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Author: SM Staff

NASCAR on the Eve of the Playoffs

It’s been a while since I’ve appeared in these pages. My trip to Martinsville was a disaster (snowmageddon), so next on my schedule was Bristol, which despite gloomy skies, tremendous races happened. The crowd was good, but many wanted to make fun of the crowd. No, the track wasn’t full, but a good 100,000 was there and Kurt Busch outlasted and outran one of NASCAR’s darling young drivers, Kyle Larson to claim victory and qualify for the Playoffs.

Darlington is my second favorite track, but I couldn’t get there this year, much to my chagrin. It was a big crowd, and the race was good. Brad Keselowski won the race, teammate Joey Logano was second, all to the glory of Team Penske, and though Larson finished up front, he didn’t’ win, he led the most laps, and then, the atomic bomb hit.

It was a shock to everyone when Barney Visser announced that he was closing the doors of Furniture Row Racing, home to Martin Truex Jr., the reigning Cup Champion, at the season’s end. Apparently, this had been planned between FRR and Joe Gibbs Racing all along and probably Toyota Racing Development. Within a day, though there was no formal announcement, it was learned that Truex was moving to a JGR car, the No. 19 previously driven by Daniel Suarez, who had replaced the departing Carl Edwards only a short time ago. Where Suarez will end up, is rumored to be at a satellite team to JGR, but this seems to be a too familiar scenario. Sorry to say, but I imagine Suarez’s star will not move at the rate it was before. So much for diversity.

Anyway, the only questions that remain involved Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray, and probably more changes. I expect Busch and McMurray to stay put, and A.J. Allmendinger to move on from the 47 car. His replacement could be anyone, or someone I don’t know. By the way, Kasey Kahne retired. No one seems to care. I think it’s a great loss, but, it will all work out. I hope.

So, we head to Indianapolis, a place the drivers love, but the fans do not. Boring races are the rule, and I imagine the place will look empty, and after two triumphant weekends, this will be a downer, and I hope that’s not the case. It will bring the haters out, but the truth is the field will be set for the Playoffs like it or not. I can’t wait to see what happens.

September 7, 2018
Furniture Row Racing will cease operations after 2018 season

In what may be the most shocking news of the silly season in NASCAR, Furniture Row Racing has officially announced that their organization will no longer compete in the stock car series in 2019. Despite winning the championship in NASCAR’s top series, the Monster Energy Cup Series, the Denver-based team will close shop one year later.

“This is not good for anybody,” said team owner Barney Visser. “The numbers just don’t add up. I would have to borrow money to continue as a competitive team and I’m not going to do that. This was obviously a painful decision to arrive at knowing how it will affect a number of quality and talented people.

“We’ve been aggressively seeking sponsorship to replace 5-hour ENERGY and to offset the rising costs of continuing a team alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing but haven’t had any success. I feel that it’s only proper to make the decision at this time to allow all team members to start seeking employment for next year. I strongly believe that all of our people have enhanced their careers by working at Furniture Row Racing.”

Driver of the No. 78 Toyota, Martin Truex Jr., added, “While I am saddened by today’s announcement, I totally understand the decision. Barney Visser, Joe Garone and the entire Furniture Row Racing team took me in while my career was in a bad place, and together we reached the pinnacle of the sport. I will forever be grateful to each and every one of them, and also to Furniture Row, Denver Mattress and the Visser family.

“But make no mistake this is not the immediate end. We still have unfinished business to attend to and that’s to give everything we have to successfully defend our Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship. Right now that is foremost on my mind as it is with the entire team.”

Through the penultimate race of the 2018 regular season, the little organization that could has placed a stellar mark in NASCAR’s history books and statistics, including 18 wins. over 6,000 laps led and their 2017 championship with Truex. They also have visited victory lane in some of NASCAR’s iconic races, including the 2011 Showtime Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway with Regan Smith.

In a press release, Visser shared the story of Furniture Row Racing, his gratitude of his relationship with his team and partners, and explains further his decision to shut down the organization.

