Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Author: Tucker White

  • Kyle Busch Fastest in First Cup Practice at Chicagoland

    Kyle Busch Fastest in First Cup Practice at Chicagoland

    Kyle Busch topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Chicagoland Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 29.325 and a speed of 184.143 mph. Daniel Suarez was second in his No. 19 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 29.441 and a speed of 183.418 mph. Denny Hamlin was third in his No. 11 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 29.521 and a speed of 182.921 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was fourth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Toyota with a time of 29.531 and a speed of 182.859 mph. Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-five in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a time of 29.566 and a speed of 182.642 mph.

    Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Danica Patrick, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski.

    Kurt Busch was 11th, Ryan Newman was 12th, Austin Dillon was 14th, Matt Kenseth was 15th, Jamie McMurray was 16th, Jimmie Johnson was 19th and Kasey Kahne rounded out the Playoff drivers in 26th.

    Elliott posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 175.347 mph.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/C1727_PRAC1.pdf”]

  • Ambulance ruins Kenseth’s night at Richmond

    Ambulance ruins Kenseth’s night at Richmond

    RICHMOND, Va. — An ambulance that came to a stop at the entrance of pit road during the fifth caution of the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway ended the night of Matt Kenseth.

    Following an on-track incident involving Austin Dillon dumping Danica Patrick, most of the field elected to  pit under the aforementioned caution. A number of cars started whoahing up, resulting in Kenseth ramming into the back of Clint Bowyer and pushing in the nose in the radiator area.

    “Well we were all just kind of coming to pit road and I saw an ambulance sitting there and so I looked left of the ambulance at the same time (Jason) Hedlesky (spotter) yelled at everyone to stop there was an ambulance just sitting there,” Kenseth said. “It was an accordion effect and I just couldn’t get stopped. Not really sure why pit road was open with an ambulance parked there, but everybody stopped and I didn’t see it in time and ran into the car in front of me.”

    He retired from the race with a 38th-place finish.

    “Well, I mean I don’t think they should open pit road if there’s an ambulance parked there,” Kenseth added. “It’s a very narrow entry. Pit road speed is pretty fast – 45 miles an hour or something – and, you know, still I shouldn’t have hit the car in front of me, but I can’t say I was expecting to see an ambulance blocking me, so by the time I looked up and saw him parked there and they were stopping in front of me, I tried the best I could to stop and couldn’t.”

    While Kenseth was more restrained with his thoughts of what happened, Martin Truex Jr. was not.

    “I was thinking that somebody that ‑‑ whoever hits the button to open pit road needs to pay attention to what’s going on on the racetrack. That’s what I was thinking,” Truex said. “It’s not like it was a big surprise. It didn’t happen in a split second. The emergency vehicles were riding down the backstretch next to us as soon as we came off of 2, and continued all the way until the opening of pit road, and they just left pit road open. Somebody obviously wasn’t paying attention or wasn’t doing their job properly, and in my opinion at this level, it’s inexcusable.”

    The ambulance incident ruined what was a fantastic race for Kenseth to that point, leading 89 laps, finishing fourth in the first stage and runner-up in the second.

    Despite the misfortune with the ambulance and the poor finish, Kenseth still qualified for the Playoffs. He’ll enter Chicagoland Speedway as the 15th seed.

  • Larson Wins in Overtime at Richmond

    Larson Wins in Overtime at Richmond

    RICHMOND, Va. — While not the dominant driver of the night, Kyle Larson took the race lead when it mattered in overtime to win the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway.

    Exiting pit road ahead of race leader Martin Truex Jr., Larson jumped ahead on the final restart to score his fifth career victory in his 137th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start.

    “I was surprised at how good our car was tonight,” Larson said. “We weren’t as good at the No. 78 (Truex) which nobody really is at any race track. We kept our heads in it. Our pit crew was, oh my gosh, they were so spectacular all night. We gained spots or at least gained time on pit road. Especially that last stop, it was awesome. Can’t thank them enough, this win is all about the and this whole race team really. So, just having a blast this season. We’ve got four wins in the regular season, which is awesome, so hopefully we can go on into the Playoffs and make it through some rounds and hopefully get to Homestead if Irma doesn’t wash it away and go for a championship.”

    Joey Logano finished runner-up and Ryan Newman rounded out the podium.

