ROAR!, 2018, Texas in April, Preview

Texas preview

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IS THE WINDOW CLOSING? After a rough start, Jimmie Johnson hopes to turn his season around at Texas

O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 i 5 Favorites i Junior Johnson Spotlight Cale Yarborough’s Tactics I Michael Annett I Pit Crew Profile

Available now: texas

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track primer schedule Fri., APRIL 6

Sports Day Qualifying Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying Start Time: 4:35 p.m. (CDT) Television/Radio: FOX Sports 1 / PRN/SiriusXM 2017 Pole Winner: Kevin Harvick

Sat., APRIL 7

My Bariatric Solutions 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series – Race No. 6 Start Time: 2:00 p.m. (CDT) Television/Radio: FOX / PRN/SiriusXM 2017 Winner: Erik Jones

Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile track.

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texas motor speedway

Sun., APRIL 8

fast facts

RECORD BOOK

▶ ▶ There are several 1.5-mile tracks on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule and the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 will be a good indicator of what to expect – and who to watch – at those tracks this season. Jimmie Johnson won four consecutive fall Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway from 2012 to 2015. He was back in Victory Lane here last spring, so expect him to challenge for the win.

▶▶ Jimmie Johnson has won the most Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway with seven. He also has the most top-five (15) and top-10 finishes (21).

race rewind ▶▶ Jimmie Johnson broke through for his first win of the season, taking the lead with 15 laps remaining and holding off Kyle Larson in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top five.

O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series – Race No. 7 Start Time: 1:00 p.m. (CDT) Television/Radio: FOX Sports 1 / PRN/SiriusXM 2017 Winner: Jimmie Johnson

track facts LENGTH: 1.5 MILES (334 LAPS = 501 MILES) BACKSTRETCH: 1,330 FEET FRONTSTRETCH: 2,250 FEET BANKING IN TURNS 1 and 2: 20 DEGREES BANKING IN TURNS 3 & 4: 24 DEGREES FIRST RACE: APRIL 6, 1997 – INTERSTATE BATTERIES 500 MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES QUALIFYING RECORD: TONY STEWART, OCT. 31, 2014, 200.111 MPH RACE RECORD: KURT BUSCH, NOV. 3, 2017, 200.915 MPH

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race preview

Jimmie Johnson has seven career wins at Texas Motor Speedway.

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‘A Different Racetrack’ Recent Repave Has Drivers Unsure of Texas Strategy

By Jared Turner

T

hey say everything’s bigger in Texas.

That includes the uncertainty level this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, where Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 will be just the third Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race since the 1.5-mile Fort Worth track was repaved and reconfigured in early 2017.

While most drivers and teams will at least be able to fall back on their Texas notes from last

season, the track — which prior to its most recent repave hadn’t been repaved since 2001 — is considered to be barely broken in and largely untested.

How all this translates for Sunday’s race remains to be seen, but this much is certain: No driver is taking Texas lightly. Nor should they.

“It’s definitely a different racetrack than what it used to be, for sure, when they repaved it,” said Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, a two-time Texas winner on the old racing surface. “It’s such a fast racetrack and we had a good run there in texas preview: april 5, 2018

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race preview Denny Hamlin has two wins at Texas Motor Speedway.

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the playoff race there last year. We had a really bad race there in the spring of last year, so I feel like we really made gains on it, and hopefully we’re just as competitive this time around as we were last season.”

Hamlin, like some other drivers, was admittedly partial to the old, worn-out Texas racing surface, which inevitably created more opportunities for drivers

to pass because of all the sliding around that occurred on the aging asphalt. Hamlin expects Sunday’s race on the still young surface to be a more follow-the-leader-kind of affair.

“I like the track better the old way, but you had to do something because they had so many weepers and stuff whenever it rained,” Hamlin said. “It’s really turned into a one-lane racetrack right now,

and it will be for a while until something different happens.

It’s a challenge to race on, for sure, and definitely one of the fastest and one of the narrowest tracks that we race on, even though in feet it’s one of the widest.”

Don’t feel too badly for Hamlin, though. At least he has two Monster Energy Series races on the new surface under his belt. The same isn’t true for rookies

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race preview Darrell Wallace Jr. and William Byron, although Byron competed on the new Texas surface last year as a NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie.

“Hang on tight. That’s all I know,” Wallace said of his expectations for this weekend at TMS. “We’ll be flying around there. The speeds are outrageous right now with the new pavement. That’s going to be the biggest thing is just trying to tackle and get through turns 3 and 4 and not getting out of the groove. … Hopefully, the groove widens out a little bit, which it does throughout the race, but we need a lot more to go to get back to old Texas.”

Unlike Wallace and Hamlin, Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski doesn’t believe the new Texas Motor Speedway surface necessarily needs more time to come into its own and create some great racing. As far as Keselowski is concerned,

Darrell Wallace Jr. will race for the first time on the new surface at Texas.

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last year’s two races on the new Texas asphalt were more successful than most people anticipated, given the hardships that new surfaces always create.

“It’ll be interesting to see how the track has aged over the winter, whether the second groove will come in,” Keselowski said. “I thought

last year the track did a phenomenal job of kind of doing their homework, prep work on the track to where we could run the second groove in both the spring and fall races, which not a lot of tracks do, so I thought they deserved a lot of credit for that. And we actually had one of the better repave races we’ve ever had.”

