2015 IWANNA NASCAR Preview

RACE SCHEDULES

PREDICTIONS

DRIVER STANDINGS

TOP PERFORMANCES

2015 SEASON PREVIEW COPYRIGHT © IWANNA, USA LLC. FEBRUARY 2015

DENNY HAMLIN FLIES UNDER THE RADAR

STAND OUT ROOKIE

TREVOR BAYNE

FREE

POSTE R INSIDE

KEVIN HARVICK FIRST CHAMPION UNDER NEW CHASE FORMAT

JEFF GORDON

TO RUN FINAL FULL-TIME SEASON

CHANGES AHEAD DRIVERS + CREW CHIEFS ON THE MOVE

ELLIOT CRAFTON TAKE LEAD

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

2 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

iwanna.com

[2014]

DEFINING MOMENTS

PUBLISHER

VINCENT GRASSIA ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER

PATRICIA M. BETTS

GVL REGIONAL SALES MANAGER

CRYSTAL PRESSLEY PRODUCTION MANAGER

LISA GALLAGHER

CHICAGOLAND

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

ADALEE ELKINS

No. 1 seed BRAD KESELOWSKI torpedoed between KEVIN HARVICK and KYLE LARSON with 15 laps remaining to take the Chase opener in the Windy City.

COPY EDITOR

CARRIE HARDER

NEW HAMPSHIRE

CONTRIBUTOR

PETE ZAMPLAS

Statement made: JOEY LOGANO continued his strong year with his fourth win of the season. The 24 year old rode the momentum all the way to the Championship Round race.

PRODUCTION

CARRIE HARDER DEBI MANFRE DAVID DENTON RANDY WHITTINGTON KIM ANDERSON

DOVER

Alive in the “drive for five”: The No. 24 visited Victory Lane at Dover to advance to the Contender Round in his quest for a fifth series title.

JEFF GORDON’S teammate, KASEY KAHNE, rallied from four laps down to also move on.

ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS

LUANNE SHEFFIELD KIMBERLY WHITE ROBERTA LLOYD PAM HENSLEY RICK JENKINS ROSE LUNSFORD PATRICIA DULA ANN HAYES MURIEL HANEY DIANA DAVIS

KANSAS

DALE EARNHARDT JR. hit the wall while leading the Contender

Round opener and fell out of the Chase after he was unable to rebound in the following two races.

SALES ASSISTANT

CHARLOTTE

JAYME PRESSLEY DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

KEVIN HARVICK led a race-high 162 laps at Charlotte to capture his

MARK GRAHAM

first Chase victory, but his performance was overshadowed by postrace fisticuffs between MATT KENSETH and BRAD KESELOWSKI.

WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT

DAN JAWORSKY

TALLADEGA

A Publication of

BRAD KESELOWSKI clutch: The No. 2 Ford driver kept focus after

controversy in Charlotte to avoid “The Big One” and claim a must-win victory at Talladega.

MARTINSVILLE

Spoiler alert! Fresh off his elimination from the Chase, DALE EARHARDT JR. colledted an emotional first victory at Martinsville to take away an automatic Championship Round-qualifying berth from a Chase driver.

22 GARFIELD STREET, SUITE 100 ASHEVILLE, NC 28813 828.274.8888 IWANNA.COM NASCAR SEASON PREVIEW, a publication of IWANNA, has accepted contributions which may not reflect the opinion of the publisher. No portion of NASCAR SEASON PREVIEW may be reproduced without permission of the publisher.

TEXAS

BRAD KESELOWSKI cut JEFF GORDON’S tire trying to shoot between him and JIMMIE JOHNSON for the victory, resulting in a post-race

melee.

PHOENIX

KEVIN HARVICK claimed a must-win victory and RYAN NEWMAN’S late-race move on KYLE LARSON catapulted them into the Championship Round, along with DENNY HAMLIN and JOEY LOGANO.

HOMESTEAD-MIAMI

The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing crew chief Rodney Childers had KEVIN HARVICK pit for four fresh tires late in the race, a call that helped Harvick hold off Championship 4 contenders RYAN NEWMAN and DENNY HAMLIN on the final two restarts to capture his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in his 14th premier series season. The Championship 4 drivers highlighted the action running up front for most of the Ford EcoBoost 400 until JOEY LOGANO’S No. 22 Ford fell off the jack on a crucial pit stop, dropping him far behind the rest of The Championship 4. The late-race drama put an exclamation point on arguably the most exciting Chase finale in NASCAR postseason history. [ courtesy of NASCAR Media ]

on the cover: Designed by Adalee Elkins

4| 36 | 60 | 22 | 43 | 26 | 57 |

KEVIN HARVICK CHASE ELLIOT MATT CRAFTON DENNY HAMLIN TREVOR BAYNE JEFF GORDON DRIVERS AND CREW CHIEFS ON THE MOVE

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

'The Ultimate' DAYTONA 500 Moment?

NASCAR Lets Fans Decide In New Digital And Social Campaign THE ‘ULTIMATE DAYTONA 500 MOMENT CHALLENGE’ ENCOURAGES FANS TO VOTE ON THE MOMENTS THAT HAVE MADE THE DAYTONA 500 ‘THE GREAT AMERICAN RACE’ ee Pet t y i n a “photo finish” for the ages. Fist fights on the backstretch.

“The Intimidator’s” longawaited trip to victory lane. The DAYTONA 500® has produced

some of the most monumental moments in sports history and now fans have the chance to decide which one is the best of the best.

From Feb. 2 – Feb. 19, NASCAR® is inviting sports fans to visit

Daytona Moment s.NASCAR. com to vote for the event they c o n s ide r t h e mo m e nt t h at defined t he DAYTONA 500.

The “Ultimate DAYTONA 500 Moment Challenge” will pit

IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015 3

16 distinct moments in “The Great American Race®” history against one another in a fourround, elimination-style set-up, similar to the new Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ format that debuted in 2014.

“Coming off one of the most exhilarating season finales the sport has ever seen, NASCAR created the ‘Ultimate DAYTONA 5 0 0 Mome nt C h a l le nge ’ to heighten anticipation for the 2015 season,” said Steve Phelps, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at NASCAR. “ T h i s y e a r, w e ’r e l e t t i n g NASCAR’s passionate fans set the tone for the season by voting on the moments they believe shaped the most iconic race on NASCAR’s schedule.”

NA SC A R i s e nc ou rag i ng sports ent husiasts to use #DAYTONA50 0moment s on their social media channels to share, champion and discuss the events they believe have made “The Great Amer ica n Race®” one of the most highly anticipated events in all of sports.

Th roug hout t he c a mpa ig n ,

NASCAR will showcase archival photos and video content related to the DAYTONA 500 across its Facebook, Instagram and Twitter channels. Rare mementos, such as tickets and race programs from Daytona Inter nat ional Speedway’s archives will also be revealed on NASCAR’s social platforms to showcase the rich history of NASCAR’s seasonopening, crown jewel race.

The opening round of the “ U l t i m a t e DAY T O NA 5 0 0 Moment Challenge” will be introduced tonight, Feb. 2 on NASCAR Race Hub at 6 p.m.

ET o n FOX Sp or t s 1, w it h regular updates and exclusive announcements on the Hub when voting blocks end and round winners advance. The “ultimate moment” of the DAYTONA 500 will be revealed Thursday, Feb. 19 on NASCAR RaceDay on FOX Sports 1. Fans who vote in each round will be entered for the chance to win a trip for two to the 2016 DAYTONA 500, including access to the three NASCAR national series race events.

—NASCAR MEDIA

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

4 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

[2014

iwanna.com

CHAMPIONS]

b y R E I D SP E NC E R , NA S C A R W I R E SERV ICE

Harvick wins at Homestead TO SECURE FIRST NASCAR SPRINT CUP CHAMPIONSHIP THE FASTEST DRIVER doesn’t a l w ay s w i n a r a c e — o r a championship—but on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kevin Harvick did both.

Driving a No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet that has been the class of the field for most of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, Harvick won Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at the 1.5-mile intermediate track and claimed his first premier series championship after a three-lap drag race against underdog title contender Ryan Newman.

Harvick was so wrapped up in the championship battle that the victory in the race didn’t register right away.

“I forgot we won the race—how about that?” Harvick chuckled. “I think this Chase is about the best thing that has happened to this sport over the last decade. This is probably going to shorten the drivers’ careers, because it’s been so stressful, but I want to thank every single fan for sticking with this sport, and to the industry for working to get it right.”

After the 13th caution slowed the field on Lap 263, the result of debris dripping from the No. 32 Ford of Blake Koch, Harvick led the field to green on Lap 265 of 267 with Newman beside him.

Newman stayed to the inside of Harvick’s car through the first corner, but Harvick, on four fresh tires to Newman’s two, cleared the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and pulled away to a half-second victory.

U n d e r N A S C A R ’s n e w elimination format for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the driver who won five times, including Sunday, and led 2,137 laps throughout the season beat the

driver who was winless with 41 laps led by a single point.

In his first season with SHR, Harvick won for the first time at Homestead and for the 28th time in his career. With the highest finisher among the Championship 4 contenders assured of the title, Denny Hamlin came home seventh, and Joey Logano ran 16th after a disastrous late-race pit stop.

Harvick’s crew chief, Rodney Childers, made a critical call to bring Harvick to pit road for four tires under caution on Lap 249. With three cars staying on the track and eight others taking right-side tires only, Harvick restarted 12th, but two quick cautions fell his way.

Harvick made up six positions almost immediately and restarted sixth after the 12th caution for an accident involving Koch and J.J. Yeley on Lap 254.

“I knew I needed to get a bunch of (positions),” Harvick said. “I was fortunate to start on the outside. The seas kind of parted there as I came off of Turn 2 and was about to get four or five of them; I don’t really know, but it was time to go for broke at that particular point.

“When the next caution came out, we were fortunate enough again to line up on the outside (for the restart on Lap 259).

That was pretty much what we needed—to get the run on the outside down the backstretch.”

On the final restart against Ha r v ic k, New ma n sa id he contemplated the sort of allor-nothing move he had used a week earlier against Kyle Larson to edge Jeff Gordon by one point for the final position in the Championship Round.

But Newman quickly thought better of the idea.

“In the end, I just got down underneath him and he was close enough to me, took some of the air away from me,” Newman said. “I could have kept it wide open and washed up into him, and it wasn’t the right move.

It wasn’t what I would have wanted him to do to me.

“If we were close enough on the last lap, it might have been

DRIVER OF THE NO. 4 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET WINS

TOP FIVES

TOP TENS

POLES

5 14 20 8

▲ KEVIN HARVICK with son Keelan after winning the NASCAR Sprint

Cup Series championship following the Ford EcoBoost 400 at HomesteadMiami Speedway on November 16, 2014. NASCAR via Getty Images a different game, but I wasn’t. I slipped off of Turn 4 coming to the white, and at that point it was pretty much over. I really was hoping he would slip a tire, blow a motor, something like that. That was our only hope. All those things go through your mind, but I had a pretty good run and cut down to the bottom and just ran out of racetrack, ran out of room, and he had the air—he had the line.”

Hamlin, who forewent a pit stop on Lap 249 when most of the other lead-lap cars came to pit road, restarted in the lead on Lap 259, with Newman second and Harvick sixth, but Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota quickly fell victim to cars on superior tires.

By the time NASCAR called the 13th caution on Lap 262, Hamlin had dropped to third behind Harvick and Newman, and he fell back to seventh in the final three-lap run.

“For me, there’s not one thing I would have done different,”

Ha m l i n sa id. “I mea n, we brought a car that was capable of winning. I just don’t know how to express it enough. Sometimes breaks go your way; sometimes they don’t. They just didn’t go our way.

“There’s not much else we cou ld have done w it h t he strategy that we played with the cautions that came out. I wouldn’t do a thing different. I think we overachieved greatly by being here, and we haven’t had the speed to compete for race wins all year, and we did today, on the race that really mattered. Just came up short.”

Logano’s first flirtation with a title came to an inglorious end when the No. 22 Team Penske Ford fell off the jack as the crew was changing left-side tires under caution on Lap 249.

Last out of the pits, Logano restarted 29th on Lap 253 and could recover only to 16th by the checkered flag.

“It’s hard to be proud right now after coming home wherever

First champion under new Chase format Clinched championship by winning season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway Led most laps this season in series— 2, 137 First K&N Pro Series West champion to win Sprint Cup title Third driver to win both NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships

we finished in this race,” said Logano, who gets credit for fourth in the championship standings despite winning five races. “I don’t even know what that is. I don’t even care. “ You do n’t ge t s ho t s at championships often. Hopefully we get another next year. This car had a lot of wins and a lot of top fives, and it doesn’t mean a thing.”

Gordon, t he Coors Light Polesitter, led 161 laps, but came to pit road for tires on Lap 256 and wasn’t a factor the rest of the way, finishing 10th.

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 5

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

6 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

[ 2014

iwanna.com

RECAPS]

c our te s y of NA SC A R M E DI A

200,000 number of Twitter followers Dale Earnhardt Jr. gained in the 24 hours following his first tweet, typed after winning the Daytona 500 Dale Earnhardt Jr. @DaleJr

Tonight seemed like as good a night as any to join Twitter. How is everyone doin? #2XDaytona500Champ

3

the famed No. 3 returned in style; Austin Dillon won the Daytona 500 Coors Light Pole Award

43

Aric Almirola visited Victory Lane 30 years to the day team owner Richard Petty won his series-record 200th race

212

AJ Allmendinger won at Watkins Glen, his 212th NSCS start, to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup

1 2 4

5

Sprint Cup Championship

WINS

must-win victories; Phoenix/ Homestead

11 3

fresh tires on last pit stop to finish the race at Homestead

2,137 21.3 LAPS LED

80

BY THE NUMBERS

cases of beer

consumed postchampionship

percent of completed laps led this season

12

positions advanced in final 15 laps at Homestead

2

back-to-back championships by Matt Crafton, the first driver to accomplish this in the 20-year history of the NCWTS

Lowest points finish in Jimmie Johnson’s 13 full-time seasons

competed in the Championship 4 Round

23

Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin’s #1 fan, showed up for the championship showdown

NASCAR @NASCAR

The number 1 @dennyhamlin fan at @HomesteadMiami right now. #NASCAR Jordan

8

top-five finishes

by Sunoco Rookie of the Year, Kyle Larson

6.4 11

Joey Logano’s average finish in Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup races best among all drivers.

Combined wins for Team Penske; the most in the team’s history.

2

Ryan Newman’s career-best finish

18 11 18 years months days age of the youngest NASCAR national series champion, Chase Elliot

6

Victories for seasonwins leader Brad Keselowski, who ended the year fifth in the final standings

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 7

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

8 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

[ 2014

RECAPS]

c our te s y of NA SC A R M E DI A

iwanna.com

How Did They Get There?

KEY ADVANCING MOMENTS FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP 4

DE NN Y HA ML IN No one has weathered the ebb and flow of the Chase quite like Denny Hamlin. Neither he nor his crew eve r gave up, though. Time and time again he gain ed back spots on pit road that he lost on the track.

In Phoenix the

RYAN NE WM AN “Mr. Consist ency” was a black sheep amongst the rest of the Chase drivers heading into Phoenix.

Without a win to bolster his points, he had to con tinue to

eiving a clutch story didn’t change, with Hamlin rec bolster his to e rac service on his final stop of the r struggling Afte nd.

Rou spot into the Championship the led he nd, Rou to advance to the Eliminator . hed finis e rac ate points chart as the penultim

live up to his newfound nickname. Wh en a late caution turned his race upside down, Newman was forced to make a bold move to sec ure his chances of championship contention.

during the Eliminator Round, staying out of trouble at Martinsville, avoiding conflict in Texas and remaining true to form in Phoenix.

JOEY LOG ANO Joey Logano never had a singular moment to define his move into The Championship 4 - his season simply never faultered. He was a force to be reckoned with

KE VI N HA RV IC K “The Closer” ular season showed strength throughout the reg the out ugh thro at and was a constant thre back up to s win the e hav e Chase, but didn’t quit

his performance. By trouncing the enti re field at his favorite track, Harvick punched his ticket to The Championship 4 and made a stat ement to his peers.

FAST FACTS NASCAR OFFICIAL OEM PARTNERS Key Notes From the 2014 Season

Wins: 37

Wins: 30

Wins: 24

Poles: 34

Poles: 27

Poles: 24

8,622

Laps Led

6,467

Laps Led

4,796

Laps Led

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 9

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

10 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

iwanna.com

RISING SUPERSTAR + NEWLYWED JOEY LOGANO HAS PLENTY TO SMILE ABOUT

by PETE ZAMPLAS

YOUNG FORD SUPERSTAR Joey Logano looks to build off of his top-five Cup season in 2014, and consensus status as the best NASCAR driver younger than 25.

Wide-grinning Logano married childhood sweetheart Brittany Baca, on Dec. 13. He turns 25 on May 24. The Middletown, Conn. native is lanky, at six-footone and a mere 140 pounds.

He blends driving skill with charm, and exuberance for his sport. Logano has been the top Ford driver for two consecutive seasons, emerging as an elite title contender. He finished eighth in Cup series points in 2013, his Penske Racing debut after leaving Joe Gibbs Racing.

He was fourth overall last year, when he won five times in the flaming yellow-red 22 Shell/Pennzoil Fusion. That was one less than the seriesbest six of fellow Penske star Brad Keslowski, who won it all in 2012, and equalled the five of Sprint Cup Chase champ Kevin Harvick.

Logano would have been series champion ahead of Harvick (by seven points) and Keselowski, in that order, under the prior Chase rules. Jeff Gordon,

Logano, Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all would have ended 2014 ahead of Harvick if using the new driver point system but not the Chase playoff Harvick benefited from elimination rounds and emphasis on Chase wins, to automatically advance. He leapfrogged Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Keselowski from eighth place into the top four by winning the second to last race, at Phoenix.

That set up winner take all among the final four, amidst a full field in the finale. Harvick won that Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami amidst, and with it the Chase crown.

Logano had a great shot. But he was done in by a jack mishap on pit road late in the race, and finished fourth in the final standings. “Throughout the Chase I thought we did great,” Logano said. “We got all the way there (to the final four), did a perfect job until Homestead.

And I think as a driver, I learned the way I needed to handle the pressure a little bit better ... How I can relieve the stress and the tension and nerves ... to understand what I need to do to lead my team, and get

them to calm down a little bit” and do smoother pit stops. This offseason has extra practice in pit stops.

The other Chase finalists, Rya n New ma n a nd Den ny Hamlin, did better that day.

Keselowski in the no. 2 Miller Lite Ford was the best of the nonfinalists in final points, in fifth place in final standings. Behind him, in order, were Gordon, Kenseth, Earnhardt, Edwards, Kyle Busch, Jimmy Johnson, Kurt Busch, A.J. Allmendinger, Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne and Aric Almirola.

Logano registered 16 top-five and 22 top-ten finishes in 2014, ending in the top five in nearly half of the 36 races. He won (in order) at Texas, Richmond, Bristol, New Hampshire, and lastly at Kansas in the Hollywood Casino 400 to temporarily seize the Chase points lead. He was the first to reach the Eliminator Round. He already has eight career Cup victories. His 9.8 average starting spot was fourth best, in ’14. He set qualifying time marks at Martinsville and Phoenix.

Logano’s first Cup victory, at Loudon, N.H. in 2009, was a month after his 19th birthday.

“WE’RE LOOKING AT LITTLE THINGS IN EVERY AREA, TO IMPROVE.”

JOEY LOGANO with Brittany Baca

at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards in Las Vegas (NASCAR via

Getty Images)

He was the series’ youngest race winner ever, and Sunoco Rookie of the Year in ’09. A year earlier, when barely 18, he was the youngest victor in the Nationwide (now Xfinity) Series.

He won nine of its races in 2012, for JGR. Then in 2013, he helped Penske win the Nationwide owner title.

Logano runs in the lead pack on tracks of various lengths, with a strong Roush-Yates engine. But his kryptonite is restricter-plate tracks of Talladega and Dayton restraining horsepower; he missed the top ten in their four races. NASCAR’s new rules restrict horsepower and downforce series-wide, relegating Cup cars to a much looser, less-performing Xfinity level.

Theoretically, Logano and others sharp in the secondary series can better adapt in Cup racing..

“They’re basically going to be Nationwide cars with the less horsepower,” Logano said.

“It will still be more than a Nationwide. But we lost quite a bit of downforce. I don’t think that

“OUR TEAM IS IN GREAT SHAPE RIGHT NOW. I CAN’T WAIT TO GET TO DAYTONA.” will make a difference. Last year with the high downforce and high horsepower, it worked.

Nationwide worked, as well.

We’ll still have to figure it out!”

Thus the key is “Roush Yates Engines and all of us really work together to understand what RPMs we’re going to be at, where we need to make our peak power,” he said. “It’s not just ‘put a tapered spacer on, and let ’er rip.’ It changes the whole build of that motor. It’s a lot to develop.” The key is to develop in phases, to “stack pennies, and make a dollar. We’re looking at little things in every area, to improve.” Extra preparation bonds the team, to get “more in tune.”

The consolation of he and his team feeling greater pressure and stress is realization that a trophy is within grasp, Logano said. “Everyone’s like, ‘Oh my god, we’re on the verge of winning the championship.’ ... Our team is in great shape right now.

I can’t wait to get to Daytona.”

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 11

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

12 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

iwanna.com

TIME TO TAKE NEXT STEP FOR DANICA PATRICK DANICA PATRICK had her highest finish yet in 2014, but many are saying that the 32 year old still needs to become a little more competitive.

Patrick has definitely been showing signs of improvement with three top-10 finishes in 2014 after producing just one as a rookie. She had 14 top-20s compared with nine last year.