    “Came up a little bit short overall. Yeah, it stings a little bit,” Logano said. “Last time we were sitting here (in the Richmond Raceway deadline room) after a race, it was after a win, and this time it’s after a second, which overall if you look at our Richmond overall for a season with the two races, you’d say, ‘That’s pretty good, a first and a second.’ But just overall, obviously it stings to come up one spot short and not be able to get into the playoffs. It is what it is. It’s reality, and we’ll move on.”

    “Yeah, I mean on the last lap we were in the best running spot we were the whole race,” Newman said. “Good run for the Caterpillar Chevrolet. I sped on pit road the one time and put us back and then we had one bad pit stop, but other than that we had a great long run car. Struggled on the short runs and just continued to fight and the guys did a good job. It wasn’t easy.”

    Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five.

    “Our Fords are fast and now we’re finding this handling balance,” Busch said. “I’m really proud of everybody at SHR for working hard, knowing we were kind of going into unknown territory, but we got it switched over and thanks to Doug Yates, Haas Automation, Tony Stewart, Gene Haas, Monster Energy. They’ve been with me the last six years and it’s great to see them as the entitlement sponsor of our series, but it’s great to carry their logo on our car and have all of their vendors at the track. We’re having a Monster time. We’re in the Playoffs and now we’re gonna go execute for these 10 weeks.”

    “We both drove in really, really deep. When I got on the brakes, the splitter slammed down on the ground, shot me up the track into him,” Hamlin said, explaining what happened between him and Truex on the final lap. We weren’t racing for the win or anything. But it’s unfortunate. Didn’t want to get into him. He’s a great teammate of ours. But, yeah, tough day for our FedEx team. Overnight we messed it up pretty good. We struggled all day. Got a little bit better there at the end by just kind of going back to where we started the day. Definitely not a car that could contend.”

    Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Matt Kenseth led the field to the green flag at 7:49 p.m. He led the first 89 laps, before ceding the lead when he pitted under the second caution of the race. Teammate Kyle Busch, who opted not to pit and took over the lead, won the first stage.

    Two laps after the Lap 109 restart, Larson drove underneath Busch to pass him for the lead in Turn 3. Busch took it back exiting Turn 2 on Lap 130. Truex assumed the race lead for the first time, overtaking Busch entering Turn 3, on Lap 154 and won the second stage.

    He held the lead until Austin Dillon dumped Danica Patrick in Turn 1, and then lost it on pit road to Kyle Busch. However, he took it back going into Turn 3 on Lap 289.

    While most cars started pitting with 88 laps to go, Truex waiting until 66 to go to make his original final stop, handing the lead to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Brad Keselowski ran him down on fresher tires and took the lead from him with 51 to go. Truex did the same to Keselowski with 46 to go. Derrike Cope’s crash in Turn 4 brought out the fifth caution of the race and set up the overtime finish.

    CAUTION SUMMATION

    Caution first flew on Lap 34 when Landon Cassill cut his right-rear tire and slammed the Turn 1 wall. The second came out on Lap 87 for, according to the NASCAR race report, “smoke.” The end of the first stage brought out the third caution on Lap 100. The end of the second stage brought out the fourth caution on Lap 200. Cope’s wreck in Turn 4 with two laps to go brought out the fifth and Truex’s wreck in Turn 1 on the final lap in overtime brought out the sixth that ended the race.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted three hours, two minutes and 52 seconds, at an average speed of 99.417 mph. There were 13 lead changes among seven different drivers and seven cautions for 38 laps.

    Truex leaves with a 20-point lead over Larson, as the points reset for the playoffs that commence next week.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/C1726_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

  • Truex Finishes Eighth after Blowing Tire in Closing Laps

    Truex Finishes Eighth after Blowing Tire in Closing Laps

    DARLINGTON, S.C. — Martin Truex Jr. put on a strong drive in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 and had the race in check as the laps wound down, but the defending race winner blew a tire in Turn 3, costing him the win, and nursed his damaged car around to an eighth-place finish.

    After the completion of the final cycle of green flag pit stops, Kevin Harvick cycled to the head of the field, with Kurt Busch and Truex in tow. Busch snagged the lead from his teammate with 47 laps to go, then lost it when Truex made a banzai move into Turn 1 with 42 to go.

