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Author: Briar Starr

  • Hamlin rebounds to top five finish

    Hamlin rebounds to top five finish

    On Saturday, the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) team had to make an engine and was forced to start 40th at Talladega. But it didn’t take long for Denny Hamlin to get to the front prior to the postponement. In fact, the JGR driver worked himself into the top-10 just a few laps into the first stage.

    When the race restarted on Monday afternoon, Hamlin found troubles right away. His right side flap on the hood had came of the FedEx Toyota, therefore had to deal without it for the remaining of the race.

    More trouble was on the horizon for Hamlin. On lap 108, prior to the finish of Stage 2, he was caught up in the first big wreck of the day and had nowhere to go. The Chesterfield, Virginia native had some damage to the right front hood.

    Due to the incident, Hamlin spent most of the race in the back and avoided other accidents that took place. In the end, he found himself with a shot to win with a two lap dash. Though, Hamlin wound up finishing third in the photo finish that took place right beside him.

    “I was just trying to play chess out there,” Hamlin said to MRN Radio. “I knew my odds and percentages with the wrecks, I knew once my competitors started to fall there, I had to be smart. I know that the end of these races end up in a crash fest. I was going to take all the crash positions I could get, once I got back on the lead lap. Once I saw the percentage was for me to go race up front for the win versus taking end the lead lap, it was my best interest to go there at the end and we almost won it anyway.”

    Hamlin did not gain any stage points, but with the third place place finish, it was 16th top five finish of the season.

  • Newman falls short at Talladega in photo finish

    Newman falls short at Talladega in photo finish

    Ryan Newman and his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing team fell 0.007 seconds of a possible surprise victory at Talladega Superspeedway on Monday afternoon. Newman made a late race surge to the front out of Turns 3&4 and had quite the run coming to the checkered.

    Newman came to the right side of eventual race winner Ryan Blaney, but didn’t want to force Blaney below the yellow line coming to the finish. Still, the Roush Fenway driver kept his second place finish but was disappointed after coming close to snapping a two-year losing streak.

    “I guess, I left the 12 (Blaney) enough room, I don’t know,” Newman said to MRN Radio. “I thought he was inside of me more than he was and didn’t want to run under the yellow line, and disqualify myself with the rules and how they work here. Just proud of the team effort, crazy race no doubt, kind of expected that. Good run for our Wyndham Rewards Ford and we’ll keep digging, we needed some momentum.”

    The third place finish was Newman’s third top five of the season.

  • Blaney edges Newman in photo finish for victory at Talladega

    Blaney edges Newman in photo finish for victory at Talladega

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returned for day number two on Monday for the completion of the 1000bulbs.com 500 on Monday after the rain was rain-delayed on Sunday due to rain and it was well worth the wait.

    Ryan Blaney just barely beat Ryan Newman at the finish line for the third victory of his career, the first of the 2019 season.

    “We restarted in the lead there, had the 10 (Aric Almirola) behind me and had a few Fords lined up, which I felt comfortable with,” Blaney told MRN Radio. “Can’t thank Aric enough for pushing me in that race and stuck with me there at the end. Then, the 11 (Denny Hamlin) and 6 (Newman) got rolling there on top, and I knew I couldn’t have blocked them, they were hooked up and coming way too fast. If I would have blocked, they would have split me, that wouldn’t have been good.”

    “I was able to get the 6 off the 11 there and then the 3 (Austin Dillon), and just had a big run coming to the 6 and almost spun out. Kind of forced below the yellow there and we were able to beat, and bang to the line. Really proud of this whole group. Thanks to all the fans for sticking around for the last couple of days. Been a pretty wild day, but got it done.”

    The second race in the Round of 12 originally started on Sunday afternoon. Chase Elliott had qualified on the pole with his Hendrick Motorsport teammates behind him. The raced was moved up due to weather in the area. Stages were 55/55/78 to make up the 188 lap race.

    Stage 1 Lap 1- Lap 55

    Not much action during the first stage until the first round of green flag pit stops. Ryan Blaney wheel hopped coming to pit road and wound up spinning into the grass. The first caution flew on lap 36 for the No. 52 of Spencer Boyd, who came to a stop in Turn 1.