However, in October crew chief Tony Gibson was transferred to underperforming Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kurt Busch, and Patrick got Busch’s former crew chief Daniel Knost. Busch immediately started performing better under Gibson, but the highest finish Patrick and Knost saw was 18th in the season finale at Homestead.

With former crew chief Gibson, Patrick had her career-best Cup finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway in August, advancing from 27th at starting to finish sixth. “The most impressive thing was that run she had at Atlanta,” Gibson said. “It was a racetrack with no grip, really, really fast speeds, multigroove racetrack. To go there and be

successful as we were and be as fast as we were, that was probably the highlight of my deal. It was incredible. To us, it was like winning the race.”

Another positive for Patrick this year is that she kept a comparitively low public profile amidst chaos among her teammates at Stewart-Haas Racing.

Team co-owner Tony Stewart dealt with striking and killing Kevin Ward Jr. in a sprint car race in August, series champion Kevin Harvick was involved in a brawl that broke out between Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski at Texas Motor Speedway and Busch was accused of domestic abuse by his former girlfriend late in the season.

In her personal life, Patrick continues to date Ricky Stenhouse Jr., something that she’s written about in her new position as Senior Editor for Derek Jeter’s new website, The Players’ Tribune. “If it’s crazy to want to go to sleep next to the person who ran your car off the road going 200 miles per hour earlier that day, then I’m certifiable,” she wrote. Patrick goes on to

b y C A R R I E H A R DE R

“WE’RE LOOKING AT LITTLE THINGS IN EVERY AREA, TO IMPROVE.”

DANICA PATRICK (NASCAR via Getty Images)

discuss the couple’s dog (who has her own Twitter account @ DallasStenhouse) and says it has lead her to think about having children in the future. “This is stuff that I didn’t entertain before I was with him and it’s a big part of my life now. It’s a question that every ambitious, working woman has to grapple

with.”

On what she needs to move forward, Gibson says, “The biggest thing that holds her back is her restarts. She’s got to really figure out a way to race better and be more aggressive on restarts... It’s just experience.

Hopefully she will give it time enough to learn it, and learn

and get better, but it will take a while.”

Fans and sponsors will be expecting Patrick to be much more consistent in the upcoming season, so hopefully Patrick & Knost can form the rapport Stewart-Haas Racing wants for them, and the two can take those next steps forward together.

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015 13

Sprint, NASCAR Partnership to End After 2016 Season THE CHASE FOR THE NASCAR SPRINT CUP WILL HAVE A NEW NAME BEGINNING IN 2017. print an nounced on Tuesday that it will not extend its sponsorship of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series beyond 2016. The significant changes within Sprint a nd t he h igh ly compet it ive business environment it is in led to a decision not to extend its Cup Series entitlement position following the 2016 season. “ We a r e p r o u d o f o u r association with NASCAR’s top series but have made the decision not to extend our sponsorship beyond the next two years,” Sprint’s vice president-Marketing Steve Gaffney said. “As we look to the future, Sprint is focused on investing in maintaining a competitive edge and providing consumers with the best value in wireless.”

By the end of the extension sig ned i n 2011, Spr i nt a nd NASCAR will have enjoyed a 13-year mutually beneficial

relationship. The partnership has produced demonstrated results for Sprint and delivered the best racing in the world to millions of passionate fans on a weekly basis.

“Sprint has long benefitted from the unprecedented level of brand integration available in NASCAR, and the passionate fan base that is the most loyal i n s p o r t s ,” G a f f n e y s a i d .

“Without question, the NASCAR sponsorship property has been a valuable investment for us and will be for our successor.”

Sprint’s integration into the sport was a pr i me exa mple of a spon sor va l idat i ng it s technology in NASCAR. As a leading communications services company dedicated to delivering the best value in wireless, it became an innovative leader in the sport as well.

In 2004, Nextel signed a 10year agreement, t he longest series entitlement partnership

SPRINT will not remain title sponsor of the top NASCAR series past 2016.

i n NA SCA R h i stor y at t he t ime. In 2005, t he compa ny introduced a next-generation scanner known as FanView. In 2007, Miss Sprint Cup joined the sport, and the ambassador program now reaches 1.5 million social media followers. While the name changed to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2008, the innovations continued that year with the launch of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile application.

“Spr i nt h a s b e en a g r eat p a r t n e r,” NA S C A R C h i e f Operating Officer Brent Dewar said. “They’ve done a lot to help us grow the sport together at a very important time in our history.

“They made it very clear to us

that they’re proud to have been a partner with NASCAR, have seen great value in their investment and are very happy to share that with any brand that comes in to replace them.”

As a new partner joins the ranks of nearly one-in-four FORTUNE 500 companies already investing in NASCAR, the sport’s value proposit ion was recog n ized in 2014 by two national series entitlement sponsors.

“Camping World announced their seven-year extension, which will take us through 2022 giving us 14 consecutive years together -- which is an incredible statistic in its own right,” Dewar said.

“Follow it up with Comcast’s XFINITY brand, obviously a big

company that saw the value to join us for the next 10 years which matches our longest series entitlement in NASCAR history.

“Combined with the new Chase format and the things we’re doing on the track, we’ve got a great story to tell for some interested parties that are looking for a way to bring their product and brands and connect them with the loyal fan base we have in NASCAR.” Dewar noted t hat digital properties and products have extended NASCAR’s 10-month season to “virtually 365 days of the year” that goes beyond the “more than 5 million viewers to the Sprint Cup Series every single weekend that we race.”

NASCAR’s viewership numbers and constant content led FOX and NBC to secure media rights for 10 years at a reported $8.2 billion. The new broadcast agreements begin next year and extend through 2024.

“To those brands that are looking to partner with us, we bring a great fan base that’s highly engaged in the sport, and they’re highly engaged with the sponsors that support the sport,” Dewar said.

—NASCAR MEDIA

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

14 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

iwanna.com

[ 2014

STANDINGS]

STATISCAL SERVICES courtesy of NASCAR MEDIA

RANK

+/-

DRIVER

POINTS

BEHIND

STARTS

WINS

[ 2014 Sprint Cup TOP 5 TOP 10 POLES

Standings] EARNINGS

1

+3

KEVIN HARVICK

5043

Leader

36

5

14

20

8

$7,078,477

2

+1

RYAN NEWMAN

5042

-1

36

0

5

16

0

$4,503,125

3

–2

DENNY HAMLIN

5037

-6

35

1

7

18

3

$5,559,569

4

-2

JOEY LOGANO

5028

-15

36

5

16

22

1

$6,792,885

5

–

BRAD KESELOWSKI

2361

-2682

36

6

17

20

5

$7,736,072

6

–

JEFF GORDON

2348

-2695

36

4

14

23

3

$7,224,630

7

–

MATT KENSETH

2334

-2709

36

0

13

22

2

$6,546,244

8

+2

DALE EARNHARDT JR.

2301

-2742

36

4

12

20

0

$6,069,650

9

–

CARL EDWARDS

2288

-2755

36

2

7

14

0

$4,970,708

10

-2

KYLE BUSCH

2285

-2758

36

1

9

15

3

$6,279,847

11

+2

JIMMIE JOHNSON

2274

-2769

36

4

11

20

1

$6,982,235

12

+2

KURT BUSCH

2263

-2780

36

1

6

11

0

$4,070,644

13

-2

AJ ALLMENDINGER

2260

-2783

36

1

2

5

0

$4,364,763

14

-2

GREG BIFFLE

2247

-2796

36

0

3

11

0

$5,444,769

15

–

KASEY KAHNE

2234

-2809

36

1

3

11

0

$4,624,135

Standings] EARNINGS

RANK

+/-

DRIVER

POINTS

BEHIND

STARTS

WINS

[ 2014 Nationwide TOP 5 TOP 10 POLES

1

–

CHASE ELLIOTT

1213

Leader

33

3

16

26

2

$1,104,575

2

–

REGAN SMITH

1171

-42

33

1

7

26

0

$1,019,089

3

+1

ELLIOTT SADLER

1154

-59

33

1

7

25

1

$922,195

4

-1

BRIAN SCOTT

1154

-59

33

0

6

23

3

$913,704

5

–

TY DILLON

1148

-65

33

1

7

24

3

$944,154

6

–

TREVOR BAYNE

1086

-127

33

0

5

21

1

$953,774

7

–

CHRIS BUESCHER

1014

-199

32

1

5

14

0

$835,844

8

–

BRENDAN GAUGHAN

954

-259

33

2

2

7

0

$858,499

9

–

RYAN REED

889

-324

33

0

1

1

0

$768,599

10

+1

JAMES BUESCHER

868

-345

33

0

0

2

0

$754,684

11

-1

DYLAN KWASNIEWSKI

867

-346

33

0

0

3

1

$770,934

12

–

LANDON CASSILL

800

-67

33

0

0

3

0

$744,350

RANK

+/-

DRIVER

POINTS

BEHIND

STARTS

WINS

[ 2014 Camping World TOP 5 TOP 10 POLES

1

–

MATT CRAFTON

833

Leader

22

2

13

17

0

$467,367

2

–

RYAN BLANEY

812

-21

22

1

12

17

2

$415,632

3

–

DARRELL WALLACE JR. 799

-34

22

4

9

14

2

$459,746

4

–

JOHNNY SAUTER

773

-60

22

1

8

16

0

$351,393

5

–

TIMOTHY PETERS

746

-87

22

1

9

13

0

$404,264

6

+1

GERMAN QUIROGA

683

-150

22

0

3

10

0

$304,591

7

-1

JOEY COULTER

680

-153

22

0

3

10

0

$274,492

8

+1

JEB BURTON

679

-154

22

0

2

7

0

$286,551

9

-1

BEN KENNEDY

679

-154

22

0

1

7

0

$278,097

10

+2

BRYAN SILAS

548

-285

22

0

0

2

0

$237,676

11

-1

MASON MINGUS

545

-288

22

0

0

1

0

$228,306

12

+2

TYLER REDDICK

539

-294

16

0

3

9

2

$226,735

Standings] EARNINGS

16 IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

THU, FEB 19

SUN, MAY 3

FOX Sports1/ 7:00PM

TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY

DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

SAT, MAY 9

FOX/ 1:00 PM

KANSAS SPEEDWAY

DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

FOX/ 1:00 PM

SPRINT SHOWDOWN

ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

SAT, MAY 16

FOX/ 3:30 PM

CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

SUN, MAY 24

FOX/ 3:30 PM

CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

SUN, MAY 31

FOX/ 3:30 PM

DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

SUN, JUN 7 FOX SPORTS1/ 1:00PM

FOX/ 1:00 PM

STP 500

AXALTA 400 POCONO RACEWAY

MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

SAT, APR 11

SUN, JUN 14

FOX/ 7:30 PM

MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

SUN, JUN 28 FOX SPORTS1/ 3:00 PM

FOX/ 1:00 PM

TOYOTA/SAVEMART 350

FOOD CITY 500

SONOMA RACEWAY

BRISTOL MOTORSPEEDWAY

SAT, APR 25

FOX SPORTS1/ 7:00 PM

TOYOTA OWNERS 400

RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

FOX SPORTS1/ 1:00 PM

QUICKEN LOANS 400

DUCK COMMANDER 500

SUN, APR 19

FOX SPORTS1/ 1:00 PM

MAY DOVER RACE

AUTO CLUB 400

SUN, MAR 29

FOX/ 6:00 PM

COCA-COLA 600

CAMPINGWORLD.COM 500

SUN, MAR 22

FOX SPORTS1/ 7:00 PM

SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE

KOBALT 400

SUN, MAR 15

FOX SPORTS1/ 7:00 PM

FRI, MAY 15

QUICKTRIP 500

SUN, MAR 8

FOX SPORTS1/ 7:30 PM

MAY KANSAS SERIES

DAYTONA 500

SUN, MAR 1

FOX/ 1:00 PM

TALLADEGA 500

BUDWEISER DUEL

SUN, FEB 22

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 17

2015 SCHEDULE

SUN, JUL 5 NBC/ 7:45 PM

COKE ZERO 400

DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

18 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015 15

2015 MID-SEASON UPDATE

CONTACT YOUR SALES REP FOR MORE INFORMATION

Western North Carolina 828-274-8888 Upstate South Carolina 864-370-2340

2015 NASCAR XFINITY SERIES SCHEDULE 2014 CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES SCHEDULE FRI, FEB 20 SAT, FEB 28 SAT, MAR 28 FRI, MAY 8 FRI, MAY 15 FRI, MAY 29 FRI, JUNE 5 SAT, JUNE 13 FRI, JUNE 19 THU, JULY 9 WED, JULY 22 SAT, AUG 1 SAT, AUG 15

NEXTERA ENERGY RESOURCES 250 FEBRUARY ATLANTA RACE KROGER 250 MAY RACE AT KANSAS NC EDUCATION LOTTERY 200 LUCAS OIL 200 WINSTAR WORLD CASINO 400 AMEREN DRIVIN FOR LINEMEN 200 AMERICAN ETHANOL 200 UNOH 225 1-800-CARCASH MUD SUMMER CLASSIC POCONO MOUNTAINS 150 CAREERS FOR VETERANS 200

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

FOX Sports 1 / 7:30 PM FOX Sports 1 / 5:30 PM FOX Sports 1 / 2:30 PM FOX Sports 1 / 8:30 PM FOX Sports 1 / 8:30 PM FOX Sports 1 / 5:30 PM FOX Sports 1 / 9:00 PM FOX Sports 1 / 8:30 PM FOX Sports 1 / 8:30 PM FOX Sports 1 / 8:30 PM FOX Sports 1 / 12:30 PM FOX Sports 1 / 12:00 PM FOX Sports 1 / 1:00 PM

SAT, FEB 21 SAT, FEB 28 SAT, MAR 7 SAT, MAR 14 SAT, MAR 21 FRI, APR 10 SAT, APR 18 FRI, APR 24 SAT, MAY 2 SUN, MAY 17 SAT, MAY 23

SAT, MAY 30 SAT, JUN 13 SAT, JUN 20 SAT, JUL 4

ALERT TODAY FLORIDA 300 HISENSE 250 BOYD GAMING 300 MARCH RACE AT PHOENIX MARCH RACE AT AUTO CLUB O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 300

APRIL RACE AT BRISTOL TOYOTACARE 250 WINN-DIXIE 300 MAY RACE AT IOWA MAY RACE AT CHARLOTTE BUCKLE UP 200 JUNE RACE AT MICHIGAN JUNE RACE AT CHICAGOLAND SUBWAY FIRECRACKER 250

Daytona International Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway Phoenix International Raceway Auto Club Speedway Texas Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway Richmond International Raceway Talladega Superspeedway

Iowa Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway Dover International Speedway Michigan International Speedway Chicagoland Speedway Daytona International Speedway

FOX SPORTS 1/ 3:30PM FOX SPORTS 1/ 2:00 PM FOX SPORTS 1/ 4:00 PM FOX/ 4:00 PM FOX SPORTS 1/ 4:00 PM FOX SPORTS 1/ 8:30 PM FOX SPORTS 1/ 1:30 PM FOX SPORTS 1/ 7:30 PM FOX/ 3:00 PM FOX SPORTS 1/ 2:00 PM FOX/ 2:30 PM FOX/ 2:30 PM FOX SPORTS 1/ 1:30 PM FOX SPORTS 1/ 9:30 PM NBCSN/ 7:30 PM

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 19

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

20 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

[ 2014

RECAPS]

c our te s y of NA SC A R M E DI A

The Great Gonzo March 23

AUTO CLUB 400

AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY Kermit who? Gonzo stole the spotlight from his green friend with his exuberant command at Auto Club.

Harlem Globetrotters November 2

AAA TEXAS 500

TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY Still undefeated #Enthusiasm

The Top “Start Your Engines” Commands of 2014

Nationwide Children’s Hospital Patient Champions August 16

NATIONWIDE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL 200

AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY The most heart-warming “Start your engines” call of the 2014 season.

Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill June 8

Michael Carter-Williams September 27

Jonathan Goldsmith “The Most Interesting Man in the World” March 9

POCONO RACEWAY Hollywood hit the pavement as our favorite big screen undercover cops forwent passing out tickets to encourage high speeds.

DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY The reigning NBA Rookie of the Year and former Syracuse star - definetly the tallest grand marshal - should look into a day job as a hype man.

LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY He doesn’t always attend sporting events, but when he does, he prefers going to NASCAR races.

Bill Elliott August 30

Butch Jones and Frank Beamer March 15

POCONO 400

Chris Evans Febrary 23

Nevada Little League Squad September 27

DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY Well-done call by our resident super hero. Captian America wears flannels?

LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY NASCAR and baseball, quite the combination of American tradition.

DAYTONA 500

iwanna.com

RHINO LININGS 350

DOVER 200

GREAT CLIPS 300

ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY Awesome Bill from Dawsonville (Ga.) gave the home crowd a thrill!

KOBALT 400

DRIVE TO STOP DIABETES 300

BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY Good try. Good effort. They should probably stick to Xs and Os.

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015 21

THE NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RACES ACROSS AMERICA IN THE 2015 SEASON WITH ITS 36 CHAMPIONSHIP-POINT EVENTS HOSTED AT 23 TRACKS IN 20 STATES. hile the Southeast remains the foundation of the series, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has expanded to major markets throughout the country, particulary since the 1990’s, with the sport adding the Northeast in 1993 and the Midwest in 1994, expanding further in the Southwest and West in 1997 and 1998. Florida - home of the world famous Daytona International Speedway - added

another venue in 1999 near its southern Homestead-Miami. The most recent addition came in 2011 with Kentucky Speedway.

In total - from the weekly and regional levels to the three national series that consist of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series - NASCAR sanctions more than 1,500 events in 11 different series at 110 tracks in 37 states, Canada and Mexico.

Why advertise in the most exciting NASCAR special issue in the Carolinas?

WE’VE GOT THE READERSHIP!

IWANNA has over 180,000 monthly WNC & Upstate SC readers.

IWANNA READERS ARE NASCAR FANS! Our reader are 101 times more likely to attend a NASCAR race than other residents of WNC.

YOUR AD GETS FEATURED ON THE WEB!

This special issue will be promoted on iwanna.com which is visited by over 140,000 visits per month.

2015 MID-SEASON UPDATE

DEADLINES: JUNE 16TH PUBLISHES: JUNE 30TH CONTACT YOUR

SALES REP FOR MORE INFORMATION

Western North Carolina: 828-274-8888 Upstate South Carolina: 864-370-2340

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

22 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

iwanna.com

DENNY HAMLIN FLIES UNDER THE RADAR IN QUEST FOR FIRST TITLE

by PETE ZAMPLAS

DENNY HAMLIN fin ished third in Cup final standings last year, making the first Chase final four, as je still eyes his first championship.

Hamlin gets to zoom under the radar, in his quest for his first Cup title. He has stated h e ’s f elt overlo ok e d, a s a contender. On JGR he was a l r eady over sh adowe d by fiery teammate Kyle Busch, in personality. This season, he gets further stashed from the main stage by new arrival of extroverted Carl Edwards of carflip fame. Joining Matt Kenseth, too, Edwards gives Gibbs a fourth and extra team, more engineers and others in the mix. This boosts data sharing that Hamlin hopes helps him win it all.

“We’ve a lways just been kind of that next-tier team, rea l i st ic a l ly,” Ha m l i n, 30, acknowledged before entering his 10th full-time Cup season.

“We ca n compete for race wins, week in and week out ... We got better when it (the Chase) really counted ... But the championships have escaped us through mechanical stuff, which we’ve worked out. This

past year, our cars weren’t fast enough to compete. We’ve just got to get better in more areas.

Going to the fourth team will allow us to do that.”

Crew chief shuttles send Dave Rogers, from Busch, to Hamlin in exchange for Darian Grubb and his crew. Grubb cost Hamlin 75 points last year, due to a technical infraction detected right after a race at Indy. Grubb was suspended for six races, and docked $125,000. Rogers and Hamlin clicked in what is now the Xfinity series, for seven wins. Rogers and Busch teamed for 13 Cup wins over five years.

Hamlin hopes for continued pit magic, to get the no. 11 FedEx Toyota back on the track faster than most rivals. His former unit is hailed as among NASCAR’s very best.

He has 24 Cup wins in nine years, starting in 2006. He and Jimmy Johnson are the lone rookies to ever sweep both races at a track in one season; Hamlin did the feat at Pocono.

Hamlin’s sole victory last year was at Talladega in spring, for his first points-rewarding restrictor plate win. One win puts a driver into the 16-car

“I FEEL LIKE I’M THE MOST COMPETITIVE PERSON ALIVE.” Chase, unless more than 16 drivers win races. Hamlin had seven top-fives and 18 top-tens.

Hamlin reached the first-ever Cup final four for the winnertake-all finale at Homestead.

He finished seventh in the race, and third-best among the four.

Kevin Harvick won the race and title.

They lashed while racing for the lead, on Bristol’s short t rac k k now n for bu mpi ng and grinding last fall. Hamlin led several laps. But Harvick bumped Hamlin, who crashed.

Hamlin got out and angrily heaved his HANS safety device at Harvick’s car. Harvick later apologized, but via Twitter rather than directly. Hamlin did not readily accept, saying how Harvick races him from now on counts most.

The 2014 season was the third one in which Hamlin came close to finally winning a Cup title, driving the no. 11 Toyota. He has had many bad breaks, to his car and himself. In 2013, he suffered a collapsed vertebra/ compression fracture. That was from smashing head-on into an inside retaining wall at Fontana on the final lap after bumping with Joey Logano. He had knee surgery in 2010. Last year, he missed a race. A sinus infection limited him another time.

He has long felt overlooked, a nd f u r t her s q uelc he d by ghosts of no. 11 drivers fast including Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough. In 2011, he felt pressured for two more wins so the 11 car became “the most winning car number ... I never felt like Darrell gave me very much credit, you know?” He noted then he and Kyle Busch were nearly equal in career wins. “But he’s known as the guy that wins everything.” In getting to the Chase, “I’d rather win the races. I think those crown jewel accomplishments will live on with you forever.”

