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Author: Tucker White

  • Kyle Busch Fastest in Final Cup Practice at New Hampshire

    Kyle Busch Fastest in Final Cup Practice at New Hampshire

    Kyle Busch topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 29.086 and a speed of 130.950 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was second in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 29.171 and a speed of 130.568 mph. Denny Hamlin was third in his No. 11 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 29.171 and a speed of 130.568 mph. Kyle Larson was fourth in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 29.183 and a speed of 130.514 mph. Chase Elliott rounded out the top-five in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 29.192 and a speed of 130.474 mph.

    Jimmie Johnson, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Blaney, Matt Kenseth and Erik Jones rounded out the top-10.

    Truex posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 130.094 mph.

    Second Practice Results

    First Practice Results

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  • Truex Fastest in Second Practice at New Hampshire

    Truex Fastest in Second Practice at New Hampshire

    Martin Truex Jr. topped the chart in second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 29.000 and a speed of 131.338 mph. Kyle Larson was second in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 29.001 and a speed of 131.333 mph. Jimmie Johnson was third in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 29.034 and a speed of 131.184 mph. Chase Elliott was fourth in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet with a time of 29.039 and a speed of 131.162 mph. Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 29.059 and a speed of 131.071 mph.

    Erik Jones, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-10.

    Larson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 130.624 mph.

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  • The Season to Date for Ryan Newman

    The Season to Date for Ryan Newman

    This season for the “rocket man” Ryan Newman is roughly on par with his 2016 campaign.

    He opened his season with a 21st in the 59th running of the Daytona 500. The following week in Atlanta was a stronger showing for him, running as high as first and leading three laps in the process. He was running fourth when he sent to the tail-end of the field, however, for a crew member being over the wall too soon. Adding insult to injury, he took his car to the garage with battery issues and finished 35th.

    The best he did in Las Vegas was a 17th-place finish.

    At Phoenix, Newman chose to stay out for the overtime restart. He powered ahead of Kyle Larson on said restart and ended a winless drought stretching back to the 2013 Brickyard 400.

    The rest of the finishes since then include a 15th at Fontana, eighth at Martinsville, 26th at Texas, 14th at Bristol, seventh at Richmond (where he’s led his most laps on the season with 25), 25th at Talladega, 40th at Kansas, ninth at Charlotte, fourth at Dover, 14th at Pocono, 15th at Michigan, 15th at Sonoma, fifth at Daytona and 22nd at Kentucky.

    He’s got a win on the season (his first since 2013), as well as three-top fives and six top-10s. The former is one greater than his 2016 total, but he’s four short of matching his total from last season. He’s led 37 laps this season, 13 more than his 2016 total, but his 16.3 finishing average is 3.8 percent worse than his 15.7 finishing average from 2016.

    Despite the victory, his season has been mediocre at best. Even Newman agrees that his team isn’t performing at the level it needs to for the playoffs.

    “We’re trying to get our train back on its tracks, so to speak, from where we were in Phoenix,” Newman said. “Our 1.5-mile program has really struggled. Our short track program is not what we need it to be, even in Phoenix we didn’t lead the amount of laps we should have. We led the right one, but we haven’t dominated. We see the No. 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) and the No. 42 (Larson); at times the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) and the No. 18 (Kyle Busch) have been dominating; maybe not all leading the last lap, but in general, we’re not leading enough laps to be as competitive as we need to be for those last 10 races. So, our focus is like it always is, to make the cars drive better and faster and to put ourselves in better contention for making our way easier, or a chance to be easily progressing through the playoffs.”

  • Larson Fastest at New Hampshire in First Practice

    Larson Fastest at New Hampshire in First Practice

    Kyle Larson topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 28.430 and a speed of 133.971 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was second in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 28.591 and a speed of 133.217 mph. Kyle Busch was third in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 28.607 and a speed of 133.142 mph. Ryan Blaney was fourth in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 28.672 and a speed of 132.840 mph. Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-five in his No. 1 Ganassi Chevrolet with a time of 28.703 and a speed of 132.697 mph.

    Denny Hamlin, who posted the 25th-fastest single lap, ran the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 130.047 mph.

    With 20 minutes to go in the session, Hamlin got loose exiting Turn 4, spun down the track and hit the inside wall head-on. His team elected to roll out his backup car.

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  • The White Zone: Let’s adopt F1’s constructors’ championship model for the owners championship

    The White Zone: Let’s adopt F1’s constructors’ championship model for the owners championship

    If I may ask, why do we have an owners championship in NASCAR?

