Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Author: Joseph Shelton

NASCAR Rookie Rundown following Pocono/Iowa

With NASCAR’s national touring divisions edging closer toward their respective Playoffs, the top rookies in each division are clamoring to stake their spots in their championship races. The rookie race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is contained among three drivers (Ryan Preece, Daniel Hemric, and Matt Tifft) who are racing more among themselves, while Xfinity Series rookies have finally broken into the win column following Chase Briscoe’s win at Iowa.

The same can be said for the Gander Outdoors Truck Series, as Tyler Ankrum scored his first win at Kentucky, highlighting what has been an up-and-down season for the 18-year-old Californian. The win definitely gives momentum over fellow Truck standouts Sheldon Creed and Harrison Burton.

MENCS – Richard Childress Racing driver Hemric has started to come around as the season has progressed, as evidenced by his Pocono finish on Sunday where he finished seventh. His second top-10 of 2019 comes ahead of some stout runs in recent weeks where, with the exception of Kentucky and Loudon, he’s been lingering in the top-20. This includes a streak from the June Pocono race to Daytona where he finished as high as 12th, but no lower than 19th.

The No. 8 Luke Lambert-led team has had speed on the mile-and-a-half speedways, as Hemric qualified third at Chicago, but now it’s a matter of connecting the dots for Hemric as the team is still in its building phase.

Meanwhile, performance in Preece’s JTG-Daugherty Racing camp has remained a constant, running in the top-25 unless sidetracked with issues both on-track and mechanical. He’s shown that his primary strength lies in superspeedways, although his third-best finish of 2019 was a 16th at Martinsville. Other than that, it’s that consistency that might keep him from a Rookie of the Year victory. Still, being a rookie is about learning and growing, and given time Preece may become a contender. But there’s a ceiling at JTG-Daugherty, and he may be hitting it right now with Tristan Smith.

Meanwhile, at Front Row Motorsports, there is definite improvement for Tifft. He’s made it easy on his team, only being slowed by two DNFs in 21 starts, and as a result, he was able to boost his career-best finish from a 20th at Phoenix to a ninth-place run at Daytona. A recent Crew Chief swap with teammate David Ragan sent season-long CC Mike Kelley to the 34 while Seth Barbour helped lead Tifft’s No. 36 to one of its better outings of the season as they finished 23rd at Pocono, a week after the team finished 24th at Loudon.

The No. 36 Mustang has been finishing in the top-30 every race since Michigan, and although that isn’t saying much when compared to the other rookies on this, for a completely new team that was formed before the season began it’s definitely a step forward. At this rate, it isn’t unreasonable to expect regular top-25s out of that camp in the near future.

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 98 Ford Performance Ford, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway on July 27, 2019 in Newton, Iowa. Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images.

Xfinity – The Xfinity Series rookie race has now yielded a race winner, as Briscoe joined his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Cole Custer as a winner this season when he won at Iowa. Briscoe is not only a weekly contender; he’s also a championship favorite now as he’s scored a win, eight top-fives, and 14 top-10s in 19 starts. He isn’t just consistent; he’s strong. He’s been in or among the leaders weekly, and there’s little doubt that Iowa will be his only win this season.

Meanwhile, the best result JR Motorsports rookie Noah Gragson has been able to put together was a second at Michigan, but considering JRM has gone from division powerhouse to not breaking into the win column yet this season isn’t Gragson’s fault. Still, four top-fives and 11 top-10s in 19 starts is nothing to frown at as a rookie. He’s only finished off of the lead lap in four races, but one of those was a sixth at Kentucky, so it isn’t for lack of effort. He’s been consistent, but the JRM strength isn’t there.

It’ll be interesting to see where the No. 11 of Justin Haley goes from this point on this season. He’s been as strong as the top rookies in the division this season, but following the death of Crew Chief Nick Harrison, the team will no doubt be faced with a firmer resolve to succeed in his honor. He’s currently ninth in points with two top-fives and 14 top-10s in 19 starts this season, including an eighth at Iowa with Interim CC Alex Yontz (who also led the team to a 10th at Michigan).

Haley came close to victory at Daytona, proving the No. 11 Kaulig Racing team has the strength and resolve to contend for wins, and as good as Haley is with his equipment (zero DNFs in 2019), it’ll be no surprise when he does score a win.

John Hunter Nemechek has had a roller coaster rookie campaign in 2019. He has three top-fives (including a second at Las Vegas) and 11 top-10s in 19 starts but sits in 10th in the standings as he’s been sidelined with three crash DNFs. He placed third at Iowa, and considering he knows what it takes to win in the series and run near the front, he’ll post more strong finishes this season.

However there’s a catch: GMS Racing’s Xfinity effort isn’t as strong as Ganassi Racing’s 2018 Xfinity effort was, as Nemechek was a Ganassi development driver when he won at Kansas last year. He can get a win, and GMS has an Xfinity Series win, and he’s come close this season to Victory Lane, but it’ll take a little more luck than it did last season to seal the deal.

