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Author: Tucker White

  • Kyle Busch Captures Cup Series Pole at Kentucky

    Kyle Busch Captures Cup Series Pole at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Kyle Busch will lead the field to the green flag tomorrow night after winning the pole for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.

    Inclement weather forced NASCAR to cancel the final round of qualifying.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota scored the pole with a new track record time of 28.379 and a speed of 190.282 mph.

    It’s his 22nd career pole in 444 career starts.

    Martin Truex Jr. will start second with a time of 28.392 and a speed of 190.194 mph. Matt Kenseth will start third with a time of 28.460 and a speed of 189.740 mph. Jamie McMurray will start fourth with a time of 28.464 and a speed of 189.713 mph. Denny Hamlin will round out the top-five with a time of 28.468 and a speed of 189.687 mph.

    Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Daniel Suarez and Brad Keselowski will round out the top-10.

    Kyle Larson didn’t post a lap after failing to pass tech inspection on multiple tries. He’ll start 40th.

    No driver failed to make the race.

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  • XFINITY Race at Kentucky Postponed to Saturday at Noon

    XFINITY Race at Kentucky Postponed to Saturday at Noon

    SPARTA, Ky. — The NASCAR XFINITY Series Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway has been postponed to Saturday at noon ET due to rain showers approaching the track.

    Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, announced the decision, stating,  “NASCAR and Kentucky Speedway have decided to postpone tonight’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race until tomorrow. Fan safety is our No. 1 priority. Due to extreme weather forecasted deep into this evening, we did not see any opportunity to get the race completed tonight.”

    Tomorrow’s forecast has only a 10 percent chance of rain in the afternoon (Weather.com).

    Kyle Busch will lead the field to the green flag at noon. The race will be broadcast on NBCSN with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

     

  • Kyle Busch Takes Pole Position in XFINITY at Kentucky

    Kyle Busch Takes Pole Position in XFINITY at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Kyle Busch will lead the field to the green flag tonight after winning the pole for the Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota nabbed pole position with a final round time of 29.681 and a speed of 181.935 mph. Erik Jones will start second in his No. 20 Gibbs Toyota with a final round time of 29.730 and a speed of 181.635 mph. Ryan Blaney will start third in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford with a final round time of 29.776 and a speed of 181.354 mph. Joey Logano will start fourth in his No. 22 Penske Ford with a final round time of 29.913 and a speed of 180.524 mph. William Byron rounded out the top-five in his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet with a final round time of 29.975 and a speed of 180.150 mph.

    Tyler Reddick, Brennan Poole, Cole Custer, Paul Menard and Daniel Hemric will round out the top-10.

    Kevin Harvick and Ty Dillon will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    With 43 cars entered, three — Brandon Brown, Quintillion’s Houff and Morgan Shepherd — failed to make the race.

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  • Larson Fastest in Final Cup Practice at Kentucky

    Larson Fastest in Final Cup Practice at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Kyle Larson topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Kentucky Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 28.695 and a speed of 188.186 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was second in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 28.848 and a speed of 187.188 mph. Chase Elliott was third in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 28.892 and a speed of 186.903 mph. Ryan Blaney was fourth in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 28.961 and a speed of 186.458 mph. Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 28.991 and a speed of 186.265 mph.

    Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Darrell Wallace Jr. and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-10.

    Larson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 181.516 mph.

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  • Kenseth Doesn’t Expect JGR to be an Option Next Season

    Kenseth Doesn’t Expect JGR to be an Option Next Season

    SPARTA, Ky. — Matt Kenseth’s announcement that he doesn’t expect to return to Joe Gibbs Racing next season set off the 2017 silly season domino chain.

    It wasn’t a case of giving a vague answer that could be misinterpreted. He outright said he doesn’t think returning to JGR next season is an option.

    “I don’t think so. I don’t think it is (an option). Like I said, I don’t have a ride at this moment for next year. I haven’t worked on anything real hard, but I don’t think I will have the option to race at JGR next season, unfortunately,” he said.

