ROAR! - Weekly Racing Magazine - June 26, 2020

DOUBLE THE EXCITEMENT NOAH GRAGSON JOINS ERIC ESTEPP

5 THINGS TO WATCH AT POCONO

TWO CUP SERIES RACES AT POCONO MAKE FOR A HISTORIC WEEKEND

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NOAH GRAGSON TALKS DALE JR, VICTORY CELEBRATIONS, AND MORE! In this week’s episode of Out of the Groove, host and creator Eric Estepp is joined on the show by a very special guest. Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 9 for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity series, joins Eric to talk about the latest in his world.

Gragson is currently the points leader, and is a serious contender for the Xfinity championship outright in 2020, and he and Eric dive into what goes into that performance 0 0 4

every week. And not just for himself, but Gragson also talks life and struggles with his teammate Justin Allgaier, and how they work together under one roof.

But that’s not all. Eric also dives into the most pressing matters, like how do you pronounce Gragson anyway? Join Eric and Noah Gragson as they talk everything from climbing fences to driving for Dale, Jr., all on this week’s episode of Out of the Groove!

ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020

5 THINGS TO WATCH

5

THINGS TO WATCH AT POCONO THE DOUBLE-DIPPER AT THE TRICKY TRIANGLE Prepare for a double dose of NASCAR Cup Series fun. When Pocono Raceway hosts a Cup race both this Saturday and Sunday, it will mark the first time in NASCAR’s modern era that the sport’s top division completes two separate events on consecutive days at the same facility. Up first is a 325-mile race on Saturday, followed by a slightly longer 350-mile race on Sunday. Check out five things to watch for in what will be an action-packed weekend of racing at the 2.5-mile Pennsylvania track known as the “Tricky Triangle.”

BY JA RED TURNER

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ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020

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5 THINGS TO WATCH

5

RYAN BLANEY RIDING HIGH

N

o one will enter this doubleheader weekend with a bigger wind at their back than Ryan Blaney.

Along with the confidence that comes from Pocono Raceway being the site of his first win as a NASCAR Cup Series competitor — in June 2017 — the Team Penske driver will arrive in the Pennsylvania mountains as the series’ most recent winner, having going to Victory Lane after nipping Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in a photo finish on Monday at Talladega Superspeedway. It almost goes without saying that Blaney, who by virtue of his win at Talladega is now locked in the playoffs, has every reason to feel upbeat and optimistic about this weekend’s races at Pocono. “It was nice to finally break through, get the first one of the year,” Blaney said of his triumph at Talladega.

“Hopefully, this opens the floodgates here and we can get on a roll. This team has been awesome.

They’ve been so much fun to work with all year.”

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ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020

5 THINGS TO WATCH

4

EMPTY STANDS

P

ocono Raceway reportedly boasts a seating capacity of nearly 77,000. But unfortunately, none of those seats will be occupied this weekend, thanks to restrictions put in place by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, who doesn’t believe his state is ready to have fans in attendance for a sporting event on this grand of a scale as Pennsylvania works to diminish the spread of COVID-19. Originally, this weekend was pegged to be arguably the biggest in the history of Pocono Raceway, with the track hosting NASCAR Cup Series races on consecutive days for the first time. “Race fans are Pocono Raceway’s lifeblood,” track president Ben May said. “We will miss the fans’ passion, laughs, cheers and smiles as the green flag drops in the Pocono Mountains.” With a select number of fans allowed to attend last weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway and the previous weekend’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, this will be the first race in three weeks where the stands are completely empty.

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ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020

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THE FATIGUE FACTOR… OR NOT

W

ith fewer than 24 hours between Saturday’s Pocono Organics 325 and Sunday’s Pocono 350, this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader has the potential to be a real test of drivers’ endurance and stamina — especially with the hot June temperatures. At least one driver isn’t too worried about having to navigate 675 miles in less than a full day, however. “I don’t think it’s gonna be that big a deal for us,” Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher said. “You see so many drivers that will do the Xfinity Series race followed by a Cup race. With the length of the two races at Pocono, that’s basically what we’re gonna be looking at, so it’s not something that’s gonna be completely new to a lot of people. Now that we’re starting to get back in the shop a little bit and back in the gym, I don’t feel like I’m unprepared for it, whatsoever. I think it’s gonna be almost a complete non-issue.”

ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020

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A REJUVENATED, WELL-SUPPORTED BUBBA WALLACE

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s the NASCAR Cup Series’ only African-American driver, Bubba Wallace has grabbed much attention in recent weeks as issues of racial inequality and social injustice have dominated headlines everywhere. While Wallace has faced some unjustified criticism on Twitter, he has been the recipient of much love and support from the NASCAR community at large, and that was never more evident than Monday at Talladega after reports surfaced that a noose had been found in Wallace’s garage stall the previous day. While the noose turned out to be a garage door pull rope — fashioned like a noose — that the FBI and NASCAR later concluded did not constitute a hate crime (the rope had been there since at least last fall), Wallace witnessed first-hand at Talladega just how much fans and fellow drivers care about him, thanks to a demonstration of solidarity like never before seen at a NASCAR event. These positive vibes should spur Wallace forward at Pocono and in the weeks to come.

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ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020

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5 THINGS TO WATCH

1

KYLE BUSCH IN HOT PURSUIT OF HIS FIRST 2020 VICTORY

T

he bad news for Kyle Busch? He’s surprisingly winless in 13 NASCAR Cup Series starts this season. The good news? Up next on the schedule — and set to host a doubleheader, no less — is Pocono Raceway, a track where Busch has captured three of the last five premier series races and finished no worse than ninth in his last seven starts. Understandably, the reigning series champion feels good about his chances of ending his current drought this weekend at Pocono. Perhaps the best part for Busch is that he will have two opportunities — one on Saturday and another on Sunday. “There are certainly a lot of things over the years that we’ve worked on (at Pocono), and there are definitely things we’ve fine-tuned on and gotten a lot better at,” Busch said. “I think it started in 2013 or 2014, and then it’s evolved with Adam Stevens being the crew chief since 2015, as well. We’ve run really well there.”

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ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020

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RECAPPING JIMMIE JOHNSON’S NASCAR CAREER

■■ Jimmie Johnson won an XFINITY Series race in the No. 92 Chevrolet at Chicagoland in 2001.

THE ONE AND ONLY JOHNSON’S LONE XFINITY SERIES WIN CAME IN 2001 AT CHICAGOLAND

BY JA RED TURNER

A

s a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver in 2000 and 2001, Jimmie Johnson never seriously contended for a championship nor was he a frequent face in Victory Lane.

However, Johnson — now a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion — wasn’t completely absent from Victory Lane in what is now known as the Xfinity Series.

His lone Xfinity Series win in 93 career Xfinity starts came at Chicagoland Speedway on July 14, 2001. Coincidentally, Chicagoland is one of only four current NASCAR Cup Series tracks where Johnson has never been triumphant. But on that day in the summer of ’01, Johnson took care of business at the 1.5-mile suburban Chicago track, taking the checkered flag a comfortable 4.932 seconds ahead of runner-up finisher Mike Skinner. Future NASCAR Cup Series star Jeff Burton, who is now an announcer for NASCAR on NBC, finished third.

Driving a No. 92 Excedrin-sponsored Chevrolet for team owner Stanley Herzog, Johnson started sixth and led 43 of 200 laps.

While Johnson never won again as a driver in NASCAR’s No. 2

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ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020

division, he did go on to finish an Xfinity career-best eighth in points that season. Clearly, it was enough to capture the attention of NASCAR Cup Series team owner Rick Hendrick, as by the time 2002 rolled around, Johnson had landed a full-time Cup ride as driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Of course, little did anyone know when Johnson prevailed for his first and only time as an Xfinity Series driver just how incredibly successful he would go on to be at the next level.

Now seven championships and 83 Cup wins later, Johnson can look back on that Xfinity Series win at Chicagoland as one of the few truly great moments of his short Xfinity Series career but also as a moment that helped propel him to bigger and better things, nonetheless.

