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NASCAR America at 5 p.m. ET: Auto Club Speedway recap

By Daniel McFadinMar 2, 2020, 4:30 PM EST
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Today’s episode of NASCAR America airs from 5-6 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Steve Letarte will be joined by Jeff Burton, AJ Allmendinger and Nate Ryan. They’ll discuss the weekend’s racing from Auto Club Speedway and the day’s news.

If you can’t catch today’s show 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.

Jimmie Johnson never missed a lap in 26 Cup starts at Auto Club Speedway

By Daniel McFadinMar 2, 2020, 4:10 PM EST
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Jimmie Johnson was really good at Auto Club Speedway.

In fact, he was the best.

It would be easy to just cite his record six wins in 26 starts on the 2-mile track. But here’s another number.

5,906.

That’s the amount of laps Johnson successfully completed in all 26 of his starts on his home rack, from his first Cup win there in 2002 to the seventh-place finish Sunday in his final Auto Club 400.

That’s every lap. Johnson never failed to finish on the lead lap at Auto Club Speedway

It’s far and away a Cup Series record.

According to Racing Insights, the closest a Cup driver has come to that is Tony Stewart.

Like Johnson, he did it at his home track. From 1999-2016, Stewart made 18 starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He completed all 2,895 laps he was eligible for.

The next four drivers in this category all earned their numbers at the same track: Watkins Glen International.

Martin Truex Jr: 14 starts/1,262 laps
Darrell Waltrip: 14 starts/1,221 laps
Carl Edwards: 12 starts/1,084 laps
A.J. Allmendinger: 10 starts/902 laps

Myatt Snider wins pole for Xfinity Series opener at Daytona

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By Daniel McFadinFeb 15, 2020, 12:16 PM EST
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Myatt Snider claimed the pole for today’s Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on FS1).

The son of NBC Sports reporter Marty Snider, the 25-year-old Richard Childress Racing driver earned the pole in his first career Xfinity start. He posted a top speed of 188.430 mph.

Snider is the 12th driver to win the pole in their Xfinity debut.

It is the third consecutive pole for RCR in the season-opening race at Daytona, following Tyler Reddick in 2019 and Daniel Hemric in 20018. It is RCR’s 10th Xfinity pole at Daytona, which leads all teams.

Snider, the 2018 Truck Series rookie of the year, is driving RCR’s No. 21 car part-time this year.

“The last couple of days have been interesting,” Snider told FS1. “I’ve about gone to school basically. This is completely different from the truck series and how the truck series races. But I’m just blessed with the opportunity to race at Richard Childress Racing. … But we’ve got an insanely fast race car, obviously. I’m so stoked to be with these guys. … I can’t put it into words. First career start, first career pole.”

More: Myatt Snider’s European racing adventure

Snider will be joined on the front row by defending race winner Michael Annett.

The top five is completed by Justin Haley, Jeb Burton and SS Greenlight Racing’s Joe Graf Jr.

The Kaulig Racing cars driven by Ross Chastain and AJ Allmendinger each suffered similar mechanical issues in the left front during their qualifying runs, according to team general manager Chris Rice. It resulted in them posting the two of the slowest speeds in qualifying. With a lack of owner points, Allmendinger and Chastain failed to make the race.

Chastain will still get to race with Ryan Sieg‘s team allowing him to drive Jeff Green‘s 38 car.

The other DNQ drivers were Tommy Joe Martins, Chad Finchum and Colin Garrett.

Prior to qualifying NASCAR announced a L2 level penalty against MBM Motorsports and its No. 66 team for an improper body modification on the nose.

Crew chief Sebastian LaForge has been suspended for six Xfinity races effective immediately and fined $50,000.

The team has also been docked 75 owner points.

The No. 66 car, driven by Timmy Hill, qualified 26th for today’s race.

Click here for the starting lineup.

Xfinity Series practice report from Daytona

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By Daniel McFadinFeb 14, 2020, 3:09 PM EST
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Caesar Bacarella was fastest in the final Xfinity Series practice session Friday at Daytona International Speedway.

Bacarella was one of 21 drivers to make lap in the session. He posted a top speed of 186.293 mph.

No drivers from top-tier teams made a lap in the session.

The top five was completed by Brandon Brown, Ryan Sieg, CJ McLaughlin and Josh Williams.

Click here for the practice report.

First practice

Noah Gragson was fastest in the first of two Xfinity Series practice sessions Friday at Daytona International Speedway.

The JR Motorsports’ driver posted a top speed of 190.621 mph around the 2.5-mile speedway. Gragson made 17 laps in the session.

The top five was completed by Ross Chastain (190.621 mph), Justin Haley (190.573), AJ Allmendinger (190.569) and Brett Moffitt (190.512).

Rookie Riley Herbst recorded the most laps in the session with 24.

Click here for the speed chart.

Updated entry lists for Daytona 500 race weekend

By Daniel McFadinFeb 11, 2020, 3:44 PM EST
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The official start of the 2020 NASCAR seasons is days away for all three national series at Daytona International Speedway.

Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series teams return to 2.5-mile speedway as the weekend builds to the 62nd Daytona 500.

Here are the preliminary entry lists for each series.

Cup – Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET Sunday on Fox)

Forty-three cars are entered for this year’s Daytona 500, meaning three cars will fail to make the race.

Which three will be sent home will be decided Thursday night with the qualifying races (7 p.m. ET on FS1).

The drivers in danger of missing out are Daniel Suarez, Reed Sorenson and Chad Finchum (Duel No. 1) and JJ Yeley and Timmy Hill (Duel No. 2).

The top finishing “open” cars in each race advance to the 500.

Click here for the starting lineups for the qualifying races.

Xfinity – NASCAR Racing Experience 300 (2:30 p.m. ET Saturday on FS1)

Forty cars are entered into the Xfinity Series opener.

With the series’ field having been reduced to 36 cars, four will not make the race.

NBC Sports’ AJ Allmendinger is entered in Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 Chevrolet. Kaulig will be fielding three cars along with the full-time entries of Ross Chastain and Justin Haley.

Austin Hill is entered in Hattori Racing Enterprises’ No. 61 Toyota.

There are two cars listed without drivers.

Click here for the entry list.

More: Tommy Joe Martins’s family-owned Xfinity teams returns for third time

Trucks – NextEra Energy Resources 250 (7:30 p.m. ET Friday on FS1)

Forty trucks are entered in Truck Series season opener.

With the Truck Series’ fields capped at 32, nine trucks will fail to make the race.

Cup Series rookie John Hunter Nemechek is entered in NEMCO Motorsports’ No. 8 Chevrolet.

Cup Series rookie Brennan Poole is entered in On Point Motorsports’ No. 30 Toyota.

Xfinity Series driver Ross Chastain is entered in Niece Motorsports’ No. 40 Chevrolet.

Xfinity Series rookie Riley Herbst is entered in Kyle Busch Motorsports’ No. 51 Toyota.

The No. 03 of Tim Viens has withdrawn.

Click here for the entry list.