Harrison Burton goes inside of GMS Racing driver Brett Moffitt at Pocono. Photo by Kirk Schroll

NGOTS – Harrison Burton still continues to lead the Truck Series rookie class with seven top-fives and nine top-10s in 14 starts, which currently leaves him fifth in points with his No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports team. Despite the strong showings, though, he can’t seem to finish any higher than third-place, a feat he’s accomplished four times this season.

It’s granted that Burton feels a bit of pressure in his role as a full-time rookie; he’s with a championship-winning organization that has yielded some of the hottest names in NASCAR in recent memory. There’s also pressure considering that the No. 18 is the flagship entry in an organization that has put it in Victory Lane countless times. But unlike his snake-bitten teammate Todd Gilliland, Burton stands a higher chance of placing strongly in the Playoffs and even scoring a win.

Sheldon Creed, however, is not too far behind Burton; with four top-10s he’s currently ninth in points. There’s still pressure on him as he is with a championship-winning organization as well, not to mention his teammate, defending champion Brett Moffitt, has already won twice this year. But Creed needs to exercise a modicum of balance. He’s aggressive behind the wheel, and although it’s nice that there’s a driver who is up on the wheel and ready to get the job done, he’s put himself in situations that have left him with a wrecked truck.

He’s been up front a lot in 2019 and led a lot of laps, so it’s not entirely impossible he parks it in Victory Lane by the end of the season.

Tyler Dippel has definitely been on the underdog side of things, as he’s managed to put himself in the top-15 more often than not. His season highlight so far was when he finished eighth in the first Texas race of 2019, but aside from that his No. 02 Young’s Motorsports entry has only finished outside the top-25 once this season (a crash at Daytona left him in 29th). He’s quietly consistent, and although his equipment may not be top-notch, he’s posting good, solid results that could land him a ride with a solid team down the road.

Tyler Ankrum, on the other hand, got a late start on the season driving for DGR-Crosley Racing, and he’s making up for it in spades. Despite losing a sponsor and being relegated to a couple of appearances in Joe Nemechek’s No. 87, he’s scored a win at Kentucky as well as three top-fives and five top-10s. At Pocono on Saturday he put his No. 17 Toyota in the runner-up spot to Ross Chastain, scoring his second-straight top-two finish, thus showing that the young Californian means business.

Ankrum keeps his equipment together and stays out of wrecks (his save at Texas in June was nothing short of legendary), and considering the No. 17 has momentum he could very well win again this season. If their sponsorship issues can get squared up soon, he could post some more strong results when the Playoffs come around.

July 30, 2019
Modified standout Seuss places solid 28th in Cup debut

NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified standout and New Hampshire native Andy Seuss made his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut at his home track of New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301, finishing 10 laps down in 28th after starting 35th, driving the No. 51 Jacob Companies Ford for Rick Ware Racing.

Seuss posted a respectable performance, giving the RWR organization their best finish in four Loudon starts.

“It was absolutely incredible,” Seuss said. “I didn’t want to get ahead of myself going into it, but we met all our goals. I kept the car in one piece and finished ahead of the team’s average finish. The (Rick Ware Racing) team hadn’t finished a race here before, so that was cool.”

Despite being 10 miles-per-hour slower than the leaders, Seuss made sure to stay out of the way of the leaders, keeping his car in one piece and making sure to take care of the equipment of the car.

Seuss made it clear that he wanted to share this moment with his family and friends, thanking everyone involved and making sure to enjoy it, noting that drivers don’t have too many days to do so after their Cup debut. But at the same time, Seuss hopes that his performance Sunday was enough to get the attention of other prospective teams even though he doesn’t know if he’ll get any future opportunities in the Cup garage.

“I’m treating this as my debut and my retirement because you never know if there’s another one,” he said. “A long time ago, somebody said that out of all the people in the world, only 40 get to do this on the weekend. It’s pretty cool to be one of those 40.”

Seuss also noted the experience as a learning curve, saying that he thought he was twice the driver for a Cup car at the end of the race than he was at the beginning of the race. He believes that played a role in his final result.

Seuss’s RWR teammate Austin Theriault also made his Cup debut Sunday, where the Maine native finished 35th when his day ended early.

July 23, 2019
Newgarden leads most laps, wins Iowa 300

Josef Newgarden again led the most laps at Iowa for the fourth time in the last five years. Only this time, he was able to seal the deal and take the checkered flag after leading 245 of the race’s 300 laps after the race was delayed due to thunderstorms in the area for four-and-a-half hours, pushing the start of the race to 11:45 p.m. ET.

The race was again delayed briefly on lap 55 for another shower, but the race was resumed shortly after, in which Newgarden was able to dominate and win at Iowa for the second time since 2016 when he led 282 laps in an Ed Carpenter Racing machine.

“Let me thank the fans that stayed. I’m sorry it took so long but I’m glad we got it in tonight,” said Newgarden. “My guys were awesome on the Hitachi car. Team Penske. Team Chevy. I can’t thank them enough. We had three fast cars. I wanted to be the fastest. We succeeded tonight.