    The race was in his control from that point on. But then Denny Hamlin, who lost the lead with 55 to go when he overshot the entrance to pit road, moved his way through the running order on much fresher tires and took second with 20 to go. With 10 to go, the gap from Truex to Hamlin was less than two seconds. Coming to five to go, Hamlin was on Truex’s tail.

    Entering Turn 3, Truex suffered a right-front tire blowout and hit the wall.

    He said after the race that it wasn’t a hard hit.

    “It was literally at the end of the backstretch. I was so high getting in the corner anyway that I only had six inches to go to hit it,” Truex said. “I literally stepped on the brake. The car turned right. I was a foot from the wall when the tire popped, and I just kind of glanced off it and glanced around the track. It really wasn’t bad at all, and I was actually able to make two laps with the thing on the inner liner and finish eighth. Not bad, just disappointing more than anything.”

    Hamlin ducked underneath him to take the lead and drive on to victory. Truex, meanwhile, rode out the remaining two and a half laps and brought his car home to eighth.

    While a solid finish nonetheless, Truex said it was “bittersweet” to come up two laps short. Especially on a night when he swept the stages, including edging out Kyle Larson to the line on the final lap of the first stage, which clinched him the regular season championship (and an extra 15 playoff points).

    “Yeah, I mean, it was definitely a bittersweet night for us, to come up just two laps short there, blow a tire at the end after having no issues with tires all night and having such a good race car,” Truex said. “I don’t know if that last run was the longest one we made all night. I’m not really sure to be honest. I was kind of out there caught up driving my guts out at the end trying to hang on. It’s unfortunate we blew the tire, but really proud of everybody on this team for an amazing season so far, and to lock up the regular season points is a huge accomplishment for us, for our team. I feel like we’ve come a long way in just a few years together and continue to climb. Proud of everybody. Wish we could have won, but that’s the breaks. Sometimes they go your way, sometimes they don’t, and tonight we come up a little short. But definitely a lot to be proud of.”

    Truex leaves Darlington with a 107-point lead over Kyle Busch.

  • Hamlin Rallies from Pit Road Overshoot to Win Southern 500 at Darlington

    Hamlin Rallies from Pit Road Overshoot to Win Southern 500 at Darlington

    DARLINGTON, S.C. — Denny Hamlin overcame a botched pit road entry, resulting in him missing the pits entirely, and took advantage of Martin Truex Jr. collecting the wall with three laps to go to win the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

    As the field started hitting pit road on Lap 298 for the final round of green flag stops, Hamlin waited until 55 before making his final stop. He came in too hot and turned his car out onto the track to avoid hitting the sand barrels that line the leading edge of the pit walls.

    However, the high number of cars lapped kept him in contention. As a result, he used his fresher tires to run down the cars in the running order, culminating with his late battle with Truex.

    Entering Turn 3 with three to go, Truex suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall. This allowed Hamlin to moezie on by and score his 31st career victory in his 423rd Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start.

    “Drove our ass off. That’s as hard as I could drive. We got ‘The Flying 11.’ It’s flying.

    “This track is just amazing. I love this race track.

    “This was weird. To go through the adversity we did right there, missing pit lane. I knew I had to drive my tail off to get it back.

    “It’s good to see the entire state of South Carolina in the stands. Thank you so much,” Hamlin said.

    Kyle Busch finished second and Kurt Busch rounded out the podium.

    Austin Dillon and Erik Jones rounded out the top-five.

    Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Truex, Kevin Harvick and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Kevin Harvick led the field to the green flag at 6:20 p.m. After caution flew for the first time on Lap 15 for a two-car wreck in Turn 1, Kyle Busch exited pit road with the race lead. Kyle Larson took the lead going into Turn 1 on the ensuing restart. Truex ran down and passed Larson exiting Turn 4 on the final lap of the stage to win the first stage.

    Exiting pit road with the race lead, Larson led the field to the green on Lap 107. Truex took it back on Lap 148, only to lose it to Denny Hamlin on pit road under caution, a result of a two-car wreck in Turn 2 on Lap 155. But Truex forced a three-wide battle down the backstretch to take the lead exiting Turn 4, and with caution flying for Gray Gaulding spinning out in Turn 2 on Lap 197, the second stage ended with Truex winning the stage.

