NASCAR America: Winning Coca-Cola 600 is a memorable feat

By Dan BeaverMay 23, 2018, 8:00 AM EDT

The Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway is one of NASCAR’s toughest events. Starting under the sun and finishing under the lights, every stock car driver wants to win it at least once – and 33 of NASCAR’s best can say they have.

It’s even more special when it marks the first time a driver has won at the top level.

“Everybody remembers the first time they do most things and obviously the first Cup win is something I’ll never forget,” Matt Kenseth said about his 2000 victory. “I caught Bobby Labonte and passed him with like 15 to go, or something like that, so it was obviously a very exciting day. You couldn’t pick a better one to win for your first one.”

Kenseth is one of seven drivers who won their first NASCAR race in the sport’s most grueling event. Notably, the driver he passed for the win that day won his first NASCAR race exactly five years earlier. Labonte won the 1995 edition of the Coke 600.

Last year, Austin Dillon added his name to the list.

“For me, it starts as a challenge from day one of the entire Speedweeks,” Landon Cassill said. “Because the industry is at home in Charlotte, when the fans come to town we get pulled in many directions.”

“For me, it was just kind of forgetting how long the race was and just focus on every lap,” Jeff Burton said. “If you make good lap times and you focus on getting a 100 percent out of the car every single lap, time goes by pretty quickly.”

Burton won two Coke 600s – in 1999 and 2001.

For more, watch the above video.

NASCAR America: Daniel Suarez’s success in All-Star Race provides 600 confidence

By Dan BeaverMay 22, 2018, 8:00 PM EDT

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The rules package used in last week’s All-Star Race did not provide technical assistance to any of the teams since it will not be implemented for this week’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but Daniel Suarez gained more from his second-place finish in it than perhaps anyone else, according to the NASCAR America analysts on Tuesday.

Racing at NASCAR’s top level takes confidence that can only be earned with success.

“I don’t think a lot applies from a technical standpoint, but I think that momentum is important,” Jeff Burton said. “Daniel Suarez got moved up to the Cup series probably a year before they really wanted him to with Carl Edwards’ departure.

“He still is playing catch up a little bit. And that’s OK. He’s a young driver, he has time to catch up, but at some point you’ve got to have some success. … I think for Daniel, this race was exceptionally important because it reminded him he can drive a race car. Reminded him what it feels like to battle for the win.”

Suarez finished 11th in last year’s Coke 600 and finished sixth in the fall Bank of America 500.

“Daniel’s going to get a lot from the All-Star Race going into the 600,” Landon Cassill said. “Maybe because of his experience and because he’s a sophomore driver, he might get more out of it than Kyle Busch or Kevin Harvick. Getting those reps in and restarting next to Kevin Harvick … racing side-by-side with those guys. More so than just the confidence. There are actual things that Daniel learned on Saturday night that is going to help him for the Coke 600.

For more, watch the above video.

NASCAR America at 5 p.m. ET: All-Star Scan All, look ahead to Coca-Cola 600

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By NBC SportsMay 22, 2018, 4:31 PM EDT

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Today’s episode of NASCAR America airs from 5-6 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Carolyn Manno hosts from our Stamford, Connecticut studio and is joined by driver Landon Cassill. Jeff Burton joins from Burton’s Garage.

This weekend, NASCAR’s best will be put to the longest test of the season in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 600-mile distance isn’t the only thing that’s unique about this challenging event. Landon and Jeff will explain what drivers have to look out for, both on and off the track!

The Charlotte region is also home base for Team Penske and its 2017 IndyCar Series champion, Josef Newgarden. As he heads into this weekend’s Indianapolis 500, Newgarden joins the show LIVE to discuss the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, his relationship with his Penske teammates, and what it’s like working for “The Captain.”

And it’s our favorite feature of the week – Scan All! Crank up those scanners and listen in on drivers, crew chiefs and spotters as they battle for a million bucks in last Saturday’s All-Star Race.

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.

NASCAR America at 5 p.m., ET: Discussing All-Star race, rules

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By NBC SportsMay 21, 2018, 4:35 PM EDT

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On today’s show:

With a special rules package in place, Saturday night’s All-Star Race produced a memorable show at Charlotte Motor Speedway. But in the end, a familiar face was in Victory Lane. We’ll break down Kevin Harvick’s $1 million victory. Plus – should NASCAR use this package again this season? Make your choice at NBCSports.com/NASCARvote.

We’ll look ahead to the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019 announcement Wednesday. Will Jeff Gordon become a first-ballot Hall of Famer? And who else could join the Rainbow Warrior in being inducted?

Plus: U.S. Army troops at Fort Bragg give Austin Dillon and his pit crew a taste of Army life in the first edition of our ‘Mission 600’ series, where NASCAR’s top drivers visit military bases representing all five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.

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 America: Landon Cassill thinks he knows how to avoid the ‘Big One’

By Dan BeaverApr 26, 2018, 7:45 PM EDT

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It is natural to consider one’s involvement in a multi-car accident at Talladega SuperSpeedway as simple bad luck when a driver did not cause the incident, but over the course of his career, Landon Cassill learned it is not that simple.

“My first few races at Talladega in the Cup series, I got caught up in the ‘Big One’ over and over again,” Cassill said. “And you heard Kyle Busch say it’s a crapshoot and it’s kind of easy to leave after getting wrecked in the ‘Big One’ and say ‘it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t cause it; I was just collected and we’ll try again next time.’ And I looked back at the wrecks I was involved in and I started watching film and I thought I can create a strategy to get me out of these things.

It is the driver’s job to protect his equipment even when circumstances are out of his control.

“So, I started running a different line. I started favoring the bottom of the racetrack. I felt when the wrecks happened, they move up before they move back down and it started to help me.”

On Wednesday’s edition of NASCAR America, Dale Earnhardt Jr. described what it takes to get to the lead and win at Talladega.

But an equally important part of the equation is how to position a car so that it does not sustain damage, and Cassill describes how that is done.

“I’m kind of on the back of the screen running the middle lane and there’s a gap at the bottom,” Cassill said. “I moved down to the bottom intentionally really to protect myself and it was just perfect timing because there is a wreck right here. Chase Elliott gets turned and you can see my car again. I’ve got lots of race track underneath me; lots of pavement to slow myself down. And now, I’m dodging racecars going 100 miles per hour, not 200 miles per hour. It’s a lot easier to drive through the wreck that way.

For more, watch the above video.