“The car was great. You had to be good in traffic. And we were pumped for the guys. They worked really hard. It was nice to have it under the lights. I think if the weather didn’t come, we weren’t going to be under the lights.”

Defending series champion Scott Dixon finished in second while defending event champion James Hinchcliffe finished third. Newgarden’s Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud finished fourth after starting on the pole. Spencer Pigot finished fifth, while Alexander Rossi, Zach Veach, Graham Rahal, Sebastien Bourdais, and Tony Kanaan rounded out the top-10.

Will Power, driving the third Team Penske car, started second and led 49 laps before experiencing difficulties that left him one lap down in 15th.

“I went a bit wide getting onto pit road and then you get into the marbles,” said Power. “Once you get your tires dirty it is impossible to drive and I really had no chance. It was an unfortunate end to a pretty strong day for the No. 12 Verizon Chevy team. We jumped out to the lead early before Josef got around us. He was pretty strong tonight but we definitely had a podium night tonight before the pit road penalty.”

The race was slowed five times for 45 laps, including a yellow on lap one for a yellow start. The second yellow came out on lap 18 when the No. 31 of Sage Karam made contact in Turn 4. Rain slowed the race on lap 51 before the red flag flew on lap 55. The fourth caution flew on lap 187 for 12 laps when Karam and the No. 30 of Takuma Sato made contact in Turn 4. The fifth and final caution flew on lap 264 for 10 laps when the No. 20 of Ed Carpenter brought out the caution in Turn 2.

There were seven lead changes among five drivers, while the race ran one hour and 56 minutes.

The series next visits Mid-Ohio on July 28 for the Honda Indy 200, which will air on NBC and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network at 3:30 p.m. ET. Rossi dominated last year’s event, but considering the race has seen six different winners in six races, it’s likely that there could be a different winner in 2019.

July 21, 2019
Busch’s win indicative of Chevrolet resurgence in the Cup Series

By winning in Kentucky on Saturday night, Kurt Busch and his Ganassi Racing team solidified the speculation that the Chevy teams in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series have returned to competitive form.

This, after a disastrous 2018 for the manufacturer that only saw two drivers win four races (Austin Dillon – 1, Chase Elliott – 3) and a long dry spell in 2019 broken up by Elliott’s win at Talladega before winning three straight (Alex Bowman – Chicagoland, Justin Haley – Daytona, Busch – Kentucky).

Elliott’s win seemingly opened a stretch where it appeared that Chevrolets were finally on the verge of turning things around. At Talladega, six of the top-10 drivers were Chevrolet drivers, including runner-up Bowman and rookies Ryan Preece and Daniel Hemric, both of whom finished in the top-five. Bowman would score two more runner-up finishes in the next two races before scoring a seventh at Charlotte. He scored another top-10 at Michigan before scoring his big win at Chicagoland.

Elliott has also had several stout runs since winning at Talladega, following it up with four straight top-fives. He’s since run into some issues, but the finishes aren’t indicative of his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team’s performance. Meanwhile, Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron is having a strong sophomore season, scoring three poles and six top-10s in 2019, including a runner-up finish at Daytona last weekend.

Speaking of Daytona, five of the top-10 finishers were Chevrolet drivers including race winner Haley. As a matter of fact, the top-four finishers were Chevrolets (Haley, Byron, Jimmie Johnson, Ty Dillon). Although rain played a factor in calling the race, Chevrolets did seem to have the field in hand, leading 60 of the 127 laps run, including 46 by Austin Dillon.

Although he sits 13th in points, Kurt Busch’s teammate Kyle Larson has also rattled off some strong runs, including a win in the non-points All-Star race at Charlotte. He’s scored a pole (Sonoma), three top-fives, and seven top-10s, but four DNFs have kept the No. 42 Ganassi Racing team from truly scoring the results the team deserves. Meanwhile, the No. 1 team has been a consistent force on a weekly basis, scoring four more top-fives and 10 more top-10s to go along with his Kentucky win.

All of this is in contrast to some of the teams that were dominant one year ago, notably Stewart-Haas Racing. SHR Fords won 12 races in 2018, but are winless so far in 2019. Compared to the win total of teams like Hendrick, who was winless at this point a year ago, ditto Ganassi, and it’s safe to say the Chevrolet camp has caught up and are now actually competing with the Fords and the Toyotas.

Granted, there are hurdles to cover, such as the 10 wins from Joe Gibbs Racing and the five wins from Team Penske. But Chevrolet has started a trend in 2019, and if it keeps up the momentum it has been building during the spring/summer stretch, names like Larson, Elliott, and Byron could find Victory Lane before season’s end. There may even be a glimpse of a certain seven-time Cup champion parking it in the Winner’s Circle. Time will tell for sure heading into Loudon next weekend.

July 14, 2019
Custer takes Kentucky for fifth Xfinity win of 2019

Cole Custer took the Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway Friday night, leading 88 of the 200 scheduled laps to take his fifth NASCAR Xfinity Series win of 2019. The win gives him the most wins of anyone this season, breaking the tie with Christopher Bell, who has four so far in 2019.