    After that caution, drivers raced hard, sometimes three wide at times. Most of them, particularly Chevy drivers were trying to work together to get to the front and make it a manufacture race.

    Before the stage ended, Erik Jones had a flat tire on lap 50, but the race kept green until the stage finished on lap 55. At lap 55, William Byron took the Stage 1 win. However, just two laps later, rains came into the area and forced a postponement to Monday afternoon.

    Stage 2 Lap 62- Lap 110

    Flash forward to Monday afternoon, the race resumed under sunny skies and it was calm before the storm. As the race was restarted, Brad Keselowski had troubles restarting his car. However, after the push truck came out, Keselowski’s car got back going.

    The action picked up when Stage 2 began with three wide racing once again. At times, there were single file racing, but for the most part, it was what you would expect when coming to Talladega.

    During Stage 2, Denny Hamlin had trouble with his hood flap that came off. Though, he was able to stay on track without getting black flagged.

    Green flag pit stops took place on lap 90, with the manufactures splitting the pit cycle. Chevy’s pitted on lap 90, then Toyota’s, then Ford. When pit stops were completed, Chase Elliott cycled out as the leader.

    A big moment came on lap 106, where a big crash broke out. Alex Bowman tried throwing a block on Joey Logano, but failed to do so. In result, a multi-car crash broke loose with many involved. Martin Truex Jr, Kyle Larson, Jimmie Johnson, Hamlin, Elliott, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Preece were all involved in the wreck.

    With the accident taking place so close to the end of Stage 2, it left race officials no choice but to end the stage under yellow. This time around, it was Clint Bowyer who was the leader when the crash happened and saw him take Stage 2. Logano, Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Blaney, Chris Buescher, Byron, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch were the top-10 finishers.

    Stage 3 Lap 116- Lap 188

    There were many incidents in the third and final stage. On lap 121, Bubba Wallace came up in front of the No. 77 of Blake Jones and was turned into the wall. Jones then was caught by another vehicle, which caused him to spin out.

    The caution flew on lap 131 for Martin Truex Jr, who had a flat left front tire shred and left debris. This caused a restart on lap 137, but on lap 152, Clint Bowyer had a flat left rear go down and was stuck on the apron in Turns 3&4 to bring out the yellow.

    Another big accident broke loose on lap 163, as Byron was accidentally took a wrong bump draft from Kurt Busch going into Turn 3. This caused many drivers to be involved. Drivers like Erik Jones, Matt Crafton, Logano, Byron, Suarez, Preece and Austin Theriault were collected.

    After those incidents took place, the intensity picked up even more as the checkered flag drew near. A quick yellow was seen on lap 173 for Suarez who spun around in Turn 4. When the race was restarted, we saw seven laps of intense green flag racing before the final crash broke out on lap 183.

    The drivers were three wide on the backstretch, before a bump draft gone wrong triggered “The Big One” and it even saw a flip as well. When the accident occurred, race fans saw the No. 62 of Brendan Gaughan took a big flip after being hit on the side. Fortunately, Gaughan was okay and walked out, but the wreck took many drivers along for the ride.

    Kurt Busch, Keselowski, Harvick, Daniel Hemric, Stenhouse, Kyle Busch, Buescher, Ragan, Preece and DiBenedetto were taken out. Many of which, were done for the day as their cars was too heavily damage to return to the track.

    In this case, it set up an exciting two laps dash to the finish. Ryan Newman had a big run coming out of Turns 3&4 and caught Ryan Blaney. However, Blaney was somewhat forced below the yellow line which gave him the win over Newman. Nonetheless, it was a photo finish and Blaney locked himself into the Round of 8 by 0.007.

    “You make that mistake yesterday (pit road slide) and then you sleep on it overnight with the rain delay,” Blaney added to MRN Radio. “Obviously, you just forget about that stuff. You learn what you need to do better next time to not have that happen. Can’t dwell on it, just try to learn from it. Like I said, long weekend here, but appreciate everyone sticking around. Pretty exciting finish.”

    Blaney led three times for 35 laps en route to his fist victory of the season.

    There were nine cautions for 43 laps with 46 lead changes.

    Playoff Standings heading into the final race in the Round of 12 at Kansas.

