Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Author: Briar Starr

  • Bird scores Round 1 win in Ad Diriyah ePrix race

    Bird scores Round 1 win in Ad Diriyah ePrix race

    Sam Bird and Envision Virgin Racing picked up the win in the first race for the Ad Diriyah ePrix in Formula E’s sixth season. Bird qualified second and led the final eight laps of the race to pick up the ninth victory of his ABB Formula E”s career.

    The Ad Diriyah ePrix wasn’t all that easy for Bird to get the victory. Alexander Sims and the BMW i Andretti Motorsports team qualified on the pole and led the first 22 laps, before the new Mercedes benz EQ entry of Stoffel Vandoorne took the lead and led for four laps until Bird took over the eight remaining laps.

    The ePrix saw new entries from Mercedes-Benz and Porsche for the first time ever. Mercedes-Benz is normally known for its presence in Formula 1 with Lewis Hamilton. Porsche fielded an entry for Andre Lootterer and Neel Jani. Both drivers finished second and 17th respectively in the ePrix.

    As the lights went out and the race went green, Sims quickly got out to a sizable lead. Though, the Attack Mode was activated and available for all 24 drivers. In addition, the drivers can pick up an additional 35kW power for the race.

    While the first part of the race was easy for Sims, it was not for the Nissan e. dams’ entry of Sebastien Buemi. Buemi ended up stopping on the track and was unable to get the car to refire. With the incident, the Switzerland native suffered his first retirement since Hong Kong of last year. Buemi ended up 24th in the final results.

    Another disaster struck in the Formula E season opener. Last years champion, Jean-Eric Vergne of DS Techeetah had to retire from the event with just 17 minutes remaining in the event. With the difficult first outing, Vergne saw himself with a 23rd place finish. Certainly not the first race the France native wanted.

    After those incidents, it looked as though the ePrix would go green for the time remaining. However, a Safety Car was deployed when there was three minutes left in the race. A quick restart came with one minute left giving the field one more chance to catch Bird, but the English driver held on to get the first victory of the season. Lotterer of TAG Heuer Porsche and Mercedes-Benz rounded out the podium in their first race.

    The Ad Diriyah ePrix saw four retirements from the event. Daniel Abt, Jean-Eric Vergne, Sebastain Buemi and Nico Muller all retired from the event.

    Formula E will close its first race weekend of the 2019-20 season on Saturday morning in the United States. Round 2 of the Ad Diriyah ePrix can be seen on Fox Sports 2 at 6:30 a.m./ET Saturday morning.

    Official Results

    1. Sam Bird, 26 points, led eight laps
    2. Andre Lotterer, 18 points
    3. Stoffel Vandoorne, 15 points, led four laps
    4. Oliver Rowland, 12 points
    5. Robin Frijns, 10 points
    6. Nyck de Vries, eight points
    7. Edoardo Mortara, six points
    8. Alexander Sims, led 22 laps, seven points
    9. Jerome D’ Ambrosio, two points
    10. Mitch Evans, two points
    11. Pascal Wehrlein
    12. Felipe Massa
    13. Lucas di Grassi
    14. Antonio Felix da Costa
    15. Oliver Turvey
    16. James Calado
    17. Neel Jani
    18. Max Gunther
    19. Brendon Hartley
    20. Ma Qinghua
    21. Daniel Abt- Retired
    22. Jean-Eric Vergne- Retired
    23. Sebastien Buem- Retired
    24. Nico Muller-Retired
  • Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Race at Homestead-Miami

    Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Race at Homestead-Miami

    Homestead-Miami Speedway saw its series finale Friday night for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. It is hard to believe the final race has come and gone just like that. In some ways, it feels like yesterday when the series opened up their season in Daytona with Austin Hill as the winner.

    Now fast-forwarding 22 races later, we have a three-time champion in the series and that’s Matt Crafton who finished second in Friday night’s race to become the second three-time champ in a tie with Jack Sprague. It’s pretty remarkable since Crafton is only one away from tying Ron Hornaday’s record with championships.

    Before we got there, we had to wait an additional 90 minutes due to weather in the area and track drying. There were some doubts about whether or not the race would even be run on Friday night, but somehow, someway, the championship race ran as advertised, just a couple of hours later.

    With that in mind, here are Four Takeaways from the Ford Ecoboost 200.

    1. Hill Wins in Southern Florida – Somewhat overshadowed in the championship celebration was Austin Hill sweeping the Florida races this season by winning the first race in Florida and the last race in Florida, something that is very unique and can be added to a driver’s resume. It’s what could have been though for the Georgia native had he won at Phoenix the week before and locked himself into the Championship 4 instead of Stewart Friesen or someone else. Had that happened, we could have been talking about a different champion by now. Though hindsight is 20/20 and we can only think about the future. That future is Hill will have another chance to chase for the title next season, as he returns to Hattori Racing in a bid to win his first ever NASCAR title.
    2. Driver Lineups for 2020 – In what was already a busy weekend for NASCAR and Homestead holding Championship 4 races, Thursday was media day for those drivers which also included driver announcements for the 2020 season. Kyle Busch Motorsports announced two new full-time drivers with Raphael Lessard and Christian Eckes joining the team to compete in the No. 4 and No. 18 Tundra. It is likely the No. 51 returns with a crop of all star drivers competing throughout the season. Chandler Smith is returning to compete on a part-time schedule before he turns 18 next summer. GMS Racing also added to the list of announcements as former DGR-Crosley driver and playoff contender Tyler Ankrum joins the team full-time along with Brett Moffitt and Sheldon Creed. Also recently announced this past week was part-time Xfinity Series driver Zane Smith going full-time next season as well. It’s going to be an interesting season to watch KBM vs GMS vs ThorSport Racing in the title chase with a crop of new talent.
    3. Todd Gilliland Has Interesting Night – While Gilliland had his last race with KBM for now, it was certainly a unique outcome for the KBM driver. When teams were cleaning the trucks and getting them ready to load up and go back to Charlotte, one of the KBM crew members found a dead fox from the grille after running over it on the track. Quite the way to end an entertaining season for Gilliland who doesn’t know his 2020 plans yet. Here’s hoping the talented star will find something for next year and have a better year than he did this year. Condolences to the fox that was gone too soon.
    4. Parker Kligerman Returns with Top-10 Finish – Parker Kligerman doesn’t compete in many Truck Series races, but when he does, you can normally expect him to have a decent finish. The 2019 season hasn’t been the best for Henderson Motorsports with finishes of 20th at Atlanta and 13th at Bristol, but they entered the season finale and wound up with a 10th place finish. It was their first top-10 finish since Charlotte of last year. Henderson Motorsports is the ultimate underdog team in the Truck Series and can perform when the opportunity is presented to them.
  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings- Homestead-Miami

