NASCAR Cup PR

Once again, Shriner David Ragan and Shriners Hospitals for Children are ready to give back.  Ragan heads to the Darlington Raceway this weekend to celebrate the history and tradition of NASCAR during its annual "Throwback Weekend."  And, he'll have a little help from 14-year-old Shriners Hospital for Children Greenville patient, Brannen.  Brannen, 14, from Charlotte, N.C. is being treated for  cerebral palsy at the Hospital.  Brannen, along with other guests from Shriners International will be VIP guests of Ragan.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will team up with Duane “Dog” Chapman and his exhilarating new unscripted series “Dog’s Most Wanted” when the NASCAR Cup Series returns to the iconic Darlington Raceway for the famed Southern 500 on September 1. Stenhouse’s No. 17 Ford Mustang will be fully-wrapped to promote WGN America’s new series “Dog’s Most Wanted,” which features Duane “Dog” Chapman, his late wife Beth and a hand-picked team of bounty hunters bringing criminals to justice. The series premieres on Wednesday, September 4 at 9/8c on WGN America.

When Matt Tifft was growing up, his dad owned a Dirt Late Model car, driven by Michigan Motorsports Hall of Famer David Hilliker. On weekends and school breaks, the Tifft family would travel to Michigan to see Hilliker's No. 21 race.

The No. 34 Front Row Motorsports (FRM) Ford Mustang will run a special paint scheme for the "Bojangles' Southern 500" NASCAR Throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway, honoring Jimmy Means' No. 52 Alka-Seltzer Pontiac. Means drove the iconic powder blue car in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Denny Hamlin passed Toyota teammate Matt DiBenedetto for the lead with 11 laps to go in Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, going on to cross the finish line in first for a fourth time this season.

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang – “There’s always a lot going on at Bristol and a lot happening at one time. The top was pretty much the dominant line. It’s hard to pass, so guys were aggressive in making moves. There at the end it looked like maybe the 12 blew a right-front tire. Somebody blew a tire and they all slid up, and it’s Bristol you check up and you kind of all wash up into the same spot. I saw my teammate try to dive low to miss it and just caught it and when he caught it, I just ran right in the back of him. It’s unfortunate for everybody at Front Row Motorsports – lost two cars in that accident and not really anything of our own doing, just wrong place wrong time. It’s unfortunate for the Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang and for David – not his last Bristol race, but this was an important race for him and I hate it for him.”

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO.9 HOOTERS SPIRITS CAMARO ZL1 – Finished 5th EARLIER IN THE RACE, YOUR CAR SEEMED A LOT STRONGER. WHERE DID IT GO? "I don't know. I thought we were just off a little bit off all night. All weekend we just needed a little bit. I felt like we were really close. We just never got over the hill. But our Hooters Spirits team did a good job. Heck, they executed a great race. I think we gained spots on pit road every time we came; like more than one spot, too. So, they did a great job. Alan (Gustafson) called a great race. I lined-up in the top multiple times. You can't really ask for anything else. From a driver's standpoint, I just didn't do a very good job with it. I seemed to be a little bit better than these guys. I felt like the past Spring race and this race, we've been off just a touch. We've got to go to work."

Denny Hamlin captured his 31st career NASCAR Cup Series pole award at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday afternoon.

TEAM CHEVY NOTES AND QUOTES: KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CAMARO ZL1 – Qualified 2nd - ON HIS RUN “I was just a little too tight. But, I feel like being a little bit too tight was better than being a little bit too free, I think. I saw so many people get loose through (Turns) 3 and 4. But, I was just a little bit too tight to kind of roll through the center like I needed to and get to the gas just a little bit sooner."

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang – “I thought our car was pretty good. I felt good about the first run that we made in happy hour and then we made some adjustments just trying to find a little bit more speed and we kind of got off track, so we’ve had a good car. Our Smithfield Ford Mustang has been good since we got here. I love this place. It’s a really good place for me, so hopefully we can have some lady luck on our side this time.”