Hamlin, who grew up in Virginia, said he’s “the most c omp e t it ive d r iver i n t he motorhome lot. No matter what it is – whether we’re racing, pl ay i n g a n o t h e r s p o r t o r deciding who can run to that sign and back faster – I feel like I’m the most competitive person alive. It makes me very hard on myself when I don’t achieve the goals I want to achieve. But I feel like that’s what makes me as good as I am at times.

I push myself to be better – constantly.”

He hits a button from relaxed to intense. “I can spend the hour before the race here cracking up with all my friends and joking around, but as soon as I get around that race car, I completely change. The focus changes. The competitive juices get flowing.”

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 23

24 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

Expanded Sprint Unlimited Field to Feature Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Drivers

oming off an exciting 2014 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup finale, NASCAR announced that all 16 Chase drivers will be eligible to compete in the 2015 Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway (DIS).

The 75-lap, non-points race will once again kick off the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing season Saturday, Feb. 14 (FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and will feature an expanded field of drivers based on new eligibility requirements.

A minimum of 25 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers are eligible to participate in the Sprint Unlimited at DIS. In addition to the 2014 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup participants, the field also will include 2014 Coors Light Pole Award winners, as well as former Sprint Unlimited race winners and Daytona 500 pole winners who competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series full time in 2014. Any remaining spots will be filled by drivers highest in 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship points who are not already eligible.

“The 2015 Sprint Unlimited has potential to be one of the most competitive ever,” said NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell. “With more drivers eligible, the intensity level increases for our fans and competitors, making for a compelling start to the 2015 season.”

THE 2015 ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS INCLUDE:

Kyle Busch (2014 pole winner) Austin Dillon (2014 pole winner) Jeff Gordon (2014 pole winner) David Gilliland (2014 pole winner) Denny Hamlin (2014 pole winner) Kevin Harvick (2014 pole winner) Jimmie Johnson (2014 pole winner) Matt Kenseth (2014 pole winner) Brad Keselowski (2014 pole winner) Kyle Larson (2014 pole winner) Joey Logano (2014 pole winner) Jamie McMurray (2014 pole winner) Brian Scott (2014 pole winner) Tony Stewart (2014 pole winner) Brian Vickers* (2014 pole winner) Kurt Busch (former Unlimited winner) Dale Earnhardt Jr. (former Unlimited winner) Carl Edwards (former D500 pole winner) Danica Patrick (former D500 pole winner) Greg Biffle (former D500 pole winner) Martin Truex Jr. (former D500 pole winner) Ryan Newman (2014 Chase driver) AJ Allmendinger (2014 Chase driver) Kasey Kahne (2014 Chase driver) Aric Almirola (2014 Chase driver) *Michael Waltrip Racing announced that Brian Vickers will not be available to race during the early part of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season due to health issues.

Tickets for the Sprint Unlimited are available online at DaytonaInternationalSpeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP. Fans can follow @NASCAR and @MissSprintCup on Twitter to engage in the #SprintUnlimited conversation. —NASCAR MEDIA

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015 25

Bristol Motor Speedway 151 Speedway Blvd Bristol, TN 37620 bristolmotorspeedway.com Tickets & Information: 877-801-3945 Directions to the Track: • From the south: Exit I-81 at I-181 to 11E; or at Tennessee exit 69 and take Hwy. 394 to 11E South • From the north: Exit I-81 at Virginia exit 3 and take 11E south; or at Virginia exit 17 and take Va. 75 south, Tenn.

44 south, to US 421 north, to Tenn. 394 south. Speedway is located on Hwy. 11#, on south side of Bristol

• TRACK LENGTH: .533 Mile concrete oval (500 laps = 266.5 miles) • RACE LENGTH: 500 Laps (1), 500 Laps (2) • GRANDSTAND SEATING CAPACITY: 160,000 • FIRST RACE: July 30, 1961 - Volunteer 500 • BANKING: Turns vary from 24 to 28 degrees, frontstretch varies from 5 to 9 degrees, backstretch varies from 4-8 degrees • FRONTSTRETCH: 650 feet • BACKSTRETCH: 650 feet • NATIONWIDE TRACK QUALIFYING RECORD: Greg Biffle, 127.1325 mph, 15.093 sec., 3/26/04 • NATIONWIDE RACE RECORD: Brad Keselowski, 93.509 mph (1:25:30), 8/20/03 • CAMPING WORLD TRUCK TRACK QUALIFYING RECORD: Ken Schrader, 126.922 mph, 15.118 sec., 8/25/04

• CAMPING WORLD TRUCK RACE RECORD: Travis Kvapil, 88.813 mph (1:12:01), 8/20/03 • MOST OVERALL BRISTOL WINS (DRIVER): Kyle Busch, 15 (5 NSCS, 6 NNS, 4 NCWTS) • MOST BRISTOL CUP WINS (DRIVER): Darrell Waltrip, 12 (7 consecutive) • MOST BRISTOL WINS (CAR OWNER): Junior Johnson, 21 (8 consecutive) • MOST BRISTOL CUP WINS (MANUFACTURER): Chevrolet, 43 (Ford is second with 33) • MOST BRISTOL POLES (DRIVER): (TIE) Cale Yarborough, 9; Mark Martin, 9

2015 EVENTS

?

In August of 2010, Kyle Busch made NASCAR history by sweeping the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series’ events at BMS. It was the first time a driver had won all three events at the same track in the same week/weekend.

The only father-son combinations to have competed in and won Sprint Cup races at BMS are Ned and Dale Jarrett, Bobby and Davey Allison and Dale and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Rusty Wallace snapped Jeff Gordon’s four-year Food City 500 winning streak in 1999 and got his 50th win in 2000.

Cale Yarborough led all 500 laps of the 1973 Southeastern 500, the only driver to accomplish such a feat in a Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

APRIL 19TH

AUGUST 22

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

26 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

iwanna.com

WINS

Jeff Gordon to Run Final Full-Time Nascar Season in 2015

TOP FIVES

TOP TENS

POLES

92 320 454 77 Four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001)

WILL REMAIN HEAVILY INVOLVED WITH HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS FOR MANY YEARS TO COME

92 career Cup victories; third on the all-time list 77 career Cup pole positions; third on the all-time list Three-time Daytona 500 winner (1997, 1999, 2005) Five-time Brickyard 400 winner (1994, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2014) Three-time champion of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (1995, 1997, 2001) NASCAR record nine road course victories NASCAR record 12 restrictor plate victories

JEFF GORDON with team owner Rick Hendrick during the qualifying

for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26, 2011 (NASCAR via Getty Images) eff Gordon, the celebrated stock car champion whose crossover appeal helped take NASCAR into the mainstream, will compete in his 23rd and final full-time Sprint Cup Series season in 2015. He announced his decision this morning to the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team he has driven for since November 1992.

“As a race car driver, much of what I’ve done throughout my life has been based on following my instincts and trying to make good decisions,” Gordon said. “I thought long and hard about my future this past year and during the offseason, and I’ve decided 2015 will be the last time I compete for a championship. I won’t use the ‘R-word’ because I plan to stay extremely busy

in the years ahead, and there’s always the possibility I’ll compete in selected events, although I currently have no plans to do that.

“I don’t foresee a day when I’ll ever step away from racing. I’m a fan of all forms of motor sports, but particularly NASCAR. We have a tremendous product, and I’m passionate about the business and its future success. As an equity owner in Hendrick Motorsports, I’m a partner with Rick (Hendrick) and will remain heavily involved with the company for many years to come. It means so much to have the chance to continue working with the owner who took a chance on me and the incredible team that’s stood behind me

1997 Winston Million winner and four-time Winston No Bull 5 winner Seven-time winner at Darlington Raceway

every step of the way.

“Racing has provided a tremendous amount of opportunity that’s been extraordinarily rewarding and fulfilling in my life. The work we’re doing with the Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation will continue to be extremely important to me. Outside the race car, my passion is pediatric

JEFF GORDON driver of the #24 Axalta Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR

Sprint Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway on August 17, 2014 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (NASCAR via Getty Images)

“I THOUGHT LONG AND HARD ABOUT MY FUTURE THIS PAST YEAR AND DURING THE OFFSEASON, AND I’VE DECIDED 2015 WILL BE THE LAST TIME I COMPETE FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP.” cancer research, and my efforts will remain focused there when I’m no longer driving.

“I’ll explore opportunities for the next phase of my career, but my primary focus now and throughout 2015 will be my performance in the No. 24 Chevrolet. I’m going to pour everything I have into this season and look forward to the challenge of competing for one last championship.

“To everyone at NASCAR, my teammates, sponsors, competitors, friends, family, members of the media and especially our incredible fans, all I can say is thank you.”

Gordon, 43, has earned four career Cup championships, 92 points-paying race wins and 77 pole positions, all for longtime car owner Rick Hendrick. He is third in all-time victories behind only NASCAR Hall of Fame drivers Richard Petty

(200) and David Pearson (105).

One of the most versatile drivers of his era in any auto racing discipline, Gordon’s résumé includes three Daytona 500 victories and a record five Brickyard 400 wins. He is the sport’s winningest road course driver with nine victories, stands alone as the all-time leader with 12 restrictor plate wins and has won at every track on the Sprint Cup circuit with the exception of Kentucky Speedway.

“There’s simply no way to quantify Jeff’s impact,” said Hendrick, who first noticed Gordon during a race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March 1992.

“He’s one of the biggest sports stars of a generation, and his contributions to the success and growth of NASCAR are unsurpassed. There’s been no better ambassador for stock car racing and no greater representation of what a champion should be. I will never be able to properly express the respect and admiration I have for Jeff and how meaningful our relationship is to me. I’m so grateful for everything he’s done for our company and my family, and I look forward to many more years together as friends and business partners.”

Hendrick Motorsports will announce plans for its 2016 team alignment at a later date.

- NASCAR MEDIA

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015 27

Jeff Gordon’s Last Season FRIENDS AND DRIVERS REACT TO GORDON’S ANNOUNCEMENT OF RETIREMENT hen Jeff Gordon announced that 2015 would be his last fulltime season competing for a championship, everyone had something to say, but few were shocked.

Followers know that Gordon has had back problems, and that he also has a young family he’d love to spend more time with.

Besides that, a 23 year career that currently has him in 3rd place for all time wins, certainly qualifies him for a little rest and relaxtion.

Read on for some of the reactions to Gordon’s announcement on Twitter.

FROM LEFT Jeff Gordon celebrates with daughter Ella Sophia and son Leo Benjamin on the yard of bricks after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup

Series Crown Royal Presents The John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27, 2014 in Indianapolis, Indiana; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Camping World RV 400 at Kansas Speedway on September 28, 2008 in Kansas City, Kansas; Jeff Gordon’s rookie year in NASCAR Winston Cup in the No. 24 Chevrolet for Rick Hendrick. The team won one pole at Charlotte in the Mello Yello 500 at 177.684 mph. (NASCAR via Getty Images)

JEFF GORDON

Jeff Gordon @JeffGordonWeb • Jan 22 I’m proud of the career I’ve had & knew this day would come, but I’ll be involved with @TeamHendrick for many years to come.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. @DaleJr • Jan 22 Never will forget the day my dad introduced me 2 @JeffGordonWeb. 1994 at N. Wilkesboro Speedway. Told me “This kid is gonna be special”. Yep Tony Stewart @TonyStewart • Jan 22 Can’t imagine being at the track without @JeffGordonWeb. I don’t think I would have ever had my opportunity without Jeff paving the way.

Steve Letarte @SteveLetarte • Jan 22 Racing without @JeffGordonWeb in the field will seem odd for sure. Enjoy the last full time year buddy. You deserve it! Thx u for everything Regan Smith @ReganSmith • Jan 22 Very few have done as much for our sport as @JeffGordonWeb. Nothing but respect for one of the greatest that’s ever raced.

Bobby Labonte @Bobby_Labonte • Jan 22 I don’t tweet much but, will say I have always been a #Jeff Gordon fan & proud 2 know such a gr8 ambassador to the sport of #NASCAR #Team24 Hendrick Motorsports @TeamHendrick • Jan 22 It’s not the “R-word,” it’s the start of a new chapter for @JeffGordonWeb Brad Paisley @Brad Paisley • Jan 22 Here’s to a great final season pal! RT @JeffGordonWeb: Running final fulltime @NASCAR season in 2015

A CAREER IN NUMBERS

2015 WILL BE JEFF GORDON’S FINAL FULL-TIME NASCAR SEASON

1 His first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) start was at Altanta Motor Speedway on November 15, 1992 he finished 21st

92

Number of wins in the NSCS - he is third on the all-time list

100

His 100th start in the NSCS was at North Wilkesboro Speedway on April 14, 1996

454

Number of his career NSCS Top-10 finishes

23 Number of years Gordon has competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (through) 2014

500

His 500th start in the NSCS was at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 14, 2008

27 Number of starts before his first NSCS Coors Light Pole Award at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 10, 1993

750

His 750th start in the NSCS was at Alanta Motor Speedway on August 31, 2014

10 Number of seasons Jeff Gordon has competed in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup (2004, ‘06, ‘07, ‘08, ‘09, ‘10, ‘11, ‘12, ‘13 and ‘14)

41 Number of starts before his first NSCS career win at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 29, 1994 77 Number of NSCS Coors Light poles - he is third on the all-time list

24,664 218,360

Number of Laps Led in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Number of Laps Competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

- NASCAR MEDIA

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

28 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

iwanna.com

CARL EDWARDS FLIPS ROUSH FOR GIBBS, SAVORS GRUBB CARL EDWARDS flipped the switch on his career, leaving Roush Fenway Racing and Ford for Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota, as Gibbs adds a fourth car and effervescent celebrity driver in the biggest change for the new season.

He joins Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and former Roush teammate Matt Kenseth who made the same switch two years earlier. Hard-wired Kenseth and bombastic Edwards rivaled each other at times, at Roush. Kenseth did better with Gibbs than at Roush recently, particularly in his debut in 2013. Kenseth was series runner-up in 2013, winning a series-best seven times in a Toyota Camry.

Edwards, 35, hopes for similar rejuvenation to his outstanding career. He has often knocked on the door of a Cup title. He finished in the top five in points in four of his 11 Cup seasons, and was runner-up twice (’08, ’11).

He led the series in wins with nine, in 2008. In ’11, he tied Tony Stewart who had more victories to earn the title. Edwards was third (again losing a tiebreaker) in 2005, and fourth in ’10. He was among point leaders early

last season, won two races and reached the Chase semifinal round of eight drivers.

In ’11, he re-sig ned wit h Roush rather than jump to JGR then. This time, he made the change. He said he was drawn to Gibbs’ statistical success. He gets from Hamlin’s garage Darian Grubb and his ace crew.

He now hopes to reach the sport’s promised land of the final four, and to win the finale and title. “There is no other goal,” Edwards said. “I know that personally, I’ve never been a better driver. I feel like the people I have around me couldn’t be better. And I feel like we should go win the championship.”

Gibbs has three titles — Bobby Labonte in 2000, and Tony Stewart in 2002 and ’05 in Chevrolets — and 114 Cup wins. Stewart left after Gibbs switched from domestic G.M. to foreign automaker Toyota in 2008. Kenseth won it all in 2003, with Roush.

Hamlin was third last season, and he and Busch have often come close.

Joe Gibbs also won three (Super Bowl) titles as Washington’s football coach. He now is an elite stock car owner. He joined the

Cup Series in 1992 with Dale Jarrett. Labonte replaced him in ’95.

Stewart came on board in ’99.

After a dozen years, a third team was added in 2004 with Hamlin behind the wheel since ’06.

Gibbs said he was “careful” in adding a fourth team. “Mainly, we were able to get Carl and we were able to get ARRIS. That was the perfect fit for us. ...

Obviously by adding Carl and the fourth team, it brings more resources to the table. We’re competing against other teams out there that have four teams in their alliance, or more.”

Roush lost its three career wins leaders this decade. Elder veteran Mark Martin (35 wins) departed first, after NASCAR’s limit of four teams prompted Roush (the only one with five) to cut one. Then the other two bolted in their prime. Kenseth (24) left after 2012. Edwards’ decision went public last August.

He drove the 99 Ford to 23 Sprint Cup races in 360 tries.

He won on Bristol’s half-mile for the first time in a decade, then won his first Cup road race ever — at Sonoma. “Sonoma was a great win; I was really proud of it,” he said. But

by PETE ZAMPLAS

CARL EDWARDS Texas NSCS (NASCAR via Getty Images)

Roush no longer dominated intermediate-length tracks. And in the Chase, Edwards’ best was merely fifth at Kansas. “The last few weeks were really tough, to be honest with you,” he said.

“Competitively we didn’t have the speed that we needed. So for us to just keep digging down and making something out of those races, that was an amazing performance. My pit crew was basically flawless, (crew chief) Jimmy Fennig made perfect calls, I felt like I did a really good job. But we just weren’t fast enough at Phoenix (to make the final four), and that’s the way it goes.”

The extra JGR car is number 19. This gives Coach Gibbs numbers 11 and three in a row — 18, 19 and 20. The first three are historic quarterback numbers.

Johnny Unitas wore 19, as did Joe Montana with the Chiefs.

Peyton Manning is 18. Phil Simms and Norm Van Brocklin were 11. The 20 reflects such star backs as Barry Sanders.

Edwards can put the 19 on the NASCAR map. Its drivers have won merely three Cup races

“I’M VERY EXCITED ABOUT WHAT’S COMING. IT’S A NEW ADVENTURE.” in history, with two by Jeremy Mayfield. Cale Yarborough’s first top-five finish was in a 19 car.

Edwards’ primary sponsors are ARRI telecommunications technology and Stanley tools/ security.

Looking ahead and reflecting back, Edwards said “I’m very excited about what’s coming. It’s a new adventure. But I’m very proud of what we’ve done. Ford will always be a part of my life.

All the wins that we have, and the Nationwide championship have come with Jack (Roush) and Ford.

He feels “nervous about performing” from heightened pressure, yet that “drives a competitor.” The fit flip artist said “I feel like I’m stepping off of a ledge, and I don’t know what’s down there. We have a lot of expectations and hopes. Now, we’ve just got to do it.”

If he reaches his ultimate goal, he’ll be flipping with joy.

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015 29

THE 16 DAYTONA 500 ‘ULTIMATE MOMENTS’

1998 DAYTONA 500 Dale Earnhardt (ISC Archives via Getty Images)

1959 – In a true “photo finish,” LEE PETTY was crowned the first DAYTONA 500 champion three days after the race.

1960 – JUNIOR JOHNSON discovers the art of drafting en route to his only DAYTONA 500 win.

1964 – RICHARD PETTY, a second-generation driver, wins his first of a record seven DAYTONA 500s.

1967 – MARIO ANDRETTI wins his only NASCAR race.

1972 – AJ FOYT calls his shot, joining Andretti as DAYTONA 500 and Indy 500 winners.

Vickers To Miss Start Of 2015 Due to Health Issues MICHAEL WALTRIP RACING DRIVER HAD SURGERY TO REPAIR A HOLE IN HIS HEART rian Vickers will sit out the early portions of the 2015 NASCAR S p r i n t Cup S e r i e s season because of health issues, his Michael Waltrip Racing team announced.

In a statement released by the team, Vickers said he had surgery Saturday to repair a patch covering a hole in his heart. Complications from blood clots have sidelined the 31-yearold driver twice in his career -- for most of the 2010 season and for the latter stages of his part-time schedule in 2013. “ Fi r s t , I wa nt t o t h a n k ever yone for t hei r si ncere support,” Vickers said in a s t a t e m e n t . “ I h av e f a c e d obstacles before and it has made victory that much sweeter and I know that will be the case again.

“My previous experiences have given me a very keen understanding of my body. Late last week, I knew something wasn’t right, so I went to the hospital to be checked out.

Following several tests, it was discovered that my body was rejecting an artificial patch that was inserted in 2010 to fix a hole in my heart. Saturday, I had to have corrective surgery to repair the hole and now I am beginning the recovery process. I will need plenty of time, rest and rehab but this temporary setback will not stop me from pursuing my dream of becoming a NASCAR

Sprint Cup champion.”

Michael Waltrip Racing did not mention a specific length of time that Vickers would be out of the cockpit. The team release also didn’t specify a potential substitute driver for the No. 55 Toyota.

“Brian has been a part of the MWR family since 2012 and our thoughts today are with Brian, his wife Sarah and the Vickers

1976 – DAVID PEARSON limps across the finish line after wrecking with rival Richard Petty coming out of Turn 4 on the last lap of the race.

family,” said Rob Kauffman, the team’s co-owner with Michael Waltrip. “As a race team, MWR has plenty to consider and we will confer with our partners, including Aaron’s and Toyota.

As this is fresh news, we will adjust our future plans as more information becomes available.”

Vickers made his first start in NASCAR’s premier series in 2003, the year he won the championship in what will become the NASCAR XFINITY Series in 2015. Vickers has three victories in NASCAR’s top division, his most recent coming with Waltrip’s team at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July 2013.

—NASCAR MEDIA

1979 – “There’s a fight between CALE YARBOROUGH and DONNIE ALLISON! The tempers overflowing, they’re angry, they know they have lost.”

1981 – Seven-time premier series champion RICHARD PETTY extends his record with a seventh DAYTONA 500 title 1988 – BOBBY ALLISON holds off son Davey Allison for the first father-son, one-two finish in the history of the DAYTONA 500.

1989 – DARRELL WALTRIP wins in his 17th attempt, in the No. 17 car, while his team celebrated in pit box…17.

1993 – DALE JARRETT holds off Dale Earnhardt with his father Ned Jarrett narrating the “Dale and Dale show” for CBS. 1998 – At long last, DALE EARNHARDT wins “The Great American Race” and is greeted by an endless line of congratulations by opposing crew members.

