTT PRUITT’S

Tailgating Recipes

My wife adopted a few recipes to

cook until lightly browned and add

and then remove the foil and

make a fast version for tailgating. She

the milk and the rest of the in-

continue to bake for another 20

starts off by making a cheese sauce:

gredients, except the cheese. Stir

minutes or until the potatoes are

SMOKED RIBEYE STEAKS

■■ 2 tablespoons of butter

until you have a thick sauce and

We start off by rubbing the steaks

■■ 2 tablespoons of flour

remove from the heat and add the

in smoked Hawaiian salt. Then we

■■ 1 cup of milk

cheese. Thinly slice the potatoes

weather is hot, she will make this

smoke the steaks on my tailgater

■■ Salt to taste

with a mandolin. My wife typically

at home in a pie pan and reheat it

smoker for two hours. Then I turn

■■ Pepper to taste

uses 2-3 medium sized potatoes.

using the grill in the outside kitch-

up the heat and sear the steaks.

■■ 1 cup of sharp cheese or a small

AU GRATIN POTATOES

■■ Melt the butter, add the flour and

degrees covered with tin foil

completely cooked. ■■ If we are tailgating and the

■■ Layer a pan with cheese sauce

en. If you have a microwave, you

I pull them off the grill once they

bag of Mexican Mix cheese (save

and potatoes and add the saved

can, of course, reheat using that,

reach a temperature between 135

a little to sprinkle on the top)

portion of cheese to the top.

too. Just make sure the potatoes

Bake for 40 minutes at 350

are in a microwave-safe dish.

and 140 degrees.

■■ A dash of cayenne pepper

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

get unsteady, and the challenge is trying to keep the tower

WHO LIKES JENGA? A LOT OF PEOPLE – MANY NASCAR

from tumbling. Of course, a Jenga game dedicated to Elliott

tailgaters included. Currently available for purchase in the

– NASCAR’s most popular driver – is even better. “Your com-

tailgating products section of the NASCAR.com NASCAR-

petitive spirit isn’t just for NASCAR races, but any game,”

SHOP is a Jenga experience formally dubbed the Chase Elliott

the NASCAR.com product description reads. “Challenge your

Giant Wooden Tumble Tower Game. For those who may not

buddies with this Chase Elliott Giant Wooden Tumble Tower

be familiar with Jenga, it’s all about carefully pulling a wood

Game. It features 54 wooden blocks engraved with Chase

block out of a tower and placing it on top. It’s pretty easy

Elliott graphics and will be a must-have game at your next

at first, but as more blocks get pulled, the tower starts to

watch-party or tailgate, thanks to the handy carrying case.”

NASCAR LIFESTYLE

No Break in the Action for the NASCAR Lifestyle

NASCAR fans love to get outside and explore new places, and there are still opportunities to do that without putting yourself or your family at risk. BY DAN GUTTENPLAN TailGater Tire Table founders Ward and Patti Graham have never had a problem with unplugging from society. There is nothing they love more than getting out in nature – away from the everyday hustle and bustle. “My husband and I always wanted to get away in a four-wheel drive vehicle and get to places other people don’t go to,” Patti Graham said. “We never wanted to do a lot of camping around other people.” That is still a possibility for Graham and other NASCAR fans. Although the CDC recommended avoiding congregating in large crowds this spring, those recommendations did not restrict some of

the most intense passions of NASCAR fans, such as RV touring, overlanding, tailgating (in small crowds) and exploring the country. “We think people are still retreating and going on camping trips,” Graham said. “We had to get away from public crowds, and that was OK for a lot of people who are outdoor enthusiasts. Kids don’t have to go to school, they’re stuck in the house. Get out with them to explore nature.” Graham’s product, the TailGater Tire Table, is a nice travel companion on excursions with the family. The table is a durable, steel, compact travel table that uses a vehicle’s tire as its main support and is stable regardless of the ground conditions. It has a retractable leg for extra support, no tools required and installs in seconds. “If you’re getting claustrophobic in the house, our product gives you an opportunity to get outside and share meals with the family,” Graham said.

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5 REASONS TO TAKE AN RV ADVENTURE WITH NO SCHOOL ON THE HORIZON AND SOCIAL-DISTANCING RECOMMENDATIONS IN place for some, it’s the perfect time to take your family on an RV trip. NASCAR Pole Position web developer Nicole Cooper of Albany, New York, grew up taking RV adventures with her family and traveled to 48 of the 50 states. She offers five reasons to take an RV adventure during this period.

IT’S SOCIAL DISTANCING. “To protect the future of their

communities, RVers

FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY. “Families can

choose not to partici-

EXPLORE THE COUNTRY. “RVing is the perfect compro-

mise between responsibly

IT’S INEXPENSIVE. “Using an RV for your own

lodging, transportation

SOLITUDE. “RV communities will thrive. People ob-

serving this period of re-

should absolutely practice

pate in club events and

abiding by social distanc-

and kitchen significantly

mote working or learning

social distancing. Luckily,

instead choose more

ing and a maintaining a

lowers your chances of

can also reap the benefits

the RV lifestyle lends

natural recreation. Now

mobile lifestyle as a

both coming in contact

of traveling. While mass

itself well to this simple

is a great time to explore

NASCAR fan. While

with COVID-19 and

transportation, station-

solitude and restoration.

hiking, biking and wildlife

stationary lodging, mass

infecting anyone else.

ary lodging and public

While some people may

viewing. Logistically,

transportation and res-

You’ll also be able to

eateries are shutting

be part of a larger com-

social distancing may look

taurants are implement-

enjoy other attractions

down or facing significant

munity, like KOA or Good

like curbside check-ins,

ing shutdowns to keep

in between locations.

restrictions because of

Sam Club, the majority

avoiding public facilities

the country safe, RVs are

You can check out the

higher risks of infection,

of your lifestyle can still

like pools or rec centers,

a great way to distance

breathtaking views of the

the solitude of your own

be easily limited to your

dumping black tanks at an

you and your family while

Great Smokey Mountains

mobile space is the only

nuclear family and con-

off-peak hour and avoid-

still traveling to all of the

on your way from

way to safely travel dur-

tained within your site.”

ing group activities.”

NASCAR races.”

Charlotte to Kansas.”

ing this outbreak.”

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crew members

The Pros Behind the Scene

These 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

HARDWOOD

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HOUSTON STAMPER T I R E C H A N G E R F O R J G R ’ S N O . 11 T E A M

Houston Stamper saw his first NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway during an All-Star weekend in the early 1990s. And it’s no surprise there was interest in the sport, as Stamper grew up with family ties to NASCAR that have spanned three generations. A close family affiliation with Roush Fenway Racing gave Stamper the opportunity to start working there as a body fabricator in 2006. Feeling great loyalty to the organization, he remained at RFR for 10 seasons until Mike Lepp, Joe Gibbs Racing’s athletic director, offered him a position in 2017. Stamper feels a great sense of accomplishment when the driver and crew enjoy a win or a strong finish on race day. “Tire changing, in my opinion, has always been very skill based,” Stamper said. “Amazing athletes come into our sport to try out, but some can’t get five lug nuts on and five off fast. There is so much handeye coordination. So much work goes into how much we train.”

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saw his first NASCAR race as a child in 2000 at Texas Motor Speedway. When Harris was 11, he began racing go-karts and transitioned to stock cars at age 14 on dirt before running asphalt Pro Trucks and Late Models until he graduated from high school. Equipped with experience in his father’s machine shop, Harris moved from Texas to North Carolina in 2005 in search of the right opportunity in NASCAR. While attending a trade school in Hickory, North Carolina, for six months, he learned of a job opening at Evernham Motorsports in the engine tear-down room. A move to Furniture Row Racing in 2011 set the stage for his present role with JGR. “When we came over as a group from Furniture Row to JGR, I think that quickly made us comfortable and on the same page as far as what we need to do,” Harris said.

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B LI N G FO R H I M & H E R

D R E S S IT U P

FI R E U P TH E G R I LL

R AC E DAY, E V E RY DAY

TI M E TO WI N

FOR THE RECORD FOR THE RECORD

1999 Cup Series Champ Dale Jarrett

Between 1984 and 2008, second-generation driver Dale Jarrett won 32 NASCAR Cup Series races in 668 starts and claimed the 1999 series championship.

I remember at a very early age going to race tracks with him, such as Hickory Motor Speedway, Asheville-Weaverville Speedway, Spartanburg Speedway, to just hang out. But the 1965 Southern 500 is a big one to me, obviously, because he won the race by 14 laps. We were living in Camden, South Carolina, at the time and the Camden High School band went there to Darlington Raceway that weekend. I got to go to Victory Lane, which was great. But also, to go back a long way in television, “Gunsmoke” characters Doc (Milburn Stone) and Festus (Ken Curtis) were there as well. It was a banner day for me as a kid.

When did you decide to follow in your dad’s footsteps?

When I was young, I would sit in my parent’s car in the driveway and pretend I was driving. It was something that was always in my mind. Since my dad retired early (1966), I was still around the sport because we moved back to Hickory (North Carolina) near the speedway there. I got involved in other sports in high school and I thought I would do something with one of them. The other sports were those that I could do that didn’t require other people’s money, other than my parents having a

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What are your thoughts looking back on your career?

golf membership. It wasn’t until I was 19 or 20 when I could have gone to college to play golf that I realized racing was something I wanted to try. I grew up a competitor and am still a competitor to today. Once I drove a car for the first time, there was absolutely nothing else on my mind but racing.

