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Author: Briar Starr

  • NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series Preview – Kansas

    NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series Preview – Kansas

    For the first time this season, the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series will take on Kansas Speedway in a doubleheader. It’s also the first time in event history that Kansas Speedway will hold two back-to-back Truck Series races.

    Originally, this event was slated to take place back in May on the planned schedule but COVID-19 forced series officials to change the date. Kansas gets two Truck Series races, as the races at Chicagoland Speedway, this year were canceled due to rising COVID cases. Therefore, one of the races will make up the Chicago race while the other will serve as the May event. It’s certainly strange times, but that just means more Truck Series racing.

    Just 38 Trucks will take the field when the green flag flies on Friday and Saturday night. For Friday night’s event, Christian Eckes drew the pole via random draw based on the top 12 in owner points. When Saturday’s event gets underway, the top 15 will be inverted based on Friday’s finish.

    The starting lineup for Friday’s event can be found here.

    Keeping that in mind, we’ll highlight five drivers who just might end up in victory lane both days.

    1. Brett Moffitt – This season has been an uncharacteristic one for the 2018 Truck Series champion. Only two top fives and four top 10 finishes out of eight races. Though, Kansas could be a place he could get a strong run for his No. 24 GMS Racing team. In his first outing last year with GMS, the Iowa native started fourth, but disappointingly finished eighth after leading eight laps. Despite that, Moffitt placed second in both stages. Not only did Moffitt get stage points last year, but he’s been able to finish inside the top 10 for stages since 2017 at Kansas, even with the now defunct Red Horse Racing team.
    2. Grant Enfinger – The Alabama native only has three starts dating back to 2017, but has had respectable finishes of 11th, 8th and 7th. An argument could be made that those finishes have been disappointing, as in two out of those three races he led laps and grabbed top-10 stage finishes. In addition, Enfinger has led a combined 61 laps including last year, where he led 47 out of the 167 laps. While he’s still trying to find victory lane, you can count on Enfinger getting solid stage points. Since 2017, the ThorSport driver has managed to finish inside the top 10 in all stages, which is really impressive. Enfinger and the No. 98 team seems to be a solid value pick for Friday or Saturday.
    3. Brandon Jones – The Pocono winner is back in the field this week replacing Team Owner Kyle Busch in the famed No. 51 Toyota Tundra. Jones has three starts in the Truck Series at Kansas Speedway with a best finish of fifth in last year’s outing, which also came in the Kyle Busch Motorsports Tundra. Jones himself also has had some success at the 1.5-mile speedway. He found himself in victory lane last October for his first Xfinity Series win as well. Even though Jones has seen success in the Truck Series, Kyle Busch Motorsports has been impressive over the last few years. In 2017, team owner Busch swept the stages and won the outing, while in 2018, now Xfinity Series driver Noah Gragson, got to victory lane after sweeping both stages in that event. Last year, KBM’s sweep of winning stages was broken but the team still finished in the top 10 in the running order. After a rough stretch of races for Jones in the Xfinity Series, he could use some momentum and a victory could help him in that regard.
    4. Stewart Friesen – Redemption for Friesen? Kansas has been hit or miss for the No. 52 Halmar Racing team. The Canadian has three starts, scoring a best finish of third in the 2018 race after leading six laps. Last year, he led a race-high 87 laps and won both of the stages, before falling short with the late-race restart and settling for a disappointing 15th place, one lap down. So far in 2020, Friesen has not been as hot, with only one top-five and four top 10 finishes. Last year when the season ended, he wound up with two wins, 12 top fives, and 16 top 10 finishes along with one pole. Friesen currently sits outside the Playoffs in the 13th position. If the Halmar team has any hope of making the Playoffs, then they really need to get going and capitalize on the doubleheader.
    5. Christian Eckes – Eckes has been strong as of late and even lit the world up in last weekend’s outing at Texas Motor Speedway. He came home in the second-place position in the running order, although it was somewhat disappointing after the New York native led 52 laps. However, Eckes can look at the bright side of that finish since the No. 18 team will be starting on the pole based on the random draw. While he’ll be making his first Truck Series start, Eckes does have experience at the 1.5-mile speedway by competing in the ARCA Menards Series finale last October, the site of his race-winning championship. Even though ARCA cars are drastically different than Truck Series vehicles, the No. 18 team seems to be gaining momentum as of late. In addition, he’ll have a good chance of doing so as Eckes will be piloting chassis “KBM-038.” The chassis has been victorious for the KBM team by collecting six victories including a race-winning victory by Noah Gragson in 2018 at Kansas.

    Kansas Speedway has hosted 19 Truck Series events dating back to 2001. The late Ricky Hendrick was the first winner of this event back in 2001 after he started second and led 32 laps.

    Over time, there has been a slew of different winners. They include Mike Bliss, Jon Wood, Carl Edwards, Todd Bodine, Terry Cook, Erik Darnell, Ron Hornaday Jr, Mike Skinner, Johnny Sauter, Clint Bowyer, James Buescher, Matt Crafton, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Noah Gragson, and Ross Chastain.

    Busch, Gragson and Friesen have all won stages since 2017 when stages were implemented.

