Von Dohren Scores Second Pennsylvania Title

By @GucciardoJoey

Craig Von Dohren earned his eighth track championship
at Pennsylvania's Grandview Speedway and his
second state title. (Chris Budihas Photography)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Craig Von Dohren, a veteran at Pennsylvania’s Grandview Speedway, clinched his 8th Grandview championship in 2015.

The 53-year-old Oley, Pennsylvania, native also clinched his second Pennsylvania crown, while finishing 10th in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series final standings.

“It was a good year,” said Von Dohren, who had with five wins, 18 top fives and 20 top 10s in 23 starts. “Things just clicked for us this year. I had a great team behind me and we got so many good breaks. We always set out to do well and we accomplished that this year.”

What would you do?

A question on Facebook was recently asked in relation to the $600M Powerball Jackpot as it relates to NASCAR. The question was, if you won the $600M Powerball Jackpot what in NASCAR would you change. I have a few answers to that question myself.

1. Go back to the pre-2004 points system. It doesn't seem fair to the drivers that haven't won but still run like heck in the regular season to be eligible for the Chase. Take the Chase away & I guarantee there will be different drivers in the Chase each year rather than the same ones.

2. Take away the cookie-cutter tracks. Tracks such as Michigan & Charlotte would be taken off the schedule completely for all series. Same thing with Richmond & Texas.

3. Fix up North Wilksboro & Rockingham Speedways so the Cup Series can race there again. Both tracks look deserted today & Cup races there, preferably in the Chase, would be promising to some drivers.

4. Bring a Cup race to Eldora Speedway. A Cup race on dirt, preferably in the Chase, would be promising to some drivers as well & it would benefit not only the drivers but fans & sponsors as well.

What do you think? If you won the $600M Powerball Jackpot, what would you change in NASCAR?

Riddle secures 1st-career NASCAR Track Championship

By @GucciardoJoey

Zack Riddle celebrates his 2015 Track Championship at Madison
International Speedway.

(PHOTO: TJ Harron Photography)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Zack Riddle won the Late Model Track Title At Madison International Speedway in 2015.

The Stoughton, Wisconsin native picked up a pair of wins and finished in the top five in all nine starts at Madison in 2015.

“Obviously we had a great year and we were very consistent throughout the entire season,” Riddle said. “We never really thought about points much until this year when we realized we had a chance to win a NASCAR title.”

“We had a strong year but we probably cost ourselves a couple of wins because we concentrated on the points standings and we wanted to win our first NASCAR championship,” Riddle said. “It was worth it though.”

Sheppard wins 1st-career NASCAR Track Title

By @GucciardoJoey

Matt Sheppard celebrates his 2015 NASCAR Track
Championship.

(PHOTO: Utica-Rome Speedway)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Matt Sheppard won his first-career NASCAR track championship in 2015.

“The NASCAR sanctioning at Utica-Rome is great, I really enjoy it,” Sheppard said. “It’s kind of unfortunate that Utica-Rome is the only NASCAR track around that I can race at, so it limits the number of races that I can run for national points, but what they’re doing there I think is great.”

Sheppard was able to register eight wins, 15 top fives and 17 top 10s in 18 NASCAR points features at the historic half-mile dirt oval in Vernon, new York in 2015.

Anderson wins 2016 Whelen All-American opener

By @GucciardoJoey

Cole Anderson won the 2016 season-opening Super Late Model
race awt New Smyrna Speedway.

(PHOTO: Jason Christley/NASCAR)

NEW SMYRNA, FL – Cole Anderson kicked off the 2016 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season by capturing the Red Eye 100, the Super Late Model opener, at New Smyrna Speedway.

"It's pretty amazing," Anderson said. "It means a lot. It says good things about this year, and I can't wait to get it going."

Defending race winner Bubba Pollard came home second, followed by Kaz Grala. Anthony Sergi was fourth and Brad May rounded out the top five.

Anderson set fast time in qualifying in the Florida Governor's Cup 200 in November but was involved in a wreck and watched Wisconsin's Ty Majewski walk away with the victory. This time, Anderson again set fast time but had little trouble. He started fourth following an invert of the top four spots, and passed Grala for the lead on Lap 69.

"The car was just really good," said Anderson. "I made the pass on Kaz and it was clear sailing from there."

Jesse Dutilly finished sixth, followed by Travis Cope, Michael Atwell, Josh Collins and David Garbo Jr.

7th Title Hopes: Johnson's Window Closing

"The Ultimate NASCAR Blog" Staff Report

Jimmie Johnson

At the age of 40, he's still driving well and is still a contender every year, but Jimmie Johnson has never made the final four in the new CHASE format.