Bell finished second in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, while Tyler Reddick took home third, Michael Annett finished fourth, and Chase Briscoe finished fifth. Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Truex, Ryan Sieg, and Justin Haley rounded out the top-10. The race was slowed by five cautions for 24 laps, with 14 lead changes among eight drivers.

“It’s been unbelievable,” said Custer. “This one just goes to my team. That car was just unbelievable, and they knew exactly what to do with it when the track changed, and I was just lucky to drive it there at the end.”

When asked if he could have gotten by Bell late in the going, Custer was clear that it would have been a challenge.

“It is hard to say,” said Custer. “At that point, I thought I would. He was close enough to us in lap time that I thought if he got the lead at that point it would have been really hard to get back by him. Dirty air is always a little bit of a factor here. I don’t know if the PJ1 really made it better or worse tonight. It may have made it a little better. Clean air is always key.”

Mike Shiplett, Crew Chief for the No. 00, was clear that he could sense Custer’s growing maturity and confidence.

“I think every time he gets in the race car he just gets a little bit better just in the way he communicates with us and the way he keeps focusing forward and driving,” said Shiplett. “He is doing a great job. I am proud of him.”

Third-place finisher Reddick scored his first top-five finish since winning at Michigan, which capped a 10-race stretch where he finished no worse than fourth. He won three times during that stretch (Talladega, Charlotte, Michigan), but in the three races prior to Kentucky, his best finish was ninth at Chicago.

“After the last couple of weeks, we needed a solid race like tonight to get back into our groove,” said Reddick. “The balance was tricky to get figured out tonight. Firing off to start the race, I was just way too loose and would fall back on any restarts. We’d build tight the longer we went in a run, but it was just a little too late to contend for the lead at the end of the stages.”

Austin Cindric, who currently sits fourth in points, had an up-and-down day as well. Despite starting on the pole and leading a lap late in the going, a lap 56 spin ended with him gently backing into the wall. He would go on to finish 14th, two laps down.

Another front-runner who faced adversity was JGR driver Brandon Jones. Jones led 12 laps early in the going after starting sixth. However, an engine failure on lap 106 netted him a 30th-place finish and his second-straight DNF. His sixth DNF of 2019 leaves him on the Playoff bubble in 12th.

The series heads into Loudon on July 20, as the ROXOR 200 will air at 4 p.m. EST on NBCSN.

July 13, 2019
Opinion: Haley’s Win A Win for NASCAR Regardless Of Spire’s Business Model

In this day and age it’s not very often an underdog actually defies the odds and wins big in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. It’s far more likely in the lower divisions, but to see it in Cup is a borderline rarity.

Sure, at Chicagoland Alex Bowman scored the win. Last season, Chase Elliott and Erik Jones scored their first wins. In 2017 Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Ryan Blaney all scored their first wins. But each of those drivers compete for established organizations in Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing, Roush-Fenway Racing, and Wood Brothers Racing. Each team has solid backing and solid footing in the sport. But when a freshly formed team like Spire Motorsports manages to put a driver in Victory Lane despite claims that they’re nothing more than a solid money grab, the underdog ranking goes up a few notches.

During the red flag period at the end of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona which led to Justin Haley’s first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win in only his third attempt, social media on Twitter, Facebook, and even Reddit seemed to be torn between excitement over a true surprise winner in the Spire Motorsports organization and frustration how a sports agency managed to buy a charter just to grab some money, at least according to a few media pundits.

Regardless of Spire’s true intentions, be it to build their team up into an actual competitor or to make a few bucks, the fact still remains that they have every right to be on the track. They bought the equipment, they formed the crew, they established the business side of the race team, and they put different drivers behind the wheel. For that matter they’ve managed to not just enter the race but actually put themselves in positions to be consistent and post decent runs, most notably with Haley. They’re a new team, so to go on Twitter and angrily pound out a tweet because it’s just so wrong and dumb that a cash grab team can win a race; don’t hate the player, hate the game. The No. 77 is right where it’s supposed to be on track.

NASCAR isn’t even to fault for the win. Sure, Daytona has lights and a boatload of jet dryers leased out from other speedways for the event weekend. But after being pushed back a day, who in their right mind would want to stick around four, six, eight more hours just to finish 30+ more laps? The race was almost through, and Peter Sospenzo, who is not a slouch on the pit box, made the calls he needed to make to score the win for his team. Nothing was lost by calling the race. Nothing was hurt.

In the moments after the race was called, Haley’s name was trending third worldwide on Twitter, a testimony to just how big of an upset this was. Some compared it to the Derrike Cope win at Daytona in 1990, while others compared it to Trevor Bayne’s Daytona win in 2011. Some even compared it to Jamie McMurray’s Charlotte win in 2002. Ultimately, as this is an opinion piece, it has to be said that this win is more like Greg Sacks winning at Daytona in July 1985. The No. 10 of Sacks was nothing more than a research and development entry for DiGard Motorsports but since it was actually contending for the lead they changed their approach from parking the car to letting Sacks go for the win, which he did.