    Busch and Crafton are the only race winners with multiple victories. Busch will not be competing this weekend, as the KBM Team Owner completed his five-race schedule for 2020. This leaves last year’s Truck Series champion Matt Crafton, the only two-time Kansas winner in the field.

    With that in mind, track position will be important here as no one who has started outside the top 10 has won the race. In fact, the lowest a race winner has ever started was 10th (three times, 2005, 2007, 2017). The race has been won from the pole three times, in 2008, 2014, and 2018.

    In regards to manufacturers, Chevrolet got their first victory in 2001 with Ricky Hendrick. Ford grabbed the victory in 2003 with Jon Wood and Toyota in 2005 with Todd Bodine. Overall, Toyota has the most victories with eight, Chevrolet seven and Ford with four.

    The most ever lead changes were 22 which took place in last year’s outing. The least amount of lead changes saw was seven, in 2005 and 2009.

    Stages 30/30/74 will make up the 134-lap distance in both Friday and Saturday events.

    Both Truck Series events can be found live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. The green flag for Friday’s event is 7:15 p.m. ET with Saturday’s race slated for 1:45 p.m. ET.

    Since the time of this writing, it has been announced Travis Pastrana would make his NASCAR return, piloting the No. 40 Niece Motorsports machine replacing Ross Chastain by doing so. In addition, Reaume Brothers Racing has added Ryan Huff to the entry list for the Saturday afternoon event.

  • NASCAR Xfinity Series Power Rankings-Texas

    NASCAR Xfinity Series Power Rankings-Texas

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series came to Texas Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon for the 16th race of the season.

    The all-time wins list leader Kyle Busch was back in the field and as expected, he originally won the My Bariatric Solutions 300. Unfortunately, he failed post-race tech inspection due to the ride height rule and had his win taken away. Instead, the win was given to the second-place finisher Austin Cindric, who picked up his third consecutive win of the year. Even though Cindric was given the win, the victory shouldn’t come as a surprise to race fans as he led 44 laps in pursuit of victory.

    While Cindric continued to enjoy some late-season momentum, Noah Gragson had his work cut out for him after he made contact with competitor Riley Herbst. The contact sent Herbst out of the race and he was credited with a 36th place position. Gragson would continue on for a few more laps, but coming out of the care center, Herbst noted ‘he (Gragson) has one coming to him.’ When the Playoffs start, Gragson will have to work harder to make it to the Championship 4 since previous drivers he has had run-ins with could make it that much more difficult on him. Gragson’s day would eventually come to end early on Lap 118 when he crashed in Turn 3.

    Despite Gragson’s misfortune, we’ll take a look at drivers in this week’s Power Rankings and analyze if any of them capitalized on the race.

    1. Austin Cindric – Another week, another win, for Cindric who became the eventual race winner. The Team Penske driver has been on fire as of late after securing his first oval wins at Kentucky Speedway the week before. In Saturday’s event, Cindric led 44 laps and finished third in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2. After the running, Cindric picked up 57 points overall, which could come in handy when the chase for the championship rolls around.

      Previous Week Ranking – First
    2. Chase Briscoe – Briscoe scored a second-place finish after 300 miles. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver finished fourth in Stage 1 and fifth in Stage 2. He did manage to lead 15 laps before having to pit during a green flag pit cycle and gave up track position. But Briscoe caught a lucky break with a late-race caution and had another opportunity to earn a better finish. Ultimately, the top-five finish was Briscoe’s 10th of the year.

      Previous Week Ranking – Second
    3. Justin Allgaier – Allgaier stays in the third spot again this week after bringing the No. 7 JR Motorsports machine to a third-place finish. The Illinois native led 98 laps (a race high) and won both of the stages. While Allgaier couldn’t get the win, Saturday’s outing is an example of what will get you through to the Playoffs, being up front, leading laps and winning the stages. It was a great points day for Allgaier.

      Previous Week Ranking – Third
    4. Harrison Burton – Burton shined a couple of times before settling in the fourth position. The finish was much needed after Kentucky the week prior to Texas. Burton led 17 laps and earned stage finishes of fifth and sixth, respectively. By placing in the top five, Burton grabbed his eighth top-five of the year. He currently sits seventh in the championship points standings.

      Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
    5. Noah Gragson – Before Gragson’s day got cut short, he did have a respectable run and finished sixth in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2. Though Gragson is not making too many friends out on the track, as it appears he’s having a run in with someone every week. If Gragson can focus on the Playoffs and winning the championship without the contact on track, he could be a threat for the championship. But drivers like Myatt Snider, Riley Herbst, or Harrison Burton could make that tough on him as the season wears on.

      Previous Week Ranking – Third

    Fell Out

    1. Anthony Alfredo – He had a 27th place outing after hitting the wall and bringing out the seventh caution of the day. Before that point, Alfredo was running solidly in the top 10 and even finished ninth in Stage 1 and 10th in Stage 2. It seemed as though the Richard Childress Racing driver would have another strong finish. But Alfredo will have to wait another week to rebound for a good finish.

      Previous Week Ranking – Fifth
  • NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings-Texas I

    NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings-Texas I

    The NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series roared into a blazing hot Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night for Round No. 8 of the 2020 Truck Series season.