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings- Homestead-Miami

    Homestead-Miami Speedway saw its last Truck Series championship race for at least a couple of years this past Friday night. The race was delayed by a couple of hours due to rain but it was well worth the wait. The checkered flag flew shortly after 11 p.m. ET and in the end, there was a race winner, a new series champion and an owners champion. Four drivers in the Championship 4 had all the media focused on them, but what about the other drivers that were also fighting for points? 

    Here are this week’s Power Rankings following the Ford Ecoboost 200. 

    1. Austin Hill – Hill opened the season in Florida with a win and closed the season in Florida with a win. The Hattori Racing driver no doubt had the best Truck out of anybody throughout the night, even against the Championship 4 drivers. Hill swept both the stages, led 56 of the 134 laps and earned his fourth win of the 2019 season. He took the lead with 22 to go and never looked back. Despite not making it to the Championship 4, the Georgia native will have another chance in 2020 as he returns for a second season at Hattori Racing Enterprises.

      Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
    2. Christian Eckes – Newly announced Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Christian Eckes had a solid run after signing a full-time contract for 2020. Previously, he had already made 11 starts over the past two years with a best finish of third in Las Vegas before Homestead. Coming into Homestead, he knew the pressure was on as he and the No. 51 team were racing for an Owner’s Championship. Qualifying was washed out, therefore, Eckes inherited a second-place starting spot due to owner’s points. The New York native finished fifth in Stage 1 before finishing third overall. The third-place finish was just enough to give KBM their seventh Owner’s Championship.

      Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
    3. Matt Crafton – Crafton got it done Friday night even though he didn’t win the race this past weekend. He most certainly didn’t have the fastest Truck early on, but later came to life on the long run. In the final stage, Crafton was the best out of the Championship 4 drivers and was at one point, leading the race. While it looked like the California native was going snap his two-year winless streak, he eventually got passed by Hill with 22 to go and ultimately had to think about the bigger picture. Crafton did so, finished second and locked up his third Truck Series championship.

      Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
    4. Ross Chastain – In the early run of the race Friday night, Chastain was the fastest among the Championship 4 racers. He almost took the Stage 1 win before getting passed by Hill. Even though the Niece driver was passed, Chastain remained up front and consistent through at least the second stage, where he finished third. However, it was the long run that eventually hurt his chances at his first NASCAR Series title. The Truck began to go away and there was nothing he could do about it. In the end, Chastain wound up with a disappointing fourth-place finish, second in the Truck Series standings. Certainly, not the night the Florida native wanted after having a strong year.

      Previous Week Ranking – Fourth
    5. Brett Moffitt – Like Chastain, Moffitt had the chance to defend his title and become the first-ever second consecutive Truck Series champion. But the Iowa native fell short, finishing fifth after a fourth-place starting spot. The GMS team fought conditions all night in the Truck. Moffitt couldn’t quite keep up with a green track and couldn’t defend his title. It was a disappointing night for the GMS driver but he will have another chance in 2020 to add another title to his name.

      Previous Week Ranking – First

      Fell Out

      1. Stewart Friesen – Friesen didn’t get the job done either despite being one of the favorites coming into the race. The Canadian inherited the pole when qualifying was canceled due to weather which somewhat helped Friesen’s chances of getting a championship. He finished third and fifth in both stages, respectively. After the second stage, the Halmar driver knew it was time to go and race for that championship. His Truck, though, didn’t know it was time to race. Like many others, Friesen struggled with the handling on the longer runs and couldn’t do much about it. Ultimately, he finished 11th, leading zero laps. He has no 2020 plans set for next season but if Friesen does return, you can expect the team to be even stronger than ever and fight for the title once more.

      Previous Week Ranking – Second

      2. Chandler Smith – Did not compete in Friday night’s race.

      Previous Week Ranking – Third

      3. Grant Enfinger – It was quite a night for Enfinger and the No. 98 ThorSport team as they finished seventh. The team finished ninth and sixth in both stages. Though, it’s probably what could have been for Enfinger and the team if they had been able to continue on in the Playoffs and race for a title.

    Previous Week Ranking – Fifth

  • Kyle Busch takes home second championship after winning season finale at Homestead

    Kyle Busch takes home second championship after winning season finale at Homestead

    In the past few years of the Championship 4 event, the drivers competing for the championship have needed to win the race. The Ford Ecoboost 400 certainly came down to that once again Sunday night in Southern Florida at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    Kyle Busch brought home his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship and the fifth title for Joe Gibbs Racing after taking the lead from Kevin Harvick with 45 to go. Busch held on to the lead and without a late-race caution, wound up winning his fifth race of the 2019 season.

