CONCORD, N.C. — NASCAR has changed the length of stages for 16 Cup races this season, primarily shortening the final stage in those events.
The overall length of those races did not change, except for the Pocono doubleheader events. NASCAR also announced that with the stages changing, the end of Stage 2 will go beyond the halfway point of the race. NASCAR stated that a Cup race would be official at the halfway point should it have to end early, a change from last year.
NASCAR reveled the changes to reporters Tuesday at the NASCAR R&D Center.
Here are the changes:
At speedway races, the Daytona 500 stages will now be 65 laps/65/70. The final stage of last year’s Daytona 500 was 80 laps.
At Talladega, the stages will be 60/60/68 laps. The final stage for last year’s races there were 78 laps.
“With the 550 engine package, the fuel mileage was different and the fuel windows got really tight before this change,” said Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition. “All this does is make it so in the final stage there is more than a couple of lap option for the whole field to pit and it gives a little bit more leeway at the end on fuel should we go into overtime. That’s why the speedway races got changed.”
At intermediate tracks:
Atlanta’s Cup race will feature stages that are 105/105/115 laps. Last year’s final stage at Atlanta was 155 laps.
The Cup races at Texas will have stages of 105/105/124. Last year’s final stage was 164 laps.
Darlington’s Cup race will have stages of 115/115/137. The final stage of last year’s Southern 500 was 167 laps.
“The way those races laid out before, (they) had an extremely long third stage with two green-flag stops necessary,” Miller said. “So what we did was we shortened the final stage. It now only has to have one green-flag stop. The center stage is longer, but we kind of collectively thought, having that last stage not be so long … would keep the field tighter and make for more exciting racing.”
At tracks 1 mile or less in length, the changes are:
Phoenix Raceway, site of the championship race, will now have stages of 75/115/122. The final stage at Phoenix last year was 162 laps.
New Hampshire’s Cup race will have stages of 75/110/116 laps. The final stage of last year’s race there was 151 laps.
Dover’s Cup races will have stages of 75/162/163 laps. The final stage of last year’s race was 160 laps.
Richmond’s Cup races will have stages of 80/155/165 laps. The final stage of last year’s race was 200 laps.
“Phoenix, New Hampshire, Dover and Richmond, the goal there was to create some stages that potentially gave us some more strategy options for the crew chiefs,” Miller said. “Typically, those races laid out to where there was no stop necessary in Stage 1 and Stage 2 and a green-flag stop necessary in Stage 3. These shifts in stage length put us to where … there is a need for a green-flag stop in the second and the third stage. Some more strategy options available there.”
New this year is the Pocono doubleheader on June 27-28. The Saturday race is 130 laps and will feature stages of 25/52/53 laps. The Sunday race is 140 laps and will feature stages of 30/55/55.
Miller said that stage lengths had yet to be set this season for the races at Watkins Glen, Sonoma and the Charlotte Roval.
“At the road courses, there’s only one green flag stop that is necessary and that is in the third stage,” Miller said. “We’re talking about reducing the fuel cell capacity and creating some stage lengths that again create a green-flag stop in Stage 2 and Stage 3. Still some work to do there on particulars on the fuel cell and make sure that everything works with the industry. I think we will probably get there.”
Miller also said that NASCAR explored the notion of four stages for every event — only the Coca-Cola 600 has four stages — but that was dropped.
CITGARD, a part of the CITGO Petroleum Corporation, will sponsor John Hunter Nemechek in the 2020 NASCAR Cup season as it expands its partnership with Front Row Motorsports.
CITGARD will back Nemechek in five races during his rookie campaign in the No. 38 Ford, beginning with the Feb. 16 Daytona 500.
It will return at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (July 19), Michigan International Speedway (Aug. 9), Bristol Motor Speedway (Sept. 19) and the ROVAL at Charlotte Motor Speedway (Oct. 11).
MORE: Speedy Cash expands sponsorship of John Hunter Nemechek
CITGARD was a sponsor for David Ragan in three races last year and made its debut with Front Row Motorsports in the 2018 race at Darlington when Ragan drove a Dale Jarrett CITGO throwback scheme.
“CITGO Petroleum is an iconic brand in NASCAR,” Nemechek said in a press release. “Growing up in NASCAR, everyone knows the colors of CITGO and the past two seasons the CITGARD brand has brought the company back into the sport with FRM. It’s awesome to join their team and carry on their tradition and winning history. I can’t wait to represent CITGARD in the Daytona 500. There is no better race to start this relationship.”
For the second straight year, NASCAR Cup Series driver Kurt Busch will give away 100-plus tickets to all 36 Cup races – as well as the non-points Busch Clash and All-Star races – to military veterans.