You know, I think when you’re in the midst of a career, you’re so wrapped up in winning and getting the job done that maybe you don’t think about it. I will say I do think more about it all today. When it was all happening, I wish I could have taken more time to enjoy it, but you’re so busy being the very best you can be and making all the right decisions and have a family life at the same time. When you look at some of the greats of the sport and what they talk about and the things they’ve accomplished, some of the things that I did are on par with them. It’s incredible to think about how I got started, the struggles of that and trying to make my way. It’s also about trying to make a living at it and wanting to be the best I could be and win at some of the most historic race tracks there are in the world. I’m very much humbled by the fact that I was able to do these things and people thought enough of me to induct me into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2014.

What was it like to grow up around a NASCAR superstar?

Who was that one special mentor in your life?

BY BEN WHITE

What is your earliest recollection of seeing your dad, Ned Jarrett, race?

my first Cup Series race and I had 500 laps to run at Martinsville on maybe two hours of sleep, but I finished 14th.

Even though he was a two-time NASCAR champion with 50 wins at the end of his career, he was absolutely a normal guy. We didn’t know at the time just how special he was in so many different ways. He was a superstar at the time but the sport was nowhere near what it is today. To us, he was just a dad who drove a race car and did very well. He was a dad who took care of us and was there for us when we needed him.

There have been a lot of people who helped me along the way. You always think about your heroes and mine was in my household. My dad was my hero. To have a dad who you follow in their footsteps is great, not only with the racing side of it but also broadcasting. I’m blessed to have the dad that I have. He’s my hero.

What are your memories of your first Cup Series race in 1984?

A lot of people might look at the Jarrett name and say I had an easy way in. There were struggles but I knew hard work, effort and determination could take me anywhere I wanted to go. That’s what I’m proud of. Nothing along the way was given to me. Certainly, the name helped open some doors, but I worked hard to get to where I was. I think I helped leave the sport in a better place than when I arrived, and helped it move forward. That’s something that’s very rewarding to me.

That day was pretty special because I had gotten to the Cup Series. Funny thing was I had to race at Nashville (Tennessee) Speedway the night before in what was then a Busch Grand National race. I didn’t get back to the hotel in Martinsville because of fog at the Winston-Salem (North Carolina) airport until the middle of the night, going on early morning. I was going to my hotel at 6 a.m. as teams were going to the race track. It was

What are you most proud of in your racing career?

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

OWNER SPOTLIGHT

HORSEPOWER WIZARD Yates Excelled as an Engine Builder and Team Owner

For more than a half century, the soft-spoken Robert Yates was known as one of the very best engine builders in NASCAR, magically finding extra horsepower through the smallest of details. Later in his career, he became one of the sport’s most successful team owners. BY BEN WHITE

ates was one of nine children born to Rev. John Clyde and C.V. Yates and he had a twin brother, Richard. Robert Yates loved to tinker with cars and his first, a 1947 Pontiac, came from a church member who discarded it after hitting a cow. Yates restored its body and engine and drove it through his high school years.

Yates’ racing career started in the mid-1960s after he left a bulldozer repair shop to join John Holman and Ralph Moody at Holman Moody, Ford’s race car factory. In 1971, Yates took his toolbox to Junior Johnson’s NASCAR Cup Series shop, where he helped develop and build engines for Chevrolet’s return to the sport. One of the highlights of Yates’ career was building the engine that carried Richard Petty to his 200th-career victory on July 4, 1984. “Robert dedicated his life to the sport and became one of the best at what he did,” Petty said. “He is a Hall of Fame owner and engine builder. Later in my career, I was fortunate enough to race with his engines. He helped power me to my 200th win at Daytona, a moment that I’ll never forget. I’ll always remember Robert for his hard work, but more importantly, his friendship.” Yates helped Darrell Waltrip win races at DiGard Racing and he supplied the power when Bobby Allison won the Cup Series

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championship with DiGard in 1983. He left the DiGard operation in 1986 to build engines for team owner Harry Ranier. Three years later, Yates bought Ranier’s team with Davey Allison remaining as his driver. Together, their Fords logged 19 victories, including the 1992 Daytona 500, and came close to winning the championship that season. Allison died unexpectedly as the result of a helicopter crash in July 1993, devastating Yates and his team. After a difficult transition period, they continued with drivers Dale Jarrett, Ernie Irvan, Elliott Sadler and Ricky Rudd, to name a few. All told, Robert Yates Racing earned 57 NASCAR Cup Series victories, including additional Daytona 500 triumphs with Jarrett in 1996 and 2000. Jarrett also claimed the NASCAR Cup Series championship in 1999 while driving for Yates. Sadly, Yates lost his battle with liver cancer on Oct. 2, 2017, at the age of 74. He was voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2018, but he did not live to attend the ceremony. “Getting to work with someone I consider to be the smartest guy in racing was a true honor,” Jarrett said of Yates. “He made driving for him a real joy the entire time I drove for him. We only had a handshake deal so that tells you a lot about Robert Yates.” PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

NASCAR PETS

Erik Jones’ German Shepherd, Oscar BY JARED TURNER

ASCAR Cup Series driver Erik Jones grew up with a golden retriever and has always had an affinity for animals.

So it wasn’t surprising in July 2017, at the age of 21, that he personally joined the ranks of pet owners by adopting a German shepherd – Oscar – from a breeder in his home state of Michigan. “I wasn’t really looking for a dog at the time necessarily, but there was somebody who had a litter of German shepherds, and I went and looked at them,” Jones said. “Sure enough, I ended up finding Oscar. I wanted a male German shepherd, and he was there, and I was one of the first people to get to pick out of that litter. Oscar happened to be the one I picked.” Three years later, Jones couldn’t be any happier with his decision to bring his now-beloved canine home to Charlotte, North Carolina. “He’s a good dog,” Jones said. “He’s got a big personality. Actually, he’s really intelligent and really quick to learn. He’s pretty eager to please, really. The biggest thing for him is he likes to have a job. He wants you to give him something to do and likes to keep busy and likes to keep his mind going. “Other than that, he’s real friendly. He’s kind of goofy, and he just wants to hang out and wants to play all the time. He has a ton of energy and is pretty typical German shepherd, from what I’ve heard from other people, with some of the things he does and the way he acts and the personality he has. He’s kind of a funny dog sometimes.”

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While Oscar is by no means the only pet who spends considerable time in the driver motorhome lot on race weekends, there are few if any pets who are as familiar as the 90-pound German shepherd. This is partly due to Oscar’s presence on Instagram, where he has more than 3,100 followers of his own page, managed by Jones’ sister. “Everybody at the track pretty much knows him,” Jones said. “Especially the other bus drivers know him. Even the other dogs in the lot, they all kind of hang out and know Oscar. It’s kind of nice to have everybody know him. “He’s really friendly. He’s kind of intimidatinglooking, but he’s very friendly. Everybody knows that, and he loves to get to the track, I think, and see everybody. It makes it nice when everybody’s comfortable with him, too.” It’s rare that Jones is at a race track and Oscar isn’t. “He’s been coming to the race track with me ever since he came home with me, and he’s been good,” Jones said. “There are a few races he doesn’t make it out to, but pretty much every race, he’s at the track with me. I just love having him come around and kind of be on the journey with me.”

A FRIEND YOU CAN COUNT ON FOR ERIK JONES, ONE OF THE JOYS OF BEING a dog owner is getting to share celebratory moments with Oscar. Jones has two career NASCAR Cup Series wins – the first coming in July 2018 at Daytona and the most recent coming last season at Darlington. “Unfortunately, Oscar wasn’t at my Daytona win,” Jones said. “He was at Darlington. He’s been at a couple of Xfinity Series wins along the way, too. He gets excited. I mean, he obviously doesn’t totally grasp what’s going on in Victory Lane, but I think he can tell everybody’s happy, so he enjoys that. I always try to get him in there, get a picture with him and get him bouncing around so he can give everybody some entertainment down there in Victory Lane.” And when things don’t go so well for Jones in a race, Oscar is there for him just the same. “He doesn’t care whether you did good or bad, or won or lost,” Jones said. “He doesn’t ask questions, right? So you kind of come back, and he’s just happy that you’re back and hanging out with him again. He’s always happy to see you, so that’s a good feeling.”

DRIVE 4 DIVERSITY

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Diversity Program Shaped Who Wallace is Today

Of all the success stories fueled by the efforts of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity, none is greater than that of NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace. BY JARED TURNER In 2010, Bubba Wallace earned an opportunity that would ultimately pave the way for an impactful career in the sport when he was selected as part of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity’s driver roster. Wallace made the most of his appointment by scoring two victories in 10 starts and earning rookie-of-the-year honors that season in what is now the ARCA Menards Series East. Over the next two seasons, he added four more wins in the East series, which elevated him to a full-time ride with Kyle Busch Motorsports for 2013 in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. During two full truck seasons with KBM, Wallace went to Victory Lane five times – including in October 2013 when he became the first African-American driver to win a NASCAR national touring series race since now-NASCAR Hall of Famer Wendell Scott prevailed at Florida’s Jacksonville Speedway on Dec. 1, 1963. In reflecting on his time in NASCAR’s development series, Wallace couldn’t be more thankful for the Drive for Diversity program – an initiative that serves to groom female and minority drivers and pit crew members for future competition at the sport’s highest levels. “It definitely shaped who I am today, for sure,” Wallace said. “It’s been one hell of a journey, one hell of a story that we all can sit back on, read through, sit back and say, ‘Those were good times.’ “Going through the diversity levels, seeing how the lower series of NASCAR work, just trying to manage all that, still having fun with it, it’s a big stage, but you have to manage everything that comes at you so you can perform to your best abilities. That’s what I tried to do at each and every race back in those days.” Wallace parlayed his Truck Series success into a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series ride with Roush Fenway Racing in 2015 and 2016. His next opportunity proved to be his biggest yet, when he was called on by Richard Petty Motorsports to substitute for injured Aric Almirola in four races near the midway point of the

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2017 NASCAR Cup Series season. That ultimately led to Wallace landing a full-time Cup Series ride with RPM for 2018 when Almirola left the organization. In taking over the wheel of the iconic No. 43 car for RPM, Wallace became the first full-time African-American driver in NASCAR’s top division since Scott’s last complete season in 1971. The significance of this is certainly not lost on Wallace. “It’s big,” he said. “There’s been a lot of people come up through the ranks and try to carry on the legacy that Wendell Scott laid down for us. For me to step in that realm and take on that role, there’s a lot of pressure. “But we’re going to go out there and just continue to do what we do on and off the race track.” Wallace started his full-time Cup Series career with a bang by finishing second in the 2018 Daytona 500. Now in his third full Cup Series season, he has some poignant advice for current and future participants in the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program. “Don’t let that moment scare you,” he said. “You’ve worked hard to get to that level, so you don’t need to change anything. You just got to go out there and prove yourself, use what you learned over the years you’ve been racing to be successful. “You obviously know how to win and got to that point, so just keep on doing it. You’ll never know what your future has for you.” PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

A Passion for Racing

Maki is hoping to get back on the track in Michigan on July 1.

