{"id":28623,"date":"2019-11-08T18:10:48","date_gmt":"2019-11-09T00:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=28623"},"modified":"2019-11-10T12:36:15","modified_gmt":"2019-11-10T18:36:15","slug":"friday-ism-raceway-notebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/08\/friday-ism-raceway-notebook\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday ISM Raceway Notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

Joey Logano likes his Playoff position but is taking nothing for granted<\/b><\/p>\n

AVONDALE, Ariz. \u2013 If form holds, the same four drivers who raced for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship last year at Homestead-Miami Speedway\u2014Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr. Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch\u2014will do so again this year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 AAA Insurance Ford, signs autographs for fans during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 01, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

But as Joey Logano well knows, we\u2019re not there yet.<\/p>\n

Logano, the defending series champion, enters Sunday\u2019s Bluegreen Vacations 500 at ISM Raceway (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with a 20-point edge over Denny Hamlin. Logano and Hamlin are fourth and fifth in the Playoff standings, respectively.<\/p>\n

Martinsville winner Martin Truex Jr. and Texas winner Kevin Harvick have clinched two of the four available berths in the Championship 4 race at Miami, to be contested on Nov. 17. Kyle Busch and Logano currently hold the other two title-eligible positions, with Sunday\u2019s race still to be run.<\/p>\n

Logano is taking nothing for granted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d use the word cushion a little easily,\u201d Logano said of his edge over Hamlin. \u201cTwenty points is nice, but the fact that you\u2019re fourth in points means if one of those other four cars that are not in wins (Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson or Chase Elliott), you\u2019re first out. The good news is we\u2019re only a couple points from the 18 (Busch) that\u2019s right in front of us, so we have to race him to really kind of control our destiny.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/ISM2_MENCS_JLogano_110819.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\u201cReally, winning the race is the best way to control your own destiny, obviously, but I like our position. It\u2019s better than being outside looking in. I\u2019d rather be on the inside still trying to move forward, so we\u2019ll kind of have to wait and see. I\u2019m interested to see in practice the speed we have in our car. I\u2019m excited to work on it and see what we can do and try to score as many points as possible through each stage and have the best finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, Logano showed excellent speed right off the truck in Friday\u2019s opening Cup practice, posting the fourth fastest single lap at 137.075 mph.<\/p>\n

The bad news? Busch, the driver Logano is chasing for the security of third place, topped the speed chart in the session at 137.562 mph.<\/p>\n

CHASE BRISCOE TAKES A PRAGMATIC APPROACH TO ELIMINATION RACE<\/b><\/p>\n

Chase Briscoe considers ISM Raceway in Phoenix one of his most challenging race tracks.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chase Briscoe, driver of the #98 Ford Performance Ford, poses with the winning sticker in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway on July 27, 2019 in Newton, Iowa. (Photo by Jeff Curry\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

He considers Homestead-Miami Speedway one of his best.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the problem: Briscoe must overcome an 18-point deficit to Justin Allgaier in Saturday\u2019s Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 (3:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) to earn a chance to race for the championship a week later at Homestead.<\/p>\n

Allgaier is fourth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff standings. Briscoe is fifth, with the Playoff field set to be cut from eight drivers to four on Saturday. At this point, Briscoe doesn\u2019t feel he\u2019s in a must-win scenario.<\/p>\n

His approach to the competition depends on how the race develops from the first stage onward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it depends on the stages and how the stage points go,\u201d Briscoe said on Friday at ISM Raceway. \u201cIf you\u2019re looking good stage-points-wise, 18 points isn\u2019t a lot to make up if he has an issue. If you\u2019re still 18 points back after the second stage, you\u2019ve got to win the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re three, four or five points back, you don\u2019t have to win the race. You\u2019ve just got to race the 7 (Allgaier) and hopefully beat him by those spots. I think the stage points is what determines everything, and you kind of see that in all three series.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Briscoe can survive Phoenix, he likes his title chances at Miami. After all, he ran exceedingly well there during a test in August.<\/p>\n

\u201cTypically there, (tire) falloff is at a particular time over a 40-lap run, and we were two tenths (of a second) better than that,\u201d Briscoe said. \u201cIf we can get to Homestead, we have a legitimate shot at winning the championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASCAR FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES BETTY JANE FRANCE AWARD FINALISTS<\/b><\/p>\n

File this under the category of ‘Difficult Choices’.<\/p>\n

Beginning Friday, Nov. 8, NASCAR fans will have to opportunity to vote for the 2019 recipient of the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award, after the four finalists for the honor were announced on Friday at ISM Raceway.<\/p>\n

Named for the late founder and chairperson of the NASCAR Foundation, the Betty Jane France Award has provided nearly $1.5 million in contributions to charitable causes since its inception.<\/p>\n

The four finalists listed below all share a common trait\u2014they are long-time NASCAR fans:<\/p>\n

\u2022            Bob Behounek of Berwyn, Illinois, a NASCAR fan for 56 years representing Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana. Behounek, an artist, has volunteered for 13 years, raising funds to help families of hospitalized children with housing needs during extended hospital stays.<\/p>\n

\u2022            Angela Hamby of Locust, North Carolina, a 40-year NASCAR fan representing the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Charlotte. She has volunteered for 12 years as head nurse for Camp Horizon, which serves children with Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

\u2022            Todd Smith of Perris, California, a NASCAR fan since 2007 (when he attended his first race at Auto Club Speedway) who represents Fuel for Success, a national organization founded by Smith. He has volunteered for 12 years, introducing at-risk students to NASCAR while fostering better relationships between students and police officers.<\/p>\n

\u2022            Joe Vaughn of Woodruff, South Carolina, a NASCAR fan of 45 years representing Project HOPE Foundation of Greenville, South Carolina. Vaughn is the chairman of Project HOPE, which serves children with autism.<\/p>\n

\u201cAvid NASCAR fans\u2014that\u2019s the best way to begin when describing this year\u2019s Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award finalists,\u201d said Mike Helton, chairman of the NASCAR Foundation. \u201cEach one represents what Betty Jane France stood for and what she wanted this award to be: a recognition of people who love our sport but also love the charities they are passionate about.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese finalists are folks who root for their favorite drivers on race day but every day \u2013 365 days a year \u2013 they\u2019re out there rooting for the children in their community, working hard to better children\u2019s lives. This year\u2019s group of finalists is exceptional. Picking one to vote for will be tough for our fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Voting will be open through 5 p.m. Dec. 3 online at NASCARFoundation.com\/Award, with the winner to be announced Dec. 5 during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards at Music City Center in Nashville.<\/p>\n

The NASCAR Foundation will donate $100,000 to the charity represented by the award winner and $25,000 to each of the other three finalists\u2019 charities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Joey Logano likes his Playoff position but is taking nothing for granted AVONDALE, Ariz. \u2013 If form holds, the same four drivers who raced for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship last year at Homestead-Miami Speedway\u2014Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr. Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch\u2014will do so again […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":28436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[561,16],"class_list":["post-28623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-ism-raceway","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/TMS2_MENCS_Logano_Fans_110119.jpg?fit=5184%2C3456&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-7rF","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28623"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28626,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28623\/revisions\/28626"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}