    In what was to be expected, Kyle Busch came in and picked up another win in his final Truck Series start of the season. Busch continues to be impressive at Texas and now has three consecutive Truck wins. Though Busch had to work hard for his 59th career series win as rookies Christian Eckes and Zane Smith had the lead and kept Busch behind them a couple of times (more on that later). But, despite Busch outrunning the rookies, series regulars like Matt Crafton had a good night as well as Brett Moffitt and Stewart Friesen, among others, who also had a great showing.

    With that said, let’s take a look at this week’s Power Rankings following the Vankor 350 at Texas Motor Speedway.

    1. Christian Eckes – Eckes shined under the lights Saturday night when he led the second race-high of 52 laps before coming in the runner up position, just .777 seconds behind his team owner Kyle Busch. He never did get to win a stage but stage finishes of sixth helped the Kyle Busch Motorsports driver gain some much needed points as the Playoffs are starting to lurk in the background. Even with a 10 lap dash to the finish, Eckes gave Busch a run for his money and kept within distance for the potential race win. However, the New York native will have to wait until Friday night at Kansas to have another chance to battle for the win, and this time, Eckes won’t have to battle his team owner for the victory. Despite all of that, the finish was a momentum booster for Eckes and the No. 18 KBM team with Eckes earning his second top-five finish of the season.

      Previous Week Ranking – Not ranked
    2. Matt Crafton – It was a decent night for Crafton and his Menards No. 88 Ford F-150 team who came home in the third position. The season hasn’t been the best of seasons for Crafton, the defending champion of the series. But, there was some confidence to be found Saturday night when the Californian driver tied his best finish of the season again. Crafton got an eighth-place finish in Stage 1 and a second-place position in Stage 2. If Crafton and the team can capitalize on this momentum and continue to earn these kinds of finishes, you can guarantee that he will be a threat again for the Playoffs. While top-five finishes are nice, Crafton hasn’t been consistent and wins are what gets it done (winning the championship) nowadays. Saturday’s top-five finish was Crafton’s 119th top-five finish of his Truck Series career.

      Previous Week Ranking – Fourth
    3. Zane Smith – Like Eckes, rookie Zane Smith also performed very well before a tire issue ended his chances prematurely and he wound up finishing in the 19th position, three laps down. Until that mishap, Smith took the lead early on at Lap 13 and led for 22 laps, battling with Kyle Busch for the top spot. The Huntington Beach, California driver would lead one more time for four laps, which took place from Laps 84-87. If not for the tire issues, we would have seen Smith up front on the final restart, potentially battling for the race win. In the stages, he placed second and fifth, respectively.

      Previous Week Ranking – Fifth
    4. Brett Moffitt- It was a quiet, but good outing at Texas for Moffitt and the No. 23 GMS Racing driver Saturday night. The Iowan finished top five in the fifth position. Moffitt managed to win the second stage when he took advantage of pit strategy and stayed out under a late caution in the stage. Ultimately, he settled for his second top-five finish of the year as well.

      Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
    5. Ben Rhodes – It was a somewhat disappointing finish for the Kentucky native, after being solid throughout the Vankor 350. Rhodes placed fourth in both stages before ending up ninth in the running order. The finish probably would have been higher had Rhodes not had a small dust-up with competitor Todd Gilliland. Rhodes has not won in two years. A win in the No. 99 ThorSport camp would be a morale booster for this team and their hopes of making it into the Playoffs.

      Previous Week Ranking – Third

    Fell Out

    1. Austin Hill – Engine woes ended the No. 16 team’s streak of finishing inside the top 10 throughout the first seven races of the year. It was a forgettable night for Hill.

      Previous Week Ranking – Second

  • Four Takeaways from the Vankor 350 at Texas Motor Speedway

    Four Takeaways from the Vankor 350 at Texas Motor Speedway

    With the Truck Series competing at Texas Motor Speedway this past weekend, many teams hoped to bring home a good finish as they try to lock themselves into the Playoffs. However, bad news came when the checkered flag flew at the end of the 350 miles and the all-time wins leader in the Truck Series, Kyle Busch, grabbed the win for the third time this season. With Busch winning, the victory meant another race where a series regular would not be locked in and will have to continue to earn points in order to be a lock for the Playoffs.

    There is some good news for the regular Truck Series teams, as Saturday’s race was Busch’s last race of the Truck Series season, with him now turning to his Cup Series efforts and looking for a third championship in that series. With Busch exiting the series for the rest of the year, this should allow for some other drivers to get some wins on the board and pick up those much needed points.

    While Busch being the talk of the night after winning the race, we take a look at what storylines might have been missed following the Vankor 350.