    1. Kyle Larson, Advanced
    2. Ryan Blaney, Advanced
    3. Denny Hamlin, +56
    4. Martin Truex Jr, +48
    5. Kyle Busch, +41
    6. Kevin Harvick, +36
    7. Brad Keselowski, +20
    8. Joey Logano, +18
      Below the cut line
    9. Alex Bowman, -18
    10. Chase Elliott, -22
    11. Clint Bowyer, -24
    12. William Byron, -27

    Official Results

    1. Ryan Blaney, led 35 laps
    2. Ryan Newman, led three laps
    3. Denny Hamlin
    4. Aric Almirola, led three laps
    5. Michael McDowell
    6. Austin Dillon, led one lap
    7. Corey LaJoie
    8. Chase Elliott, led 19 laps
    9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr, led 32 laps
    10. Ty Dillon
    11. Joey Logano, led 16 laps
    12. Ross Chastain
    13. Matt Tifft
    14. Landon Cassill, led one lap
    15. Parker Kligerman
    16. Matt Crafton (However, Paul Menard will get the credit for the finish after starting the race).
    17. Kevin Harvick
    18. Ryan Preece
    19. Kyle Busch, led seven laps
    20. Chris Buescher, Did not finish, Crash
    21. Daniel Hemric, one lap down
    22. Reed Sorenson, one lap down
    23. Clint Bowyer, two laps down, led 13 laps
    24. Bubba Wallace, three laps down, led one lap
    25. Brad Keselowski, OUT, Crash, led 22 laps
    26. Martin Truex Jr, six laps down
    27. Brendan Gaughan, OUT, Crash
    28. Kurt Busch, OUT, Crash, led 16 laps
    29. David Ragan, OUT, Crash
    30. Matt DiBenedetto, OUT, Crash
    31. Blake Jones, nine laps down
    32. Daniel Suarez, OUT, Crash
    33. William Byron, OUT, Crash, led 13 laps
    34. Erik Jones, OUT, Crash, led one lap
    35. Austin Theriault, OUT, Crash, led one lap
    36. Joey Gase, OUT, Crash
    37. Alex Bowman, OUT, Crash
    38. Jimmie Johnson, OUT, led two laps
    39. Kyle Larson, OUT, Crash
    40. Spencer Boyd, OUT, Engine

    Up Next: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back to the Midwest on Sunday October 20th for the conclusion of the Round of 12 at Kansas Speedway.

  • Cup Series race at Talladega postponed until Monday

    Cup Series race at Talladega postponed until Monday

    Sunday afternoon NASCAR officially postponed the 1000bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway until Monday at 2 p.m. ET. due to heavy rains in the area and more to come.

    Just 57 of the 188 laps were run with one stage completed. William Byron won the first stage followed by Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez as the top-10 finishers in Stage 1.

    The race will be restarted where it left off following the completion of Stage 1. Drivers will be given the word to refire the engines and then can come down to make pit stops.

    The remainder of the race can be seen on NBCSN at 2 p.m. ET and can be heard on MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Only one caution has flown so far and that was for the No. 52 of Spencer Boyd who came to a stop in Turn 1 on lap 36 during the running of green-flag pit stops.

    Also prior to the red, Paul Menard stepped out of his car due to soreness from disc issues in his neck and ThorSport Truck Series driver Matt Crafton stepped in.

    It’s the first time since April of 2008, where the Cup Series race at Talladega was rained out and pushed to Monday.

    Current running order on lap 57/188

    1. William Byron
    2. Joey Logano
    3. Alex Bowman
    4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    5. Brad Keselowski
    6. Kyle Larson
    7. Jimmie Johnson
    8. Kurt Busch
    9. Ryan Blaney
    10. Daniel Suarez
    11. Matt DiBenedetto
    12. Kevin Harvick
    13. Clint Bowyer
    14. Denny Hamlin
    15. Kyle Busch
    16. Daniel Hemric
    17. David Ragan
    18. Chase Elliott
    19. Ryan Newman
    20. Aric Almirola
    21. Michael McDowell
    22. Austin Dillon
    23. Ty Dillon
    24. Bubba Wallace
    25. Ryan Preece
    26. Chris Buescher
    27. Parker Kligerman
    28. Matt Tifft
    29. Corey LaJoie
    30. Martin Truex Jr.
    31. Brendan Gaughan
    32. Landon Cassill
    33. Paul Menard (Matt Crafton is now in the car after the switch over)
    34. Austin Theriault, one lap down
    35. Erik Jones, one lap down
    36. Joey Gase, one lap down
    37. Ross Chastain, one lap down
    38. Reed Sorenson, two laps down
    39. Blake Jones, three laps down
    40. Spencer Boyd, 15 laps down
  • Moffitt rebounds to top five finish after penalty