“I’ve always felt that we could be a competitive team and run for a championship even when it seemed like a pipe dream to many racing insiders, but to be successful in any business you need to assemble the right people and make a strong commitment to succeed. We achieved what we set out to do and feel like we climbed Mount Everest. To continue with anything less than a competitive team would not be acceptable.”

Visser added, “I had a wake-up call last year (heart attack) and while I feel great I need to make the best decisions that will have an impact on myself and my family. My wife Carolyn and the entire Visser family have been supportive of our racing journey and it’s been one incredible ride for all of us.

“There are so many people I want to thank because without them winning a championship and being competitive would never have happened: Joe Gibbs Racing for our technical alliance, Toyota and TRD (Toyota Racing Development), Bass Pro Shops, 5-hour ENERGY, Auto-Owners Insurance, Furniture Row and Denver Mattress.

“A heartfelt thank you to Joe Garone, Martin Truex Jr, Cole Pearn and all of our team members for their talent, dedication and sacrifices they made along the way. To the Furniture Row and Denver Mattress employees I want to express a special thank you for always having my back from the early years of our race team to our championship run.

“I also want to thank the fans, the Denver community, NASCAR, International Speedway Corporation (ISC), Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) and independent track owners for providing and maintaining the venues that we compete at. A special tip of the hat to the media and to NASCAR’s broadcast partners – FOX, NBC, Motor Racing Network (MRN), Performance Racing Network (PRN) and SiriusXM Radio. We’ve always been treated fairly by members of the media and I appreciate their hard work in one of the most demanding schedules in major league sports.”

September 4, 2018
Busch secures playoff spot with the win at Bristol

Kurt Busch held off Kyle Larson in the final 13 laps and won Saturday nights Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway and secured a 2018 NASCAR Playoff spot. This was his first win of the season, his sixth win at Bristol, and ended a 58-race winless streak.

This was Kurt Busch’s first victory since 2006 at Bristol and his 30th career win.

“It’s awesome to do it at Bristol. I love this place. We now have won six times here and I have great teams that have always helped me win. This group of guys, Billy Scott, my crew chief, this is his first win and to be able to do it with Ford and Monster and Haas Automation is just what it’s all about is executing as a team and we had good restarts when we had to, and then you’ve got to get clever and start throwing everything at it.” Busch said.

The win is the 13th for Stewart-Haas Racing since it joined Ford last season and the 100th Cup victory for the Fusion and you can bet there was a lot of sports betting in america on the odds of Busch winning this season.

Larson had fresher tires on the final restart but he was unable to close on Busch to challenge for the lead in the final laps. Larson finished second and locks him into the Playoff’s giving him the opportunity to race for a championship in the final 10 races of the Cup Series season. Larson will be one to bet on to win the championship. Speaking of betting, you can also check out the great online casino for casino games.

“I think if I had a better car, tires probably would have showed what they are really capable of. This was just a really frustrating day. Our DC Solar Chevy was not very good from lap 1 to lap 500 there, but we fought and got a second-place finish out of it. So, I was happy about running second, but just disappointed because I had a lot of confidence going into this race and thought our car was really good.” Larson said.

While running second with 67 laps remaining Martin Truex Jr. was clipped by Kyle Busch and spun and hit the wall. Truex Jr. finished 30th. “He (Busch) probably could’ve shown a little bit more patience. He was a lot faster than me at that point in time. He just caught me and probably another lap or so he would’ve gone right by. Half his fault and half my fault for following the 14 (Clint Bowyer) for so long.” said a frustrated Truex. “It’s just Bristol. Trying to get that first short track win. This place has been so hard on us.”

Busch admitted that the contact was his fault. “Totally my fault, man, I feel terrible about that. Obviously, I just misjudged it by a little bit – four inches, six inches, whatever and I got in the gas and was coming up off the corner and was going to slide in behind him (Martin Truex Jr.) and I didn’t think I was next to him yet and I clipped him and sent him for a whale of a ride.” Busch said.

Kyle Busch started third but had early trouble on Lap 2, sending him two laps down. Busch fought back to challenge in the top-five but ultimately finished 20th due to damage to his car.

