Cole Custer picked up right where he left off from last weekend in first place as he claimed the pole position for the return of the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 20.
The reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion from Ladera Ranch, California, saved his best qualifying lap for last as he was the last of 38 competitors to post a qualifying lap, which he achieved the top starting spot and bested teammate Riley Herbst with a pole-winning lap at 167.582 mph in 53.705 seconds, with Custer being the only competitor to post a qualifying lap within the 167-mile range.
With his accomplishment, Custer, driver of the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing, notched his 21st career pole in the Xfinity Series, his third of the 2024 season, his first since doing so at Phoenix Raceway in March and his first at Indianapolis.
Custer’s current best result on Indy’s oval-shaped circuit in three total starts is a fifth-place result he posted in 2017 during his rookie Xfinity campaign as he strives to be four spots better for Saturday’s main event.
Custer’s pole comes a week after he scored his first Xfinity victory of the 2024 season at Pocono Raceway as he leads this year’s regular-season standings. It also comes hours after it was announced that he will be returning to a full-time Cup Series campaign in 2025 for Haas Factory Team in the No. 41 Ford, a team that is rebranded from Stewart-Haas Racing.
Saturday’s Xfinity event and return to the oval-shaped circuit at Indianapolis will feature a front row sweep of Stewart-Haas Racing competitors as Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang, will start alongside Custer with his best qualifying lap occurring at 166.942 mph in 53.911 seconds.
Aric Almirola, who makes his return to the Xfinity Series for the first time since Darlington Raceway in May, qualified in a strong third place and he will share the second row with Sam Mayer while Anthony Alfredo piloted his No. 5 Our Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to a fifth-place starting spot as he will share the third row with Brandon Jones.
Carson Kvapil, AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier and Josh Berry will start in the top 10 while Jeb Burton and Sheldon Creed round out the top-12 starting spots.
Notably, Xfinity Series regulars Chandler Smith, Austin Hill and rookie Jesse Love will start 13th to 15th, respectively, while Conor Daly will start in 16th place. In addition, Joe Graf Jr. will start 17th in his first Xfinity start of the season with Joe Gibbs Racing, Sammy Smith will line up in 21st place alongside Daniel Dye, rookie Shane van Gisbergen will start 23rd and Parker Kligerman will line up in 38th place, dead last, as he was the only competitor who did not post a qualifying lap.
All 38 Xfinity competitors entered for this weekend’s main event made the show.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
1. Cole Custer, 167.582 mph, 53.705 seconds
2. Riley Herbst, 166.942 mph, 53.911 seconds
3. Aric Almirola, 166.765 mph, 53.968 seconds
4. Sam Mayer, 166.725 mph, 53.981 seconds
5. Anthony Alfredo, 166.593 mph, 54.024 seconds
6. Brandon Jones, 166.439 mph, 54.074 seconds
7. Carson Kvapil, 166.352 mph, 54.102 seconds
8. AJ Allmendinger, 166.343 mph, 54.105 seconds
9. Justin Allgaier, 166.316 mph, 54.114 seconds
10. Josh Berry, 166.095 mph, 54.186 seconds
11. Jeb Burton, 165.865 mph, 54.261 seconds
12. Sheldon Creed, 165.844 mph, 54.268 seconds
13. Chandler Smith, 165.837 mph, 54.270 seconds
14. Austin Hill, 165.792 mph, 54.285 seconds
15. Jesse Love, 165.758 mph, 54.296 seconds
16. Conor Daly, 165.731 mph, 54.305 seconds
17. Joe Graf Jr., 165.216 mph, 54.474 seconds
18. Jeremy Clements, 165.041 mph, 54.532 seconds
19. Josh Williams, 165.001 mph, 54.545 seconds
20. Parker Retzlaff, 164.721 mph, 54.638 seconds
21. Sammy Smith, 164.675 mph, 54.653 seconds
22. Daniel Dye, 164.204 mph, 54.810 seconds
23. Shane van Gisbergen, 164.108 mph, 54.842 seconds
24. Blaine Perkins, 163.818 mph, 54.939 seconds
25. Leland Honeyman, 163.488 mph, 55.050 seconds
26. Garrett Smithley, 163.339 mph, 55.100 seconds
27. Ryan Sieg, 163.280 mph, 55.120 seconds
28. Kyle Weatherman, 163.236 mph, 55.135 seconds
29. Matt DiBenedetto, 162.970 mph, 55.225 seconds
30. Brennan Poole, 162.566 mph, 55.362 seconds
31. Kyle Sieg, 162.113 mph, 55.517 seconds
32. Josh Bilicki, 161.943 mph, 55.575 seconds
33. BJ McLeod, 161.681 mph, 55.665 seconds
34. Ryan Ellis, 160.625 mph, 55.031 seconds
35. Joey Gase, 160.194 mph, 56.182 seconds
36. David Starr, 159.730 mph, 56.345 seconds
37. Greg Van Alst, 157.649 mph, 57.089 seconds
38. Parker Kligerman, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds
The 2024 Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is set to occur on Saturday, July 20, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
For a second consecutive season, Ty Majeski snapped a yearlong winless drought by recording his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the season in the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday, July 19.
The 29-year-old Majeski from Seymour, Wisconsin, led the final 56 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started in fourth place, but made his presence at the front known by attempting to grab the lead with a three-wide move through the first two turns. Despite settling in the runner-up spot following the opening lap, Majeski remained upfront in the early portions of the race before he was assessed a drive-through penalty for jumping a restart on Lap 49. Despite serving the penalty, Majeski managed to remain on the lead lap at the first stage’s conclusion and he would charge his way back into third place when the second stage concluded.
Restarting in the top five when the final stage commenced with 71 laps remaining, Majeski would then overtake Christian Eckes to lead for the first time with 55 laps remaining. From there, the Wisconsin native navigated through the short track in Brownsburg, Indiana, smoothly for the final 55 laps before he cycled back to the frontstretch and claim both his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 Truck Series victory and a berth into the Playoffs.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Rajah Caruth notched his second Truck pole position of his career and of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 108.017 mph in 22.863 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Grant Enfinger, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 107.937 mph in 22.880 seconds.
Prior to the event, the following names that included Ben Rhodes, Johnny Sauter, Matt Mills and Conor Daly dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Rajah Caruth and Grant Enfinger dueled for the lead through the first two turns before Ty Majeski made a three-wide move on both in an attempt to grab the lead entering the backstretch. With all three going three wide through the backstretch, Enfinger managed to prevail from the outside lane as he aggressively muscled his No. 9 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST into the lead as he also cleared both Caruth and Majeski entering Turn 3. As Majeski was trying to overtake Caruth for the runner-up spot through Turns 3 and 4, Enfinger proceeded to lead the first lap. By then, Majeski acquired the runner-up spot as Caruth fended off Christian Eckes for third place.
Amid the early on-track battles, Majeski then wasted no time challenging Enfinger for the lead as he tried to gain momentum through every turn and corner. With Enfinger retaining the lead over Majeski’s No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 by the fifth lap mark, Caruth also retained third place ahead of Eckes while Tyler Ankrum trailed in fifth place.
Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Enfinger was leading by three-tenths of a second over Majeski followed by Eckes, Ankrum and Caruth while Matt Crafton, Stewart Friesen, Daniel Dye, Corey Heim and Nick Sanchez trailed in the top 10. Behind, Luke Fenhaus occupied 11th place in front of Ross Chastain, Dean Thompson, Sammy Smith and Chase Purdy while rookie Layne Riggs, Tanner Gray, Taylor Gray, Ty Dillon and Jake Garcia were racing in the top 20 ahead of Jack Wood, Timmy Hill, Bayley Currey, William Sawalich and Mason Massey, with Ben Rhodes mired in 26th place.
Ten laps later, Enfinger, who caught the tail end of the field and started to lap those running at the rear of the field, retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Majeski while third-place Ankrum and fourth-place Eckes both trailed by three seconds. Behind, Caruth retained fifth place ahead of Crafton’s No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 while Friesen, Corey Heim, Luke Fenhaus and Daniel Dye followed suit in the top 10.
Another 10 laps later, Enfinger, who was continuing to navigate his way through lapped traffic, was still leading by less than two-tenths of a second over Majeski, who managed to close back in on Enfinger for the top spot. Meanwhile, Ankrum trailed in third place by three seconds as Eckes and Caruth both continued to follow suit in the top five.
With the event reaching the Lap 40 mark, Enfinger stabilized his advantage to half a second over Majeski as third-place Ankrum continued to trail by more than three seconds. While Eckes and Caruth continued to run in the top five, Ben Rhodes was mired back in 22nd place behind Taylor Gray and William Sawalich, Sanchez was in 13th place behind Daniel Dye and Ross Chastain occupied 15th place in front of Tanner Gray. In addition, Johnny Sauter was mired outside the top 25.
Two laps later, the event’s first caution period flew as Ty Dillon spun in Turn 3 while Mason Massey limped to pit road with a flat tire and sparks flying out of his No. 02 BRUNT Chevrolet Silverado RST. During the event’s first caution period, the front-runners led by Enfinger pitted, with the latter retaining the lead after he exited pit road first ahead of Majeski.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 49, Enfinger just managed to fend off Majeski through the first two turns and the backstretch to retain the lead and clear the field in the process. With Enfinger leading Majeski, Eckes and Heim battled for third place while Ankrum and Caruth followed suit along with the rest of the field. Shortly after, Majeski was black-flagged and forced to serve a pass-through penalty through pit road for a restart violation after he jumped the recent start.
With Majeski serving his pass-through penalty, where he managed to remain on the lead lap, Enfinger was trying to fend off Eckes with the lead while Heim, Ankrum and Caruth tried to close in from the top five. Chastain then started to challenge Caruth for fifth place along with Dean Thompson while Nick Sanchez battled Daniel Dye and Sammy Smith for eighth place as Eckes assumed the lead in his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST from Enfinger on Lap 56.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 60, Eckes captured his sixth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Enfinger followed suit in second along with Heim, Ankrum and Caruth while Chastain, Sanchez, Thompson, Sammy Smith and Dye were scored in the top 10. By then, Majeski, who was mired in 31st place, remained on the lead lap.