    Hamlin exited pits with the lead and led the field back to green on Lap 204. A cycle of green flag stops sent Truex to the front, only for a caution for debris in Turn 2 to give the lead back to Hamlin, and setting up the run to the finish.

    CAUTION SUMMATION

    Caution flew first on Lap 15 when Trevor Bayne slammed the Turn 1 wall, followed moments later by AJ Allmendinger spinning and collecting the left-rear of Bayne. Caution flew for the second time on Lap 40 when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. slammed the frontstretch wall. The third caution flew for the end of the first stage on Lap 100. The fourth flew on Lap 125 when Daniel Suarez pounded the wall in Turn 1. Caution flew for the fifth time on Lap 155 for a two-car wreck in Turn 2. Gray Gaulding brought out the sixth caution on Lap 197. David Ragan brought out caution for the seventh time on Lap 206 with his spin in Turn 2. Debris in Turn 2 brought out the eighth and final time on Lap 260.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted three hours, 46 minutes and 34 seconds, at an average speed of 132.761 mph. There were 20 lead changes among eight different drivers and eight cautions for 38 laps.

    Truex leaves with a 107-point lead over Kyle Busch, having mathematically clinched the 15-point regular season points bonus.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/C1725_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

  • Jones Finishes Runner-Up in Career Night

    Jones Finishes Runner-Up in Career Night

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Erik Jones put on a career-best performance, leading over half the race, but it wasn’t enough to beat Kyle Busch in the waning laps of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Having won the pole the day prior, he led the field to the green flag. It wasn’t long, 60 seconds in fact, before his first stint in front was cut short, when Chase Elliott passed him exiting Turn 4 to take the lead. He took it back from Elliott two laps later.

    His next stint lasted a little longer, going 45 laps before he left the bottom lane open in Turn 2, which allowed Kyle Larson to get alongside and pass him going into Turn 3.

    While Jones didn’t get back to the front during the remainder of the first stage, he passed Larson on the final lap of the stage to finish second.

    He exited pit road with the race lead and held the lead until Busch swung by him on the high-side in Turn 3 to take the lead on Lap 166. He used Brad Keselowski as a pick to pass Busch and retake the lead on Lap 180, only to get held up by Paul Menard and getting passed right back by Busch on Lap 198.

    After a two-car wreck in Turn 3 on Lap 227, Jones opted to short-pit the end of the second stage to set up for the run to the checkered flag. He finished fifth in the second stage.

    With leader Matt Kenseth pitting under the stage break, Jones inherited the race lead and was unchallenged during the long 93-lap green flag stint from Lap 257 to Lap 354. On the ensuing restart on Lap 360, Busch went on the attack via the high-side in Turn 4 to take the lead on Lap 361.

    After a single-car incident on the backstretch on Lap 396 and the lead cars pitted, Jones exited with the race lead.

    The run to the finish with 79 laps to go had him line up first on the bottom, Kenseth to the outside in second and Busch in third behind Jones. Busch made it by Kenseth with 72 to go and set his sights on Jones. With 56 to go, Jones got loose in Turn 3, allowing Busch to dive underneath and take the lead exiting Turn 4.

    Busch started to pull away, but ran into heavy lapped traffic with 22 to go, allowing Jones to close in. But just as lapped traffic slowed Busch down, it slowed him down in his quest to catch Busch. He finally ran out of time and came home second.

    “It’s a bummer, I mean you can’t lie. I thought we had a really good day and we fought hard all day. We had our ups and downs and led a lot of laps and didn’t have quite enough at the end,” Jones said. “Kyle (Busch) is really good here. But we had a good 5-hour Energy Camry. Just needed a little more at the end. It’s just unfortunate we didn’t have it. I did what I could, but it just wasn’t quite enough.”

    Jones leaves Bristol 16th in points, 129 behind Kenseth for the final playoff spot. Barring a major penalty by Kenseth’s team at Darlington Raceway and/or Richmond International Raceway, Jones can’t mathematically point his way into a playoff spot. He must win at Darlington and/or Richmond to clinch a spot.