ROXOR SERVICE MANAGER KYLE MAKI

ahindra Automotive North America’s ROXOR is an offroad workhorse built on a no-nonsense, heavy-duty steel frame with a Mahindra 2.5-liter turbo diesel engine and 3,490 pounds of towing capacity.

No other off-road vehicle on the planet has the heritage, durability and reputation to match ROXOR. It is truly an original off-road vehicle, with modern innovation. Kyle Maki, National Service Manager for ROXOR/Mahindra Automotive North America, is a third-generation racer. His family is celebrating its 50th anniversary in the sport. Maki recently joined NASCAR Pole Position for a Q&A session. Why do you think the partnership between ROXOR and NASCAR is such a good fit? I believe that NASCAR fans are hard-working outdoors people. ROXOR is a good fit for that audience. It’s a hard-working brand, and being outside is our passion. Plus, I think the ROXOR enthusiast and NASCAR fan have a lot in common. Your family has a long history in racing. How did you get involved in the sport, and what class are you running now? I’ve raced open-wheel modifieds, asphalt modifieds and super late models. It’s my family’s 50th anniversary. We’ve run everything from street stocks to super late models, temp late models – a little bit of everything. My cousin (Matt Maki) and I both currently race modifieds. That’s what we’ve gotten into and enjoy doing. What has Mahindra Automotive been doing during the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of outreach? We’ve got a couple of really good things in the community. We’re producing PPE in the form of masks, shields and aerosol boxes that protect healthcare workers when they are caring for

ROXOR/Mahindra Automotive North American National Service Manager Kyle Maki races open-wheel modifieds.

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intubated COVID patients. We partnered with one of our engineers to provide free food to first responders and healthcare professionals from his food truck, which he operates as a hobby. We’ve definitely been able to help out where we can. It’s obviously never as much as you’d like to do, but we try to do what we can. Your home track is in Michigan, where tracks remain closed. What have you been doing to fill the racing void? There’s always something to do with a race car. We’ve definitely been itching to get back to the track. We’ve been going through setups, shocks and maintenance that maybe we wouldn’t normally spend time doing. We’ve crossed off and double-crossed things off the list. We’re replacing nuts and bolts, changing oil. The extra time has been good for us, but we’re definitely ready to get back to racing. When are the people at your local track expecting to get back to racing? They’re all really hopeful. Obviously, the safety of the fans and drivers is most important. It’s the same mindset NASCAR has; we’ll get back to racing when it’s the right time. I was planning to run full time at my local track, but they’ve already ruled out June. So, we’re hoping for the first week in July when we’ll get back to racing. What excites you most about NASCAR’s return? Darlington is one of my favorite tracks. My wife surprised me with a trip there for the Southern 500 a few years ago. You can just feel the history there. I’m looking forward to seeing real racing on TV. The iRacing Invitational was really cool, and I appreciated NASCAR doing that. But nothing beats the action on the track and the sounds from the cars. I’m looking forward to it being a small part of our everyday lives – Sundays watching NASCAR. I’m looking forward to it. I’m with you. I did enjoy the iRacing more than I expected, but it will be nice to see the drivers live and in the flesh. It was pretty interesting to see the Invitational. NASCAR did what they could to keep it as normal as possible. Clint Bowyer’s commentary was great. They did what they could, which I appreciated. It gave us something to look forward to, but I’m really looking forward to the real action.

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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 Jordan Anderson, driver and owner of the No. 3 truck in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, has joined forces with Forney and is now using the company’s welding products at his team’s race shop in North Carolina. The partnership continues a trend in which Anderson serves as an authentic representative for his sponsors. His crew chief and truck chief started using Forney products just before the sport’s return to racing in May. “After missing six or seven races during this period, we know we have to be on our game,” Anderson said. “We’ve tried to calculate it as best as possible, but it’s tough getting by for two months with no income. That’s why Forney helping us out with this welder has made a world of difference. It gives us something in our shop that’s new and helps make us better. The guys that are learning how to work with it have loved it so far.” Anderson’s race team built two new trucks during the stoppage – one for dirt-track racing and one for short-track racing. The trucks will be ready when the schedule heats up in June and July. “If we can come out on the other end even stronger, that will show a lot,” Anderson said. “We’re already a small team compared to some of the giants. It’s been cool working with Forney and looking more into the future.” 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.

Jordan Anderson’s Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series team has been using a Forney welder this season.

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

WELDING AND METALWORKING

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 Industries was founded in 1932 and introduced the first publicly available arc welder in the 1940s. Today, the company offers close to 5,000 metalworking products within four categories: welding, abrasives, personal protective equipment and shop tools. “Once I learned they have a family-run company, I knew it was a good fit,” Anderson said. “Our race team is the same way. Race cars are hunks of steel and metal, and the welding is what makes it go. We’re going to keep our heads up and embrace the journey with Forney. We’ll keep digging when we get back to the track.”

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NASCAR HOME TRACKS

Stafford Motor Speedway Stafford Motor Speedway, located in the picturesque community of Stafford Springs, Connecticut, has hosted auto racing under the NASCAR banner since 1959. “Stafford is unique in the history that surrounds the facility and the track itself is very unique, very challenging,” said Mark Arute, a second-generation promoter whose family has operated the track since 1970. “We have a base of competitors who are very strong, very intense. The facility itself, we try to keep it pretty nice and for the most part a new fan is very impressed.”

Originally an agricultural park that opened in 1870, the park featured a half-mile dirt track that was used for horse racing. Horsepower replaced the horses following World War II as the region embraced a new type of stock car racing known as the Modifieds. Stafford Motor Speedway’s diverse schedule is built around a weekly slate of Friday night NASCAR racing that features multiple classes of Late Models and Modifieds and is punctuated by several special events, including three appearances by the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

BY KEITH WALTZ

ON THE RIGHT TRACK

GENERATIONAL SUCCESS

FAMILY OPERATION

WILD THING KARTS

SK MODIFIEDS

The Arute family has a long and storied

The track includes a quarter-mile infield oval

Several years ago, with the cost of Modi-

history in the sport as Mark Arute’s father, Jack Arute Sr., was involved as a car owner and mechanic. “He had an interest at one point in building a race track,” Arute said about his dad. “But when it became known that Stafford was for sale, he pursued it and purchased it. Both my sons are now involved as well as my wife. It’s very much a family operation.”

that’s used for a series of Monday night races featuring the Wild Thing Karts. “The kids start at 5 years old and there’s a ladder system to move up into several different classes,” Mark Arute explained. “That’s been huge for us because from there, as they get older, they are moving into our SK Light division or our Street Stocks.” The karting races are organized by Wade Gagner.

fied racing spiraling out of control, Stafford Motor Speedway officials introduced the SK Modified division. “It has a spec-type motor and we keep a tight control on the rules,” Arute explained. “Of course, we are on a tire rule as everything is now. An SK modified is very similar to what we refer to as a tour-type modified, but the speeds are a little different and the costs are a lot less.”

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PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF STAFFORD MOTOR SPEEDWAY

OFFICIAL

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NASCAR ESPORTS

NASCAR Fans’ Emotional Esports Journey

Faced with an extraordinary suspension just as the season was getting underway, NASCAR turned to esports to deliver one of the most spectacular series in the history of competitive gaming. BY JOSH MULL

uring the past decade, almost every traditional sport has had to grapple with the phenomenon of esports – professional competitive video games that act as virtual counterparts to their real-world sports. And while the ultimate outcome is unique to each scene, the process always plays out in the same psychological stages. The first stage is denial: No one would ever sit down to watch someone else play video games, right? How silly, that would never work for our sport. Denial is followed by anger: Why are they putting video games on my TV? These people aren’t even real athletes! Then comes bargaining: Well, maybe these video games could help attract the younger crowd, it’s just good marketing in the age of smartphones and social media. Depression follows immediately: This video game stuff is getting to be too much for me! Why do they have to take it so seriously, it’s just a video game. The final stage is acceptance: OMG, did you see the race this weekend? The restarts at Texas are just insane! For most sports, this process takes years, and even then, it often only ends in a begrudging detente between generations of fans. NASCAR isn’t about going slow, however, so NASCAR fans blazed through all of these stages in the mind-blowing span of two months. It began at the grassroots level, with emergent sim racing organizer Podium eSports broadcasting the Replacements 100 on March 15. This was the first race postponed by NASCAR, and Podium eSports stepped up to run an aptly titled replacement event, complete with the same track, virtual Atlanta Motor Speedway, and a star-powered slate of real-world drivers, including Dale Earnhardt, Jr., William Byron and Alex Bowman. The combination of professional broadcast, star lineups and ultra-realistic sim racing was so successful that it became the gold standard for the official series to follow. The eNASCAR Pro Invitational Series launched the following week, racing at virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway. A joint effort among NASCAR, FOX Sports and iRacing, the series brought together current drivers and other NASCAR VIPs. The broadcast was record breaking, ultimately landing it as the most viewed esports event in American TV history. The following week, Texas Motor Speedway was brought to life through the striking iRacing rendering, and Timmy Hill’s