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17 ERIK JONES

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ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020

WINS

POLES

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TOP 10

3 0 7 8 2 0 6 10 2 0 3 6 2 1 5 9 1 0 7 7 1 1 6 8 1 1 2 6 1 0 2 4 0 1 6 7 0 1 3 9 0 0 2 6 0 0 2 5 0 1 2 3 0 0 0 4 0 0 1 3 0 0 1 3 0 0 3 5 0 0 1 4 0 0 1 3 0 1 3 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 BLUE AREAS HIGHLIGHT PLAYOFF QUALIFIERS

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CHASE BRISCOE

454

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NOAH GRAGSON

469

3

HARRISON BURTON

399

4

JUSTIN HALEY

385

5

BRANDON JONES

375

6

AUSTIN CINDRIC

426

7

ROSS CHASTAIN

422

8

JUSTIN ALLGAIER

337

9

MICHAEL ANNETT

296

10 RYAN SIEG

273

11 RILEY HERBST

257

12 BRANDON BROWN

250

13 MYATT SNIDER

214

14 JOSH WILLIAMS

210

15 ALEX LABBE

202

16 JESSE LITTLE

182

17 JEREMY CLEMENTS

176

18 B.J. MCLEOD

166

19 JOE GRAF JR.

150

20 CHAD FINCHUM

145

21 VINNIE MILLER

144

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131

26 JEFFREY EARNHARDT

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27 COLBY HOWARD

94

28 RAY BLACK JR.

92

29 MATT MILLS

81

30 J.J. YELEY

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31 JEB BURTON

70

32 MASON MASSEY

69

33 ROBBY LYONS

66

ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020

WINS

POLES

TOP 5

TOP 10

3 0 5 8 2 0 7 9 2 0 7 10 1 0 4 7 1 1 4 7 0 0 6 8 0 0 3 9 0 0 2 4 0 0 0 3 0 0 2 4 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 3 0 2 1 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 1 4 1 0 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 BLUE AREAS HIGHLIGHT PLAYOFF QUALIFIERS

NASCAR STANDINGS

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PTS.

1

GRANT ENFINGER

161

2

AUSTIN HILL

209

3

CHRISTIAN ECKES

165

4

BEN RHODES

161

5

TODD GILLILAND

148

6

ZANE SMITH

147

7

JOHNNY SAUTER

140

8

BRETT MOFFITT

137

9

SHELDON CREED

135

10 TYLER ANKRUM

133

11 DEREK KRAUS

132

12 MATT CRAFTON

132

13 RAPHAEL LESSARD

114

14 STEWART FRIESEN

112

15 TANNER GRAY

111

16 TY MAJESKI

109

17 CODIE ROHRBAUGH

86

18 AUSTIN SELF

72

19 JORDAN ANDERSON

69

20 CORY ROPER

69

21 SPENCER BOYD

67

22 TATE FOGLEMAN

65

23 ANGELA RUCH

58

24 SPENCER DAVIS

66

25 NATALIE DECKER

58

26 KORBIN FORRISTER

45

27 TIMMY HILL

39

28 JASON WHITE

27

29 JENNIFER COBB

26

30 CLAY GREENFIELD

26

31 RYAN TRUEX

24

32 BRYAN DAUZAT

18

33 GRAY GAULDING

16

WINS

POLES

TOP 5

TOP 10

2 0 2 2 0 0 2 5 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 3 0 0 1 3 0 0 2 3 0 1 2 4 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 3 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 BLUE AREAS HIGHLIGHT PLAYOFF QUALIFIERS

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ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020 5/15/2020 8:30:21 AM

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CARRYING THE LOAD RIDDLE STRIVES FOR FAST PIT STOPS

BY BEN WHITE

S

cott Riddle, tire carrier for Premium Motorsports and driver Brenan Poole, saw his first NASCAR race via television broadcasts with his Dad when he was 8 years old. A few years later, he got the chance to attend his first NASCAR race.

“When I was 15, I attended a race at Rockingham,” Riddle said.

“I went with a buddy that had a cousin racing in the Xfinity Series then. It was the only race I had been to until I started working in the sport.”

In 2014, the former high school athlete was coaching football quarterbacks at Hampden Sydney College when a team recruiter from Hendrick Motorsports contacted him about working as a crew member. A successful tryout led to joining HMS in 2015. He remains employed with HMS but is a part of an alliance with the Premium Motorsports. Riddle also carried tires for the No. 24 HMS team and driver William Byron in 2019.