    Moffitt rebounds to top five finish after penalty

    Brett Moffitt and his No. 24 GMS Racing team had their work cut out for them after he and his technical teammate Stewart Friesen were penalized for locking bumpers while leading. Moffitt was running his own race, while having help from Friesen in hopes of keeping the field behind them.

    Once both were penalized, Moffitt and his teammate had to serve a pass-through penalty. With the help of a caution the Grimes, Iowa native was able to catch back up with the field to have one more shot.

    Despite being penalized, Moffitt brought home the No. 24 CMR Construction and Roofing Chevy to a third place finish. Though he wasn’t overly happy with the finish or the penalty.

    “It’s Talladega, that’s for sure,” Moffitt told MRN Radio. “I can’t thank everyone at GMS enough, we had really fast three Chevy Silverado’s and CMR, all the folks from CMR were here, which was exciting. I wish we could be in victory lane right now. Ultimately, we out pointed everyone in the playoffs and we now have a comfortable buffer. We’ll look forward to the next two races and try to win one. If not, we’ll try to make it to Homestead.”

    When asked about the penalty, Moffitt wasn’t too pleased.

    “I would love to see whatever clip they were calling. Everyone on TV could see, I was doing an extremely good job of hitting him and getting off of him three or four inches and then getting back to him. I guess we were stinking up the show and they wanted to make it interesting.”

    Moffitt finished second in both stages and ultimately earned his 12th top five of the season. He maintains the championship points lead by +45.

  • Sauter finishes 14th at Talladega after being penalized

    Sauter finishes 14th at Talladega after being penalized

    It was a controversial finish for Johnny Sauter and the No. 13 team at Talladega Superspeedway Saturday afternoon, following the Sugarland Shines 250. Sauter was the first truck to cross the line first, but not the ultimate victor.

    Sauter was trying to do everything he could to hang on to win the race. However, when they were coming to the checkers, Sauter accidentally forced a truck below the yellow line which is not allowed in any of the three national series. Due to that infraction, Sauter was not the winner and had to settle for 14th place after being penalized.

    Miller, the senior vice president of competition said, “[Sauter] actually did two things wrong “He had his whole car down below the yellow line, which you can’t do, and you can’t force another car below the yellow line, and he did both. It was pretty clear cut.”

    Sauter described what happened as a by-product of plate racing.

    “I went down to put a little block on him,” Sauter said, “but then when I did, I got hooked sideways, but that’s just plate racing. You know, I didn’t block his advance or anything like that. I just hate it for my guys. They deserve better than that.”

    “It is what it is,” Sauter added when he spoke to MRN Radio. “I listen to the veterans and I feel like I’m a old school racer. I hate it for my guys and everybody at Ford, Tenda, Quarter Horse, Duke and Rhonda especially. You just got to do what you do.”

    “I’m going to shake this stuff off, it don’t bother me. It ain’t the first time I’ve had a win taken away. We’ll just go fight hard at Martinsville.”

    Sauter had stage finishes of 13th in Stage 1 and fifth in Stage 2. He also led 28 laps.

  • Boyd wins Truck Series race after Sauter black-flagged

    Boyd wins Truck Series race after Sauter black-flagged

    The Sugarland Shines 250 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race was relatively calm until the checkered flag flew. Originally, Johnny Sauter was named as the race winner. But, in the end, it was Spencer Boyd and the No. 20 Youngs Motorsports who provided the ultimate upset after NASCAR ruled that Sauter forced Riley Herbst below the yellow line. Sauter was penalized after the finish and Boyd was declared as the ultimate victor at Talledega Superspeedway.