2004 – DALE EARNHARDT JR. wins the race that eluded his father for so long.

2007 – KEVIN HARVICK beats Mark Martin to the finish line by inches in the closest finish in DAYTONA 500 history.

2011 – Youngster TREVOR BAYNE pulls the upset giving the legendary Wood Brothers their fifth DAYTONA 500 win.

2013 – DANICA PATRICK becomes the first woman to win the Coors Light Pole for the DAYTONA 500, as well as the first to lead a lap.

—NASCAR MEDIA

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

30 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

iwanna.com

EARNHARDT REGAINS WINNING SWAGGER, COVETS FIRST CUP CROWN

by PETE ZAMPLAS

DALE EARNHARDT JR. revved up his win total to four last year and turned in a career-best 22 top-ten Cup finishes, finishing consistently well with multiple checkered flags for a success recipe in the new points and playoff formats that emphasize victories.

These are pivotal steps to finally securing his coveted f i r st NASCA R Spr i nt Cup championship.

His four victories in the no.

88 Chevrolet Camaro SS were his most in seven seasons with Hendrick Motorsports, and his most in a decade since six in 2004 with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Four wins equaled his output for the prior nine campaigns. He won no races in 2013. Newfound winning and snappy tweeting both signal revived confidence and daring.

He ha s 23 Cup ca re er triumphs. His dozen top fives were his most since ’04. He has made the Chase in seven of 15 seasons.

NA S C A R ’s p e r e n n i a l l y most popular driver ignited his legions right away, when glowing in victory lane of the Daytona 500. He got there with versatile tactics of passing high and low, and by winning a twolap shootout. “Winning this race is the greatest feeling that you could feel in this sport, besides accepting the trophy for the

championship,” he told media.

When radioing his crew during his victory lap, he yelled “This is better than the first one!”

The victory eased pressure, in qualifying him for the Chase.

He won both Pocono races, for his first track sweep since Talladega in 2002. Then he finally won at Martinsville, bringing home the grandfather clock trophy as he beat Father Time and the field. (He turned 40 on Oct. 10.) “This is very personal and very special to me to be able to win here.” He said he’d put the clock by his front door, for all visitors to marvel at.

His runner-up at Darlington was best there. His third place was his first top ten on Sonoma, Calif.’s road course. He equaled h is best (second) at Vegas.

Perhaps that beard got his Mojo motoring.

But the wheels fell off in the postseason’s second/Contender Round. He finished 20th or worse at Kansas and Charlotte, again at Talladega after a late accident squelched his efforts to win the race to stay to advance in the Chase.

Earnhardt has hovered among the top three for parts of recent seasons, only to finish in the 5-10 sector of final standings.

Last year he finished eighth in the final, official pecking order.

But he was fourth best figuring the new point system that better

rewards v ictor ies, w it hout applying Chase elimination rounds. He would have been seventh, under the old format, and 95 points back of top dog Joey Logano.

Junior was seventh in points in 2011, his first with Steve Letarte as crew chief. Letarte helped teammate Jeff Gordon, now in his swan song, win his four Cup trophies. He got Junior to dedicate more time to evaluating practices. He then led the series in points much of 2012 and notched a careerbest 10.9 average finish, in a dizzying season sidetracked by a concussion and a missed race.

He finished fifth in a winless but consistent-finishing 2013, then eighth last season. His best was third, in 2003.

The Kan napolis native is optimistic about this season, and revised rules.

“I think the package will favor me,” as much as anyone for maneuvering with less power, Earnhardt said after a Goodyear tire test at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The horsepower drops from 850-900 to 725. But he said “after a while, you sort of get used to it and forget you’re even down on power.”

He is patient for his 2015 success. “By midseason, I expect us to be a better race team than we were last year,” Earnhardt predicted. “I expect the cars to

DALE JR. Pocono August (NASCAR via Getty Images)

2014

have more speed eventually; it may take us a couple of races or a couple of months to get there.

But I think our cars will be faster, and give us an opportunity to run better.”

Wit h Letarte in t he NBC booth, Junior must adjust to new crew chief Greg Ives and new car chief Travis Mack in place of Jason Burdett. Ives guided Chase Elliott to the Nationwide (now Xfinity) title in 2014, for Junior’s JR Motorsports. Ives mentored under Chad Knaus, as an engineer for Jimmy Johnson’s title streak, and even now in

“WINNING THIS RACE IS THE GREATEST FEELING THAT YOU COULD FEEL IN THIS SPORT, BESIDES ACCEPTING THE TROPHY FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP” their 88 and 48 cars sharing a shop.

“Greg is a talented crew chief.

He has many advantages that will make us a better team,” Earn hardt said. “Steve was the strategist, one of the best guys on the box when it came to strategies, fuel mileage and stuff like that. It’s too soon to tell exactly where we are there. Nationwide strategies are mapped out already because of the tire rule. You can’t really pull a lot of little levers and get things done, get crazy.”

However, he emphasized, “I know the engineering side is getting stronger because of Greg’s history as an engineer.”

Also, the return of engineer Kevin Meendering smooths transition. “That ’s going to help a ton,” Earnhardt said.

“Kevin has all this information on what’s worked with me.

All drivers like things a little different. So Kevin’s going to be real influential in getting Greg up to speed.”

In turn, they’ll help Junior stay up to speed on the track in his championship quest.

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015 31

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Receives 2014 NMPA Myers Brothers Award n recognition of his career achievements as a champion driver, team owner and philanthropist, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was named the recipient of the 2014 NMPA Myers Brothers Award, a prestigious accolade recognizing those who have made outstanding contributions to the sport of stock car racing.

“This doesn’t even seem real,” said an emotional Earnhardt after receiving the honor at the 2014 NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Awards Luncheon held at Wynn Las Vegas. “The truth is obviously I’m extremely humbled by this award, but I feel like I share it on so many levels - my sister Kelley (Earnhardt Miller) along with everyone at JR Motorsports is as deserving of this as anyone.

I have a lot of passions with NASCAR, but I wouldn’t be able to know how to make them realities without all those folks.”

An accomplished driver, evidenced by his 23 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories and two NASCAR Nationwide Series championships, Earnhardt was cited just as much for his achievements outside his No. 88 Chevrolet, namely as the owner of JR Motorsports and a tireless community benefactor.

This season, JR Motorsports driver Chase Elliott became the youngest competitor to win a NASCAR national series championship after clinching the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series title. The 18 year old will likely join Brad Keselowski, Aric Almirola, Danica Patrick and Cole Whitt as Sprint Cup regulars who have developed under Earnhardt full time at the Nationwide level.

In addition to his Nationwide Series program, Earnhardt contributes to racing at its grassroots levels, fielding Late

Model or Street Stock cars since founding JR Motorsports. His Late Model drivers Josh Berry and William Byron finished first and second, respectively, this season in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series at Hickory Motor Speedway.

Earnhardt’s work extends off the track into the community.

He has made 235 appearances on behalf of the Make-AWish Foundation, a number that ranks in the top five among professional athletes.

Furthermore, his Dale Jr. Foundation raised $913,000 to be distributed to more than 70 different charities.

“I’m just as proud of what we’ve accomplished there as anything we’ve ever done on the race track,” Earnhardt said about his foundation.

The NMPA Myers Brothers Award has been presented annually since 1958 in the names of pioneer NASCAR

DALE EARNHARDT JR. accepting the 2014 NMPA Meyers Brothers Award in Las Vegas in December. (David Becker/NASCAR via Getty Images)

competitors Billy and Bobby Myers and its winner is chosen by a vote of the National Motorsports Press Association.

Past recipients are a virtual who’s-who of the industry – drivers, owners, track operators, sponsors and members of the media – and include nearly every current member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Seventeen other awards were given out at the luncheon, spanning from achievements in marketing, performance on the track and exemplary work in the garage. 2014 NASCAR

Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick garnered seven honors, including the 3M Lap Leader Award and Mobil 1 Driver of the Year.

“This is really the first time I’ve gotten to stand up here and actually realize what we’ve accomplished,” Harvick said. “Thank you to everyone who has participated in making our sport what it is.”

—NASCAR MEDIA

32 IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015 33

CHASE ELLIOTT

YOUNGEST NATIONAL SERIES CHAMPION

2015 SEASON PREVIEW

NASCAR + COMCAST Reach 10 Year Series Entitlement Agreement

2015 NASCAR

HALL OF FAME

COMCAST’S XFINITY BRAND TO BECOME ONLY THIRD TITLE SPONSOR OF THE SERIES ‘WHERE NAMES ARE MADE’ ASCAR a nd Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) announced today a historic agreement that will make Comcast’s XFINITY brand the title sponsor of what is now known as the NASCAR Nationwide Series t hrough 2024. The 10-year term matches the longest single agreement around title sponsorship of any NASCAR national series in history, and is the longest ent it lement spon sorsh ip agreement in this series’ history.

Beginning January 1, 2015, the property will be known a s t h e NA SC A R X F I N I T Y Series. XFINITY will become only the third title sponsor in series h istor y following

Anheuser-Busch (26 years) and Nationwide Insurance (seven years). The agreement also makes XFINITY an Official NASCAR Part ner in the multichan nel video programming distributor (MVPD) and broadband ISP categories.

The announcement was made during an event at the NASCAR Hall of Fame – where the sport’s h i stor y i s celebrated ever y day – and was the first series entitlement sponsorship ever announced at the venue.

X F I N I T Y i s C o m c a s t ’s residential service brand and is the nation’s largest video and high-speed Internet provider. The company has increased Internet speeds for existing customers 13 times in 12 years and recently

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

34 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

introduced XFINITY on the X1 Entertainment Operating System. The compa ny also offers XFINITY On Demand, the most robust video on demand platform in the world. Comcast serves business and residential customers in 39 states and Washington, D.C. “We’re proud to welcome X F I N I T Y t o t h e NA SC A R community as title sponsor of the NASCAR XFINITY Series for the next decade,” said Brian France, NASCAR Chairman & CEO. “NASCAR and XFINITY are each leader brands with much in common. Both are focused on in novation and have products built for speed.

Together, we will work to take

this series to new heights and elevate one of the most unique and powerful partnerships in all of sports.”

What will soon be known as the NASCAR XFINITY Series is the property where names are made and is like nothing else in major pro sports. It features the most talented young drivers regularly competing side-byside against NASCAR’s biggest and brightest stars. “ Te c h n o l o g y l i v e s a t t he heart of NASCAR, just as it does for XFINITY,” said Dave Watson, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Off icer for Comcast Cable.

“NASCAR provides an exciting e nv i r o n m e nt i n wh ic h t o

showcase our video and Internet products and we look forward to further enhancing the fan experience at home, at the track and on the go for years to come.”

The series also has a large, highly engaged and technologyconnected television audience.

It races in some of the nation’s largest markets – from Chicago to Los Angeles to Miami – and at the sport’s biggest and most iconic tracks – from Daytona I n t e r n a t i o n a l S p e e d w a y, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway, to Talladega Superspeedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

According to NASCAR Fan E n g ag e me nt Trac k e r 2013 (commissioned by NASCAR

Jared C. Tilton/NASCAR via Getty Images

New Names Fill 2015 NASCAR Drive For Diversity Roster SIX DRIVERS WILL COMPETE IN DIVERSE DRIVER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM ASCAR Drive for Diversity (D4D), the leading developmental platform for female and multicultural drivers and pit crew members, announced its 2015 class today. The program welcomes four talented program newcomers to the roster of six drivers striving to transition into the sport’s national series spotlight.

Rev Racing, the program’s competition arm, has played a key role in the development of 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the

Year Kyle Larson and NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers Darrell Wallace Jr. and Daniel Suarez.

“Taking steps to find and develop young female and multicultural athletes who could represent the future of NASCAR is at the core of our organization’s mission,” said Jim Cassidy, NASCAR senior vice president of racing operations. “We were impressed by the talent displayed at the Combine [in October of 2014], and are eager to help this group develop their strengths on and off the track.”

Rev Racing will field four

teams in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and two in the NASCAR Whelen AllAmerican Series. The 2015 class is led by returning K&N Pro Series East driver Jay Beasley and Devon Amos, who after an impressive 2014 performance in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series earned a spot in the K&N Pro Series East.

The 2015 NASCAR D4D roster includes: DEVON AMOS: Returning to the team, the 23-year-old Rio Rancho, New Mexico, native will make the jump to

iwanna.com

and conducted by Toluna), NASCAR fans spend an average of four-and-a-half hours each week watching NASCAR on television and an additional two-and-a-half-hours each week following the sport on digital platforms.

XFINITY is among the premier sponsors in sports today and a robust sponsorship activation program is part of the new agreement with NASCAR, with aggressive planning already underway.

Comcast’s involvement with NASCAR is expanding rapidly.

In addition to the NASCAR XFINITY Series announced today, Comcast’s NBC Sports unit will begin broadcasting

the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East after two full seasons in the NASCAR Whelen AllAmerican Series.

JAY BEASLEY: Finishing 13th overall and sixth in a loaded Sunoco Rookie of the Year field in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East last season, the 23-year-old from Las Vegas, Nevada will return for a second season, aiming to best his rookie campaign.

COLLIN CABRE: After an impressive NASCAR D4D Combine performance, the 21-year-old Thonotosassa, Florida, native will compete in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in his first year with Rev Racing. Cabre has spent the past five years racing asphalt and dirt sprint cars.

NATALIE DECKER: A 17-year-old newcomer to the Rev Racing roster from Eagle River, Wisconsin, Decker collected feature wins in a limited late model and super late model, as well as earning Rookie and Sportsman of the Year honors in ARCA SCAG Midwest Truck Tour. She will compete in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series in 2015.

KENZIE RUSTON: Entering her third season in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and first with Rev Racing, the 22-year-old El Reno, Oklahoma, native is also a member of NASCAR Next, an industry initiative to identify tomorrow’s stars. Ruston broke her own record in 2014 as the highest finishing female driver in the K&N Pro Series East with a runner-up finish at Iowa Speedway on her way to finishing ninth in points.

NASCAR race events in July 2015.

After a successful sevenyear run as series entitlement sponsor, Nationwide Insurance pivoted its marketing programs to become a NASCAR team sponsor next season. Nationwide also is the official auto, home, life and business insurance partner of NASCAR. —NASCAR MEDIA

DYLAN SMITH: The 22-year-old from Randolph, Vermont earned a spot with Rev Racing in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series after competing in his own Late Model last year. The Stewart-Haas Racing employee ran 15 races and finished 38th in the NASCAR Whelen AllAmerican Series Division I national standings.

Under Rev Racing owner and CEO Max Siegel’s leadership, the development program aligns drivers with a team of executives, athletic directors, crew chiefs and mentors tasked with helping NASCAR D4D drivers achieve career successes; thus, improving their goal of reaching one of NASCAR’s three national series.

“NASCAR Drive for Diversity goes much deeper than putting drivers behind the wheel of race cars,” said Siegel. “The program is all encompassing, providing competition, athletic training and professional development opportunities for drivers who have the determination and talent to reach NASCAR’s top levels. We’ve seen this with Larson, Suarez and Wallace Jr. and are excited about the potential of this talented group of drivers.”

Growth of the program extends to pit crew members under the NASCAR D4D Crew Member Development Program, also managed by Siegel. In 2014, more than 30 multicultural athletes pitted fulltime for teams across all three national series.

—NASCAR MEDIA

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 35

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

36 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

[2014

iwanna.com

CHAMPIONS]

b y R E I D SP E NC E R , NA S C A R W I R E SERV ICE

Chase Elliot Clinches Nationwide Title AS NASCAR YOUNGEST NATIONAL SERIES CHAMPION What do you do when you accomplish your goals a year early?

That’s a question Chase Elliott will have to answer, now that the presumptive rookie of the year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series is also the series champion—and the youngest champion in NASCAR national series history.

Elliott finished sixth in Saturday’s DAV 200 at Phoenix International Raceway to clinch the Nationwide Series championship at age 18 years, 11 months and 18 days.

In a season that saw Elliott win back-to-back races at Texas and Darlington and add a victory at Chicagoland, the driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet closed out teammate Regan Smith (10th Saturday) to give JR Motorsports its first title in one of NASCAR’s top three national touring series.

JR Motorsports co-owner Rick Hendrick affirmed after the race that the plan is still to run Elliott

full-time in the Nationwide Series next year, doubtless with a few Sprint Cup starts mixed in.

But what’s left for the scion of former Cup champion Bill Elliott to accomplish?

“That’s a really good question,” Elliott said after the race.

“I don’t know what tomorrow brings, so I have no idea what the future has in store for myself or our team or whatever. The biggest thing is just trying to make the most of what’s going on now and kind of letting it figure itself out.

“Hopefully, next year we’re able to go and have the same result, a championship, with some more wins. I feel like that’s the biggest thing. We’d like to win some more races, and we’ve got one more week to try to get another one before this season’s over with.”

Elliott will have a new crew chief next season, with his current pit boss, Greg Ives, ready to succeed Steve Letarte on JRM co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s

No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in the Sprint Cup Series.

Earnhardt said Bill Elliott’s support for his son has been invaluable to the championship effort.

“I had a real high opinion of Bill before I got the chance to know him, and this has allowed me to get to know him quite well, and my opinion of him is even better now, because he’s been such a great support for, not only his son, obviously, but for us.

“Some of those fathers can be a handful, but, man, he has been an asset to us, and he’s so helpful with Chase, keeping Chase so calm and grounded.

Everything’s so easy with them.

I think, once I retire, I’m going to be a Chase Elliott fan, so I’ll still have somebody to pull for going down the road.”

Earnhardt believes that Elliott, even at 18 already combines raw natural talent with racing wisdom beyond his years.

DRIVER OF THE NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET WINS

TOP FIVES

TOP TENS

AVG FINISH

3 16 26 8.0

▲ CHASE ELLIOT celebrates with his father Bill after winning the

NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship following his fifth place finish in the DAV 200 at Phoenix International Raceway on November 8, 2014 in Avondale, Arizona. NASCAR via Getty Images “He’s an amazing talent, very young, but still very mature.

Takes good care of his equipment. If you can wrap up a championship before the season’s over with, you’re definitely smart and very calculative.

That’s something you learn.

That’s something you’re not born with.

“You’re born with the speed, the raw talent, but he’s already got all the other things, too, well before his time.”

Kyle Busch, who like Earnhardt has an eye for young talent and a penchant for launching the careers of promising drivers,

feels Elliott is ready to advance to the Cup level. There’s only one problem. There’s no place for Hendrick to put him.

“He’s ready,” Busch asserted.

“I finished second to (Martin) Truex in my first (NNS) season, and they bumped me up to Cup, whether I was ready or whether I wasn’t ready. We had some success that year.

“I think Chase could have probably more success than what I had in Cup in my rookie year.”

Youngest NASCAR national series champion (18 years, 11 months, 18 days) First rookie to win a NASCAR national series championship First NASCAR Next alum to win a NASCAR national series championship ▲ CHASE ELLIOT (C), driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, poses with his crew chief Greg Ives

(R) and team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. (L) for a portrait after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship following the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 15, 2014 in Homestead, Florida. NASCAR via Getty Images

With father Bill, becomes the fifth father/son combo to win national series championships, joining the Jarretts, Pettys, Pearsons and Earnhardts

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 37

38 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

RUNNER-UP REGAN SMITH RETURNS AS FORCE IN XFINITY SERIES

by PETE ZAMPLAS

REGAN SMITH driver of the No. 7 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet Camaro (NASCAR via Getty Images)

REGAN SMITH ret ur ns as a major force in NASCAR’s second-rung series, formerly Nationwide and now called Xfinity after its new sponsor.

Smith, 31, extended his contract with JR Motorsports to drive the no. 7 Chevrolet for this year.

“Couldn’t be more pleased about this,” owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted Oct. 1.

This is Smith’s third full-time season with JRM in the 7 car, after winning in his only race in it to end the 2012 season. That was quite a debut.

Smith finished third in the series in 2013, behind Austin Dillon and Sam Hornish Jr., then second in 2014 behind JRM teen sensation teammate Chase Elliott. Thus, JRM went one-two atop the standings.

Elliott outdid Smith for eight of the 10 final races. “He drove like a veteran,” said Smith, who is a fan favorite as a nice guy but avid competitor. “It was great for him, and great for JR Motorsports to see that.” The son of Bill Elliott is rumored to head to Hendrick Motorsports next year, being groomed to succeed Jeff Gordon who retires from full-time Cup racing after this season.

Smit h won t he opener at Daytona, as he finished in the

top 10 for the first 13 contests of the season. He missed the top 20 only twice. Smith led the series for 11 weeks.

He clicked with veteran Ryan Pemberton as his new crew chief.

His former crew chief, Greg Ives, switched to Elliott. Smith’s crew chief this year is Jason Burdett from Hendrick, who was car chief for Jimmie Johnson in 2002, Gordon in ‘08-10 and “Junior” in ‘11-14. Pemberton slides back into his role as JRM director of competition.

“I thought that we got the speed where we needed it at the end of the year,” Smith said of progressing in 2014.

“We struggled a little bit with communication early on. Once we learned each other as a group and got those things figured out, the speed started coming back to us.”

Smith said of the final stretch, “We had some opportunities that we missed to really make things tighter when it came down to the end. We have to take care of the ‘what-ifs,’ to make sure they don’t happen again.

We can all work on a lot of areas, myself included. Restarts and qualifying for me have just been atrocious for the past two years.

I can’t really highlight why. In order to contend and get the

“WE HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF THE ‘WHAT-IFS,’ TO MAKE SURE THEY DON’T HAPPEN AGAIN. WE CAN ALL WORK ON A LOT OF AREAS, MYSELF INCLUDED”

track position and the clean air that we really need, those two things have to improve.”