    “We have a great race team, a great owner and the best sponsors in sports,” Busch said. “I just can’t say enough and thank everyone enough for this opportunity. I may be the one that’s able to hoist the trophy or to have a championship, but it wouldn’t be possible without Adam Stevens (crew chief) and Joe Gibbs, J.D. Gibbs, Coy Gibbs and the whole family. M&M’s of course and Interstate Batteries and Norm Miller. And, Toyota – this TRD engine was awesome tonight. It’s been awesome all year. We had one issue, but man it’s so much fun to work with these guys and this group. Everybody that puts it all together for me. There’s always your doubters. There’s always your haters, but you know what, this one is for Rowdy nation because you guys are the best. Thank you so much.“

    With practices being canceled due to weather on Friday, NASCAR elected to cancel qualifying and replace it with a practice session on Saturday afternoon. With that in mind, the starting grid was set by Owner Points, which saw Championship 4 driver Denny Hamlin inherit the pole. Kevin Harvick was second, Martin Truex Jr. started third and Kyle Busch fourth. Stages of 80/80/107 laps made up the 267-lap race at Homestead-Miami.

    Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 80

    The Ford Ecoboost 400 got off to a clean start with no issues. In fact, the whole stage went without a caution, however, there were some hairy moments. Championship 4 driver Kyle Busch reported that he potentially ran over something on Lap 28, but he carried on the rest of the stage without a problem. The first round of green-flag pit stops took place on Lap 36 with Busch and Harvick being the first to pit of the Championship 4. Hamlin and Truex followed one lap later. After the stops, Truex cycled back out to the lead on Lap 40.

    By cycling out to the lead, Truex led for the final 40 laps in the first stage and took the stage win. Kyle Busch was third, Harvick fourth and Hamlin fifth among the championship contenders, though none of them were able to receive points. Truex’s car was so fast that he lapped cars all the way to 14th place before the completion of Stage 1.

    Stage 2: Lap 80- Lap 160

    When Stage 2 got underway, there was an intense battle between the top runners. Kyle Larson, Harvick and Busch were all challenging for the lead at once. However, it was Truex who once again got the best of them and led for 33 laps before the next round of pit stops, and this is where a mistake occurred for the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team.

    During the second round of green-flag pit stops, the team accidentally got the tires mixed around by putting the left tire on the right front and the right tire on the left front. This made Truex come back down pit road to fix the issue and lose a lap. In this case, Busch cycled out as the leader and it was his time to shine until a caution came in Truex’s favor on Lap 138. The No. 19 driver was in the free pass position and got his lap back courtesy of the yellow from a spin by John Hunter Nemechek.

    After the restart on Lap 142, the lead changed hands multiple times between Harvick and Busch, before Busch got the upper hand and earned his 12th stage win of the year. Harvick came in second, Truex fourth and Hamlin finished once again in the fifth position.

    Stage 3: Lap 166- Lap 267

    The final stage had a 101 lap run to the finish and featured some exciting moments. For instance, Denny Hamlin’s car came to life and was starting to make some noise for the first time of the night. In fact, the Championship 4 drivers were 1-2-3-4 with 91 to go. As the race wore long, so did the equipment and the tires, which meant the final round of green-flag pit stops.

    Hamlin was the first to pit with 58 to go hoping to get out in front of the rest of the Championship 4 drivers. However, troubles arose for the Virginia native, as too much tape was put on which caused the car to overheat with an extraordinary amount of water coming out of the car. This made Hamlin come to the pits again and ultimately ended up costing him a chance at the championship.

    A few other drivers had problems as well late in the race. Larson, after being so strong early, had his hood up on pit road. Eventually, the No. 42 pushed the car back behind the wall and ended his season with a disappointing 40th place finish. William Byron also had no oil pressure with 49 to go and his night was done early as well.

    With that all in mind, Harvick stayed out to assume the lead and hoped for a caution to help his case. He pitted with 44 to go as he could not stay out much longer without the rest of the field eating him up on fresher tires. He came back out 17th, one lap down.

    This meant Kyle Busch was the lucky one to assume the lead after pit stops. He took the lead with just 45 laps remaining and held on to win the second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship of his career and the fifth title for Joe Gibbs Racing. Joe Gibbs Racing also became the winningest team by having 19 wins in a season, surpassing Hendrick Motorsports with 18.

    Busch led five times for 120 laps en route to his fifth win of the season. The Las Vegas native talked about his dominant run to cap off a perfect season.

    “Everybody always says you never give up and we’re no different and we just do what we can do each and every week and sometimes we may not be the best and sometimes we may not have the right track position. Today we had a really good car and I could race around and move around. That’s what’s so special about Homestead-Miami Speedway is the ability to put on a show. Kind of like we did there racing those guys. It was exciting from my seat. It was a lot of fun to cap off such an amazing year.”

    There were three cautions for 15 laps and 14 lead changes among five different drivers.

    Official Results

    1. Kyle Busch, led 120 laps, won Stage 2, 2019 Cup Series Champion
    2. Martin Truex Jr., led 103 laps, won Stage 1
    3. Erik Jones
    4. Kevin Harvick, led 41 laps
    5. Joey Logano
    6. Clint Bowyer
    7. Ryan Newman
    8. Austin Dillon
    9. Alex Bowman
    10. Denny Hamlin, led two laps
    11. Ryan Blaney, one lap down
    12. Daniel Hemric, 2019 Cup Series Rookie of The Year, one lap down
    13. Jimmie Johnson, one lap down
    14. Daniel Suarez, one lap down
    15. Chase Elliott, one lap down
    16. Chris Buescher, one lap down
    17. Paul Menard, one lap down
    18. Brad Keselowski, two laps down
    19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr, two laps down
    20. Matt DiBenedetto, two laps down
    21. Kurt Busch, two laps down
    22. Aric Almirola, three laps down
    23. John Hunter Nemechek, three laps down
    24. Ty Dillon, three laps down
    25. Ryan Preece, four laps down
    26. Michael McDowell, four laps down
    27. David Ragan, four laps down
    28. Landon Cassill, five laps down
    29. Drew Herring, five laps down
    30. J.J. Yeley, five laps down
    31. Corey LaJoie, six laps down
    32. B.J. McLeod, 11 laps down
    33. Timmy Hill, 19 laps down
    34. Bubba Wallace, 24 laps down
    35. Ross Chastain, 25 laps down
    36. Josh Bilicki, OUT, Brakes
    37. Reed Sorenson, OUT, Brakes
    38. Joe Nemechek, OUT, Steering
    39. William Byron, OUT, Engine
    40. Kyle Larson, OUT, Engine

    Up Next: It is now the off-season for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The next on-track action for the Cup Series drivers will be in 2020 with The Clash and Daytona 500 Qualifying on Sunday, Feb. 9. However, the playoff drivers will take a trip to Nashville, Tennessee for the Banquet Awards Ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 5, live on NBCSN.