Similar concept for Spire and Haley. They were on track just to earn some experience and to give Haley some track time as it was only his third start in Cup. But just as it was at Talladega in his Cup debut, Haley kept himself within sight of the leaders. That proved to be the deciding factor when the red flag was dropped, and now Haley is a Cup Series winner.

The world loves an underdog. This, after steady weeks of the same teams winning race after race which is bound to resume once the series hits Kentucky, is an undying fact. There wouldn’t be this much of a buzz if it were anyone else. But it wasn’t anyone else; it was Spire Motorsports and Haley, a duo that wasn’t really supposed to be in the Winner’s Circle, let alone at Daytona, but accomplished that anyway. The little team that wasn’t supposed to win did just that by impeccable strategy and an insane amount of luck.

That’s not an unfamiliar story in NASCAR, and it’s a story that’s just as solid as many, many more over the years. So social media can keep on talking, saying that Spire is in the sport only for the money, that the team was undeserving, that they didn’t earn the win. It doesn’t matter; Haley and Spire are still the 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400 winners.

More importantly, NASCAR once again has a true underdog victory in it’s ranks.

July 8, 2019
Sauter-Hill Dustup at Iowa Should Lead To Suspension for Sauter

NASCAR is once again in another rock-and-a-hard-place scenario where they could possibly be suspending a driver for a reckless retaliatory move during a caution. NASCAR’s punishments have been wildly inconsistent when it comes to situations like these, although one may argue that they handle it on a case-by-case basis.

That said, regardless of case-by-case or situational inconsistencies, Johnny Sauter’s temper could lead to him having to sit out a race or two, not unlike Matt Kenseth following his Martinsville punt of Joey Logano in 2015. Sauter’s retaliation on Austin Hill didn’t knock Hill’s No. 16 out of the race, but it was still at speed under caution, which in itself is a no-no.

One could say Sauter brought this on himself. He was frustrated with slower traffic in Hill and bumped him out of the way, as one does on a smaller track. Hill returned the favor a bit too hard, sending Sauter into the wall. Was the ball in Hill’s court at this point? Yes. Could Sauter have held off until after the race to let Hill have it? If only.

Instead, Sauter made a point to chase Hill down, ram him, put him in the wall, ram him again, and push his truck a distance on the track, under the caution. In this case, Sauter is now the one who made a mistake, and now it is Sauter who must face repercussions. Every action has a consequence, and as unfair as he may think it is, the sanctioning body must act.

For that matter, what he did was wrong and not thought out at all. He acted on impulse, which isn’t something that should be done in a race car. Chasing another driver down just to ram them and try to wreck their vehicle out of anger is an extremely careless action, and is a slap in the face to the team back at the shop, who already have to take care of otherwise unintentional damage. That’s added work that didn’t need to be in the first place, and isn’t it the driver’s job to take care of their equipment?

Sauter is an extremely capable driver who knows how to achieve success behind the wheel. He’s a champion with an amazing record in the sport as is. But that said, he’s also a temperamental driver, and that’s a vulnerability. In that regard, a suspension could be the apt approach the sport could take.

It wasn’t a matter of Kenseth knocking the fire out of Logano, or Carl Edwards putting Brad Keselowski upside down at Atlanta in 2010. But it wasn’t Cole Custer/Austin Dillon at ISM Speedway in 2017, or Clint Bowyer/Ryan Newman at this year’s All-Star race at Charlotte. Sauter chased down Hill on the track during slowed racing conditions and tried to end Hill’s day. That’s something that the Kenseth/Logano precedent should cover with a suspension.

In a perfect world with a perfect approach, Sauter would have waited until the race was over to square up with Hill. Talk a little trash, shove a little bit, etc. Instead Sauter let his pride get the best of him and as a result shot himself and his ThorSport team in the proverbial foot; this is after Sauter snubbed Hill when the latter tried to approach him to discuss their contact from the previous week at Texas.

Regardless, it’s isn’t an enviable position that NASCAR is in. Sauter is one of the biggest names in the truck series, and he brings in his share of the fans. A race without Sauter in the trucks isn’t where NASCAR wants to be, but if it drives home the valid point that issues shouldn’t be settled with a bumper. Hopefully they’ll all learn their lesson when all is said and done.

June 17, 2019
NASCAR rookie rundown leading into Michigan/Texas race weekend

It’s past the halfway point in the 2019 NASCAR regular season, and so far the rookies across the three national divisions have been engaged in tight battles to be the supreme rookie in their division.

