Dude, where’s my car? Maine man ready
Bowman must drive Johnson’s backup ride at New Hampshire
LOUDON, N.H. — Alex Bowman will drive teammate Jimmie Johnson’s spare car in today’s NASCAR Cup Series race after crashing his backup ride Saturday in the final practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Bowman, one of five drivers already in backups for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301, struck a wall coming out of a turn in the last session. Bowman was in the second-string No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro after the drive train in his main car failed during qualifying Friday.
“We don’t have an issue. We’ve had a run of bad luck — extremely bad luck,” said Jeff Andrews, vice president of competition for Hendrick Motorsports.
Andrews gave an update in the garage as crews worked to switch Johnson’s car into one for Bowman, and Andrews said the car will be fine today for Bowman, who will be at the rear of the starting lineup. Bowman, 26, earned the first Cup Series win of his career on June 30 at Chicagoland Speedway.
“It is pretty rare,” Andrews said of having to replace a backup car the day before a race.
Denny Hamlin crashed the main Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota Camry during practice Friday, when Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Newman hit the wall in the main No. 6 Ford Mustang.
“I’ve been here quite a few times,” Newman said, “and never hit the fence, especially there, but it just caught me off guard.”
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron will both be in backup Camaros after bumping the wall during practice Saturday.
Driver’s thoughts
Larson put an end to any speculation about him and his ride for next season.
The 26-year-old driver said he’ll be back with Ganassi, which has him under contract through next year.
“I like being at Chip’s place. He’s an amazing boss and gave me my shot. I’m very grateful for everything he’s done,” said Larson, who has five wins in six years with CGR and has finished in the top 10 at the end of the past three seasons.
Larson said he was a little caught off guard to hear speculation he wouldn’t be back with the same organization next year.
“It’s not frustrating to me, because as long as I know what’s going on, I know what the truth is,” Larson said. “I don’t really care what everybody else thinks. I know where I’ll be next year.”
Logano at ‘home’
Season points leader Joey Logano will start eighth today in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford as he goes for his third victory at New Hampshire, which he calls his “home track.”
Logano, who is originally from Middletown, Connecticut, said New Hampshire is the first place he saw a Cup Series race and that he loves racing in front of New England fans.
“There’s nothing like winning at your home track, so you really want to make it happen there,” he said.
Logano has a pair of Cup Series victories at New Hampshire and finished in the top 10 during the circuit’s past two events on the asphalt oval that measures just beyond a mile.
“I enjoy the challenge of it. It’s definitely one of the most technical race tracks that we go to. You have to be so precise about where you place your car,” he said. “It’s very flat. Cars don’t do what you want them to do at all as flat as it is; trying to get the car to turn and trying to get it to accelerate is always a tough thing and there’s a lot of variables.”
Logano won’t be the only New Englander racing today, though.
Austin Theriault, 25 and from Fort Kent, Maine, will become the first driver from his state in 15 years to be in a Cup Series starting lineup. He will start 36th — next to last — in his debut on the top-tier series after running six races on the second-tier Xfinity Series and 13 races on the third-tier Truck Series since 2014, with no wins.
Theriault began racing at Spud Speedway in Caribou, Maine, while in middle school.
Ricky Craven is another small-town Mainer who notched Cup Series victories at Martinsville (Virginia) Speedway in 2001 and at Darlington (South Carolina) Raceway in 2003. Now a NASCAR analyst, the 1995 rookie of the year said Theriault will get support from New Englanders today.
Blaney out front
Ryan Blaney had the fastest lap in the final practice session, averaging 133.572 mph in the Team Penskey No. 12 Ford Mustang. Toyota drivers had the next two fastest times, with Hamlin averaging 133.226 mph in his backup and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch at 132.739 mph.
Brad Keselowski, who clinched the pole position in qualifying Friday, was sixth at 132.591 mph. Keselowski will be starting first for the first time in nearly two years as he tries to win at New Hampshire for the first time since 2014.
He has three wins this season — at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February, at Martinsville in March and at Kansas Speedway in May — among his seven topfive finishes in 2019.