A n added c ha l lenge i s composure. “There were times when I was frustrated as a driver. I think it showed up on the track, because of how I was driving. You’ve got to be careful not to let that happen.”

Sm it h’s lone Spr i ng Cup Series victory was in 2011 at Darlington, for Furniture Row Racing. He filled in for Tony Stewart in the 14 Chevrolet at Wat k i n s Glen last yea r, finishing 37th. Though Smith’s Cup days may be behind him, he is starring at the next level and may earn another shot at the big time either if JRM moves up to Cup racing or with another team.

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015 39

FRANKLIN SCOTT, son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Wendell Scott, speaks during the 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, NC. (Lance King/ Getty Images)

2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Honors Five Iconic Wheelmen ELLIOTT, LORENZEN, SCOTT, WEATHERLY, WHITE OFFICIALLY ENSHRINED ive legendary drivers wit h distinct st yles a nd cont r ibut ion s t o NA SC A R we r e enshrined into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina tonight during the Induction Ceremony held in the Crown Ball Room at the Charlotte Convention Center..

Those who added their names to the list of now 30 NASCAR H a l l o f Fa m e i n d u c t e e s , i ncluded: Bill Elliot t, Fred Lorenzen, Wendell Scott, Joe Weatherly and Rex White.

The group makes up the Hall’s sixth class in its history.

B I L L E L L I O T T – a fanfavor it e w it h a r e c ord 16 NASCAR Most Popular Driver Awards – compiled numerous accolades that put him near the top of many all-time NASCAR lists. In his 37-year driving career, “Awesome Bill from Dawsonville” notched 44 wins (16th in NASCAR history) and 55 poles (eighth), but his most prestigious accomplishment came when he won the 1988 premier series championship.

Elliott always performed on the biggest of stages, winning the Daytona 500 twice and the Southern 500 three times.

“One thing I look at out here today is one common bond with all these racers, it’s the hard work and the dedication all these guys had,” Elliott said. “I mean, for me to stand up here among the guys that have already been here, it’s just totally incredible.”

FRED LORENZEN – one of the first “outsiders” to capture the fancy of NASCAR’s early southeastern crowds – was one of the sport’s first true superstars, even though he never ran more than 29 of the season’s 50-plus races. The Elmhurst, Illinois, native won 26 races from 196167, with his best overall season coming in 1963 as he finished with six wins, 21 top fives and 23 top 10s in 29 starts. The victor of the 1965 Daytona 500 and World 600, Lorenzen boasts the fifth-highest career winning percentage (16.86) in NASCAR history.

“Dad always said, ‘The sky is the limit and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,’” said Lorenzen’s son, Chris, who spoke on his behalf. “That has been dad’s most important saying in life, and he certainly lived by it. He also believed people made their own luck and that luck just doesn’t fall upon people.”

A true trailblazer, WENDELL SCOTT was the first AfricanAmerican to race fulltime in NASCAR’s prem ier ser ies, as well as the first to win a NASCAR premier series race.

Scott posted 147 top 10s in 495 starts, as well as finished four seasons in the top 10 of the championship points standings.

He won more than 100 races at local tracks before making his premier series debut, including 22 races at Southside Speedway in Richmond, Virginia, in 1959 en route to capt uring bot h the Sportsman Division and NASCAR Virginia Sportsman championships.

“Th e legac y of We ndel l Scott depicts him as one the great vanguards of the sport of NASCAR racing,” said the late Scott’s son, Franklin, who accepted the induction on his behalf. “Daddy was a man of great honor. He didn’t let his circumstances define who he was.”

GET THE FULL STORY BILL ELLIOTT

P. 51

FRED LORENZEN

P. 42

WENDELL SCOTT

P. 52

JOE WEATHERLY

P. 54

REX WHITE

P. 48

JOE WEATHERLY claimed con s ec ut ive prem ier s er ie s championships in 1962-63 and won 25 career races before his untimely death in January 1964 at Riverside (Calif.) Raceway.

Known as the “Clown Prince of Racing” due to his jovial personality, Weatherly displayed impressive versatility beyond his premier series dominance.

A decade earlier in 1952-53, he won 101 races in the NASCAR Modified division, capturing that championship in 1953. He even tried his hand in NASCAR’s short-lived Convertible Division from 1956-59, winning 12 times.

“He loved his family and he was very generous, but I am sure there are many memories the fans could share as well, maybe ones of the practical jokes he enjoyed playing on fellow drivers,” said Joy Barbee, Weatherly’s niece.

“He definitely had a sense of humor, he loved a good laugh and he loved to have a good time.

He always had a big smile on his face; he was a character to be around and definitely lived up to the title given to him – the ‘Clown Prince of Racing.’”

One of the greatest short-track racers ever, consistency was the hallmark of REX WHITE’s NASCAR career. He finished among the top five in nearly half of his 233 races and outside the top 10 only 30 percent of the time. Of his 28 career wins in NASCAR’s premier series, only two came on tracks longer than a mile in length. Driving his own equipment, White won six times during his 1960 championship season, posting 35 top 10s in 40 starts. He finished in the top 10 six of his nine years in the series, including a runner-up finish in 1961.

“Words can’t express how honored I am to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame along with the other Hall of Fame members, especially my 2015 fellow inductees,” White said.

“No driver wins a championship by himself and nobody enters

the Hall of Fame alone. I am the symbol of a team effort.”

Each of the five inductees had an inductor who officially welcomed them into the hall. The inductors for the five inductees: Ray Evernham for Bill Elliott; Amanda Gardstrom (daughter) for Fred Lorenzen; Wendell Scott Jr. for Wendell Scott; Bud Moore for Joe Weatherly; and James Hylton for Rex White.

Active drivers introduced each inductee during tonight’s program: Kasey Ka h ne for Bill Elliott; Tony Stewart for Fred Lorenzen; Jeff Gordon for Wendell Scott; Brad Keselowski for Joe Weatherly; and Kevin Harvick for Rex White.

In addition to the five inductees enshrined on Friday night, Anne B. France was awarded the inaugural Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR. Fra nc e, pa i r ed w it h her husband, NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., created what today is one of the largest and most popular sports in the world. Anne played a huge role in the family business. “Big Bill” organized and promoted races; she took care of the financial end of the business. She first served as secretary and treasurer of NASCAR, and when Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959, served in the same roles for the International Speedway Corporation. She also managed the speedway’s ticket office.

Fra nce rema i ned ac t ive i n family and business life until her passing in 1992.

Prior to tonight’s Induction Ceremony, long-time Charlotte Observer reporter Tom Higgins was awarded the third SquierHall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence.

Higgins was the first beat writer to cover every race on the NASCAR schedule, a role he held from 1980 until his retirement in 1997. He started his journalism career in 1957 at the weekly Canton (N.C.) Enterprise where he covered racing for the first time. Higgins joined the sports staff at The Observer in 1964 as an outdoors writer and soon began covering stock car racing as well. He has continued to write motorsports nostalgia columns for the newspaper and its website ThatsRacin.com since his retirement..

—NASCAR MEDIA

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

40 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

iwanna.com

NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Bubba Wallace poses as part of an announcement that he joins Roush Fenway Racing in 2015. (Roush Fenway Racing)

Roush Fenway Racing Signs Bubba Wallace WALLACE TO DRIVE NO. 6 FORD MUSTANG IN NASCAR XFINITY SERIES

oush Fenway Racing has an nounced t hat Bubba Wa l lace w i l l drive the No. 6 Ford Mustang for the team in the NA S C A R X F I N I T Y S e r i e s (NXS) next season. The signing pairs NASCAR’s winningest NXS team with a young driver widely regarded as one of the most talented up-and-coming competitors in NASCAR. The 21-year-old Wallace has posted f ive w i n s i n t h e NA S C A R Camping World Truck Series, including four trips to victory lane in 2014.

“I’ve had a remarkable journey over the last few years thanks to people who have put me in a position to win the races that I have,” said Wallace. “When I first joined the sport, many said I would never compete with the real drivers. Now, as I join the winningest team in NASCAR history, I take that as a responsibility to add more wins to the team’s legacy and help tear down the barriers for the next generation of NASCAR drivers.”

“We are very excited to bring Bubba Wallace into the Roush Fenway fold,” said team president Steve Newmark. “He is viewed in industry circles as one of the brightest young drivers and I feel that we are very fortunate to be

able to bring him on board. He has a charismatic personality and at the same time has exhibited the ability to win on the race track.

We are looking forward to getting him in our race cars next season.”

In 2013 with his victory at Martinsville Speedway, Wallace became t he f irst Africa n American driver to win in one of NASCAR’s three national series since 1963. He has competed in six career NXS races, earning four top-10 finishes and a pole at Dover International Speedway.

“We are certainly pleased to have Bubba Wallace come on board,” said team co-owner Jack Roush. “He is certainly a great young talent and I feel it will be mutually beneficial for us to be able to put him into a team environment with a veteran driver like Elliott (Sadler) and the young guys Chris Buescher and Ryan Reed. We have had a great deal of history in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and we are happy to have Bubba as the latest piece of that rich legacy.” “ We ’r e t h r i l l e d t o h a v e Bubba Wallace be part of our Ford Mustang racing efforts,” said Jamie Allison, director, Ford Racing. “His winning performances since becoming part of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program have certainly

made him one of the drivers in the sport to watch in the future, and we think he can bring a lot to Roush Fenway and Ford, both on and off the track.”

Wallace’s racing career started in 2004 when he began competing in Jr. Sportsman Champ Karts. He finished his first season second overall in points at the Carolina Asphalt Racing Winter Series. He moved to Bandoleros in 2005 and won an amazing 35 of the 48 races and posted 40 top-five finishes.

He became the first driver to win five races in a single week.

In addition, he competed against much older competition in the Outlaw Division and won all but one race in 2005.

Wallace moved up to Legends i n 20 06 a nd completed a phenomenal rookie season with 11 wins, 27 top-five and 34 top10 finishes in 38 total starts. He started racing Late Models in 2007, competing in the final five races of the UARA Touring series.

Born in Mobile, Ala., Wallace and his family moved to North Carolina for his father’s work when he was just two years old. He also played basketball, before fully concentrating his efforts on his racing career.

Wallace also enjoys sharing his love for photography and life as a professional race car driver through his Twitter (@ bubbawallace), Instagram (@ bubbawallace) and Facebook (fb. com/bubbawallace) accounts.

Roush Fenway Racing is the winningest team in NASCAR history, fielding multiple teams in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series competition with drivers Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Trevor Bayne, Elliott Sadler, Ryan Reed and Chris Buescher. Now in its 28th season, Roush Fenway is a leader in driver development, having launched the careers for many of t he top drivers in the sport. Off-track, Roush Fenway is a leader in NASCAR marketing solutions, pioneering motorsport’s first team-focused TV show a nd produc i ng multiple award-winning digital a nd exper ient ial ma rket i ng campaigns. Roush Fenway is co-owned by Jack Roush, the w i n n i nge st tea m ow ner i n NASCAR history and Fenway Sports Group, parent company of Major Leag ue Ba s eba l l’s Boston Red Sox and English Prem ier Leag ue’s Liver pool F.C. Visit RoushFenway.com, circle on Google+, become a fan on Facebook and follow on Instagram and Twitter at @ roushfenway. —NASCAR MEDIA

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 41

42 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

“Golden Boy” Lorenzen Reaches NASCAR Pinnacle

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

WINNING PERCENTAGE RANKS FIFTH ALL-TIME FRED LORENZEN’S NASCAR career was brief, just 158 premier series starts over slightly more than a decade.

The Elmhurst, Illinois, native never ran a complete season, his Holman-Moody Ford team choosing only to compete in the schedule’s most prestigious events.

But when Lorenzen did buckle into his white, No. 28 Ford, it could be argued the rest of the field was running for second place. He was the “Golden Boy.” From 1961 through 1967 he won 26 times, posting more victories than NASCAR Hall of Famers Richard Petty (21) and David Pearson (eight).

Lorenzen’s 16.46 career winning percentage ranks fifth all-time and highest among drivers without a NASCAR premier series championship.

Lorenzen retired after the 1967 s ea son, made a br ief return in 1970-72 but left many – including himself – wondering what could have been. “ I q u it way t o o e a rly,” Lorenzen said in a 1985 interview with Circle Track magazine. “I was good for another five or six years. I was at my prime, but I’d won about everything there was to win and I had plenty of money.

by Stock Car Racing in 1968, said, “Freddie ate, slept, breathed and dreamt racing, 24 hours a day.”

Lorenzen also was among the first “outsiders” to capture the fancy of the partisan southeastern crowds following NASCAR premier series competition. Lorenzen was named the circuit’s Most Popular Driver in 1963 and 1965.

“Fredd ie wa s t he f i rst northerner I knew that all the people here liked,” Charlie “Slick” Owens, a Charlotte auto pa r t s ma nager told Chicagoland Auto Racing.com’s Stan Kawalsinski.

The Chicago Tribune’s David Condon wrote similarly in 1964. “If there is one athlete in America who is as wholesome as (baseball’s) Stan Musial, it has to be stock car racing’s Fred Lorenzen from Elmhurst, Illinois. Fred is the All-American hero.”

“He was good-natured and got along with everybody,” said fellow competitor and Daytona 500 winner Marvin Panch.

Lorenzen, born Dec. 30, 1934, followed racing from an early age once setting up a tent in his family’s backyard so as to listen to a broadcast of the Southern 500 without interruption. He built a miniature car out of

“Freddie ate, slept, breathed and dreamt racing, 24 hours a day.”

“I was sick with stomach ulcers and I was tired of living out of a suitcase. Most of all the spark was gone; the candle was out.”

How good was Lorenzen?

His crew c h ief, Herb Nab, asked to name the best driver in NASCAR, pointed to Lorenzen’s picture on a poster. “People say Fireball Roberts is the best driver. That there is the best driver.”

Petty, quoted in the same I n s ide r R ac i ng News.c om article, said, “Fred Lorenzen was total concentration before, during and after the race.”

Longtime friend and mechanic Jack Sullivan, quoted

spare parts at age 13, a washing mac h i ne motor-powered contraption that was confiscated by police for being too fast.

Lorenzen’s first races came on Chicago-area dirt tracks and drag strips. He won the 1958-59 U.S. Auto Club stock car championships and caught the eye of Ralph Moody, who with partner John Holman operated Ford’s preeminent NASCAR premier series program.

Moody called on Christmas Eve 1960 to offer a mechanic’s job – and the possibility of driving. Lorenzen accepted and couldn’t believe his good fortune.

“It was like walking into a

▲ ABOVE Fred Lorenzen’s 16.46 career winning percentage ranks fifth all-time and highest among drivers without a NASCAR premier series championship. BELOW Fred Lorenzen was the staple driver for Lafayette Ford in the 1960s. In 1963, Lorenzen became the first NASCAR driver to win over $100,00 in a single season. (ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images)

diamond factory,” he said of the team’s shop and resources in a 2009 interview with the broadcaster TNT. “I had the best of everything. When you’ve got it all, it’s easier to do.”

Lorenzen won three times in 1961 including Darlington Raceway’s Rebel 300 in which he out-foxed NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Curtis Turner with two laps remaining to earn the nickname “Fearless Freddie.” Mirror driving the second-place Lorenzen, Turner repeatedly blocked the high side of the one-groove track.

Lorenzen faked a high pass and shot under the not-pleased Turner.

“That race was extra special because the track is so very, very special and because I was able to beat Curtis Turner,” said Lorenzen in an interview with the Charlotte Observer’s Tom Higgins. “You’ve got to remember that for a kid like me, names like Curtis Turner, Joe Weatherly and Fireball Roberts were hero stuff.”

His best season was 1963 when he finished with six wins, 21 top fives and 23 top 10s in 29 starts. Despite winning 26 races that season, he finished third in the standings.

Lorenzen started just 16 races in 1964 but won eight times i ncludi ng f ive con sec ut ive

starts. During that stretch, he led 1,679 of the possible 1,953 laps, one of the most dominant r uns i n NASCAR h istor y.

A year later he won two of NASCAR’s major events – the Daytona 500 and World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

In retirement, Loren zen became a successful Chicago real estate developer. He was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998. He was previously enshrined in the National Motorsports Press Association and International Motorsports halls of fame and Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.

—NASCAR MEDIA

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015 43

STAND OUT ROOKIE TREVOR BAYNE TREVOR BAYNE, sole driver eligible as rookie of the year in Sprint Cup Series racing this year, is lauded as Roush Fenway Racing’s likely next superstar.

Bayne has a tough act to follow, after charismatic Carl Edwards bolted to Joe Gibbs Racing and in the no. 6 Ford that Mark Martin made famous.

But many feel he is poised to succeed Edwards as the new face at Roush (RFR). Bayne joins Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the 2013 top rookie and another young star, and veteran Greg Biffle. Bayne turns 24 on Feb. 19, three days ahead of the Daytona 500.

Bayne won that heralded race four years ago, as its youngest winner ever. He had turned 20, on the day before. Last year he drove Cup part-time for the Wood Brothers, in the 21 Fusion.

He has 58 career Cup starts. In 2011, Bayne ran half of a Cup season with 18 starts.

Yet he is still classified as a rookie under a loophole, which

no longer disqualifies those starting more than seven Cup races in a prior season. Not if they declare for lower-tier series titles. In 2011, he was classified strictly as an Nationwide (now Xfinity) contender. The rule enables lower-tier drivers to fill in for injured higher-tier drivers, and retain rookie eligibility in the higher series.

The baby-faced blonde from Knoxville, Tenn. has the skill to become as much a nemesis to rival drivers as masked, mammoth mumbling villain Bane (played by Tom Hardy) was to Batman. Bayne was in the top 10 in seasonal points in three of his four full-time Nationwide seasons, ending sixth twice and seventh once. He finished in the top 10 in nearly half (72 of 151) of those junior circuit races. He registered two victories, 24 topfive and 72 top-10 finishes plus seven poles.

The avowed Christian shared his multiple sclerosis diagnosis

publicly in late 2013, a half-year after marrying.

Bayne raced in go-karts starting when he was five, and won 18 state and track titles and over 300 feature races in eight seasons. He then was USAR Pro Cup top rookie, at 15. In 2008, he joined Dale Earnhardt, Inc. driver development and was fourth in the NASCAR Camping World East Series. He started in Nationwide racing in 2009 and shifted from DEI to Michael Waltrip Racing that year, then to RFR in late 2010. In the junior circuit, he succeeded Stenhouse full-time in the 6 Fusion since 2013 and kept it up while also racing Cup for the Woods.

Bayne remarked last season that “we’ve been on our game.

But you want to be greedy, and ask for more.” Now, he gets his chance in the big dance.

TREVOR BAYNE (NASCAR via Getty Images)

“WE’VE BEEN ON OUR GAME. BUT YOU WANT TO BE GREEDY, AND ASK FOR MORE.”

by PETE ZAMPLAS

44 IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 45

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

46 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

iwanna.com

‘CUBAN MISSILE’ ALMIROLA SHOOTS TO EXPLODE ONTO CUP SCENE

by PETE ZAMPLAS

ARIC ALMIROLA to build off of his victory at Daytona in July last season, driving the Richard Petty Motorsports’ famed no. 43.

That’s the number Petty himself drove. Almirola is its best pilot in years. The 43 is now a Ford Fusion.

This is Almirola’s fourth fulltime Cup season, all with RPM. He improved in ranking by twos from 20th to 18th to 16th in 2014, when he barely made the 16-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup. In 2013, he notched a career-best six top-tens and the most in a row in the 43 since Bobby Hamilton drove it in ’96.

Last year, Almirola scored the 43’s first Cup triumph of the new millennium. It was the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. He avoided several major wrecks, to prevail. “The good Lord was watching out for us today, and we were meant to win,” the devout Christian and Florida native said. The win provides “a lot of confidence going into next year. We’ve tasted what we’re capable of. It’s made us hungry ... to reach our maximum potential and make the Chase again.”

Daytona was the ideal track to win on, he said. “It’s real special for me to win here. This is not

“IT GIVES ME A TON OF CONFIDENCE TO KNOW THAT WE CAN ONLY CONTINUE TO GET BETTER AND BETTER.” only the 30th anniversary of this team’s last win at Daytona (by Petty, for his 200th victory) ... I remember growing up watching Daytona 500s and Firecracker 400s.”

Almirola was born on Eglin Air Force Base in Ft. Walton Beach, Fla., and has long lived in Tampa. He studied mechanical engineering at Central Florida, before leaving to race full-time.

Aric and his wife Janice have two young children, Alex, 2, and 15-month-old Abby.

Cuban-American Almirola, 30, is called “The Cuban Missile.” He was an early prospect in NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program in 2004 to advance minorities. He was a development driver with Joe Gibbs Racing, with former NFL star Reggie White as an owner.

He started in go-karts at eight, and was fourth in World Karting standings at 14. He raced modifieds at 15, then was rookie runner-up in the NASCAR Sun Belt Weekly Racing Division in 2002.

ARIC ALMIROLA (NASCAR via Getty Images)

Wit h JGR, he debuted in trucks in 2005, Busch (now Xfinity) in ’07. In that year on the Milwaukee Mile, he subbed for Denny Hamlin who was late to the race. He led the first 43 laps, and was third on lap 59 when pitting during a caution. Due to sponsor pressure, Hamlin replaced him behind the wheel and won the race. Almirola was credited with the win, for starting. He left the track soon after the switch. He got his JGR release a month later.

Almirola joined Dale Earnhardt, Inc. He shared the Army no. 8 Chevrolet with Mark Martin in Cup racing in ’08. He had the full ride in ’09, but sponsors pulled out after seven races and the car was parked. He settled out of court, in a contract breach dispute with DEI and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. He bounced around in ’09 and ’10, when he was a Hendrick stand-by driver.

He drove the 88 for JR Motorsports in ’11, then landed the Petty 43 ride after that season.