In the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Daniel Hemric and Ryan Preece have been neck and neck with each other, even if their results haven’t exactly wooed the NASCAR world. In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the rookie class is a lot deeper, as Chase Briscoe, John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Haley, and Noah Gragson have been posting some serious results on a regular basis. The 2019 Gander Outdoor Truck Series rookie class is in a similar vein, as Tyler Dippel, Sheldon Creed, Harrison Burton, and Gus Dean (among others) are also in a heated contest for rookie of the year honors.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

The Cup Series rookie race hasn’t been as deep as the other divisions this season. That said, Hemric and Preece have left fellow RotY contender Matt Tifft behind and are currently battling among themselves as Preece sits 25th in points with one top-five and two top-10s while he tails Hemric in 24th, who just has one top-five and one top-10. Tifft sits 31st in points with two top-20 finishes and three top-25 finishes yet hasn’t finished on the lead lap in 2019. Tifft managed to lead a lap at Kansas, where he finished 21st, but in this day and age leading laps even on strategy doesn’t account for much. Still, he’s a rookie with a new team and if there’s anything Bob Jenkins knows how to do with his Front Row team, it’s giving his drivers a solid foundation.

Prior to Daytona, it was all but a given that Hemric would run away with the RotY battle. Richard Childress Racing is an established championship team who has managed to put several drivers in Victory Lane, while the sole Cup victory for JTG Daugherty Racing came in 2014 at Watkins Glen with AJ Allmendinger. However, despite the RCR Chevys having had issues for years, it isn’t that Hemric is failing in his expectations or anything. It’s that Preece has managed to take his No. 47 Chevy and get more out of it than originally expected. He’s shown he’s a solid superspeedway driver, scoring a career-high of third at Talladega (the same race where Hemric got his first top-five).

Still, Preece holds three lead-lap finishes to Hemric’s two. But Hemric’s consistency has been his strength, as he holds six top-20 finishes to Preece’s four top-20 finishes. They’re both remarkably steady for Cup Series rookies, with both of them usually lingering in the upper mid-pack positions. That shouldn’t change at Michigan on Sunday, so expect these two to loiter around 15th-25th position during the race.

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Noah Gragson. Photo by Joseph Shelton

The rookie race in the Xfinity is a lot deeper and happen to be more viable threats for the win, aside from rookie Matt Mills, who is currently in the midst of trying to help his team gain traction in the garage. But one of the impressive underdog rookies happens to be Gray Gaulding, whose Bobby Dotter-owned race team scored a runner-up finish at Talladega, which was Gaulding’s career-best. Aside from that Gaulding has managed to put his No. 08 in the top-20 in 10 out of 12 starts this season, so if he’s able to maintain this it could be the start of something good for his team. They’re not going to contend for wins soon, but they will be knocking on the door to the top-10 sooner than later.

Meanwhile, drivers such as Briscoe, Haley, Gragson, and Nemechek are running at the front weekly, and it’s been fun watching to see who would gain the edge over the others. Right now it’s Briscoe, who sits sixth in points with six top fives and nine top-10s. He has a win to his credit, like Nemechek, but it came a year ago, also like Nemechek. This could prove to be a valuable psychological edge for Briscoe and Nemechek, as both have managed to establish themselves as championship threats. Nemechek holds a runner-up (Las Vegas) to Briscoe’s season best of third (Pocono), but he also sits seventh in points with two top fives and seven top-10s, a tally that he’s also short on compared to Briscoe. Still, Briscoe proves to be strong everywhere while Nemechek has yet to prove himself on other tracks. Unlike Briscoe, Nemechek has shown to be lacking on some of the faster tracks, but at the rate he’s going it’s something he can overcome soon.

Haley and Gragson are the only actual rookies in this class, and they’ve shown it. Gragson sits eighth in points with two top fives and five top-10s. In true JR Motorsports fashion, he’s a consistent front runner, but it’s the smaller tracks where he needs more work, as 22nd at Richmond and 19th at Dover. Otherwise, when he isn’t in the top-10 he’s running in the top-15: 11th at Daytona, Phoenix, and Talladega, 12th at Fontana, and 13th at Texas (pictured).

However, Haley’s proved to big a big rookie surprise. He sits in 10th in the points, but while he’s earned a solitary top-five (fifth at Charlotte), he holds nine top-10s. It’s a testament to his Kaulig Racing team, who although isn’t as high funded as other teams, holds an affiliation with RCR. That affiliation isn’t the sole reason Haley’s been near the front, but with their driver Tyler Reddick a consistent front runner and race winner, it’s obvious the affiliation isn’t hurting the team at all. Haley’s top-10s have come on a variety of tracks, so don’t be surprised if he manages to score another top-five or be a threat to win before the season is up.

NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series

Rookies Sheldon Creed (No. 2) and Harrison Burton (No. 18) go three-wide with Grant Enfinger. Photo by Brad Keppel

The rookie race in the truck series isn’t as impressive as the Xfinity Series, but that’s not to say that the racing isn’t impressive in its own right. Rookies Creed and Burton are currently leading the charge in the division, as they have both shown the most strength with their teams, who also happen to be the strongest teams in the Truck Series (Creed with GMS Racing, Burton with Kyle Busch Motorsports). They have yet to translate their runs into wins, but it isn’t for lack of trying. Burton has posted the best results with two top-fives and four top-10s, which places him in the ninth spot in the standings at the moment. Three of his four top-10s have come on 1.5-mile tracks, which are the bread-and-butter for KBM drivers.