    “A guy like me was pretty happy finishing second to Johnny Sauter, then 30 seconds later, they’re like you won and I’m like, man, second doesn’t feel so good anymore,” Boyd told MRN Radio. “This is awesome. Tyler Young and the whole Young family, I started out in the 20 Truck this year, we started out strong. Finished fourth at Daytona, had A1 Auto on board for most of the year. I knew we had a good Superspeedway truck and I wasn’t driving this thing two weeks ago.”

    “Alabama Roofing Professionals coming on board, putting this deal together. My mom and dad coming out here to watch me race, they don’t make it all of them, it’s awesome! Freedom Warranty, Kickass Beef Jerky, there’s so many people. The Young family is a small team, but they’re making moves, Gus Dean and Tyler Dippel, we got a great group of guys. The guys work hard, the spotter (Freddie Kraft) was amazing, my crew, no mistakes on pit road all day. Really blessed to be here right now, I’m so excited!”

    Talladega Superspeedway was the beginning of the Round of 6 in the 2019 Playoffs. After an unfortunate outcome at Vegas, Matt Crafton qualified on the pole. Among the other five playoff drivers Tyler Ankrum qualified second, Brett Moffitt was eighth, Stewart Friesen was 10th, Austin Hill qualified 13th and Ross Chastain will start in 17th.

    Stages were 20/20/54 to make up the 94 lap race. Jordan Anderson was the only driver sent to the rear after missing the driver’s meeting.

    Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 20

    The first caution of the race came out on Lap 8 for the No. 18 of Harrison Burton who spun around in the tri-oval. Ross Chastain had to come down pit road after having a flat tire. There was no major damage to either truck. The red flag eventually was flown as the No. 33 of Mason Massey blew up which caused an extensive cleanup.

    Stage 1 went back green on Lap 14 and it remained green the rest of the way until Lap 20 with
    Sheldon Creed taking the stage victory. Moffitt, Chastain, John Hunter Nemechek, Friesen, Riley Herbst, Hill, Ben Rhodes, Todd Gilliland and Austin Wayne Self rounded out the top-10 finishers for Stage 1.

    Stage 2: Lap 26- Lap 40

    Chastain was the race leader to begin the stage as he stayed out under the stage yellow. Speaking of yellows, the second caution flew on Lap 29 for the No. 02 of Tyler Dippel who hit the wall on the backstretch after slight contact with Timothy Peters.

    Nemechek also had damage to his hood after a few drivers ahead of him checked up. He eventually went to the garage and wound up with a disappointing 30th place finish.

    After the only caution for Stage 2, the leaders were able to race out until Lap 40. Grant Enfinger played strategy by pitting with three to go and assumed the lead when Stage 3 began.

    This time around, Friesen ended up winning the stage. Moffitt, Wayne Self, Creed, Sauter, Ankrum, Gus Dean, Anthony Alfredo, Gilliland and Crafton were the top-10 finishers for Stage 2.

    Stage 3: Lap 46- Lap 98

    A few laps after Stage 3, technical teammates, Friesen and Moffitt were penalized for locking bumpers and had to serve a pass-through penalty.

    On Lap 65, the final round of green-flag pit stops began. There were no incidents, other than Clay Greenfield, Ankrum, Friesen and Moffitt who were penalized for being too fast on pit road. After the stops cycled out, Sauter went back to the lead on Lap 74. However, just as soon as stops were done, a caution occurred on Lap 81 for Alfredo who spun prior to the tri-oval.

    This set up a restart with eight to go and another caution flag was flown on Lap 87 for a wreck in Turn 4. Chastain went to throw a block to protect the lead but ended up wrecking instead. Codie Rohrbaugh, Timothy Peters, Natalie Decker, Greenfield, Bryan Dauzat and Enfinger were all involved. The red flag was brought out again for clean up.

    A late-race restart came with three to go but there was another caution for Dean and his No. 12 machine who went sliding and hit hard on the backstretch wall.

    Eventually, this set up an overtime restart with two to go. Sauter was out front and doing everything he needed to do to protect his lead for a possible race win. When the checkered flag flew on Lap 98, Sauter was the first truck to cross the line but it was later determined that he forced a truck (Herbst) under the yellow line coming to the finish, which is not allowed.

    Because of this, Sauter did not end up winning and it was later determined that Boyd won instead.