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5 to watch

Clint Bowyer

Kevin Harvick

Five to Watch at texas by jared turner

▶▶ Kevin Harvick has won three of the season’s first six races, including both races held at mile-and-a-half tracks. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver is also the most recent winner at Texas, a mile-and-a-half track, so count on him being tough. ▶▶ Martin Truex Jr. finished second at Texas last fall and, not surprisingly, has been fast out of the gate in 2018. His win at 2-mile Auto Club Speedway on March 18 bodes well for his chances at Texas. ▶▶ Jimmie Johnson leads all drivers with seven wins at Texas Motor Speedway. The seven-time champ has struggled mightily in 2018, however, and will need to pick it up considerably to contend for the win in Fort Worth. ▶▶ Close but no cigar. That’s been the story of Kyle Busch’s season so far.

Will Texas be his big breakthrough? The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has two wins in the Lone Star State, the most recent coming in 2016. ▶▶ Fresh off a victory at Martinsville where he put a 190-race winless streak to bed, Clint Bowyer is a driver worth watching in the weeks to come. With the way Stewart-Haas Racing has performed in 2018, Bowyer could soon win again.

preview predictions Driver To Beat: Kevin Harvick Team To Beat: Stewart-Haas Racing Sleeper: Erik Jones

texas preview: april 5, 2018

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2018 nascar series standings monster energy nascar cup series no. Driver

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Pts. Wins

Kevin Harvick 212 Martin Truex Jr. 249 Clint Bowyer 210 Austin Dillon 148 Kyle Busch 257 Ryan Blaney 233 Joey Logano 232 Brad Keselowski 226 Denny Hamlin 217 Kyle Larson 195 Kurt Busch 177 Aric Almirola 171 Erik Jones 152 Alex Bowman 145 Paul Menard 139 Ryan Newman 135 Jimmie Johnson 121 Chase Elliott 115 AJ Allmendinger 110 William Byron 108 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 108 Daniel Suarez 100 Darrell Wallace Jr. 97 Chris Buescher 96 Michael McDowell 91 Jamie McMurray 84 Kasey Kahne 78 David Ragan 78 Trevor Bayne 72 Ty Dillon 62 Matt DiBenedetto 54 Gray Gaulding 31 Cole Whitt 37 Jeffrey Earnhardt 28 D.J. Kennington 28 Mark Thompson 15 Brendan Gaughan 9 Harrison Rhodes 6 Reed Sorenson 3 Danica Patrick 2 Corey LaJoie 2

3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

nascar xfinity series no. Driver

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Pts. Wins

Tyler Reddick 195 Elliott Sadler 199 Justin Allgaier 194 Christopher Bell 172 Daniel Hemric 169 Cole Custer 144 Spencer Gallagher 143 Ryan Truex 140 Brandon Jones 139 Matt Tifft 132 Ryan Reed 127 Kaz Grala 119 Ross Chastain 115 Michael Annett 86 Jeremy Clements 85 Alex Labbe 85 Garrett Smithley 81 Austin Cindric 71 Ryan Sieg 68 Joey Gase 66 Josh Williams 64 Vinnie Miller 50 Stephen Leicht 46 Dylan Lupton 45 David Starr 43 J.J. Yeley 42 Spencer Boyd 35 Jeff Green 30 Chad Finchum 18 John H. Nemechek 45 B.J. McLeod 44 Tommy Joe Martins 39 Kyle Benjamin 34 Ryan Preece 30 Caesar Bacarella 24 Chase Briscoe 22 Josh Bilicki 19 Matt Mills 13 Timmy Hill 12 Mike Harmon 9 Ryan Ellis 7

1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

nascar camping world truck series no. Driver

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Johnny Sauter Brett Moffitt Grant Enfinger Ben Rhodes Noah Gragson Stewart Friesen Matt Crafton Myatt Snider Dalton Sargeant Austin Hill Justin Haley Cody Coughlin Justin Fontaine Wendell Chavous Jordan Anderson Austin Self Robby Lyons Norm Benning Jennifer Cobb Spencer Davis Joe Nemechek Korbin Forrister Parker Kligerman Jesse Little David Gilliland Josh Reaume Todd Gilliland Scott Stenzel Clay Greenfield Timothy Peters Harrison Burton Bo Le Mastus Cory Roper Reid Wilson Dawson Cram Bryan Dauzat Michel Disdier Bayley Currey Tyler Matthews Kyle Donahue Mike Senica

Pts. Wins

181 1 150 1 152 0 148 0 146 0 122 0 122 0 118 0 118 0 100 0 95 0 87 0 82 0 81 0 76 0 70 0 67 0 49 0 38 0 94 0 65 0 45 0 41 0 38 0 34 0 34 0 32 0 32 0 31 0 30 0 30 0 27 0 24 0 21 0 20 0 19 0 18 0 17 0 16 0 14 0 12 0

ORANGE BLOCKED OUT AREAs SHOW EACH of nascar SERIES TOP CONTENDERS

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hall of fame spotlight: Junior Johnson

Hall of Fame Spotlight: Junior Johnson

By Keith Waltz

R

obert Glenn Johnson Jr., better known to race fans as “Junior,” parlayed the skills he developed hauling moonshine on the serpentine backroads of North Carolina’s Wilkes County into a legendary NASCAR racing career.

Between 1953 and 1966, Johnson made 313 starts as a driver in what is now the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, winning 50 races.