    Compounding the dilemma for the 2003 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion is that he doesn’t have a ride for next season. While his name has been brought up a time or two in the discussion on drivers to replace Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Chevrolet, it’s important to note Hendrick Motorsports already has two young drivers, Alex Bowman and William Byron, waiting in the pipeline.

    With the wave of young drivers rising up through the NASCAR ranks in the last few seasons, it would appear Kenseth’s days are numbered, especially with rides hard to come by. But at the end of the day, he’s not panicking yet.

    “I’m not really worried about it,” he added. “As of today, I do not have a job for next year. So I certainly hope to still be racing next year. I think I got some wins left in me and, hopefully, I can race for championships. But right now, my focus is finishing up this year. As we talked about, it’s been kind of a slow start. Has not been a good year, at all. Not nearly up to my standards or my teams’ standards. So trying to get back to victory lane and, hopefully, get qualified for the playoffs here and have a shot at the playoffs is pretty much my focus at this point.”

  • McMurray Fastest in First Cup Practice at Kentucky

    McMurray Fastest in First Cup Practice at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Jamie McMurray topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Kentucky Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 28.911 and a speed of 186.780 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was second in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 28.963 and a speed of 186.445 mph. Kyle Larson was third in his No. 42 Ganassi Chevrolet with a time of 29.017 and a speed of 186.098 mph. Ryan Blaney was fourth in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 29.023 and a speed of 186.059 mph. Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 29.042 and a speed of 185.938 mph.

    Denny Hamlin, Danica Patrick, Clint Bowyer, Chase Elliott and Erik Jones rounded out the top-10.

    Busch posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 183.148 mph.

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  • Kyle Busch Fastest in Final XFINITY Practice

    Kyle Busch Fastest in Final XFINITY Practice

    SPARTA, Ky. — Kyle Busch topped the chart in final NASCAR XFINITY Series practice at Kentucky Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 29.607 and a speed of 182.389 mph. Ryan Blaney was second in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford with a time of 29.744 and a speed of 181.549 mph. Brandon Jones was third in his No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 29.794 and a speed of 181.245 mph. Tyler Reddick was fourth in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 29.811 and a speed of 181.141 mph. Erik Jones rounded out the top-five in his No. 20 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 29.860 and a speed of 180.844 mph.

    Brennan Poole, Daniel Hemric, Ty Dillon, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-10.

    Blaney posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 179.970 mph.

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  • 75 percent of ThorSport Racing collected in second stage wreck

    75 percent of ThorSport Racing collected in second stage wreck

    SPARTA, Ky. — An eight-place finish by Matt Crafton and 15th by Cody Coughlin salvaged what almost turned into a rotten night for ThorSport Racing after three-quarters of their stable, including Crafton, were involved in a multi-truck wreck early in the second stage of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway.

    Entering Turn 3 on the lap 42 restart, first stage winner Ben Rhodes was running below the No. 45 of TJ Bell when he got loose and spun out. He did roughly a 135° spin before hitting Bell with his left-rear corner, sending him up the track and into the path of Crafton, who made slight contact with the wall.

    After Rhodes made contact with Bell, his truck did another half spin before pounding the wall right-rear first. Teammate Grant Enfinger, who made the choice to go high to avoid the spinning Rhodes when he was still on the bottom, slammed into his rear-end.

    “I was underneath the 4 (Christopher Bell) trying to make a move. Then I saw him start to come down on me so I started backing out, and as we were going down to the groove we just all ran out of room,” Rhodes said. “I was trying to give everybody as much room as I could. Just unfortunate. I know all the restarts everybody was going as hard as they can. They were four-wide in front of me, so I was trying to do what I could with what I had. Just unfortunate we couldn’t come out a little bit better for our Safelite team. We had a lot of people here tonight to watch the race. Sorry I let them down. Just a big mistake on my part. Miscalculated it, and just need to re-evaluate our situation this year and try to get us in the playoffs.”

    Crafton leaves Kentucky fourth in points, 89 back of Johnny Sauter, with Rhodes and Enfinger tailing him in fifth and sixth. Coughlin leaves 13th in points.

