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Bully Hill Vineyards joins #34 team at Watkins Glen 
Chris Buescher will have a new partner aboard the #34 Ford when he returns to the Sprint Cup Series at Watkins Glen International this week. Bully Hill Vineyards will join the Front Row Motorsports entry as primary sponsor for the team for Sunday's Cheez-it 355 at The Glen. The Hammondsport, N.Y.-based winery will also be an associate sponsor on Front Row teammate Cole Whitt's #35 Ford for the road course race in the popular Finger Lakes region. Bully Hill Vineyards is a family-owned producer of 40 different wines, all from grapes grown in New York. The winery produces 200,000 cases of wine annually, with distribution in 30 states. Bully Hill Vineyards has been involved in NASCAR for more than 15 years and has long supported Watkins Glen International. This weekend's partnership will be the first with Front Row Motorsports. (Jayski)

Boris Said returns to the #32 at Watkins Glen
Heading into Sunday's Cheez-It 355, Boris Said will be looking to make his 51st career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start, and his 15th at "The Glen." The Carlsbad, CA native has a best finish of third, which came back in 2005. More recently Said finished 25th in 2014. Said is no stranger to victory lane in "The Empire State" winning in the NASCAR Rolex Grand-Am Sports Car Series twice in 2005, and again in 2006. After finishing 26th at Sonoma for Go Green Racing, this weekend's event will mark the second and final race for Said behind the wheel of the #32 for the 2015 season. Genesee Brewing Co. will be the primary sponsor. The Genesee Brewery, based in Rochester, is the oldest brewery in New York state, and is part of North American Breweries. The brewery makes the classic Genesee line of beers, the Original Honey Brown Lager, the Dundee Ales & Lagers family of craft beers, as well as Seagram's Escapes. (Jayski)

Precision Performance Motorsports to debut at Watkins Glen
Precision Performance Motorsports announced Brandon Gdovic will be driving the #55 WindStax Wind Power Systems, Fronius USA Chevry Camaro in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen this weekend. Gdovic, a veteran in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, had 2 successful starts earlier this year in the Xfinity series with Viva Motorsports and is. Brandon is currently running the full Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo Series at various North American road courses and showed his potential having finished first in both of his starts in the AM division at Laguna Seca and Watkins Glen earlier this year. The #55 team will be led by crew chief Mark Setzer. Setzer has 20 plus years of motorsports experience including; Driver, Crew member, and Crew chief in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Xfinity Series, and Sprint Cup Series. Chris Bohlman, who also made the transition from Viva Motorsports to PPM, will serve as car chief. Gdovic's #55 Chevy Camaro will be sponsored by WindStax Wind Power Systems, a longtime partner of his #46 car in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and returning sponsor, Fronius USA. (Jayski)

Drissi in the #26 at Watkins Glen
JGL Racing announced that road racing champion, Tomy Drissi, will pilot the teams #26 JGL Racing Toyota Camry in Saturday's NASCAR XFINITY Series running of the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International. Following a great run together at The Glen in 2014, Tomy will rejoin JGL Racing with the #26 Toyota Camry carrying the livery for Universal Picture's new release, Straight Outta Compton, the story of iconic recording group, NWA. Drissi will be making his seventh career NASCAR XFINITY start this weekend and it will be his third at The Glen. He also has a Sprint Cup Series start to his credit at the 2.45-mile road course layout. In addition to his NASCAR efforts, Drissi currently competes in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship which has included a second place finish in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. (Jayski)

Kevin O'Connell in the #13 at Watkins Glen
It's been about a year since Kevin O'Connell has competed on the NASCAR XFINITY Series tour, but his recent international NASCAR racing events will take a back seat to Saturday's Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International. The Newport Beach, California native has reunited with Rick Ware Racing in a joint effort with Motorsports Business Management for the first of select XFINITY Series schedule races this season and will wheel the #13 Gemini Southern Dodge in the first of three road-course races this season. On the heels of a career and impressive third place finish at Road America (Wisc.) last June (2014), O'Connell headed to Watkins Glen hoping for an opportunity to duplicate. (Jayski)

DraftKings Joins Furniture Row Racing As Associate Sponsor

Furniture Row Racing and the fantasy sports company "DraftKings" are now in a sponsoring partnership. The race team will carry DraftKings for four races as an associate sponsor on Martin Truex Jr.'s No. 78 Chevrolet. DraftKings is the "official daily sports partner" of NASCAR. The first time DraftKings will be on Truex's car will be at Watkins Glen International for the Cheez-IT 355 at the Glen.