“This M&M’s Camry was fast, even torn up and wrecked and everything else, it was fast. We had a shot to win the race there, just got to racing with guys three-wide and couldn’t get clear of them and was boxed in by the 11 (Denny Hamlin) and the 11 was choking up the top in front of me.” Busch said.

Larson (2nd), Ryan Blaney (7th), and Brad Keselowski (16th) scored enough points to clinch berths in the playoffs with two races remaining before the playoffs begin. The battle for the final playoff spot by series points is between Alex Bowman and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Bowman currently holds a 79 point lead.

The Cup Series is off next weekend and heads to Darlington Raceway on Sept. 2 for the Southern 500.

Unofficial Race Results for the 58Th Annual Bass Pro Shops Nra Night Race
Saturday, August 18, 2018
Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, TN – .533 Mile Concrete
Total Race Length – 500 Laps – 266.5 Miles
1 Kurt Busch
2 Kyle Larson
3 Chase Elliott
4 Joey Logano
5 Erik Jones
6 Clint Bowyer
7 Ryan Blaney
8 Alex Bowman
9 Jimmie Johnson
10 Kevin Harvick
11 Trevor Bayne
12 Ryan Newman
13 Austin Dillon
14 Denny Hamlin
15 Kasey Kahne
16 Brad Keselowski
17 David Ragan
18 Daniel Suarez
19 Chris Buescher
20 Kyle Busch
21 Ty Dillon
22 Matt DiBenedetto
23 William Byron
24 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
25 Landon Cassill
26 Ross Chastain(i)
27 Blake Jones
28 * Timmy Hill(i)
29 Jamie McMurray
30 Martin Truex Jr.
31 Aric Almirola
32 * JJ Yeley(i)
33 Reed Sorenson
34 Corey LaJoie
35 * Jesse Little(i)
36 Paul Menard
37 Michael McDowell
38 Bubba Wallace
39 AJ Allmendinger
40 * Gray Gaulding

August 19, 2018
Former driver Greg Biffle guilty of invasion of privacy for secretly recording on ex-wife

A North Carolina jury found former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle guilty of invading the privacy of his then-wife Nicole by secretly recording her in the bedroom and bathroom for two years, according to Charlotte-based television network WSOC-TV.

The former Camping World Truck Series and XFinity Series champion, however, will only have to pay his ex-wife an exiguous amount of $1. According to court records, Biffle testified that he installed the cameras because he believed his maids were stealing from him, but during the process, discovered his wife was allegedly cheating on him with her tennis coach, whom Biffle has since sued.

Biffle, 48, who started 835 NASCAR races and won 55 races across the three major series, also testified that his ex-wife knew about the cameras.

August 14, 2018
Experience kicking in for William Byron

William Byron is an under the radar rookie that has grabbed some attention within the last few weeks. His development and growth since he joined Hendrick Motorsports in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series have been starting to show with the last two results.

Rumors around the garage and grandstands on weekends were that the young driver from Charlotte probably moved up too fast into NASCAR’s top series. Also, the communication with Crew Chief Darrion Grubb perhaps wasn’t as good as it should be.

With all that being said, it’s too late now. Byron is a Cup driver and will be for many years to come. Now he is slowly showing critics that he has the potential that was expected from many early on in the year.

With an average finish of 19.4, things are slowly shifting for him and his team. The speed in the Chevrolets is also improving as we have seen from numerous teams in the last few weeks. Running in the top-10 has been something that Byron has been able to do in the last two races. That’s a major step forward from earlier in the season.

An important factor that has boosted Byron’s confidence is leading laps. At Pocono, two weeks ago, he elected to stay out of the pits under a caution which put him up front. The result was leading 10 impressive laps.

All the attention at Watkins Glen this weekend was focused on teammate Chase Elliott after he held off Martin Truex Jr. for the win, but Byron quietly had a great run.

Running in the top-15 most of the time and making his way up to the top-10 toward the end of the race made people take note of the young driver’s talent. That he did so on a road course stunned many people in a positive way about the driver.