    “I knew we could draft up and make a lot of moves, and take the surges pretty easily, it felt really good,” Boyd added to MRN Radio. “We could go from 20th to fifth, back to 20th and we rode for a little bit. The next thing you know, my spotter Freddie, three to go, we’ve got to go and be aggressive when I tell you to fill a whole. We did it, we got to the middle and avoided that wreck, that was crazy. We were taking the runs when we could, I pushed the 51 (Herbst), just pushing them was exciting. Then I was in second and Johnny was up there doing his thing and we ended up winning at the end of the day.”

    “I’ll take the call, four years ago I was selling cars. For me to be in NASCAR’s victory lane is amazing, my family has done so much.”

    Boyd just led one lap and it was the last one, which was the most important one. Sauter, who was the original victor ended up 14th.

    There were seven cautions for 29 laps and two red flags that slowed the Sugarland Shines 250. There were 24 lead changes among 15 drivers.

    Playoff Standings

    1. Brett Moffitt, +45
    2. Stewart Friesen, +22
    3. Austin Hill, +12
    4. Matt Crafton, +1
      Below the cut line
    5. Tyler Ankrum, -1
    6. Ross Chastain, -2

    Official Results

    1. Spencer Boyd, led one lap
    2. Todd Gilliland
    3. Riley Herbst
    4. Brett Moffitt, led seven laps
    5. Stewart Friesen, led eight laps
    6. Austin Hill, led two laps
    7. Tyler Ankrum, led six laps
    8. Matt Crafton, led one lap
    9. Sheldon Creed, led 20 laps
    10. Grant Enfinger, led three laps
    11. Harrison Burton
    12. Ben Rhodes
    13. Korbin Forrister
    14. Johnny Sauter, led 28 laps
    15. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down
    16. Natalie Decker, one lap down
    17. Bryan Dauzat, one lap down
    18. Norm Benning, two laps down
    19. Jesse Iwuji, two laps down
    20. Gus Dean, OUT, Crash
    21. Jordan Anderson, eight laps down
    22. Ross Chastain, OUT, Crash
    23. Timothy Peters, OUT, Crash
    24. Codie Rohrbaugh, OUT, Crash
    25. Clay Greenfield, OUT, Crash
    26. Brennan Poole, OUT, Rear end
    27. Jennifer Jo Cobb, OUT, 19 laps down
    28. Angela Ruch, OUT, Engine
    29. Austin Wayne Self, OUT, Overheating
    30. John Hunter Nemechek, OUT, Radiator
    31. Tyler Dippel, OUT, Crash
    32. Mason Massey, OUT, Engine

    Up Next: The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series takes a couple of weeks off once more before returning to the track on Saturday, October 26.

  • Schedules announced for 2020 ARCA season

    Schedules announced for 2020 ARCA season

    The ARCA Menards Series officials announced today the 2020 race schedule as well as the ARCA Showdown schedule.

    While there are a few notables that are no longer on the schedule, specifically Five Flags Speedway and Nashville, nothing major has really changed. But, there are a few additions to the schedule.

    For the first time ever, ARCA will compete at ISM Raceway on the March 6 weekend for the second race on the schedule. Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course has also been added to the series schedule along with Bristol Motor Speedway, Memphis International Raceway and Watkins Glen International. Otherwise, there are not many changes to the schedule other than a few new tracks added that bring a breath of fresh air to the series.

    The Showdown follows the ARCA schedule that has 10 races. ISM Raceway, Salem Speedway, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lucas Oil Raceway, Elko Speedway, Iowa Speedway, WWT Raceway at Gateway, Watkins Glen, Bristol and the season finale at Memphis for the 10-race showdown.

    “We are very proud of the quality of our 2020 schedule. There are many traditional ARCA Menards Series races blended with races that have been very strong components of what is now the ARCA Menards Series East and ARCA Menards Series West,” said ARCA president Ron Drager. “We are also working on the schedules for the East and West divisions, and we think our drivers, teams, and fans all over the country will be pleased with the way everything has come together.”