His list of victories includes the 1960 Daytona

Junior Johnson’s official NASCAR Hall of Fame portrait from 2010. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

500, an event in which he is credited with discovering – and mastering – the art of drafting, and the fall 400-mile races at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1962 and ’63.

Johnson was only 35 years old on Oct. 30, 1966, when he made his final start as a driver at North Carolina Motor Speedway.

He had decided to hang up his helmet and concentrate on being a car owner. texas preview: april 5, 2018

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hall of fame spotlight: Junior Johnson

Johnson found tremendous success during the second chapter of his racing career. His powerhouse team, based in tiny Ronda, North Carolina, won 132 NASCAR premier series races and six series championships.

Among those who visited Victory Lane in Johnson-prepared race cars were Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, LeeRoy Yarborough, Neil Bonnett, Terry Labonte and

Junior Johnson at Bill Elliott.

Daytona International Johnson sold Speedway in 1965. his race team and (Photo from ISC Images & Archives via Getty stepped away from Images for NASCAR) the sport in 1995. He and his wife, Lisa, now live in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Johnson was among the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s inaugural five inductees in 2010. texas preview: april 5, 2018

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driver profile: michael annett Michael Annett sits in 14th in the XFINITY Series standings. (Photo

by Getty Images for NASCAR)

A Growth Mindset Michael Annett Is Trying to Improve at JRM

By Joseph Wolkin

O

nce Michael Annett returned to the XFINITY Series last year with JR Motorsports, expectations were high.

The results, however, were not so great.

A year later, the No. 5 team knows what it needs to work on. But Annett sits 14th in the standings, making him hungrier than ever.

How would you evaluate the start of your season?

“We’re not getting the results we’d like to be having right now. We’ve had fast cars at times, and there’s been a couple of races

early on that we’ve just struggled. Coming off California, it wasn’t the result that we wanted, but we were in the top 10 all day. I think everybody on the team is sleeping better.”

What have you been doing to get the No. 5 team back to where it should be?

“The biggest thing is the communication between everybody in the organization. No one hides anything from each other. Once you having fast racecars, you can go to your teammates who are also fast and compare notes. When you’re off the pace and not making the lap times you need to be, it’s hard to go ask someone what they’re doing because when you’re going that much faster, you drive the car different. We’re getting the car faster and getting closer on times to our teammates.” texas preview: april 5, 2018

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crew member spotlight Hobie Helbich is a race engineer for Front Row Motorsports. Courtesy Photo

A Perfect Equation Helbich Enjoys Working the Numbers

BY BEN WHITE

H

obie Helbich, race engineer for Front Row Motorsports and driver Michael McDowell, saw his first at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the fall of 2014.

“I went with a couple of friends from college while at University of North Carolina at Charlotte,” Helbich said. “I had never been a fan of racing but a buddy of mine was and he knew someone that was working in racing. He got us a discount on tickets.”

Since the age of 5, Helbich wanted to do something of an engineering nature, especially with aerodynamics. That’s

where his future entry into the sport began to take shape.

Years later, he met a crew member at Front Row Motorsports through his professors at UNCC. After completing an internship with the team, Helbich became a fulltime employee after graduation in 2016.

Helbich enjoys working the numbers to find consistency enough to keep the team’s Ford Fusions at the front of the field. It all begins with a basics philosophy of finding the right combinations between driver and car.

“We’re a smaller team so I probably do a lot more than other race engineers do,” Helbich said. “At the shop, a lot of it is really a post-race analysis of data. I look over driver notes and we have meetings to talk about the previous weekend’s race.

I work on geometry set-ups for races a few weeks out so the shop guys can start building the cars. I also run a bunch of set-ups with our simulation tools for the weekend and try and get the baseline dialed in.” texas preview: april 5, 2018

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crew member spotlight EXTRA LAPS WITH HOBIE HELBICH SINGLE: Engaged to Paige McClellan HOMETOWN: Newbern, N.C. FAVORITE VACATION SPOT: Whistler, British Columbia FAVORITE SEASON: Spring FAVORITE HOLIDAY: Christmas FAVORITE TV SHOW: Top Gear FAVORITE MOVIE: The Italian Job FAVORITE MUSIC: Electronic

“I enjoy the competitive aspects of racing. I would say the natural progression would be to go up to a crew chief at some point. It might possibly something along the lines of production engineering on the design side of racing.”

texas preview: april 5, 2018

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spotlight Anheuser-Busch is a sponsor for Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 team.

Getty Images

Anheuser-Busch using a new sponsorship model By staff report

A

nheuser-Busch is rolling out a new sponsorship model that promises to shake up the industry. It is one built on incentives for performance on the field, pitch or court, as well as off of it. Every A-B sponsor deal going forward, whether team or league, will include a base compensation amount, plus metrics that trigger larger investments by the company.

A playoff appearance or boost in attendance could lead to more sponsor money from A-B. A new digital platform that engages fans or

increases awareness of A-B brands might spur larger payouts. Anheuser-Busch will work with teams and leagues to choose metrics on a case-by-case basis.

Anheuser-Busch can only implement the new model on deals up for renewal, and it already has four partners on board under the new format in the New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Timberwolves and NASCAR. The race series announced a deal this month with the Busch brand as the official beer of NASCAR. Budweiser was the official beer for a decade before Coors Light replaced it in 2008 in a deal that recently expired last year. texas preview: april 5, 2018

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spotlight Justin Allgaier won two of the $100,000 bonuses in 2017.