  • Tyler Reddick wins race and Xfinity Series championship

    Tyler Reddick wins race and Xfinity Series championship

    As seen in year’s past, if you want to win the championship, you will more than likely also have to win the race. Tyler Reddick did just that at Homestead-Miami Speedway and capped off a perfect season by earning his sixth win of the 2019 season. He took the lead with 18 to go after a fierce battle with Championship 4 contender Cole Custer. Reddick became just the seventh Xfinity Series driver to win back-to-back championships.

    “It’s just amazing and the best part is, my girlfriend Alexa said if I won the championship, our baby boy was going to be named Bo,” Reddick said to MRN Radio. “I got the call so late, we were honestly trying to keep everyone on their toes. I was sideways coming on pit road and I really didn’t know how good my approach was, so I just took it easy. I cost us a lot of time there and came out behind the other two (Champ 4 drivers). That’s on me, I had to put that in my back and had to go out there, and pass those guys while ultimately putting this car in victory lane. Had to put this car in victory lane to where it deserves, that’s on the championship stage, as well as an Owner’s Championship in Richard Childress Racing’s 50th year.”

    Qualifying was held on Saturday afternoon just a few hours before the Xfinity Series race. The session also saw Reddick qualifying on the pole. Championship 4 drivers Cole Custer was second, Christopher Bell was seventh and Justin Allgaier qualified 16th. Bobby Earnhardt was the only driver that failed to qualify. Stages were broke into 45/45/110 laps to make up the 200-lap race distance.

    Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 45

    Stage 1 got off to a rocky start with multiple incidents. On lap 6 the first yellow came out for the No. 07 of Ray Black Jr. as a tremendous amount of smoke came out of the back of his car. The day would end early for Black Jr. but he would be okay. Another incident occurred in Turn 4 on Lap 16, where the No. 15 of Tyler Matthews hit the wall hard and had a flat tire. Matthews’ day was done early too and resulted in a 37th place finish.

    A piece of debris was stuck in Turns 3 and 4 after the accident which made the leaders move down a groove to protect their car from getting hit with it. Shortly after TV cameras pointed the debris out, officials displayed the yellow for the third time of the night on Lap 34.

    With a few quick cautions early, the rest of the stage saw a nine lap dash to the stage break. Stewart-Haas Racing driver Chase Briscoe took the stage win while Custer was second, Reddick fourth, Bell 12th and Allgaier finished 13th.

    Stage 2: Lap 51- Lap 96

    Stage 2 was relaxed for the most part when it came to the cautions. However, one Championship 4 driver had a problem occur on Lap 57. Custer had reported a potential loose wheel to the No. 00. Trying to stay out in hopes of a caution and not lose track positions, he could not anymore and eventually pitted on Lap 60. After the pit stop, the team quickly diagnosed the issue, which was a right-rear that was loose. Custer rejoined the race, one lap down.

    One more driver also faced a tire issue. Jeb Burton had a right rear tire go down as well, but this time, almost spinning out coming to the entry of pit road. Burton saved the car and was able to get down to pit road without bringing out a caution.

    Just a few laps before the stage finished, Custer had the lucky dog position and was hoping that the No. 22 of Austin Cindric, who was the race leader at the time, would help Custer out by leaning over to get his lap back. However, an accident broke out between Justin Haley and Harrison Burton off Turn 4. Custer passed Cindric in time before the caution was displayed in order to get his lap back.

    Cindric wound up winning the stage, with Bell in second, Allgaier in third, Reddick in fourth and Custer in 16th.

    Stage 3: Lap 96- Lap 200

    As soon as the final stage began, the caution was flown once again. This time it was a bumper cover off Haley’s car that was on the frontstretch. While the drivers were scrambling not to run over it, the No. 35 of Joey Gase was the unlucky one and hit the debris.

    After having a strong car early, Briscoe brought out the caution with 78 to go. The Stewart-Haas driver found himself in the wall with a right front tire down. With the caution, most of the leaders pitted and Bell won the race off pit road.

    From that point on, no cautions would be flown but intense battles took place. Three out of the four championship drivers were the top three with 51 to go. Bell was out front, Reddick in second and Custer third. All three drivers were battling hard to win the championship.

    When the last round of green-flag pit stops started to take place, Bell missed the entry to pit road with 41 to go. This ultimately cost him a shot to win the championship and a lot of ground on the racetrack. Therefore, the championship was left up to Reddick, Custer and Allgaier, unless a caution late bunched the field up.

    Allgaier pitted the same time Bell did, while Reddick and Custer pitted a few laps later. When the two rejoined the racing surface, they found themselves racing with Allgaier. The three of them were not trying to run each other over and were three wide going off the pit stops. Eventually, Reddick and Custer had the best two cars of the night and broke away from Allgaier leaving the two drivers to decide it out on their own.

    Working the high line, Reddick made slight contact with the wall while trying to chase Custer with 33 to go. The contact wasn’t hard enough to slow him down but it basically helped Reddick a little bit. The Richard Childress Racing driver still kept close to Custer in regrouping and trying to find more momentum. Reddick found his chance with 18 to go and took the lead. Hoping for no cautions, the Corning, California native held on en route to the ninth victory of his Xfinity Series career and a second Xfinity Series championship.

    “It’s about this race team, man, and I was just honored to pilot this Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet,” Reddick said. “I’m losing my breath—I’m that excited. This one means so much more. It was just a lot better year, and it was really cool to go back-to-back.”

