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Author: Tucker White

  • Elliott Fastest in First Practice at Phoenix

    Elliott Fastest in First Practice at Phoenix

    Chase Elliott posted the fastest time in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Phoenix Raceway.

    The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 26.207 and a speed of 137.368 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was second in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 26.231 and a speed of 137.242 mph. Denny Hamlin was third in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 26.288 and a speed of 136.945 mph. Kyle Busch was fourth in his No. 18 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 26.301 and a speed of 136.877 mph. Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-five in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 26.303 and a speed of 136.867 mph.

    Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-10.

    Kevin Harvick was 11th and Brad Keselowski rounded out the Playoff drivers in 17th.

    Hamlin posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 132.831 mph.

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  • Barney Visser to Miss Final Two Races after Undergoing Surgery, Following Heart Attack

    Barney Visser to Miss Final Two Races after Undergoing Surgery, Following Heart Attack

    Barney Visser, team owner of Furniture Row Racing, won’t attend the final two races of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season after suffering a heart attack this past weekend.

    Visser said he felt ill and experienced numbness, prompting him to check into a hospital on November 4. Two days later, back in Denver, he underwent successful bypass surgery.

    The team says Visser is expected to be released from the hospital by the end of this week or early next week.

    According to a release sent out by the team, the recovery time for a bypass surgery means Visser will miss this weekend’s Can-Am 500 at Phoenix Raceway and next week’s Ford Ecoboost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where Martin Truex Jr. is vying for the Denver-based organization’s first series title.

    “It’s a chance of a lifetime to be in position to win the NASCAR Cup Series championship,” said Visser. “I hope to be in touch with Martin and Cole (Pearn, crew chief) leading up to Homestead and participate without too much excitement.”

     

  • Truex Locks Into Title Race with Runner-up Finish at Texas

    Truex Locks Into Title Race with Runner-up Finish at Texas

    While Martin Truex Jr. didn’t win the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, his runner-up finish — and points he amassed through the course of the day, via stage finishes — secured him a spot in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    Much of Truex’s day was uneventful. Starting seventh, he drove his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota to a runner-up finish in the first stage and fourth in the second stage. It wasn’t until the Lap 187 restart — following Landon Cassill’s spin in Turn 1 on Lap 180 — that he first took the race lead, usurping it from Matt Kenseth.

    Truex gave up the lead to pit under green on Lap 225, and it most likely would’ve cycled back to him if a caution, for Michael McDowell spinning in Turn 2, on Lap 234 didn’t interrupt it.

    He regained the lead on the restart that followed Ray Black Jr.’s spin on Lap 242, once again taking it from Kenseth.

    Everybody hit pit road on Lap 270, after Black brought out another caution, and Denny Hamlin beat Truex off pit road.

    After a 10-minute, 29-second red flag following Kyle Larson’s wreck in Turn 1 with 51 laps to go, the race went back green for the final time with 46 to go. By the time the field left Turn 2, Truex had the lead.

    With 27 to go, Kevin Harvick took second from Hamlin and Truex ran into lap traffic, allowing Harvick to eat away at the one-second gap. With 20 to go, Harvick was less than half a second back of Truex.

    Clean air allowed Truex to stay in front of Harvick for a few laps, but running into another group of lapped cars with 10 to go gave Harvick the opening he needed to pull up to him in Turn 1, alongside him on the outside exiting Turn 2 and take the lead entering Turn 3.

    “[On] the long runs I would get really lose getting into the corners,” Truex said. “As the runs went, I would get looser and looser. Wasn’t much I could do about it. I could hold my own in clean air. As soon as I caught lap cars, I would get loose getting in the corner. We ran up on the 6 (Trevor Bayne) and somebody else racing each other, took up the whole racetrack. I went into (Turn) 1 and started chattering rear tires, chasing it up the hill. Harvick followed me and got loose with me. Somehow got to my right rear corner, got outside me, just carrying that momentum.

    “I thought when we went in there and we both started sliding up, I was going to be okay. He got to my outside and was just faster at the end. Once he got in front of us, he was just gone. Nothing I could do. Just one of those deals where he was quicker. Got me in a bad spot, took advantage, and he was gone.”

    Truex couldn’t muster up a counterattack, as Harvick pulled away to a two-second lead by the time he took the checkered flag, and brought his car home to second.

    “It was an up‑and‑down day for our Bass Pro Toyota,” he said. “Doing what we need to do. Just proud of everybody. We fought hard all day. It was a tough race. Track was slick.