Under the stage break, select names, mainly those running in the mid-pack region, pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 68 as Eckes and Enfinger occupied the front row. At the start, Enfinger executed a bold power slide move on Eckes to reassume the lead from the inside lane and despite sliding up the track entering Turn 1. With Enfinger retaining the lead for a full lap ahead of Eckes, Ankrum, Chastain and Heim followed suit in the top five while Sanchez led Caruth, Riggs and a bevy of truck competitors as Enfinger retained the lead by Lap 70.
Within Lap 75, Enfinger retained the lead by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Eckes, who continued to try to gain runs on Enfinger through every turn and corner. Behind, Chastain occupied third place ahead of Ankrum and Sanchez while Majeski was mired in 15th place and trailing a side-by-side battle between Jake Garcia and Taylor Gray.
Just past the Lap 80 mark and with a flurry of on-track battles ensuing around the short track, Enfinger continued to lead by nearly three-tenths of a second over Eckes while third-place Chastain trailed by a second. Top-five competitors Ankrum and Sanchez also followed suit in the top five as they were running ahead of Riggs, Heim, Caruth, Thompson and Fenhaus while Daniel Dye pitted under green to address a flat tire to his No. 43 Bettenhausen Automotive Chevrolet Silverado RST, where he lost a lap to the leaders in the process.
Within the Lap 85 mark, Heim fell off the pace with a flat left-front tire to his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro that left his truck igniting sparks around the track. Shortly after, Conor Daly drew a caution as he had a right-front tire flat to his No. 44 Power Plus Chevrolet Silverado RST as he too drew sparks out of his truck following an incident in Turn 1. During the caution period, Heim, who zipped through pit road with the flat tire, ran into the side of Eckes to express his displeasure over an earlier contact between the two that resulted with the cut tire.
The start of the next restart period on Lap 92 featured Eckes fending off Enfinger with the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch while Enfinger was trying to fend off Chastain for the runner-up spot. With the field behind jostling and scrambling for spots during the proceeding laps, Chastain acquired second place from Enfinger, who was left to fend of Ankrum and Riggs for third place. Enfinger, however, would be overtaken by both by the Lap 95 mark as he had more challenges coming from Dean Thompson, Sanchez and Majeski for more spots while Heim, who remained on the lead lap, charged his way back towards the front as he was up within the top 15 in the leaderboard.
At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Eckes was leading by six-tenths of a second over Chastain as Ankrum, Riggs, Thompson, Majeski, Sanchez, Caruth, Fenhaus and Enfinger were running in the top 10 on the track. As Enfinger continued to backslide and drop out of the top 10 a lap later, Heim bullied his way back into the top 10 as he immediately challenged Fenhaus for more while Majeski, who cycled his way back into the top five, was challenging Riggs for the fourth spot.
By Lap 110, Eckes extended his advantage to two seconds over Chastain as Ankrum, Majeski and Riggs continued to follow suit in the top five. Meanwhile, Heim carved his way up to sixth place after he overtook Caruth, Crafton, Sanchez and Thompson on the track while Enfinger continued to fall back as he was down in 15th place.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 120, Eckes notched his seventh Truck stage victory of the 2024 season and his second of the night as he led by two seconds over Heim. Both Heim and Majeski rallied from their separate instances of on-track issues during the first two stages to finish second and third, respectively, while Crafton, Ankrum, Chastain, Riggs, Thompson, Caruth and Sanchez were scored in the top 10.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Eckes pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Eckes retained the lead after he exited pit road first as he was followed by Heim, Majeski, Thompson, Sanchez, Caruth, Ankrum, Crafton, Sammy Smith and Riggs.
With 71 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Eckes and Heim occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes muscled ahead of Heim to retain the lead while Heim retained second ahead of Majeski, Thompson and a jumble of competitors jostling for late spots. Amid the on-track battles that generated three-wide actions through the corners, Majeski started to challenge Heim for the runner-up spot and Enfinger bolted his way up to sixth place while he started to pressure Thompson and Ankrum for more. In the process, Eckes stretched his advantage to more than a second.
With 60 laps remaining, Eckes stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Majeski while Ankrum, Enfinger and Sanchez were scored in the top five. While Enfinger bolted his way back towards the front, Heim drifted back to seventh as he trailed Sanchez and Riggs on the track while Caruth, Sammy Smith and Chastain were racing in the top 10 ahead of Thompson, Fenhaus, Currey, Tannery Gray and Crafton.
Shortly after, a side-by-side action for the lead between Eckes and Majeski ignited, with the latter trying to use the inside lane to gain a run on the former through every turn and corner. Despite Eckes’ effort in using the outside lane to retain the lead amid strong launches off the turns, Majeski managed to move his No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 in front of Eckes in Turn 1 while avoiding the lapped competitor of Thad Moffit to lead with 55 laps remaining. Majeski would proceed to stretch his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Eckes with 50 laps remaining.
Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Majeski continued to extend his advantage as he was now leading by a second over Eckes while third-place Enfinger trailed by four seconds. Ankrum and Riggs followed suit in the top five while Sanchez, Caruth, Sammy Smith, Heim and Chastain trailed in the top 10 ahead of Fenhaus, Thompson, Currey, Tanner Gray and Chase Purdy followed suit in the top 15.
Ten laps later, Majeski stretched his advantage to lead by more than two seconds over Eckes while Enfinger, Ankrum and Riggs continued to follow suit in the top five. Meanwhile, teammates Caruth and Sammy Smith were battling for sixth place as Sanchez, Fenhaus and Chastain were running in the top 10. Heim, however, was mired back in 12th place behind teammate Thompson and his other teammate, Tanner Gray, was running 15th behind Purdy and Currey. Tanner’s brother, Taylor Gray, was mired in 18th place, two spots ahead of Ben Rhodes, Crafton was down in 22nd and Daniel Dye, who was not scored on the lead lap, was mired in 27th.
With 20 laps remaining, Majeski stabilized his advantage to two-and-a-half seconds over Eckes while third-place Enfinger trailed by more than three seconds. Amid lapped traffic, Majeski kept leading by two-and-a-half seconds over Eckes, with Enfinger, Ankrum and Riggs remaining in the top five on the track.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Majeski continued to lead by more than two seconds over Eckes. With Majeski proceeding to lap Heim, who was mired in 14th place, he would also stretch his lead to three seconds over Eckes with five laps remaining.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Majeski remained as the leader by a comfortable margin over Eckes. Having no challenges closing in from behind, Majeski cruised his Ford around Lucas Oil IRP for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch and claim his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 season as he won the race by four seconds over Eckes.
With the victory, Majeski secured his fourth Craftsman Truck Series career win in his 81st series start and his first since winning at Lucas Oil IRP at year ago, which marks his second consecutive victory at the track and the first to accomplish the feat since Ron Hornaday Jr. made the last accomplishment from 2009-10. The victory was also the first of the season for ThorSport Racing and the Ford nameplate.
Above all, Majeski, who came into Indiana 125 points above the top-10 cutline to make the 2024 Truck Series Playoffs and had clinched his spot based on points earlier in Friday’s event, officially secured his spot into the postseason battle for the title with his victory as he became the fourth series’ regular to win in this year’s regular-season stretch.
Photo by Adam Lovelace for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“[The win]’s huge,” Majeski said on FS1. “Obviously, I made a little bit of a mistake. It was probably a little bit of a close call on that restart [I jumped]. I had to pony up and get it back. Obviously when you make a mistake as a driver, you drive a little bit harder to try and make up for it, but these [No. 98] guys have my back. Awesome pit stops. It’s been an up-and-down year. We’ve had the speed to win. Just haven’t been able to put it together. I’ve had some bad luck around the way. Some of it’s self-inflicted, but man, so proud of this Road Ranger group. So happy to bring the trophy home.”
Christian Eckes, who led a race-high 73 laps and had a post-race conversation with Corey Heim following their earlier run-in, settled in second place for his sixth top-three result of the 2024 season while Grant Enfinger backed up his strong result at Pocono by finishing in third place after he led 71 laps. The third-place result, which left him with a 72-point advantage above the top-10 cutline, was enough for Enfinger to secure his berth into the Playoffs with a single regular-season event remaining on the calendar.
Tyler Ankrum came home in fourth place, which keeps him 78 points above the cutline, as he too secured a Playoff berth. Rookie Layne Riggs finished in fifth place for his second top-five result of the season.
Sammy Smith, Luke Fenhaus, pole-sitter Rajah Caruth, Dean Thompson and Nick Sanchez completed the top 10 in the final running order.
With a 20th-place finish, Tanner Gray occupies the 10th and final transfer spot into the Playoffs by five points over Daniel Dye, who ended up in 28th place. As Taylor Gray and Ben Rhodes remain above the cutline, the following names that include Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Chase Purdy, Dean Thompson, Layne Riggs, Jake Garcia, Bayley Currey, Ty Dillon and Bret Holmes are among several who trail the cutline approaching next month’s regular-season finale at Richmond Raceway.
There were five lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 27 laps. In addition, 13 of 35 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 15th event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, Christian Eckes continues to lead the regular-season standings by 50 points over Corey Heim.
Results.
1. Ty Majeski, 56 laps led
2. Christian Eckes, 73 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner
3. Grant Enfinger, 71 laps led
4. Tyler Ankrum
5. Layne Riggs
6. Sammy Smith
7. Luke Fenhaus
8. Rajah Caruth
9. Dean Thompson
10. Nick Sanchez
11. Ross Chastain
12. William Sawalich
13. Chase Purdy
14. Bayley Currey
15. Jack Wood
16. Taylor Gray
17. Corey Heim
18. Ty Dillon
19. Timmy Hill
20. Tanner Gray
21. Ben Rhodes
22. Matt Mills
23. Johnny Sauter
24. Matt Crafton
25. Marco Andretti, one lap down
26. Bret Holmes, one lap down
27. Daniel Dye, two laps down
28. Lawless Alan, two laps down
29. Conor Daly, three laps down
30. Jake Garcia, three laps down
31. Tyler Tomassi, three laps down
32. Thad Moffitt, five laps down
33. Stewart Friesen, six laps down
34. Spencer Boyd, 36 laps down
35. Mason Massey – OUT
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, for the lean Harbors 250, which will also serve as this year’s regular-season finale and determine this year’s 10-truck Playoff field. The event is scheduled to occur on August 10 and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
Connor Zilisch executed the final two restarts to his advantage to grab a thrilling ARCA Menards Series victory in the Circle City 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday, July 19.