  • Kyle Busch Completes Weekend Sweep with Late Pass at Bristol

    Kyle Busch Completes Weekend Sweep with Late Pass at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Busch made a late pass on Erik Jones in the waning laps of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race and held off his late charge to complete the weekend sweep at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Jones led the field to the green on the final restart of the night with 79 laps to go. Busch, who a few laps prior had passed Matt Kenseth for second, went underneath Jones exiting Turn 4 to retake the lead with 56 to go. Lapped traffic prevented Busch from completely pulling away, but the same lapped traffic also stopped Jones from getting too close to him to threaten his lead.

    In the end, Busch drove on to his 40th career victory in 450 career starts.

    “Erik Jones put up a whale of a fight. That was all I had. I was running with my arm hanging out. My arms are jello and my throat hurts, but man that’s awesome. Can’t say enough about everybody on my Joe Gibbs Racing team. Adam Stevens and the guys are phenomenal. Car might not’ve been perfect. I’m never perfect. I never feel like we’re perfect, but this Caramel Camry was fast. So proud of these guys. So proud of my team. So proud of “Rowdy Nation.” This one’s for you!”

    Jones finished second and Denny Hamlin rounded out the podium.

    Kenseth and Kurt Busch rounded out the top-five.

    Ryan Newman, Trevor Bayne, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Jones led the field to the green flag at 7:47 p.m. It only took 60 seconds into the race for Chase Elliott to pass him exiting Turn 4 and take the lead on Lap 4. Jones retook the lead two laps later. He left the bottom open in Turn 2, allowing Busch to pass him entering Turn 3 on Lap 51.

    When the first caution flew on Lap 61 and the leaders opted to pit, Larson exited the pits with the lead. He led for awhile, until he was held up by a lapped Brad Keselowski in Turn 1, which allowed Busch to go high and take the lead on Lap 114.

    Busch and Larson battled back and forth in the closing laps of the first stage, ending with Busch giving the chrome bumper to Larson going into Turn 1 on the final lap of the stage in order to win it.

    Under the stage break, Jones exited the pits with the race lead. He held it until Busch swung to the high side of Jones in Turn 3 to retake the lead on Lap 166. Jones responded on Lap 180 by using Keselowski as a pick to pass Busch for the lead. Not long after, Jones himself was held up by Paul Menard, which allowed Busch to retake the lead on Lap 198.

    After a two-car wreck in Turn 3, Busch and the leaders elected to pit. Kenseth was the first of those who didn’t, assumed the race lead and drove on to win the second stage.

    Jones took back the race lead under the stage break. Busch powered by Jones up high in Turn 4 to take the lead on Lap 361. Jones regained the lead on pit road under the event’s seventh caution.

    Landon Cassill’s shunt, hit on the inside wall and hard hit on the outside wall in Turn 1 with 84 to go set up the run to the finish.

    CAUTION SUMMARY

    Caution flew for the first time on Lap 61 when Aric Almirola made contact with the wall and fell dramatically off the pace, on the racing surface. The second flew on Lap 125 for the end of the first stage. The third came out when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hit the wall in Turn 2 on Lap 200. The fourth flew on Lap 227 for a two-car wreck in Turn 3 involving Austin Dillon and Jeffrey Earnhardt. The fifth was for the end of the second stage on Lap 250. The sixth was for Trevor Bayne slamming the wall in Turn 1 on Lap 354. The seventh flew on Lap 396 when Elliott hit the inside wall on the backstretch. The seventh flew for Cassill’s hard lick with the outside wall in Turn 1 with 84 to go.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours, 46 minutes and 37 seconds, at an average speed of 95.969 mph. There were 21 lead changes among six different drivers and eight cautions for 53 laps.

    Truex leaves with a 101-point lead over Kyle Busch.

    Elliott, Kenseth and Jamie McMurray maintain the final playoff spots with two races remaining in the regular season.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/C1724_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

  • Gaughan Takes Playoff Hit at Bristol

    Gaughan Takes Playoff Hit at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — While Brendan Gaughan still occupies a playoff spot with two races remaining in the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series regular season, his late wreck in the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway did him no favors.

    Gaughan was part of a three-wide row of cars exiting Turn 4 with 17 laps to go with him up against the wall, Jeb Burton driving the 24 car in the middle and Garrett Smithley on the bottom. Something broke on the right-front of Burton’s car (evidenced by the fire that broke out in the wheel well a few minutes later), leading to him drifting up into the left-rear of Gaughan. Burton hit and sent him spinning backward into the wall, making contact with his right-rear corner.