Getty Images

Dash 4 Cash Program Returns to XFINITY Series

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

T

he popular Dash 4 Cash returns to the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2018 with fulltime series drivers competing for a $100,000 top prize at each of the program’s four events.

In addition to the Bristol Motor Speedway, Richmond Raceway and Dover International Speedway races, Dash 4 Cash will also be available and in play for the first time at the always-exciting Talladega Superspeedway.

The top four finishing full-time drivers in this Saturday’s “My Bariatrics Solutions 300”

(April 7, 3 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Texas Motor Speedway will qualify for the first round of the Dash 4 Cash at Bristol next week. The highest finisher of the four at “The Last Great Colosseum” will earn the big $100,000 check.

The Dash 4 Cash winner at Bristol and the top three full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers at the end of the Bristol race, for a total of four contenders, will go on to race for the money at Richmond Raceway the following week. This format will continue for the duration of the four-race program.

Last year, Justin Allgaier won two of the $100,000 bonuses while Daniel Hemric and William Byron each collected $100,000 checks in the incentive program.

And for the first time, Comcast will donate bonus money in honor of each Dash 4 Cash weekly winner to support the local community at the four race venues participating in the program. In addition to the $100,000 prize money for the Dash 4 Cash winner, Comcast will donate a total of $40,000 to local organizations on behalf of the company’s Internet Essentials program. The program is the largest in the United States in connecting low-income households online – more than 4 million households have benefitted since texas preview: april 5, 2018

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spotlight

NASCAR Releases the 2019 Cup Series Schedule

by NASCAR Report

N

ASCAR released the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule on Tuesday.

The Monster Energy Series will kick off the 2019 season with The Clash at Daytona International Speedway (Feb. 10) and the season-opening Daytona 500 (Feb. 17).

The All-Star Race in Charlotte will take place on May 18, with the Coca-Cola 600 set for May 26.

The NASCAR Playoffs will start on Sept. 15 in Las Vegas, and the season will conclude on Nov. 17 at HomesteadMiami Speedway.

The NASCAR off-weekend will remain on Easter weekend (April 20-21).

The Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series schedules will be released at a later date.

2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule

DATE RACE

Sun., Feb. 10 Sun., Feb. 10 Thurs., Feb. 14 Sun., Feb. 17 Sun., Feb. 24 Sun., March 3 Sun., March 10 Sun., March 17 Sun., March 24 Sun., March 31 Sun., April 7 Sat., April 13 Sun., April 21 Sun., April 28 Sun., May 5 Sat., May 11 Sat., May 18 Sat., May 18 Sun., May 26 Sun., June 2 Sun., June 9 Sun., June 23 Sun., June 30 Sat., July 6 Sat., July 13 Sun., July 21 Sun., July 28 Sun., Aug. 4 Sun., Aug. 11 Sat., Aug. 17 Sun., Sept. 1 Sun., Sept. 8 Sun., Sept. 15 Sat., Sept. 21 Sun., Sept. 29 Sun., Oct. 6 Sun., Oct. 13 Sun., Oct. 20 Sun., Oct. 27 Sun., Nov. 3 Sun., Nov. 10 Sun., Nov. 17

Daytona 500 – Qualifying The Clash Daytona 500 – Duels Daytona 500 Atlanta Las Vegas ISM Raceway Auto Club Martinsville Texas Bristol Richmond OFF WEEK – EASTER Talladega Dover Kansas All-Star Open All-Star Race Charlotte Pocono Michigan Sonoma Chicago Daytona Kentucky New Hampshire Pocono Watkins Glen Michigan Bristol Darlington Indianapolis Las Vegas Richmond Charlotte Dover Talladega Kansas Martinsville Texas ISM Raceway Miami

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spotlight

MSG: Making Racing Safer

By Dan Guttenplan

M

otorsports Safety Group is a collaboration of innovators in the sport who are determined to improve the safety of racing. MSG shares tips for race car drivers and fans to help avoid injuries during races and practice sessions.

Acknowledged as one of the country’s leading neurosurgeons, Dr. Jason Cormier has helped MSG provide a comprehensive, grassroots marketing campaign focused on preventative health care education and wellness training.

With an emphasis to educate and engage

race fans in their growing role as health care consumers, the objective is to influence behavioral changes, to provide racing’s brand-loyal audience with the medical knowledge to make informed, preventative decisions that directly affect the wellness of their families.

“From the perspective of the fan, the first question to ask is whether you packed appropriately to prepare for the racetrack,” Cormier said. “Your health doesn’t start with us; it starts with you. Did you show up hydrated on a hot day? Did you consume anything that might be detrimental to your health like fried foods, processed foods or alcoholic beverages on an empty stomach.

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spotlight your heart, blood pressure, cholesterol, electrolytes, etc.? Are you following the advice of your family doctor or internist?”

In addition to being a racing fan, Cormier also races go-karts at top speeds of up to 130 mph. He has established relationships with multiple racing organizations, such as ARCA, NASCAR and Formula 1. His collaboration with other safety organizations like the International Council of Motorsports Sciences, Motorsports Safety Education Foundation, After the Impact Fund, Race Go Safer, and Think First has created an important platform for an ever-growing prosperity of safety informational exchange.