He accelerates well on inter-

mediate, 1.5-mile tracks. Three of five career top-five finishes are on short tracks. “We’ve had success at different race tracks with different setups and packages and aero balances,” he said. “But when we try to take them to other race tracks, they don’t work. That leads to our inconsistency,” which he hopes lessens. He has 142 Cup starts in seven years. “It gives me a ton of confidence to know that we can only continue to get better and better.” Both driver and main sponsor Smithfield Foods are inked through next year.

Hall of Fame crew chief Dale Inman, Richard Petty’s cousin, comes out of retirement to mentor Almirola and RPR new teammate Sam Hornish Jr., who replaces Marcos Ambrose.

Petty said Inman was ahead of his time, in confidently nurturing talent. “He was good with people. He was able to take a talent, and know how far he could go with that talent.” Petty hopes the “missile” strikes bigger racing targets.

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 47

48 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

Rex White: Small Stature, Giant Legend

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

1960 NASCAR PREMIER SERIES CHAMPION EARNS SPORTS TOP HONOR OVER THE YEARS, NASCAR premier series champions have come in all shapes and sizes – tall, short, muscular and lean. The single constant? It’s impossible to judge a book by its cover.

Based upon first impressions, Rex White – at 5 feet 4 inches, weighing just 135 pounds and with his right leg withered by childhood polio – might have seemed the unlikeliest championship contender of all.

▲ 1959 Rex White of Spartanburg, SC, ran in 233 NASCAR Cup races

during his career, winning 28 times and taking 163 top 10 finishes. White was the 1960 NASCAR Cup champion. (ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images) White, however, was tough as nails fearing neither competitor nor track conditions. He won the 1960 premier series title and posted 28 victories over five seasons, finishing among the top five in nearly half of his 233 starts.

“He looked more like a jockey than a race car driver,” fellow competitor Buddy Baker told the Gaston Gazette, “but he lived large once they started the race. On short tracks, he was very aggressive. He didn’t mind going in the turn with (NASCAR Hall of Famer and three-time premier series champion) Lee Petty and saying, ‘I’m inside and if you come down we’re not going to agree on stuff.’

“He raced hard.”

NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison, the 1983 premier series champion, said, “I admired Rex as a race driver because he was a little guy. I started out small.

Seeing him winning encouraged me to chase my dream.”

What m ight have been a handicap to many only served as motivation to White, born Aug. 17, 1929 in Taylorsville, N.C. “Most of the lessons I have learned (from childhood illness) have stayed with me all my life,” said White in his autobiography “Gold Thunder,” written with Dr. Anne B. Jones. “The biggest

one was how to conquer fear.”

White learned to drive at age six, driving a neighbor’s truck in surrounding fields. Two years later he was working on his family’s Ford Model T. “I was unaware the car on which I labored represented hope to people around me (and) frustration to those trying to stop illegal moonshine,” said White. “I saw automobiles as transportation, not the symbol of an upcoming billion-dollar sport.”

White dropped out of school, moving to t he Washington D.C., area where he fou nd employment as a cook and, after marriage, a service station job. A poster advertising stock car races took White to Lanham (Maryland) Speedway where he caught on as an unpaid crew member for 1952 NASCAR Modified champion Frankie Schneider.

A year later, White returned to the track with a 1937 Ford purchased for $600 lettered “X.” He won his heat race, the semimain and the feature. “I’d never won a trophy at anything,” said White.

White made his premier series debut in 1956 on Daytona’s beach/road course. In 1958, he teamed with crew chief Louis Clements in an “off the books”

program by GM’s Chevrolet Division. They won t wice in 1958 and five times the following year. The 1959 season also saw the debut of White’s iconic No. 4 gold and white Chevrolet.

The 1960 season was the first in which White ran a full schedule, going to the post only after he and Clement built a car for a competitor, the sale of which netted $2,000 for their own Chevrolet.

White won six times finishing 35 of 40 races among the top 10.

White’s ninth-place finish at Birmingham, Alabama on Aug. 3 was his worst performance in the year’s final 15 races. The championship was a runaway, White beating NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty by nearly 4,000 points.

“The thing about Rex is he thinks,” said Clements in a 1960 interview with Sports Illustrated. “When he’s out on the track, he’s planning and figuring out which cars he has to race to stay ahead.”

C a r ow n e r a nd e ng i n e builder Smokey Yunick, quoted in the same article, said, “Rex is not a cautious driver but he know when to use caution.”

White didn’t disagree. “I couldn’t run quite as fast as some of those other guys,” he said. “So long as I was smart and kept running; if any of those other guys had trouble, I had a chance.”

White nearly defended his title in 1961 winning seven times but finished second to NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett. He added two more top-10 championship finishes before retiring at the conclusion of the 1964 season.

Between 1959 and the 1963 seasons, White won more races than any other driver. He won 36 premier series poles – at least one in eight consecutive seasons – and finished second in NASCAR’s Short Track late model championship in 1959.

In ret irement, Wh ite has owned an automobile dealership and for 25 years a truck ing company, bot h in the Atlanta area where at age 85 he continues to reside.

Na med one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998, White holds membership in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame and the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame.

—NASCAR MEDIA

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 49

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

50 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

NASCAR Nationwide Series Milestones NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES HISTORY n 19 4 8 , t h e i n a u g u r a l NASCAR season exclusively featured modifieds. The “Strictly Stock” division, later known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, came about in mid-1949. Additionally that yea r, NASCA R c r eated t he “Sportsman” Division– also known as the “Special Modified” c l a s s – i n r e s p on s e to c a r owners concerned about the mounting costs of building a first-class modified. Today’s NASCAR Nationwide Series is a direct descendant of that early Sportsman class.

1950– The series’ origins take root as the NASCAR Sportsman Division. Drivers frequently compete in three to four races per week – approximately 60 races per year – throughout the East Coast.

1968 – The NASCAR Sportsman Division undergoes its first name change, and is now known as the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Division.

19 8 2 – The NASCA R Late Model Sportsman Division is con sol idated i nto a nat ional touring series. The inaugural season consists of 29 races and is renamed the NASCAR Budweiser

Late Model Sportsman Series.

Feb. 13, 1982 – First race of the new touring series is held at Daytona International Speedway – the Goody’s 300. Mike Porter takes the pole and Dale Earnhardt wins the race, which also is the first superspeedway event in the history of the series.

Feb. 20, 1982 – Series competes in its first short-track race, the Eastern 150 at Richmond (Va.) Fairgrounds Raceway. Tommy Houston wins.

March 28, 1982 – Diane Teel becomes the first female driver to start a series race, competing at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

She finishes 26th.

Oct. 31, 1982 – The series c ha mpion sh ip comes dow n to the final race of the season at Martinsville between Jack Ingram and Sam Ard. Ingram claims the first series title by 49 points.

Oct. 8, 1983– Ard establishes a s e r i e s r e c o r d w it h f o u r consecutive wins during the season – Sout h Boston (Va.) Speedway (9/17); Martinsville (9/24); Orange County (N.C.) Speedway (10/1); and Charlotte Motor Speedway (10/8). The record still stands.

1984 – One of the most important milestones in series histor y as Anheuser-Busch switches its series sponsorshipfrom its Budweiser brand to Busch. The NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series is renamed the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series.

iwanna.com

May 26-27, 1984 – At Charlotte, Bobby Allison becomes the first driver to sweep a race weekend.

He wins the Mello Yello 300 on Saturday and on Sunday, captures the World 600 in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition.

Oct. 20, 1984 – Ard becomes the first driver in series history to win consecutive championships.

July 6, 1986 – The series’ first road course race is held at Road Atlanta and is won by NASCAR Hall of Fame member Darrell Waltrip.

1987 – Larry Pearson, son of NASCAR Hall of Fame member David Pearson, wins his second consecutive series championship, joining Ard as the only drivers at this stage to win back-to-back titles.

1989 – The Rookie of the Year award is established, with Kenny Wallace claiming the inaugural honor. He edges Bobby Hamilton for the award en route to a sixthplace finish in the championship.

1992– Joe Nemechek earns the championship in the closest battle in series history, defeating Bobby Labonte by just three points.

1995 – The series name is altered slightly, changing to NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National Division.

Oct. 19, 1996 – Houston, a 15-year series veteran, starts the season finale at North Carolina Speedway. He concluded his career with 417 starts, then the series record.

1997– Randy LaJoie becomes

the third driver in history to win consecutive championships.

It’s the third straight series c h a m p i o n s h i p f o r BAC E Motorsports ow ner Bill Baumgardner, who replaced 1995 champion Johnny Benson with LaJoie.

March 15, 1997– The series travels to the West Coast to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, marking its first race west of the Mississippi River. Auto Club Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway a nd Gateway International Raceway are also on the series schedule.

Sept. 5, 1998 – Dick Trickle, at 56 years, 11 months, becomes the oldest driver to win a series race, at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.

Oct. 17, 1998– The Petty racing legacy is extended to a fourth generation as Adam Petty, son of Kyle, makes his series debut at Gateway. Petty finishes 27th.

June 27, 1999 – At Watkins Glen International, Bill Lester ma kes h istor y as t he f i rst African-American driver to start a series race. He finishes 21st after starting 24th.

Nov. 13, 1999 – Dale Earnhardt Jr. officially is awarded his s e cond con s e c ut ive s er ie s championship.

Nov. 2000 – Jeff Green earns his first series championship and enhances the family racing legacy. Coupled with his brother David’s title in 1994, the Greens became the first brothers to win series crowns. continues on page 53

iwanna.com

Legend Of ‘Awesome Bill’ Started from Meager Beginnings

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015 51

ELLIOTT’S NASCAR HALL OF FAME CAREER A STORY OF PERSEVERANCE WHEN BILL ELLIOTT climbed into his Ford on a late-winter afternoon in 1976, little did fans at North Carolina Motor Speedway k now t hey were w it ne s si ng t he bi r t h of a NASCAR Hall of Fame career.

The 20-year-old Elliott, whose car was fielded by his father George and crewed by brothers Er n ie a nd Da n, didn’t last long in his NASCAR premier series debut. Engine problems sidelined the Elliotts early for a finish of 33rd in the 36-car field.

In fact, Elliott’s first campaign of eight races – four for his father and four with Bill Champion, another independent ownerdriver – produced six DNFs. First impressions, however, ca n be deceivi ng. The Dawsonville, Ga. family may have lacked resources – as did many NASCAR premier series hopef uls during t he economically depressed 1970s.

What wasn’t in short supply was perseverance.

The lanky, red-headed Elliott lasted long enough to catch the eye of Michigan industrialist Harry Melling, whose one-race sponsorship in 1981 dramatically changed NASCAR history.

Elliott, born Oct. 8, 1955,

ultimately won 44 races, 16th among all premier series drivers, over a 37-season, 828-start career that ended in 2012. All but two victories came on tracks longer than a mile in length; 16 of them from a pole position start.

Elliott’s 55 career poles rank eighth all time.

Proclaimed “Awesome Bill from Dawsonville” by fans a nd media, Elliot t a nd h is No. 9 Ford Thunderbird set sp e e d r e cord s at Day ton a International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. His 212.809 mph mark established at Talladega on April 30, 1987 before engine restrictor plates reduced horsepower, is unlikely to be matched.

Elliott was at his best on NA S C A R’s b ig g e s t s t ag e s w i n n i ng t he Day ton a 50 0 twice and the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway three times. In 1985 he completed an unprecedented sweep of Day t o n a , Da rl i n g t o n a n d the spring race at Talladega Superspeedway to capture the “Winston Million” – a $1 million bonus for winning those three of four marquee events.

The driver’s legion of fans v o t e d E l l i o t t N A S C A R ’s

BILL ELLIOTT made his NASCAR premier series debut at age 39 on

March 4,1961 at Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds in Spartanburg, SC. (ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images)

M o s t Po p u l a r D r i v e r a n unprecedented 16 times.

Wh i l e E l l io t t m ay h ave come from nothing in terms of economic support, his birthplace in Georgia’s northern mountains provided something of a golden heritage. Stock car racing, rooted

BILL ELLIOTT #9 won 11 superpeedway races in 1985, earning the Winston Million in its first year.

Everything that years was his and team owner Harry Melling’s - except the points championship! (Archives via Getty Images)

in the area’s moonshine culture, ran deep and produced many of the sport’s earliest stars.

Some argue that the i mpr o mp t u Su nd ay n ig ht events in a nearby river bottom, in which the liquor haulers wagered on whose cars were the fastest, represented the origins of modern stock car racing in the 1930s.

Four Dawsonville drivers – Gober Sosebee, Roy Hall, Lloyd Seay and Bernard Long – won races on Daytona’s beach/road course from 1941-59. During the 1940s, 12 of 15 of those races were won either by drivers or owners hailing from the small community. NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Raymond Parks, a Dawsonville native, owned the car in which Red Byron won the inaugural NASCAR premier series championship.

Elliott became the fifth Daytona winner among the “Dawsonville Gang” when he won the 1985 Daytona 500.

So it was no surprise that the Elliott brothers were enamored of cars and racing. Bill would take apart and reassemble his father’s race cars; his older brother Ernie owned a speed shop.

“Actually I got my boys into racing because I wanted them to stay away from the back roads,” said George Elliott, whose Dahlonega Ford Sales dealership backed the family’s racing effort. “If they were going to be driving fast, I wanted them to do it in the right place.”

George Elliott ’s support could take his son only so far.

Enter Melling, who agreed to sponsor the Elliotts in the 1981 Daytona 500. His check was minimal – it barely covered the tire bill – but it opened a history-making relationship.

“It was a heck of a deal for us because that was $500 more than we had,” said Elliott, who responded by finishing sixth.

M e l l i n g ’s a u t o m o t i v e products graced the panels of Elliott’s Ford for 13 races in 1981. Melling purchased the team in 1982 and over a 10-year period watched Elliott win 34 races and the 1988 NASCAR premier series championship after a pair of second-place points finishes. Elliott won 11 times in 1985, a season that included his “Winston Million” triumph.

Elliott won at least once in 10 consecut ive seasons b eg i n n i ng w it h h i s f i r st victory in 1983 at the 2.66mile Riverside (California) International Raceway. After departing Melling’s team at the end of the 1991 season, Elliott produced six victories and his third runner-up championship finish for NASCAR Hall of Fame owner Junior Johnson.

He joined Ray Evernham’s new Dodge organization in 2001 and won four more times – the last at North Carolina Motor Speedway in 2003, a month after Elliott’s 48h birthday.

Anot her c hapter i n Bill Elliott’s legacy was written in 2014 when the champion’s son, Chase, won the NASCAR XFINITY Series title at age 18.

—NASCAR MEDIA

“Actually I got my boys into racing because I wanted them to stay away from the back roads. If they were going to be driving fast, I wanted them to do it in the right place.” - GEORGE ELLIOTT

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

52 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

iwanna.com

Wendell Scott: Legend, Trailblazer, and NASCAR Hall of Famer NASCAR HALL OF FAMER SCOTT’S LEGACY A STORY OF PERSEVERANCE, EXCELLENCE DURING A 13-YEAR PREMIER series career, Wendell Scott likely never considered he was making NASCAR history. The Virginian’s sole concern was getting to the next race on a miniscule budget.

Scott wasn’t the only driver to struggle financially. The odds

of making a good living racing stock cars were long in the 1960s and early 1970s when purses were small, large sponsors unheard of and manufacturer support came and went with the turning of the calendar’s pages.

But Scott faced a challenge not shared by his fellow competitors:

▲ WENDELL SCOTT made his NASCAR premier series debut at age 39 on March 4,1961 at Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds in Spartanburg, SC. (ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images)

“If he had the proper equipment, I believe he would have been a winner a lot of times.” that of an African-American battling to succeed in a stillsegregated society.

Measured agai n st t hat bac kdrop, Scot t succeeded admirably. He became the first – and to date, only – black driver to win a premier series race, at Jacksonville, Florida, in 1963. He made 495 starts to rank 37th on the series’ all-time list, posting 147 top-10 finishes, more than 25% of the races he entered. Scott finished four times among the top 10 in driver championship standings including a sixth in 1966.

While most of Scott’s success came on shorter track s, he logged superspeedway top 10s at Atlanta, Charlotte, Daytona Beach, Dover and Darlington.

He twice finished seventh in Atlanta Motor Speedway’s Dixie 400 – in 1966 finishing ahead of NASCAR Hall of Famers Buck Baker, Bobby Allison and fellow 2015 inductee Rex White.

Scott also finished seventh in a Daytona 500 qualifying race – which at the time carried premier series championship points.

Scott was singular of purpose, ow n i ng a nd prepari ng t he cars which carried the No.

34. His Chevrolets and Fords were second hand. Without sponsorship, Scott couldn’t afford to hire a pit crew, which usually was comprised of his sons. Tires and spare parts were cast offs from other teams.

Scott, however, never used that as excuse to give less than 100 percent. He finished 321 of his 495 starts.

“We weren’t allowed to use the words ‘can’t’ and ‘never.’ He didn’t believe in those words,” said Fran k lin Scott, one of Scott’s seven children and a member of his father’s pit crew.

“He instilled in everybody he met that if you’re willing to work and do the things necessary to be successful, you can be successful.”

“If he had had the proper equipment, I believe he would have been a winner a lot of times,” said 1960 premier series champion White, sentiments echoed by NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett, a two-time premier series champion.

“If he’d had the equipment or financial backing that I and others had, he would have won more races,” said Jarrett in a 2009 story published in the New York Times.

Former Charlotte Motor Speedway president H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, quoted in the same article, said Scott “was obviously a much better driver than the record shows.”

Wendell Oliver Scott was born Aug. 29, 1921 in Danville, Virginia. His father was an expert mechanic, a trade the young Scott quickly learned.

After serving in Europe during World War II, Scott returned home to become a taxi driver, who also transported illegal wh iskey. He competed i n his first race at the Danville fairgrounds wi n n i ng $50.

Over the next decade Scott won more than 100 sportsman and modified stock car races as well as the Virginia State Sportsman championship.

Scott made his NASCAR premier series debut at age 39 on March 4, 1961 at Piedmont I nterstate Fa i rg rou nds i n Spartanburg, South Carolina, driving a year-old Chevrolet purchased from Baker. He continued as a series regular until 1973, his career ended by an accident at Talladega Superspeedway.

Scott’s signature victory in the Dec. 1, 1963 race at Jacksonville’s Speedway Park in the third event of the 1964 s ea s on wa s f raug ht w it h controversy. Scott, who started 15th, initially was listed as finishing third behind Baker, who took part in victory circle ceremonies and headed for home with the race trophy.

A subsequent scor i ng recheck found Scott actually had finished two laps ahead of Baker.

“I knew I’d passed Buck … three times and only made one pit stop for gas and didn’t lose a lap,” said Scott, who led the final 27 laps after frontrunner Richard Petty slowed with steering problems. “I knew I had won.”

In 1990, Scott lost a battle to cancer at age 69. In January 2013 Scott was awarded his ow n h istor ica l ma rker i n Danville, proclaiming in part, “Persevering over prejudice and discrimination, Scott broke racial barriers in NASCAR.” Scot t previously was inducted into the National Spor t s Ha l l of Fa me, t he Internat ional Motorsports Hall of Fame, the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

—NASCAR MEDIA

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES HISTORY (continued) 2001 – As a result of increased broadcast and cable coverage on NBC/TNT a nd FOX/FX, the series enjoys tremendous increases in television ratings and viewership and firmly establishes itself as the No. 2 motorsports series in the United States.

Nov. 3, 2001 – Kevin Harvick wins the series championship, ma k i ng ca r ow ner R ic ha rd Childress the first to win titles in each of NASCAR’s national series.

2002 – Greg Biffle captures the series title, becoming the first driver to win championships in this division and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

2003 – Brian Vickers becomes the youngest champion (20) in the history of NASCAR’s top three divisions. Childress takes the owner’s championship; it is the first time in series history the titles are won by different teams.

The term “Grand National” is dropped from the series name.

2004 – Martin Truex Jr. wins the championship in his first full season. Kyle Busch, 19, shatters all series rookie records on his way to a second-place championship finish.

March 6, 2005 – Truex, who would go on to claim his second consecutive championship, wins the historic inaugural race in Mexico City, the series’ first points race outside the United States.

Feb. 18, 20 07 – The ESPN family of networks becomes the exclusive television home of the series for the next eight years.

March 4, 2007 – Juan Pablo Montoya becomes the first series driver of Hispanic origin to win when he pushes aside teammate Scott Pruett for the victory at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.

August 4, 2007 – Harvick wins a wild inaugural race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

Oct. 3, 20 07 – Nationwide Insurance announces it will become the series’ title sponsor beginning in 2008, replacing Anheuser-Busch.

Oct. 12, 2007 – Jason Keller eclipses Tommy Houston’s alltime starts mark (418).

June 14, 2008 – Joey Logano wins at Kentucky, surpassing Casey Atwood as the youngest driver to win a series race (18 years, 21 days).

Nov. 1, 2008 – Kyle Busch wins for the 10th time, tying Ard’s 1983 record for most wins in a season.

Feb. 21, 2009 – Kyle Busch is the first driver to win two NASCAR national series races on the same day, w i n n i ng t he NASCAR

Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series events at Auto Club Speedway.

July 3, 2009 – Double-file restarts “Shootout Style” are instituted in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Nov. 21, 2009 – Driving the No.

18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch unifies the series’ driver and owner titles for the first time in three years.

M ay 1 5, 2 0 10 – A t D o v e r International Speedway, Keller becomes the first series driver to make 500 career starts.

June 19, 2010 – For the fourth time in six years, the series competes in an inaugural event, this time at 4.048-mile July 3, 2010 – The NASCAR Nationwide Series new car makes its race debut at Daytona. Driving a blue-and-yellow No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet reminiscent of his father’s car, Earnhardt Jr. wins.