“I feel like we are just getting faster and it’s just being easier. I don’t know if we hit everything just right today, but it was easier to run where we were. It’s fun, it’s getting there. I’m excited,” Byron said.

The sensation of speed and confidence is showing and you can tell that he has developed a comfort with the Cup car. With four races left to the start of the Playoffs, the No. 24 team could be a team that can surprise people.

Don’t count the young driver out of reaching victory lane later on in the season as his development continues to evolve.

Follow on Twitter for updates: @BryanR_305

August 8, 2018
Elliott Scores Much Anticipated First Cup Win at Glen

After 98 career starts in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Chase Elliott finally got the proverbial monkey off his back at Watkins Glen.

Much like his famous father Bill back in 1983, the Dawsonville, Georgia native scored his first career MENCS race at a road course. Just like his father, he had to endure many runner-ups before celebrating that inaugural Cup victory.

This time, the 22-year-old racer made his magical moment happen at the legendary 2.45-mile road course in his 99th start.

Starting third, Elliott was a factor throughout today’s GoBowling at the Glen despite finishing 19th in Stage 1.

Parlaying pit strategy with a fast No. 9 SunEnergy 1 Chevy Camaro, Elliott battled defending race winner Martin Truex Jr tenaciously before taking the lead en route to a Stage 2 win.

From there on, it was a cat and mouse game between Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. in the final laps. Needless to say, Elliott had to earn his first win in the premier division.

Surely, Elliott tried mightily to hold off one of the title threat triumvirates in the final 15 laps.

“Holy cow!” Elliott exclaimed after the race. “What a thrill. I don’t know what to say. I’m so thrilled. So much relief. Worked on it for three years. I was able to get it done!”

Not surprisingly, the No. 9 team has showcased some speed in recent weeks. In fact, Elliott has won at least one stage in a race since the Foxwoods Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

All told, Elliott soaked in the moment and reflected on the struggles that led to his team’s recent rejuvenation.

“Man, it’s such a relief,” Elliott said. “Had some hard times to get here and learned a lot personally and had to have a good group around me to keep pushing me. This is a helluva day.”

The final laps played out like an action film or a thriller, as fans stood on their feet, particularly on the final lap. Forced to make a split second decision going into turn one, Elliott’s choice proved to be the correct one on this day.

“I was starting to wheel hop and I knocked it out of gear to not spin out,” Elliott observed. “I had a big enough gap where Martin (Truex Jr) wasn’t near me. What a day.”

Elliott’s first Cup win was truly special as he got to celebrate it with his father Bill in Victory Lane. Notably, the Georgian also snapped a 37-race winless streak for Hendrick Motorsports that dated back to the spring race at Dover in 2017.

Meanwhile, race runner-up Truex was able to cross the finish line on fumes while third-place finisher Kyle Busch overcame a fueling issue. Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray, William Byron, Kurt Busch, and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-10.

Next up for the MENCS drivers and teams will be the Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway (Sunday, August 12 at 2:30 p.m. on NBCSN). Fellow Chevrolet racer Kyle Larson hopes to return to the winner’s circle as he bids for his third straight summer race victory at MIS.

August 5, 2018
Kyle Busch Drives to Sixth Win of 2018 at Pocono

Despite starting 28th due to failing post-qualifying inspection, Kyle Busch was a man on a mission in today’s Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono.

Finishing fourth in Stage 1, Busch and his crew parlayed some pit strategy at the end of Stage 2 for track position in Stage 3.

All told, Busch’s path to the front was not without some hardy challenges from his Joe Gibbs Racing stablemates.

“(Daniel) Suarez, man, I can’t say enough about my teammates,” Busch excitedly said. “What an awesome race! He was probably the third best car. He gave us a run for our money on the restarts. Last one, I spun my tires a bit too much and he got a good run. That gave (Erik) Jones a good opportunity.”

Certainly, as Busch took the field to green on lap 163, Suarez equaled the 2015 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion’s restart effort.

Running side-by-side heading into turn one, Jones saw a possible chance at victory as he ran inside of Suarez to make it three wide between the JGR clan.