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thrilling bump-and-run maneuver against Byron made clear that this racing was the real deal. NASCAR actually managed to beat its own esports viewership record that week. NASCAR fans were bought-in, fully invested in this new venture. But a series of ugly incidents over the following weeks would test that fan commitment, and send it careening through the emotional journey of esports. The third race was at virtual Bristol Motor Speedway. A brutally difficult track in real life, Bristol transformed into the Dark Souls of iRacing tracks that weekend, putting everyone’s virtual racing skills to the maximum test. Caution flags were endless, but one incident involving Bubba Wallace stole the headlines. After a wreck, Wallace promptly quit the race and ended his stream, saying, “That’s why I don’t take this stuff serious.” One of his sponsors did take it seriously though, and the company promptly dropped its sponsorship of the No. 43 car. An on-stream incident the following week by Kyle Larson cost him several of his sponsors as well, and ultimately led to him being fired by Chip Ganassi Racing. This was a lot for NASCAR fans to digest. Two weeks ago, they were shattering esports records and reaching all new audiences with their sport. Now, they were sitting through grindy yellow flags, watching one driver be dragged through the media mud and another wiped out from the sport indefinitely. An armada of hot takes was launched into the churning seas of social media, as fans began openly debating the merits of the Pro Series. What happened to the fun of sim racing? Why are they taking it so seriously that sponsors are dropping their teams? It’s only a video game! PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

It’s about who can hone their craft in iRacing. It’s not like playing Madden or NBA 2K where you’re pushing buttons. You’re using the gas, brakes, running two at the same time, steering wheel. Everything is the same. I take pride in that.”

–DENNY HAMLIN

Sound familiar? Fans were on their emotional journey through esports, grappling with just how to reconcile the hype and fun of competitive video games with the harsh realities of operating a team and dealing with sponsors. For any other scene, getting through this process would take years. Not for NASCAR fans. For one, the supposedly serious Pro Series wasn’t actually all that serious. The races did not award points or count toward the Cup Series championship. Further, there was never any money exchanged among FOX, NASCAR or iRacing. No broadcast contracts were signed. The most successful esports event in American television history had nothing to do with networks, sponsorships or championship playoffs. It was a group of people who loved racing that got together to put on a show during an extraordinary shutdown. The broadcast made this clear every week with Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon, Larry McReynolds, Michael Waltrip, Clint Bowyer and more all getting into the spirit of fun and excitement. Fans were quick to forget and shrug off the incidents of the past weeks, and latch onto more positive narratives. The crowning moment of acceptance was the final race of the Pro Series, which took place at virtual North Wilkesboro Speedway. While NASCAR hasn’t raced at the North Carolina track since 1996, iRacing created a simulated version that allowed modern NASCAR drivers in modern NASCAR vehicles to race there once again. To see North Wilkesboro rendered so realistically, and deliver such an exciting race, was the perfect capstone for NASCAR fans of all generations. Older fans were filled with nostalgia, and the younger fans were hyped to finally see what all the fuss was about.

With the Pro Series over, and the return of real racing on the horizon, fans had accepted the place of sims in their sport. Competitive sim racing will now be a permanent part of NASCAR’s legacy, shattering TV ratings records and creating an esports playbook for all other motorsports to follow. It was an emotional roller coaster for NASCAR fans, but true to form, they used it to set a record time. NASCAR has roots stretching back almost a century, but the extraordinary events of March 15 through May 9 of 2020 will certainly resonate in the sport for decades to come. POLE POSITION MAG.COM

NASCAR ESPORTS

James Pike: eNASCAR Announcer

As one of the leading voices of eNASCAR and sim racing, James Pike’s NASCAR journey is quite relatable and inspirational. BY ROB TIONGSON

MISTAKEN IDENTITY WHILE JAMES PIKE aspires to be like Ken Squier, he also looks up to Allen Bestwick, a popular play-by-play announcer who’s called NASCAR races on Motor Racing Network and most recently for ESPN, ABC, NBC and TNT. Recently, Pike worked alongside Bestwick and MRN’s Alex Hayden during Landon Cassill’s Monza Madness race that streamed on NASCAR. com. Pike interviewed Justin Botelho, a com-

While Pike has been an announcer on iRacing and eNASCAR broadcasts since late 2016, some his most memorable racing moments are from his childhood. “I noticed that I talked a decent amount, so I decided that I could try being an announcer,” Pike recalled. “I sort of locked in on that in kindergarten and first grade. I took the die-casts that I got once or twice a month from a mall run, and I’d set up an outline of the race track that the Cup Series was at out of masking tape on our carpet in the living room.” Certainly, Pike has come far from those days of calling die-cast car races in his living room. Diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome at age 2, Pike has worked diligently to make his way into racing, serving as a beacon of hope for those facing a similar lifelong journey. Pike’s NASCAR job is a match made in heaven as he has combined his love of NASCAR with his knowledge of sim racing. Presently, he can be heard calling iRacing races for Podium eSports. His most recent work has included events that were part of the Replacements Series and SIM 500 eSports Racing League. Pike’s delivery is similar to that of legendary broadcaster Ken Squier, a personal favorite of the North Carolina native. Like Squier during his heyday, Pike provides a full picture of the race,

POLE POSITION 2020

petitive iRacing driver

scenarios surrounding the drivers and key battles on the virtual track. “I always said to myself that I want to be more like Ken than anybody else,” Pike observed. “As a largely big-picture person myself, I felt more at home with Ken Squier.” Similarly, Pike was an integral member of the broadcasting team for the March 15 Replacements 100 on Podium eSports, a pivotal moment for eNASCAR. Just as the 1979 Daytona 500 introduced NASCAR to a new audience, Pike and his Podium eSports team uplifted fans during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic while catalyzing the start of a special virtual series. “I’m proud of what we were able to accomplish with the Replacements 100 at Atlanta,” Pike said. “We were the ones that opened the door for the Pro Invitational Series. I don’t know if that happens if Atlanta didn’t go well. I’m happy to have played a small part in the history of sim racing and opening people’s eyes with what we’ve been doing for years.” Still, Pike realizes the importance of his role. “The only thing that I think I can do is to try and keep working my tail off in a way that reflects what’s made NASCAR great in the past, and carry that on by modifying it and tweaking it so it works in present day,” Pike explained.

who won the Easter Sunday evening race. Although Pike’s voice is quite distinguishable to most eNASCAR fans, a hilarious case of mistaken broadcasting identity unfolded following the race. “Landon Cassill tweeted out a video of the interview that we did with Justin Botelho,” Pike recalled with a laugh. “Landon attributed that interview on Twitter to Bestwick and he did not realize that it was actually me who did the interview. “He got my voice and A.B.’s mixed up! So, maybe there is something to me being Bestwick’s doppelgänger after all. It might end up being true.”

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BY THE NUMBERS

All About the Numbers

Each car number in the NASCAR Cup Series has its own unique history and here’s a look at two of the most successful numbers. BY KEITH WALTZ

CAR NO. 24

NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon earned four NASCAR Cup Series championships

Jeff Gordon, 1997

William Byron, 2019

and won 93 series races while driving the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Interestingly, No. 24 was not the team’s first choice for a car number when adding a third car for the USAC open-wheel sensation. The original plan was to use No. 46 on Gordon’s car, but 24 became the choice after it was learned Paramount Pictures, which produced “Days of Thunder,” had secured the merchandising rights for a NASCAR stock car with No. 46. Gordon made his NASCAR Cup Series debut on Nov. 15, 1992, at Atlanta Motor Speedway and drove car No. 24 in 797 starts before retiring from fulltime competition at the end of the 2015 season. Overall statistics show that cars carrying No.24 in the NASCAR Cup Series have recorded 679 top-10 finishes in 1,526 starts. Gordon is the only driver to win utilizing the number. Dick Clothier was the first driver to use No. 24 in a NASCAR Cup Series event. Clothier carried the number on his Pontiac in the Feb. 5, 1950, race on the Beach & Road Course in Daytona Beach, Florida. He finished 36th. Longtime independent racer Cecil Gordon made 373 starts in car No. 24, and current Hendrick Motorsports drivers Chase Elliott and William Byron have used the number since Gordon retired.

CAR NO. 9

NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Bill Elliott recorded 38 of his 44 NASCAR Cup Series victories and claimed the 1988 series title while driving car No. 9. It’s a number that became synonymous with Elliott and his family-owned team that raced out of Dawsonville, Georgia., during the 1980s. Seventeen years after Elliott last drove car No. 9, it’s only fitting that his son, Chase Elliott, is carrying on the family tradition. The younger Elliott is in his third season of driving the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Overall statistics show that cars carrying No. 9 in the NASCAR Cup Series have recorded 59 victories with 510 top-10 finishes in 1,627 starts. Bill (38) and Chase (6) Elliott have combined for 44 of those victories while Kasey Kahne, who replaced Bill Elliott at Evernham Motorsports in 2014, won 11 times in car No. 9. Pee Wee Martin used No. 9 on his Oldsmobile during the inaugural Cup Series race on June 19, 1949, at the Charlotte Speedway dirt track. He finished 29th in the 33-car field. Herb Thomas was the first driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race using No. 9 when he topped the Oct. 26, 1952, event at North Wilkesboro Speedway. His younger brother, Donald Thomas, then won the next series race in the same car at Lakewood Speedway near Atlanta.