The 17-year-old Zilisch from Charlotte, North Carolina, led twice for a race-high 89 of 205 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started in fourth place and ran upfront in the early stages before he assumed the lead for the first time on Lap 44. Despite leading through the halfway mark on Lap 100, Zilisch lost the lead to William Sawalich amid a restart with 92 laps remaining.
After spending a majority of the mid-race portion trialing Sawalich, Zilisch then executed a restart with 21 laps remaining to force his way past Sawalich as he nearly slid up into Sawalich entering the first turn. After fending off another attack from Sawalich, Zilisch appeared to have the race within his grasp until an incident involving Amber Balcaen sent the field into an overtime attempt. Despite having Sawalich lined up alongside him for the overtime attempt, Zilisch was not to be denied as he motored away from the field amid a strong launch and cruised to both his fourth ARCA Menards Series East victory and his third consecutive ARCA Menards Series victory overall.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, William Sawalich secured the pole position with his best lap occurring at 110.715 mph in 22.306 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Lavar Scott, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 109.921 mph in 22.467 seconds.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, William Sawalich and Lavar Scott battled dead even against one another for the lead through the first two turns. Then just past the backstretch, Scott tried to muscle ahead of Sawalich entering Turn 3 from the inside lane, but Sawalich pulled a crossover move on Scott entering the frontstretch and he managed to lead the first lap by a hair.
Sawalich and Scott would duel and cross over one another for the top spot for the following lap before Scott managed to motor ahead of Sawalich and have both lanes to his control by the third lap. He would proceed to lead just past the fifth lap mark while Sawalich, Connor Zilisch, Andres Perez, Lawless Alan and Giovanni Ruggiero trailed in the top six.
Following the event’s first caution period on the ninth lap due to Jackson McLerran spinning his No. 96 Firemark Property Mgrnt/Arylco Toyota in Turn 2, the race restarted under green on Lap 14. At the start, Scott and Sawalich dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch before Scott used the outside lane to muscle ahead and retain the lead for the following lap.
As Scott proceeded to lead just past the Lap 15 mark, Alan prevailed in an early side-by-side battle with Ruggiero for fifth place as they trailed another side-by-side battle for third place between Zilisch and Perez. Amid the early battles around the circuit, Scott would then be challenged by Sawalich for the lead on Lap 18. Despite Sawalich’s attempt to gain a run underneath Scott through the turns, Scott would manage to muscle ahead as he retained the lead by Lap 20.
At the Lap 30 mark, Scott, who was being mired in lapped traffic, continued to lead by nearly half a second over Sawalich, who was being intimidated by Zilisch for the spot, while Perez and Ruggiero trailed by as far as six seconds in the top five. Meanwhile, Alan, Greg van Alst, Toni Breidinger, Kris Wright and Christian Rose were running in the top 10 ahead of Dean Thompson, Marco Andretti, Amber Balcaen, Isaac Johnson and Zachary Tinkle while Andrew Patterson, Presley Sorah, D.L. Wilson, Michael Maples and Cody Dennison were mired in the top 20 ahead of Tyler Tomassi, Becca Monopoli, Jayson Alexander, Alex Clubb and Braynton Laster.
Ten laps later, Scott, who was continuing to weave his way through lapped traffic, stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Zilisch, who nearly pulled a slide job on Scott for the lead amid lapped traffic, while Sawalich trailed in third place by half a second. Behind, Perez and Rugiero remained in the top five while Alan, Van Alst, Breidinger, Kris Wright and Christian Rose occupied the top 10 on the track.
With the event reaching a second caution period on Lap 50 mark due to Presley Sorah wrecking against the outside wall in Turn 3 and just past the backstretch, the start of the next restart period on Lap 57 featured Zilisch, who assumed the lead for the first time on Lap 42, muscling ahead and retaining the lead from the outside lane. Behind, Perez charged his way up to second place while Scott, Alan and Sawalich battled amongst one another for third place. Sawalich would prevail in the three-car battle for third place over Scott and Alan as Zilisch continued to lead on Lap 60.
By Lap 75, Zilisch stretched his advantage to two seconds over Sawalich while third-place Perez trailed by more than five seconds. Behind, Scott and Ruggiero trailed by as far as nearly eight seconds in the top five while Alan, Breidinger, Van Alst, Thompson and Marco Andretti were in the top 10.
Ten laps later, Zilisch stabilized his advantage to two seconds over Sawalich while third-place Scott trailed by nine seconds. Perez and Ruggiero continued to run in the top five as Alan followed suit in sixth place ahead of Breidinger, Andretti, Thompson and Wright, with the leaders navigating their way through lapped traffic.
At the halfway mark on Lap 100, a designed caution flew for a mid-race break. At the time of caution, Zilisch was leading by more than a second over Sawalich, who chopped half of his deficit in trailing Zilisch for the top spot, as third-place Scott trailed the lead by 12 seconds. Perez, Ruggiero, Alan, Breidinger, Andretti, Thompson and Wright were scored in the top 10.
During the mid-race break period, which included the race being red-flagged, the entire field led by Zilisch pitted for a non-competitive service, which kept Zilisch in the lead when the field returned to the track under a cautious pace.
With 93 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Zilisch and Sawalich dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch until Sawalich used the inside lane to muscle ahead of Zilisch. Zilisch then tried to pull a crossover move underneath Sawalich, but the latter would clear the former and retain the lead for the following lap. With Sawalich leading Zilisch with 90 laps remaining, Perez and Scott battled for third place while Alan was up into fifth place ahead of Ruggiero and Breidinger.
Down to the final 75 laps of the event, the caution returned due to Becca Monopoli, who was lapped by the leaders, slipping sideways before she snapped back across the track and hit the backstretch’s outside wall head-on while being dodged by Jackson McLerran. Amid the hard accident, she emerged uninjured. By then, Sawalich had slightly stretched his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Zilisch.
The start of the next restart period with 67 laps remaining featured Sawalich rocketing away from the lead through the frontstretch and the first two turns while Perez also rocketed his way into the runner-up spot. As Zilisch retained third place in front of Perez and Ruggiero, Alan and Breidinger battled for sixth place while both were also trying to pressure Ruggiero for a top-five spot while Andretti and Wright tried to close in from eighth and ninth, respectively. Amid the late on-track battles, Sawalich had extended his lead to more than a second as he continued to lead with 60 laps remaining.
With 50 laps remaining, Sawalich stabilized his advantage to more than a over Zilisch while third-place Scott trailed by four seconds. Behind, Perez retained fourth place ahead of Ruggiero as Breidinger, who was up to sixth place, was trying to pressure teammate Ruggiero for more.
Ten laps later, Sawalich retained his advantage of more than a second over Zilisch, with both competitors logging in fast lapped times. Behind, Scott trailed by more than seven seconds in third place while Perez and Ruggiero remained in the top five ahead of Breidinger, Andretti, Wright, Alan and Thompson.
Another four laps later, the caution flew due to Jackson McLerran spinning in Turn 2 for a second time. In the process of McLerran’s spin, Breidinger, who was trying to navigate her way past teammate Ruggiero for a top-five spot, had slammed on the brakes, smoked her front tires and made light contact with the outside wall to avoid hitting McLerran. Despite hitting the wall, Breidinger remained on the track and retained sixth place.
With the event restarting under green with 29 laps remaining, Sawalich and Zilisch dueled for the lead for nearly a lap until Zilisch nearly slid up the track in Turn 3, which allowed Sawalich to rocket ahead and retain the lead for the following lap. The caution, however, quickly returned as both Alan and Breidinger wrecked up against the outside wall in Turn 2, where the latter was then hit by McLerran as her strong run within the top six came to an end. The incident was enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period as the on-track safety crew cleared the carnage scene.
When the red flag lifted and the race resumed under green with 21 laps remaining, Zilisch wasted no time forcing his way into the lead from the inside lane over Sawalich. Despite running wide through the first two turns, which allowed Sawalich to cross over and duel with Zilisch through the backstretch and prior to hitting Turns 3 and 4, Zilisch managed to muscle ahead from the outside lane and hold the lead with 20 laps remaining. Zilisch then started to place a reasonable gap between himself and Sawalich over the proceeding laps while Perez, Scott and Ruggiero followed suit in the top five.
Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Zilisch extended his advantage to a second over Sawalich. Zilisch would stretch his advantage to nearly two seconds over Sawalich with 10 laps remaining while Perez, Scott and Ruggiero trailed by as far as five seconds.
With five laps remaining, Zilisch retained his lead to more than a second over Sawalich as he also navigated his way through lapped traffic. In the process, Perez trailed in third place by nearly five seconds as Scott, Ruggerio and Wright followed suit in the top six.
Then just as Zilisch was approaching the frontstretch to take the white flag and start the final lap of the event, the caution flew due to Amber Balcaen spinning as she was battling Zachary Tinkle while entering the frontstretch. Balcaen’s incident sent the event into overtime and spoiled Zilisch’s advantage of nearly two seconds over Sawalich.
The start of the first and only overtime attempt featured Zilisch gaining a strong start from the inside lane as he rocketed his No. 28 Silver Hare Development Chevrolet away with the lead as Perez overtook Sawalich’s No. 18 Starkey/Sound Gear Toyota for the runner-up spot. As the rest of the field, including Perez and Sawalich, battled, Zilisch muscled away from the field.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Zilisch remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Perez, who was trying to fend off Sawalich for the runner-up spot. Having a comfortable advantage for a final circuit, Zilisch navigated his way back to the frontstretch victorious as he claimed the checkered flag by nine-tenths of a second over Perez.
With the victory, Zilisch, a development competitor for Trackhouse Racing, is three-for-three in the ARCA Menards Series as he is coming off wins between Flat Rock Speedway and Iowa Speedway. To go along with his first victory at Lucas Oil IRP along with the fourth ARCA East victory of his career and of the 2024 season, Zilisch also racked up his third ARCA Menards Series career victory in the process as this event marked a combined event between the ARCA and ARCA East divisions.