    1. Justin Haley Makes Rare Appearance – It’s been well over two years since Haley made a Truck Series start. The last time he made a start was at Homestead in 2018, the last full season Haley had in the series. Since then, the Indiana native has been focusing on the Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing. On Saturday, Haley was reunited with former team boss Maury Gallagher and brought home the No. 24 in a respectable seventh-place finish. Before finishing in that position, Haley also earned a ninth-place position in Stage 1. It is unknown if Haley will make any more Truck Series starts this season.
    2. Austin Wayne Self Brings Home Best Finish of The Season – The 2020 season hasn’t been too kind to Wayne Self and the No. 22 AM Racing team. Last season, Wayne Self had one top-five and thee top 10 finishes. This season he has no finishes inside the top 10 but he did bring the truck home to a 14th place finish. The Texan hopes the finish will help bring more confidence to the team.
    3. Akinori Ogata Returns – For the first time in over two years, Japanese driver Akinori Ogata came back to the Truck Series to compete with Reaume Brothers Racing in the No. 33 machine. The last Truck Series race for Ogata came at Atlanta, where he started 23rd but finished 30th due to a crash. Meanwhile, Saturday at Texas, he started 25th and ended up 25th, 12 laps down. It was a disappointing return for Ogata and company.
    4. Clay Greenfield and Timmy Hill Earn Best Finishes of the Season – While Ogata didn’t have the outcome he had hoped for, team owners Clay Greenfield and Timmy Hill saw their best finishes of the year. Hill made his fourth Truck Series start and finished 18th with his own Hill Motorsports crew, and Clay Greenfield saw his best run after winding up in the 20th position.
  • Kyle Busch dominant in Texas Truck win

    Kyle Busch dominant in Texas Truck win

    In his final Truck Series event of the 2020 season, Kyle Busch Motorsports Team Owner Kyle Busch, scored the win for the fifth time at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday night on what was a hot and blistering day in Fort Worth, Texas.

    “Our guys are really good with what they do,” Busch said about his recent Texas dominance in the Truck Series. “They’ve done a great job of putting some fast (Toyota) Tundras underneath me. Real proud of the effort tonight with (Danny) Stockman Jr. (crew chief). Him and I, we almost went five for five this year, I think if we didn’t have the part failure at Charlotte and speeding issues at Atlanta. We probably could have done that.”

    “It was nice to have another crew chief in the house. I haven’t worked with (Mike) Hillman Jr. (crew chief for Raphael Lessard) yet. However, it was nice to have a different crew chief, where I feel like we could go out there and be competitive, week in and week out. The 18 (Christian Eckes) and 51 ran together and fast, so that was really cool for me. Now, me turning over the 51 to Chandler (Smith) and some other guys, to cap off the rest of the year, it’s going to be exciting for me to see where their growth is at and our program is at. That’s good news for this truck, but bad news for them, they’ve got no excuses.

    Stages 40-40-87 made up the 167-lapper at Texas Motor Speedway. Last week’s winner at Kentucky, Sheldon Creed, drew the pole via random draw based on the top 12 in points.

    Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 40

    The first stage went caution-free, but the stage did have its moments. In the early going, Spencer Davis in his own No. 11 machine, experienced a left front tire rub. Shortly after, Creed experienced similar issues when he had a tire go down on his truck, forcing him to come down pit road and give up valuable track position.

    Meanwhile, there were short-lived battles on the track for the lead. Rookie Zane Smith and Kyle Busch traded the top spot three times before Busch managed to check out on Lap 35. The Las Vegas native then held on to take home the stage win with Smith, Tyler Ankrum, Ben Rhodes, Brett Moffitt, Christian Eckes, Todd Gilliland, Matt Crafton, Justin Haley, and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top 10 in the first stage. Even though Crafton ended up in the top 10 for the stage, he pitted under the stage break as the team replaced a battery that was having issues.

    Stage 2: Lap 45 – Lap 80

    As the green flag flew for the second stage, there were 16 laps of green flag runs before the yellow flew again on Lap 63. Another problem ensued in the ThorSport camp and this time, it was Johnny Sauter who leaked fluid onto the track after blowing up.

    When the restart came with nine to go in Stage 2, Christian Eckes shined and had his battle with Busch for the lead. Eckes was able to lead five laps in his first stint out front, but the second caution flew on Lap 74 for Jordan Anderson in the No. 3 as he would crash off Turn 4. Under the yellow, there were a couple of race leaders that pitted for adjustments, which included Busch, Eckes, among a few others. However, Eckes did not take any tires whereas Busch did.

    A short seven-lap run was seen, until a caution for Tate Fogleman and Derek Kraus on the backstretch ended the stage prematurely. Brett Moffitt played strategy by staying out and won the stage. Crafton, Ankrum, Rhodes, Smith, Eckes, Kraus, Ryan Truex, Chastain, and Enfinger were the top 10 finishers. Busch would wind up 12th in the stage.

    Stage 3: Lap 87 – Lap 167

    When the final stage got underway, a fun battle between Zane Smith, Christian Eckes, and Busch was seen. As Smith and Eckes battled each other, this allowed Busch to close in. With around 63 to go, Smith had a big wiggle off Turn 4 and nearly lost it. In doing so, Busch moved to second after passing Smith in the midst of things. Unfortunately, as the laps started to wind down, Smith had a flat right rear go down and had to make a pit stop, which ultimately ruined his chances for a good finish.

    Despite Smith’s misfortune, the final round of green-flag pit stops took place right around 40 to go. Most notably, Busch would pit with 37 to go, and almost gave the win away on his stop. As the Las Vegas native made his scheduled pit stop, he almost turned into the wrong pit stall and nearly pitted in Eckes (Busch’s teammate) stall. Fortunately for Busch, he realized it at the last second and saved his day by finding the right box to pit in.