POLE POSITION 2020

Bill Elliott, 1985

Chase Elliott, 2020

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

PRESENTED BY

NASCAR HEALTH

‘Excited’ About the Return to Racing

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

Dr. Jason Cormier

FANS IN THE STANDS? DR. JASON CORMIER does expect fans to return to races in some capacity this season. He believes the tracks will be at the mercy of the recommendations and restrictions imposed by the politicians in the specific states. “If they’re in a state where guidelines have loosened and restrictions have been

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. Cormier’s work with MSG ties together his passion for racing with his professional expertise. For this edition of NASCAR Pole Position, Cormier shared some preventative measures that will be taken as NASCAR returns to racing. Are you comfortable with NASCAR’s decision to return to racing? I’m excited that racing is coming back. Sooner or later, people want actual racing. I think fans want to see their heroes on the track in living color. I’m excited that NASCAR is taking the initiative to take the season back on the road while taking the necessary precautions. What type of necessary precautions will they take? From what I understand, NASCAR has taken a couple of different steps to ensure the safety of fans and drivers. They don’t want to endanger anyone or violate the social-distancing practices that have been put in place. The safety experts and administrators have been talking nonstop for quite some time, discussing the best protocols to keep everyone safe. I think it’s a nice time to consider coming back to racing because we know the virus

POLE POSITION 2020

removed, then they would

can be killed by a couple of things. One is sunlight, for sure. It can be killed by temperatures greater than 86 degrees. Washing hands and good hygienic behavior is helpful. With races taking place in hotter environments, I think now is the time to return to racing. How will the drivers be screened to ensure they’re not carriers of the virus? In my opinion, I think it will be standardized for each race track. It will be a matter of asking the same questions that they’re asking at hospitals. They’re starting to ask more questions about balance, loss of smell, sense of taste change, hearing loss, double vision. These are symptoms we now know occur before fever or shortness of breath and coughing. Hopefully, by identifying the virus quicker, it will offset the catastrophic nature of it. Will NASCAR have testing available for drivers or race team members? I think they’re going to have access to testing. The concerning thing is it’s very difficult to screen for temperature on a hot day, particularly when drivers have been in cars. And how do you screen the fans? That will be equally difficult to do. For some time, people have tailgated at races. I think that’s where the danger lies, not necessarily inside the stadium because that’s what NASCAR controls. They can’t control tailgaters.

be more inclined to let fans return,” Cormier said. “In states where the numbers are more challenging, I can see NASCAR continuing those restrictions.” Cormier believes NASCAR fans will be forced to do some distancing and possibly wear masks when they return to the tracks. “There’s still going to be some distancing,” he said. “If they come in groups of four or five, those people might be able to sit together. Gradually, we’ll see things get back to some level of normalcy. “Wearing a mask would not only be good to protect some forms of transmission of the virus, but also to protect against engines and combustions. It could be somewhat serendipitous if that’s instituted as well.”

GANDER RV & OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES

Fabulous Finish

Enfinger and Anderson Reminisce about Daytona

The NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series season started with a bang – quite literally – at Daytona International Speedway in February when the trucks of Grant Enfinger and Jordan Anderson bounced off each other multiple times as they raced toward the checkered flag. BY JARED TURNER

ANDERSON

ENFINGER

rossing the finish line side-by-side, Enfinger edged Anderson’s No. 3 K-Seal Chevrolet by a nose that translated to exactly one one-hundredth of a second as he claimed the victory in the NextEra Energy Resources 250.

Almost two months after their epic battle at The World Center of Racing, Enfinger and Anderson – both quarantined in their homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic – joined NASCAR Pole Position Magazine on a live Zoom call where they watched replays of the final two laps and discussed what was running through their minds in the waning moments. Here’s what they had to say: Grant, you were leading on the restart with two laps to go. What was your strategy? Enfinger: Really, it kind of goes to before

POLE POSITION 2020

then when we were making our decision about whether we were going to start on the inside or the outside there. I felt confident about Ross (Chastain) being able to push us, but I knew he was going to be super-aggressive trying to get by us, and really that was my whole mindset. I felt like he would make a big move coming to the checkered; he ended up making it going into Turn 1 after we’d taken the white flag. When I defended his run, that shot me out front a lot further than I wanted to be. That’s not the position I wanted to be in; it was a really good spot for Jordan, though. Jordan, lining up on the third row for the restart, what were you thinking? Anderson: All weekend, Chevrolet was really big on all of us Chevrolet drivers

working together. I was going to go with whatever Chevrolet driver was in front of me. I was going to follow those guys and try to push them until at least the backstretch on the last lap, but … going into Turn 1 when Ross made that move on Grant, I kind of puckered up there for a second because I thought both of those guys were going to go around (wreck). Once I got into second, I’m kind of double-checking and like, “I can’t really believe it. Here we are in second.” I kind of was thinking, “Do I just ride behind him and take second-place?” Hell, for our team, a top-five was going to be a huge night for us. As I got a good run, I was going to jump out (of line) and I said, “No, let’s see what we’ve got through (Turns) 3 and 4 here.” PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

I locked your bumper, Grant, a little bit there through 3 and 4, and I got way more of a run than I would have ever expected. Man, that was close. It was pretty crazy. We had never really raced that hard all night, so you don’t know what you’ve got. It’s a lesson learned for me moving forward to kind of practice that move properly a couple more times throughout the course of the race. What was your plan in Turns 3 and 4? Anderson: I didn’t really have a plan, to be honest with you. It was definitely a first experience for me being in that position. I

our truck so much. As it was going, it was just kind of making that decision on the fly. We had a fast truck, no doubt about it. Grant, what kind of move were you expecting him to make? Enfinger: Getting prepared for this, I had put all my eggs in the “I’m going to have to block Ross” basket, and then when that happened so early going into (Turn) 1, I didn’t know if it was Jordan behind me or who it was. I just knew I was too far out in front, but at that point, you are kind of damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

knew that I wanted to at least wait until the exit of 4 (to make a move), because I knew there was still a pretty big group of guys behind us, so I didn’t want to do it through the middle of 3 and 4 and put myself in a spot of losing ground. I figured if I could push Grant far enough up and get him off the bottom, and that was kind of my goal. It’s kind of one of those things watching the video now, Grant kind of opened up the bottom a little bit off of 4 there, so I may should have tried to do the (Brad) Keselowski move there to the bottom. Who knows what could have happened there? But I figured, for sure, that we would have had a big enough run there (to the outside). I pulled too far off of him, and I think had we maybe stayed a little bit closer when we made contact that it wouldn’t have upset

If you check up some, they’re going to be coming with an even bigger run, but you get out front an extra car length or two and it can make all the difference. Jordan can tell you – It’s crazy the closing rates in these trucks. But, basically, I just knew I was going to have to defend a move, but I didn’t know which way it was going to come. Fortunately, I had trust in my spotter, Chris Lambert, and I kind of went with his gut. Before Jordan made his move, I was just driving in my mirror, and when he went to the outside, Chris was like, “Chase him up there.” I really expected Jordan to go all the way to the wall, so I yanked it and really wasn’t intending to hit him, but it didn’t really matter at that point. Whatever it took to kind of slow down Jordan’s momentum, and then

I was going to try to pull back away from him again, and it just kind of worked out. Do you take responsibility for the contact with Jordan in the tri-oval, Grant? Enfinger: It was whatever it took to slow Jordan’s momentum. It wasn’t my initial goal to hit him or anything like that. It was to slow his momentum at all costs, and really, that’s what it all boiled down to. I expected him to go all the way up to the wall, and I think Jordan maybe kind of didn’t go all the way up there, but that’s why we hit him. Jordan, did you realize you had inched ahead? Anderson: No. When I pulled out, you can actually see it; I upset the truck a little bit. I put too much wheel input into it and got a little out of control. I probably would have gone, like Grant said, all the way out to the wall, but I didn’t want to start sawing on the wheel too much. But it happened too quick for me there that last 100 yards of the race track right there, and it still kind of felt like a dream. We crossed the start/finish line and I came on the radio and was all upset and was like, “I can’t believe we finished second.” And then I was like, “Holy cow, we finished second.” That’s still how big of a deal it was for us and our guys. Is this painful to go back and watch, Jordan? Anderson: I’ve probably run it through my head a million times since then. You go back and you say, “Well, if I had done this or if I had done that,” but all you can do is look at it and say, “I’m better-prepared for the next time it happens.” Were you guys prepared to wreck each other if that’s what it took? Anderson: I don’t think I had that in the back of my mind there. We can all say what we want, but when you’ve got the checkered flag in sight, you’re going to do whatever you can to get a win for your team and everybody that’s helped you get there. Grant has always been a clean driver, and I think both of us were doing what we could to get the best finish possible. Enfinger: I love Jordan to death, but at the end of the day, it’s every man for himself coming off of Turn 4 there at Daytona. I never had any intentions of wrecking him or even hitting him, for that matter, but my goal was to slow his momentum down – whatever that takes. Even though I love Jordan to death, I don’t have any remorse for it. POLE POSITION MAG.COM

GANDER RV & OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES

SHELDON CREED OWNER MAURY GALLAGHER

TEAM GMS RACING

SPONSORS C H E V Y. C O M , TRENCH SHORING

MANUFACTURER CHEVROLET

CREW CHIEF J E F F S TA N K I E W I C Z

On the heels of a solid rookie season in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, Sheldon Creed brought understandably high hopes into 2020, and the first two races of the season – which occurred prior to NASCAR’s lengthy hiatus brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic – did nothing to dampen Creed’s expectations. With a ninth-place finish in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway followed by a 10th-place finish the next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Creed found himself an impressive fifth in the standings when NASCAR was forced to indefinitely suspend competition in mid-March. Also notable was the fact that Creed led laps at both Daytona and Vegas – two very different types of tracks. Creed, of course, is no stranger to success, having captured the 2018 championship in the ARCA Menards Series where he collected four wins and posted an incredible 18 top-10 finishes (including 16 top-five results) in 20 starts during his championship season. That amazing campaign catapulted Creed to a full-time Truck Series ride in 2019, when he recorded 11 top-10 finishes in 23 starts on the way to a 10th-place points finish as a series rookie. An X-Games gold medalist and two-time Stadium Super Trucks Series champion, Creed made his NASCAR debut when he entered the 2016 Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway, and he returned to compete at the fabled halfmile dirt track one year later. While Creed was winless in 32 truck outings as of press time, all signs suggested a breakthrough victory could be right around the corner.