However, Busch’s experience and powerful No. 18 Caramel M&M’s Toyota Camry was just too much on this race day. Drawing daylight between himself and Suarez, the 33-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native drove his way to his sixth win of the 2018 MENCS season.

“Can’t say enough about Adam Stevens and all my guys,” Busch acknowledged. “Man, we fought it all weekend.”

Remarkably, Busch continued the winning ways of the MENCS triple threat. By all means, this season has turned into a regular season heavyweight match among NASCAR’s most aggressive veterans.

“What’s crazy is how this year keeps going,” Busch observed. “Harvick gets one, we get one, Truex gets one. We’re back and forth. We answered the fight this weekend without the fastest car.”

Meanwhile, Suarez made earnest challenges to prevent Busch from repeating his Pocono victory from last year. In the end, the Monterrey, Mexico native recognized how close he was to his first MENCS win.

“We lost the balance a little bit (in the beginning) and made some adjustments,” Suarez said. “We made the car better. I thought we were a solid top-five car. In a short run, I felt like we were the best car. It hurts to be close.”

Perhaps the biggest scare of the race was Bubba Wallace’s lap 155 crash. The rookie racer reportedly lost his brakes heading into Turn 1, resulting in a savage hit that destroyed both ends of his No. 43 Mile 22 Chevy Camaro.

Fortunately, the mild-mannered Wallace expressed gratitude and his trademark sense of humor following his horrifying accident.

“I’m OK,” Wallace said. “That was a huge hit. Everyone, back at home, I’m okay. Hardest one of my career. I was just telling them here, ‘There’s no feeling like being helpless in that situation going off into Turn 1.’ It scared the hell out of me.

We’re good. Bit my cheek, banged my foot off the pedal. I’m okay though. I’ll wake up tomorrow and I’ll be a little sore. The safety has come a long ways. It’s good to be able to climb out of the car. They gave me an ultrasound. No twins or anything.”

Ultimately, Busch prevailed with Suarez, Alex Bowman, Kevin Harvick, Jones, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, and Denny Hamlin taking top-10 finishes from the “Tricky Triangle.”

From scenic Long Pond, Pennsylvania to the Finger Lakes region of New York State, the MENCS tour prepares for next Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and MRN Radio.

July 29, 2018
Bell Scores Three-Peat, Wins at Iowa

Yogi Berra’s oft-used saying, “It’s never over ’til it’s over,” was certainly appropriate for Christopher Bell in Saturday’s U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway.

Certainly, Bell had the strongest car, leading 94 of 257 laps. However, Bell’s chance to win at Iowa appeared to be in jeopardy during the first overtime restart.

Veteran racer Justin Allgaier made a bold, outside, four-wide pass to nab the lead from Bell in Turn 1. While the field raced toward the stripe, the caution came out for a hard crash involving Matt Tifft and Max Tullman.

Following a somewhat lengthy red flag period, Allgaier held the top spot in the final restart of the race. As the late Benny Parsons would’ve summarized, Bell, who restarted fourth, appeared to have been shot out of a cannon.

Suddenly, Bell found himself back in position for the win. The points leader caught Allgaier while knocking on his rear bumper on lap 256. Racing off Turns 3 and 4, Bell was alongside Allgaier before these two gritty racers traded paint along the frontstretch.

Eventually gaining the top spot, Bell pulled away from Allgaier to score his fourth win of the NASCAR XFINITY Series season and his third in a row.

“When it’s your day, it’s your day,” Bell observed. “I’ll take them any way I can. It’s special to win for these guys. My crew chief Jason (Ratcliff) kept making the car better and better. This thing was so good. The races are hard to win.”

Impressively, Bell has bested some of NASCAR’s top drivers like Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, and series stalwart Allgaier.

When asked about his bold, aggressive pass for the win, the 23-year-old Norman, OK native may have offered some candor.

“I mean, I haven’t seen it,” Bell said. “The spotter was yelling ‘clear.’ If I’m clear, it was clean.”

Naturally, second place finisher Allgaier expressed some displeasure following the race, coming oh-so-close at sweeping the season at Iowa.