    No really, what purpose does maintaining a separate championship for drivers and a separate championship for the owners of cars serve? The main prize at the end of the day is the drivers title. The owners title almost always goes to the owner of the car driven by the driver who won the drivers title. The only place it ever gets any real mention is in the XFINITY Series, and that’s because the races in the series are won by Cup drivers in Cup-affiliated rides more often than not.

    Aside from bragging rights that carry less weight than the drivers title, owner points are used to set the lineup whenever qualifying is rained out. Why we can’t just use driver points or practice times to do this is beyond me, especially when NASCAR has shown a propensity to bypass qualifying in favor of practice time when the weather looks iffy.

    But if we must continue with an owners championship, let’s adopt a different model to decide the champion. And you need to look no further than Formula 1 for the answer.

    For those who don’t follow F1, their version of an owners championship, or “constructors’ championship,” involves the organization as a whole accumulating points towards a championship. So rather than the No. 44 (driven by Lewis Hamilton) and the No. 77 (driven by Valtteri Bottas) scoring points as individual car entries towards a championship, as is the case in NASCAR, they both score points combined for Mercedes.

    So let’s scrap the current owners championship model in NASCAR and replace it with the one used in Formula 1, or one similar to that used in Formula 1.

    And I know not every team runs a multi-car operation in NASCAR. So to keep the playing field level, points will only be accumulated by the highest finishing car from each organization.

    My reasoning behind pushing this is that making the owners title a more organization-centered points battle would add relevance to it as it does with the constructors’ title in Formula 1.

    Of course if NASCAR chooses not to, nothing is really lost. The focus will still be on the drivers championship as it should be. I just personally think it would be fun to see what lengths teams would go to win a more organization-based owners championship.

    Now this is a chance I overlooked something. So if you find any oversights in this, please hit me up on Twitter or in the comments below.

    That’s my view for what it’s worth.

  • Keselowski and Johnson Among Those Eliminated by Multi-Car Wrecks at Kentucky

    Keselowski and Johnson Among Those Eliminated by Multi-Car Wrecks at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Three multi-car wrecks during the Quaker State 400 ended the night of a number of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers at Kentucky Speedway.

    Rounding Turn 3 on Lap 88, Brad Keselowski was running inside of Clint Bowyer when his car got loose and spun out. He clipped the left-rear corner of Bowyer and sent him spinning as well. Jimmie Johnson, coming up on the spinning Keselowski, had nowhere to go, took a critical hit to the right-front wheel-well, veered up the track and slammed the wall in Turn 4.

    Bowyer continued on with his race and finished 13th, but the night was over for Johnson and Keselowski.

    “I just got in an aero wake and it pulled me around,” Keselowski said. “I knew I was in a bad spot. I was trying to lay up but there is only so much you can lay up here because you get ran over from behind. The air pulled me around. It sucks. I feel bad for everyone on the Miller Lite Ford team and I think I tore up two or three other guys and that sucks for them. I don’t know. It is kind of a tough spot to be in on these tracks where they are kind of one groove. You can’t just lay up everytime. You give up too many spots or get ran over from behind. If you drive in with someone close to you the car just spins out. It just sucks but it is what it is. We have to find a way around it and we didn’t today.”

    The next wreck occurred after the ensuing restart on Lap 94 when Kasey Kahne tried to force his way inside of Trevor Bayne, sending him spinning and sending himself into the wall in Turn 1.

    “It was just a restart, I had a run on the No. 6 and I got under him getting into Turn 1 down the front stretch and he just drove over my front end, pretty simple,” Kahne said.

    The final multi-car wreck occurred in overtime.

    As race leader Martin Truex Jr. came to the line to take the white flag, Darrell Wallace Jr. ran Matt Kenseth up high in Turn 4, pushing him out of the racing groove and into the marbles, where he got loose and spun out in front of teammate Daniel Suarez, who t-boned the drivers side of Kenseth’s car. Austin Dillon, who was following Suarez, slammed into the back of him and hooked him towards the wall as he turned down towards and through the grass.

    David Ragan was also involved as he drove over the grass with the words “restart zone” painted over it to avoid Kenseth and Suarez.

    Dillon was the only one who was available for comment afterwards and said, in short, he “had nowhere to go.”

    “We were committed to the top for the final restart, so I had nowhere to go when they spun in front of me. It was a rough end to a challenging night,” he said.