XFINITY SERIES, TOO ALONG WITH running his first full season in trucks last year, Sheldon Creed also made his NASCAR Xfinity Series oval track debut. That came in the season opener at Daytona, where he qualified ninth but crashed and finished 34th in a cameo appearance as driver of JR Motorsports’ No. 8 Chevrolet. Creed tried his hand at Xfinity Series racing for the first time in 2017, competing in the road course races at Mid-Ohio and Road America where he finished 34th and 38th, respectively.

WRITTEN BY JARED TURNER // PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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GANDER RV & OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES

GRANT ENFINGER OWNERS

DUKE AND RHONDA THORSON

TEAM

THORSPORT RACING

SPONSORS CHAMPION, CURB RECORDS

MANUFACTURER FORD

CREW CHIEF JEFF HENSLEY

Grant Enfinger began the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors

Truck Series season in the most spectacular of fashions, nipping Jordan Anderson by a nose to win the opener at Daytona International Speedway. Enfinger, whose official margin of victory was one one-hundredth of a second, couldn’t have been any more thrilled to kick off the year with such a memorable drive at the legendary 2.5-mile superspeedway. “It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Enfinger said. “The biggest thing is we had a really good Ford F-150 to do it with. God blessed us with a great opportunity to go out there, and we were able to pull it off.” Enfinger led 41 of 106 laps, including the final 10. “We had a really good truck,” he said. “We’ve stepped up our game, really, the last year-and-a-half or so.” Due to outstanding consistency, Enfinger spent much of 2019 as the series points leader despite being shut out of Victory Lane. He ultimately finished seventh in the standings, missing the Championship 4. A two-time truck race winner coming into 2019, Enfinger also barely missed being one of the four championship finalists in 2018, when he finished fifth in the standings. “There is no lack of motivation or incentive, or whatever you want to say, for myself, (crew chief) Jeff Hensley or anybody on this team,” Enfinger said. “This is the same core group of guys that came up just a little bit short in 2018, and we’ve kind of grown as a team together.”

LEARNING EXPERIENCE LIKE SO MANY OF his fellow NASCAR drivers during the recent COVID-19 quarantine, Grant Enfinger devoted some time at home to fine-tuning his iRacing skills. To say it was a learning experience would perhaps be an understatement. “I’ve been practicing my iRacing the last few weeks,” Enfinger said in an exclusive interview in late April with NASCAR Pole Position Magazine. “It’s such a different deal. You’re visually racing rather than from the seat of your pants. So, it’s definitely a different deal.”

STEWART FRIESEN OWNERS CHRIS LARSEN AND STEWART FRIESEN

TEAM HALMAR FRIESEN RACING

SPONSOR H A L M A R I N T E R N AT I O N A L

MANUFACTURER T OYO TA

CREW CHIEF TRIPP BRUCE

In his first full season of NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors

Truck Series competition, Stewart Friesen finished an impressive seventh in the 2018 series standings while turning quite a few heads. Unable to make it to Victory Lane, however, the native of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, hoped to take it up a notch in 2019. Mission accomplished. Friesen recorded two wins – one on the fabled Eldora Speedway dirt track in August, and a second at Phoenix Raceway in November – on the way to qualifying for the Championship 4 and racking up an impressive 16 top-10 finishes (including 12 top-five results) in 23 events. An accomplished dirt-track racer with more than 260 wins dating back two decades, Friesen is still relatively new to the truck scene, but he’s focused on improving upon what he accomplished last season. Chris Larsen, who coowns Halmar Friesen Racing alongside Friesen, is equally fired up about the possibilities. “The championship is our goal,” Larsen said. “Making it to the ‘Final Four’ was an accomplishment, but we’re all competitive. You want to be sitting at the head table at the series banquet. We’re working to be that team.” The team made the offseason switch from Chevrolet to Toyota, with the goal of becoming even more competitive. HFR’s move to Toyota came with the support of Toyota Racing Development. “We were all very impressed after spending time with Toyota,” Friesen said. “TRD has been welcoming to our organization. With their support, knowledge and technology, we hope to bring our team to another level.”

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able to retain several members of our team from last season,” HFR co-owner/driver Stewart Friesen said before the season commenced in February. “They’ve remained loyal to us and have new energy.”

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Heading into the 2019 season, few people really knew what to expect from Austin Hill. A largely unproven talent at the time, Hill was fortunate to land one of the most coveted rides in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series when he was tabbed to drive the No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota that had won the previous year’s championship and six races with Brett Moffitt behind the wheel. But the question lingered: What would Hill do with such an amazing opportunity? In short: a lot. Proving himself plenty worthy of such a quality seat, Hill promptly went out and won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in his Hattori Racing Enterprises debut. And the success continued as he won three more races and finished fifth in the standings – just barely missing the Championship 4. Hill’s final win came in the season finale, where he would have obviously preferred to have been racing for the championship. “I was excited for the win, but at the same time, it stung a little bit because I know if we would have been a little better in the Round of 6, we could have been celebrating a win and a championship,” Hill said. Even so, the youngster from Winston, Georgia, was happy to conclude 2019 on such on a positive note. “Finishing last year with a win at Homestead was great to go into the offseason and kept everyone in a good mood,” he said.

SIZZLING START AUSTIN HILL’S second season with Hattori Racing Enterprises didn’t start with a win like his first season with HRE. Nevertheless, after two races, Hill was atop the standings on the merits of sixth- and third-place finishes. “We’ve had a good start to the year, leading the points, and have done a good job at scoring stage points,” he said. “That’s a big thing to try and get as much as you can every week. We’d love to get a win and lock ourselves in the playoffs early again.”

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Team owner/driver Codie Rohrbaugh doesn’t plan on running the entire NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series schedule this season. But regardless of how many races he ultimately enters, Rohrbaugh couldn’t have been much more pleased with his first result of the season – a career-best third-place finish in the opener at Daytona International Speedway where he took a peek to the inside of frontrunners Grant Enfinger and Jordan Anderson as the two banged together and crossed the finish line side-by-side and separated by a mere one one-hundredth of a second. Rohrbaugh, for his part, had the best view in the house as the two leaders roared into the tri-oval on the final lap. “We almost had it,” said Rohrbaugh, who overcame an early mishap to contend for the victory. “You know, it was a crazy race for us. Our truck was pretty loose, and I spun out of the pack and luckily didn’t hit anything. Had to come to pit road for tires and stuff and lost a lap, but then we decided to let the race play out and see what we could get. I was hoping those guys would keep banging fenders, because I had some huge momentum on the bottom. I just ran out of time before getting to the checkered flag.” A native of Petersburg, West Virginia, Rohrbaugh made 11 Truck Series starts prior to 2020, with nine of them coming last year. He’s run a limited ARCA Menards Series schedule in each of the past four years, picking up a total of seven top-10 finishes in 20 starts.

POSSIBLY MORE RACES DESPITE NOT KNOWing his racing schedule for the season, Codie Rohrbaugh is optimistic about the future. The ultimate goal, of course, is to move up through the ranks despite currently having a very limited racing budget. But for now, the focus is on making the most out of every NASCAR

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When it comes to experience, it’s hard to find a NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series driver with more than Johnny Sauter. A 12-year veteran of the series, Sauter has also combined for nearly 300 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. However, the majority of Sauter’s success has come in trucks – where he’s scored 24 victories and captured the 2016 series title. Sauter has won at least one race in all but one of his full-time seasons in trucks, and the Necedah, Wisconsin, native earned a career-high six wins in 2018. After a three-year run with GMS Racing – the organization with which he captured his lone Truck Series title – Sauter reunited with ThorSport Racing in 2019 and basically picked up right where he left off with the SanduskyOhio based team that he drove for from 2009-2015. While Sauter notched only one win in 2019, he was in contention for numerous victories and ultimately finished sixth in the standings after making the playoffs. This season began with even more promise for Sauter, who finished seventh at Daytona International Speedway and second at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to move into second in the standings before the series went idle for the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’m just all in all proud of everybody’s effort,” Sauter said after qualifying on the pole and coming home a distant runner-up to NASCAR Cup Series star Kyle Busch in Las Vegas. “I’m pumped up for the rest of the year. We’ve got stuff going the way we need to.”

ONE DESTINATION WHILE JOHNNY Sauter might be in his second foray with ThorSport Racing, it’s almost as if he never really left. After being unexpectedly released by GMS Racing at the end of 2018 despite winning six races that year, Sauter knew immediately where he wanted to be. “It was kind of like, ‘Well, whatever. … If I’m going to race, it’s going to be with ThorSport, or I won’t race,’” he said. “That was kind of the mentality I had. I never reached out to anybody else.”