“I’m salty,” Allgaier remarked. “At the end of the day, we raced clean all day. We raced clear here in the spring. It’s disappointing to get run over like that. It’s disappointing. As racers, we’re disappointed to finish second.”

Despite coming one position short, Allgaier led the Chevrolet contingency and was ahead of the last lap carnage.

Ultimately, Bell and Allgaier took the top two spots, with Kyle Benjamin, Ross Chastain, John Hunter Nemechek, Elliott Sadler, Ryan Reed, Ryan Truex, Cole Custer, and Chase Briscoe coming home with top-10 finishes.

Following some exciting short track action at Iowa, the NASCAR XFINITY Series kicks off “Road Course August” with the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International on Saturday, August 4th at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

July 28, 2018
Buescher excited to be back at Pocono

Pocono Raceway is the track where Chris Buescher secured his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win in 2016. The race was shortened because of rain placing him at the top spot and giving him the opportunity to win the race.

Buescher races for JTG Daugherty Racing, a team that does not usually run up front throughout the season. Many speculate that Pocono was a lucky win for Buescher, but it is still a track that he very much enjoys.

Pocono is one of NASCAR’s most unique venues due to only having three corners and many drivers do not share his opinion of the track. But, since Buescher landed his first win at Pocono, his confidence and positivity show when he goes to the venue.

“Heading back to Pocono Raceway this weekend, we definitely want to build on our progress from the June race,” Buescher said. “The track has its challenges, but we had speed in our Scott Products Camaro ZL1 and brought home a top-20 finish. It’s a place that I enjoy. We got our first win there so it’s always a special track to me.”

He and his team are looking for a better finish in this weekend’s race and could possibly be a dark horse to take the checkered flag. If they play the right strategy, the pieces could fall into place for them to be able to be up front at the end of the race.

Buescher’s season hasn’t been the best, only leading one lap all year and averaging a 21.1 finish. He is hoping to change that starting this weekend at Pocono. The team struggles with speed, but looking ahead to the race with higher expectations can certainly help them. It’s a good sign when they feel they can have a better performance this time at Pocono by using the notes and information they took down in June.

It’s been a struggle for them to find success at other tracks, but Pocono may be the one where they can turn around their season. Other tracks where they have had the most success this year have been at restrictor plate tracks, which can be wild-cards.

After placing in the top-15 in all three restrictor plate races, Buescher is looking for something similar at Pocono. A good finish will give the team a boost as we get closer to the Playoffs. Look for this team to be one of the most underrated teams at Pocono.

Follow on Twitter for updates: @BryanR_305

July 27, 2018
A bumpy season for Crafton sees him looking for positivity

It has been a season that Matt Crafton will probably want to forget. On a positive note, time has not yet run out for him to turn it around.

If you look at the stats it has not been disastrous, but for Crafton, it has been. There is a decline in top-10 finishes for Crafton this year, and most importantly, he has not won a race thus far. With four races left until the Playoffs start, Crafton is holding the last spot and is 99 points to the good. He does have a wide margin when it comes to the points, but it’s still a letdown for Crafton.

The driver of the No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 is looking to secure his Playoff spot this weekend at Pocono Raceway. However, this is a track where Crafton has not performed well. He has never won at the track and his average finish is 10.4.

This season in the Camping World Truck Series, Crafton is averaging a 12th place finish which is a drop compared to past seasons. Last year, Crafton was averaging a 9.3 place finish with 16 top-10s.

Even though Crafton has not won a race this season and struggled at times, you can never count him out of the championship. On the plus side, the Truck Series will be headed to Michigan International Speedway next month. If there is one race where you can see him winning before the Playoffs, it will be Michigan. Crafton has three wins at Michigan in the series and won this very same race last year. A win at this track could shift the momentum for the team.

It is not time for the Crafton fans to panic just yet as there is still a good amount of racing left this season that can turn around his season. Time will tell if Crafton and his team will continue to struggle, or if it is just a phase in the experienced veterans’ Truck Series career.

Follow on Twitter for updates: @BryanR_305

July 24, 2018