Busch once again partners with Veterans Ticket Foundation (Vet Tix), which oversees the distribution of tickets as part of the KB100 Plus program. Last season, Vet Tix received over 50,000 requests for 3,800 NASCAR race tickets that were distributed. Since 2008, Vet Tix has provided over 9 million free event tickets to a variety of sports events to more than 1.5 million military veterans. For more information visit www.vettix.org.
“I have always had a strong desire to pay respect to those who have served and continue to serve our country,” Busch said in a media release. “My hope is that with help from others we can enhance the offering for more deserving Vet Tix members to attend races this season, hence KB100+.”
Time to pay up! Happy to announce another season of the @VetTix KB100 ticket program for veterans! And because of the demand last season, it’s now the KB100+ as we’re calling on all tracks, drivers and sponsors to help us add to my 100 tickets per event. No amount is too little! https://t.co/j0T2MdisOk
— Kurt Busch (@KurtBusch) January 28, 2020
CONCORD, N.C. — While Ryan Blaney says he’s not treated like it by his Team Penske peers, he knows how his performance output has compared to his teammates over the last few years.
“I look back and I’ve been the third best performing driver since ’16,” Blaney said during a media event Monday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “You don’t want to be that guy. That’s something I want to change really bad.”
Blaney, who is in the last year of his contract with the team, admitted being “the last guy” can “put your job in jeopardy.”
In his first four full-time Cup seasons, two with the Penske-aligned Wood Brothers Racing before transitioning to Penske’s No. 12 car, Blaney has three wins and 26 top fives. His wins have come at a pace of one a year starting in 2017, with two earned in dramatic last-lap fashion on the Charlotte Roval and last season at Talladega.
“You don’t want to be a one-win a year guy,” Blaney said. “People tell me that it’s better than no wins a year. You want to be level or above your teammates. That’s just a competitor thing.”
Enter Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. Keselowski had 13 wins and 56 top fives in the last four seasons, while Logano claimed nine wins, 51 top fives and the 2018 Cup championship.
“I don’t want to be the bottom of the totem pole,” Blaney said. “I’m not treated like that. I’m not saying that. I get everything those guys get. … Joey and Brad are great. They’re both champions. I want to be better than those guys, that’s obviously the goal. It’s a personal thing. I need to get better.”
He hopes Team Penske’s major crew chief/crew shakeup announced earlier this month will do a lot toward making that a reality.
The 26-year-old driver enters his fifth full-time Cup season paired with crew chief Todd Gordon, who moves over to the No. 12 after eight years working on the No. 22. Seven of those were spent with Logano behind the wheel.
Blaney’s previous crew chief, Jeremy Bullins, is now paired with Keselowski on the No. 2 Ford and Keselowski’s former crew chief, Paul Wolfe, is paired with Logano.
“I wouldn’t say I needed a kick in the ass,” Blaney said of the shakeup. “I feel like when things like that happen, they happen so abruptly and it’s a big change for everybody. It kind of opens some people’s eyes. ‘Oh, ok we weren’t doing as good as we thought. We need to be better.’ They’re not afraid to make a change. It might get everyone hungry. I want to show I can do this with a new person. … Change can be good. If you’re going to make change, don’t make a little change. I’m a big fan of big overhauls. I think it will give everyone a big jolt of energy. We’ll find out in about a month.”
Gordon has proven what he can do with a young driver who has struggled to produce consistent success.
When Logano arrived at Team Penske in 2013 at the age of 23, he brought with him a four-year record at Joe Gibbs Racing that saw him win twice, in his first and final years with the team.
While they only won once in 2013, over the next three years Logano and Gordon claimed 14 victories. After missing the playoffs in 2017, they won five times over the last two seasons and won the 2018 title.
“Working with someone new is going to challenge me more to learn him and you kind of combine your two knowledges,” Blaney said. “You have your own language, right? You mesh them together and you hopefully understand and work on and both make sure you understand.”
Richard Childress Racing announced Tuesday that Andy Street has been promoted to crew chief for the No. 21 Xfinity car that will feature drivers Myatt Snider, Anthony Alfredo and Kaz Grala this season.
Street has been with RCR for 16 years. He joined the team as a design and test engineer. He served as an engineer in Cup, scoring 10 wins with Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer. Most recently, Street’s role was as an engineer in the Xfinity Series. His duties included R&D work as a design engineer specializing on chassis and suspension systems.
“Andy is a brilliant design engineer, who has spent a lot of time and effort at RCR over the past 16 years,” said Andy Petree, vice president of competition, in a statement from the team. “When Andy stepped into the Xfinity Series crew chief role in Richmond Raceway last fall, I was very impressed with how he went about the weekend running and leading the race team. He proved he is worthy of this role. He’ll be the perfect complement to both Justin Alexander and Randall Burnett because of his engineering background and having worked with both of these guys on the R&D side of the company.”
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