    “At the start of the race, our car wasn’t very good. Track position was a big part of this race. We fought the car, we fought track position. We got the lead, led some laps. Ultimately at the end we weren’t as good as we needed to be to win.”

    While Truex came up short, his runner-up garnered him enough points to mathematically clinch a spot in the Championship 4 in two weeks time at Homestead-Miami Speedway, thanks to leaving Texas 57 points ahead of Brad Keselowski.

    “It feels great. It feels amazing – that’s what we set out to do this year was to make it to Homestead and fight for the title and we feel like we’re right there. I just can’t wait to get there and get back to work,” Truex added. “I wish we could have won today, it would have been a little sweeter going and locking it up in victory lane, but we were off a little bit there at the end.”

  • Harvick Runs Down Truex to Win at Texas

    Harvick Runs Down Truex to Win at Texas

    Kevin Harvick punched his Championship 4 ticket to Homestead-Miami Speedway after chasing down and passing Martin Truex Jr. in the waning laps to win the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

    Restarting with 46 laps to go, Truex took the lead from Denny Hamlin and set sail. But Harvick took second from Hamlin and, thanks to lap traffic, cut the gap down to under half a second with under 20 to go.

    While clean air stalled Harvick’s advance for a few laps, another group of lapped cars allowed him to close up to Truex going into Turn 1, pull up alongside him exiting Turn 2 and pass him for the lead going into Turn 3.

    He pulled away to score his 37th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in his 608th career start.

    “First thing I want to do is thank all these fans in Texas. I’m happy to finally get to victory lane here (Texas Motor Speedway). It’s been a long time coming. I’m really proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing and our Mobil 1 Ford, but damn it’s good to be in victory lane here at Texas! Just really want to thank all my guys. I knew I had a really good car and I knew I had to do something different. I started driving it into Turn 1 just a whole lot deeper. I saw the 42 (Kyle Larson) doing that early in the race. I was just afraid I didn’t have the brakes to continue to do that all day. I waited till the end and it was able to get on the outside of Martin. I got him loose as I brushed across the back, I think. Was able to get on the outside and my car was pretty good on the outside down there.”

    Truex finished second and Hamlin rounded out the podium.

    “I knew he (Harvick) was quicker – once he got around the 11 (Hamlin) I guess it was, he started coming really fast and that’s all I had,” Truex said. “Just struggled a little on the long run today, which was normally where we’re our best. He seemed to be better when he got out front – we were good when we got out front toward the middle of the race and we just got too loose in those long runs. I did all I could do on the inside, but we had the 6 (Trevor Bayne) and some other dummy racing side-by-side in front of us and I was way loose in traffic and I got loose going into one and Harvick jumped to my outside. One of those deals, I think we could have held them off on a clean race track, but the 6 car is in the damn way every week – that’s pretty normal.”

    “Really had a solid car all day long,” Hamlin said. “We lost some track position there when a couple guys took two tires, we took four. Then we had a bad restart, and that kind of took us back in the pack 10th, 12th or so. 18 pitted long, tracked us a lap down, then that kind of hurt us a little bit. We just fought back to fourth, I think it was, drove back up to fourth, then it was an easy decision to take two tires there. It was the only way we were going to get out front and hopefully win the race. The 78 passed us on that one restart, then the two tires faded, couldn’t hold off the 4 there.”

    Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five.

    “First run of the day was fun,” Kenseth said. “Everybody was on three-cycle scuffs and we were on stickers. We got to the end, we had a good car when we got to get up through there pretty quick, but just got tight on that last set of tires for some reason and then I would just – I’d always draw the outside lane on a restart and lose a couple spots. It’s just hard to overcome that. That was our worst run of the day and it was still pretty competitive, so it was nice to be competitive.”

    “We had a pretty good car. Something happened on lap one and basically we started the race last and a lap-and-a-half down. That cost us a bunch of stage points, but we rallied with a solid effort to get back to fifth. I’m happy for that,” Keselowski said.

    Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch and Erik Jones rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Kurt Busch led the field to the green flag at 2:19 p.m., but didn’t lead the first lap — or a lap all day — because Hamlin powered by him on the outside exiting Turn 2 to lead the first lap. He led the first 46, before pulling to the high-side and allowing Larson to drive by in Turn 3 to take the lead.

    Larson surrendered the lead for 10 laps during a cycle of green flag stops, before it cycled back to him. A few laps later, however, he got loose exiting Turn 2, which allowed Harvick to pull up and pass him to take the lead on Lap 69.

    Harvick then went on to win the first stage on Lap 85.