With two ARCA Menards Series East races remaining on this year’s schedule, Zilisch continues to lead the series standings by 23 points over Sawalich.
Photo by Adam Lovelace for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“This Silver Hare Racing, Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet was so fast,” Zilisch said on FS1. “I kind of messed up two restarts in a row. Luckily, I got a third shot at it and I could just hear Josh Wise and Scott Speed in the back of my head, telling me what to do. We’ve prepped for this race for weeks now. It just feels good to have that prep pay off and get my team a win in this critical situation. We’re racing for a championship. These wins matter a lot.”
“I just wanted leverage,” Zilisch, who stood by his decision to restart on the inside lane that led him to victory, added. “When I’m on the bottom [lane], I have more control than when I’m on the top. As long as I beat [Sawalich] to the start/finish line and got a good run, I could kind of slide myself and get clear off of [Turn] 2. It’s all about leverage in these games and obviously, me and [Sawalich] had a little bit of history. I just didn’t want to take a chance on it. I’m glad it paid off.”
Andres Perez, the current points leader in the ARCA Menards Series division and who is still searching for his first ARCA career victory, managed to fend off William Sawalich to claim the runner-up spot as Lavar Scott and Giovanni Ruggiero finished in the top five. The runner-up result, which marks Perez’s best result in the series, allowed him to retain the lead in the ARCA standings by 46 points over Greg Van Alst and 45 over Lavar Scott.
Kris Wright, Marco Andretti, Greg Van Alst, Dean Thompson and Isaac Johnson completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were four lead changes for three leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 44 laps. In addition, nine of 31 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Connor Zilisch, 89 laps led
2. Andres Perez
3. William Sawalich, 72 laps led
4. Lavar Scott, 44 laps led
5. Giovanni Ruggiero
6. Kris Wright
7. Marco Andretti
8. Greg Van Alst
9. Dean Thompson
10. Isaac Johnson, one lap down
11. Zachary Tinkle, three laps down
12. Andrew Patterson, three laps down
13. Amber Balcaen, four laps down
14. Cody Dennison, five laps down
15. Michael Maples, six laps down
16. D.L. Wilson, six laps down
17. Tyler Tomassi, seven laps down
18. Jayson Alexander, eight laps down
19. Braynton Laster, 11 laps down
20. Rita Goulet, 13 laps down
21. Alex Clubb, 16 laps down
22. Christian Rose – OUT, Accident
23. Lawless Alan – OUT, Accident
24. Toni Breidinger – OUT, Accident
25. Jackson McLerran – OUT, Accident
26. Casey Carden – OUT, Mechanical
27. Becca Monopoli – OUT, Accident
28. Nate Moeller – OUT, Mechanical
29. Presley Sorah – OUT, Accident
30. Dale Shearer – OUT, Mechanical
31. Brad Smith – OUT, Mechanical
Next on the 2024 ARCA Menards Series schedule is the Salem ARCA 200 at Salem Speedway in Salem, Indiana. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, July 27, with a start time at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.
Rajah Caruth zipped his way to the second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole of his career and of the 2024 season for the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) on Friday, July 19.
The 22-year-old Caruth from Washington D.C. posted his best qualifying lap at 108.017 mph in 22.863 seconds, which was enough to claim the top starting spot by 0.017 seconds over Grant Enfinger in his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports.
With his accomplishment, Caruth, who finished in seventh place in his first Truck event at Lucas Oil IRP in 2023, earned his second career pole position in the Truck Series and his first since Las Vegas Motor Speedway in early March, where he would proceed to claim his first career victory. Despite being currently ranked in fifth place in this year’s Truck Series regular-season standings and trailing points leader Christian Eckes by 188 points, he is guaranteed one of 10 spots in this year’s Playoffs with his Vegas victory.
The pole position left Caruth surprised after he posted the 23rd-fastest time during Friday’s practice session, but looking ahead for momentum as this year’s regular-season season reaches its conclusion.
“I was honestly surprised [with our qualifying run],” Caruth said on FS1. “I was enthused with our HendrickCars.com Silverado. Kind of after a long run in practice, I’m honestly really surprised by the qualifying speed. Gotta thank the men and women at Spire Motorsports…We’ll hopefully have a good night this evening and something good for my team to think about for the Olympic break.”
Enfinger, winner of the 2022 Truck Series event at Lucas Oil IRP, will start alongside Caruth after he posted his best qualifying lap at 107.937 mph in 22.880 seconds. He is coming off a strong runner-up result from Pocono Raceway, which currently places in seventh place in this year’s regular-season standings. Above all, he is 46 points above the top-10 cutline to make this year’s Playoffs.
Tyler Ankrum, who is ranked in sixth place in the standings and 49 points above the cutline, will start in third place and share the second row with Ty Majeski, winner of last year’s Truck event at Lucas Oil IRP and who was the fastest during Friday’s practice session. Matt Crafton, three-time champion of the series, will line up in fifth place alongside Christian Eckes, this year’s leader in the regular-season standings.
Daniel Dye, Stewart Friesen, Corey Heim and Chase Purdy will start in the top 10 while Nick Sanchez and Sammy Smith will follow suit in 11th and 12th, respectively.
Notably, Taylor Gray and Ben Rhodes, both of whom are currently above the cutline, will start 13th and 15th, respectively, while names including rookie Layne Riggs, Jake Garcia, Dean Thompson, Ty Dillon, Tanner Gray and Bayley Currey, all of whom are below the cutline, will line up 17th to 22nd, respectively. In addition, Ross Chastain, who is pulling double-duty between Lucas Oil IRP and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will start 16th, William Sawalich will start 26th and Johnny Sauter will start 28th in the No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota entry.
In addition, the following names that include Spencer Boyd, rookie Thad Moffitt, Matt Mills and Conor Daly will round out the 35-truck field after all lined up based on owner points.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
1. Rajah Caruth, 108.017 mph, 22.863 seconds
2. Grant Enfinger, 107.937 mph, 22.880 seconds
3. Tyler Ankrum, 107.786 mph, 22.912 seconds
4. Ty Majeski, 107.730 mph, 22.924 seconds
5. Matt Crafton, 107.313 mph, 23.013 seconds
6. Christian Eckes, 107.299 mph, 23.016 seconds
7. Daniel Dye, 107.174 mph, 23.043 seconds
8. Stewart Friesen, 107.122 mph, 23.054 seconds
9. Corey Heim, 107.053 mph, 23.069 seconds
10. Chase Purdy, 107.011 mph, 23.078 seconds
11. Nick Sanchez, 106.928 mph, 23.096 seconds
12. Sammy Smith, 106.821 mph, 23.119 seconds
13. Taylor Gray, 106.766 mph, 23.131 seconds
14. Luke Fenhaus, 106.591 mph, 23.169 seconds
15. Ben Rhodes, 106.568 mph, 23.174 seconds
16. Ross Chastain, 106.536 mph, 23.181 seconds
17. Layne Riggs, 106.471 mph, 23.195 seconds
18. Jake Garcia, 106.183 mph, 23.258 seconds
19. Dean Thompson, 106.169 mph, 23.261 seconds
20. Ty Dillon, 106.146 mph, 23.266 seconds
21. Tanner Gray, 106.069 mph, 23.283 seconds
22. Bayley Currey, 106.028 mph, 23.292 seconds
23. Jack Wood, 105.728 mph, 23.358 seconds
24. Lawless Alan, 105.651 mph, 23.375 seconds
25. Timmy Hill, 105.260 mph, 23.462 seconds
26. William Sawalich, 105.148 mph, 23.487 seconds
27. Mason Massey, 105.844 mph, 23.555 seconds
28. Johnny Sauter, 104.826 mph, 23.559 seconds
29. Marco Andretti, 104.675 mph, 23.593 seconds
30. Bret Holmes, 104.335 mph, 23.593 seconds
31. Tyler Tomassi, 103.896 mph, 23.770 seconds
32. Spencer Boyd, owner points
33. Thad Moffitt, owner points
34. Matt Mills, owner points
35. Conor Daly, owner points
The 2024 TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park is set to occur on Friday, July 19, and air at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
As the NASCAR Cup Series makes a historic return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s oval-shaped circuit for the Brickyard 400 after three years of competing on the circuit’s road-course layout, Kyle Busch is set to achieve a milestone start of his own. By competing in this weekend’s Brickyard 400, the driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will reach 700 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.
A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, Busch made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series at his home track, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, in March 2004. By then, he had made seven career starts in the Craftsman Truck Series and 10 in the Xfinity Series as he was also contending in the latter series for Hendrick Motorsports. Driving the No. 84 Chevrolet for HMS, Busch started 18th and finished 41st in his Cup debut after retiring early following an early incident. He made five additional Cup starts throughout the 2004 season and achieved a season-best 24th-place run at Auto Club Speedway in September.
The following season, Busch graduated to a full-time Cup role in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, where he replaced two-time series champion Terry Labonte as Labonte retired from full-time competition. After finishing 38th in his first Daytona 500 career start at Daytona International Speedway, Busch notched his first Cup career pole position at Auto Club in February, where he ended up in 23rd place, before he recorded a runner-up finish behind teammate Jimmie Johnson and in front of older brother, Kurt Busch, at Las Vegas in March. Throughout his next 21 starts, Kyle Busch recorded a total of seven top-10 results, including another runner-up result at Dover Motor Speedway in June. Then at Auto Club in September, he capitalized on a two-lap shootout to score his first Cup career win in his 31st series start and become the youngest winner in series’ history at age 20 years, four months and two days. Despite missing the 2005 Cup Playoffs, Busch would notch another runner-up result at Dover in September before capturing his second Cup career victory at Phoenix Raceway in November following a late duel against Greg Biffle. With a 20th-place finish in the final standings to coincide with nine top-five results, 13 top-10 results 362 laps led and an average-finishing result of 21.0, Busch captured the 2005 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title.