    Of the drivers involved, Keselowski left Kentucky highest in points in eighth, followed by Johnson in ninth. Bowyer leaves 10th, while Kenseth leaves 11th. Suarez left 19th, Kahne left 22nd and Ragan left 28th.

  • Larson Ends Weekend with Runner-Up Finish at Kentucky

    Larson Ends Weekend with Runner-Up Finish at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Calling Kyle Larson’s weekend at Kentucky Speedway an adventure would be quite an understatement.

    First, his car failed inspection so many times in qualifying that he didn’t even post a lap and started dead last. Even on raceday, it took more than one attempt to finally clear tech inspection. And they did so with less than 30 minutes to go before the start of the Quaker State 400.

    Starting dead last, Larson moved his way through the field and made it all the way up to third by the conclusion of the first stage. But he was sent to the tail-end of the field on the following restart for speeding on pit road and was forced to work up through the field a second time.

    While he didn’t score any stage points in the second stage, a result of finishing outside the top-10, He found  himself running top-five in the closing laps of the race itself.

    With race leader Martin Truex Jr. pulling out to a 15-second lead in the closing laps, it looked as though Larson would have to settle for just a top-five. But that all went out the window when Kurt Busch’s engine expired on the frontstretch with two laps to go.

    While Truex opted to stay out, Larson and a company of others elected to pit. He exited third (fourth in the running order) and restarted behind Truex, who chose the outside line, on the overtime restart.

    He gave a push to shove Truex out ahead coming to the green, but ended up behind Kyle Busch. Exiting Turn 2, however, Larson got underneath him, powered by and cleared him going into Turn 3.

    A four-car wreck exiting Turn 4 ended the race under caution and locked in a runner-up finish for Larson.

    He said afterwards that he wasn’t sure what he could’ve done to catch Truex.

    “Yeah, I don’t know what we could have done to beat him,” Larson added. “He was obviously pretty fast with the lead there. It would have been fun to get to race him because I felt like I had the second best car today; and it would have been interesting to get a restart with him earlier and get to hang with him that last run there. But, we brought the Target Chevy home second after not being able to qualify and having to start last in the race and then having my speeding penalty there. I guess I was just a little too fast leaving my stall and got a penalty. So, I’ve got to clean that stuff up. I’m mad at myself that I made that mistake. I don’t really know if it affected the outcome, but you never know.”

    Larson leaves Kentucky the points leader, retaining a one-point lead over Truex.

  • Truex Dominates and Survives Overtime Restart to Win at Kentucky

    Truex Dominates and Survives Overtime Restart to Win at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Martin Truex Jr. put on a clinic in the Quaker State 400, leading the most laps and sweeping the stages, but had to out-duel the field in overtime to win for the third time this season at Kentucky Speedway.

    Restarting in overtime, Kyle Larson shoved Truex out ahead of the field and a multi-car wreck in Turn 4 coming to the white flag ended the race under caution, rendering the victory to Truex.

    It’s his 10th victory in 423 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career starts.

    Larson finished runner-up, followed by Chase Elliott on the bottom step of the podium.

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

    Erik Jones, Jamie McMurray, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-10.

    RACE RECAP

    Busch led the field to the green flag at 7:49 p.m. He led the first 29 laps before Truex edged him out at the line on Lap 30. Busch regained it the following lap, but Truex drove him back down to take it and win the first stage.

    Busch took back the lead on the ensuing Lap 88 restart exiting Turn 2. But as was the case in the first, Truex reeled him in, passed him on Lap 136 and won the second stage. Joey Logano broke up the Busch/Truex parade up front by bypassing pit road under the stage break and taking the race lead, only to lose it on Lap 171.

    Truex then built himself up a 12-second lead, only surrendering the lead under a cycle of green flag stops with 43 laps to go, which he took back with 39 to go. Kurt Busch’s blown engine on the frontstretch with two to go brought out the race’s eighth caution, setting up the overtime finish.

    CAUTIONS

    Caution flew for the first time on Lap 31 as a scheduled competition caution due to rain that pelted the track the whole weekend. The second flew on Lap 81 for the end of the first stage. The third caution flew on Lap 88 for a three-car wreck in Turn 3 involving Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson. The fourth flew on Lap 95 for a two-car wreck in Turn 2 involving Kasey Kahne and Trevor Bayne. The fifth flew on Lap 112 when Bayne went spinning in Turn 4. The sixth flew on Lap 138 when Joey Gase hit the wall in Turn 2. The seventh flew for the end of the second stage.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours, 55 minutes and 57 seconds at an average speed of 138.604 mph. There were nine lead changes among four different drivers and nine cautions for 39 laps.