    Hamlin, who exited the pits under the first stage break with the race lead, led the field back to green on Lap 92. Harvick, who initially got a poor restart, powered off Turn 2 and drove past Hamlin down the backstretch to retake the lead. After caution flew for a two-car spin in Turn 2 on Lap 93, Harvick led the field back to green on Lap 99, only to lose the lead to Larson going into Turn 3.

    Like the first cycle of green flag stops, Larson briefly lost the lead whilst pitting and regained it when it concluded. This time, however, it didn’t end with another driver passing him a few laps later. He kept the lead and drove on to win the second stage on Lap 170.

    Kenseth, who was off-sequence from the leaders, led the field back to green on Lap 179. He lost it to Truex on the Lap 187 restart, that followed Landon Cassill’s spin in Turn 2 on Lap 180.

    The ensuing cycle of green flag stops that started on Lap 225 was interrupted by a caution for Michael McDowell spinning in Turn 2. Kyle Busch, who was in the lead at the time, pitted and the lead cycled back to Truex.

    Kenseth took back the lead on the Lap 239 restart, Truex took it back on the Lap 246 restart and Hamlin exited pit road under the Lap 270 caution with the race lead.

    Larson’s wreck in Turn 1 brought out the eighth caution of the race and set up the run to the finish.

    CAUTION SUMMATION

    The first caution flew on Lap 85 for the end of the first stage. Caution flew for the second time for a two-car wreck in Turn 2 on Lap 93, involving Daniel Suarez and Kasey Kahne. Caution flew for the third time on Lap 170 for the conclusion of the second stage. The fourth caution flew when Cassill spun out in Turn 1 on Lap 180. McDowell’s spin in Turn 2 on Lap 234 brought out the fifth caution. Ray Black Jr. brought out the sixth and seventh caution’s for spins in Turn 2 (the latter collected Jeffrey Earnhardt). The final flew when Larson spun out and slammed the outside wall in Turn 1 with 51 to go.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted three hours, 29 minutes and 52 seconds, at an average speed of 143.234 mph. There were 27 lead changes among 13 different drivers, and eight cautions for 40 laps.

    Truex leaves with a 50-point lead over Kyle Busch. Hamlin, Blaney Elliott and Jimmie Johnson leave in the Round of 8 drop zone.

  • Late-Race Dump Ends Elliott’s Dominant Drive

    Late-Race Dump Ends Elliott’s Dominant Drive

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Despite a strong performance, Chase Elliott’s day wound up in the wall after getting dumped by Denny Hamlin in the closing laps of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

    After Joey Logano’s spin in Turn 2 with seven laps to go setup a three-lap run to the finish, race leader Brad Keselowski elected to restart on the outside lane. After being given the bottom for free, Elliott forced Keselowski up the track in Turn 1 and took control of the race.

    In doing so, however, he too left the bottom open for pouncing, to which Hamlin took up.

    Rounding Turn 2 with two to go, when Hamlin backed off, Elliott tried to squeeze back into the bottom lane. While it was to no avail, he successfully cleared Hamlin exiting Turn 2.

    Entering Turn 3, Hamlin connected with Elliott’s rear bumper and sent him spinning into the outside wall.

    “I got punted from behind and wrecked in Turn 3 leading the race,” Elliott said. “I don’t know what (Hamlin’s) problem was. It was unnecessary I hadn’t raced him dirty all-day long. There was no reason for that and he comes over and talks to me a second ago and tells me he had somebody pushing him into Turn 3. I thought that was funny because there was nobody within two car lengths of him into Turn 3 behind myself. I don’t know what the deal was, but it is so disappointing. We had the best car I’ve ever had here at Martinsville. And had an opportunity to go straight to Homestead and because of him we don’t.”

    Elliott wound up finishing 27th.

    After the race, he used his car to side-swipe Hamlin down the backstretch to show his displeasure. A few moments later, both drivers got out to voice displeasure to one another.

    “Well, he just told me he had somebody pushing him into Turn 3 and I asked him if he knew he wrecked me and he said, ‘yes, but I had somebody pushing me,’” Elliott said. “And I said, ‘well okay, and then why was there two car lengths between you and the guy behind you?’ So, that is just … the guy has been doing this long enough where that shouldn’t happen and it was unnecessary.”

    While Hamlin refused to apologize immediately after the race, he sent out the following tweet an hour afterwards.

    https://twitter.com/dennyhamlin/status/924792019309998080

    Elliott leaves eighth in points, 90 behind Martin Truex Jr. for the points lead and 26 behind Kevin Harvick for the final Championship 4 spot.