“A pit stop is similar to a football play,” Riddle said.

“Everything happens in a hurry. Snapping the ball for the first time in a higher level of football is kind of like being a part of a pit stop for the first time. As you get experience, the pit stop slows down just like football did for me.”

Riddle enjoys the action on pit road each time Poole brings the No. 15 Chevrolet to a stop.

“There’s no question it’s an adrenalin rush when you’re on pit road,” Riddle said. “We are carrying two tires out so we have to be a little bit quicker with five men than we were with six.”

■■ Scott Riddle, tire carrier for Premium Motorsports

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“You know right away when you have a good stop. Right after, you want to run over to the TV monitor to see how many spots you gained. Sometimes there are adjustments that we have to make to the car, but we know when we put down a 13- or 14-second stop.” -SCOTT RIDDLE 0 2 6

ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020

BY THE NUMBER

10

BY THE NUMBER

CAR NO.

BY K EITH WA LTZ

D

errike Cope scored the biggest NASCAR Cup Series win for car No. 10 when he drove Bob Whitcomb’s Chevrolet to an upset victory in the 1990 Daytona 500.

Cope is among only five drivers to win in car No. 10 as Ricky Rudd leads that list with six triumphs during his 196 starts as an owner/ driver in NASCAR’s premier series.

A total of 105 drivers have driven car No. 10 and Stewart-Haas Racing has been the number’s caretaker since Danica Patrick joined

■■ 1985 – Greg Sacks (Racing One via Getty Images photo)

the operation in 2013. Aric Almirola currently drives car No. 10 and he is among those who have won with the number.

Overall statistics show that cars carrying No. 10 in the NASCAR Cup Series have visited Victory Lane only 11 times while posting 250 top-10 finishes in slightly more than 1,400 starts.

Fred Johnson, of Hamptonville, North Carolina, used No. 10 on his 1947 Ford during the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race on June 19, 1949, at the three-quarter-mile Charlotte Speedway dirt track. He finished 25th.

It was 36 years later before a car carrying No. 10 found Victory Lane. That milestone moment came on July 4, 1985, when Modified racer Greg Sacks scored a major upset in the Firecracker 400 at Florida’s Daytona International Speedway. Sacks was a driving an R&D Chevrolet entered by DiGard Racing and prepared by mechanical wizard Gary Nelson.

■■ 2020 – Aric Almirola (Getty Images photo)

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ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020

DRIVER Q&A

THE MAGIC MAN TY MAJESKI THRILLED FOR TITLE CHANCES

BY JOSEPH WOLK IN

Two years ago, Ty Majeski checked racing for Jack Roush off his bucket list. After a year of running part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, the Wisconsin native is gunning for his first NASCAR championship with Niece Motorsports. He’s ready to prove why he is considered a Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series title favorite. ▶ HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO GET BACK ON TRACK? “I had a great opportunity to race a super late model in Alabama a few days before the truck race in Charlotte. That will be huge to knock the rust off, so I’m prepared and ready to go for the truck races with no practice or qualifying.” ▶ WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR? “Our expectations at Niece Motorsports are high. We all saw what Ross Chastain was able to do last year. Everyone at the shop has done a great job building fast race trucks week in and week out. I think we are capable of making it to victory lane and competing for a championship in the playoffs.” ▶ HOW SURREAL IS IT TO KNOW THAT AFTER SO MANY YEARS OF HARD WORK, YOU HAVE A 0 3 0

ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020

■■ Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series driver Ty Majeski

FULL-TIME NASCAR RIDE? “As a young, up-and-coming racer in this sport, all you can ask for is to have an opportunity to run for a championship with race winning equipment and good people.

I have that opportunity this season. I am certainly ready to make the most of it and prove myself at the NASCAR level.” ▶ HOW WILL YOUR PART-TIME EXPERIENCE IN THE XFINITY SERIES HELP YOU COMPETE FOR A TRUCK SERIES TITLE? “The biggest thing having XFINITY experience will help me with is familiarity with many of the race tracks. With the situation we are in with no practice and no qualifying, it is huge to have at least raced the track before even if it wasn’t in a truck.”

