Hero To Zero For One Racing Organization: What You Need To Know for January 4, 2019

Roush Fenway Racing Will Not Have an XFINITY Series Program in 2019

During an interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Wednesday night, Roush Fenway Racing president Steve Newmark told host Claire B. Lang that the team will not field an XFINITY Series program in 2019.

Newmark stated that this decision was made in order to focus all of the organization’s resources on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, as the once dominant race team has only earned two victories since 2014.

“We’re going to focus exclusively on both of those Cup teams (in 2019) and realized we needed to allocate all of our resources there,” Newmark said during the interview. “We’ve fluctuated on the number of the teams in the Xfinity Series, and a lot of that has been based on need. We’ve been four, we’ve been one, and I think we’ve decided on how we’re positioned we’ll step out of that for a year and see how that goes and just focus all the resources, all the engineering, all the wind tunnel on making sure that we perform to our expectations at the Cup level.”

RFR is the most successful organization in XFINITY Series history with 137 victories among multiple drivers. The organization has also earned five championships with drivers Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (twice), and Chris Buescher.

Five drivers competed for RFR in the XFINITY Series in 2018: Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Conor Daly, Ty Majeski, and Ryan Reed.

Cindric, Briscoe, and Majeski all split time in the No. 60 car, which suffered 11 DNFs across the season’s 33 races.

Briscoe will race for Stewart-Haas Racing full time in 2019.

Cindric split time between Team Penske and RFR in 2018 and will move to a full-time ride with Team Penske in 2019.

Daly ran a one-off race for RFR in August at Road America.

Reed is the only driver who has won an XFINITY Series race for RFR since the beginning of the 2015 season, winning twice at Daytona International Speedway. His long-time sponsor Lilly Diabetes decided not to return to the team for the 2019 season and he has not yet announced any plans.

Majeski’s 2019 plans are also undetermined at this time.

“There’s no doubt that sponsorship plays a factor in everything that we do,” said Newmark. “For better or worse that’s the way NASCAR is structured right now, and sponsorship is the lifeblood for the teams. My hope is that at some point in time we continue to evolve to a model that moves a little bit away from that. But that was just a factor. We had a great run with Lilly Diabetes, five full seasons, we handled the Ford driver development program last year and the Xfinity Series is something that Jack (Roush) has always been passionate about. But when we look at where we are and what we needed to focus on, we just felt like that all the resources should be dedicated to Cup.”

2019 will be the first year since 1993 that RFR has not fielded a team in the XFINITY Series. Their Cup Series program will include Stenhouse and 17-year veteran Ryan Newman.

Kyle Larson Wins New Zealand Midget Race, Christopher Bell Places Second

As part of a New Zealand tour at Western Springs Speedway in Auckland, New Zealand, NASCAR regulars Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell are showing what they are made of and dominating the competition while overseas.

On Thursday, Larson earned his second victory of the week, holding off Bell who had to make a late-race charge to the front after flipping his car earlier in the race. Bell challenged for the lead but Larson was able to hold him off and earn the victory in the 39-lap midget feature.

The race was 39 laps in honor of the late Bryan Clauson, who passed away in a racing accident in 2016.

The pair will compete in one final 50-lap race on Friday night.

Larson went winless in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2018 after winning four races in 2017. He finished the year ninth in points.

Bell competed for Joe Gibbs Racing in the XFINITY Series in 2018, winning seven races and finishing fourth in points.

Dover International Speedway Celebrating 50th Anniversary, 100th Race

2019 will be a special year for Dover International Speedway, as the racetrack is celebrating its 50th anniversary and will host its 100th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race this fall.

“Our team is working hard to make 2019 the biggest year yet at Dover International Speedway,” said president and CEO Mike Tatoian in a press release. “For fifty years, the Monster Mile has been providing challenges for top drivers, excitement for our fans and terrific memories for all in attendance. Our 2019 celebrations, events and races will offer the perfect kickoff for our next fifty years of racing.”

The track will host two triple-header NASCAR weekends this season.

The May 3-5 weekend will see the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (Friday, May 3); the NASCAR XFINITY Series (Saturday, May 4); and the Cup Series (Sunday, May 5) on track.

The October 4 – 6 will also host the XFINITY (Saturday, October 5) and Cup Series (Sunday, October 6), along with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (Friday, October 4). The Cup Series race on October 6th will be the series’ 100th race at Dover International Speedway, only the 10th track in the nation to have ever attained this number.

Chase Elliott is the most recent race winner at Dover, earning his second career victory at the track known as the “Monster Mile” in October of last year.

Despite Down’s Syndrome, Lucas Barron Will Compete in Dakar Rally

25-year-old Lucas Barron is thoroughly prepared to serve as his father’s co-pilot in the 2019 Dakar Rally, which begins this weekend.

In doing so, he will make history, becoming the first individual with Down’s Syndrome to compete in the 5,000-km, 10-day race of both human and mechanical endurance.

“Our aim is to finish the race and achieve our goal,” Barron said to AFP. “This race is brilliant for me. It will be easy because we know the route.”

Lucas will co-pilot while his father, Jacques, drives, keeping an eye out for obstacles, hazards, and to make sure the engine and tires are functioning as they should. The duo is competing in the side-by-side UTV category for off-road four-wheel drive buggies.

Lucas and Jacques finished in seventh place while competing in the Desafio Inca race in Peru, a prep event for the Dakar Rally.

NBC Sports Announces Broadcast Lineup for Supercross Coverage

Even though Monster Energy AMA Supercross coverage is moving from FOX Sports to NBC Sports for the 2019 season, the broadcast team will include faces that will already be familiar to seasoned supercross fans.

Ralph Sheheen moves over from Fox Sports and will continue to serve as the play-by-play announcer for Monster Energy Supercross, as he has since 2005.

Five-time AMA Supercross Champion and 10-time AMA Motocross Champion Ricky Carmichael will join Sheheen in the booth.

Former professional supercross racer and Arenacross West Coast Lites champion Daniel Blair will be the on-track analyst while current NBC Sports analyst Will Christien will fulfill the role of pit reporter.

NBC Sports Group is providing coverage of all Supercross heats, last chance qualifiers, and main events across all of their platforms, including an NBC Sports Gold subscription called “Supercross Pass” that will allow subscribers to view a variety of content on demand or live and commercial free.

The season-opening event at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California will begin at 4:00PM ET on NBC Sports Gold and 10:00PM ET on NBCSN.

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