  • Kyle Busch Wins in Overtime at Martinsville

    Kyle Busch Wins in Overtime at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Coming to the green to start overtime for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Denny Hamlin was the race leader. Coming to the white flag, he was still the race leader, but with Kyle Busch to his inside. Coming to the checkered flag, Busch took the checkered flag as the field wrecked behind him.

    Hamlin led the field to the green flag on the overtime restart with two laps to go. Rounding Turn 3, Busch tapped the rear-end of Hamlin and loosened him up, allowing him to get inside him going into Turn 1. He went up the track, allowing Martin Truex Jr. to get to his inside. While he had the preferred line through Turns 3 and 4, Busch powered ahead and drove onto his 43rd career victory in 459 career starts.

    As he scored the victory, Hamlin got turned in Turn 4 and triggered a multi-car wreck at the conclusion of the race.

    Truex finished second and Clint Bowyer rounded out the podium.

    Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-five.

    Trevor Bayne, Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Matt Kenseth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Joey Logano led the field to the green flag at 3:17 p.m. Only ceding the lead to Keselowski on Lap 49. Logano beat on his teammate’s bumper for a good 10 laps, before retaking it on Lap 79. After AJ Allmendinger brought out the caution on Lap 87, Jimmie Johnson stayed out to take the lead. Keselowski got to his inside down the backstretch and took the lead going into Turn 3 on Lap 115 and drove on to win the first stage.

    Kyle Busch exited pit road with the lead under the stage break and led the field back to the green on Lap 139. It proceeded entirely caution-free and almost event-free, until Keselowski — who tailed him for much of the closing laps of the stage — passed him with three laps remaining in the second stage, on his way to winning it.

    Once more, Busch exited the pits with the lead and led the field to green on Lap 271. Chase Elliott took the lead for the first time when he dove underneath Busch going into Turn 1 on Lap 321. After Landon Cassill brought out the caution on Lap 362, Keselowski exited pit road with the race lead. Elliott took back the lead with 114 to go.

    Following Carl Long’s spin in Turn 1, setting up a restart with 30 laps to go, Keselowski got to the inside of Elliott and took over the race lead. He was pulling away and had the checkered flag in sight, until Logano — dealing with a rapidly un-chording left-rear tire — spun out in Turn 2.

    Restarting with three to go, Keselowski chose to restart on the outside lane. Elliott took advantage and took over the race lead with two to go. Heading down the backstretch, entering Turn 3, with two to go, Hamlin turned Elliott into the Turn 3 wall, setting up the overtime finish.

    CAUTION SUMMATION

    Caution flew for the first time on Lap 35 when Michael McDowell turned Ty Dillon. David Ragan’s spin in Turn 4 brought out the second caution. Allmendinger’s spin in Turn 2 brought out the third caution on Lap 87. The end of the first stage brought out the fourth caution on Lap 130. The fifth caution was brought out by the end of the second stage. Kyle Larson caused the sixth caution when he slammed the inside backstretch wall on Lap 303. Erik Jones’ spin in Turn 4 brought out the seventh caution on Lap 315. The eighth caution flew on Lap 362 when Landon Cassill spun out in Turn 2. Carl Long’s spin in Turn 2 brought out the ninth caution with 44 laps to go. The 10th caution flew when Logano spun out in Turn 2. The 11th and final caution flew when Elliott was turned into the Turn 3 wall with two to go.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted three hours, 32 minutes and 47 seconds, at an average speed of 74.902 mph. There were 16 lead changes among six different drivers and 11 cautions for 74 laps.

    Truex leaves with a 17-point lead over Busch. Johnson, Blaney, Hamlin and Elliott leave in the Round of 8 drop zone.

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  • Logano Fastest in Final Martinsville Practice

    Logano Fastest in Final Martinsville Practice

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Joey Logano topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford was the fastest with a time of 20.056 and a speed of 94.416 mph. Chase Elliott was second in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 20.075 and a speed of 94.326 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was third in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 20.083 and a speed of 94.289 mph. Clint Bowyer was fourth in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with 20.166 and a speed of 93.901 mph. Kasey Kahne rounded out the top-five in his No. 5 Hendrick Chevrolet with a time of 20.167 and a speed of 93.896 mph.

    Jamie McMurray, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola and Austin Dillon rounded out the top-10.

    Jimmie Johnson was 13th, Denny Hamlin was 16th, Ryan Blaney was 22nd and Kevin Harvick rounded out the Playoff drivers in 25th.

    Busch posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 93.186 mph.