    Meanwhile, Cole Custer came up short once again despite rebounding from a flat tire early on in the race and a battle with Reddick.

    “Yeah, I mean, like I said, I think I said it on TV, Tyler can rip the fence here,” Custer said. “I don’t know, I can match his lap time there, out there at the end, but he was just a tick better where he could be on my bumper when he was behind me and do a slide job, and I could keep up with him and I just ‑‑ there at the end I felt like I needed to find a way to close the gap.”

    “I was just like three car lengths back the whole time, so I was like, I need to try and figure out a way to close the gap, and I just got in the fence a little bit.  It’s been a great year, so we have a lot to hang our hats on.  It sucks running second again, but we can still stay positive about how great of a year we’ve had.”

    Reddick led five times for 84 laps before closing the door on the 2019 Xfinity Series season. There were seven cautions for 35 laps and 15 lead changes among six drivers.

    Official Results

    1. Tyler Reddick, 2019 Xfinity Series Champion, led 84 laps
    2. Cole Custer, led 15 laps
    3. Chase Briscoe, 2019 Rookie Of The Year, led 14 laps
    4. Noah Gragson, led 10 laps
    5. Christopher Bell, led 37 laps
    6. John Hunter Nemechek
    7. Austin Cindric, led 40 laps
    8. Brandon Jones
    9. Jeb Burton, one lap down
    10. Harrison Burton, one lap down
    11. Michael Annett, one lap down
    12. Ryan Sieg, one lap down
    13. Brandon Brown, one lap down
    14. Justin Allgaier, one lap down
    15. Landon Cassill, one lap down
    16. Jeremy Clements, two laps down
    17. Gray Gaulding, two laps down
    18. Alex Labbe, two laps down
    19. Josh Williams, two laps down
    20. B.J. McLeod, two laps down
    21. Colin Garrett, two laps down
    22. Will Rodgers, three laps down
    23. David Starr, four laps down
    24. Stephen Leicht, five laps down
    25. Jairo Avila Jr, five laps down
    26. Vinnie Miller, seven laps down
    27. Joey Gase, seven laps down
    28. Robby Lyons, eight laps down
    29. Joe Nemechek, eight laps down
    30. Matt Mills, OUT, Clutch
    31. C.J. McLaughlin, OUT, Vibration
    32. Garrett Smithley, OUT, Oil Line
    33. Justin Haley, OUT, Damage Vehicle Policy
    34. Timmy Hill, OUT, Brakes
    35. Chad Finchum, OUT, Engine
    36. J.J. Yeley, OUT, Suspension
    37. Tyler Matthews, OUT, Crash
    38. Ray Black Jr, OUT, Engine

    Up Next: With the 2019 Xfinity Series season officially over, the next on-track activity will be the 2020 opener at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 15.

  • Briscoe locks up 2019 Rookie of The Year

    Briscoe locks up 2019 Rookie of The Year

    The 2019 Xfinity Series season was a great season to look back on for Chase Briscoe and the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing team, especially after winning Rookie of the Year honors. There were a couple of rocky starts at Daytona and Atlanta, finishing 12th and 15th, respectively. However, from Las Vegas to Dover, the team finished mainly in the top five. There were some issues later such as Charlotte in May when Briscoe finished 19th, one lap down. There were a few more including Chicago in July with a 15th place result and a DNF at Daytona.

    But the team got right back on track the following week at Kentucky with a top-five finish. Then at Iowa, Briscoe had a great car and secured his first win of the season, his first since the victory at the Charlotte Roval. With the win, he was able to lock the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing team into the Playoffs.

    The team started off the Playoffs at Richmond Raceway with another top-five finish. Then two weeks in a row at the Charlotte Roval and Kansas, Briscoe qualified the No. 98 on the pole. The Playoffs were looking up for the Stewart-Haas driver, however, a wreck at Texas prior to ISM Raceway hurt their chances to advance. Briscoe finished 22nd and was in a must-win situation going into the final race in the Round of 8.

    An eighth-place finish wasn’t enough to push the team for the Championship 4 and they were left to battle for a top-10 position. Even though he could not win the championship, Briscoe still had an opportunity to win the race at Homestead and he certainly had the car capable of doing so. He started fifth and won the first stage. The No. 98 team remained consistent for a finishing position of fifth for Stage 2.

    Briscoe never fell out of contention in spite of bringing out the caution on Lap 124. He bounced off the wall off Turn 1 and eventually had a flat tire. Even with the incident, new tires helped the team and in the end, he came home with a third place finish after leading 14 laps.

    “Yeah, I think if I had to read it on a 1 to 10 scale, I would say it was like a 6 1/2,” Briscoe said.  “I felt like at the beginning of the year I kind of struggled to understand what I needed in these race cars, and truthfully how to drive them and the feel I was looking for.  I just struggled to find ‑‑ the biggest thing was I couldn’t feel the right rear ever. As the season went on, we kind of switched from trying to say do what Harvick ran the year before and what Cole was running and just try to build more of a setup to what I felt better about.”

    “Iowa was really the first race that we decided to do that, and that was the race we won.  It seemed like from then on out we were a serious contender every week. Felt like the second half of the year was a lot better than the first half of the year, but we definitely ‑‑ looking back at these playoffs, especially, I felt like we could have realistically won three or four of the races, and weird stuff happens. The Kansas deal, the Roval was one where I felt like I could have ran down Allmendinger. Dover, I think we led the most laps and didn’t catch a caution, and then tonight just getting into the wall.”

    “I think the end of the year was definitely better than the first part of the year, but overall we definitely have more to improve on and I can get way better as a driver I feel like.”

    While winning Rookie of The Year may help his resume, Briscoe currently has no plans for 2020 and does not know if he will be back with Stewart-Haas Racing next year.