“I still race professionally, so my goal is to provide safety tips to drivers, pit crew and loyal fans that come out every weekend,” Cormier said. “While the sport has dangers, we can take precautions to provide a measure of safety.”

With his surgical background, Cormier has been able to engage companies to establish new technologies to diagnose and rehabilitate head injuries. He is now focusing his efforts on prevention.

One particular piece of technology that has Cormier excited is Q30 Innovations’ Q-Collar.

Q-Collar’s technology has been approved for sale in Canada, where it is being marketed as the Bauer Neuroshield. The company has been around for more than seven years,

and the data collection remains third party.

This means that the company is unable to manipulate the data, which ensures the accuracy of the efficacy and outcomes.

This promising research into concussion prevention is inspired by human yawns, woodpecker tongues and mountain-dwelling rams. The manifestation of this work is the novel Q-Collar, a device worn around the neck that works by enhancing the brain’s own physiology by lightly compressing the jugular vein to increase blood volume in the skull.

That may help prevent the brain from moving around within the skull and thus could reduce traumatic brain injuries.

The Q-Collar is actively being evaluated with consideration for its involvement in motorsports. The Q-Collar is already worn by professional athletes in other forms of high contact sports like football, hockey, soccer and even the military.

“I am particularly excited with the possibility of driver athletes, in varying age groups, being able to embrace this novel technology,” Cormier said. “There are exciting nuances with the collar that we think could have an important role with regards to helping on the preventive side of concussions, and part of the technology is established on nature’s physiological advantages found in other animals and human beings.

“This collar provides a small defined amount texas preview: april 5, 2018

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spotlight

of pressure over the neck muscles which, in effect, engages a ligament to react similarly to what a battle ram experiences. In the battle ram, this band causes a small reduction in blood flow from the brain which creates an internal air bag, which apparently protects this species from brain injuries.”

Through Cormier’s work with racecar drivers, he has found that very few have the desire to alter their racing styles, so preventative measures are best taken before the racing begins.

“We deal with brain injuries all the time,

ranging from mild to more severe,” Cormier said. “Those predispose you to the longterm effects of brain injury. The diagnosis of concussions is certainly key to taking the racer athlete out of the contest and providing rest. The appropriate rest will help provide longevity in the sport and additionally create an environment whereby transitioning into retirement occurs with their faculties intact.

This allows one to both enjoy and remember their retirement. That’s something we’re promoting from the Motorsports Safety Group standpoint.” texas preview: april 5, 2018

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spotlight presented by

The Oliva family tobacco business started in Cuba in 1886. Courtesy Photo

OLIVA MEANS QUALITY

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hat began as a tobacco growing business in Cuba over 130 years ago, today has evolved into one of the world’s best cigar manufacturers. Melanio Oliva began growing tobacco in the fertile Pinar del Rio of Cuba in 1886.

Melanio’s son Hipolito took over from his father in 1920 eventually passing it on to his son Gilberto Oliva, Sr.

who continued the farming until Castro forced him out. Resourceful, Gilberto became a tobacco broker allowing him to travel and emigrate eventually to Nicaragua.

By 1969, Gilberto was growing tobacco once again, this time in Nicaragua whose rich soil and climate was close to that of his homeland. Ten years later the Sandanista revolution in

Nicaragua forced Gilberto to grow his tobacco elsewhere.

By 1995, with stability back in Nicaragua, Gilberto moved home to Esteli, and resumed his growing and added cigar making to his portfolio. After the cigar boom in the 90s, Gilberto continued making cigars, but being cash strapped like others after the boom, he was able to push ahead by using all the Nicaraguan tobacco

texas preview: april 5, 2018

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spotlight

he had been accumulating.

His tobacco forced a change in the Oliva blends to all Nicaraguan tobacco and improved his quality.

The company’s offerings improved year after year.

By 2005, Oliva was being honored by Cigar Aficionado in its top 10 cigars of the year with the Oliva Serie O Classic scoring a 91. The following year, the Oliva Serie G Cameroon made the list of best cigars of the year with a 91. That same year,

Oliva released its Serie V to great acclaim and in 2007 it was rated 4th best cigar with a 93 rating.

Oliva cigars continually ranks as one of the best cigars of the year. In 2012, the family released a new Serie V the Melanio edition to honor the man who started it all. Two years later in 2014, the Serie V Melanio would be named the Cigar of the Year with a 96 rating! Near perfection. Just this year, the Serie V rated a 95 and

was the number 3 cigar of the year for 2017.

In addition, to the highly rated Serie cigars, Oliva also makes the Nub, which also makes the year’s best cigar list. In fact, Oliva cigars have remained on Cigar Aficionado’s top 25 cigars of the year for 12 years straight.

On top of that, Oliva believes in keeping prices in check.

The company’s cigars start at under $4 and go up to about $15. The highly rated Serie V belicoso is just over $8.00 depending on local taxes.

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For security and peace of mind, count on the Honda EG2800i Inverter Generator. It provides quiet power, long run times and a 30A receptacle for easy connection to a transfer switch. And at only 67 lbs., it’s trusted, portable home backup and DIY power where you need it, when you need it— for your home, and life. Find out more at gen.honda.com.

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on the road presented by

CRST Expedited has over 4,000 Company Drivers in the U.S. Courtesy Photo

Make a #LaneChange!

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on the road

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seal the deal Cale Yarborough won with strategy in the 1967 Firecracker 400.

