All three series were on track Friday, and here's some of the best of what we saw:
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A couple of exciting finishes last night, XFINITY series on track of the first time, truck racing tonight and the Daytona 500 just two days away. There's a TON going on at the World Center of Racing, but here's five things we have our eye on...
JGR's Got Speed
The Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas of Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards have been wicked fast. Hamlin was the only one of the team's cars in the first Duel and he finished a respectable fifth and actually battled Earnhardt for the lead much of the night. In the second Duel, Kenseth and Busch combined to lead all but two laps, with Busch taking the victory (click for more...)
The Replacements
Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr, and A.J. Allmendinger were forced into their backup cars this afternoon after last night's crash cost them their primaries. Johnson was the only one of the four who participated in the early practice round, and actually paced the field. All four made it out for the second session. (read more here)
Drivers Show Their Lighter Side
Speedweeks can be a long one! Coming off the Sprint Unlimited there's Media day, five days on track for five days and five races. We all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, so it's good to see when they're able to let their hair down a little bit. Like Bubba Wallace getting all giddy over seeing a certain driver... (click to find out who)
Early Moneys On Logano
The Century Poll, which has 50 NASCAR media members and 50 who work in the garage, predicts that Joey Logano will win the 2016 Sprint Cup Series title. Logano received 30 votes, Kevin Harvick was second with 19 and six-time champion Jimmie Johnson was third with 13. Defending champion Kyle Busch tied for fourth with Carl Edwards at eight votes. Seven of Busch’s votes came from voters in the garage. We took our own poll earlier this week, see how we matched up.
McDowell, Richardson Make the '500'
We saw the new charter system play out last night in the Duels, with Michael McDowell and Robert Richardson Jr locking up two of the four open positions under the new system (which guarantees all 36-charter teams entry in NASCAR Sprint Cup Events). As you can tell from their post-race interviews; they're relieved.
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With the Daytona 500 just two days away, and the NASCAR Sprint Cup season ready to get underway, RIR decided to jump ahead a little bit and see who we think is primed to make 2016 their year. We polled all our 37 members of our staff- and the top seven vote-getters are...
"I'm picking Carl Edwards because I love his backflip when he wins! And it doesn't hurt he's really good looking. Go Carl!!"
Suzanne, Operation
Suzanne, Operation
"Jimmie Johnson. Power of the J's"
Jeff, Operations
Jeff, Operations
"I'll go with Martin Truex Jr. He's a Philly sports fan like me."
Mike, Sales
Mike, Sales
"Car numer 78 - because he's the only one in the football offensive lineman range."
Chris, Accounting
Chris, Accounting
"I am going with Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Jr. because like Nationwide, I'm on his side."
Courtney, Communications
Courtney, Communications
"Dale Earnhardt Jr. because 8+8=16! Mathematically, it's his year!"
Kristen, Ticketing
Kristen, Ticketing
"Joey Logano. He wants that redemption from last year- and a championship would be a pretty good way to ring in Team Penske's 50 years."
Megan, Marketing
"Joey Logano, because 22 is also the name of my favorite Taylor Swift song."
Emily, Marketing
Megan, Marketing
"Joey Logano, because 22 is also the name of my favorite Taylor Swift song."
Emily, Marketing
"I pick Kevin Harvick because I love Jimmy John's and he drives the Jimmy John's car. I get it delivered to my house probably every two weeks!"
Megan, Operations
"I've got to go with Kevin Harvick. I love his nickname 'Happy Harvick,' he has an awesome wife and my favorite number is 4!"
Jacque, Administration
Megan, Operations
"I've got to go with Kevin Harvick. I love his nickname 'Happy Harvick,' he has an awesome wife and my favorite number is 4!"
Jacque, Administration
"This is my first internship with NASCAR, so I decided to go with my favorite number, 11. I'm also a huge Redskins fan and he races for former coach Joe Gibbs."
Brian, Marketing
"Hamlin, because I would like to throw a big Champion's celebration in town!"
Dennis, President
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Here's an inside look at 2016 NASCAR Can Am Duels:
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We were down in the Daytona garages this morning, and as the teams were getting ready for the action later this weekend, we got a little caught up in some of the paint schemes you'll see this weekend. Here's a few that caught our eye:
Anyone else getting hungry? The 2015 Camping World Truck Series champion has a full-time XFINITY Series ride for the upcoming season. The paint-out for the Powershares QQQ 300 satisfies our craving for more Jones (and mac n'cheese).
Cope's Ice-Aid paint out was cold as "Ice Ice Baby." The Derrike Cope Racing machine's primary for the 2016 season keeps things definitely keeps things cool under the hot Florida sun.
After driving for three different teams in 2015, we're sure David Ragan is thrilled to settle in with BK Racing for the upcoming season. He rolls into the 500 with a Dr. Pepper paint out that is truly "One of a Kind."
Call us a little biased, but we happen to think that this particular scheme was the hottest thing to arrive in Daytona for Speedweeks. You see a light bar on any of the other cars above? I didn't think so.
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Here's an inside look at whats going on at the NASCAR Sprint Cup practice sessions heading into the Can-Am Duels tomorrow night:
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