    “I know they’re still working on trying to find funding to make it happen, but as of right now I don’t have anything,” Briscoe added.

    “Obviously I was wanting to win the race tonight. I feel like if I did that, it would have made everything a lot easier. But I felt like we showed speed and I feel like if we do get to go back next year, I feel like we could be serious championship contenders, and hopefully, they can and we can work together and try to figure something out.  But yeah, right now they’re still working on it.”

    Briscoe finishes the 2019 season with one win, 13 top fives, 26 top-10s and 197 laps led along with an average finish of 8.2.

  • Bell and Allgaier end up short of championship

    Bell and Allgaier end up short of championship

    After coming up short in last year’s Championship 4 race, Christopher Bell and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team were back for another chance at the Xfinity Series championship. This would be Bell’s last opportunity for the foreseeable future as he goes Cup Series racing next year for Leavine Family Racing. Already being an emotional week for the Oklahoma native, Bell had hopes of bringing home a championship to the No. 20 team.

    Bell qualified seventh at Homestead-Miami Speedway and had a great car early on, finishing 12th in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2. He even had the lead multiple times throughout the race and at one point he led 23 laps out front. However, the last time we would see Bell at the front was right before green flag pit stops. A miscommunication call between the driver and spotter had Bell staying out instead of coming in to pit road.

    Even with a fast car, Bell was unable to catch the other two championship drivers. There were no late-race cautions and the Oklahoma native had to settle for a disappointing fifth-place finish and third in the championship after a strong season with eight wins.

    “Yeah, it was just a miscommunication,” Bell said describing the incident. “I don’t know if my spotter didn’t get told what our cue word was, but I told, got the cue word to pit, and then all of a sudden, I started pitting and he said, not now, not now.  But that didn’t matter whenever you get beat by 17 seconds. I’m glad that didn’t have an effect on the outcome of the race.”

    Even after the incident, Bell was making up ground but was just too far back in order to make anything happen.

    “Well, that second to last run, I don’t know if I just did a better job blocking or what, but we definitely seemed to maintain a little bit better, and then whenever we pitted, I didn’t know ‑‑ you don’t know how many laps that we pitted earlier than the other two guys, but I was pretty happy whenever I drove by them because I think we only had 30‑something laps to go at that point, and my car had been okay for that distance.”

    Bell ends his full-time Xfinity Series campaign with 16 wins, 41 top-fives and 46 top-10 finishes along with 12 poles.

    Justin Allgaier, on the other hand, had a more disappointing race. The eventful weekend started out with practice when the No. 52 of David Starr came up when he was not clear and made slight contact with Allgaier off Turn 1. Rain showers came and washed out the practices for the rest of the day on Friday. Coming back on Saturday afternoon for qualifying, Allgaier struggled with a 16th place starting effort.

    While it wasn’t a pretty Stage 1, Allgaier managed a third place for the second stage. However, after Stage 2, it was like you didn’t see the No. 7 team for the rest of the race. A major moment came late in the final stage, where Allgaier almost spun coming down to pit road. He held onto the car and made it to pit road for adjustments.

    Despite those adjustments, the car continued to struggle in the remaining laps. With no late-race cautions, Allgaier finished 14th, one lap down and fourth of the four Championship 4 drivers.

    “Yeah, I mean, that was probably the hardest one,” Allgaier said. “Chase sitting here probably got in the wall less than we did, and the caution came out, and it didn’t for us.  So I was pretty bummed in that.  But on the flip side of it, once this didn’t come out, there was no reason to try to cause a caution. We weren’t fast enough really to be in that position anyway and it ‑‑ at the end of the day, I probably could have done something to benefit ourselves there.”

    “The unfortunate part is you’ve got a long way to go to get back to pit road at a slow speed and that ended up putting us two laps down, which we were able to drive our way back to one lap down, but the time that we lost just trying to get back to pit road really, really affected the outcome of where we finished tonight, which didn’t matter, but just for going into the off‑season you’d rather have a better finish than where we finished, 14th, 13th, 15th, something like that.  Disappointing.”

    Allgaier ends the 2019 Xfinity Series season with one win, 16 top fives and 24 top-10 finishes.

    Article sponsored by Forex traders


  • Moffitt’s and Friesen’s bid for a championship comes short

    Moffitt’s and Friesen’s bid for a championship comes short

    Brett Moffitt was hoping to be the first driver to win a second consecutive Truck Series title and he was certainly capable of doing so. However, he came up short Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    Despite winning at Bristol and Canada, the GMS driver was winless throughout the rest of the Playoffs. But his consistency kept him in play and he had a sizable points lead in the rest of the rounds. Moffitt knew it was going to be tough to outlast the other Championship 4 drivers, but if it was going to be anyone, he had one of the best chances with the powerhouse GMS Racing team.

    Moffitt started fourth based on owner points but never could get his Truck in a winning position. The No. 24 machine struggled most of the night, finishing fourth in both stages and only being able to lead three laps. The team tried some adjustments throughout the race, even winning the race off pit road after one of the stages to put Moffitt in the lead for one restart.

    However, it would be the only time we saw the Grimes, Iowa native out front. In fact, the GMS driver ran as low as 21st at one point. Then, with a late race pit stop, he had one more chance to run for the title. Moffitt fell short though and wound up finishing fifth in the running order and third in the championship.

    “We were missing speed overall,” Moffitt explained to MRN Radio. “We struggled all day from the time we unloaded. The Truck got a lot better, everyone worked hard. Jerry (Baxter, Crew Chief) and all my guys made improvements, but we just missed it. It is what it is, we’ll regroup and get better, and we’ll go for it in 2020. Just can’t thank the Maury Gallagher family enough for this opportunity and everyone that helped us out all year. CMR Roofing and all the countless sponsors we had throughout the season. It’s a bummer, we’ll move on and get better as an organization.”

    Moffitt finishes the year with four wins, 13 top-fives and 17 top-10 finishes, while also achieving three poles.