IN THE HOTSEAT

IN THE HOT SEAT Quin Houff

BY ROB TIONGSON

Throughout the season, Rob Tiongson interviews various drivers in the world of NASCAR. Today, he talks with Quin Houff, a driver in the NASCAR Cup Series. ▶ AS A ROOKIE COMPETING IN THE COMPETITIVE WORLD OF NASCAR CUP SERIES RACING, WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE FOR YOU TO DRIVE FOR STARCOM RACING’S NO. 00 CHEVY CAMARO? It’s been a dream. As a racecar driver from the young age of 8, with this dream in mind, it’s very humbling to get my first full-time gig off the ground with StarCom. I feel like we’ve made big gains and there’s a lot of things that we’ve learned as a team with me as their new driver with a new crew chief with these cars. We’re checking off all the boxes and we’ve done nothing but progress since Daytona. ▶ YOU HAIL FROM VIRGINIA, A STATE THAT’S PRODUCED VARIOUS NASCAR STARS LIKE THE BURTON FAMILY, DENNY HAMLIN AND RICKY RUDD. DID YOU LOOK UP TO THESE VIRGINIANS OR OTHERS IN NASCAR? Coming from the area, Denny Hamlin was kind of the hope for me as a young driver. I came through a similar way that he did, and I competed against some of the people that he raced and worked directly with. I looked up to him and I enjoyed seeing that success for Virginia from him early on (racing) for Joe Gibbs.

There’s a lot of drivers that I’ve learned to respect with the talent that they have, whether it’s someone who races on Sundays or even someone racing in late models like Philip Morris and Lee Pulliam. There’s a lot of different people that I didn’t even know that I would have to respect like that. There’s a reason that some of these guys get to the top level and wheel it on Sundays.

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ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020

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MEMORY LANE

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■■ Jeff Gordon faltered in his bid for a win at Pocono in 1995.

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TERRY LABONTE WINS WHILE JEFF GORDON MISSES SHIFT AT POCONO

W

hile nobody may recall who finished second, race fans may remember who finished 16th on June 11, 1995 at Pocono Raceway.

For most NASCAR fans and, especially, Jeff Gordon, it’s a race that reminded everyone to not count their chickens before they hatch.

Starting from the fifth position, Gordon quickly made

ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020

his way to the top spot by Lap 12, the first of seven occasions in which he led the way at the 2.5-mile “Tricky Triangle.”

In fact, Gordon was virtually untouchable in his unmistakable No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, dominating the event as he had on most occasions that year.

Truly, the then 23-yearold Vallejo, Calif., native was putting on a clinic like Randy

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MEMORY LANE Johnson on the baseball diamond or Michael Jordan against any team in the NBA. The only competitor that could beat Gordon was, well, the “Wonderkid” himself.

However, this was during a time in which Gordon and his famed “Rainbow Warriors” team were still ironing out the final details as the dynasty of the 1990’s in NASCAR. Consider their botched pit stop in the Daytona 500, a mechanical ailment at Richmond, a crash at Darlington, and the costly wheel hub issue at Charlotte just a few weeks prior to Pocono.

Still, Gordon and his team evened out those tough finishes with wins at Rockingham, Atlanta and Bristol. Those wins and strong finishes from North Wilkesboro to Dover (minus the Charlotte incident) boosted the third-year Cup racer to third in the points standings.

With 21 to go, Gordon scooted past Ted Musgrave to take the lead. Seemingly in control and poised to take his fourth victory of the young 0 3 6

season, the dreaded yellow flag unfurled with just 10 laps remaining when Pancho Carter wrecked in Turn 3.

Certainly, there was no way that Gordon could lose what appeared to be a surefire win that was within grasp. The young driver had a fast Chevy Monte Carlo, his pit crew delivered with quick stops, and one of the best crew chiefs, Ray Evernham, was calling the shots. What could possibly go wrong?

When the field assembled for a restart on Lap 194, the virtual perfect game was all but gone for Gordon and company.

As the field made their way off Turn 3 and towards the stripe, Gordon began to accelerate but did not execute on flawlessly shifting through the gears.

Essentially helpless, Gordon watched the win slip away as Hendrick Motorsports teammates Terry Labonte and Ken Schrader swept past him prior to Turn 1.

ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020

MEMORY LANE

Dropping down the scoring order, Gordon’s chance at his fourth victory of the year was gone. However, Hendrick Motorsports was still in position to nab a Pocono win with Labonte leading the way.

Incredibly, Labonte had his own challenges, as he was evidently overcome by fumes as he radioed to his team, “I am not feeling well. Whatever happens, have some oxygen standing by after this race.”

Well, what happened was Labonte earning a hard day’s work, as he drove from his 27th starting spot to Pocono’s hallowed Victory Lane.

“Well, I held the record before for starting the farthest back and winning here,” Labonte said after his win. “We weren’t so worried about starting back there.”

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Meanwhile, Gordon learned a valuable lesson from Pocono, perhaps fueling the dominance that kicked off after a difficult result in the 13th race of the 1995 season.

“I just got careless,” Gordon said. “Instead of really concentrating on hitting every shift, I really don’t know what I was thinking about.

Obviously, I wasn’t thinking about shifting.

“I was just thinking about getting up to speed as fast as I could. It was a mistake that I made, and hopefully I’ll learn from it and never make it again.”

From that point on, Gordon finished eighth or better in 15 of the last 18 races of the year, including four wins and most of all, the prestigious NASCAR Cup Series championship. Sometimes, champions learn from rather humbling moments.

ROAR! WEEKLY RACING MAGAZINE: JUNE 26, 2020

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BY BEN WHITE ■■ Rax Fox, NASCAR owner

S

tock car racing in New England has always been fierce among drivers for generations. NASCAR team owner Ray Fox experienced his own career in racing into motion, first as a driver and later as a talented mechanic.

Born on May 28, 1916, in Pelham, N.H., Fox’s firstever automobile race was at the 2-mile board track at Rockingham Park near Salem, N.H. Following service in the U.S. Army in World War II, he moved to Daytona Beach, Fla., to work as a mechanic and become closer to stock car racing’s fledgling sanction called NASCAR. In 1956, he landed a job with the prominent Carl Kiekhaefer operation and won 22 of the season’s first 26 races. That accomplishment earned him Mechanic of the Year.

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Fox also worked for Fish Carburetor Co., and drove Modifieds in Florida and South Georgia for five seasons. He quickly earned a reputation as a master builder of both cars and engines, an outstanding crew chief and someone willing to give a young driver a chance.

One of those young drivers Fox hired as crew chief for team owner John Mason was David Pearson, the eventful winner of 105 Cup Series races beginning in 1961. Pearson won three races in Fox’s car that season as well as rookie of the year honors.

Junior Johnson took a yearold Fox-prepared Chevrolet and won the 1960 Daytona 500 as well as eight other NASCAR races. Others who drove for Fox include Buck Baker, Fred Lorenzen, Cale Yarborough, Marvin Panch, Lee Roy Yarbrough, Buddy Baker and Bobby Allison, to name only a few.

In 1962, Fox became a car owner, winning the prestigious Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in 1964 with NASCAR legend Buck Baker. Fox retired from NASCAR team ownership on Oct. 6, 1974 after driver

■■ Rax Fox became a NASCAR owner in 1962.

Wally Dallenbach finished 29th at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Fox’s second job in racing came in 1990 as NASCAR’s engine inspector, a position he held until his second retirement at the age of 80 in 1996.

Buck Baker, Buddy Baker, Earl Balmer, Fred Lorenzen, Cale Yarborough, Marvin Panch, Fireball Roberts and LeeRoy Yarbrough drove Ray’s cars. All told, Fox’s Pontiacs won 14 races and 16 pole positions in 200 career starts. It is said that in 1963, Ford Motor Company spent over $1 million trying to catch Ray’s No. 3 Chevrolet. Fox was a legendary engine builder and team owner ahead of his time.

NASCAR issued the following statement, regarding Fox’s passing on June 15, 2014.

“Ray Fox was one of the individuals who helped form the foundation of our sport, with a personality that was every bit as important as his on-track accomplishments.

“His place in our record book is secure, but no one should ever view Ray Fox solely in terms of statistics. A resident of Daytona Beach, Florida, he was a hometown hero of sorts, serving as an ambassador for NASCAR in the community where the sport began.

Most importantly, he was a friend to us all.”

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