  • Bell Takes Late Lead and Holds Off Challenger to Win Truck Race at Kentucky

    Bell Takes Late Lead and Holds Off Challenger to Win Truck Race at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — An early spin didn’t stop Christopher Bell from returning to the front to claim victory in the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway.

    He took the lead from John Hunter Nemechek with a pass to the high-side in Turn 3 and held off Brandon Jones right down to the final lap to score the victory.

    “This is pretty special,” Bell said after the race. “We had our ups and downs. Practice didn’t go very well, but we had a really fast Tundra, and (crew chief) Rudy Fugle made great calls from the pit box after I made a mistake and spun out.”

    RACE RECAP

    After rain delayed the original start by roughly three hours, Johnny Sauter led the field to the green flag at 10:39 p.m. Matt Mills brought out the first caution on Lap 22 when he got loose, overcorrected and hit the outside wall exiting Turn 4.

    On the ensuing restart on Lap 27, ThorSport Racing teammates Ben Rhodes and Grant Enfinger “sandwiched” Sauter going into Turn 1 to take the lead, with Enfinger taking the sole lead. The caution flew a second time on the same lap when Bell went spinning in Turn 3.

    Rhodes took the lead from his teammate on the following restart on Lap 32 and drove on to win the first stage.

    Noah Gragson, who pitted under the first caution, assumed the race lead.

    Back to green on lap 42, the caution flew on the same lap for a multi-car wreck in Turn 3, which collected three of the four ThorSport trucks.

    After that wreck, the rest of the stage proceeded under green, with Gragson winning it.

    Myatt Snider exited pit road with the race lead. He lost the lead on the ensuing restart to Bell.

    The race didn’t make it a lap before Gragson was turned by Austin Cindric on the frontstretch, bringing out the sixth caution.

    When the next run settled into a longer green run, Bell came up on lapped traffic. John Hunter Nemechek took advantage of this and took the lead from Bell on Lap 94.

    It was interrupted by a solo spin by Snider with 44 laps to go.

    Bell took the lead on the ensuing restart with 37 to go when the caution flew for a two-truck wreck in Turn 3, setting up the run to the finish.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted one hour, 59 minutes and 47 seconds at an average speed of 112.703 mph. There were 10 lead changes among eight different drivers and eight cautions for 42 laps.

    Sauter leaves with a 28-point lead over Bell.

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  • When We Last Came to Kentucky

    When We Last Came to Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Last time NASCAR ventured into the Bluegrass State, carnage was the name of the game with the XFINITY Series. Erik Jones dominated the race, only to see his hopes dashed by a late race wreck, Ash Ketchum offered himself as a peace offering to a hoard of attacking Spearow and…okay, that last one was actually from the first episode of Pokémon, but needless to say, a lot happened.

    When all was said and done, Elliott Sadler stood victorious while dominant drivers of the night Jones and Ty Dillon were defeated by the same race-ending wreck. While Jones recovered from this setback and was among the championship four XFINITY drivers in last November’s Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Dillon couldn’t recover and was knocked out in the first round.

    This 12-caution 13-car behind the wall standalone XFINITY Series race was arguably the most carnage-filled and chaotic of any race during the XFINITY Series playoffs last season.

    Carnage was the case with last July’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, in which 10 of the 11 cautions were related to a wreck or spin. Surprisingly, mayhem wasn’t the case with last July’s XFINITY and Truck race.

    The number of wrecks we did see, however, shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that the track was completely resurfaced for the first time in its history in January of that year. You should expect more of the same this time around with the additional layer of asphalt laid down by the track last October.

    And when you ask drivers, like Jones, they’ll tell you it’s essentially a full repave.

    “It’s back to, you know, a full repave again essentially,” he said. “They came and they did the tire dragon before we got on track but it rained the entire first day so it washed it all off and then had to kind of run it back in, so it felt like Texas really – just a full repave. Hopefully with the trucks being out there all day yesterday, truck race tonight, XFINITY practice today, it’ll be pretty worked in for the Cup cars here tomorrow, but it’s still a whole new repave, a whole new deal again.”