NASCAR on FOX at Kansas Speedway

NASCAR celebrates Mother’s Day this weekend at Kansas Speedway, racing Friday and Saturday night to afford crew members Sunday at home to observe the holiday with their families. FS1 is live from Kansas with 16 hours of action, including the network’s live coverage of the NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES, in its first outing in a month, on Friday, May 6 (8:30 PM ET) and the NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES on Saturday, May 7 (7:30 PM ET). Saturday’s Sprint Cup Series race marks the second of six that air on FS1 this season.

On Saturday evening, Mike Joy leads the FOX NASCAR booth with analysis from NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip, four-time champ Jeff Gordon and former crew chief Larry McReynolds. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum cover pit road. Chris Myers hosts the network’s pre-race coverage on NASCAR RACEDAY, beginning at 7:00 PM ET, alongside analysts Michael Waltrip, Gordon and Darrell Waltrip.

Welch calls NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES action Friday in primetime alongside analysts Phil Parsons and Michael Waltrip, with pit reporting by Hermie Sadler and Kaitlyn Vincie. NCWTS SETUP, hosted by John Roberts and two-time series champ Todd Bodine, sets the stage for the Truck Series race at 8:00 PM ET on FS1.

FOX Sports recently launched HUBCast, a weekly podcast with NASCAR RACE HUB host Adam Alexander in which he is joined by various guests, including some of the biggest names in racing, to debate the hottest topics in NASCAR. To subscribe and download, please click foxs.pt/1RQAs09 for iTunes or foxs.pt/1qTW3ig for Google Play Music.

Below are quotes from FOX NASCAR’s McReynolds, Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Hammond and Andy Petree on the week’s headlines and the race ahead, as well as the full FOX NASCAR programming schedule from Kansas:

On whether penalties for failing to secure five lug nuts per wheel could begin surfacing:

“Expect to see slower pit stops or someone making a mistake trying to go too fast. But how will NASCAR react when the jackman drops the jack before the tire changer has put five lug nuts on? Do teams get a free chance to come back to pit road and put the lugs on or do they automatically penalize the team? When a team is racing for the win at the end of the race, I’m interested to see if a tire changer forgoes the extra second to put a dropped lug nut back on. If I’m the crew chief of a car not locked into the Chase and have the chance to win by rolling the dice and making only a quick stab at hitting the fifth lug nut on the final stop to get off of pit road first, I’d tell them to give me my vacation papers. I’ll take my suspension if it means I win the race and lock into the Chase.”

--Jeff Hammond

“We are trying to fix a problem that didn’t exist. We’ve self-policed for a year-and-a-half, but all of a sudden, they’re changing the rule because it’s not safe. Not one wheel has come off a car in competition since that rule was in place. I don’t know why they felt they needed to fix something that wasn’t broken. I guarantee you now we are going to have a problem because they’re going to check these tires and wheels after the race, and there will be some crew chiefs, tire changers and carriers who will sit at home because of the change. I don’t know how they’re going to enforce this without penalizing severely. It’s a shame because the old system, the one they used for a year-and-a-half, was 100-percent successful. Not one wheel came off. I don’t think it was a safety issue.”

--Andy Petree

On assessing the new aerodynamic rules package now that the Sprint Cup Series has raced at practically every type of downforce track under the new configuration:

"The racing appears to be a lot better with the new aero package, and the main reason it's working is the drivers like it. Drivers say the cars are more fun to drive and the racing is more exciting for them with the new package. They are the best salesmen. If they like it, they will sell it, and if they don't, you'll know about it. Their attitudes and acceptance are part of the reason the competition is so good this season. Sometimes we just need to leave things alone and quit worrying about what's the next greatest thing. Just leave it alone and let it breathe. I get so tired of knee-jerk reactions, like what we're hearing about restrictor-plate racing after Talladega."

--Darrell Waltrip

On Tony Stewart’s quest to climb inside the top 30 and win a race to qualify for the Chase: “Finishes like Ty Dillon’s in the No. 14 at Talladega are huge. Tony needs to make up four or five points per race, and that’s very doable. Top-15 or top-20 finishes probably will do it, but when you start clicking off top-five and top-10 finishes, they eat a huge chunk out of the deficit. But he has to get a win to go along with it.”

--Larry McReynolds

“Tony is a genius for electing to start Talladega and get out of the car at the first caution. Look at the accidents we saw. That was a smart move, and Ty Dillon finishing sixth helped his cause of climbing toward the top 30. I think he can make the top 30. Remember there are three less cars than there were last year, and he returned to the car a little earlier than Kyle Busch did last season. In theory, Tony can make the top 30, but they're going to have to get the performance of the car up for him to win a race. The No. 14 has not been capable of winning in a while, so that's going to be hard. Tony making the Chase is a definite maybe at this point."

--Darrell Waltrip

FOX NASCAR AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE

*All times live/Eastern unless otherwise indicated & subject to change

Friday, May 6

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice (11:30 AM-12:30 PM) (FS1)

NASCAR RACE HUB (12:30-1:30 PM) (FS1)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice (1:30-3:00 PM) (FS1)

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying (4:30-6:00 PM) (FS1)

NASCAR RACE HUB (6:00-6:30 PM) (FS1)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying (6:30-8:00 PM) (FS1)

NCWTS SETUP (8:00-8:30 PM) (FS1)

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Racing (8:30-11:00 PM) (FS1)