NBC Sports Power Rankings heading to Richmond

By NBC Sports StaffApr 10, 2019, 7:00 AM EDT

With his Cup series-leading third win Sunday at Bristol, it’s not surprising that Kyle Busch was a unanimous pick to remain No. 1 in the NBC Sports Power Rankings.

He heads to Richmond Raceway for Saturday night’s Cup race aiming for his third straight win at the .750-mile track and seventh Cup victory there.

The younger Busch brother has now been No. 1 — either solely or tied for the lead — the last seven weeks.

Making the biggest jump in this week’s rankings is Kurt Busch, who vaults to No. 3 from No. 8 last week. The biggest drop in the rankings was Aric Almirola, who fell out of the top 10 after being ranked No. 5 last week.

Here’s how this week’s Power Rankings look:

1. Kyle Busch (40 points): Who else are you going to put here? All he does is win, win, win. So cry him a river, OK? Last week: 1st.

2. Denny Hamlin (30 points): Hasn’t finished below seventh in the last five races. Imagine what we’d be saying if he and his team cleaned up their act on pit road? Last week: 2nd.

3. Kurt Busch (29 points): Busch keeps being overshadowed by his younger brother. But with the way he’s been finishing this year, including runner-up to Kyle at Bristol, a win of his own seems right around the corner for the older Busch brother. Last week: 8th.

4. Joey Logano (28 points): Bounced back from dismal outings at Martinsville and Texas to earn fourth top five of the season. The late caution probably robbed him of a win, but it doesn’t diminish how good his team was. Last week: 6th.

5. Ryan Blaney (27 points): Led the most laps in Bristol (158) and earned his fourth top five in the last five races. With tough luck finally fading, now just needs to close out a race for first win. Wins are coming soon. Very soon. Last week: not in top 10.

6. Brad Keselowski (18 points): If it wasn’t for the late restart penalty, he likely would have had a top five, maybe even another win. Last week: 3rd (tie).

7. Clint Bowyer (15 points): After a tough start to the season, the No. 14 seems to have stabilized in playoff territory. Hasn’t won at Richmond since 2012. He’s overdue – and ready. Last week: 7th.

8. Kevin Harvick (12 points): Was frustrated from before the race due to three failed inspections to pit road issues and a car that lacked speed. Still, managed to rally back to salvage a 13th-place finish (second worst showing of the season), when it could have been much worse. Kudos for his perseverance. Last week 3rd (tie)

9. Daniel Suarez (7 points): Bounced back from a mid-race penalty for pitting outside his box to earn his third straight top 10, and Stewart Haas Racing’s second-highest finishing driver at Bristol. Is really starting to fit in well at SHR. Last week: was not in top 10.

10. Jimmie Johnson (5 points): Placed 10th to give him consecutive top 10s for the first time this year. Could a win soon be in the offing (particularly since he’s mired in the longest winless streak of his career: 67 straight races, dating back to June 2017)? Last week: 9th (tie).

Others receiving votes: Aric Almirola (3 points), Ryan Newman (3 points), Christopher Bell (2 points), Chase Elliott (1 point).

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Sonoma Xfinity starting lineup: Kyle Larson wins pole

By Dustin LongJun 10, 2023, 4:07 PM EDT

SONOMA, Calif. — Kyle Larson will start on the pole for Saturday’s inaugural Xfinity Series race at Sonoma Raceway.

Larson won the pole with an average speed of 91.393 mph around the 1.99-mile road course. Justin Allgaier joins Larson on the front row after a lap of 90.562 mph. Sheldon Creed (90.429 mph) qualified third. Aric Almirola (90.375) will start fourth. AJ Allmendinger (90.274) will start fifth.

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Larson is one of seven Cup drivers entered. The others are Almirola (starting fourth), Allmendinger (fifth), Ty Gibbs (seventh), Ross Chastain (15th), Daniel Suarez (17th) and Ty Dillon (32nd).

The green flag is scheduled to wave at 8:20 p.m. ET Saturday on FS1.

Could Daytona International Speedway host NFL games?

By Dustin LongJun 10, 2023, 1:54 PM EDT

The president of Daytona International Speedway says track officials plan to speak with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars about hosting the team’s games if Jacksonville’s stadium is renovated.

The Jaguars will need a temporary home site if plans go forward to renovate the team’s stadium. Daytona International Speedway has been mentioned as a possible candidate. The Jaguars released details Wednesday of what the stadium will look like after the renovation project.