    Once stops were completed, Busch cycled out in the lead and began to check out over the leaders. The final yellow of the night flew with 15 to go when Todd Gilliland in the No. 38 got turned by Ben Rhodes in the No. 99 on the backstretch after Gilliland skid up the track and came back down.

    The caution would set up a 10 lap dash to the finish and for a few short laps, a six Truck battle for the win was seen. Eckes gave Busch a good run for his money, but Busch fended off the New York native and grabbed the checkered flag for the third time this season and for the third consecutive time in the Truck Series at Texas Motor Speedway.

    When asked about Busch’s miscue on pit road, his crew chief, Danny Stockman Jr., thought it was funny.

    “Yeah, that was funny,” Stockman Jr said. “I actually thought he (Kyle Busch) was messing with them (Christian Eckes pit crew), but I haven’t talked to him about it, who knows. He drives the 18 (in the Cup Series) and he probably thought, he was going to the 18. He caught himself and eventually drove in the 51 box, so that was pretty funny.”

    There were five cautions for 26 laps and 15 lead changes among seven leaders. Busch led five times for 72 laps en route to victory.

    Official Results

    1. Kyle Busch, won Stage 1, led 72 laps
    2. Christian Eckes, led 52 laps
    3. Matt Crafton, led two laps
    4. Stewart Friesen
    5. Brett Moffitt, won Stage 2, led seven laps
    6. Tyler Ankrum
    7. Justin Haley
    8. Grant Enfinger
    9. Ben Rhodes, led one lap
    10. Ross Chastain, 1 lap down
    11. Derek Kraus, 1 lap down
    12. Raphael Lessard, 1 lap down
    13. Ryan Truex, 1 laps down
    14. Austin Wayne Self, 2 laps down
    15. Ty Majeski, 3 laps down
    16. Sheldon Creed, 3 laps down, led seven laps
    17. Cory Roper, 3 laps down
    18. Timmy Hill, 3 laps down
    19. Zane Smith, 3 laps down, led 26 laps
    20. Clay Greenfield, 4 laps down
    21. Spencer Davis, 5 laps down
    22. Codie Rohrbaugh, 6 laps down
    23. Angela Ruch, 7 laps down
    24. Spencer Boyd, 11 laps down
    25. Akinori Ogata, 12 laps down
    26. Tim Viens, 13 laps down
    27. Todd Gilliland, OUT, Crash
    28. Jordan Anderson, 15 laps down
    29. Jennifer Jo Cobb, OUT, Electrical
    30. Austin Hill, OUT, Engine
    31. Brennan Poole, OUT, Crash
    32. Tate Fogleman, OUT, Crash
    33. Johnny Sauter, OUT, Engine
    34. Norm Benning, OUT, Handling
    35. Natalie Decker, OUT, Engine
    36. Tanner Gray, OUT, Transmission

    Up Next: The NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series head to the Midwest at Kansas Speedway for a doubleheader on Friday and Saturday, July 24 and July 25.

  • Simon Pagenaud snaps year-long winless streak at Iowa

    Simon Pagenaud snaps year-long winless streak at Iowa

    Using strategy, Simon Pagenaud ended a year-long drought Friday night at Iowa Speedway to earn his first-ever track win at Iowa Speedway.

    “Wow, this place is tough!,” Pagenaud said after coming from 23rd to first. “What a night! What a day for us. First of all, it was an amazing group effort from the whole Team Penske to recover from Road America. I made a mistake. We unloaded really well. This morning was a lot of fun. Qualifying was disheartening, but these guys never give up and that’s what this team is all about. It’s amazing to get the Menards car to be shining here in Iowa is awesome. So, I’m really proud for John and everybody at Menards and Chevy. Obviously, we had the horsepower and the fuel conception, but most importantly, I can’t believe it. I have to re-watch the race. How did I get there? I don’t know. The last 50 laps were certainly a lot of tension, a lot of tension. When (Scott) Dixon is chasing you, you’d better hit your marks.”

    The Frenchman started dead last in 23rd position, as Pagenaud was unable to post a qualifying lap earlier Friday afternoon due to not getting the car off the pit lane, as the team reported it was a fuel pressure issue.

    When the green flag flew, Conor Daly led the first 14 laps of the event from the pole, but Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden took the lead and checked out by four seconds over Daly. Green flag pit stops were already underway at Lap 45 when Takuma Sato and Zach Veach became the first drivers on pit road.

    About 10 laps later, Newgarden remained the leader, but Pagenaud ended up on pit road on Lap 58 for four tires and fuel. Meanwhile, Newgarden stretched his strategy and didn’t pit until Lap 70. With pit stops cycling out, Sato grabbed the lead at Lap 77. When green flag pit stops were complete, Sato had the lead over Will Power by two seconds.

    After being out front for several laps, Sato had to give up the lead on Lap 127 for a pit stop, which allowed Newgarden to get the lead and his teammate, Pagenaud, followed in second, 1.7 seconds back. Though Newgarden pitted again a few moments later and Pagenaud saw his first lead of the night on Lap 140.