Team Xtreme Hauler Burglar Pleads Guilty

Johnny Milton Terry was sentenced to ten years probation and a $1,000 fine plus court costs this past Monday after pleading guilty to stealing the (now defunct) Team Xtreme's No. 44 hauler which contained a race car earlier this season. A Morrow Police Departmebt report stated that Terry confessed to the crime the day after the stealing. An arrest warrant was issued on March 6th of this year.

NASCAR Revises Warnings System

NASCAR has revised its penalty/warning system. Sprint Cup Series teams will now only have to worry about the loss of pit stall selection if a team is given multiple warnings, which was basically stated in a bulletin released by NASCAR this past Wednesday. All penalties before this past Wednesday have been slated. Once a team serves a penalty, the team begins the next event with no record of the penalty. Also, penalties no longer carry over to next season.

Pocono Comments (Jayski)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers had plenty of comments after certain incidents that they were involved in this past weekend at Pocono Raceway in the Windows 10 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

Below are comments from Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kevin Harvick, and Kasey Kahne.

• Kyle Busch runs out of fuel with 1/2 lap to go while leading: Kyle Busch was leading the Windows 10 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway on the final lap, heading towards his 4th consecutive race win, when his #18 Crispy M&M's Toyota ran out of fuel. Busch finished 21st, down one lap, leaving Busch 13 points out of the top 30 in driver points and a spot in the Chase. Busch's comments:
  Q) How disappointed are you not to get your fourth straight win after running out of fuel on the final lap leading the race?
  Busch: "Yeah, that was it. I didn't know we were that close. Normally when we're close or that close I get harped on pretty hard to save fuel. They were just telling me to save just to not put too much pressure on the car and everything else. Man, that's a bummer. I wish I would've saved a little more there that last run. I wish I would've known that the 22 (Joey Logano) was that far away from making it. He was way far away from making it. Man, that was just a shame that we weren't able to get it done there. But, this M&M's Crispy Camry again I can't thank my guys enough -- Adam Stevens (crew chief) and everybody. We've got fast race cars right now so congratulations to Matt Kenseth for winning today for Joe Gibbs Racing and everybody at home can continue the celebration although it's not the right JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) car for the 18 it's certainly good for the company."
  Q) How are you feeling about qualifying for the Chase as you are 13 points out of 30th place in the point standings?
  Busch: "Was I in before we ran out? We would be celebrating a win and a Chase berth. We got greedy, I don't know how greedy but that's the position we're in. If it came down to other things that we haven't had the success that we've had here lately we would've had to have pitted and just made the opportunity of it and made the best finish that we could. But, we went for broke today and come up a little bit short so can't fault the team."
  Did you think you had enough fuel to earn your fourth consecutive victory?
  Busch: "I thought it was. I didn't know we were that short on making it on fuel and by the time I got notice that the 22 (Joey Logano) was going to run out. He was pretty much out, but by then to try to save that much gas in the last three laps of the race that just wasn't going to be feasible. I didn't know we were that close. I wish that maybe I had a little bit better heads up but I can't fault these guys for trying and going for broke. We're in the position we're in for a reason and that's because of fast race cars and today we probably could've made a few different choices there through the last run and made it and won this thing again but that just wasn't to be. This M&M's Crispy Camry was awesome today though. Really fast car. I thought I was faster than Joey (Logano), I just couldn't get there in traffic. I got real loose behind him and the closer I would get to him so I just couldn't make anything of it."
  Q) Do you think you are okay being 13 points out of 30th in the point standings?
  Busch: "Ah, we're fine. If I would've won today we'd be in and celebrating a win and a Chase berth."(Toyota Racing)(8-3-2015)
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Accident Quotes: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. commented on the accident he was involved in at Pocono Raceway on lap 27 during thew Windows 10 400 Sprint Cup Series race. Stenhouse Jr. finished 41st.
  "Everything was happening real fast. I saw the 9 in turn three run up the track and I thought he just got loose and everything was fine but getting into turn one the car in front of me ducked out at the last minute and there was the 9 sitting and I got on the brakes really hard. I think it got on the splitter and couldn't go left or right and just ran right into him. It is not a good day for us. I thought I had a car that could pass some other cars and we did that until that yellow and then we got shuffled back. It is a tough way to end the day that way. We thought we would have a better day than that. I guess the 9 missed a shift or something and I wasn't aware of it until the 35 or one of the other cars pulled out real quick and there was the 9 sitting there. By the time I reacted it was just too late and I ran right back into him."