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Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, Austin Wayne Self has gained a lot of valuable experience. Now, he wants to turn that experience into results. Not that Self is unaccustomed to running well. As a rookie in the ARCA Menards Series in 2014, Self captured 13 top-10 finishes (including five top-five results) on the way to earning rookie-of-the-year honors. The next season, he finished runner-up in the standings on the strength of 12 top-10 finishes highlighted by a victory at Winchester Speedway. It was the following season – 2016 – that Self made his Truck Series debut, competing in 22 of 23 races. Heading into this season’s unexpected break brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Self had recorded seven top-10 finishes (including two top-five results) in 86 truck starts. While these are not the results he is looking for, he believes his family-run team owned by his father, Tim, has the potential for much more. Last season, Self scored three top-10 finishes – two of them coming on intermediate tracks. The high point was a fifth-place finish at Michigan International Speedway in August. The next best was a sixth-place finish at the 1.5mile Kentucky Speedway in July. “We’ve spent a lot of time working on our mile-and-a-half program,” Self said. “After all, that’s the bread and butter of the Truck Series, for the most part. I feel like Eddie (crew chief Eddie Troconis) and I are in a good place as far as communication goes; we’re just working hard to make our trucks better.”

‘A GREAT KID’ EDDIE TROCONIS, now in his second season as crew chief for Austin Wayne Self, has nothing but praise for the 24-year-old native of Austin, Texas. “Austin is a great kid with a great attitude,” said Troconis, who joined the team after three seasons at ThorSport Racing. “He is at the shop working every day, and that’s important to me. I believe he has the talent to drive a truck and run in the top five and fight for wins.” REPLACEMENT

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argill’s Record Rack® premium game feed brand – now in its third season as a sponsor of NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series driver and avid outdoorsman Spencer Boyd – specializes in wildlife products engineered to attract and nourish deer for overall health and antler development. Deer aren’t the only population benefiting from the outstanding efforts of Record Rack, however. So, too, are civil servants, who have an opportunity to become the distinguished honorees of Record Rack’s Bucks for the Brave program that provides American heroes with an all-inclusive hunting experience each fall. This year’s fifth annual Bucks for the Brave extravaganza is scheduled for Nov. 11-15 at Trinity Oak’s Thumbtack Ranch in Batesville, Texas, where one veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy, along with a retired

firefighter, law enforcement officer and EMT will embark on a hunt they will never forget. The eight winners – one per category – are submitted for consideration by friends or family members and selected from a robust pool of deserving nominees. This year’s winners will be announced in October. “Choosing the winners each year is the toughest part of my job,” said Jodi Cornelison, the wildlife marketing lead for Cargill Animal Nutrition. “I wish we could award every one of these heroes with this once-in-a-lifetime experience. They all deserve to win.” One of the most compelling aspects of

Bucks for the Brave is the special bond the respective participants always seem to forge while together hunting deer and catching fish. “From the time they arrive in Texas, until they head back home, these heroes are one unit,” Cornelison said. “They each hunt in separate stands, with their own guides, but other than that, it’s about experiencing this trip together. It’s about giving them back some of the camaraderie that they’ve been missing. The lodge is incredible, meals are amazing … and the participants are treated like the heroes they are.”

Tyler Ankrum On the heels of a strong rookie season in 2019 with the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series team owned by NASCAR Cup Series veteran David Gilliland, Tyler Ankrum moved from DGR-Crosley to GMS Racing for the 2020 campaign. While it’s too early to tell how the season will shake out for Ankrum, this much is certain: The 19-year-old native of San Bernardino, California, has tremendous talent and enormous potential. Both were on full display a year ago when he won at Kentucky Speedway in July to earn a berth in the playoffs. Ankrum, who went on to finish eighth in the standings, spent 2018 in the ARCA Menards Series East where he captured four victories in 14 starts en route to the series title. As pivotal as Ankrum’s East Series success was to him securing a truck ride, it didn’t compare to his first truck win, which he credits for helping him gain a lot of confidence. “Honestly, one of my biggest faults is I’ve always doubted myself, and I kind of saw all of that wash away,” he said.

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potential stars of tomorrow, third-generation driver Todd Gilliland joined a new NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series team – Front Row Motorsports – this year after two mostly full seasons with Kyle Busch Motorsports. Gilliland, who turned 20 on May 25, registered his lone Truck Series victory to date last fall at Martinsville Speedway. The Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, native won in his ARCA Menards Series West debut as a 15-year-old and later went on to capture back-toback series championships. Gilliland, whose father, David, is a former NASCAR Cup Series driver, has collected 20 wins in a total of 53 East and West Series races. He also owns a pair ARCA Menards Series victories in nine outings. “I’ve watched Todd grow up in this sport and have seen the talent he brings firsthand,” said team owner Bob Jenkins, whose Front Row operation expanded to the truck ranks this season after years of competing in the NASCAR Cup Series. “Not only does he come from a racing family, but he’s got the natural ability of a winning driver.” POLE POSITION MAG.COM

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won the pole and finished fifth in the ARCA Menards Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway. Decker likely turned even more heads this February when she came home fifth in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series event at Daytona. The finish was the best in the series’ history by a woman, surpassing the sixth-place finish recorded by Jennifer Jo Cobb at Daytona in 2011. “That is so cool,” Decker, 22, said of her historymaking achievement. “That makes me feel very proud.” Along with etching her name into the record books, Decker’s Daytona finish was a terrific way to jumpstart her season on the heels of a rookie effort when she earned a best finish of 14th. “I knew I was capable of doing this,” Decker said. “But it’s all about you needing to prove yourself to other people and gaining their respect.” Decker, who spent 2019 with DGR-Crosley, is running a part-time Truck Series schedule for the second year in a row but with a different team – Niece Motorsports.

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Tanner Gray Tanner Gray had a whirlwind 2019 that included multiple starts in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, the ARCA Menards Series and the ARCA Menards Series East and West. COVID-19 permitting, Gray will wind up being even busier this season, as plans call for him to run a full truck season for DGR-Crosley and make select starts in the ARCA Menards Series and the ARCA Menards Series East. Gray is most excited to go full-time Truck Series racing with the team owned by former NASCAR Cup Series driver David Gilliland, for whom he made three truck starts at the end of last season. Gray joined DGR-Crosley’s development program in 2019 as he made the move to stock cars after winning the NHRA Pro Stock drag racing championship in 2018. “Tanner has done a great job in his transition to stock car racing,” Gilliland said. “I was really impressed with how well he picked up the feel of the car and was able to provide very detailed feedback. It’s a big step up to the Truck Series, but there’s not a doubt in my mind that he’s ready for it.”

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ries West, Derek Kraus used three stellar seasons in the regional touring division as a catalyst for landing a full-time ride this year in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series with his old boss – veteran team owner Billw McAnally, who partnered with Bill Hilgemann to form McAnallyHilgemann Racing. Kraus, who won five races on the way to his 2019 West Series championship, earned a total of 10 victories over three seasons in the West Series. It was enough to convince McAnally that Kraus – who is only 18 years old – was ready for the next step in his progression. “We have been working hard to put things in place to move Derek to the next level in NASCAR,” McAnally said. “It’s been great to be part of his development in the K&N Series these past three years. We look forward to moving ahead in advancing his career.” Kraus certainly proved to be fast out of the gate, finishing fourth in his debut with the team at February’s truck opener at Daytona. POLE POSITION MAG.COM

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Raphael Lessard The latest young driver to join Kyle Busch Motorsports’ seemingly never-ending pipeline of talent is 18-year-old Raphael Lessard, who is running the full NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series schedule this season for the organization co-owned by two-time and reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch. Lessard’s path to the Truck Series has differed from most drivers. A native of St. Joseph de Beauce, Quebec, Lessard made two starts last season in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series, which competes primarily north of the border in Lessard’s homeland. The highlight for Lessard was a victory at his hometown track of Autodrome Chaudiere in ValleeJonction, Quebec, where he led a race-high 153 laps. Along with his Pinty’s Series participation, Lessard made what amounted to cameo appearances in trucks, the ARCA Menards Series and the ARCA Menards Series East. He entered a total of five truck races – three of them with KBM – and finished no worse than 14th. The result was a full-time ride with KBM. “This opportunity is a dream come true,” Lessard said.

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in 2017 and 2018, Ty Majeski dipped his toe in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series waters in 2019 with a lone truck start that marked his series debut. Majeski is back for more, as he plans to run the full Truck Series schedule for Niece Motorsports. Majeski is campaigning the No. 45 Chevrolet that Ross Chastain drove to a pole, three victories and 10 top-five finishes a year ago on the way to an appearance in the Championship 4. “We’re looking to continue to build on what Ross and the team accomplished last year,” said Majeski, a native of Seymour, Wisconsin. “We expect to be contending for wins and ultimately the championship.” In his Truck Series debut, which came with Niece Motorsports last November at Phoenix Raceway, Majeski finished 11th – enough to convince team owner Al Niece that he was ready for a bigger opportunity. “Ty is clearly extremely talented,” Niece said. “He’s won in everything he’s driven. We’re looking forward to great things in 2020.”

Angela Ruch Angela Ruch was born into a racing family that includes her uncle, 1990 Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope, and her twin sister, Amber, who dabbled in two of NASCAR’s national series about a decade ago. As the mother of two recently adopted babies and the owner of a real estate firm, Ruch would be busy even if she had no desire to pursue the family tradition of going fast and turning mostly left, but the fact is that she’s doing exactly that – and has been for quite some time. Ruch, who turned her first competitive laps in go-karts as an elementary schooler, plans to run the entire NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series campaign this season after running nearly half the schedule in 2019 and making her series debut with a single start back in 2010. In between her first truck start and the 10 truck races she entered a season ago, Ruch drove in 14 NASCAR Xfinity Series races spread among four seasons. This year is a year of beginnings for Ruch, who in addition to being a new mom is with a new team.