    2020 ARCA Menards Series Schedule

    Saturday, February 8- Daytona International Speedway
    Friday, March 6- ISM Raceway
    Sunday, April 19- Salem Speedway
    Friday, April 24- Talladega Superspeedway
    Thursday, May 21- Charlotte Motor Speedway
    Friday, May 29- Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
    Friday, June 5- Michigan International Speedway
    Thursday, June 18- Chicagoland Speedway
    Thursday, June 25- Pocono Raceway
    Friday, July 3- Lucas Oil Raceway
    Saturday, July 11- Elko Speedway
    Friday, July 17- Iowa Speedway
    Saturday, August 1- WWT Raceway at Gateway
    Friday, August 7- Madison International Speedway
    Friday, August 18- Watkins Glen International
    Sunday, Aug 23- Springfield Mile at Illinois State Fairgrounds
    Saturday, Sept. 5- Magic Mile at DuQuoin State Fairgrounds
    Thursday, Sept 17- Bristol Motor Speedway
    Saturday, Sept 26- Memphis International Raceway
    Friday, Oct 16- Kansas Speedway

    2020 ARCA Showdown Schedule

    Friday, March 6- ISM Raceway
    Sunday, April 19- Salem Speedway
    Friday, May 29- Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
    Friday, July 3- Lucas Oil Raceway
    Saturday, July 11- Elko Speedway
    Friday, July 17- Iowa Speedway
    Saturday, Aug 1- WWT Raceway at Gateway
    Friday, Aug 18- Watkins Glen International
    Thursday, Sept 17- Bristol Motor Speedway
    Saturday Sept 26- Memphis International Raceway

    The TV Schedule has yet to be announced for these races, but for now, eight races are going to be seen on FOX Sports 1 and 2 while there will be 12 races on MAVTV.

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Talladega

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Talladega

    After well over a month off, the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series gets back on track this Saturday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway to begin the Round of Six where should a playoff driver win, they’ll be locked in into the Championship Four at Homestead-Miami Speedway. However, if a Playoff driver doesn’t have a good run there, it will definitely hurt their chances going forward in hopes of making that final round and competing for a championship.

    Looking back at the previous race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, well over a month ago at Vegas, which was the final race of the first round in the playoffs. Playoff driver Austin Hill was able to win and advanced to the next round. While Hill found himself victorious, other drivers were left frustrated, including the ThorSport Racing group.

    All three of ThorSport’s Playoff drivers (Grant Enfinger, Johnny Sauter, and Matt Crafton) were out of the race early due to engine failures. Enfinger and Sauter ultimately failed to make the round, while Crafton was still able to move on. ThorSport sent a request in to NASCAR in hopes for NASCAR to include their eliminated trucks in the next round, but their request was denied. In doing so, Crafton is the only driver out of that stable that moves on. The other Playoff drivers are Hill, Ross Chastain, Brett Moffitt, Tyler Ankrum and Stewart Friesen all with championship hopes still in play.

    With that in mind, there are 32 trucks entered on the preliminary entry list this week, which means no drivers will miss the field on Saturday morning for qualifying. Talladega provides a unique opportunity for those to have yet find victory lane, not to mention the possibility for an upset winner such as Mike Wallace in 2011 and Parker Kligerman in 2017.

    But who has the greatest chance of winning on Saturday? Here’s a look at five drivers who could win on Saturday afternoon in ‘Dega.

    1. Grant Enfinger- It’s a home race for Grant Enfinger and his No. 98 ThorSport Racing team. Enfinger was born in Fairhope, Alabama, just five hours from the track, but still has a lot of family and friends around the area. With the disappointment of Vegas in the rear view mirror, one can only think the Alabama native is hungry to win at his home track. Enfinger has an up and down track record at Talladega; he has just five starts with a victory here in 2016. However, for his starts with ThorSport, it’s been decent at best. In 2017, Enfinger finished fourth at the 2.66-mile superspeedway while he finished 19th in last years race. He holds an average finish of 11.6 at Talladega, but considering he ran second at Daytona earlier this year he is a formidable enough threat for another superspeedway win on Saturday.

    2. Stewart Friesen- Friesen isn’t really considered an upset, but he maybe a surprise winner this weekend. The Canadian native has two starts at Talladega with a best finish of sixth in last years race. While he may not be considered a superspeedway raceer, Friesen just may quietly win his way into the Championship Four by winning on Saturday.