  Q) HOW INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING HAS THIS WEEKEND BEEN FOR YOU?
  Stenhouse Jr.: "Yeah, it has been really bad. We started off really slow and struggling with the handing of our cars. We got it better at the end of final practice and made it up to 27th there during that caution and then we came in and took fuel and were coming back through there and get involved in that wreck. It is a frustrating weekend and a frustrating year but we will continue to work to get our cars better and continue to plug away."(Ford Racing)(8-2-2015)
• Harvick comments on early exit at Pocono: Kevin Harvick commented being out of the Windows 10 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway on lap 20 after engine failure:
  Q) DID YOU KNOW YOU HAD AN ISSUE?
  Harvick: "Yeah, coming around Turn 2 I knew some issues but didn't realize they were going to be that big. But, all in all, I'm just really proud of my team. The car was fast. You'll have days like this."
  WERE THEY MAYBE PUSHING THE ENGINE IN LOOKING AHEAD TO THE CHASE?
  Harvick: "I have no idea. That would be a great question for the engine shop. But, I don't think that's the case."
• Kasey Kahne comments on accident at Pocono: Kasey Kahne commented on the accident he was involved in at Pocono Raceway on lap 3 during thew Windows 10 400 Sprint Cup Series race when Kahne lost control of the car in Turn 3 and crashed into pit wall on Lap 3, doing damage to the wall that red flagged the race for almost 15 minutes. Kahne finished 43rd/last.
  Q) WHAT HAPPENED THERE TO START THE INCIDENT?
  Kahne: "I just got loose. It was late exit and a lot later than I would have expected. That's why I ended up so far down pit road and that was crazy because I have never ended up there. Yeah, I just got loose and basically spun and that was it. I tried saving it to try and avoid running into the wall, pit wall then ended up hitting the one on the left and not the one on the right. It's been a rough last month for our Aquafina team. I am not sure why that happened and what happened so quickly there."
  Q) WHEN YOU ARE SLIDING LIKE THAT TOWARD PIT WALL DO YOUR THOUGHTS IMMEDIATELY GO TOWARD THOSE BEHIND PIT WALL?
  Kahne: "Well, first of all I couldn't believe I was clear over here this late in the corner and then all the way to the left heading towards pit wall. Then I saw the people and I thought to myself that those guys need to take off running and get out of the way. I didn't know. I hadn't done anything like that before so it was kind of crazy the way it all happened. I don't know why were so far up and what the deal was right there."
  Q) IS THERE A PARTICULAR REASON YOU CRASHED IN THAT PLACE ON THE TRACK?
  Kahne: "I just got loose really late, so far off the corner. A really late exit. I'm not sure why or what happened. It just jumped out. You're so far off the corner, to slow slide and get so far down pit road, it was crazy. I've never ended up over there like that. I don't know why that was. I couldn't believe when the No. 26 (Jeb Burton) did earlier this weekend and then I did, probably further down than what he did."
  Q) WERE YOU AFRAID OF HITTING ANYBODY?
  Kahne: "I wasn't afraid I hit anyone because it threw me right back off the wall. But I was hoping that everybody saw me coming. I was coming fairly fast.
  Q) ARE YOU OKAY?
  Kahne: 'Yeah, I'm fine."
  Q) WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THIS RACE AND THE POINT SITUATION?
  Kahne: "Yeah, that's really bad for points. It's bad for just our team to lose a car that quickly into this race. And the last month has been really bad. And that was worse. So, I don't know what the deal is right there and what happened. I just lost it. Late exit. Got loose. Spun."
• • Clint Bowyer Statement: Clint Bowyer made a statement Friday at Pocono and answered a question about MWR co-owner Rob Kauffman purchasing part of Chip Ganassi Racing:
    Bowyer Statement: "This isn't what any of you guys want. You need to bear with us. There's obviously some change on the horizon. I got the same release you guys did. We've got a new sponsor on the car this weekend. It's a big deal for us. We've been working on this a long time. Got a lot of momentum going into this - we're 20 points out of the Chase and we've got to finish this year strong. Like I said, there's a lot of work to be done in the future and we're all working on it and when I have something to tell you guys you all know me and I'll tell you."
    Q) Did you find about the news from a statement?
    Bowyer: "No, I said you read the statement that I did. There's obviously change on the horizon and we're going to have to work on the future and see what that looks like, but for right now we're focused on 2015, getting Maxwell House in victory lane this weekend and getting in this Chase. We're close and this can happen and these guys got to stay focused, I've got to stay focused and if we do our jobs we can get in this Chase and compete for a championship."