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NASCAR America at 5 p.m. ET: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Jarrett preview upcoming races

By Daniel McFadinJun 20, 2018, 4:30 PM EDT
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Today’s episode of NASCAR America airs from 5-6 p.m. ET on NBCSN with Dale Earnhardt Jr. making his weekly appearance on the show.

Krista Voda hosts with Earnhardt and Dale Jarrett from the Big Oak Table in Charlotte.

On today’s show:

· Not long ago, Dale Earnhardt Jr. bragged about his ability to remember who he’s beaten for wins in past races. In this episode, we’ll test his memory in a trivia game called “Who Did Junior Pass For The Win?” We’ll be taking your questions for Junior throughout the show. Just send it on social media with the hashtag #Wednesdale.

· Sonoma begins a critical summer stretch for the Monster Energy Cup Series. With Chicagoland, Daytona, Kentucky and New Hampshire on the horizon, teams will be challenged and playoff hopes will rise and fall. Dale Jr. & Dale Jarrett preview the upcoming races.

If you can’t catch today’s show on TV, watch it online at http:/nascarstream.nbcsports.com. If you plan to stream the show on your laptop or portable device, be sure to have your username and password from your cable/satellite/telco provider handy so your subscription can be verified.

Once you enter that information, you’ll have access to the stream.

Click here at 5 p.m. ET to watch live via the stream.

Christopher Bell wins New Hampshire Xfinity race

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By Daniel McFadinJul 21, 2018, 6:33 PM EDT
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Christopher Bell held off Brad Keselowski and Ryan Preece over the final 18 laps to win Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Bell took the lead from Keselowski on the final restart with 18 laps to go. Bell was on four fresh tires while Keselowski was on two.

Keselowski hounded the rear bumper of Bell’s No. 20 Toyota for the last five laps but was unable to make a pass attempt.

“Man, the better tires, they didn’t hurt us, that’s for sure, ” Bell told NBCSN. “It worked out for us, we were able to take four tires (on the last pit stop). It was a big deal.”

It is Bell’s third win of the season and second in a row. He led 93 of 200 laps around the 1-mile track.

The top five was completed by John Hunter Nemechek and Matt Tifft.

STAGE 1 WINNER: Christopher Bell earned his third stage win of the year.

STAGE 2 WINNER: Brad Keselowski

WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: Keselowski led 72 laps and came in second after he had to start from the rear for being late to the driver-crew chief meeting … Matt Tifft earned his second top five of the season … Ryan Preece has finished in the top five in three of five starts this season.

WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Ross Chastain finished 26th after wrecking by himself on Lap 80 … Ryan Truex was spun by Ryan Reed with six laps to go in Stage 2. The incident also involved Justin Allgaier. Truex finished 13th and Allgaier placed seventh … A wreck involving Chad Finchum and Garrett Smithley caused a caution with 23 laps to go … Austin Cindric wrecked coming to the checkered flag. He finished 17th.

NOTABLE: There was a 7 minutes and 30 second red flag period to fix sand barrels knocked over by Jeremy Clements at the start of pit road with 34 laps to go … After contending up front for much of the race, Daniel Hemric placed 11th, ending a career-best streak of eight straight top 10s.

WHAT’S NEXT: U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway at 3:30 p.m. ET on July 28 on NBCSN

Bid of $1.8 million submitted for BK Racing

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By Dustin LongJul 21, 2018, 4:57 PM EDT
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A bid of $1.8 million has been made for BK Racing, the trustee operating the team stated in court documents.

Trustee Matthew Smith stated in federal court documents that the $1.8 million bid is a stalking horse bid. That means that the bid sets the lowest price the team can be sold.

Should the stalking horse bid be the winning bid, $350,000 of the price will go to payment of priority wage claims.

The bid is from MRB LLC.

ESPN.com reported that Mike Beam, president of GMS Racing, has made the bid on the team. Beam told ESPN.com that if he becomes the owner of the team, it would be an affiliate of GMS Racing, which has previously considered moving to Cup.

Court documents state: “The Trustee believes that the Stalking Horse Bid will compel potential purchasers to come forward and otherwise generate additional interest in the Race Team Assets reasonably likely to facilitate an effective competitive sale of such assets.”

Smith stated in court documents that he has communicated with more than 25 separate parties interested in acquiring the team’s assets.

Court documents state that any qualified bidder must propose a bid at least $300,000 more than the original bid of $1.8 million.

A sale is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. ET on Aug. 20. A court hearing is set for Aug. 21 for the approval of the sale. The winner has three days after the court order approving the sale to complete the purchase.

A hearing is set for Tuesday on approving those sale procedures.

Also, in another court filing, Smith stated that he’s agreed to sell team assists to Obaika Racing for $265,000. Smith said in court documents the assets were valued at $382,000.

Among the items listed in the offer is a tractor trailer transporter, seven bare chassis and 12 other chassis in various forms of construction. Also on the list are two crash carts, pit road tool box and pit suite, pit tool cart and two golf carts.

BK Racing owner Ron Devine put the team in chapter 11 bankruptcy on Feb. 15 in an effort to retain his team. Union Bank & Trust claims that it is owed $9.475 million. Smith was approved as the trustee on March 28, relieving Devine of his owner duties. Others claiming to be owed money include the Internal Revenue Service.

Blake Jones is driving BK Racing’s No. 23 car this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. This will be Jones’ first Cup start. He qualified last in the 37-car field.

Xfinity pole-sitter Brad Keselowski to start race at rear after penalty

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By Dustin LongJul 21, 2018, 2:25 PM EDT
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LOUDON, N.H. – Xfinity pole-sitter Brad Keselowski will start at the rear of the field for today’s race (4 p.m. ET on NBCSN) after he was late to the drivers meeting.

Cup practice was to have ended at 1:25 p.m. ET but was extended to 1:30 p.m. ET because of incidents during the session. The Xfinity drivers meeting was scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Section 10.3.2.f of the Xfinity Rule book states:

“Any driver(s) that is not present to answer the second roll call at the driver/crew chief meeting may be penalized by starting the Race with a “Tail of the Field” penalty.”

Keselowski arrived about 80 seconds after second call for him. BJ McLeod, who also was participating in Cup practice, was late to the meeting as well.

Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain both made it to the meeting in time despite taking part in Cup practice.

 

Martin Truex Jr. fastest in final Cup practice at New Hampshire

By Daniel McFadinJul 21, 2018, 1:42 PM EDT
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Martin Truex Jr. was fastest in the final Cup practice for Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1 p.m. ET on NBCSN).

Truex, who is seeking to win consecutive Cup races for the first time in his career, posted a top speed of 131.624 mph around the 1-mile track.

The top five was completed by Kevin Harvick (131.556 mph), Kyle Busch (131.488), Denny Hamlin (131.456) and Jimmie Johnson (131.438).

Harvick had the most laps in the session with 50 and the best 10-lap average at 130.904 mph.

Johnson and teammate Alex Bowman (sixth, 131.175) were the only Chevrolet drivers in the top 13.

The session saw two incidents. The first was when Michael McDowell spun entering Turn 3 and slammed the outside wall on the driver’s side of his No. 34 Ford. McDowell will go to a backup car.

“(Felt) like I was going way faster at New Hampshire than I thought I could go,” McDowell told NBCSN. “Not really sure what happened. Just got into Turn 3 there and it got really loose. … It happened really quick.”

The second incident saw Landon Cassill get into the Turn 3 wall with 8:31 left in the session.

Click here for the speed chart.