Sept. 25, 2010 – At Dover, Kyle Busch wins for the 11th time, setting the single-season victory mark. He finishes the year with 13 wins.

Nov. 20, 2010 – JGR registers its third consecutive owner championship, tying the series record set by Baumgardner from 1995-97.

March 5, 2011 – Danica Patrick finishes fourth at Las Vegas, marking the best finish by a woman in the history of NASCAR’s three national series.

Aug. 26, 2011 – Kyle Busch’s victory at Bristol moves him past Mark Martin as the series’ all-time wins leader (50).

Nov. 5, 2011 – At Texas, Kenny Wallace supplants Keller as the series’ all-time starts leader (520).

Nov. 19, 2011 – In the first year of NASCAR’s “pick-a-series” driver points format, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wins the driver championship while the No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing team captures the owner title.

Nov. 17, 2012 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. becomes the sixth driver in NASCAR Nationwide Series history to earn back-to-back championships.

Danica Patrick finishes 10th in the final points standings to become the first female to finish in the top 10 in the standings in any of the three national series.

Sept. 6, 2013 – The NASCAR Nationwide Series celebrates its 1,000th race at Richmond International Raceway.

Nov. 16, 2013 – Austin Dillon wins the series championship to become the third driver to win both a NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship (Greg Biffle and Johnny Benson).

Nov. 16, 2013 – Kyle Larson wins Sunoco Rookie of the Year to become the first NASCAR Drive for Diversity graduate and first Asian-American driver to receive the award in a national series.

—NASCAR MEDIA

IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015 53

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

54 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

iwanna.com

No Joke: Weatherly Earns NASCAR’s Highest Honor BRIEF YET PROLIFIC CAREER LANDS ‘CLOWN PRINCE OF RACING’ IN HALL JOE WEATHERLY’S TIME IN NASCAR’s premier series was short, just two fulltime seasons.

But wh at a n i mpac t t he Norfolk, Virginia, native had on NASCAR racing in those brief, 24 months.

We a t h e r l y, p r e v i o u s l y a winner of American Motorcyclist Association and NA S C A R mo d i f i e d t it l e s, claimed back-to-back premier series championships in 196263. He posted 25 victories in 229 starts before his untimely death in January 1964 at Riverside (C a l i f or n i a) I nt e r n at io n a l Raceway.

“He would have been as good as any that’s been along,” said one of Weatherly’s early car owners, the late, fellow Virginian Junie Donlavey. “He had quick reflexes and good equipment. He was just a natural born driver.

“He would have been right there with all the greats. He was that good.”

Weatherly also was one of the sport’s characters, a oneof-a-kind practical joker whose antics off the racing surface endeared him to fans and fellow competitors and earned him the nickname “Clown Prince of Racing.” A friendship quickly blossomed with NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Curtis Turner, another larger-than-life figure.

The 5 feet 4 inch Weatherly and the lanky Turner made the

perfect Mutt and Jeff pair.

Th e y r a c e d h a r d a n d – according to legend – partied just as wide open. Both were reputed to have been black-listed by rental car companies for racing and wrecking numerous cars.

“They were fearless on the track but also fearless as far as their habits and lifestyles,” said NASCAR Productions archivist Ken Martin in a Nov. 27, 2014 National Speed Sport News feature written by Ben White.

“No one loved to throw a party more than Curtis. Joe was more the comedian and Curtis loved a good laugh.”

Ea rl Sw i f t, w r it i ng i n Norfolk’s Virginian-Pilot in 2007, remembered Weatherly as “a rough-and-tumble Southern rog ue. Weat herly wa s t he archetype of the early NASCAR hero, an inveterate practical joker and hell raiser.”

No surprise, Weatherly was voted the premier series’ Most Popular Driver in 1961.

Joseph Herbert “Joe” Weatherly was born May 29, 1922. He served in World War II – as did his later car owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Bud Moore – with the 809th Aviation Battalion Engineers of the U.S. Army Air Corps.

Discharged in November 1945, Weatherly raced motorcycles from 1946 through 1950 winning a pair of AMA championships

▲ JOE WEATHERLY only raced for two seasons, with back to back series

championships in 1962-63 before his untimely death in 1964 at Riverside International Raceway. (ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images) as well as the 1948 Laconia (New Hampshire) Classic that resulted in his posthumous induction into the organization’s Hall of Fame in 1998.

“Little Joe,” as he’d became known, switched to stock cars telling a reporter for Consumer Guide, “I like having something bet ween my head a nd t he ground when I crash.”

Weatherly proved to be a fast learner on four wheels. Between 1952 and 1953, he won 101 NASCAR Modified races as well as the division’s championships i n 195 3. We at h e rly ’s f i r s t premier division start came in Darlington Raceway’s 1952 Southern 500. He finished 16th driving Donlavey’s Hudson.

Weatherly’s initial premier series victory came on Aug. 10, 1958 in the inaugural race at Nashville Speedway. He drove a Holman-Moody prepared Ford convertible in the “Sweepstakes” event that was open to both hard and soft top cars. Weatherly was no stranger to the open top cars winning 12 times in NASCAR’s short-lived convertible division.

After winning the opening race of the 1961 season in Dr. Bradford “Doc” White’s Ford, Weatherly gave his competitors a taste of NASCAR’s future.

Raci ng i n just 25 of t he schedule’s 52 events – most of them in Moore’s No. 8 Pontiac – We a t h e rl y p o s t e d n i n e victories, good for a fourth-

place championship finish behind champion Ned Jarrett, a NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2011 inductee.

The duo stepped up for a full campaign in 1962. Weatherly again won nine times including his Daytona 500 qualifying race which, at the time, carried NA S C A R p r e m i e r s e r i e s points. With 45 top-10 finishes in 52 starts, the 40-year-old Weatherly beat NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty by more than 2,000 points to become Virginia’s only premier series champion. Moore also captured his sole owner’s title.

Moore reduced the team’s s c hedu le i n 1963 forc i ng Weatherly to beg and borrow cars from fellow competitors – frequently driving what politely could be called semicompet it ive equ ipment.

We a t h e r l y p e r s e v e r e d , winning three times and again bested Petty, who counted 14 trips to Victory Lane. What would be his last victory and 20t h w it h Moore ca me at Hillsboro, North Carolina on Oct. 27.

True to form, Weatherly quipped, “I had greater luck (than Petty), rather than greater skill. I was lucky to get rides when I needed them.”

Weatherly’s luck ran out severa l mont h s later i n Sout hern California. Laps behind due to an early race mechanical problem, his No. 8 Mercury left the track entering Riverside’s Turn 6 and skidded into a steel retaining wall.

Weatherly, without a shoulder harness or window net, died when his head struck t he barrier.

Weatherly was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998. He previously was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, National Motorsports Hall of Fame and National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame.

Darlington Raceway’s stock car racing museum was christened in Weatherly’s name upon its opening in 1965.

—NASCAR MEDIA

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 55

56 IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015 57

matt crafton BECOMES FIRST BACK-TO-BACK NCWTS CHAMPION

MEET THE STARS

OF THE CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES

2015 SEASON PREVIEW

Changes Ahead: Crew Chief Carousel LEARN THE LATEST IN DRIVER-CREW CHIEF COMBINATIONS AS TEAMS GEAR UP FOR THE 2015 SPRINT CUP SERIES SEASON.

Carl Edwards [j o e g i b b s r a c i n g ] NEW RIDE: No. 19 Toyota in the Sprint Cup Series for Joe Gibbs Racing PREVIOUS RIDE: No. 99 Ford in the Sprint Cup Series for Roush Fenway Racing • Edwards has spent entire career at RFR but is hopeful that the move to JGR will give him the boost he needs to challenge for the championship.

Darian Grubb [j o e g i b b s r a c i n g ] NEW GIG: Crew chief for Carl Edwards and the No. 19 team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

PREVIOUS GIG: Crew chief for Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

• Grubb won a Sprint Cup title with Tony Stewart in 2011 and nearly a second last season with Hamlin.

He has 21 career wins atop the pit box but only two in the last two seasons.

Adam Stevens [j o e g i b b s r a c i n g ] NEW GIG: Crew chief for Kyle Busch and the No. 18 team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

PREVIOUS GIG: Crew chief for the No. 54 team in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

• Stevens is moving up to the Sprint Cup Series after 4 seasons as a Nationwide Series crew chief.

• Stevens and Busch have 19 Nationwide wins together under their belt.

Dave Rogers [j o e g i b b s r a c i n g ] NEW GIG: Crew chief for Denny Hamlin and No. 11 team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

PREVIOUS GIG: Crew chief for Kyle Busch and the No. 18 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

• Personnel shuffle within Joe Gibbs Racing landed Hamlin with Kyle Busch’s former chief, Dave Rogers • Hamlin and Rogers have a good history working together on Nationwide circuit • The #11 team came within 11 laps of possibly winning the championship last year, expect big things from this new team.

Sam Hornish, Jr. [richard petty motorsports ] NEW RIDE: No. 9 Ford in the Sprint Cup Series for Richard Petty Motorsports PREVIOUS RIDE: No. 54 Toyota in the XFINITY Series for Joe Gibbs Racing (part-time) • After Marcos Ambrose left NASCAR for his native Australia, Richard Petty Motorsports put Hornish, Jr in the #9 seat.

• Hornish, Jr. will inherit Blickensderfer as crew chief along with the #9 Ford. The pair are looking forward to working together.

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

58 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

Tony Gibson [s t e w a r t - h a a s r a c i n g ] NEW GIG: Crew chief for Kurt Busch and the No. 41 team in the Sprint Cup Series.

PREVIOUS GIG: Crew chief for Danica Patrick and the No. 10 team in the Sprint Cup Series.

• Busch actually switched chiefs with Patrick in October and saw immediate success. Stewart-Haas Racing is hoping that veteran chief Gibson will bring some consistency to Busch’s team.

Daniel Knost [s t e w a r t - h a a s r a c i n g ] NEW GIG: Crew chief for Danica Patrick and the No. 10 team in the Sprint Cup Series.

PREVIOUS GIG: Crew chief for Kurt Busch and the No. 41 team in the Sprint Cup Series.

• Knost was a rookie crew chief thrown into the fire as Stewart-Haas Racing expanded to four cars with the addition of Busch. Knost and Busch only had one win together. He finished the 2014 season with Patrick, but the pair’s best finish was 18th-place result in the season finale at Homestead.

They will need to work hard together to move forward in 2015.

Justin Alexander [richard childress racing ] NEW GIG: Crew chief for Paul Menard and the No. 27 team in the Sprint Cup Series.

PREVIOUS GIG: Lead engineer for Paul Menard and the No. 27 team in the Sprint Cup Series.

• Menard has been steadily on the rise in his racing career and a crew chief like Alexander, who has been part of 5 championship teams at Hendrick Motorsports looks to be a very good fit.

Matt McCall [c h i p g a n a s s i r a c i n g ] NEW GIG: Crew chief for Jamie McMurray and the No. 1 team in the Sprint Cup Series.

PREVIOUS GIG: Race engineer for Ryan Newman and the No. 31 team in the Sprint Cup Series.

• McMurray was one of the mosst consistent drivers during last year’s Chase with 4 top 5 finishes.

• McCall also coming off a great season as crew chief for #2 in standings, Ryan Newman. Newman finished just one point behind Kevin Harvick. Look for McMurray in Victory Lane in 2015.

Keith Rodden [h e n d r i c k m o t o r s p o r t s ] NEW GIG: Crew chief for Kasey Kahne and the No. 5 team in the Sprint Cup Series.

PREVIOUS GIG: Crew chief for Jamie McMurray and the No. 1 team in the Sprint Cup Series.

• Rodden replaces longtime Kahne crew chief Kenny Francis, who moves to the new position of vehicle technical director.

• Kahne excited to still have Francis around and also to reconnect with Rodden, who was previously the team’s lead engineer.

Trevor Bayne: [R o u s h f e n w a y r a c i n g ] NEW RIDE: No. 6 Ford in the Sprint Cup Series for Roush Fenway Racing.

PREVIOUS RIDES: No. 21 Ford in Sprint Cup Series for Wood Brothers Racing (part-time); No. 6 Ford in the XFINITY Series for Roush Fenway Racing (fulltime)

iwanna.com

Ryan Blaney [wood brothers racing ] NEW RIDE: No. 21 Ford in the Sprint Cup Series for Wood Brothers Racing PREVIOUS RIDES: No. 12 Ford in the Sprint Cup Series for Team Penske (two starts); No. 29 Ford in the Camping World Truck Series for Brad Keselowski Racing.

Jeremy Bullins [wood brothers racing ] NEW GIG: Crew chief for Ryan Blaney and the No. 21 team in the Sprint Cup Series PREVIOUS GIG: Crew chief for several drivers and the No. 22 team for Team Penske in the XFINITY Series.

• At 20 years old, Blaney is looking to get as much experience as he can.

He will still be driving in the XFINITY Series for Team Penske, but aims to focus monstly on the Sprint Cup Series to best learn the cars and gain sponsors.

• In 19 starts together in the Nationwide (now XFINITY) Series, the duo amassed two victories, eight top-fives and 16 top-10s.

?

Greg Ives [h e n d r i c k m o t o r s p o r t s ] NEW GIG: Crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 team in the Sprint Cup Series PREVIOUS GIG: Crew chief for Chase Elliott and the No. 9 team in the XFINITY Series.

• Junior’s longtime crew chief Steve Letarte is headed to the NBC broadcast booth.

• Ives is stepping in after winning in the Nationwide Series with Elliott in 2014.

Bob Osborne [R o u s h f e n w a y r a c i n g ] NEW GIG: Crew chief for Trevor Bayne and the No. 6 team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

OLD GIG: Assisting Roush Fenway Racing’s engineering efforts.

• Osborne is back after a 2 and a half year crew chief hiatus. Previously served as crew chief for RFR for 9 years and 297 races, greatest success being with Carl Edwards for 18 wins.

• Osborne and Bayne worked together in October at Charlotte, but Bayne failed to qualify for the race.

Temperatures in the car often exceed 100 degrees, reaching as much as 170 degrees by the floorboards.

Drivers can lose 5-10 pounds in sweat during a race.

On turns, NASCAR drivers can experience 3 Gs of force against their bodies, comparable to the forces pressing down on shuttle astronauts at liftoff.

On straight-aways at 200 mph, NASCAR drivers in one second travel 293 feet, almost the length of a football field.

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 59

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

60 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

[2014

iwanna.com

CHAMPIONS]

b y SE T H L I V I NGSTON E , NA S C A R W I R E SERV ICE

Matt Crafton Becomes First Back-to-Back Champion IN NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES HISTORY After becoming the first driver to ever win consecutive NASCAR Camping World Truck series titles, Matt Crafton could talk about making history.

“Definitely an awesome feeling,” Crafton said, after joining Ron Hornaday Jr., Todd Bodine and Jack Sprague as the only drivers to win the NCWTS crown more than once. “To be on the list with those guys is unreal. To say that I’ve done it back-to-back and no one has done that, it’s such a good, good feeling.”

But Crafton, sitting between crew chief (Carl) Junior Joiner and ThorSport Racing General Manager David Pepper, wasn’t about to take all the credit.

“To say I made history is definitely very, very cool. But it’s all about the guys that are behind me. Without them, I’m just an average race car driver at best.”

Completing his 14th full season, Crafton, 38, has run his entire NCWTS career for Sandusky, Ohio-based ThorSport and owners Duke and Rhonda Thorson.

“The very first time I sat down with Duke at the end of 2000 he told me going to run this like a business,” Crafton recalled. “He said: ‘We’re going to make it better and better each year but I’m not going to outspend myself or go away in two or three years. I’m going to be an owner who will be around for the long haul. If you want to stick it out with me, we’ll win races and win championships.’”

Stick it out, Crafton did. He didn’t win a race until 2008, finished no higher than fifth in the point standings until 2009 and didn’t win two races in a season until this year when he triumphed at Martinsville and Texas. Friday night was his

DRIVER OF THE NO. 88 MENARDS TOYOTA First back-to-back NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion

14th top five in 22 races.

“That’s what makes it so much sweeter to be where we are today,” Crafton said. “We didn’t have all the resources and all the tools that we have today. I’d say (Duke) has been a man of his word – as has Rhonda – since the day I met him.”

Crafton said that after winning his first title a year ago, he promised Joiner the team would lead more laps and win more races in 2014.

“We led 10 more laps and won two races,” he said. “We had the capability to win more if we didn’t have bad luck in the middle part of the season.

It’s a damn shame, because I feel we should have won at least five races, without a doubt.”

But Crafton is hardly complaining.

“I think I’m the luckiest man on earth,” he said. “I’m getting paid to do what I love. I’m getting paid to drive a race car.”

Crafton entered Friday’s EcoBoost 200 with a relatively comfortable 25-point lead on Ryan Blaney. He knew that a finish of 21st or better in the 36-truck field would get the job done.

He finished ninth, good enough to finish 21 points ahead of Blaney, who persevered for a fifth-place finish despite finishing the race with vise-grips replacing his broken shifter.

He also raced cautiously throughout the first half of the race, maintaining a low line to keep a safe distance from the wall while maintaining his spot within the top 10.

Any hope Blaney had virtually disintegrated during the fourth caution period of the race. The 20-year-old, who

WINS

TOP FIVES

TOP TENS

AVG FINISH

2 13 17 7.0

had been running second for much of the early going, suffered that shifter problem and dropped all the way to 15th on the restart.

“That was one of the worst trucks we’ve had all year,” Blaney said. “I can’t believe we (managed to) finish fifth. That was tough.”

Kyle Larson led 96 of the first 100 laps and ended up chasing Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Bubba Wallace to the finish line in the closing laps. Wallace, driving the No. 54 Tundra, was thrilled to finally “beat the boss.”

Kyle Busch Motorsports captured its third NCWTS owner’s championship in five seasons (second consecutively).

Erik Jones made 12 starts and Busch drove 10 races in the No. 51 Toyota Tundra, which edged ThorSport and Crafton for the owner’s title by 24 points.

“It’s a great milestone for

us,” said Busch, who is ineligible to race for the driver’s championship because he is a full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitor. “It’s what we can race for. We’ve had a lot of people come to KBM to work who have stayed a long time. Some move on to other things. That’s really what the Truck Series is all about: a proving ground and a growing series.”

Wallace’s victory gave KBM 14 wins for the season and provided Toyota with 18 triumphs, tying Chevrolet’s 2010 mark for most wins in a single season.

Ben Kennedy was named NCWTS Sunoco Rookie of the Year, despite settling for 17th in his No. 31 Chevrolet.

“We weren’t really all that great tonight,” Kennedy said, “but it pays off for the whole season we put together. It’s a testament to this team and how hard the guys at Turner

“TO BE ON THE LIST WITH THOSE GUYS IS UNREAL. TO SAY THAT I’VE DONE IT BACK-TOBACK AND NO ONE HAS DONE THAT, IT’S SUCH A GOOD, GOOD FEELING.” Scott Motorsports worked.

When we were on, we were really on – up there with the top dogs. When we were off, we struggled a little bit, but we worked hard and we worked together to make the most out of each position and each lap.”

Kennedy held off Tyler Reddick (sixth in his No. 19 Ford on Friday) for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors, based in part on each team’s 14 best finishes of the season.

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015 61

NASCAR HIGHLIGHTS

c our te s y of NA SC A R M E DI A

CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES

camping world sponsors truck series

austin dillion wins ncwts in no.3

In 2009, Camping World obtained sponsorship of the popular truck series. The season consisted of 25 races across 23 different tracks. Ron Hornaday Jr. won the championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

[2009]

The historic No. 3 truck, made most famous by Dale Earnhardt Sr., made it to the championship stage for the first time since 1994.

inaugural race at eldora speedway Austin Dillon made history as the first driver to win a NCWTS race on dirt on July 25, 2013 at Eldora Speedway, also marking the first time in four decades that a NASCAR national series ran on a dirt track.

[2011] [2010]

Multi-truck qualifying was unveiled during the series’ inaugural race weekend at “The Tricky Triangle.”

Elliott Sadler triumphed to win the Pocono Mountains 125 from the pole on July 31, 2010, his first victory since 2004 in any of NASCAR’s top three touring series.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will return to the “ShowMe” state on June 14, 2014 to race at Gateway Motorsports Park after a four year absence.

[2014] [2013] return to rockingham speedway

inaugural race at pocono raceway

return to gateway motorsports park

The historic No. 3 truck, made most famous by Dale Earnhardt Sr., made it to the championship stage for the first time since 1994.

inaugural race at canadian tire motorsport park Chase Elliott won his first national series race in an action-packed finish at Sunday’s inaugural Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. This was also the first time in 13 years that a NCWTS race took place on a road course.

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

62 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

[meet the stars]

iwanna.com

Notable Veterans

c our te s y of NA SC A R M E DI A

OF THE NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES

MATT CRAFTON

RON HORNADAY, JR.

TIMOTHY PETERS

GERMAN QUIROGA

JOHNNY SAUTER

• First back-to-back NCWTS Champion • 2013 NCWTS Champion • Holds the series record for consecutive starts: 338 (10/28/00 11/14/14) • First career NCWTS win came in 178th start: 5/16/08 (Charlotte) • 2000: Won NASCAR Southwest Series late model touring division championship • 338 career starts, 7 poles, 5 wins, 76 Top 5s, 192 Top 10s

• 2013: Started his 337th NCWTS race at Iowa-2, a record for most starts in the series, previously held

by Rick Crawford • 2011: Captured his 51st victory in the NCWTS, most in the series.