Even as a six-time champion under the old CHASE format, Johnson still can't win a championship under NASCAR's new way of running the CHASE, which Johnson has made since it was created in 2004.

2014 was the first year that Johnson went to Homestead without a chance to win a title since the CHASE was created, and it happened again in 2015 as well. If Johnson can win his next title, it would be his seventh Sprint Cup Series championship, tying Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Richard Petty for most championships won in the series.

As said in the beginning of the article, Johnson is not 40 years of age, which means that we could see his retirement soon. But Johnson still manages to stay in contention every season and manages to make the CHASE, but after 2013 when NASCAR changed to a new CHASE format he just can't seem to win another championship.

Johnson's championship window is closing, and it's closing fast.

My five bold predictions for 2016

1. Kurt Busch will win the Cup Championship: Kurt made it all the way to the Eliminator Round of the Chase last year only to be beaten by Mother Nature. His only championship was won over 10 years ago so look for Kurt to hoist that trophy in the air come Homestead.

2. Chase Elliott will make the Chase: He's a rookie filling big shoes after Jeff Gordon's retirement last year. Chase will make the Chase but will finish 14th in the Standings.

3. Tony Stewart makes the Chase: Smoke last made the Chase in 2012 & has been questionably uncompetitive these last few years. So look for Smoke to make the Chase & possibly contend for a championship in his final year as a Cup driver.
4. Danica Patrick wins a race: Danica showed marked improvement last year than in these last few years she's been in Cup. Danica will win a race but will be eliminated after the Contender Round.

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr makes it to the final four at Homestead but loses to Kurt Busch: Dale Jr was eliminated from title contention after the Talladega fiasco & he was surprisingly humble about it. So, watch out for Dale to be incredibly competitive this year.

So, those are my bold predictions. What are yours?

Chase Elliott's 2016 3M car revealed

By @GucciardoJoey

Chase Elliott's 2016 3M
Sprint Cup Series paint scheme.

Hendrick Motorsports has revealed Chase Elliott's 2016 3M paint scheme.

3M sponsored now-retired NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Gordon for 10 races in the 2015 Sprint Cup Series season.

Here are some tweets from Hendrick Motorsports, Chase, and 3M as they revealed the paint scheme:

Almost time to unveil the @3M Chevy SS that @chaseelliott will drive next season! #3MRacing pic.twitter.com/PQNQIH9eDI

— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) December 28, 2015

“@TeamHendrick: #3MRacing firesuit: ✔️ pic.twitter.com/ghyOc8zuiH” Pumped to rep the @3M colors this year!

— Chase Elliott (@chaseelliott) December 28, 2015

We're recapping the #3MRacing Chevy unveil! 👉 https://t.co/pnvx9cloPT pic.twitter.com/TJrZLAZdes

— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) December 28, 2015

#3MRacing firesuit: ✔️ pic.twitter.com/fQlqMpEbqm

— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) December 28, 2015

#3MRacing helmet: ✔️ pic.twitter.com/YtJFJVZrtD

— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) December 28, 2015

Coming to a track near you! Excited to unveil @chaseelliott's car at today's @MilitaryBowl! #3MRacing pic.twitter.com/8qTZvFQGTZ

— 3M (@3M) December 28, 2015

.@chaseelliott’s @3M Chevy has been revealed! #3MRacing 📷: https://t.co/2nMLPaEgcS pic.twitter.com/uRbmsh2Nxb

— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) December 28, 2015

Fire Destroys Talladega Short Track Control Tower

By @GucciardoJoey

The fire from the Talladega Short Track on Sunday
night.

A fire in the control tower and concession stand at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Alabama, late Sunday night has left the main structure of the facility destroyed.

Despite the damage, the 25th annual Icebowl scheduled for Jan. 7-10 will still take place, track officials said in a statement.

The fire from the
Talladega Short Track on
Sunday night.

The fire was contained to just the control tower and concession stand building located at the start/finish line of the 1/3-mile clay oval. Track officials also stated a fire marshal has been on the scene to investigate the source of the blaze.

Track officials indicated that cleanup and rebuilding of the tower would begin immediately once the investigation is complete to ensure the track is ready for the Icebowl. Some fans and race competitors have already volunteered to help with those efforts.

Officials from the Southern All Stars (Dirt Late Model Touring Series) stated on their twitter page that track owner Lynn Phillips confirmed to them that the press box / officials tower (also concession stand) on the frontstretch “had burned to the ground” and was a “complete loss.” Phillips told SAS that “everything in the building was gone.”