    However, the first caution of the night flew when Power had a scary moment on the frontstretch as he slightly brushed the wall but his left front tire was not safely secured and fell off the car. Unfortunately, the incident would end Power’s night early and he would be credited with a 21st place finish.

    During the caution, race leaders made their pit stops, which included eventual race winner, Simon Pagenaud.

    Another wild moment came prior to the restart with 94 to go. IndyCar officials waved off the restart, which did cause some confusion. Two drivers, Colton Herta and rookie Rinus VeeKay had a major accident on the frontstretch again. Herta was unaware of the restart being waved off and went right over the top of VeeKay’s car, crashing into the SAFER barrier. Thankfully, both drivers would end up being okay.

    After a couple of yellows, rookie Pato O’ Ward held the lead over Pagenaud. Pagenaud was a man on a mission. Eventually, the Team Penske driver made his move with 72 to go to take the top spot.

    The rest of the Iowa 250 would go caution-free, but as the case was throughout the first half of the race, pit strategy would play a factor in determining the victor. As many others made their final stop of the night, Pagenaud tried to stretch his lead and save gas at the same time. With laps winding down, Pagenaud had to fend off an already three-time IndyCar winner this year, Scott Dixon.

    Dixon looked on the inside of Pagenaud’s No. 22 Menards Chevrolet with around 18 to go. He got side-by-side with him, but could never make the pass and slid up the track. By making the move a little too early, this ultimately hurt Dixon’s chances as he fell back and had to regroup again. Pagenaud did end up running into lap traffic, which allowed Dixon to close in. However, it was too little, too late for the New Zealander as Pagenaud scored his first victory of the 2020 IndyCar season and his first at Iowa Speedway.

    When asked if he could have a repeat performance on Saturday night, Pagenaud says he thinks there’s a chance.

    “I do, I do. I never give up,” the Team Penske driver said. “If I’ve got to do it again, I’ll do it again. This was certainly a pretty cool win on an oval. Indy will always be the top, but this one was pretty cool, too.”

    In addition to Pagenaud’s victory, he became the seventh driver to accomplish the feat after starting 23rd or worse. The last to do so was Helio Castroneves in 2008 at Chicagoland Speedway.

    Friday night’s victory was Pagenaud’s 15th of his NTT IndyCar Series career.

    With the victory, Pagenaud moves into second in the championship points standings, 50 points behind leader Scott Dixon.

    There were seven cautions for 26 laps and six leaders among eight lead changes.

    Two penalties were seen. One was for the No. 15 of Graham Rahal, who received a pit safety infraction, and the other was for Conor Daly who also received a pit safety infraction. The consequence of those will be a post-race fine.

    Official Results following the IndyCar Iowa 250 at Iowa Speedway

    1. Simon Pagenaud, led 83 laps
    2. Scott Dixon
    3. Oliver Askew
    4. Pato O’ Ward, led 30 laps
    5. Josef Newagarden, led 68 laps
    6. Alexander Rossi
    7. Jack Harvey
    8. Conor Daly, led 13 laps
    9. Marcus Ericsson
    10. Takuma Sato, led 49 laps, 1 lap down
    11. Alex Palou, 1 lap down
    12. Graham Rahal, 2 laps down
    13. Santino Ferrucci, 3 laps down
    14. Felix Rosenqvist, led seven laps, 3 laps down
    15. Ed Carpenter, 3 laps down
    16. Ryan Hunter-Reay, 3 laps down
    17. Charlie Kimball, 5 laps down
    18. Tony Kanaan, OUT, In Pits
    19. Colton Herta, OUT, Contact
    20. Rinus VeeKay, OUT, Contact
    21. Will Power, OUT, Contact
    22. Marco Andretti, OUT, Mechanical
    23. Zach Veach, OUT, Mechanical

    Up Next: The NTT IndyCar Series will remain at Iowa Speedway for race No. 2 Saturday night July 18 live on NBCSN. Telecast begins at 8:30 p.m./ET.

  • NHRA postpones two more events

    NHRA postpones two more events

    NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) announced Friday morning, the organization will be postponing the events at Bandimere Speedway, home of the Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals that was slated for Aug 7-9 and the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway originally scheduled for Aug 14-16 will now be taking place at a later date due to COVID-19 pandemic issues.

    Instead, series officials announced a new NHRA Indy Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway, scheduled to take place Aug 6-9. There will be qualifying for the event, which will take place on Fox Sports 1 with final round eliminations on FOX network. In addition, limited spectators will be allowed to watch the weekend events.

    Despite the disappointing news, Kristi Copham owner of Brainerd International Raceway, notes they will try to find a way to have an NHRA event later in the year.

    “We are disappointed that we have to postpone our event,” said Kristi Copham, owner of Brainerd International Raceway, “but we hope that, by working closely with state and local authorities and NHRA, we can find a way to put on a Nationals race later this season, especially for our fans, who deserve to enjoy a great weekend of NHRA drag racing. We appreciate everyone’s patience – our fans, vendors, staff, and race teams — as we try to work through the issues that would allow us to hold the event, and we’re continuing to work hard on it every day.”

    While these two events have been postponed, NHRA says the remainder of the 2020 schedule intends to stay the same, but the schedule can be subject to change.