What’s surprising about Creed is that although he holds a single top-10 (sixth at Las Vegas) and sits 10th in points, he’s actually led 92 laps over the span of three races (21 at Daytona, where he earned a stage win, 59 at Dover before a crash put him in 27th, and 12 at Kansas before finishing several laps down in 19th) and has shown to have a strong truck more often than not. However, his luck isn’t the greatest as a rookie: Despite having a season average starting spot of sixth, he has five finishes outside of the top-15 in eight starts this season. Patience would go a long way for Creed, and after a little more experience he’ll soon be posting finishing stats that equal his qualifying efforts.

Young Motorsports driver Dippel isn’t far behind Burton and Creed, as he sits 11th in points, also with a single top-10 (eighth at Texas). It’s been hit or miss for Dippel in 2019 though, as outside of that top-10, he only has three top-15 finishes. Otherwise, he’s been a solid mid-pack driver, with a 17th at Las Vegas, an 18th at Dover, and a 23rd at Martinsville. His DNF at Daytona where he finished 29th was his only one so far of the season, so it does seem like he takes good care of his equipment.

Dippel’s teammate Gus Dean has had a rough go of things though. The two-time ARCA race winner has yet to break the top-10 in a Truck race this season, but he holds four top-15 finishes in eight starts this season. Aside from troublesome finishes at Las Vegas and Charlotte where he finished 22nd and 26th, respectively, his DNFs at Martinsville and Texas where he finished 32nd and 29th respectively were nothing more than growing pains for the Young Motorsports organization. They’re steadily improving, so before too long Dippel and Dean could end up improving on their rookie season start soon.

The David Gilliland Racing stable has definitely been hot and cold in 2019. On the hot side, there’s Tyler Ankrum, who has earned two top-10s in five starts so far in 2019, with a season-best of sixth at Texas. He’s held strong runs regularly; his DNF at Charlotte where he finished 27th was his first time outside of the top-20. Otherwise, he’s very stout on the faster tracks. His run at Martinsville resulted in a 19th-place finish but considering it wasn’t any different from his 18th-place run there during his series debut it’s safe to say short tracks should provide a learning experience for him, one that he’s sure to accomplish.

The pairing of Anthony Alfredo and Chris Lawson is still in its infancy, but that’s not to say it hasn’t had its ups; Alfredo earned his first top-10 in his fourth start when he finished eighth at Charlotte. Considering that his last start before that ended up in a fiery crash at Texas, anything above that should be considered a success. He’s only made four truck starts, but he’s solidly been in the top-20 in every start he’s made with the exception of Texas. He still has several starts to go before he becomes established, but with that said Alfredo is a very capable driver.

The lone bust happens to be Natalie Decker. Granted, she’s made limited starts in her DGR Toyota, but she’s also been in a few easily avoidable incidents such as Kansas and Charlotte. Her DNF at Daytona was truly an incident beyond her control, and considering it’s Daytona she looked to build on her promising start of 11th. But running over debris which ended her day was not any fault of hers. The crashes and issues since are a little harder to justify. She’s a rookie, sure. But DGR Toyotas are very solid race cars, and she should have more promising results other than her 13th at Las Vegas.

She had a lot of hype following last year’s ARCA season where she finished seventh in points after scoring two top-fives and five top-10s, but that hasn’t translated so much in the truck series. She needs to stop being afraid of her truck and afraid of the competition if she is to learn like she’s supposed to be doing. Decker has proven capable in race cars before this year; she needs to re-establish just how capable she truly is.

June 7, 2019
Pocono Green 250 validates Xfinity visit to the Poconos

It’s easy to shout this from the rooftops. The NASCAR Xfinity Series needs, needs, needs, more standalone events. There’s Iowa, Road America, Mid-Ohio…and that’s really all.

Every other event is a companion event to a Cup Series event and although that’s been a given since the inception of the series, it’s nice to see a division keep its own identity like the Gander Outdoor Truck Series or the K&N Pro Series. Not every event needs a companion event, even if the times are changing.

That said, those words were eaten Saturday when Cole Custer made it past Tyler Reddick for the win in the Pocono Green 250. For the first time since the event began in 2016, a series regular won the event and in a dramatic fashion, no less. Although Custer started from the pole and led the most laps, it was until the last corner of the last lap when leader Reddick slipped up and allowed Custer to steal his third win of the season, tying him with Christopher Bell for most wins in 2019.

The race also highlighted what is now looking like the Big Three of the division for 2019, which is Bell, Reddick, and Custer. All three are regulars with multiple wins this season and all look like serious threats for the title. There’s Bell, a regular threat who is good everywhere and happens to be an 11-time race winner and ahead of him in points is Reddick, who is in the midst of a nine-race streak of top-four finishes. Then there is Custer, who has also won at Fontana and Richmond. Besides those three, there are no clear-cut favorites for the title at this point in time.

Pocono set those storylines in stone because for once at Pocono, it was all about the series regulars. The Xfinity Series was actually maintaining its own identity Saturday, which is something that it hasn’t done in a while. It was about the Big Three, but it was also about the JR Motorsports drivers. It was also Bell’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, who along with Bell, found themselves in a few spots of trouble as Brandon Jones crashed and finished last while Jeffrey Earnhardt spun along with the No. 22 of Cindric.