    Moffitt’s technical teammate and last week’s winner Stewart Friesen also had an opportunity to secure the title. With qualifying rained out, the Canadian inherited the pole based on owner points. This gave Friesen the advantage to be out front at a track where track position means everything.

    Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar team had a good run early in Stage 1, running up front with Ross Chastain and finishing third when the stage ended. Though it seemed like his Truck began to go away and it became challenging for Friesen in the rest of the remaining laps. Stage 2 saw him finishing fifth but he had to deal with an ill-handling Truck.

    As the handling became an issue, Friesen was unable to get the Truck to his liking. The team continued to struggle to fight for track position with a long green-flag run. Stage 3 went the distance and saw no cautions, which could have helped Halmar Racing find the adjustment they needed. Ultimately, Friesen finished a disappointing 11th, last out of the Championship 4 drivers.

    “An uphill battle,” Friesen described to MRN Radio. “Thanks to Halmar and all these guys that worked so hard. Thanks for all the support, got a lot of friends and family here. I appreciate everyone watching at home and those who came down here to support us. We just didn’t have a chance, we struggled. We could hang a little bit on the short end, but not on the long run. It was just a swing and a miss tonight.”

    Even winning two races this season was not satisfactory for Friesen at the moment following the final race.

    “It’s good to win a couple of races,” he added. “It would have been a lot cooler to have had a chance at it tonight. Like I said, we could hang on the short run, but it would just back up. We’ll hopefully put something together and come back stronger for next time.”

    The Canadian finishes 2019 with two wins, 12 top fives and 16 top-10 finishes along with one pole to his name.

  • Austin Hill wins the race, Crafton collects his third championship

    Austin Hill wins the race, Crafton collects his third championship

    After a 90-minute rain delay, the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race got underway shortly after 9:30 p.m. ET. While Austin Hill didn’t qualify on the pole, he most certainly had the fastest truck of the night, winning both stages and ultimately winning the race. Hill took the lead from Matt Crafton with 22 laps to go to secure his fourth win of the season.

    “This Truck was on rails all night,” Hill said to MRN Radio. “We started off just a little on the tight side. Scott (Zipadelli, Crew Chief) made some awesome adjustments there and got the Truck a little bit better. That pit stop, I kind of took it a little too easy coming down to pit road, I think that hurt us just a tad coming back out third. I had to work extra hard to get back up there and get the lead. Can’t thank Toyota enough. Chiba Toyopet Toyota Tundra was really good all night long. TRD, United Rentals can’t thank those guys enough.”

    “To be able to win this race and lock down the Toyota manufacturer championship means a lot to me. So, I’m glad I could help Toyota out with that.”

    Early rain showers pushed the race back for a couple of hours, before finally getting underway shortly after 9:30 p.m. ET. The starting grid was set by owner points with Stewart Friesen on the pole.

    Before the race got started, the No. 15 of Anthony Alfredo had an oil leak on his Truck. With that issue, Alfredo was never able to make a lap and was credited with a last-place finish. Stages were broken up in 30/30/74 laps to make up the 134-lap race.

    Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 30

    Nothing too crazy happened in the first stage to affect the race but there was some great racing action between the Championship 4 drivers. Ross Chastain led the first 28 laps of the first stage before Hill took the lead with just a few laps to go and won the stage. Championship 4 driver Chastain was second, Friesen was third, Brett Moffitt was fourth and Matt Crafton finished sixth in Stage 1.

    However, while the Championship 4 drivers finished in the top-10 none of them collected any stage points.

    Stage 2: Lap 35- Lap 60

    Like Stage 1, the second stage almost went green the whole way. The first real incident of the night came on Lap 50. The No. 49 of Ray Ciccarelli’s Truck had fluid coming out of the back end which prompted officials to throw the yellow flag.

    From that point on, the stage remained green and Hill once again picked up the stage win. Crafton was second, Chastain was third, Moffitt was fourth and Friesen finished fifth in Stage 2.

    Stage 3: Lap 67- Lap 134

    It was crunch time for the Championship 4 drivers as Stage 3 began with 67 laps to go. While Chastain and Friesen certainly had the best Trucks early on in the night, Crafton’s Truck started to come to life near the end.

    Pit stops broke out with 38 to go. Both Chastain and Friesen pit. Crafton and Moffitt elected to come down pit road one lap later to stay on the lead cycle. Race leader Hill pitted with 35 to go. After pit stops, Crafton cycled back out into the lead five laps later. However, Hill retook the lead with 22 to go and led the rest of the way, taking the checkered flag to win.

    As much as Crafton wanted to win the race and the championship, the bigger picture was to collect his third Truck Series championship in 453 starts. The Tulare, California native is now tied with former series champion Jack Sprague.

    “We didn’t win the battle, but we won the war,” Crafton excitedly said. “It was such a sweet deal to put this Ford Menards F-150 into victory lane. I know it’s Fords last time here championship weekend and nothing sweeter than to put the Ford into the championship. Ford and everybody has worked so hard here.”

    Knowing Crafton could win the race at one point in the race, he quickly realized it was all about winning the championship.

    “That was really hard to do,” he added. “I wanted to race the 16 (Hill) so hard. He definitely was a little faster than us there at the end. I knew what it was about and hoisting this big trophy at the end of the night, that’s what we’re here to do and that’s what we did.”

    With Crafton locking up his third Truck Series championship, he becomes one of the few drivers to do so in Truck Series history.

    “Oh, it’s awesome. Like I said, one step closer to the great Truck Series guy Ron Hornaday. We can battle with them again next year and maybe we can get number four.”

    Quite possibly lost in the shuffle was the Owner Series Championship. Four drivers were also battling for that as well. In the end, however, it was newly announced Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Christian Eckes who helped the team secure its seventh owner’s championship in the team’s existence.

    “I struggled for most of the race, honestly,” Eckes said to MRN Radio. “Got a little better out there in front. Rudy (Fugle, Crew Chief) made a great call, able to lead some laps and come home third. It’s awesome to get another championship with these guys. Just ready for 2020.”