Busch would remain as the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for the following two Cup seasons. During the two-year span, he claimed one victory per season and made the Playoffs during both seasons. In 2006, he won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July amid a two-lap shootout and recorded one pole, 10 top-five results, 18 top-10 results, 571 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.5 before settling in 10th place in the final standings. The following season, he fended off a hard-charging Jeff Burton to win at Bristol Motor Speedway in March and record the first victory for the Car of Tomorrow stock car as he also recorded the 200th NASCAR national touring series victory for Hendrick Motorsports and the 600th in the Cup circuit for Chevrolet. Busch would proceed to record 11 top-five results, 20 top-10 results, 637 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.1 throughout the 2007 campaign before boosting to fifth place in the final standings. By then, he surpassed 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.
In June 2007, Busch was announced of his departure from Hendrick Motorsports at season’s conclusion, where he would be replaced by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Two months later, he announced his move to Joe Gibbs Racing to pilot the No. 18 Toyota Camry for the 2008 Cup season. Throughout the 26 regular-season stretch, Busch’s move to JGR made both the driver and team a lethal combination for the competition that commenced with top-four finishes through the first three-scheduled events. Then at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, the Las Vegas native led a race-high 173 laps en route to his first Cup victory of the season and first driving for JGR as he also recorded the first Cup Series win for the Toyota nameplate. Five races later, Busch rallied from losing a lap and nearly getting collected in an incident with Jamie McMurray to assume the lead with five laps remaining and retain the top spot prior to a multi-car wreck on the final lap to claim his second victory of the season at Talladega Superspeedway in May. Busch’s early hot streak extended throughout the regular-season stretch as he claimed victories at Darlington Raceway in May Dover Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway in June, Daytona, Chicagoland Speedway in July and at Watkins Glen International in August. To go along with a total of 17 top-10 results, Busch secured his spot into the 2008 Cup Playoffs as he also earned the top seed in his bid to win his first title. Throughout the Playoffs, however, Busch’s title hopes evaporated as he commenced the Playoffs with a 34th-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September after plummeting from first place and being involved an early multi-car wreck followed by a last-place finish during the following event at Dover after his engine expired. Despite recording four top-10 results during the final eight events on the schedule, he could only climb his way up to 10th place in the final standings. Amid his early exit in the championship bid, Busch achieved a career-high eight victories, two poles, 17 top-five results, 21 top-10 results, 1,673 laps led and an average-finishing result of 12.5 in his first season driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Poised for another title bid in 2009, Busch commenced the season by finishing in 41st place in the 51st running of the Daytona 500 after being involved in a late multi-car wreck despite leading a race-high 88 laps. He would rally by finishing third at Auto Club before notching his first victory of the season at Las Vegas in an event where he rallied from starting at the rear of the field. Two races later, he won at Bristol for the second time in his career after leading a race-high 378 laps before collecting his third victory of the season at Richmond Raceway five races later in May, the latter victory making Busch the second competitor to win on a birthday date.
Busch would then endure a difficult summer stretch as he would only record three top-10 finishes in 13 events, results that eventually dropped him below the top-12 cutline to make the 2009 Playoffs. Despite claiming his fourth victory of the season at Bristol in August following a late battle with Mark Martin, Busch would end up 13th and fifth, respectively, during the final two regular-season events of the season, which resulted in him missing the Playoffs by eight points.
He would proceed to finish in the top 10 four times during the final 10 events on the schedule before settling in 13th place in the final standings. By then, Busch only earned half the total victories accumulated from the previous season (four) along with eight less top-five (nine) and top-10 (13) results as he capped off the season with an average-finishing result of 15.3 and 1,157 total laps led.
Busch would return to the Playoffs in 2010 as he claimed three victories throughout the regular-season stretch, starting at Richmond in May followed by Dover two races later and then at Bristol in August as part of his historic NASCAR top three national touring series sweep. Amid the three races where he was victorious, he racked up a total of 13 top-10 results. With four top-10 results recorded throughout the 2010 Cup Playoffs, Busch ended up in eighth place in the final standings as he also surpassed 200 Cup career starts. The following season, he would rack up four victories throughout the regular-season stretch (Bristol in March, Richmond in May, Kentucky Speedway in July and at Michigan International Speedway in August) along with 16 top-10 results. Then after recording only two top-10 results throughout the first seven Playoff events, including a strong runner-up result at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October, Busch was suspended from competing in the Cup Playoff event at Texas Motor Speedway in November following his actions during the Truck Series event at Texas two days earlier, where he intentionally wrecked Ron Hornaday Jr. under caution at full speed. Returning for the final two events on the schedule, where he finished 36th and 23rd, respectively, Busch ended up in 12th place in the final standings. With seven victories recorded throughout the two-year span, which accumulated his wins total to 23, he also achieved three poles, 24 top-five results, 36 top-10 results, 2,726 laps led and average-finishing results within the top 15.
The 2012 Cup Series season initially commenced with a hot start for Busch as he rallied from two near spins to edge reigning three-time champion Tony Stewart by 0.013 seconds to win the non-points Budweiser Shootout at Daytona in February. After recording three top-10 results during the first eight events on the schedule, Busch claimed his first points victory of the season at Richmond after muscling away from the field during a nine-lap shootout. Despite finishing in the top four during his next three starts, he would then finish in the top 10 only three additional times during the following 13 events as he was left battling within the cutline to make the Playoffs. Despite notching back-to-back sixth-place finishes at Bristol and Atlanta between August and September that kept him within the cutline, Busch ended up in 16th place during the regular-season finale at Richmond, which left him three points below the cutline and out of the Playoffs for the first time since 2009. With his championship hopes of the season evaporated, Busch concluded the 2012 campaign on a strong note by finishing in the top seven in eight of the remaining 10 events before settling in 13th place in the final standings.
In the early stages of the 2013 Cup Series season, Busch finished in the top five twice during the first four-scheduled events before capitalizing on a last-lap skirmish involving teammate Denny Hamlin and ex-teammate Joey Logano to claim his first victory at Auto Club in March and deliver the first Auto Club Speedway win for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. Two races later, Busch achieved his second victory of the season at Texas in April, which marked his 300th Cup career start as he joined Ned Jarrett, Rusty Wallace and Kasey Kahne as competitors to win on the milestone start. Despite recording eight top-10 results during his next 14 starts, Busch would record his third victory of the season at Watkins Glen in August following a late duel against Brad Keselowski before winning for the fourth time of the year at Atlanta in September, victories that enabled him to clinch his spot into the Playoffs. With a total of five top-five results and seven top-10 results recorded throughout the Playoffs, Busch settled in fourth place in the final standings. By then, he recorded three additional top fives (16) and two additional top 10s (22) compared to his previous season. Despite leading 209 less laps (1,227) compared to the previous season, Busch boosted his final average-finishing result from 13.3 to 12.7.
Like the 2013 season, Busch emerged victorious for the first time in 2014 at Auto Club, the fifth event on the schedule, amid a two-lap shootout that resulted with the driver of the No. 18 JGR Toyota navigating his way from fifth to first, which kept his winning streak in the Cup Series alive to 10 consecutive years. To go along with a total of nine top-10 results, including three runner-up results, throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, he made the Playoffs for a seventh time. Despite transferring from the Playoff’s Round of 16 to 12 amid three consecutive top-10 results followed by two top-five runs during the first two Round of 12 events, Busch’s title hopes came to a crashing end during the Round of 8 finale at Talladega in October after he was involved in a late multi-car wreck and could only salvage his way up to 40th place in the final running order, which prevented him from advancing past the Round of 12. Managing only a single top-five finish during the final four-scheduled events, Busch ended up in 10th place in the final standings for the fourth time of his career and with an average-finishing result of 17.6 amid a total of 15 top-10 results.
The 2015 season was a breakthrough year for Busch that commenced with the driver potentially having his racing career ending following a harrowing accident during the Xfinity Series’ season-opening event at Daytona in February that resulted with the driver hitting head-on into a concrete wall and suffering both a massive compound fracture in his right leg and a minor fracture to his left foot. With the injuries causing Busch to miss the first 11 events on the schedule, he made his return at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the All-Star Race in May, where he ended up sixth. Needing at least one victory and enough garnered points to remain above the top-30 cutline in the standings that would guarantee him in Playoff contention as part of his medical waiver by NASCAR, Busch finished no higher than ninth in his first four races back in contention before accomplishing his first feat: a victory that occurred at Sonoma in June, which marked his 30th victory in the Cup Series and extended his winning streak to 11 seasons.
Despite finishing 17th during the next event at Daytona, Busch notched three consecutive victories at Kentucky, New Hampshire and Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July. Managing four top-10 results, including two runner-up results, throughout the final six regular-season events in 2015, Busch was able to climb his way inside the top-30 cutline and make the Playoffs. Utilizing consistency throughout the Playoffs in the form of five top-five results and six top-10 results, he proceeded to transfer from the Round of 16 into the Championship 4 round at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. Then during the finale, Busch capitalized on a seven-lap restart to overtake Keselowski and fend off title rival Kevin Harvick to win both the finale and his first Cup Series championship. With the title occurring in his 11th season in competition, Busch became the 31st different competitor to win a championship in NASCAR’s premier series as he also delivered the first Cup title for Toyota and the fourth for Joe Gibbs Racing. In total, he accumulated five victories, one pole, 12 top-five results, 16 top-10 results, 736 laps led and an average-finishing result of 10.8 in 25 starts, which made him the first competitor to win a championship despite not competing in every scheduled event since Richard Petty made the last accomplishment in 1971.
Commencing the 2016 Cup season as the reigning champion, Busch recorded four top-five finishes during the first five-scheduled events before notching back-to-back victories at Martinsville Speedway and at Texas in April. Four races later, he notched his third Cup victory of the season at Kansas Speedway in May before winning at Indianapolis for a second consecutive season nine races later. To coincide with 16 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, Busch made the Playoffs for a ninth time. Implementing consistency throughout the Playoffs, he finished in the top eight in eight of the first nine Playoff events, which enabled him to transfer from the Round of 16 and back into the Championship 4 round for a second consecutive season. During the finale, however, Busch, who made a late pit stop, could only climb his way up to sixth place on the track, which resulted in him settling in third place in the final standings. Despite falling two spots short of defending his title, Busch concluded the 2016 campaign on a strong note with four victories, two poles, 17 top-five results, 25 top-10 results, 1,379 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.5. By then, he also surpassed 400 Cup career starts.