    First practice results

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  • Nemechek Wrecks Out Early at Martinsville

    Nemechek Wrecks Out Early at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Two weeks ago at Talladega Superspeedway, John Hunter Nemechek rallied from a wreck he was caught up in to finish sixth and advance to the Round of 6. Today in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Texas Roadhouse 200 at Martinsville Speedway, there was no such rally.

    Entering Turn 1 on Lap 37, Nemechek got loose and spun out. His truck spun up track before the right-rear corner made contact with the outside wall in the middle of Turns 1 and 2. The force of impact brought the right-front towards and into the wall. The rear of the truck jutted outward, while the right-front clung to the wall for a few seconds.

    This single-truck incident brought out the first caution of the race.

    “Soft brake pedal. I don’t know. Didn’t give any warning. It never got squishy. We were just kind of riding around, biding our time there. I dove into (Turn) 1 normal, hit the brake pedal and it went straight to the floor. Sucks for our guys. Sucks for Fire Alarm Services. We had a fast truck in race trim. I felt like we had a contending-winning truck if we could’ve got some track position. It’s early on. It definitely sucks to be out of the race this early, but we dug ourself out of one hole in the first round. Hopefully, they won’t know what hit them in Texas.”

    Nemechek leaves sixth in points, 62 out of the points lead and 28 out of the Round of 6 drop zone.

  • Gragson Makes Outside Pass on Final Restart to Win at Martinsville

    Gragson Makes Outside Pass on Final Restart to Win at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — While celebrating victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Texas Roadhouse 200 at Martinsville Speedway, Noah Gragson did a throwback to Tony Stewart and Helio Castroneves, climbing the catchfence, and something uniquely his own, doing pull-ups.

    On the final restart with 10 laps to go, Matt Crafton was the race leader. But by the time the field exited Turn 2 and dove into Turn 3, Gragson was the clear leader and drove onto his first career victory in the Truck Series.

    “Oh it’s really tough racing against these veterans. Those last like 40 laps with Johnny Sauter beating off my back bumper. He did that earlier to us in the spring (at Martinsville) and I wasn’t going to let him pass me again like that. We got that caution there at the end. You can’t pass on the outside at Martinsville, but I did it!”

    Crafton finished second and Johnny Sauter rounded out the podium.

    Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Chase Briscoe led the field to the green flag at 1:14 p.m. After John Hunter Nemechek brought out the first caution on Lap 37, Crafton took over the lead when Briscoe pitted and drove on to win the first stage.

    Returning to green on Lap 60, Crafton spent the next 10 laps getting his rear bumper beaten in by Sauter. Finally on Lap 71, he pulled aside and allowed Sauter to take the inside line, which let him take the lead on Lap 72 and go on to win the second stage.

    Christopher Bell, who inherited the lead when Sauter pitted, led the field to green with 89 laps to go. With 79 to go, Crafton got too deep into Turn 3, clipped the curb and spun Bell.

    Crafton retook the lead, as a result, and led the rest of the way, until Bayley Currey spun out and planted his truck in the grass, setting up the final 10-lap run to the finish.

    CAUTION SUMMATION

    Caution flew for the first time on Lap 37 when Nemechek got loose, spun out and slammed the outside wall in Turn 1. The end of the first stage brought out the second caution on Lap 50. The third caution flew on Lap 100 for the conclusion of the second stage. The two-car incident with Bell and Crafton in Turn 3 with 79 to go brought out the fourth caution. A three-car incident in Turn 1 with 64 to go involving Briscoe, Ty Dillon and Justin Hayley brought out the fifth caution. Bayley Currey’s spin in Turn 1 brought out the sixth and final caution with 16 to go.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted one hour, 32 minutes and 55 seconds, at an average speed of 67.932 mph. There were six lead changes among five different drivers and six cautions for 45 laps.

    Bell leaves with a three-point lead over Sauter. Austin Cindric and Nemechek leave in the Round of 6 drop zone.

  • Hamlin Fastest in First Practice at Martinsville

    Hamlin Fastest in First Practice at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Denny Hamlin topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time with a time of 19.846 and a speed of 95.415 mph. Kyle Larson was second in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 19.870 and a speed of 95.299 mph. Ryan Newman was third in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 19.900 and a speed of 95.156 mph. Ryan Blaney was fourth in his Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 19.925 and a speed of 95.036 mph. Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five in his No. 18 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 19.932 and a speed of 95.003 mph.

    Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, AJ Allmendinger and Ty Dillon rounded out the top-10.

    Busch posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 94.460 mph.

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