    He then comes down and makes contact with Ray Black Jr. Moments later, his left-rear tire goes flat and he spins up towards the wall. He makes slight contact with the wall again, with his front bumper, before doing a full 360° spin, coming to a stop and pulling down onto the apron.

    Gaughan finished the race 30th, and he wasn’t happy with Burton after what transpired.

    “We had a decent South Point Chevy. We were gonna sit there in the top-14, top-12 for the most part, and then we have the loose wheel. It’s just racing man. That happens. But two weeks in a row. I know he don’t have many races and I like him a lot normally, but right now, I’m gonna knock the hell out of him. The first time, he gave me a flat. The second time, he says he blew a tire, but if you know you got a tire blowing, don’t drive underneath somebody.”

    Burton later responded, saying he never meant “to get into him” and that he “just got tight.”

    Gaughan leaves Bristol 12th in points, maintaining a 43-point edge over Ross Chastain for the final playoff spot.

  • Kyle Busch Puts on Clinic in Bristol XFINITY Race

    Kyle Busch Puts on Clinic in Bristol XFINITY Race

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — It was another Kyle Busch showcase, as he led a race-high of 186 to win the NASCAR XFINITY Series Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    He led the field to the green flag at 7:45 and led the first 16 laps, before Justin Allgaier powered by him, on the high side, on the Lap 16 restart to take the lead. Busch drove underneath him exiting Turn 2 on Lap 33 and drove on to win the first stage.

    He was busted for speeding and restarted the second stage from the tail-end of the field. However, he methodically worked his back to the head of the field on Lap 157, just in time for him to win the second stage.

    From there, while he briefly lost the lead to Daniel Suarez and Elliott Sadler, it was all Rowdy’s with 98 laps to go, who drove right on to his 91st career victory.

    Suarez finished second and Sadler rounded out the podium.

    Ty Dillon and Allgaier rounded out the top-five.

    Brennan Poole, Daniel Hemric, Austin Dillon, Joey Logano and Cole Custer rounded out the top-10.

    CAUTION SUMMARY

    Caution first flew on Lap 12 for David Starr when he slammed the wall in Turn 1. The second flew when Aric Almirola and Ryan Reed crashed in Turn 3 on Lap 29. The third flew on Lap 39 when Reed slammed the wall in Turn 4. The fourth flew for the end of the first stage on Lap 86. The fifth flew for Brandon Jones spinning out on the front stretch on Lap 124. The sixth flew for the end of the second stage. The seventh flew for Tommy Joe Martins slamming the wall in Turn 1 with 84 laps to go. The final caution flew with 23 to go when Brendan Gaughan got turned into the front stretch wall.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted one hour, 48 minutes and 30 seconds, at an average speed of 88.424 mph. There were 11 lead changes among four different drivers and eight cautions for 46 laps.

    Sadler leaves with a 110-point lead over William Byron.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/N1722_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

     

  • Jones Takes Pole Position at Thunder Valley

    Jones Takes Pole Position at Thunder Valley

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Erik Jones will lead the field to the green flag tomorrow night after winning the pole for the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota posted a final round time of 14.891 and a speed of 128.082 mph.

    “It’s cool anytime you get your first pole, but to the Bristol (night race), that’s pretty cool. I’m just excited,” Jones said. “We’ve got a really good 5-hour Energy Camry. We had a really good week last week, and we’ve done a good job keeping the momentum going so far. Hoping for a good day tomorrow night. Obviously, really excited to get this race going now and see what we can do.”

    Kyle Larson will start second with a time of 14.984 and a speed of 128.057 mph. Kasey Kahne will start third with a time of 15.005 and a speed of 127.877 mph. Chase Elliott will start fourth with a time of 15.031 and a speed of 127.656 mph. Matt Kenseth will round out the top-five with a time of 15.042 and a speed of 127.563 mph.

    Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer and Ryan Blaney will round out the top-10.

    Jamie McMurray and Daniel Suarez will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    Kyle Busch, who won the pole for both the Truck and XFINITY race this weekend, got loose entering Turn 3 on his first run of the second round and failed to advance. He’ll start 18th.

    Timmy Hill failed to make the race.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/C1724_QUALRES.pdf”]