Statement from Richard Childress on losing final appeal of NASCAR tire penalty

   Statement from Richard Childress regarding final appeal ruling on the No. 31 Chevrolet team

   "We do not agree with the final appeal ruling. We feel we had a compelling case and still felt we were in the right and the facts presented today would have proved that. We do appreciate the opportunity to be heard. 

   "We stand behind our suspended team members and look forward to their return. We will now move on and continue or goals of winning races and making the Chase for the Champion."

Chase Elliott could be a NASCAR all-star before he's a fulltime Sprint Cup driver

   Is it really possible Chase Elliott could be a NASCAR all-star before he's even a fulltime Sprint Cup Series driver?

   We found out Tuesday the answer to that question is "yes."

   During a news conference at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports announced Elliott would enter the May 15 Sprint Showdown preliminary race during all-star weekend. The winner of each 20-lap segment of the race gains entry into the May 16 main event with a chance to earn the $1 million top prize.

   "I couldn't be more excited about the opportunity to run the Showdown. It allows me to gain more experience before we race again at Charlotte a week later," Elliott said in a statement provided by the team. "I'm grateful to Mr. Hendrick and everyone at NAPA for the chance to do it."

   Elliott, who is attempting to win his second consecutive Xfinity Series championship with JR Motorsports this season, is running a partial Cup schedule in preparation for taking over the driving duties of Jeff Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet next season. Elliott was already scheduled to compete in the May 24 Coca-Cola 600.

   The Xfinity Series is competing next weekend at Iowa Speedway so Elliott will be pulling double-duty while traveling between North Carolina and Iowa.

NASCAR's Steve O'Donnell talks about the caution 'no-call' at Talladega

   While it doesn't appear a caution on the final lap of Sunday's GEICO 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway would have changed the winner - which ended up being Dale Earnhardt Jr. - NASCAR's decision not to throw one as cars were wrecking didn't sit well with some of the drivers involved in the incident, namely Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth.

   On Monday morning NASCAR Executive Vice President Steve O'Donnell addressed the issue during a weekly appearance on SiriusXM Satellite Radio's "The Morning Drive" show.

   Here are O'Donnell's remarks:
   
   “It’s going to be a judgment call. We’ve stated that we’re going to make every effort to try to finish a race under green-flag conditions. That’s what the fans want to see. We’ve got to be obviously mindful of what’s occurring on the race track. It’s a split-second decision. So, I think if you go back to Daytona and you saw a driver hit the wall what we thought was fairly hard and wanted to dispatch our emergency crews quickly, we elected to throw the caution. I think yesterday if you look at the circumstances that played out with Carl, when we initially saw him get loose, he was down on the apron. As we made that quick decision, it was ‘OK, he’s clear, we can go.’ Just as you make that, his car slides up across the track. 

   "That’s something you don’t want to see green- or yellow-flag conditions, but, at the time, if we would have thrown the yellow, then it’s too late because he’s already up and across the track. So, we elected to let it play out. We certainly didn’t like to see how Carl came across the track but ultimately we were able to come back under green-flag conditions.

   “People want to point to who’s leading, who’s not leading, what could have happened, what didn’t happen. I know it’s hard to believe for some folks, we don’t think about that. We look at the circumstances of the incident. We’ve got to make that call - just like a 99 mph fastball. The umpire can't think about it for a couple minutes. We’re not always going to be right. We know with each decision we open it up for debate. That’s sports. We’ll talk to Carl and the competitors about that but did like seeing us being able to finish under green."

When your back’s against the wall, call for reinforcements. 'Dale Call' to be exact.

   The roaring duck call mimicking the sound of the engine from NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 Chevrolet shot to fame in a Diet Mountain Dew TV commercial that began airing during Super Bowl XLVIII. 

   A few months later, Dew noticed a lot of chatter on social media from consumers begging for the brand to make the Dale Call widely available. So, they unveiled the Dale Call on Amazon late last year and the entire inventory sold out in less than a day.

   Dew is bringing back the popular Dale Call to e-commerce for $24.99 while supplies last. To celebrate this momentous occasion, Dew has created a brand new ad which will air during the race at Talladega this Sunday immediately following the original Diet Dew ad that made this unique product so popular.

Erik Jones to sub for injured NASCAR driver Kyle Busch until his return

   As first reported by The Charlotte Observer on April 24, Joe Gibbs Racing confirmed on Thursday that Truck and Xfinity series driver Erik Jones will fill in for the injured Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Toyota beginning with next weekend's race at Kansas. Jones, 18, is expected to remain with the team until Busch returns to action.

   “I’m pretty excited and grateful for the opportunity to drive the No. 18 M&M’S Toyota Camry in the Sprint Cup Series and make my debut for Joe Gibbs Racing. This is a really good opportunity for me. We are going to try to manage our expectations and if we can go out and get a top-15 run and gain some experience, that would be a great day for us," Jones said. 

   At Kansas, Jones will be running a special paint scheme highlighting M&M’S support of Red Nose Day on the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota. Mars is proud to be a partner of Red Nose Day, a major charitable event that will be held on May 21.  

   With three races complete in the 2015 Truck season, Jones sits third in the series standings, six points out of the lead. In eight Xfinity Series starts this season, he has one win, three poles and five top-five finishes.

Three arrested in Richmond International Raceway NASCAR garage in jacket thefts

   Three men from Newport News, Va., were arrested Friday afternoon in the infield of Richmond International Raceway and charged with grand larceny, police confirmed. 

   According to Lt. Chris Eley with the Henrico County Police Department, Henrico Police were contacted at about 4 p.m. by the victim, who remains unidentified, who stated three males had taken jackets belonging to the victim without consent.

   The suspects were located by police wearing the stolen property, arrested, and charged, Eley said. The property was recovered and returned to the victim.

   The incident took place in the Xfinity Series garage area, according to several witnesses.

   Arrested were Zachary T. Garner, 22; Colton S. Ketchum, 19; and Joshua G. Moschler, 21; all of Newport News.

   Officials with RIR and NASCAR declined any further comment.

    

Timothy Peters wins the Denny Hamlin Short Track Challenge

   NASCAR Truck Series regular Timothy Peters ended up an unexpected winner in Thursday night's Denny Hamlin Short Track Challenge at South Boston (Va.) Speedway.

   It was unexpected because Peters wasn't capable of winning but rather the circumstances that determined the outcome.

    Peters avoided a spinning Lee Pulliam on the final lap of the green-white-checkered finish to claim his first win in the charity race at his home track. Peters started second to Pulliam on Lap 208 and the two raced side-by-side for the lead at the white flag.

   Josh Berry, who was third at the time, slammed into Pulliam going in to the final turn of the final lap, sending Pulliam around. Peters was able to stay high and finish just ahead of runner-up William Byron.

   Mark Wertz, who started on the final row, finished third with Tommy Lemons Jr. and Tyler Ankrum rounding out the top five. Berry was penalized for aggressive driving and finished 17th after being moved to the last car on the lead lap.