What hangover? Daytona 500 champions usually fare well in next race

By Daniel McFadinFeb 23, 2016, 5:41 PM EST

Matt Kenseth celebrating a win at Auto Club Speedway in 2009. Kenseth is the last driver to win the first two races of a Sprint Cup season. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

This week Denny Hamlin is a busy man.

The Daytona 500 champion is in the middle of a marathon of at least 15 media appearances on TV and radio with social media hijinks sprinkled in.

Eventually, the victory lap will come to an end. That will be Friday when Hamlin hits the track to prepare for the next race, Sunday’s Folds of Honor Quik Trip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

But don’t go thinking Hamlin will be slow on the uptake once he returns to the track, even if he did only have one hour of sleep between the time he won the Daytona 500 and his appearance on NASCAR America around 6 p.m. the next day.

According to recent history, the Daytona 500 champion has not been slowed down in the race immediately following the season opener.

In the last seven years, the Daytona 500 winner has finished in the top five four times. That’s as the second race of the year transitioned between three different tracks: Auto Club Speedway (2005 – 2010), Phoenix International Raceway (2011 – 2014) and now Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Last season, Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano earned the pole at Atlanta, led 84 laps and finished fourth.

After earning his second Daytona 500 win in 2014, Dale Earnhardt Jr. went to Phoenix and finished second after starting 15th. Though he didn’t lead any laps, it was his third top-five finish in a row at the track

In 2013, Jimmie Johnson also won his second 500 and followed it up by starting third in Phoenix and finishing second with one lap led.

One of the few exceptions in recent years was Matt Kenseth in 2012. Kenseth answered his second Daytona 500 win by starting 26th at PIR and finishing 13th. Though he has one win in Phoenix (2002), the 1-mile track is Kenseth’s fourth worst in terms of average finish (16.6).

But it is Kenseth who can claim to be the last driver to win the first two races of a Sprint Cup season. In 2009, Kenseth won Daytona then took the party to the West Coast and won at Auto Club Speedway after starting 24th and leading 84 laps.

Before him, Jeff Gordon was the last to accomplish the feat in 1997 (Daytona, Rockingham).

Prior to Logano’s victory in 2015, the previous first-time winner in the Daytona 500 was Trevor Bayne in 2011. A week later, Bayne wrecked out of the Phoenix race on Lap 49 in a single-car accident. He finished 40th.

And like Logano last year, Jamie McMurray answered his 500 win in 2010 by earning the pole in Fontana. But the No. 1 car failed to lead a lap and finished 17th.

What can be expected from Hamlin at Atlanta?

In 16 races on the 1.54-mile track, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has an average finish of 18.1 with one win (2012) and one pole (2010). He has three top-five and six top-10 finishes. His 2015 visit ended in 38th after the No. 11 was involved in a four-car crash on Lap 257.

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NASCAR Saturday schedule at Sonoma Raceway

By Dustin LongJun 10, 2023, 7:00 AM EDT

Cup and Xfinity teams will be on track Saturday at Sonoma Raceway.

Cup teams will practice and qualify for Sunday’s race. Xfinity teams will qualify and race Saturday on the 1.99-mile road course in Northern California.

Sonoma Raceway

Weather

Saturday: Mostly cloudy with a high of 75 degrees. Forecast is for mostly cloudy skies, a high of 71 degrees and no chance of rain at the start of the Xfinity race.

Saturday, June 10

(All times Eastern)

Garage open

12 p.m. – 8 p.m. — Cup Series
1 p.m. — Xfinity Series

Track activity

3 – 4 p.m. — Xfinity qualifying (FS1)
5 – 6 p.m. — Cup practice (FS2)
6 – 7 p.m. — Cup qualifying (FS2)
8 p.m. — Xfinity race (79 laps, 156.95 miles; FS1, Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Alpha Prime Racing’s road woes don’t keep team from competing

By Dustin LongJun 9, 2023, 8:14 PM EDT

SONOMA, Calif. — Alpha Prime Racing owner Tommy Joe Martins laughs. He can. His Xfinity Series cars all are here at Sonoma Raceway.

At one point last week, it was not certain if his team’s cars would make it to Portland International Raceway.

“It was probably the toughest professional week I’ve had of my NASCAR career,” Martins told NBC Sports on Friday at Sonoma.

MORE: Kyle Larson leads Xfinity practice at Sonoma

The Alpha Prime Racing team had both its trucks break down and one of its haulers have mechanical issues last week on the way to the Pacific Northwest.

“We basically sent four pieces of equipment on the road and three of them broke,” Martins said.

For a time, the car Sage Karam is driving this weekend at Sonoma was left in a hauler in Kansas City because there wasn’t room in the dually Martins sent. It had room only for the car that was needed at Portland and other equipment. Karam’s car, which was to be a backup at Portland, was left behind.

“It’s a very helpless feeling when you feel like your stuff is stuck on the side of the road,” Martins said.

He still has one truck still in St. Louis and another in Oregon. Martins estimates the mechanical issues will cost his team about $50,000 when everything is totaled.

Trouble started well before the team left its Mooresville, North Carolina, race shop for Portland.

The Xfinity Series race at Charlotte was scheduled to run May 27. Rain forced that event to be rescheduled to May 29. Martins said the team had planned to send its trucks to Portland on May 28. With the race pushed back to the 29th, the travel schedule tightened.

It got worse.

After the Xfinity race started, rain came. With the Coca-Cola 600 scheduled for 3 p.m. ET that day – after being delayed by rain from Sunday – the rest of the Xfinity race was pushed back until after the 600. That further tightened the window on Xfinity teams to make it to Portland.