    “NHRA has worked to create protocols for a responsible restart of the sport,” said Glen Cromwell, NHRA president. “We saw those protocols work at the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals last weekend. We appreciate the support of the state of Indiana, our drivers, teams, staff, and fans, as we all work together moving forward.”

  • NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series Preview – Texas

    NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series Preview – Texas

    In what seemed highly unlikely this event would take place due to early cancellations this year for COVID, the Truck Series will get to race at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend after series officials found a way to reschedule to the event.

    Flashing back to last week, the Truck Series race at Kentucky only completed two stages, before it got cut short due to Mother Nature. Despite that, race fans saw a first-time winner GMS Racing driver Sheldon Creed. It wasn’t the way most drivers want to end up winning, but a win is a win and the victory was the first of his career in 37 starts. Though, Creed will look to earn that victory the hard way and be able to celebrate with a burnout on the track.

    However, Creed will have to hold off 35 other drivers in order to get his second win of the season.

    Here are five potential drivers who could end up winning Saturday’s Vankor 250 at Texas.

    1. Kyle Busch- “The boys are back in town.” Yep, you heard that right. The All-time wins list leader is back this weekend in his own No. 51 Toyota Tundra. This season, Busch has only managed two wins out of his four starts, but if you look at the stats and races, he probably would have had four wins to his name. The Las Vegas native has a pretty good chance to add a third to win column Saturday. Busch has made 13 starts and achieved four wins, including winning last year’s race after leading 97 of the scheduled 147 laps. His other three wins came in 2013, 2010, and 2009. However, Texas can be a tricky track for Busch, as he has four DNF’s with two of those due to engine woes. But, if the No. 51 team can have a flawless race, Busch should be back in victory lane. Even so, it’s hard to bet against him.
    2. Grant Enfinger- While Enfinger doesn’t have any wins at Texas yet, he’s been close over the last few years. His best finish was third in his first outing in 2017, but really shined in last year’s event. Enfinger led 44 laps after qualifying third. The ThorSport driver also has earned a pole position in the March race as well. Overall, the Alabaman has seen four top fives and five top 10 finishes, earning him a 5.7 average finish. In addition, Enfinger has had some solid stage finishes to his credit. The team is on a three-race winless streak, but it would not be surprising if Enfinger pilots the No. 98 Ford to victory lane.
    3. Johnny Sauter- If Enfinger doesn’t win, it may very well could be his teammate Johnny Sauter. Even though his past three finishes haven’t been too kind for Sauter, he’s seen great success in 23 starts at the 1.5 mile speedway. The Wisconsin native has five wins including two consecutive victories from 2017 to 2018. In the reunited 2019 season, Sauter finished third after starting seventh and led seven laps. Not only has Sauter won two consecutive races at Texas, but the ThorSport driver also accomplished that feat twice by sweeping the two races in 2012. And with the statistics, he’s completed 99.9 percent of the laps and impressively, has no DNF’s. Sauter even won Stage 1 in the June event and Stage 1 in the 2017 June event.
    4. Tyler Ankrum- Kentucky was pretty much a forgettable race for Ankrum and the No. 26 GMS team, after trying to play pit strategy and getting caught by the weather. This weekend, Ankrum has a good chance to potentially finish inside the top 10 or five, if the opportunity presents itself. He only has two starts, but both of those finishes were sixth and third, respectively. As for the stages, in the March event, Ankrum finished seventh and 10th, while in the June event, the GMS Racing driver led nine laps en route to a top-five finish.
    5. Sheldon Creed- It may be pretty obvious picking last week’s winner, but a win can do everything in this sport. The victory can help a driver by giving him momentum or help continue his moment, and the win last week could come at a good time for Creed with the playoffs lurking in the background. At Texas, Creed only has three starts with the best finish of third in his most recent outing and led five laps. Also in last year’s event, Creed placed eighth and 10th in both stages. The Californian did manage to have a runner up finish in the first stage in the 2018 November event.

    Qualifying can be kind of tricky as well, but in the majority of the races, most event winners have come from the pole position. In fact, just five drivers only have won from the pole position, with former Truck Series driver Todd Bodine last accomplishing the feat in 2007. The lowest a race winner started was 21st set by Cup Series rookie Christopher Bell in 2017.

    Toyota has 19 manufacturer wins with Todd Bodine getting their first victory in 2004. Chevrolet has 17 victories with Jay Sauter being the first driver to give Chevrolet the victory in 1999. No longer a manufacturer in NASCAR, Dodge has just five victories, as Dennis Setzer won their first race in the 1999 June outing, while Ford only has three total wins. Ford won the first race here back in June of 1997, with the help of the late Kenny Irwin Jr.

    As for stages, Christopher Bell, Noah Gragson, Stewart Friesen, Grant Enfinger, Justin Haley, Myatt Snider, Kyle Busch, and Ben Rhodes have all won stages since they were implemented in 2017.

    The rest of the entry list for the Vankor 250 can be found here.

    The Vankor 250 is scheduled to get underway shortly past 8 p.m./ET on Fox Sports 1. The race can also be heard on the Motor Racing Network.