The following two Cup seasons would feature Busch making competitive championship runs as he notched multiple victories and transferred all the way to the Championship 4 round. In 2017, Busch endured the first 20-scheduled events winless before notching his first victory at Pocono Raceway in July. In the midst of the winless streak, he achieved his first All-Star Race win at Charlotte in May, which marked his 12th attempt of winning the event’s million dollar prize. Busch would proceed to win at Bristol in August as part of his second triple series weekend sweep before winning the following Playoff events at New Hampshire, Dover and Martinsville. During the finale, however, Busch ended up in the runner-up spot both on the track and in the final standings to Martin Truex Jr. In 2018, Busch achieved a career-high eight victories, which marked his second time achieving the feat since 2008. His victories included winning three consecutive races at Texas, Bristol and Richmond in April before emerging triumphant for the first time at Charlotte Motor Speedway during the Coca-Cola 600 in May. He would then bump and overtake Kyle Larson amid a last-lap skirmish to win at Chicagoland in early July before muscling away from teammate Daniel Suarez during a two-lap shootout to win at Pocono in late July.
Once the Playoffs commenced, Busch, who claimed the 2018 Cup Series regular-season title, would win at Richmond during the Round of 16 and at Phoenix during the Round of 8 finale in November, to which by then, he had made the Championship 4 round for a fourth consecutive season. Ultimately, he would end up in fourth place both during the finale at Homestead and in the final points standings in 2018. During the two-year span, Busch notched 13 victories, bringing his wins total to 51. He also recorded a total of 36 top-five results, 50 top-10 results, 12 poles, with 20,285 laps led and average-finishing results within the top 11, with the 2018 season generating career-high stats in top fives (22), top 10s (28) and average-finishing result (8.3) while the 2017 season generated the most poles (eight) and laps led (2,023) in a season.
For the 2019 season, which marked his 12th season driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Cup Series, Busch commenced the season by finishing in the runner-up spot during the 61st running of the Daytona 500 before finishing sixth at Atlanta, which marked his 500th Cup career start. Two races later, he secured his first victory of the season at Phoenix in March and backed it up with a dominant win at Auto Club, where he achieved his 200th NASCAR national touring series victory. As Busch proceeded to win at Bristol in April before winning at Pocono in June, he would accumulate a total of 21 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch before qualifying for his 12th appearance in the Playoffs and winning his second consecutive regular-season title. Then after finishing in the top 10 five times throughout the Playoffs that enabled him to transfer from the Round of 16 into the Championship 4 for a fifth consecutive time, Busch led a race-high 120 laps en route to his second Cup Series championship during the finale at Homestead.
With his accomplishment, Busch became the 16th different competitor to achieve multiple Cup Series titles as he also delivered the fifth championship to Joe Gibbs Racing and the third for Toyota. Overall, Busch capped off his second championship season with five victories, one pole, 17 top-five results, 27 top-10 results, 1,582 laps led and an average-finishing result of 8.9.
Compared to the 2019 season, the 2020 Cup Series season generated a difficult season for Busch both during the regular-season stretch and throughout the Playoffs that prevented him from contending for his third series title. Despite recording 11 top-five results and 13 top-10 results throughout the regular-season stretch that enabled him to make the 2020 Cup Playoffs, Busch finished no lower than sixth throughout the Round of 16 before transferring into the Round of 12. Then amid respective finishes of sixth, 27th and 30th throughout the Round of 12, he was eliminated from title contention. Busch quickly rallied during the second Round of 8 event by notching his first elusive Cup victory of the season at Texas in October following a late battle against Martin Truex Jr. and having enough fuel to snatch the victory, which extended his winning streak to 16 consecutive seasons. Managing respective finishes of ninth and 11th during the final two events on the schedule, Busch settled in eighth place in the final standings.
In 2021, Busch notched two victories that occurred during the regular-season stretch: the first at Kansas in May as he won on his birthday for a second time and the second at Pocono in July after overtaking teammate Denny Hamlin prior to the final lap while running on fumes with a low gas tank. Amid the victories, he also won the non-points Busch Clash at Daytona in February following a last-lap skirmish involving the reigning champion Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney. The pair of victories along with 16 top-10 results throughout the regular-season stretch allowed Busch to make the Playoffs for a 14th season, which he would record five top-10 runs throughout the Playoffs and transferred past the Rounds of 16 and 12 before coming up three points short of transferring into the Championship 4 round, which resulted with the two-time champion settling in ninth place in the final points standings. By then, Busch had recorded a total of 14 top-five results, 22 top-10 results, 334 laps led, an average-finishing result of 12.8 and surpassed 600 Cup career starts.
For the 2022 season, Busch’s lone victory of the season occurred during the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in April, where he capitalized on a final lap incident involving Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe to beat Reddick by 0.330 seconds. The victory not only marked Busch’s 60th in NASCAR’s premier series, but it also marked his 18th consecutive season of winning at least one event in a Cup season, a record feat that was also made by Richard Petty. Despite recording a total of 13 top-10 results, including his Bristol Dirt victory, throughout the regular-season stretch that enabled him to make the Playoffs, Busch was eliminated from title contention following respective finishes of 30th, 26th and 34th throughout the Round of 16. Managing four top-10 results throughout the final seven events on the schedule, Busch ended up in 13th place in the final standings in a season where he accumulated a total of 17 top-10 results, 627 laps led and an average-finishing result of 16.7.
In September 2022, Busch announced his move to Richard Childress Racing to pilot the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the 2023 Cup season, where he replaced the departing Tyler Reddick. The move came amid a termination to Busch’s 15-year partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing due to longtime sponsor Mars, Incorporated departing NASCAR following the 2022 season and JGR unable to secure a primary sponsorship for Busch prior to the 2023 season. After ending up in 19th place during the 65th running of the Daytona 500 while being collected in a final lap, multi-car wreck, Busch achieved his first victory of the season and his first driving for RCR at Auto Club in February, which made him the new holder of the longest winning streak in Cup Series history at 19 consecutive seasons. Eight races later, he dodged a final lap, multi-car wreck to notch his second victory of the season at Talladega in April before grabbing his third Cup win at World Wide Technology Raceway in June, where he led a race-high 121 laps. The three regular-season victories along with a total of 14 top-10 results enabled Busch to make his 16th entrance into the Playoffs. Despite transferring into the Round of 12 amid no finishes lower than 20th throughout the Round of 16, Busch was unable to transfer into the Round of 8 amid respective finishes of 34th, 25th and third throughout the Round of 12. Finishing as high as third for the final four events on the schedule, he concluded his first campaign with RCR in 14th place in the final standings. By then, he had also accumulated a total of 17 top-10 results, 241 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.0.
This season, Busch has started on pole position once, which occurred at Dover in late April and has finished in the top 10 six times through 21-scheduled events, with his best result being a third-place run at Atlanta in February. With his current average-finishing result being a 19.4, Busch is currently ranked in 18th place in the 2024 regular-season standings and trails the top-16 cutline to make the 2024 Playoffs by 102 points as he also strives to collect his first victory of the 2024 season that would extend his record-setting wins of consecutive seasons to 20.
Through 699 previous Cup starts, Busch has achieved two championships, 63 victories, 34 poles, 248 top-five results, 378 top-10 results, 19,280 laps led and an average finishing result of 14.0. He is set to become the 20th competitor overall to reach 700 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series. Should he win this weekend’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, Busch would become the first competitor to win in a 700th Cup start.
Kyle Busch is scheduled to make his 700th Cup Series career start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the return of the Brickyard 400 on Sunday, July 21. The event’s broadcast time is slated to commence at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
In his fourth season as a crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series and first paired with Daniel Suarez and Trackhouse Racing, Matt Swiderski is primed to reach a milestone feat. By participating in this weekend’s return of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Swiderski will call his 100th career event as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.
Swiderski, a Chicago native who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering at Kettering University and a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University, spent the early portions of his career as a data acquisition and race engineer for Richard Childress Racing across the Xfinity and Cup Series divisions before becoming a loads engineer for SpaceX in 2012. Returning to NASCAR eight months later and reuniting with Richard Childress Racing, where he became a chief race engineer before working his way up to being the head of vehicle performance.
In 2017, Swiderski made his inaugural presence as a crew chief in the Xfinity Series, where he worked atop the pit box of RCR’s No. 3 Chevrolet team piloted between Ty Dillon, Scott Lagasse Jr. and Brian Scott throughout the season, with the entry recording 18 top-10 results and finishing in 11th place in the owner’s standings. He then spent the following three seasons as a part-time Xfinity crew chief for Team Penske, where he worked with Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Paul Menard, before working as Ty Dillon’s crew chief for two events in 2021.
During the 2021 season, Swiderski made his inaugural presence as a crew chief in the Cup Series as he joined forces with Kaulig Racing to lead the team’s No. 16 Chevrolet entry on a part-time basis that was split between AJ Allmendinger, Justin Haley and Kaz Grala.
After leading the No. 16 team to three top-seven results during the entry’s first five starts between February and June, Swiderski achieved his first NASCAR career victory as a crew chief during the Cup Series’ inaugural event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in August after Allmendinger capitalized on an overtime shootout to achieve his second Cup career win and the first for Kaulig Racing in NASCAR’s premier series. The No. 16 Kaulig entry would end up finishing no higher than 20th in its final three starts between mid-August to October.
The following season, Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 entry led by Swiderski became a full-time Cup Series entry as Allmendinger, Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric took turns splitting the entry. During the season, Swiderski was suspended for four events throughout May, including the non-points All-Star Race, due to a loose wheel that came unattached at Dover Motor Speedway in early May. In the remaining 33 points-paying events, Swiderski led the No. 16 entry to a total of three top-five results and nine top-10 results, including a season-best runner-up result at Watkins Glen International in August, before the team settled in 26th place in the final owner’s standings.
In 2023, Swiderski was paired with Allmendinger on a full-time basis as Allmendinger became a full-time competitor of Kaulig’s No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the Cup Series. Despite commencing the season with a sixth-place result during the 65th running of the Daytona 500, the duo would proceed to finish in the top five twice and rack up two additional top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, but they fell short of making the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs.