The Xfinity race ended around 11:30 p.m. ET on May 29. Alpha Prime Racing’s haulers left the shop around 6 a.m. ET on May 30.

The two trucks traveled together until issues in St. Louis.

The truck hauling the Nos. 44 and 45 cars had engine issues in St. Louis. The other truck kept going until it had mechanical issues with its hauler in Kansas City. The air bags on the hauler failed.

So, Alpha Prime Racing had a truck that worked in Kansas City with a hauler that didn’t and a truck that didn’t work in St. Louis with a hauler that did.

The truck in Kansas City went back to St. Louis to attach to the hauler and take those cars and equipment to Portland. Martins then had to find something to haul the stranded equipment in Kansas City and a driver. He eventually did. A dually left North Carolina for Kansas City. Once there, what fit in the dually was taken to Portland and what didn’t, including Karam’s Sonoma car stayed behind.

Yet, more trouble was headed for Martins and his team.

The truck that had gone back from Kansas City to St. Louis to take hauler that worked then broke down about 200 miles from Portland.

“I laugh knowing that we’re on the other side of it,” Martins said Friday of all the issues his team had transporting cars and equipment across the country.

“We’ve started to make plans and corrections for it not happening again,” he said.

That hauler that was left in Kansas City? It was repaired and transported to Sonoma, arriving earlier this week.

“Our guys are troopers,” Martins said. “Both of our (truck) drivers were just awesome about the whole thing. … They went through hell week as far as driving somewhere, fly back and pick something up, drive again and now are going to have to do the same thing getting back.”

When the garage opened Friday at Sonoma, Alpha Prime Racing had all its cars.

“I don’t think we had any major issues here, so that was good,” Martins said.

The focus is back on the track. Karam was 24th on the speed chart in Friday’s practice, leading Alpha Prime Racing’s effort. Dylan Lupton was 32nd. Jeffrey Earnhardt was last among 41 cars.

After Saturday night’s race, the team heads back to North Carolina for a well-earned weekend off.

Kyle Larson leads Xfinity practice at Sonoma

By Dustin LongJun 9, 2023, 5:45 PM EDT

SONOMA, Calif. — Kyle Larson posted the fastest lap in Friday’s Xfinity Series practice at Sonoma Raceway.

This is the first time the series has raced at the 1.99-mile road course in Northern California. Teams got 50 minutes of practice Friday.

Larson led the way with a lap of 90.392 mph. He was more than a second faster than the rest of the field.

MORE: Xfinity practice results Sonoma

Sheldon Creed was second on the speed chart with a lap of 89.066 mph. He was followed by AJ Allmendinger (89.052 mph), Cole Custer (89.020) and Ty Gibbs (88.989).

Larson, Allmendinger and Gibbs are among seven Cup drivers are entered in the Xfinity race. Aric Almirola was seventh on the speed chart with a lap of 88.750 mph. Ross Chastain was ninth with a lap of 88.625 mph. Daniel Suarez was 16th with a lap of 88.300 mph. Ty Dillon was 33rd with a lap of 86.828 mph.

Anthony Alfredo will go to a backup car after a crash in practice. He was uninjured in the incident that damaged the right side of his car.

Qualifying is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET Saturday. The race is scheduled to begin at 8:20 p.m. ET Saturday.

Anthony Alfredo’s car after a crash in Xfinity practice Friday at Sonoma Raceway. He was uninjured. (Photo: Dustin Long)

Saturday Sonoma Xfinity race: Start time, TV info, weather

By Dustin LongJun 9, 2023, 1:59 PM EDT

The Xfinity Series will compete for the first time at Sonoma Raceway this weekend. This is one of eight road course events on the Xfinity schedule this season.

Seven Cup drivers are scheduled to compete in Saturday’s race, including AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Larson and Daniel Suarez, who won last year’s Cup race at this track Allmendinger has won 11 of 25 career road course starts in the Xfinity Series.

Details for Saturday’s Xfinity race at Sonoma Raceway

(All times Eastern)

START: Golden State Warrior Patrick Baldwin Jr. will give the command to start engines at 8:08 p.m. … The green flag is scheduled to wave at 8:20 p.m.

PRERACE: Xfinity garage opens at 1 p.m. … Qualifying begins at 3 p.m. … Driver introductions begin at 7:35 p.m. … The invocation will be given by Earl Smith, team pastor for the Golden State Warriors and San Francisco 49ers, at 8 p.m. … The national anthem will be performed by 9-year-old Isis Mikayle Castillo at 8:01 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is 79 laps (156.95 miles) on the 1.99-mile road course.

STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 20. Stage 2 ends at Lap 45.

STARTING LINEUP: Qualifying begins at 3 p.m. Saturday

TV/RADIO: FS1 will broadcast the race at 8 p.m. ... Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. … Performance Racing Network coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. and can be heard on goprn.com. … SiriusXN NASCAR Radio will carry the PRN broadcast.

FORECAST: Weather Underground — Mostly cloudy with a high of 72 degrees and a zero percent chance of rain at the start of the race.

LAST TIME: This is the first time the Xfinity Series has raced at Sonoma.

Sonoma Raceway

Weather

Saturday, June 10

(All times Eastern)

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MORE: Kyle Larson leads Xfinity practice at Sonoma

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Details for Saturday’s Xfinity race at Sonoma Raceway

(All times Eastern)

Read more about NASCAR