• 2009: Won record fourth NCWTS championship • 2009: Voted NCWTS “Driver of the Decade” • 2009: Became third driver - first in 38 years - to win five consecutive NASCAR national series races

• 2012: Led all 204 laps in Bristol NCWTS race, last accomplished by four-time series champion Ron Hornaday in 1997 • 2012: Career-best second in NCWTS standings • 2009: Won first career NCWTS race at home track, Martinsville, in October • 2002-2004: Won NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track championships at Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, N.C., and South Boston (Va.) Speedway

• 2013: Won first NCWTS pole at Iowa-1 • Ran four races for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Posted first career top-10 finish at Talladega • 2009-11: Won three consecutive championships in NASCAR Toyota Series championships becoming the first driver in series history to earn three straight titles • 2007: Made sole NASCAR Nationwide Series start in Mexico City, leading 12 laps

• 2013: Career-best three wins highlighted by superspeedway sweep (Daytona and Talladega).

• 2013: Tied NASCAR national series record by winning first two races of season.

• 2011: Finished career-best second in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings.

• 2009: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year.

• 2002: NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year runner-up while winning first series race and pole.

b o r n : JUNE 11, 1976 h o m e : TULARE, CA

b o r n : JUNE 20, 1958 h o m e : PALMDALE, CA

b o r n : AUG 29, 1980 h o m e : PROVIDENCE, NC

b o r n : MAY 20, 1980 h o m e : MEXICO CITY

b o r n : MAY 1, 1978 h o m e : NECEDAH, WI

15

17

10

4

9

318

346

164

30

83

5

51

7

0

0

76

154

32

2

1

192

226

75

9

3

7

27

6

1

0

49860

54934

24951

4263

21230

667

9666

1280

63

7

5,794,744

9,387,035

2,879,717

399,973

6,828,578

13.7

8.8

13.5

15.6

31.6

12.1

10.0

13.9

16.0

28.9

287

316

144

26

64

58238.6

58492.2

29447.0

5247.0

27646.7

233

262

109

18

18

0

0

0

0

34

MILES LLF DNQ

?

Most of the NASCAR teams have their garages in Charlotte, N.C. NASCAR sponsors 1500 races at over 100 tracks in 39 U.S. states and Canada.

Racecars don’t have fuel gauges. NASCAR

teams calculate fuel mileage, consumption and how much gas is in the tank based on the weight of the fuel poured.

The headlights, taillights and front grilles on a race car aren’t real – they’re decals.

The total weight of a Sprint Cup Series car is 3,450 pounds. That weight includes a

200-pound driver and helmet. If a driver weighs less than 200 pounds, weights are added in 10-pound increments to make sure all drivers weigh 200 pounds.

A race team will go through more than 15 sets of tires this week - and they have to pay the same $5 federal tire disposal fee that you do at the tire shop.

A race car generally uses three times as much motor oil — or about 13 quarts — as your passenger car.

All the money collected in fines during the year is donated to charity.

Most stock car races are held on oval asphalt tracks, the distance of which can vary from 5/8 of a mile to 2 2/3 mile.

The first NASCAR event was held on December 16, 1948 at the old Daytona Beach track, a course that made its way through the streets of the city before heading out onto the sands of the beach itself.

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

c our te s y of NA SC A R M E DI A

L-R, Mike Skinner, Jack Sprague, Ron Hornaday, Greg Biffle, Travis Kvapil, Mike Bliss, Bobby Hamilton Champions of the NCWTS during the NASCAR Sprint Cup All Star Weekend on May 20, 2005 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway

Mike Skinner [1995] 231 career starts, 50 poles, 28 wins, 90 top 5s, 144 top 10s • First start: 2/5/95 (Phoenix) • Last start: 2/24/12 (Daytona) • Won first-ever series race: 2/5/95 (Phoenix) • Holds the series record for most consecutive: Top 10 starts (32: 10/21/06 - 2/23/08); Total poles (8: 4/8/95 - 7/1/95); Superspeedway poles (4: 10/16/04 - 6/9/06) Ron Hornaday Jr. [1996, 1998, 2007, 2009]

360 career starts, 27 poles, 51 wins, 158 top 5s, 234 Top 10s • First start: 2/5/95 (Phoenix) • Last start: 10/31/14 (Texas) • First series win came in 2nd start: 4/28/95 (Tuscon) • Holds the series record for: o Most championships: 4 o Most starts: 360 o Most wins: 51

BY THE NUMBERS

FROM SKINNER TO CRAFTON, 13 CHAMPIONSHIPS, 20 SEASONS

Jack Sprague [1997. 1999, 2001] 297 career starts, 32 poles, 28 wins, 136 Top 5s, 192 Top 10s

Bobby Hamilton [2004] 102 career starts, 5 poles, 10 wins, 33 Top 5s, 54 Top 10s

• First start: 2/5/95 (Phoenix) • Last start: 11/14/08 (Homestead) • First series win came in 22nd start: 4/21/96 (Phoenix) • Holds the series record for most consecutive Top 10 finishes (24: 7/27/97 – 7/18/98)

• First start: 9/21/96 (Martinsville) • Last start: 3/17/06 (Atlanta) • First series win came in 14th start: 4/10/00 (Martinsville)

Greg Biffle [2000] 81 career starts, 12 poles, 16 wins, 42 Top 5s, 54 Top 10s • First start: 1/18/98 (Disney) • Last start: 11/19/04 (Homestead) • First series win came in 33rd start: 5/8/99 (Memphis) • Holds the series record for: o Most wins in a season: 9 (1999) o Consecutive Top 5 finishes (12, 5/7/00 – 8/3/00) Mike Bliss [2002] 203 career starts, 18 poles, 12 wins, 61 Top 5s, 109 Top 10s • First start: 2/5/95 (Phoenix) • Last start: 11/20/09 (Homestead) • First series win came in 16th start: 9/30/95 (North Wilkesboro)

IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015 63

Ted Musgrave [2005] 192 career starts, 12 poles, 17 wins, 80 Top 5s, 119 Top 10s • First start: 10/28/95 (Phoenix) • Last start: 2/13/10 (Daytona) • First series win came in 5th start: 3/4/01 (Homestead) Todd Bodine [2006, 2010] 220 career starts, 7 poles, 22 wins, 92 Top 5s, 124 Top 10s • First start: 7/29/95 (Heartland Park) • Last start: 8/3/13 (Pocono) • First series win came in 11th start: 10/2/04 (Auto Club)

• First start: 9/5/09 (Iowa) • Last start: 11/7/14 (Phoenix) • First series win came in 12th start: 7/10/10 (Iowa) James Buescher [2012] 116 career starts, 5 poles, 6 wins, 31 Top 5s, 60 Top 10s • First start: 11/14/08 (Homestead) • Last start: 11/15/13 (Homestead) • First series win came in 76th start: 4/21/12 (Kansas) Matt Crafton [2013,2014] 338 career starts, 7 poles, 5 wins, 76 Top 5s,192 Top 10s • First start: 10/28/00 (Auto Club) • Last start: 11/14/14 (Homestead) • First series win came in 178th start: 5/16/08 (Charlotte) • Holds the series record for consecutive starts: 338 (10/28/00 – 11/14/14) • First back-to-back series champion

Johnny Benson [2008] 138 career starts, 5 poles, 14 wins, 58 Top 5s, 90 Top 10s

Travis Kvapil [2003] 147 career starts, 4 poles, 9 wins, 51 Top 5s, 85 Top 10s

• First start: 2/5/95 (Phoenix) • Last start: 6/4/10 (Texas) • First series win came in 60th start: 6/17/06 (Michigan)

• First start: 2/16/01 (Daytona) • Last start: 8/16/14 (Michigan) • First series win came in 21st start: 10/5/01(Texas)

Austin Dillon [2011] 63 career starts, 12 poles, 6 wins, 21 Top 5s, 41 Top 10s

Matt Crafton, driver of the #88 Jeld-Wen/Menards Toyota, after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship after the Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 14, 2014 in Homestead, Florida.

64 IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 65

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

66 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

iwanna.com

[meet the stars] c our te s y of NA SC A R M E DI A

NASCAR NEXT Graduates OF THE NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES

JENNIFER JO COBB NO. 10 JJC RACING

TEAM: Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing CREW CHIEF: Steve Kuykendall MANUFACTURER: Chevrolet

CAREER STARTS: 72 BEST CAREER FINISH: 6th – Feb. 18, 2011 (Daytona) BEST CAREER START: 14th – March 27, 2010 (Martinsville-1) BEST POINTS FINISH: 17th – 2010 FIRST FULL SEASON: 2010 FIRST START: April 26, 2008 (Kansas)

RYAN BLANEY b o r n : DECEMBER 31, 1993 h o m e : HIGH POINT, NC

JEB BURTON b o r n : AUGUST 6, 1992 h o m e : HALIFAX, VA

BEN KENNEDY b o r n : DECEMBER 26, 1991 h o m e : DAYTONA BEACH, FL

DARELL WALLACE, JR b o r n : OCTOBER 8, 1993 h o m e : MOBILE, AL

• 2013: Won NCWTS Sunoco Rookie of the Year award • 2013: Won first career NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kentucky-2.

• 2011: PASS South Super Late Model Championship winner, with two race victories • 2010: CRA Southern Six-Pack late model champion • NOTEWORTHY: In 2009 at age 15 voted PASS South Super Late Model Championship Rookie of the Year. Son of former World of Outlaws sprint car champion and current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular Dave Blaney.

• 2013: First career NCWTS win, at Texas-1 • 2012: Won first career NASCAR Whelen All-American Series late model feature at South Boston (Va.) Speedway, continuing his family’s legacy at the lengendary track • 2011: Won five late model stock car features at Ace Speedway in Altmamahaw, NC • 2010: Late model stock car rookie of the year at South Boston Speedway • NOTEWORTHY: Following the career path of his father, Ward, and uncle, current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Burton.

• 2013: Made NCWTS debut at Bristol Motor Speedway • 2013: Won first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Five Flags Speedway in Florida, followed by a second win at Bowman Gray stadium in North Carolina • 2013: Voted Most Popular Driver in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East • 2012: Won first NASCARsanctioned race in Europe at Tours Speedway in France • 2010: Won Super Late Model championship at Orlando Speedworld • 2009: Captured Pro Truck championships at Orlando Speedworld and New Smyrna Speedway.

2

• 2013: First African-American to win a NASCAR national series event since 1963 when he won at Martinsville-2.

• 2013: Collected first pole in the NCWTS at Dover • 2012: First African-American to win a NASCAR Nationwide Series pole, in fourth career attempt, at Dover-2 • 2010: Youngest winner in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East History • 2010: As a member of Rev Racing and the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program, won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Sunoco Rookie of the Year

3

3

2

33

29

7

24

2

1

0

1

11

5

2

6

20

13

2

13

2

7

0

1

4914

4458

1219

3605

223

289

52

374

634,328

561,620

85,581

397,047

10.6

9.2

13.0

11.3

11.2

12.5

14.7

12.8

30

27

6

20

5747.8

5166.7

1160.0

4274.7

27

21

4

18

0

0

0

0

BIRTHDATE: June 12, 1973 HOMETOWN: Kansas City, Kan. RESIDES: Kansas City, Kan. HOBBIES: Working out, reading

• 2013: Finished 25th in series points. Started 16 of the 22 races.

Best start, 24th at Las Vegas.

Average start, 31.3.Best finish, 17th at Kansas. Average finish, 27.6.

• 2012: Finished 27th in series points. Best start, 24th at Pocono.

Best finish, 16th at Kentucky.

• 2011: Raced part-time in series.

Best start, 26th at Las Vegas. Best finish, 6th at Daytona. Competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series as well and was ROTY contender.

• 2010: First full-time season in series. Finished 17th in series points. Best start, 14th at Martinsville-1. Best finish, 14th at Darlington, Texas-1.

• OTHER RACING HISTORY: Began racing in 1991 at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, KS when it was an asphalt oval. Raced at Lakeside and I-70 Speedways in Odessa, MO for 10 years before competing in her first ARCA event at the Kansas Speedway in 2002 where she finished 16th. In 2004 she competed in 3 ARCA events and had 3 top-10 finishes (Kansas-9th, Nashville7th, Chicagoland-10th). She qualified 28th out of 55 competitors in her first NASCAR Nationwide Series event in 2004 at Homestead.

She entered her first full time season in NCWTS in 2010 with her own team.Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Burton.

• NOTEWORTHY: In 2011 she founded a not for profit organization, Driven2Honor.org, to honor female military members at each of her NASCAR events with a VIP behind the scenes experience www.Driven2Honor.org. She is NASCAR’s only female owner/driver.

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 67

2013

2013

2014

SHOWROOM

2014

SHOWROOM

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

68 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

iwanna.com

RYAN BLANEY PUTS PEDAL TO WOOD METAL

by PETE ZAMPLAS

BLANEY, after winning the Food City 300. (Patrick Smith, Getty Images)

THE WOOD BROTHERS hope their 21-year-old driver Ryan Blaney can eventually ace the Spring Cup field, motoring part-time in the Motorcraft no.

21 Ford Fusion..

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 2014 series runner-up Blaney succeeds Trevor Bayne, who after four years moves into full-time Cup racing with Roush.

The Wood Brothers now have a technical alliance with rising Team Penske, instead of Roush.

Blaney will drive in Cup with Wood, and Xfinity (formerly Nationwide) for Penske. He relishes “becoming part of the Penske family.”

Wood chopped back Cup efforts since 2009. But owner Eddie Wood told NASCAR Radio’s The Morning Drive he foresees

“I GET TO RUN GREAT RACE CARS, ACROSS DIFFERENT SERIES.” enough sponsorship to return to full-time. “With this move over to Team Penske, people are looking to get us back to the track more,” Wood said. “I think if we have some success and just

keep doing what we’re doing, I think eventually we can get back full time.” The 21’s sponsors include Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford.

The team has shined most on superspeedways Daytona and Talladega, will race at Ford’s home track at Michigan International as well as Charlotte, Indy and Texas, Eddie Wood said.

Blaney drove Brad Keselowski Racing’s no. 29 Ford F-150 to the checkered flag by under a half-second in one race last year.

He was voted the series’ most popular driver. Also in 2014, he resumed with Penske for a halfseason in Nationwide.

Blaney moves up with Jeremy Bullins, his crew chief in Xfinity, for at least 12 Cup races, and will apply what they learned from longer races. Last year they won at Bristol, and teamed for both of his Penske Cup starts. He totaled 16 starts for a half-season to along with full-time in trucks in 2014. He foregoes trucks now, but in 2015 should race nearly full-time combined in the top two series.

“You are not racing for a driver championship in anything” as he did with trucks, Blaney lamented. “But on the upside, I get to run great race cars, across different series. We can still look on it and gain good experience leading into 2016.”

Blaney needs little blarney his way, to realize the fine-grained Wood Brothers legacy. They have NASCAR’s longest tenure, now in their 65th year and all with Ford. The Woods are within two of 100 Cup victories.

Bayne won the 2011 Daytona 500, for them.

Their NASCAR Hall of Fame drivers include Junior Johnson, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, and Bill Elliott. The team has won at least one NASCAR Cup race in each of the last seven decades. Brothers Glen (Eddie’s father) and Leonard are also Hall of Famers, mostly as owners. Glen drove to Victory Lane four times. Leonard has been a master mechanic. When inducted in 2012, Glen Wood said “this is about two families, the Wood family and the Ford family working together.”

Blaney calls it “amazing, to get to talk to Leonard and Glen for the whole day, and to get a tour of their race shop and their cars” in the team’s museum in Stuart, Va. Blaney told Motor Racing Network how “they explained every single trophy.

It’s just amazing detail they put into that place.” He added, “ They are great people, and I’m really lucky to be able to drive for them.”

The third-generation NASCAR driver has his own NASCAR family history. His father Dave Blaney, 52, started 473 Cup races in 17 years through 2014.

Dave now races only sprint cars.

He grew up near Youngstown, Ohio.

Ryan was born in High Point on New Year’s Eve of 1993. Dale Earnhardt Sr. won his sixth Cup title that year, while top rookie Jeff Gordon launched a career that ends this season.

Blaney’s first win was at age 9, in quarter midget racing. At 12, he won the Lowe’s points title in Legends. He graduated to late models at 14. At 16 in 2010, he won at nearby GreenvillePickens Speedway in the PASS South Super Late Model Series.

He won that series in 2011, a year after taking the Champion Racing Association (CRA) Southern Six Pack. He was a top-10 regular in ARCA and K&N, in 2011.

He was youngest to win a Camping World Truck Series race. He did so at 18, for Penske in 2012, when he drove in six Nationwide contests for Tommy Baldwin Racing.

Blaney moved to BKR fulltime in 2013 in the F-150 and was sixth in standings, and won a Nationwide race and top rookie honors. He racked up 22 top-five finishes and three wins in 53 truck races in three years. He had 23 top-tens and 12 top-fives in 30 Nationwide starts.

Ryan and his father Dave competed in NASCAR once —in trucks last year, on the half-mile clay oval of Eldora (Ohio).

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 69

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

70 IWANNA® FEBRUARY 17, 2015

iwanna.com

QUALIFYING 101 NASCAR FAST FACTS HOW DOES THIS NEW QUALIFYING IMPACT THE COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD OR KEYSTONE LIGHT POLE AWARD? The fastest driver in the final round of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying will earn the Coors Light Pole Award. The fastest driver in the final round of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying will earn the Keystone Light Pole Award.

Q

HOW WILL THE CARS/ TRUCKS BE LINED UP FOR THE FIRST ROUND OF QUALIFYING? Cars/trucks will be lined up on pit road based on a random draw.

Q

WHERE WILL THE CARS/ TRUCKS THAT ADVANCE GO BETWEEN ROUNDS? Cars/trucks that advance return to their respective pit stalls in preparation for the next round of qualifying.

Q

HOW MUCH FUEL MUST A VEHICLE HAVE ON BOARD FOR QUALIFYING? NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series vehicles must begin qualifying with a fuel cell full of fuel in the first round. The addition of fuel will not be allowed between rounds.

Q

WHAT KIND OF ADJUSTMENTS CAN BE MADE ON PIT ROAD DURING QUALIFYING? With the exception of Daytona and Talladega, teams in all three national series can make wedge, track bar, tire pressure and tape adjustments on pit road during rounds. Between rounds at all tracks, the same adjustments can be made and oil may be plugged in. Only one helmeted crew member is allowed over the wall during each round. Up to three crew members can make the adjustments between rounds. A team cannot jack up the vehicle or raise the hood.

WHAT HAPPENS IF QUALIFYING CAN’T BE COMPLETED BECAUSE OF WEATHER OR OTHER ADVERSE CONDITIONS? If one or more qualifying sessions are completed, the starting positions will be determined based on the mostrecently completed qualifying sessions.

Q

Q

WHAT HAPPENS IF A CAR/ TRUCK IS INVOLVED IN AN ON TRACK INCIDENT DURING ONE OF THE QUALIFYING ROUNDS? ARE THEY PERMITTED TO RETURN TO PIT ROAD AND/ OR THE GARAGE TO MAKE REPAIRS? Repairs are not permissible on pit road or in the garage during qualifying. Once a vehicle returns to the garage, it will not be permitted to return or compete in that qualifying round or any future qualifying rounds for that event.

Q

WILL VEHICLES’ TOP LAP SPEEDS CARRY OVER BETWEEN ROUNDS? No. Top lap speeds are reset after each round.

Q

WILL THIS FORMAT ALSO BE USED FOR ROAD COURSES? This format will be used at all NASCAR tracks across all three national series, with the exception of the Daytona 500 and non-points NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway.

Q

WILL PIT STALL SELECTIONS BE HANDLED AS THEY HAVE BEEN PREVIOUSLY, WITH THE NO. 1 QUALIFIER GETTING FIRST CHOICE, NO. 2 QUALIFIER GETTING THE SECOND CHOICE, ETC.?

The pit stall selection process post-qualifying will remain the same.

Q JIMMIE JOHNSON (NASCAR via Getty Images)

WILL NASCAR STOP THE CLOCK DURING A QUALIFYING ROUND BECAUSE OF AN INCIDENT? The clock will stop if the red flag is displayed and it can also be stopped at the discretion of the managing director of the series.

Q

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE CLOCK STRIKES ZERO AT THE END OF A ROUND? Vehicles are allowed to cross the start/finish line one time to complete a timed lap.

Q

DOES A CAR/TRUCK HAVE TO COMPETE FOR THE ENTIRE DURATION OF A SESSION? No, but the vehicle must complete one lap in order to record a qualifying time.

Q

Q

DOES THE NEW QUALIFYING FORMAT

IMPACT PROVISIONALS? No. NASCAR’s provisional system remains intact and provisionals will be assigned at the end of the first round of qualifying.

WHAT IF TWO OR MORE VEHICLES FINISH TIED WITH THE SAME TOP LAP SPEED? If multiple vehicles are tied with the same top lap speed, their starting position will be determined by the owner point standings. If owner points cannot break the tie, the driver setting the duplicate time first would start in front of the other. Note: Owner points from the previous season will be used to break ties until the completion of the third championship event of the current season.

Q

Ready, Set, Go, Reset!

Top laps speeds reset after each round. If you want to advance, you have to continue to go faster than your competition.

Pit Road Dos & Dont’s

Except at Daytona and Talladega, teams can make limited adjustments during each round with one helmeted crew member only. Up to three crew members can make adjustments during each break at all tracks. Adjustments include rear wedge, track bar, tire pressure and tape.

Repairs cannot be made on pit road. Vehicles must follow NASCAR’s pit entry, pit exit and pit road speed requirements.

Beat The Clock!

Once the clock strikes zero, the vehicle can pass the start/ finish line one time.

Keep Out Of The Garage

Once a car re-enters the garage, it is removed from qualifying and positioned in the starting lineup by its top lap speed in its last round competed.

—NASCAR MEDIA

iwanna.com

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015 71

72 IWANNA速 FEBRUARY 17, 2015

NASCAR 2015 SEASON PREVIEW

iwanna.com