It wasn’t about Kyle Larson, or Brad Keselowski, or Kyle Busch, the previous three Pocono Green 250 winners. There was actual racing without the certain dread that another Cup driver was going to score another dull, drab win. It was a race that fans could actually watch and observe actual rising talent. It was almost like the old days when there was actually time invested in watching the up-and-comers of NASCAR. It was almost like a standalone event.

This is the kind of thing the Xfinity Series needs to have more often; racing among regulars. It’s been pointed out and proven many, many times that when the field is left to its own devices and its own regulars, the racing can be phenomenal. At this point, it isn’t about the track, it’s about the quality of the field.

That’s not a knock on the Xfinity Series. It’s already known that a lot of the drivers aren’t as good as the Cup Series, but they’re learning. They are hungry. NASCAR needs to cultivate that aspect of the Xfinity Series. They are hungry and they will actually race to get that glory. That’s what the Xfinity Series should be about. It isn’t about the sport’s current leaders; that’s the Monster Energy Cup Series’s concern. The Xfinity Series should instead be concerned with cultivating the Custers, Reddicks, and Bells.

They actually accomplished that Saturday when it wasn’t about the venue for once, but the personalities in the division. The sport needs to and can grow on this.

June 2, 2019
Five drivers to watch heading into the Pocono 400

With the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular season halfway through, the drivers who are making an impact on the way to the Playoffs have either emerged or are about to. With Chevy drivers finally starting to hit their strides such as Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman, it’s a safe bet to go with the Bowtie Brigade heading into Sunday.

1. Alex Bowman

Bowman is easily the hottest commodity in the Cup Series right now. With four consecutive top-10s including three straight runner-up finishes, he finally seems to be knocking on the door to Victory Lane. He came close at Kansas, leading 63 laps before losing the lead to Brad Keselowski, but with the series heading into Pocono, this may be the weekend for Bowman. He finished third there in last year’s Gander Outdoors 400, and with Chevy teams starting to show up at the front more often this season, the odds are in Bowman’s, Crew Chief Greg Ives’ and the No. 88 team’s favor.

2. Kurt Busch

Busch is obviously having fun in 2019, and it’s easy to tell. He wrapped up final practice for Sunday’s race with a 172.712 lap, which was the quickest of the session. The three-time Pocono winner is making his first trip to the Tricky Triangle with his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing team, for which he has already scored three top-fives and eight top-10s and sits eighth in the points heading into Sunday. What plays into Busch’s favor is that for the most part, despite his troubles (however few they have been this season), he has been at or near the front in almost every race in 2019.

Busch and Matt McCall have melded quite well and it shows, with runs such as a fifth at Las Vegas and a third at Atlanta, that the team isn’t lacking in speed, and considering that Pocono is a big, fast, 2.5-mile racetrack, Busch is a strong bet to be in contention on Sunday.

3. Daniel Suarez

Although the Stewart-Haas Racing Fords haven’t had a victory yet in 2019, they’ve been consistent finishers who have been at or near the front, including Suarez. And with Pocono being one of Suarez’s strongest tracks, he could be a safe bet to be a contender on Sunday. Suarez, the 2018 Gander Outdoors 400 pole-sitter and runner-up, topped Friday morning’s first practice with a 171.798 lap. He also has an average start of 10.2 and an average finish of 12.0 in four starts, which although isn’t impressive, it is solid.

The SHR Fords aren’t without speed, and with Billy Scott on top of the pit box, Suarez is sure to have another solid day at Pocono.

4. Martin Truex Jr.

There is hardly a place where Truex won’t contend or win at, and that includes Pocono, where he won in 2015 and 2018. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won three times with Crew Chief Cole Pearn this season, including the most recent event at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600. The No. 19 Toyota has won early and often in 2019, with the team really hitting its stride in April and showing no signs of slowing.

Truex holds five top-fives and 10 top-10s in 26 starts, including those two wins, and considering he’s at the beginning of a hot streak it’d be foolish not to bet on the No. 19 JGR Toyota to be at the front at some point during Sunday’s race.

5. Chase Elliott

Once again, with Chevy performance on the rise it’d only make sense to also bet on the one Chevy driver to win so far in 2019. Elliott has been quietly consistent in six Pocono starts, having earned five top-10s including a fourth in his first start there in 2016. The one race where he finished outside of the top-10 was later that year, where he crashed while battling Joey Logano for the lead. He finished 33rd that day, and although his average finish there is 12.0, had it not been for that crash it would have been much higher.

Elliott has made it a point to master almost every type of track, and he has managed to put himself in contention almost everywhere. His relationship with Crew Chief Alan Gustafson has finally yielded the expected results, and with the confidence that this No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports crew has week in and week out, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Elliott continues to build on his winning ways Sunday in the Pocono 400.

The Pocono 400 is Sunday on FS1, starting at 2 p.m. ET.

June 1, 2019