Then after finishing no higher than 13th during the first five Playoff events, Swiderski and Allmendinger made triumphant returns to Victory Lane at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course after Allmendinger led a race-high 46 of 109 laps en route to his third Cup career win and the second for Kaulig Racing. Managing a single top-five finish during the final four events on the schedule, Allmendinger settled in 21st place in the final driver’s standings.
In early January 2024, Kaulig Racing and Trackhouse Racing engaged in a crew chief swap that resulted in Swiderski replacing Travis Mack to serve as the crew chief for Daniel Suarez and the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team while Mack took over Swiderski’s role as crew chief for Kaulig’s No. 16 Cup team. After ending up in 34th place due to crashing out of the 66th running of the Daytona 500, the new duo of Swiderski and Suarez emerged victorious during the following event at Atlanta Motor Speedway when Suarez edged the reigning champion Ryan Blaney and two-time champion Kyle Busch in a three-wide finish to snap a 57-race winless drought and record both a second Cup victory for himself and the third for Swiderski.
Despite recording only three top-10 runs through 21 scheduled events of the 2024 season, Swiderski and Suarez, both of whom are in 17th place in the regular-season standings, are currently guaranteed a spot into the Playoffs based on the Atlanta victory.
Through 99 previous Cup events, Swiderski has achieved three victories, 11 top-five results and 23 top-10 results while working with six different competitors.
Matt Swiderski is scheduled to call his 100th Cup Series event as a crew chief at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the return of the Brickyard 400. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, July 21, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
In his sixth full-time campaign as a crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series, Chris Gayle, who works as a crew chief for Ty Gibbs and the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE team, is within reach of achieving a milestone feat. By participating in this weekend’s return of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Gayle will call his 200th event as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.
A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, and a graduate of the University of North Carolina in Charlotte with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Gayle made his inaugural presence as a Cup Series crew chief at Kansas Speedway in April 2013, where he was atop the pit box of the No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry team piloted by veteran Elliott Sadler. By then, he had recently served as a senior engineer for Kyle Busch and was serving as Sadler’s full-time crew chief in the Xfinity Series. In Gayle’s first event as a Cup crew chief, Sadler, who started 24th, finished 40th after being eliminated in an early accident.
Four years later, Gayle was named a full-time Cup Series crew chief of the No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota Camry entry piloted by Erik Jones, who was set to compete in the series for the first time following a four-win season during the previous Xfinity season. Despite being suspended for two races in August due to a post-race infraction at Pocono Raceway in July, Gayle led Jones to his first Cup career pole at Bristol Motor Speedway in August, where he went on to finish a career-best second place following a late duel against Kyle Busch. Despite earning 11 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, the duo did not make the 2017 Cup Playoffs. Nonetheless, they went on to post two top-10 results during the 10-race Playoff stretch before finishing in 19th place in the final standings. By then, Jones captured the 2017 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title and became the first competitor to achieve a rookie title across NASCAR’s top three premier series (Truck, Xfinity and Cup divisions).
In 2018, Gayle and Jones moved back to Joe Gibbs Racing and took over the No. 20 Toyota Camry team for the upcoming Cup season. Following a consistent start to the season that was highlighted by six top-10 results during the first 16-scheduled events, Gayle and Jones earned their first career victory in the Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway in July after Jones overtook former teammate Martin Truex Jr. on the final lap to win. After notching six additional top-10 results during the following eight events, the duo qualified for the 2018 Cup Playoffs. Their title hopes, however, came to an early end following respective finishes of 40th, 11th and 30th during the Round of 16. Despite rallying to finish in the top 10 four times during the final seven events, Gayle and Jones capped off the season in 15th place in the final standings.
Remaining as Jones’ crew chief in 2019, Gayle led the No. 20 team to a strong third-place result during the 61st running of the Daytona 500. After enduring an up-and-down regular-season stretch highlighted with eight top-five results and 12 top-10 results during the first 24 regular-season events, Gayle and Jones achieved their first elusive victory of the season in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in September, where Jones held off teammate Kyle Busch to win in his 100th Cup career start and notch the second career victory for himself and Gayle. The Southern 500 victory was more than enough for the duo and the No. 20 team to clinch a Playoff spot for a second consecutive season. Following another early exit from the Playoffs after posting three consecutive results outside the top 30 during the Round of 16, Gayle and Jones went on to finish 16th in the final standings.
Gayle and Jones commenced the 2020 season on a high note by winning the Busch Clash at Daytona in February, where Jones rallied from being involved in three multi-car wrecks to nurse his damaged car to the win with drafting help from teammate Denny Hamlin. The rest of the season, however, ended up being a struggle for the duo as they recorded seven top-10 results during the regular season and failed to make the Playoffs. In addition, Gayle served a one-race suspension during the second of a Darlington Raceway doubleheader feature in May after Jones’ No. 20 Toyota had two unsecured lugnuts during the first Darlington feature. Five finishes in the top 10 during the 10-week Playoff stretch, however, were enough for Gayle and Jones to end up in 17th place in the final standings, the highest-finishing team in the standings to not make the Playoffs.
Following the 2020 season, Gayle and Jones were replaced by Adam Stevens and Christopher Bell, respectively, for the 2021 season. While Jones moved on to Richard Petty Motorsports, Gayle remained at JGR and scaled back as a full-time Xfinity Series crew chief for the team’s No. 54 Toyota Supra entry piloted by a multitude of competitors. Between 2021 and 2022, Gayle earned 17 Xfinity victories between Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs and John Hunter Nemechek. He also won the 2022 Xfinity Series championship with Ty Gibbs in a season where the duo notched seven victories, including the season finale to claim the fourth Xfinity title for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Nearly a week and a half after winning the previous season’s Xfinity championship, Gayle was promoted back to the Cup Series to serve as Gibbs’ crew chief in 2023, with Gibbs retaining the No. 54 and embarking in his first full-time campaign in NASCAR’s premier series. The duo would rally by finishing no higher than 16th during the first four-scheduled events before notching four consecutive top-10 finishes in their next four events. Gayle and Gibbs would proceed to collect two top-five results and another top-10 result throughout the remaining 18 regular-season events on the schedule, but they would miss the cutline to the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs. Nonetheless, they proceeded to record two top-five runs during the final 10-scheduled events before ending up in 18th place in the final driver’s standings. As a result, Gibbs claimed the 2023 Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year title, which marked the second time and the first since being paired with Erik Jones in 2017 where Gayle navigated a competitor to a Cup rookie title.
Through 199 previous Cup events, Gayle has achieved two victories, four poles, 40 top-five results and 78 top-10 results while working with three different competitors. He and Ty Gibbs are currently ranked in 11th place in the 2024 regular-season standings on the strength of five top-five results, nine top-10 results and two poles, including this past weekend at Pocono Raceway, through 21-scheduled events. In addition, they are 40 points above the top-16 cutline to make this year’s Playoffs with five regular-season events remaining on the schedule.
Chris Gayle is scheduled to call his 200th Cup Series event as a crew chief at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the return of the Brickyard 400. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, July 21, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Johnny Sauter is scheuled to compete in the upcoming NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) with Hattori Racing Enterprises (HRE) on Friday, July 19.
The 2016 Truck Series champion from Necedah, Wisconsin, is set to pilot the No. 16 AISIN Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for HRE, an organization that claimed the 2018 series’ title with Brett Moffitt and spent a total of seven seasons (2017-23) fielding at least one full-time entry in the Truck Series, where the organization accumulated a total of 14 victories and four Playoff appearances, before scaling back to a part-time campaign this season.
The No. 16 HRE Toyota team, which is led by veteran crew chief Richie Wauters, attempted to qualify at North Wilkesboro Speedway in May with veteran competitor Aric Almirola, but they were unable to due to posting a slow practice time and the on-track qualifying session being canceled amid on-track precipitation as the starting lineup was determined by a qualifying metric formula from the NASCAR Rule Book.
With 35 competitors entered for the upcoming event at Lucas Oil IRP, where all will qualify since a Truck Series field can go as high as 36, it will mark Sauter’s third Truck Series start of the 2024 season after he competed in the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in February and at Texas Motor Speedway in April, both with Niece Motorsports. In addition to making his first start with HRE, Sauter is also scheduled to make his sixth career start at Lucas Oil IRP. His best result in five previous starts at the course is a runner-up finish during the 2004 season as he strives to improve his previous result up by a single spot.
“[Lucas Oil IRP] is a unique track, it has a very unique layout with multi-groove racing,” Sauter said. “I think track position is going to be key and staying up front out of trouble is the goal. Getting back to the truck series with Richie has been something I’ve been looking forward to since we first discussed racing at Indianapolis Raceway Park a couple weeks ago. I want to thank Shige Hattori for the opportunity to drive the No. 16 AISIN Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for the TSport 200.”
Sauter, who grew up racing across the Midwest regions before winning the 2001 ASA National Tour title, made his inaugural presence across NASCAR’s top three national touring series at Richmond Raceway in the Xfinity Series in September 2001, where he piloted the No. 21 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing to an impressive fifth place. He would collect his first two career victories in the Xfinity circuit over the next two seasons.
In 2003, Sauter competed in his first three Truck Series career races with Fasscore Motorsports. He would make eight additional starts over a four-year span (2004-05, ’06 & ’08) before inking a full-time ride with ThorSport Racing in 2009. During the 2009 season, he scored his first Truck career victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finished in sixth place in the final standings and claimed the Rookie-of-the-Year title.
From 2009 to 2021, Sauter would establish himself as a top veteran in the Truck Series as he would add 23 additional victories to his resume, all of which he achieved between ThorSport and GMS Racing. His top accomplishment is winning his first series’ title in 2016 during his first campaign with GMS. Other accomplishments for Sauter as a Truck Series competitor include becoming the first three-time series’ winner at Daytona, winning a career-high six races in 2018, securing Playoff berths in four consecutive seasons (2016-19) along with the 2018 Truck Series Regular Season Championship, recording a career-high 19 top-10 results during the 2016 and 2017 seasons, and notching sixth-place average-finishing results as a full-time competitor during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
Through 322 previous starts in the Truck Series, Sauter has achieved 24 victories, which have him ranked in fifth place in the series’ all-time wins list. He has also recorded nine poles, 116 top-five results, 186 top-10 results, 2,695 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.2. In addition to his success in the Truck Series, Sauter has three Xfinity victories and 85 Cup career starts featured to his racing resume.