    Hill led five times for 56 laps en route to the fourth win of his career. There were three cautions for 14 laps and 12 lead changes among six different drivers.

    Official Results

    1. Austin Hill – led 56 laps, won both stages
    2. Matt Crafton – led nine laps, 2019 Truck Series Champion
    3. Christian Eckes – led 26 laps, won Owners Championship for KBM
    4. Ross Chastain – led 36 laps
    5. Brett Moffitt – led three laps
    6. Johnny Sauter
    7. Grant Enfinger
    8. Todd Gilliland
    9. Sheldon Creed
    10. Parker Kligerman
    11. Stewart Friesen
    12. Ben Rhodes
    13. Harrison Burton
    14. Joe Nemechek – one lap down
    15. Gus Dean – led four laps, one lap down
    16. Tanner Gray – one lap down
    17. Jesse Little, one lap down
    18. Tyler Dippel – one lap down
    19. Austin Wayne Self – one lap down
    20. Natalie Decke1r – one lap down
    21. Jordan Anderson – two laps down
    22. Tyler Ankrum – 2019 Truck Series Rookie of The Year, two laps down
    23. Tyler Hill- two laps down
    24. Colby Howard – two laps down
    25. Danny Bohn – two laps down
    26. Codie Rohrbaugh – four laps down
    27. Cory Roper – five laps down
    28. Jennifer Jo Cobb- six laps down
    29. Angela Ruch – seven laps down
    30. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Electrical
    31. Ray Ciccarelli, OUT, Oil Line
    32. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Engine, Did Not Start

    Up Next: The 2019 Truck Series season is officially over after race No. 23. The next on-track action will be the 2020 season opener at Daytona on Friday, Feb. 14.

  • Chastain comes up short at Homestead

    Chastain comes up short at Homestead

    Coming into the Truck Series championship race, there was no doubt that nearby Fort Lauderdale native, Ross Chastain, had high hopes of winning his first NASCAR Series championship after a long and rocky road to the top.

    At the beginning of the 2019 season, the Niece Motorsports driver wasn’t even running for the championship. It was more about helping the team get to a point where they could be in contention to win a championship down the line with the right driver. But they had already found the right driver.

    Chastain opened up the season at Daytona with a third-place finish in a beat-up race truck. While many may consider it luck after the whole field had been involved in some sort of incident, he followed it up the next week at Atlanta with a sixth place finish. This consistency was likely going to put Niece Motorsports in a spot to win the Owner’s title this year at Homestead.

    Then Kansas happened and Chastain got his first career Truck Series victory, actually, the first win in NASCAR of any kind. As you would expect, the victory was a popular one among the fans. With the victory, Chastain gained more fans and quite possibly more respect within the racing world, giving him even more motivation and fight to rise to the top.

    Just a few weeks later, the team decided to run for the Truck Series championship after having early success. Then, an unfortunate circumstance occurred at Iowa. NASCAR has a new post race procedure that stipulates if a driver in any series fails the post-race technical inspection, either their win or finishing position will be stripped from them, ultimately resulting in a last-place finish.

    Unfortunately, it happened to Chastain at Iowa where he had the best truck out of anyone, leading 141 out of the 200 laps. In post race inspection, however, his truck was found to be too low. Due to the infraction, the Niece Motorsports team was credited with a last-place finish.

    Knowing they did nothing wrong, the team tried to appeal the issue in order to get the win back. Despite their efforts, Chastain and Niece lost the appeal and had to focus their attention on the next race at Gateway. At Gateway, the Florida native once again proved the doubters wrong and earned another popular victory which put him in the running for the championship.

    Chastain continued to find success by finishing in the top-10 and winning at Pocono.

    Then the Playoffs began at Bristol and Chastain knew he had to have a strong Truck in order to beat the other contenders and fight for the championship. Despite crashing out of the race at Talladega, the Niece driver finished second at Martinsville and ninth at ISM Raceway. The ninth-place finish locked him into the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    Qualifying was washed out at Homestead due to rain showers and Chastain started third based on owner points. The team ran solid all night, leading the first 28 laps before being passed by Austin Hill late in the stage. Chastain had to settle for a second place position in Stage 1. In Stage 2, he was strong once again and finished third.

    The last round of green flag pit stops began with 38 laps to go. Chastain was the first down pit road to make adjustments to his Truck. But, the Florida native continued to struggle late in the going and ultimately needed a late race caution in order to help his chances.

    By night’s end, Chastain did not catch the break he needed and finished fourth in the race and second in the Truck Series championship. It was not enough to secure his first NASCAR title though the effort did not go unseen by his No. 45 Niece Motorsports team.

    “Just too lose,” Chastain said to MRN Radio. “It’s crazy. I am not disappointed in second by any means. From where we were a year ago, to when we made the switch and everything we’ve been through, I’m living my dream out here. It sucks right now, but it’ll be okay. The sun will come up tomorrow and we’ll be just fine.”

    “So proud of the Niece Motorsports Car Shield and everybody that helps on this deal, Al Niece (Team Owner). We gave it all we had, there’s nothing left, I can tell you that. Thank you to everyone that came out tonight. We did not go unnoticed tonight, they knew we were here and we’ll be back.”

    Despite falling short, Chastain never gave up no matter what challenge came his way.

    “Just don’t quit,” he added. “This sport, it’s all of our dreams. Everyone is out here working in this industry. Even the people that came out to watch the race tonight, it’s what we worked for to do this. To come up one spot short in the championship is not the end of the world. The sun will come up tomorrow and I’ll still have my faith, family and everyone around me. I’ll just keep going.”

    With the focus now switched to the NASCAR Xfinity Series competition full-time for Kaulig Racing, Chastain ends his 2019 efforts with three wins, 10 top-fives, 19 top-10s along with 591 laps led and an average finishing position of 8.6.