    Larson leaves with a one-point lead over Truex.

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  • Multi-Car Melee Rocks Initial Start of XFINITY Kentucky Race

    Multi-Car Melee Rocks Initial Start of XFINITY Kentucky Race

    SPARTA, Ky. — A combination of games played on the restart and other drivers trying to get a jump on the start resulted in a multi-car accident on the initial start of the day-late NASCAR XFINITY Series race in the Bluegrass State.

    Coming to the start/finish to take the initial start of the day-late Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway, Kyle Busch — rather than accelerate in the restart zone, as most drivers do — waited for the flagman to start the race.

    The rest of the field, probably anticipating Busch to accelerate in the restart zone, tried to time the start to get a jump on those ahead. This caused a stack up near mid-pack, resulting in Blake Koch ramming into the back of Brendan Gaughan, turning him up into the left-front wheel of Brandon Jones and came back down and made contact with Michael Annett.

    Ryan Reed received significant damage after he slammed into the back of Koch.

    Gaughan continued on in the race, only to crash out a few laps later when his car slammed the wall in Turn 2.

    Reed leaves eighth in points, 224 behind Elliott Sadler. Koch leaves 12th in points, 278 behind Elliott Sadler, with Gaughan in 13th behind 300.

  • Kyle Busch Stretches Fuel to Win in XFINITY at Kentucky

    Kyle Busch Stretches Fuel to Win in XFINITY at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Kyle Busch demonstrated new tires weren’t entirely superior to worn tires and stretched his fuel to win the day-late NASCAR XFINITY Series Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

    After caution flew with 34 laps to go, he made the decision to stay out when race leaders Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney pitted. He took off on the restart and extended his record number of victories in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

    He noted in victory lane that the win didn’t come easy and it was challenging.

    “That’s what racing is all about, these guys keep getting better and we just bide our time a little bit as well today. We did what we needed to do to be there at the end and gave it our best opportunity there. We took four tires and that kind of got us behind there with two pit stops to go and then some of those guys came in again. Obviously our car was really fast out front and once I got in clean air I didn’t think anybody had anything for us,” Busch said.

    It’s his 88th career victory in 333 XFINITY Series starts.

    Blaney rallied from an outside tire violation to finish runner-up and Jones rounded out the podium.

    Kevin Harvick and Ty Dillon rounded out the top-five.

    Joey Logano, William Byron, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top-10.

    RACE RECAP

    The field barely made it to the start/finish line for the initial start of the race before the accordion effect of stack up of cars resulted in a multi-car wreck on the frontstretch. It only went two laps green before a wreck in Turn 2, Brendan Gaughan, brought out the second caution on the eighth lap.

    The longest green flag run of the first stage was the second on the Lap 15 restart, stretching 11 laps, before caution, a scheduled competition flew on Lap 26

    On the Lap 6 restart, Jones passed teammate Busch exiting Turn 2 to take the lead and drove on to win the first stage. When he pitted under the caution, Blaney, who pitted under the competition caution, assumed the race lead and won a caution-free second stage with ease.

    With tire falloff not being as steep this weekend, he elected not to pit, as did the first 16 cars.

    Jones and Busch took the fight to Blaney on the Lap 100 restart, especially when he got loose exiting Turn 4, allowing the two of them to get to his inside. With a three-wide battle for first coming to the start/finish line, Busch edged out Jones and Blaney to retake the lead.

    When Joey Gase’s engine expired in Turn 2, spilling fluid down the backstretch, the leaders pitted, Jones took just two tires and exited with the race lead.

    Back to green on lap 137, Blaney caught him with less than 50 laps to go and spent a number of laps applying the pressure, until a solo-spin in Turn 2 by Ray Black Jr. with 34 to go brought out the eighth caution, setting up the run to the finish.

    OTHER CAUTIONS

    Paul Menard brought out a caution on Lap 104 when he got loose and rear-ended the Turn 2 wall.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours, 30 minutes and 56 seconds at an average speed of 119.258 mph. There were seven lead changes among four different drivers and eight cautions for 44 laps.

    Elliott Sadler leaves with a 45-point lead over Byron.

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