Should Sauter win this weekend’s event at Lucas Oil IRP, he would join Brett Moffitt and Austin Hill as the only competitors to win in the Truck Series while driving for HRE.
“We’re excited to have Johnny behind the wheel of our No. 16 AISIN Toyota Tundra TRD Pro at Indianapolis Raceway Park,” Shige Hattori, owner of HRE, added. “His experience in the series, with many different platforms of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series trucks, will be invaluable. He understands the unique challenges of these vehicles and this bullring-style track. Johnny will also give us a great understanding of where we are at as a team and give us some valuable feedback.”
Johnny Sauter’s first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start with Hattori Racing Enterprises is scheduled to occur this Friday, July 19, at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
William Byron capped off a day that started strong by notching a fourth-place run in The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 14.
The 2024 Daytona 500 champion from Charlotte, North Carolina, who featured the bold red and black RAPTOR High Heat scheme on his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry for the first time since Atlanta Motor Speedway in February, commenced the weekend on a strong note by posting his best qualifying lap at 169.661 mph in 53.047 seconds. The qualifying run was enough for him to start in second place as he shared the front row with fellow Charlotte competitor Ty Gibbs.
When the green flag waved, Byron made an early bid for the lead as he dueled with Gibbs during the opening lap. After being edged by Gibbs to lead the first lap, Byron would settle in second before he would be intimidated by Gibbs’ teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin for more. Byron, who would remain on the track following the event’s first caution period on Lap 14 along with a majority of the front-runners, would proceed to settle in fourth place when the first stage period concluded on Lap 30. Despite restarting outside the top 20 due to pitting during the first stage’s break period, Byron would methodically carve his way back to the front and finish in fourth place for a second time of the day as the second stage period concluded on Lap 95.
Restarting in 15th place as the final stage period commenced with 60 laps remaining, Byron would manage through a total of four caution periods and restarts, including the latest one with 23 laps remaining, to steer the No. 24 Chevrolet to a fourth-place result in the final running order. The result came as Byron prevailed in a late multi-car battle for the fourth spot that included Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr.
Byron’s fourth-place finish at Pocono marked his seventh top-five result through 21-scheduled starts of the 2024 season, his first at Pocono since finishing in third place in 2021 and his first since finishing in the runner-up spot at Iowa Speedway four races ago. It also came a day after he finished in third place while driving the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry during Saturday’s Xfinity Series event. Combined with his fourth-place finish and the stage points he accumulated, Byron swapped spots with Truex in the 2024 regular-season standings as he is ranked in fifth place while trailing points leader and teammate Chase Elliott by 57 points. Byron along with the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team led by crew chief Ryan “Rudy” Fugle are already guaranteed a spot in the 2024 Playoffs based on winning the Daytona 500, Circuit of the Americas and Martinsville Speedway earlier this season between February and April.
The result left the Charlotte native pleased despite being mired with four results of 15th or worse over his previous seven starts but striving to gain more ground before the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs commence in early September.
“This is definitely a really good result,” Byron said on USA Network. “We just kind of executed our way through the race. Not everything went our way, but for the most part, we did a good job with the circumstances and the restarts and everything. Just really proud of the effort. Our team did a great job. The RAPTOR Chevrolet was decent all day. Certainly good to get a fourth place and just, hopefully, work on the things that we need to work on going to Indianapolis, which is somewhat [a] similar track [to Pocono]. Looking forward to that. Just two good weeks, two good finishes in a row, so proud of that.”
With Pocono in the rearview mirror, Byron will attempt to win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the return of the Brickyard 400 in what will be his eighth Cup start at the famed venue located near Downtown Indianapolis next weekend. Byron’s current best result at Indianapolis is fourth, which occurred in 2019. He achieved his first NASCAR national touring series victory at Indianapolis in July 2017 when he fended off former Brickyard 400 champion Paul Menard to win in what would be his first motorsports start at Indy.
Having won the 2024 Daytona 500 in car No. 24, Byron approaches Indianapolis with a unique goal of keeping the No. 24 victorious at Indianapolis in years that end with the number 4. Jeff Gordon, vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, piloted the No. 24 car to victory during the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994 before he would win his fourth in 2004 and his record-setting fifth in 2014.
Should Byron win this year’s Brickyard 400, he would become the first competitor to win both the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same season since Jamie McMurray made the last accomplishment in 2010. McMurray along with Cup Series champions Dale Jarrett and Jimmie Johnson are the only competitors to win both crown-jewel events in the same season.
William Byron’s 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule continues with the return of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 21, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Ross Chastain and Kyle Busch both had a day to forget following separate on-track incidents of their own during The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 14, leaving their hopes of making the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs in jeopardy.
Chastain, who started in 19th place but was mired in 31st place after the first stage period on Lap 30 saw his race go south on Lap 53 when he slid sideways and hit the outside wall in Turn 3 while running in 21st place. Then while trying to nurse his car through the frontstretch, Chastain locked up his front tires and ended up going straight into the outside wall in Turn 1, which resulted in his No. 1 Busch Light Peach Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry sustaining more right-side damage. Despite driving back to pit road, the damage would be enough to conclude Chastain’s event in his pit stall and in 36th place, the next-to-last spot and strapped with his third DNF of the 2024 season.
With the result, Chastain, who came into Pocono 53 points above the top-16 cutline to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, is only 27 points above the cutline as he holds the 16th and final transfer spot into the Playoffs ahead of Bubba Wallace with five regular-season events remaining on this year’s calendar. Chastain, the 2022 championship runner-up, is currently one of four competitors currently scored inside the cutline despite being winless through 21 scheduled events in 2024, including Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs and Chris Buescher. His last series victory occurred during the 2023 season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway this past November. Currently, Chastain’s best result in 2024 is a fourth-place run generated at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March as he attempts to make his third consecutive appearance as a Playoff competitor.
“I just spun out,” Chastain said while describing the incident after being released from the infield care center. “I just flat spun out. We were all sliding around, but I just spun out. It felt like it happened in slow motion. Yeah, obviously frustrated with myself, but can’t take it back now.”
Compared to Chastain who remains above the cutline and in the position of making the Playoffs based on points, Kyle Busch’s 2024 Playoff hopes sit solely on winning one of the remaining five regular-season events as he trails the cutline by triple digits with few races and little time to gain the lost points week by week.
Busch’s long afternoon at Pocono occurred before the event’s start as his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team had to address an oil leak discovered on Busch’s Camaro ZL1 entry. Despite making the repairs in the garage stall before the car was pushed to pit lane for the starting grid, Busch, who qualified in 24th place, dropped to the rear of the field due to the unapproved adjustment.
Once he took the green flag, Busch managed to methodically carve his way to 20th place when the first stage period concluded on Lap 30. Lining up in 14th place for the start of the second stage period on Lap 35, Busch, who along with teammate Austin Dillon spent extra time on pit road to have the brakes serviced during a caution period that started on Lap 52, would fall back and be mired within the top 30 despite remaining on the lead lap when the stage concluded on Lap 95.
Being mired in the mid-pack region when the final stage commenced with 60 laps remaining, Busch, who would line up in 16th place during another restart period with 40 laps remaining, was then trying to block Corey LaJoie through the frontstretch as a pyramid of competitors racing him were fanning out to multiple lanes. With both Busch and LaJoie making contact during the process, LaJoie would then veer right, clip and send Busch for a spin towards the bottom of the track entering Turn 1. Busch’s car then came spinning back across the track, where he would tag Ryan Preece into Harrison Burton and collide sideways into Ricky Stenhouse Jr., which crumbled the right side of Busch’s No. 8 zone/GetGo Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry. Despite trying to nurse his damaged car back to pit road, Busch then parked his car below the apron, removed the steering wheel and lowered his window net as he climbed out uninjured and had his car towed back to the garage.
The accident not only left Busch strapped with his fifth DNF of the 2024 season, but it also left the two-time Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, with his 10th result outside the top 20 through 21-scheduled starts and his sixth over the previous eight races. In addition, Busch, who remains winless this season and came into Pocono trailing the top-16 cutline by 98 points, now trails the cutline by 102 points with five regular-season events remaining on the schedule. Busch’s last Cup victory occurred at World Wide Technology Raceway in June 2023 as he attempts to extend his current-record streak of winning at least one race a season to 20 consecutive years. Busch is also attempting to make his 17th career appearance in the Playoffs, with his last Playoff absence occurring in 2012.
Photo by Kirk Schroll for SpeedwayMedia.com.
After being released from the infield care center, Busch minced his words and offered very little detail on his perspective over the incident with LaJoie, who finished 19th.
“I just want to give thanks to all of our partners, everybody at RCR, ECR, zone, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Lucas Oil, Chevrolet.. everybody that supports us. We’re having the opportunity to go out there and have some fun; try to continue to work on our program and build everything up. It’s just unfortunate circumstances. Thank you to Rowdy Nation, all the fans and everybody for their continued support. We’ll go back to work and get ready for Indianapolis.”
With Pocono Raceway in the rearview mirror, both Chastain and Busch shift their attention to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the return of the Brickyard 400 and to regain the lost ground spilled from the Tricky Triangle in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.
Busch enters the upcoming Brickyard 400 as a former winner of the event, with the Las Vegas native achieving back-to-back Brickyard 400 victories in 2015 and 2016. Since then, he has finished no higher than sixth over his last seven trips to Indianapolis as he attempts to become the fourth competitor to achieve at least three Brickyard 400 victories. Meanwhile, Chastain has yet to win at Indianapolis as he is scheduled to make his seventh start at the iconic venue this season. His current best result at Indy is 17th place, which occurred twice between 2020 and 2023. He nearly won at the Indianapolis road course venue in 2022 but used the off-track access road to move atop the leaderboard, where he would settle in second place behind Tyler Reddick before he was assessed a 30-second time penalty, which dropped him to 27th place in the final running order.
The bid to make the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for both Ross Chastain and Kyle Busch continues with the return of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 21, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