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After posting seven top-10 finishes that included two top-five results in a 10-race NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule last year with JR Motorsports, Zane Smith wanted a full-time ride. He found a good one with GMS Racing, one of the top teams in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. “GMS is a championship-caliber team, and to be a part of an organization like theirs is a once-in-alifetime opportunity,” said Smith, who opened the season with finishes of 11th and sixth. Smith, who is an alumnus of the NASCAR Next program, gained notoriety by winning the Super Late Model championship during the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing and finishing runner-up in the 2015 Snowball Derby — a well-known Late Model race that draws some of the country’s top short-track talent and often includes a NASCAR Cup Series driver or two. That success helped catapult Smith to a fulltime ARCA Menards Series ride in 2018, when he notched four ARCA wins on the way to a runnerup finish in the series standings. POLE POSITION MAG.COM

GROWIN’ UP NASCAR

Chase Elliott

BY JOSEPH WOLKIN

Chase Elliott grew up in the sport of NASCAR racing – it was his life. His father, Bill Elliott, was winding down his championship career as the younger Elliott began his rise to the top of the sport. Now, the 24-year-old, secondgeneration racer from Dawsonville, Georgia, is NASCAR’s most popular driver, and one of the sport’s brightest young stars. 1) Chase Elliott was often at the track with his father, whether it was when the 1988 Cup Series champion was an owner/driver for Bill Elliott Racing or when he won the 2002 Brickyard 400 for Evernham Motorsports. 2) The younger Elliott began racing go-karts at age 8. From there, he started his climb up the motorsports ladder, winning more than 60 races before his 15th birthday. 3) As Elliott transitioned into Late Model competition, he teamed with sponsor Aaron’s, winning early and often. 4) He ran full seasons in the ARCA Menards Series East in 2011 and 2012. By 2013, Elliott was racing part time in both the ARCA Menards Series and the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series with JR Motorsports. He won in only his sixth Truck Series start. 5) The 2014 season saw Elliott make the jump to the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and he did so in unprecedented fashion. Driving for JR Motorsports, Elliott captured the championship in his rookie season and finished runner-up a year later. 6) During 2015, Elliott made his NASCAR Cup Series debut in Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 25 car. 7) 2016 was an unforgettable year for Elliott as he was named to succeed four-time champion Jeff Gordon in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. In his first start in the No. 24 car, Elliott won the pole for the Daytona 500. He finished 10th overall in his first season and was honored as Sunoco Rookie of the Year. 8) In a tribute to his father’s success, Elliott’s No. 24 team became the No. 9 squad in 2018. The number change brought some good luck, as Elliott won his first NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International. 9) Since Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s retirement, Elliott is now NASCAR’s most popular driver. He won the NMPA Most Popular Driver award in 2018 and 2019. 10) Elliott is a licensed pilot, and has several hobbies, including cycling, skiing and surfing.

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NASCAR HISTORY NASCAR LEGEND

Rusty Wallace: Determined to Succeed

Rusty Wallace entered his first NASCAR Cup Series race on March 6, 1980, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, driving for team owner Roger Penske. The newcomer proved he possessed a great deal of driving talent. BY BEN WHITE

Born in Fenton, Missouri, on Aug. 14, 1956, Wallace began racing on short tracks in his home state as a teenager. Prior to joining the NASCAR circuit, Wallace won more than 200 short-track events as he found himself racing from Florida, where he claimed a pair of local track championships, to Wisconsin, where he routinely won races sanctioned by the American Speed Association. In 1979, Wallace was named rookie of the year with the United States Auto Club’s stock car division after finishing third in points behind A.J. Foyt and Bay Darnell. Two years later, he finished second in the USAC stock car championship standings behind eventual NASCAR driver Joe Ruttman. Wallace finally collected an elusive ASA title in 1983, topping a star-studded field that included future NASCAR wheelmen such as Mark Martin, Alan Kulwicki and Dick Trickle. From 1980 to 1983, Wallace entered only nine NASCAR Cup Series races. The following year, he joined the Cup Series circuit full time, driving for Cliff Stewart, and earned rookie-of-the-year honors. He joined Raymond Beadle’s Blue Max operation in 1986 where he won 18 times over five seasons and claimed the 1989 Cup Series championship. Wallace returned to Team Penske in 1991 and won 37 more races before retiring in 2002. After stepping out of the cockpit, Wallace spent some time as a NASCAR Xfinity Series team owner and he has more recently served as an analyst for television and radio coverage of NASCAR races. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2013.

I am honored to have enjoyed such an awesome career in NASCAR. I am so thankful to my team owners and crews for helping to make my dream come true.”

–RUSTY WALLACE

BEST SEASON DURING THE 1989 NASCAR CUP SERIES SEASON, Wallace managed to log six victories, 13 top-five finishes, 20 top-10 results and four pole positions in Pontiacs owned by drag racing legend Raymond Beadle. By season’s end, he bested Dale Earnhardt by only 12 points to secure his lone Cup Series championship. RECORD SETTER WALLACE’S AVERAGE START OF 13TH AND AVERAGE finish of 14th is considered enough to produce a consistent winning effort. From 1980 to 2002, he led 19,995 of the 204,818 laps he completed. Twenty four of his 55 victories came on short tracks with 26 on superspeedways and five on road courses. KNOWN FOR ALWAYS A TOUGH COMPETITOR, WALLACE WAS KNOWN for his ability to put his cars up front on a variety of track configurations, especially short tracks. He was also a consistent championship contender, finishing among the top-five in points seven times and the top-10 on 17 occasions.

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PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY NASCAR

SEASON REWIND

1976: Yarborough’s First Title

1976 SEASON RECAP DATE CIRCUIT January 18 Riverside International Raceway February 15 Daytona International Speedway February 29 Rockingham Speedway March 7 Richmond Raceway March 14 Bristol Motor Speedway March 21 Atlanta Motor Speedway April 4 North Wilkesboro Speedway April 11 Darlington Raceway April 25 Martinsville Speedway May 2 Talladega Superspeedway May 8 Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville May 16 Dover International Speedway May 30 Charlotte Motor Speedway June 13 Riverside International Raceway June 20 Michigan International Speedway July 4 Daytona International Speedway July 17 Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville August 1 Pocono Raceway August 8 Talladega Superspeedway August 22 Michigan International Speedway August 29 Bristol Motor Speedway September 6 Darlington Raceway September 12 Richmond Raceway September 19 Dover International Speedway September 26 Martinsville Speedway October 3 North Wilkesboro Speedway October 10 Charlotte Motor Speedway October 24 Rockingham Speedway November 7 Atlanta Motor Speedway November 21 Ontario Motor Speedway

BY BEN WHITE

Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty proved they were the top championship contenders of the 1976 NASCAR Cup Series season as the superstars combined to win 12 of the 30 series races. Heading into his fourth season with team owner Junior Johnson, Yarborough was poised to finally collect his first NASCAR Cup Series championship in his 18th year of competition at stock car racing’s highest level. The Timmonsville, South Carolina, resident had built a strong relationship with Johnson, a former driver with 50 NASCAR Cup Series victories of his own. The two motorsports icons joined forces prior to the 1973 season. Yarborough won 14 times during the team’s first two seasons, but he faced many disappointments through engine failures and crashes during the 1975 campaign. The championship chemistry finally came together in 1976, however, producing nine victories, 22 top-five finishes and 23 top-10 result along with two pole positions. Yarborough’s biggest triumph that year came at Daytona International Speedway on July 4, 1976, as he beat David Pearson to the checkered flag by eight seconds. Another of his superspeedway victories came on Sept. 16 at Dover International Speedway when he outran Petty after starting from the pole. With legendary crew chief Herb Nab at his side, Yarborough finished 195 points ahead of Petty in the season’s official point standings. Yarborough’s Chevrolets were equipped with engines built by Robert Yates, a future championship Cup Series team owner and Hall of Fame inductee. Yarborough added Cup Series championships in 1977 and 1978 and scored 55 of his 83 career victories with Johnson’s operation before leaving at the end of the 1980 season to run select events.

WINNER David Pearson David Pearson Richard Petty Dave Marcis Cale Yarborough David Pearson Cale Yarborough David Pearson Darrell Waltrip Buddy Baker Cale Yarborough Benny Parsons David Pearson David Pearson David Pearson Cale Yarborough Benny Parsons Richard Petty Dave Marcis David Pearson Cale Yarborough David Pearson Cale Yarborough Cale Yarborough Cale Yarborough Cale Yarbrough Donnie Allison Richard Petty Dave Marcis David Pearson

BEST DRIVER CALE YARBOROUGH, DRIVING THE NO. 11 CHEVROLET OWNED BY JUNIOR Johnson, logged nine victories and secured his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. Yarborough’s win total included consecutive victories at Richmond, Dover, Martinsville and North Wilkesboro. His average start of fifth and average finish of eighth proved he was a consistent frontrunner. David Pearson actually won more races, 10, but was not a title threat as he only ran 22 of the series’ 30 events.

PRESIDENT

Gerald Ford N O . 1 AT T H E B O X O F F I C E

Rocky

NO. 1 SONG

“Silly Love Songs” by Wings P O P C U LT U R E

1976

Apple Computer Co. is founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak GALLON OF GAS

59¢

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POLE POSITION 2020

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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