NASCAR Cup Series

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will pilot the No. 17 SunnyD Ford for the final time in 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) season this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Olive Branch, Miss. native got his first NSCS start at Charlotte in 2011 driving the legendary No. 21 Ford earning a respectable 11th - place finish as a rookie.

Team leadership at Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing has announced that Todd Parrott will assume crew chief duties for the No. 95 entry in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the remainder of the 2016 season. Dave Winston will move to a race engineer role within the organization.

Sixteen started the Chase with some hope. That is now down to 12 as they pull into Charlotte. If we relied strictly on the season tally to award the trophy, it would already be down to Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick. Just two points would be separating them. Both could have sat out Saturday night’s race and still have been one-two in the standings come Monday. Hence, the Chase.

Ryan Blaney and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing team have shown resilience during the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, rebounding from back-of-the-pack finishes to run solidly the next week nine times.

Alex Bowman will be substituting for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is out for the remainder of the season as he continues to recover from a concussion, in the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This will be Bowman’s fifth race behind the wheel of the No. 88 Chevy. In the first four races, he earned one top-10 and two top-15 finishes and ran inside the top 10 in every event.

Truex dominated at Dover, leading 187 laps on his way to the win in the Citizen Soldiers 400. Truex has two wins in three Chase races and has emerged as a clear Cup favorite.

“Racing at home is always a good time. It gives your friends and family and the families of the guys that work on our cars a chance to come out and watch us race. Plus, Charlotte is always a fun challenge.

All RCR entries will run decals in memory of long-time RCR fabricator Johnny Siler this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Siler passed away on September 24 following a battle with cancer. His 22-year career at RCR was more than a job, it was his passion and he truly loved it.

“We struggled with handling earlier this year at Charlotte but we’ve made some gains since then that should help us. The SunnyD scheme is one of my favorites and will definitely stand out under the lights.

"Charlotte is definitely a very hectic race for everyone in the garage. We always talk about how great it is to be racing at home, but, to be honest, Charlotte is typically a very busy weekend for us. A lot of our partners and sponsors come to town. We usually do a lot of fan appreciation activities around Charlotte and at our race shop.