Michael Waltrip Racing swaps crew chiefs on its two Sprint Cup teams

   Michael Waltrip Racing today announced personnel changes to its two-car NASCAR Sprint Cup operation, which include the reassignment of its crew chiefs.

   Effective immediately, Brian Pattie will become the crew chief for the No. 55 Toyota Camry driven by David Ragan. Billy Scott will become the crew chief for the No. 15 Toyota Camry driven by Clint Bowyer.

   Pattie has been the crew chief for the No. 15 with Bowyer since the team was established in 2012. He has scored three wins with the team, and finished second in the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup and seventh in 2013.

   Scott has been the crew chief of the No. 55 since August 2013, and previously served under Rodney Childers as that team’s lead engineer.

   Additional changes include a reorganization of lead, secondary and support engineers for each team. Car chiefs, road mechanics and pit crews will remain with their originally assigned teams.

   “Our goal is to best position the 15 and 55 teams for a berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup,” said co-owner Rob Kauffman. “MWR has an enormous amount of bright, motivated and quality people working to solve the endless challenges inherent to racing.  We have won poles and races, we have made the Chase and competed for a championship with this core group of personnel.  We just felt it was time to shake things up a bit to try and spark fresh ideas and more consistent results.  There are 12 races left before the 2015 Chase field is set and we plan to be a part of it.”

Brian France on driver's council: 'Gives everybody a really good seat at the table'

   NASCAR Chairman Brian France spoke briefly with a group of reporters on Sunday before the AXalta 400 at Pocono Raceway and was asked about NASCAR's meeting last weekend at Dover, Del., with a council of Sprint Cup Series drivers.

   Here was his response, in part: 

   "It's great. I've said from the beginning that we're going to improve our communications across the board with all the stakeholders across the board and they are certainly as important as anybody. So, that's consistent. What you're seeing is more formalized conversations. We talk all the time about things that are important to them. We did the same thing with the track operators. We didn't have a formal thing with them. We now do and get together in February. That just gives everybody a really good seat at the table to express what's important to them," he said.

   "When anybody has things that can improve the sport, we're going to be open to that. It doesn't really matter the exact form of communications that happens. What matters is that it does happen. We're getting the stakeholders as close to us as we can because there are a lot of good ideas that come out of these discussions. The driver's with safety. There's a business side to this that they have an interest in. We need to make sure we communicate well with them."

Who said there was no passing in NASCAR?

   You hear a lot of complaints this season about the difficulty or the lack of passing in NASCAR races.

   But the statistics don't match the rhetoric, although they don't tell the whole story.

   Through the first 13 Sprint Cup Series races of the 2015 season, there have been 55,701 green-flag passes for position on the track. That's the second-highest total through 13 races since the inception of NASCAR's "loop data" in 2005.

   Granted, loop data have not been around forever, but there is now more than a decade worth of data from which to compare - that's certainly a significant sample size.

   So, there is passing on the track. But perhaps the more important question is, where does it take place?

   Through the same 13 races there have been 376 green-flag passes for the lead on the track - that's just the fifth-highest total since 2005. In other words, passes for the lead this season are about average for the last 10 years. 

   Part of the problem is those passes are generally the ones most fans pay the most attention to, and remember. Also, passes for the lead get more attention on TV and radio broadcasts. So, if there are fewer actual passes for the lead, the perception can come across there is less passing in general taking place in the race. 

  The statistics show, however, that's simply not the case.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nascar-auto-racing/thatsracin/article23291502.html#storylink=cpy

Kevin Harvick to run Truck race in August at Pocono with JR Motorsports

   Reigning Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick will enter the Aug. 1 NASCAR Truck series race at Pocono, driving the No. 00 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, the team confirmed Friday to the Observer. 

   Harvick last competed in the series in 2013, when he ran both races at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for NTS Motorsports. His most recent win in the series came in 2012 at Martinsville. 

   JRM is fielding the No. 00 for the first time this season. Rookie Cole Custer is running 10 of the races with a handful of other races run with a variety of drivers.