GETTY IMAGES

presented by

Perfect Timing Yarborough wins 1967 firecracker 400

By Ben White

O

n July 4, 1967, Cale Yarborough drove the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford to victory in the Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Raceway. The Timmonsville, S.C. native sealed the deal by aggressively passing Dick Hutcherson and Darel Dieringer on the backstretch on the final lap.

Yarborough led 30 of 160 laps during an event that was stopped twice for over four hours due to heavy rain. The trio of superstars slowed in the closing laps, hoping not to be in the lead as they crossed under the white flag. Being out front virtually guaranteed being passed for the win was a certainty through a slingshot move.

Each worked the draft for any advantage they could find on the high-banked 2.5-mile superspeedway.

Yarborough won by a 100-yard distance as he crossed under the checkered flag.

“I’d have stopped on the backstretch if necessary to keep from being the leader on the last lap,” Yarborough said that day in Greg Fielden’s “40 Years of Stock Car” book series.

Added Hutcherson, “It seemed like I nearly stopped trying to make a couple of those others guys pass.”

The Independence Day summer classic was Yarborough’s second victory of the 1967 season. Just two months earlier, Yarborough won a 500-mile race for team owner Glen Wood at Atlanta International Raceway. The Virginia-based team only entered 16 of 49 Grand National races that season. texas preview: april 5, 2018

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spotlight

Coolant leak failures can be repaired with K-Seal.

Not Your Grandfather’s Stop Leak

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oolant leak failures are one of the most common reasons for roadside breakdowns. It’s that dreaded feeling when you realize that you’ve got a coolant leak. Maybe it’s the radiator, or the water pump, or worse – the head or the block. You’re likely looking at a bill of hundreds or maybe thousands of dollars to get your vehicle

back on the road.

In the past, the early days, you may have been told to try adding pepper, egg, coffee grounds, or even mustard powder in the cooling system to get that leak stopped. More recently someone may have told you to try a stop leak common on the shelves of most auto parts stores.

But a lot of those products

contain sodium silicate or liquid glass, the same ingredient they used to seize the engines during “Cash for Clunkers.” Sure the radiator might have been plugged but often other parts of the cooling system were too!

But hold on. What if there was a safe way for you to get your trusty friend back on the road for less than

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spotlight the cost of a KFC family meal? Well there is, with K-Seal Multi-Purpose Permanent Coolant Leak Repair. Made in the USA, K-Seal is a global bestselling cooling system leak sealer with over 6 million bottles sold. It’s a favorite with professional technicians and here’s what a few of them had to say about it recently: “It’s like magic. If it was the 17th century those who make it would be burned at the stake.”

“It’s about the only thing I’ve heard that works. We sell it by the caseload.”

“I’ve repaired many a car with K-Seal and I know it works.”

(Actual testimonial from independent market survey

Dec 2017) We asked Patrick O’Brien, CEO of K-Seal, what makes K-Seal different from all the other stop leaks on the shelf? “K-Seal is the next generation stop leak technology,” O’Brien said. “We’ve developed a ceramic microfiber formula that is safe to use with all types of coolant / antifreeze. Plus, K-Seal was the first multi-purpose formula designed to fix leaks in all hard parts of the cooling system, including the head, head gasket, block, radiator, heater core, water pump casing and freeze plug. It’s safe to use in all water cooled engines from motor cycles right up to heavy duty trucks, and

everything in between. It even fixed a leak on a Top Fuel dragster, and when K-Seal makes a repair it is permanent. It’s way beyond your Grandfather’s old stop leak.”

“K-Seal is the only product to have been independently university tested to the ASTM standard for coolant leak repair products.

This means it will seal a leak when it’s meant to but it positively will not block even the narrowest waterways in the cooling system. Plus K-Seal is safe for use with aluminium heads including the Northstar block.” www.kseal.com

“K-Seal is the next generation stopleak technology.”

--- Patrick O’Brien, CEO of K-Seal

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honda generators

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hen you are looking to haul long lumber, canoes, kayaks or just wanting to tailgate, the Big Bed Sr. is your answer! With small-box pickup trucks gaining popularity, this unique product will add feet to the length of your truck. It is covered with black powder coat to prevent rust, has multiple anchor points and is 4 feet across when open. The best feature of the Big Bed Sr. is its ability to fold up for easy storage. With the built-in carrying handle, the Big Bed Sr. easily fits in the back of your truck or a small area of your garage.

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FAVORITE FINDS

Cain Daytona

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ain Daytona is the latest release from Studio Tobac. The Jalapa Ligero is more refined than other Ligeros. Jalapa Ligero, plus Cain’s triple fermentation, makes Cain Daytona a medium to full-bodied, smooth, rich and flavorful smoke.

Making a Straight Ligero cigar requires a unique understanding of the leaf. Ligero comes from the top of the tobacco plant. Its direct exposure to the sun darkens and thickens the leaf. Smaller than leaves lower on the plant, it also enjoys a concentration of nutrients. Habano Seed Ligero is recognized as the most full flavored leaf. Additionally, the region in which this Habano Seed is grown plays a significant role in its flavor and strength.

