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Longtime crew chief Nick Harrison dies at 37, team announces

By Nate RyanJul 21, 2019, 11:20 AM EDT
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LOUDON, N.H. — Kaulig Racing announced Sunday morning that veteran crew chief Nick Harrison died. He was 37.

Harrison was the crew chief for Justin Haley‘s No. 11 Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series and had called the car’s 13th-place finish Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

In a statement attributed to team owner Matt Kaulig and president Chris Rice, the team said in a tweet that “It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Nick Harrison, our beloved crew chief of the No. 11 car at Kaulig Racing. Please keep Nick’s family in your thoughts and prayers at this time.”

No cause of death or information on services was immediately available. A Kaulig Racing spokesperson said “further details would be provided as they come.”

NASCAR released a statement on Harrison’s death: “We are deeply saddened by the loss of longtime crew chief Nick Harrison, and offer our thoughts, prayers and support to his family, friends and Kaulig Racing colleagues.”

According to Racing-Reference.info, Harrison made his debut as an Xfinity crew chief in 2006. He was a crew chief for 184 Xfinity races (including 17 with Haley this year) and had five victories, his first with Kurt Busch in 2012 at Daytona International Speedway with James Finch’s Phoenix Racing.

He also worked 120 races as a crew chief in the Cup Series, including full seasons in 2011-12 with Phoenix Racing’s No. 51 Chevrolet. He guided Busch to a third place June 24, 2012 at Sonoma Raceway, marking Harrison’s best finish as a Cup crew chief.

Harrison also won three times in the Xfinity Series with Austin Dillon and once with Paul Menard. He also won with Dillon in the Aug. 2, 2014 truck race at Pocono Raceway, one of three truck races for Harrison as a crew chief.

During a career with several teams including Phoenix, Richard Childress Racing and Kaulig, Harrison worked with more than a dozen Cup and Xfinity drivers. The roster included Bobby Labonte, Bill Elliott, Boris Said, A.J. Allmendinger, Micahel McDowell, Regan Smith, Ryan Truex, Landon Cassill, Jamie McMurray, Ty Dillon, Jeremy Clements, Brandon Jones, Ben Kennedy and Brendan Gaughan.

AJ Allmendinger to drive in Watkins Glen Xfinity race for Kaulig Racing

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By Jerry BonkowskiJul 17, 2019, 11:54 AM EDT
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NASCAR On NBC analyst AJ Allmendinger will climb back behind the wheel for the August 3 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International.

Allmendinger will pilot the No. 10 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing for the second time this season.

Allmendinger is a past winner at Watkins Glen, having won the 2014 Cup race there. He has 10 prior Cup starts at the upstate New York road course, with the win, three top-five and six top-10 finishes, plus one pole.

He also has competed in one Xfinity race at Watkins Glen, starting fourth and finishing second for GMS Racing last year.

“It’s an honor to be able to compete for Kaulig Racing at one of my favorite tracks, Watkins Glen International,” Allmendinger said in a team release. “I’ve been fortunate enough to win there in the Cup Series and had a strong run finishing second last season in my only Xfinity start there.

“Matt Kaulig, Chris Rice and all of the guys made Daytona so enjoyable and fun, I can’t wait to get to The Glen.”

Allmendinger raced for Kaulig Racing two weeks ago in the Circle K Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway on July 5, leading 33 laps and finishing third before the car was disqualified for failing post-race inspection, leaving Allmendinger with a last-place finish in the 38-car field.

Allmendinger has three additional Xfinity road course races scheduled with Kaulig Racing this season: Mid-Ohio (August 10), Road America (August 24) and Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval race (September 28).

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Danielle Trotta new host of NBCSN’s Victory Lap post-race show

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By Daniel McFadinJul 16, 2019, 12:49 PM EDT
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Danielle Trotta will join NBC Sports’ NASCAR coverage as host of the “Victory Lap” post-race show for select Cup Series races this year.

Trotta made the announcement Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s “On Track,” the show she began co-hosting this year with Larry McReynolds.

Trotta has also been with NBC Sports Boston since 2018.

As part of “Victory Lap,” which begins Sunday at 7 p.m. on NBCSN after the Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, fans will be able to call in with questions about the race. Trotta will be joined by AJ Allmendinger and Parker Kligerman this weekend.

“It’ll be fun to continue the conversation,” Trotta said after making the announcement on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “I think after the race ends and you hear the driver’s post-race comments and we see the highlights, as a race fan on so many Sundays, I would sit on my couch and want more. I would want more coverage, more conversation, more conjecture and I think that’s exactly what NASCAR “Victory Lap” has always been and will continue to be, and then we take the next step of really wanting the conversation to be interactive and having people call live into the show.”

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NASCAR America at 5 p.m. ET: Recap of Kurt Busch’s Kentucky win

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By Jerry BonkowskiJul 15, 2019, 4:30 PM EDT
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Today’s episode of NASCAR America airs from 5-6 p.m. ET and will recap Kurt Busch’s win over younger brother Kyle on Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway.

Jeff Burton is joined by A.J. Allmendinger and NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett to discuss that and other storylines.

If you can’t catch either of today’s shows on TV, watch 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.

NASCAR disqualifies AJ Allmendinger’s car for failing inspection

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By Dustin LongJul 6, 2019, 2:50 AM EDT
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR announced that it disqualified the third-place car of AJ Allmendinger after the Kaulig Racing car failed inspection early Saturday morning at Daytona International Speedway.

Wayne Auton, Xfinity Series managing director, said the engine would not hold a vacuum when tested.

“Whenever you go especially to restrictor-plate style races, the teams are very much aware that everything has got to be sealed up tight,” Auton said. “It could compromise the availability of the restrictor plate to do its job.

Auton said this issue was checked on Thursday in inspection before the race. He said all the cars passed that inspection.

“Postrace, we automatically teardown the winner and second place and there’s always a random car and (Allmendinger’s car) was picked as the random this week,” Auton said. “We took the car back and did our due diligence.”

Auton said the winning car of Ross Chastain and the car of runner-up Justin Haley each passed but Allmendinger’s car “failed to hold a vacuum. The team was advised that they would be DQ’d.”

The team stated Saturday that it was a part failure that caused the violation and that the team accepted NASCAR’s decision.

This is the second Xfinity race in a row that a car has been disqualified after the event. Christopher Bell‘s third-place car was found to be too low.