CUP: Weekly NASCAR News And Notes

Sprint Cup

CUP: Weekly NASCAR News And Notes

A roundup of the week's news items from around NASCAR's Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series...

Jared Turner | Posted September 22, 2011 Charlotte, NC

Greg Biffle missed the Chase but knows how to win at New Hampshire. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

New Hampshire Could Play To Non-Chasers: Of the 71 races since the inception of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, only 13 have been won by drivers who weren't Chase-eligible. From that perspective, the odds are against a non-Chaser prevailing on Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. But if there is one Chase track — besides notoriously unpredictable Talladega — where a non-Chase driver could break through, it might be NHMS. The last four winners of the New Hampshire Chase race — Clint Bowyer (twice), Mark Martin and Greg Biffle — all failed to qualify for this year's playoff segment. Also, five of the top 10 finishers from July’s New Hampshire race didn't go on to make the Chase.

Newman Cool With Tow Rule: In a race in which several drivers ran out of fuel in the final laps, Matt Kenseth was the biggest loser in Monday's GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. Kenseth, who was strong throughout, ran out of fuel on the last lap and rolled across the finish line in eighth after getting a push from the lapped car of J.J. Yeley. But NASCAR rules prohibit drivers from receiving assistance on the final lap so Kenseth was penalized, dropping him to 21st and the first car one lap down in the final running order. Asked this week if he minds the rule that penalizes drivers for getting a last-lap tow, fellow Chase driver Ryan Newman asserted that he doesn't. "I think it's fine the way it is," Newman said. "I personally forget about that rule. I was looking for somebody to push me that last lap running out of fuel coming off of turn two. It's not something typically we as drivers have to worry about. At the same time, if it does happen, there's never usually that arranging of the stars for somebody to come push you and assist you. Obviously for him (Kenseth), there was. I think that there is good merit and a good understanding as to why (the rule is there), because it can have such a huge influence on, I guess, maybe the extra team aspect of it."

Two Tracks Announce 2012 Dates: Watkins Glen International officials announced this week that the New York road course will host the Sprint Cup Series next season for the 27th consecutive year. The Cup series will race on Aug. 12, preceded a day earlier by the Nationwide Series and GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. Moved from its traditional weekend a season ago, this is the second-consecutive year that Watkins Glen will host NASCAR the second weekend of August. Richmond International Raceway, meanwhile, announced 2012 race weekend dates of April 26-28 and Sept. 7-8. RIR will host the annual Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown for the second time during the spring weekend. The Sept. 8 date will again feature the final event of the Sprint Cup Series' 26-race regular season leading up to the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Cup Pit Stops: Since he broke his ankle prior to the August Pocono race, Brad Keselowski has scored more points than any other NASCAR Sprint Cup driver, with 289 points to Jeff Gordon's next-best tally of 262. … Tommy Baldwin Racing will team with the NASCAR Hall of Fame at New Hampshire to celebrate Richie Evans’ induction into the Hall in January. In Sunday’s race, Dave Blaney will drive the No. 36 Golden Corral/HOF/Richie Evans Chevrolet, sporting an orange paint scheme reminiscent of Evans’ distinctive Modified machine. … Casey Mears will make his 300th start on Sunday while Kyle Busch will make series start No. 250. … In July’s New Hampshire race, Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart started and finished 1-2, making it the first time a team had done that since the 1989 Daytona 500 with Hendrick Motorsports teammates Darrell Waltrip and Ken Schrader. But unlike the 1989 Daytona 500, Newman won from the pole while teammate Stewart started and finished second. The last time the same team started 1-2 then finished 1-2 with the same drivers in the same order was April 7, 1957. Fireball Roberts won from the pole while teammate Paul Goldsmith of the North Wilkesboro, N.C.-based DePaolo Engineering team started second and finished second.

Hornaday Chasing 50: Ron Hornaday could be primed to capture his milestone 50th Truck Series victory on Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The four-time champion owns the best record of any series driver at the 1.058-mile oval. He won the track’s first event in 1996, broke its string of 11 consecutive different winners in 2007 and became NHMS’s first back-to-back winner the following year. NHMS is one of 30 tracks where the now 53-year-old California native has won, and was part of Hornaday’s championship resume in 1996 and 2007. “You've really got to have the whole package at this race track to come through the field," he said. "Track position is critical, so hopefully we will have a fast Chevrolet in qualifying and be able to start up front." Hornaday is one of two drivers with multiple victories entered in Saturday’s F.W. Webb 175. Kyle Busch is the other – and Busch is going for his third consecutive NHMS victory.

Chevrolet is in position to claim the 2011 manufacturer title in the Truck Series. (Photo: Getty Images)

Chevy Seeking Truck Manufacturer Title: Toyota has dominated the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in recent years, winning three driver championships and five straight manufacturer titles. However, this season has proven different. With 10 wins, Chevrolet currently holds an eight-point lead over Toyota (eight wins) with seven races remaining. Last season, Toyota won four of the final seven events while Chevrolet claimed victories in the other three.

Truck Series Tidbits: Two-time defending NASCAR Mexico Series champion German Quiroga will make his series debut for Kyle Busch Motorsports at New Hampshire. Quiroga signed a one-race deal to pilot KBM's No. 51 Toyota Tundra with sponsorship from Telcel. … Steve Arpin won his first series pole at Chicagoland Speedway. Arpin, making just his fifth appearance, is the 14th different pole winner of the season and second Turner Motorsports driver to snag the No. 1 starting spot. Teammate Ricky Carmichael sat on the pole in Atlanta. … Rookies Nelson Piquet Jr. and Parker Kligerman finished third and fourth in Chicago, respectively. The two account for a combined seven top-five finishes in 2011 with each netting second-place performances. The Sunoco rookie battle remains tight with Cole Whitt leading Joey Coulter by eight points. … Jimmy Villeneuve, truck chief of Piquet’s No. 8 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet, will be heading home this week to race in front of family and friends during the F.W. Webb 175. Originally from Auburn, N.H., Villeneuve got his start in racing working on Super Late Models at a local short track, Lee USA Speedway.

NNS Title Battle Tight: The Nationwide Series has a rare weekend off but it's game on in the battle for the 2011 championship. With the series set to return to competition at Dover on Oct. 1, youngster Ricky Stenhouse Jr. holds a slim 14-point lead over veteran Elliott Sadler. Although 47 points back in third, Reed Sorenson also still has life. Dover may prove to be where Sorenson makes up ground. In 10 series races at the "Monster Mile", Sorenson’s average finish is 7.2. He has never finished worse than seventh in a Dover fall race, and was fourth in this event last year. He finished third in May.

Nationwide Nuggets: Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brian Scott enjoyed a weekend to remember at Chicagoland Speedway. After posting his first series pole, Scott went on to match his series-best finish of third. ... Elliott Sadler is using the open weekend to spend time with family and friends. On Sunday, he’ll head to Raleigh, N.C., to visit his good friend, country music star Blake Shelton, who will be performing in concert with Brad Paisley. ... Timmy Hill (180 points) and Blake Koch (178) continue to battle for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year title. Hill will look to hold on to the lead on Oct. 1 at Dover where he finished 22nd compared to Koch’s 43rd-place finish earlier this season. … The series owner standings are still led by Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 team, but the No. 60 team of Roush Fenway Racing has closed the gap to 30 points with six races to go.

Jared Turner is an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.