Crew chief Rodney Childers signs multi-year contract extension with SHR

   Rodney Childers, crew chief for reigning Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick, has agreed to a multi-year contract extension that will keep him with Stewart-Haas Racing through the 2020 season, the organization announced on Friday morning.

   In his inaugural season as Harvick's crew chief, Childers and the No. 4 Chevrolet team won five races, won eight roles and led 2,137 laps en route to the duo's first championship. 
  

   “Rodney Childers and Kevin Harvick set a new standard of excellence in 2014 that they’ve carried into this season," said SHR co-team owner Tony Stewart. "Keeping Rodney and Kevin together was a high priority, and we’re obviously very happy to have the two of them at Stewart-Haas Racing for many years to come."

   Childers and Harvick haven’t let up in 2015. So far this season, they have two wins and nine top-two finishes. They enjoy a commanding lead in the series standings and have led 1,123 laps - nearly 26 percent of the laps run this season.

   “I knew when I came to Stewart-Haas Racing that this was a special opportunity,” Childers said. “Kevin’s skills have always been evident, and his hunger and desire to be the absolute best he can be in every practice, qualifying session and race motivates our entire team. We have great leadership at Stewart-Haas Racing along with a deep commitment toward success, excellent people and strong partners. If you want to win, this is where you want to be, and I’m happy to be here for a long time.”

Rodney Childers during a press conference at Phoenix International Raceway on Nov. 9, 2014 in Avondale, Ariz. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

Denny Hamlin: 'I was borderline throwing up trying to race for the lead'

   It was quite an eventful final 150 miles or so for driver Denny Hamlin in Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He went from contending to the win to debating whether he should get out of his No. 11 Toyota. Oh, and he had to pit under green for a loose wheel as well.

   Hamlin ended up finishing eighth as several drivers - including his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and race winner, Carl Edwards - stretched their fuel without making a final pit stop.

   Hamlin almost immediately was whisked away on a golf cart and taken to the track's infield care center. When he emerged, he was feeling much better and even stopped by Edwards' winner's press conference to congratulate him.

   “It’s tough, I was borderline throwing up trying to race for the lead. You just try to power through it and of course when you run well, you always feel a little bit better, but when the race is over and everything comes to a stop you realize how bad you feel," Hamlin said. "I'm a lot better now with fluids and everything. It was directly related to hydration.

   "I knew when my knee was sore afterwards that it was probably fluids. My off-day was 36 holes of golf and a full tennis match. Probably over did it a little bit this weekend. I think the dehydration led to a migraine and just felt nauseous the last 100 laps or so. Thank goodness, that didn’t cost us the win."

Panthers' Thomas Davis: 'I'm definitely becoming a big race fan'

  

   Carolina Panthers outside linebacker, Thomas Davis, was the honorary pace car driver for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Before beginning his "official" duties, Davis and his family got a behind-the-scenes look at NASCAR on Sunday afternoon.

   "I got my kids out here with me now in the infield taking this all in and enjoying the experience. I am definitely becoming a big race fan. This is truly awesome," said Davis, who was named the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year this season.

   "Driving the pace car is going to be the game day adrenaline, I’m sure. I am extremely honored to be the pace car driver for tonight’s race. I am just going to go out there and have fun with it and get it done.”  

   Following his appearance Sunday at the infield media center, Davis met Taya Kyle, wife of famed U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle (upon whom the movie “American Sniper” is based). 

   Kyle was signing autographs for media and took a few minutes to meet Davis. The two exchanged stories, and autographs, before going their separate ways for additional appearances.

Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis, right, smiles at NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., left, as they prepare to get into a race car and take laps around the track at Charlotte Motor Speedway  on Tuesday, May 19, 2015. Davis went through pace car certification to prepare for his duties as honorary pace car driver for the May 24 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Afterward, Earnhardt Jr. drove Davis to give him some hot laps in a No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet. (David T. Foster III, dtfoster@charlotteobserver.com)