Video of the sledgehammer throwing incident in Saturday's NASCAR race

   Ty Dillon and Kevin Harvick were involved in a late-race wreck on the track that spilled over onto pit road at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday. And then the pit crews got involved, which included a sledgehammer being thrown at Harvick's truck.

   Darrell Wallace Jr. won the race, becoming the first African-American driver to win a NASCAR national series race since Wendell Scott won in Jacksonville, Fla., in 1963.

Former stuntman, NASCAR owner Hal Needham dies

 
   Hal Needham, a longtime stuntman, movie director and NASCAR team owner, died Friday in Los Angeles. He was 82.

  

   Needham served as director of “Smokey and the Bandit” and “Cannonball Run” for Burt Reynolds and from 1981 to 1989 he and Reynolds co-owned Harry Gant’s No. 33 with which he won nine races and 13 poles.

   During his Hollywood career, Needham won an Emmy and an Oscar, appeared in 4,500 television episodes and 350 feature films.

 

   Read more on Needham here.

 

Jeff Gordon talks about an offer Rick Hendrick may not have known about

   Four-time Sprint Cup Series champion  Jeff Gordon sat down with "NASCAR Race Hub" host Danielle Trotta this week to talk about his career and what big opportunity existed early on that car owner Rick Hendrick may not have known about.

   Here is what Gordon had to say on Thursday’s  edition of the show:

   “When I first started to come into the NASCAR Nationwide Series – I did both (sprint cars & stock cars) because I was still competing for championships in other series. Once I became more established in the Cup Series with (Rick) Hendrick, it really wasn’t something I thought about. I’ve always enjoyed all forms of racing, if I can get the opportunity and drive another car; have a new experience, like I did with the F1 car and the 24 Hours of Daytona," he said.

   "The one thing that went through my head that I don’t think Hendrick even knew about was that I had a potential Formula One offer at one time. But, it was going to race in lower series – maybe even IndyCar. I was established in Cup; very happy with where I was at, things were going extremely well and that was a whole career change for me, in a racing series I knew very little about from a driving stand point, I was always an oval track driver. But that conversation never happened with Hendrick, that was behind the scenes and I made the choice and the decision on my own. We were coming up on some contracts and I chose to stay with Hendrick and won the championship the next year. It was a good choice.”

Rockingham Speedway will not host NASCAR Trucks race in 2014

   Rockingham Speedway, which began hosting NASCAR races again two years ago after an eight-year absence, will not host a Truck Series race in 2014, speedway owner Andy Hillenburg confirmed.

   The 1-mile track located about 90 miles southeast of Charlotte remains open for track rentals but won’t be hosting any NASCAR events in 2014.

   “We’ve got a number of issues that have to be resolved before we can host races again,” Hillenburg told The Observer on Thursday. “These issues have been mounting over the last two to three years.

   “I’m not giving up on this. My plan is to keep doing it. I want it and NASCAR wants it and I’m determined to have it continue.”

   NASCAR is expected to release its 2014 Truck schedule as early as Monday – the last of its three national series scheduled to be released.

   NASCAR spokesman David Higdon would not speak specifically about Rockingham’s date but said the schedule would be released soon. “We are still finalizing a few last pieces,” he said.

   Rockingham already lost one NASCAR event this season.

   In September, NASCAR officials canceled a K&N Pro Series East race at the track. In a statement announcing the decision, NASCAR said the track failed to meet its financial obligations.

   A permanent loss of the NASCAR event could have serious consequences for the surrounding community.

   When plans for the inaugural Truck race were first unveiled in 2011, city and county officials said the race would bring $4.2 million into the local economy.

   The first race in 2012, won by Kasey Kahne, was considered a success with a near capacity crowd on hand. Attendance was down at this year’s race, won by Kyle Larson, but the venue was still considered to have a home on the series schedule.

   From 1965 through 2004 Rockingham Speedway hosted races in NASCAR’s premier Cup series.

   Hillenburg bought the track in 2007 from Speedway Motorsports Inc., which bought the facility from the International Speedway Corp. in 2004. SMI moved the Cup race from Rockingham to Texas as part of a settlement in an SMI shareholder lawsuit, leaving the track void of NASCAR events.

   “This has been six years of my life and I want to see it succeed,” Hillenburg said.

Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan team up to go .... NASCAR Truckin'

   The Jordan Brand's iconic Jumpman logo will adorn the No. 51 Toyota Tundra of Denny Hamlin this Saturday as he races for his third-straight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Hamlin is the two-time defending winner of the Kroger 200 race at Martinsville.

    Hamlin began a relationship with the Jordan Brand in 2011 and wears a Jumpman firesuit and racing gloves.

    "To have the Jumpman on the truck at Martinsville is the perfect fit," said Virginia-native Hamlin, a season ticket holder of Michael Jordan's Charlotte Bobcats NBA franchise. "Michael has expressed interest in taking the next step with their Jordan Brand sponsorship, so what better opportunity than going after three in a row at one of my favorite tracks."

    While this NASCAR race marks the first-ever primary car or truck sponsorship for the Jordan Brand, the shoe and apparel company has a long track-record of supporting Michael Jordan Motorsports, a motorcycle racing team founded by Jordan in 2004 that competes in the AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike Championship series.

NASCAR penalizes Corey LaJoie for Code of Conduct violation

    NASCAR on Wednesday penalized developmental driver Corey LaJoie for a violation of the sport's Code of Conduct.

   LaJoie, 22, was placed on indefinite probation and ordered to undergo sensitivity training for what NASCAR called an "insensitive and intolerable" communication."

   In a message posted to his Twitter account on Oct. 15, LaJoie rhetorically asked whether it was stereotyping to ask TSA to cavity search a man with a turban. 

   George Silbermann, NASCAR's vice president of Regional and Touring Series, said the tweet had "no place in our sport."

   "Each of NASCAR’s 2013 series-specific Rule Books includes our Code of Conduct that unequivocally states our stance specific to the use of demeaning language. We expect our entire industry to adhere to that Code," he said.

   LaJoie has competed in NASCAR's K&N Pro Series East and the Automobile Racing Club of America series. LaJoie has a development driving contract with Richard Petty Motorsports.

   In a statement, LaJoie said he made "an immature and insensitive comment."

Todd Parrott: 'I'm not hiding behind anything I've done'

 

   Sprint Cup Series crew chief Todd Parrott, who was fired Tuesday by Richard Petty Motorsports after failing a NASCAR drug test, called in to "The Late Shift" on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday night to talk with hosts Brad Gillie and Buddy Baker about his suspension and his participation in NASCAR's Road to Recovery Program.

   Here are some excerpts from the interview:

   "It’s part of it, as part of the Road to Recovery, is getting out there and admitting the mistakes and stuff. You know, getting in front it, you know it’s really a load off my shoulders and I’m probably going to wake up in the morning and feel a lot better about this.

  "I’m going to do anything I can. Like I said, talking about it and letting it be known I’m not hiding behind anything that I’ve done is one of the first steps to get started. I’ve got a meeting tomorrow with counselors to get the process started. I’m looking forward to it. First of all, I want to apologize to my family, to everyone at Richard Petty Motorsports, all my friends for being with me while I’m in this position. It’s not something that I’m proud of  but it’s something that I’m going to take time and address and fix. NASCAR has rules and procedures, they’ve administered them and this is where I’m at. I’m ready to take the steps to get back into the sport that I’ve love and been around my whole live. I just want to get started. I just want to get back in that garage and hopefully in time to win another Daytona 500."