Provided the project is approved by the city of Jacksonville, it is believed the Jaguars would need to find another home site for a couple of seasons while work is being done to its stadium. Daytona International Speedway is among possible sites for the Jaguars to play. More than 100,000 people saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. win this year’s Daytona 500.

“Daytona International Speedway is a world-renowned sports and entertainment venue and hosts a full schedule of events each year,” said Frank Kelleher, president of Daytona International Speedway, in a statement. “As good neighbors in the Florida sports community, DIS will be speaking with the Jacksonville Jaguars to see if we can assist them with their potential upcoming facility needs around our scheduled events.”

Daytona International Speedway hosted Soccer Fest in July 2022. An announced crowd of 7,573 fans saw the Orlando Pride and Racing Louisville play in a National Women’s Soccer League game at Daytona.

NASCAR displays counterfeit part from Chase Briscoe car

By Dustin LongJun 10, 2023, 12:33 PM EDT

SONOMA, Calif. — NASCAR displayed the counterfeit part from Chase Briscoe‘s car on Saturday at Sonoma Raceway, showing how the part did not correspond to what should have been in the car.

NASCAR found the issue at its R&D Center after last month’s Coca-Cola 600. The sanctioning body fined crew chief John Klausmeier $250,000 and suspended him for six races. NASCAR also docked Briscoe and the team 120 points and 25 playoff points for the L3 infraction.

“We want to be transparent on the penalties,” said Brad Moran, managing director of the Cup Series as he displayed the counterfeit part to media.

Moran displayed a a portion of the engine panel from Briscoe’s car. He noted the engine duct was counterfeit. He said the proper pieces are 3D printed at the R&D Center and Fiberworks Composites sells them and installs them for teams. Moran said the duct is “in the bottom of the car under the engine panel. It’s to help cool the driver. It was added prior to the first race. During testing … we realized we wanted to get heat out of the engine compartment, and that’s what this piece does.”

Moran noted that with the counterfeit part, “we can clearly see the textures are different (from the proper part).”

He displayed what officials call a gauge that determines if the duct fits the proper parameters. He showed it fitting a proper duct and not properly fitting in the counterfeit part.

“It was a part that was made, and it was made for whatever reason,” Moran said. “It was, I guess, put on by error, but it was on the vehicle. It is a piece that should not have been made in the first place, and it was spotted at our teardown at the R&D Center.”

Moran said the issue was found in a visual inspection of the part. NASCAR inspected it further and Moran said “there are certain little characteristics that are in (a proper piece)” that officials did not see in the one on Briscoe’s car. “The more we examined it, the more we realized that’s not a part they bought.”

Moran noted that while the penalties were severe, they could have been worse based on the rulebook.

“It was the low end of the L3,” Moran said. “It’s a real big hit for any team. If it continues, and we feel we are not where we need to be, unfortunately, it’s going to ramp up. We’re not going to stop.

“The deal with this car is it needs to be run without modifying. It costs teams a lot of money in development. All the owners agreed. We all agreed where we need to be to make this a successful program, and we’re not going to give up.”

Sunday Cup race at Sonoma Raceway: Start time, TV info, weather

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

The Cup Series heads to wine country to compete on the 1.99-mile road course at Sonoma Raceway. This race leads into the final off weekend of the season. After the break, the series races 20 consecutive weekends. NBC and USA will broadcast those races.

Details for Sunday’s Cup race at Sonoma Raceway

(All times Eastern)

START: Adam Devine will give the command to start engines at 3:38 p.m. … The green flag is scheduled to wave at 3:50 p.m.

PRERACE: Cup garage opens at 12:30 p.m. … Drivers meeting is at 2:45 p.m. … Driver intros are at 3 p.m. … Earl Smith, pastor for the Golden State Warriors and San Francisco 49ers, will give the invocation at 3:30 p.m. … Tiffany Woys will perform the national anthem at 3:31 p.m.

DISTANCE: The race is 110 laps (218.9 miles) on the 1.99-mile road course.

STAGES: Stage 1 ends at Lap 25. Stage 2 ends at Lap 55.

STARTING LINEUP: Qualifying begins at 6 p.m. Saturday

TV/RADIO: Fox will broadcast the race at 3:30 p.m. … Coverage begins at 2 p.m. on FS1 and switches to Fox at 3 p.m. … Performance Racing Network coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. and also will stream at goprn.com. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the PRN broadcast.

STREAMING: Fox Sports

FORECAST: Weather Underground — Partly cloudy with a high of 69 degrees and a 1% chance of rain at the start of the race.

LAST YEAR: Daniel Suarez won his first career Cup race last year at Sonoma. Chris Buescher finished second. Michael McDowell placed third.