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2018 schedule & results

monster energy nascar cup series date location

2/18/18 2/25/18 3/4/18 3/11/18 3/18/18 3/25/18 4/8/18 4/15/18 4/21/18 4/29/18 5/6/18 5/12/18 5/19/18 5/27/18 6/3/18 6/10/18 6/24/18 7/1/18 7/7/18 7/14/18 7/22/18 7/29/18 8/5/18 8/12/18 8/18/18 9/2/18 6/6/18 9/16/18 9/22/18 9/30/18 10/7/18 10/14/18 10/21/18 10/28/18 11/4/18 11/11/18 11/18/18

Daytona Atlanta Las Vegas phoenix Auto Club Martinsville Texas Bristol Richmond Talladega Dover Kansas Charlotte Charlotte Pocono Michigan Sonoma Chicagoland Daytona Kentucky New Hampshire Pocono Watkins Glen Michigan Bristol Darlington Indianapolis Las Vegas Richmond Charlotte Dover Talladega Kansas Martinsville Texas Motor phoenix Homestead-Miami

track

winner

DAYTONA 500 austin dillon FOLDS OF HONOR QUIKTRIP 500 kevin harvick PENNZOIL 400

kevin harvick TICKETGUARDIAN 500 kevin harvick AUTO CLUB 400 martin truex jr.

STP 500 Clint Bowyer O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 500 FOOD CITY 500 TOYOTA OWNERS 400 GEICO 500 AAA 400 DRIVE FOR AUTISM MENCS RACE AT KANSAS MENCS ALL-STAR RACE AT CHARLOTTE COCA-COLA 600 POCONO 400 FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400 TOYOTA/SAVE MART 350 MENCS RACE AT CHICAGOLAND COKE ZERO 400 QUAKER STATE 400 NEW HAMPSHIRE 301 GANDER OUTDOORS 400 GOBOWLING AT THE GLEN MENCS RACE AT MICHIGAN BASS PRO SHOPS NRA NIGHT RACE BOJANGLES’ SOUTHERN 500 BIG MACHINE BRICKYARD 400 SOUTH POINT 400 FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 400 BANK OF AMERICA 500 MENCS AT DOVER ALABAMA 500 HOLLYWOOD CASINO 400 FIRST DATA 500 AAA TEXAS 500 CAN-AM 500 FORD ECOBOOST 400

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The Kurt Busch, name, likeness and signature, are used under license from Kurt Busch, Inc. The Stewart-Haas Racing® logo and the #41 State Water Heaters race car are trademarks of Stewart-Haas Racing and are used under license. © State Industries, LLC.

SHR LOGO USAGE:

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COLORS:

644 Blue (Maderia Thread 1360)

White

Black

State Water Heaters is a proud sponsor of NASCAR® Champions Kurt Busch and the Stewart-Haas Racing team.

S TAT E WAT E R H E AT E R S . C O M

2018 schedule & results

xfinity series date location

2/17/18 2/24/18 3/3/18 3/10/18 3/17/18 4/14/18 4/20/18 4/28/18 5/5/18 5/26/18 6/2/18 6/9/18 6/16/18 6/30/18 7/6/18 7/13/18 7/21/18 7/28/18 8/4/18 8/11/18 8/17/18 8/25/18 9/1/18 9/8/18 9/15/18 9/21/18 9/29/18 10/6/18 10/20/18 10/28/18 11/3/18 11/10/18

Daytona Atlanta Las Vegas phoenix Auto Club Bristol Richmond Talladega Dover Charlotte Pocono Michigan Iowa Chicagoland Daytona Kentucky New Hampshire Iowa Watkins Glen Mid-Ohio Bristol Road America Darlington Indianapolis Las Vegas Richmond Charlotte Dover Kansas Martinsville Texas phoenix

track

winner

POWERSHARES QQQ 300 tyler reddick RINNAI 250

kevin harvick BOYD GAMING 300 Kyle Larson DC SOLAR 200 Brad Keselowski XFINITY SERIES RACE AT AUTO CLUB Kyle Larson FITZGERALD GLIDER KITS 300 TOYOTACARE 250 SPARKS ENERGY 300 ONEMAIN FINANCIAL 200 HISENSE 4K TV 300 POCONO GREEN 250 LTI PRINTING 250 AMERICAN ETHANOL E15 250 XFINITY SERIES RACE AT CHICAGOLAND COCA-COLA FIRECRACKER 250 ALSCO 300 LAKES REGION 200 U.S. CELLULAR 250 ZIPPO 200 MID-OHIO CHALLENGE FOOD CITY 300 JOHNSONVILLE 180 SPORTS CLIPS HAIRCUTS VFW 200 LILLY DIABETES 250 XFINITY SERIES RACE AT LAS VEGAS GO BOWLING 250 DRIVE FOR THE CURE 300 XFINITY SERIES RACE AT DOVER KANSAS LOTTERY 300 FIRST DATA 500 O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 300 TICKET GALAXY 200

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2018 schedule & results

nascar camping world truck series winner

date location

track

2/16/18 2/24/18 3/2/18 3/24/18 5/4/18 5/11/18 5/18/18 6/8/18 6/16/18 6/23/18 6/29/18 7/12/18 7/18/18 7/28/18 8/11/18 //15/18 8/26/18 9/14/18 10/13/18 10/27/18 11/2/18 11/9/18