    3. Brennan Poole- Poole is making his first truck start at Talladega this weekend in the No. 30 machine. While he does not have any starts in the Truck Series here, Poole does have some success in other series at this track. His best finish at Talladega was third in the XFINITY Series in 2016, where he originally won the race coming to the line. However, the win was taken away after a video review by NASCAR officials. In the ARCA Series he has a best finish of eighth at Talladega driving for Venturini Motorsports in 2012. Should the opportunity for success arise, Poole might be the one that takes advantage of it.

    4. Gus Dean- Dean maybe a surprise winner this weekend, but not a surprise to people who followed his ARCA career. Dean won in the ARCA competition at Talladega nearly three years ago. His other starts have fared well, with finishes of sixth in 2017, 12th in 2018, and sixth again in this year’s race back in spring. The Bluffton, South Carolina native has just one superspeedway start in the Truck Series that came back in February at Daytona, where Dean finished 15th due to a crash. Keep an eye on Dean, who is a well-known superspeedway racer.

    5. Timothy Peters- Peters is back in the Truck Series field this weekend in the No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports entry. The Providence, North Carolina native is the defending race winner. Peters was able to escape the last lap chaos in last year’s event, where he dodged spinning trucks to win his first Truck Series race since 2015. His track record speaks for itself, with three wins, five top fives and six top-10 finishes, and a 9.0 average finish. Two of those wins were back-to-back (2014-15).

    Other drivers on the entry list include the return of the No. 7 All Out Motorsports team driven by Korbin Forrister, John Hunter Nemechek in the family owned NEMCO Motorsports No. 8 Chevy, Bryan Dauzat in the No. 28 Chevy, Riley Herbst in the No. 51 Toyota, and Clay Greenfield in his own No. 68 Truck.

    Talladega Superspeedway has seen 13 NGOTS races dating back to its first race in 2006. Winners are Mark Martin, Todd Bodine (twice), Kyle Busch (twice), Parker Kligerman (twice), Johnny Sauter, Timothy Peters (three times), Mike Wallace and Grant Enfinger.

    The race winner has come from the pole just three times (2006, 2007, 2015). The lowest a race winner has ever started was 26th back in 2014.

    Toyota is the winningest manufacturer with nine wins, followed by Chevrolet with three and Ford with one win.

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series starts the weekend on Friday afternoon with two practice sessions. The first practice is scheduled at 11:35 a.m./ET and final practice at 2:35 p.m./ET with no live TV coverage.

    Qualifying is early Saturday morning at 10:35 a.m./ET live on Fox Sports 1.

    The Sugarlands Shine 250 is scheduled for Saturday afternoon shortly after 1:30 p.m./ET live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. Stages will be 20/20/54 to make up the 94 lap race.

  • Truex falls short at Dover after pit stop mistake

    Truex falls short at Dover after pit stop mistake

    He didn’t quite have the best car or the dominating car, but Martin Truex Jr. was there at the end in case Kyle Larson would happen to make a mistake and leave an opening.

    Truex Jr had a decent car at Dover International Speedway, taking the lead away from his teammate Denny Hamlin on Lap 229. It would be the only time that Truex was out front. When he took the Stage 2 win, one of the No. 19 pit crew members slipped while coming around to change the right rear tire. The stop would eventually cost Truex the race win.

    It caused Truex to lose a couple of spots on pit road. It was just enough and he was unable to take the lead from Larson and challenge him for the race win. He did have a little bit of help in the late stages but he ultimately fell short and wound up second.

    “Just ran out of time there,” Truex Jr told MRN Radio. “Got bobbled up in traffic pretty good and so did the 42 (Larson). We just really ran out of time. We were six seconds back after the pit stop. At the end, we were maybe one. We did a good job of gaining on them but it’s always gaining on the leader but a harder time with the lap guys. The same thing being said, I caught some at the end and they weren’t very courteous. It’s just the way it goes.”

    “We had a very fast car, our Bass Pro Toyota was strong. We had a shot at winning for sure. It’s the playoffs, it’s the best of the best and one little tiny mistake like that, five positions or whatever on the restart, it’s game over. I hate that it happened, but I know our guys are working hard to get it cleaned up. Overall, it was a really good points day. Just go to Talladega next week and hopefully, we can at least make it to the finish, which we haven’t been good at there. I’m feeling good going forward and looking forward to Kansas as well.”

    The second-place finish was Truex’s 13th top five of the season.