  • Envision Virgin Racing Announces Nick Cassidy for Season Seven

    Envision Virgin Racing Announces Nick Cassidy for Season Seven

    Just 24 hours after Sam Bird’s exit of Envision Virgin Racing, the team has announced a replacement driver for season seven on Wednesday afternoon.

    Nick Cassidy, Envision Virgin’s rookie test driver, will join the team for the 2020/21 racing season. Cassidy will replace Bird in the Audi e-tron FE06 entry.

    “It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to be joining Formula E and Envision Virgin Racing from next season,” said Cassidy. “The team is one of the most successful on the grid, have a great set-up and facilities, and have continually impressed me since I joined them for the rookie test back in March. All drivers know the depth and quality of the field in Formula E is among the best in the world, so it is great to be adding my name to this roster.”

    Cassidy has had experience racing in Japan, but is now ready to make the leap to Formula E and test his driver ability.

    “Racing in Japan has been an amazing experience and I’m fortunate that I’ve been able to achieve so much in a short space of time, but I feel it’s now time for the next challenge in my career and I’m very much looking forward to doing that with Envision Virgin Racing and Formula E.”

    CIRCUIT INTERNATIONAL AUTOMOBILE MOULAY EL HASSAN MARRAKESH, MOROCCO – MARCH 01: Nick Cassidy (NZL), Rookie Test Driver for Envision Virgin Racing, Audi e-tron FE06 during the Rookie Test Marrakesh at Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan Marrakesh on March 01, 2020 in Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan Marrakesh, Morocco. (Photo by Andrew Ferraro / LAT Images)

    As Cassidy looks forward to what he can bring to the highly regarded successful team in Formula E, Managing Director Sylvain Filippi, says they believe in Cassidy’s ability and strive to stand out against a competitive field next year.

    “As a team, it is always important to look ahead to ensure our long-term success,” Filippi said. “In Nick we know we have a very ambitious, capable driver with raw talent, speed and race craft, as well as an impressive track record for his age. Moving to become a world championship next season, we know Formula E is going to be as competitive as ever, but from his short time with us we are confident – together with Robin Frijns – we have two drivers that can compete at the sharp end to win championships.”

    Cassidy will become just the third New Zealander to race in Formula E, as Mitch Evans and Brendon Hartley were the other two New Zealanders competing in Formula E. Cassidy also has some experience in the electric field of racing, when he drove in the rookie test prior to the Marrakesh e-Prix. And, while Bird currently races in the No. 2 machine, Cassidy hopes he can still bring the No. 37 when he races as that was his dad’s number and added three titles to the number.

  • Jaguar Racing Announces Sam Bird Addition

    Jaguar Racing Announces Sam Bird Addition

    Season seven of the FIA ABB Formula E Series will look different roster wise. Jaguar Racing announced Tuesday afternoon, Sam Bird will be joining the roster for the 2021 season. The announcement sees Bird leaving his current team Envision Virgin Racing, in which he has been a part of since the season one in 2014.

    Sylvain Filippi, the Managing Director at Envision Virgin Racing, says they have the utmost respect for Bird and that the British driver has been a joy to work for.

    “I know I speak for the entire team when I say Sam is one of the most likeable and decorated drivers in Formula E and, come mid-August, will leave us with the utmost respect and admiration,” Filippi said. “Being a founding member of this team like myself, I personally want to pay tribute to Sam for the excellent job he has done and for being a pleasure to work with over the years. Ever the professional, he remains just as committed and determined to end the season with Envision Virgin Racing on a high.”

    As Bird leaves the organization, Filippi notes they are continuing to work on their season seven roster.

    “Behind the scenes, we have been developing our season seven driver line-up and I’m excited to confirm that we will be revealing this in the coming days.”

    Meanwhile, James Barclay, Jaguar Racing’s Team Director, is excited about the addition of Bird to their roster.

    “On behalf of the entire Panasonic Jaguar Racing Formula E team and everyone at Jaguar we would like to welcome Sam to the family,” Barclay said. “Since the start of Formula E Sam has demonstrated that he is one of the very best drivers in the championship and we believe that together we will form a great partnership. With Mitch and Sam we believe that we have arguably one of the strongest driver line-ups on the grid. With extremely close competition it is clear that to be successful in Formula E you need two drivers who can be competing for podiums at every race. We now have two proven race winners that are capable of enabling us to challenge for both team and driver championship titles next season.”

    As Sam Bird gets set for his final few outings with the team at Berlin, when the season resumes next month, he looks forward to joining the team and being a new teammate for Mitch Evans.

    “I am really looking forward to a new chapter in my Formula E career with Panasonic Jaguar Racing,” Bird said. “I have watched Jaguar’s growth and progress in the series and am very proud to be driving for an iconic British brand with such a successful racing DNA and joining an incredible list of drivers that have raced for the brand. I am incredibly hungry for success and I believe that together with Mitch we can achieve great things for the team and ourselves. I want to thank Envision Virgin Racing for everything we have achieved together and wish them well for the future. After Berlin, I can’t wait to test the Jaguar I-TYPE and be in the best place possible for season seven and beyond.”

    The FIA ABB Formula E Series returns to action next month at the Tempelhof Airport circuit in Berlin, which will see three double headers. Those are scheduled for August 5 and 6, August 8 and 9, the final double header August 12 and 13.