NEXTERA ENERGY RESOURCES 250 johnny sauter ACTIVE PEST CONTROL 200 Brett Moffitt CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES RACE AT LAS VEGAS Kyle Busch ALPHA ENERGY SOLUTIONS 250 John H. Nemechek CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES RACE AT DOVER CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES RACE AT KANSAS NORTH CAROLINA EDUCATION LOTTERY 200 RATTLESNAKE 400 IOWA 200 CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES RACE AT GATEWAY CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES RACE AT CHICAGOLAND CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES RACE AT KENTUCKY ELDORA DIRT DERBY GANDER OUTDOORS 150 CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES RACE AT MICHIGAN UNOH 200 CHEVROLET SILVERADO 250 CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES RACE AT LAS VEGAS FRED’S 250 POWERED BY COCA-COLA TEXAS ROADHOUSE 200 JAG METALS 350 LUCAS OIL 150

Daytona Atlanta Las Vegas Martinsville Dover Kansas Charlotte Texas Iowa Gateway Chicagoland Kentucky Eldora Pocono Michigan Bristol Canadian Las Vegas Talladega Martinsville Texas phoenix

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2018 schedule & results

k&n pro series east

k&n pro series west

Date Track Winner

Date Track Winner

2/11/18 4/14/18 4/28/18 5/12/18 6/2/18 6/16/18 7/14/18 7/21/18 7/27/18 8/3/18 8/24/18 9/22/18 10/5/18

New Smyrna Bristol Langley South Boston Memphis New Jersey Thompson New Hampshire Iowa Watkins Glen Gateway New Hampshire Dover

todd gilliland

3/15/18 5/5/18 5/19/18 6/9/18 6/23/18 6/30/18 7/15/18 7/27/18 8/11/18 8/24/18 9/13/18 9/29/18 10/13/18 10/27/18

Kern Tucson Orange Colorado Sonoma Douglas Spokane Iowa Evergreen Gateway Las Vegas Meridian All American Kern

Derek Kraus

whelen modified

pinty’s

Date Track Winner

Date Track Winner

3/17/18 4/8/18 4/29/18 6/2/18 6/13/18 6/23/18 7/7/18 7/20/18 7/21/18 8/3/18 8/8/18 8/15/18 9/1/18 9/8/18 9/22/18 9/30/18

Myrtle Beach Thompson Stafford Seekonk Thompson Langley Riverhead New Hampshire New Hampshire Stafford Thompson Bristol Oswego Riverhead New Hampshire Stafford

Jon McKennedy

5/20/18 6/16/18 6/30/18 7/14/18 7/25/18 7/28/18 8/12/18 8/18/18 8/26/18 9/8/18 9/22/18 9/29/18

Canadian Jukasa Autodrome Pinty’s toronto Wyant Edmonton Circuit Trois-Rivieres Antigonish, N.S. Canadian St. Eustache, Que. New Hampshire Hamilton, Ont.

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Find the right bulbs for your vehicle at sylvania-automotive.com

SilverStar ULTRA headlights.

High performance and safety have rarely coexisted so perfectly. ®

Light is safety No matter what kind of car you drive, you need to confidently see farther down the road at night. SilverStar ® ULTRA is our farthest downroad headlight and fits over 90% of vehicles on the road.

Choose SilverStar ® ULTRA for everything ahead of you.

©2018 OSRAM SYLVANIA *Compared to SYLVANIA BASIC and the SYLVANIA family of halogen headlights.

2018 schedule & results

whelen euro series Date Track Winner

4/13/18 4/14/18 4/15/18 5/18/18 5/19/18 5/20/18 6/9/18 6/10/18 6/30/18 7/1/18 9/14/18 9/15/18 9/16/18 10/19/18 10/20/18 10/21/18

Valencia, Spain Valencia, Spain Valencia, Spain Franciacorta, Italy Franciacorta, Italy Franciacorta, Italy Brands Hatch, UK Brands Hatch, UK Tours, France Tours, France Hockenheim, Germany Hockenheim, Germany Hockenheim, Germany Zolder, Belgium Zolder, Belgium Zolder, Belgium

FROM RUST TO FINISH Permanent Professional Restoration Products

FROM

RUST TO FINISH

FROM

FROM TO TO

RUST RUST FINISH FINISH

Permanent Restoration Permanent Restoration Products for Professionals Products for Professionals

2018 CATALOG 2018 AUTOMOTIVE

CATALOG

AUTOMOTIVE

mexico series Date Track Winner

3/25/18 4/22/18 5/20/18 6/10/18 7/8/18 7/29/18 8/19/18 9/9/18 9/30/18 10/21/18 11/11/18 12/2/18

Monterrey

Potosino El Dorado de Cajititlan Miguel E. Abed Aguascalientes la Union Ganadera Miguel E. Abed Chiapas Aguascalientes Cajititlan Hermanos Rodriguez

Homero Richards MADE IN

USA

NEW

MATTE Clear Coat A high-performance low sheen protective clear coat formulated to apply evenly and resist scuffing.

For promotions and where to buy www.PORproducts.com / nascar /

©2018 Paint Over Rust Products, Inc. All rights reserved. ®POR-15 and P.O.R. Products are registered trademarks of Paint Over Rust Products, Inc. © Factory Five Licensing, car image used with permission

texas preview: april 5, 2018

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Book your Fall 2018 Race package now!

September 14 - 16, 2018

Book your Spring 2019 Race package now!

March 2019

Visit BoydEvents.com/NASCAR or call 888-582-6278

IT’S GOOD TO B THRILLED

SM

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credits

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