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Author: Tucker White

  • Kyle Busch Fastest at Daytona in First Practice

    Kyle Busch Fastest at Daytona in First Practice

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

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 45.584 and a speed of 197.438 mph. Brad Keselowski was second in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 45.632 and a speed of 197.230 mph. Kevin Harvick was third in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a time of 45.639 and a speed of 197.200 mph. Joey Logano was fourth in his No. 22 Penske Ford with a time of 45.647 and a speed of 197.165 mph. Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-five in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 45.647 and a speed of 197.165 mph.

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Matt DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon, Trevor Bayne and Kurt Busch rounded out the top-10.

    Bayne posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 196.073 mph.

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  • Dominant Truex Drive Defeated by Engine Failure

    Dominant Truex Drive Defeated by Engine Failure

    A great day for Martin Truex Jr. ended behind the wall in the closing laps of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

    Starting the day in third, Truex worked his way to the race lead by out-braking Kyle Larson going into Turn 11 on Lap 10. He briefly lost the lead opting to pit under the Lap 14 caution that flew for a spin in Turn 11 but took it back from AJ Allmendinger on Lap 22 to win the first stage (his 11th of the season).

    Truex led the first 13 laps of the second stage before pitting under the lap 38 caution, which flew for debris and finished outside the top-10 in the stage.

    He found his way back to the front with 43 laps to go, out-braking Kevin Harvick entering Turn 11, only to pit from the lead three laps later and exit behind Harvick, who pitted the lap prior, due to a slow stop.

    Shortly thereafter, Truex reported that he was down a cylinder. The issue briefly subsided and he picked up his pace. With 24 to go, however, he made an unscheduled pit stop, then took his car to the garage because the engine expired.

    He said afterward that he “was on seven cylinders” for roughly “about 20 laps.”

    “It’s very disappointing, I mean, sitting there running second on seven cylinders and staying right with the leader,” Truex said. “I mean this Toyota was so good today. Everyone at Furniture Row Racing did an awesome job with it. Everybody back in Denver, thank you for just crazy fast cars. TRD (Toyota Racing Development) stuff has been really good for the past year and a half. You know sometimes these things happen, so appreciate all their effort out there at TRD. Makes good power. It’s just this one wasn’t ready to go the whole distance today.”

    Truex leaves Sonoma trailing Larson by 13 points.

  • Harvick Captures First Win of Season at Sonoma

    Harvick Captures First Win of Season at Sonoma

    Kevin Harvick played the pit strategy game correctly and made a pass for the lead in the closing laps to win for the first time in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

    Shortly after losing the lead to Martin Truex Jr. with 43 laps to go, Harvick hit pit road to make his final stop of the race. Combined with a slow stop from race leader Truex two laps later, Harvick cycled ahead of Truex in the running order, putting him behind race leader Brad Keselowski.

    With 22 to go, Harvick out-braked him going into Turn 7a and drove on to score the victory in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

    “I am so excited,” Harvick said. “I think as you look at it, getting our first win with Ford, this has been a great journey for us as an organization and team. Kurt winning the Daytona 500 and we have run well. Everybody from Bush, Jimmy John’s and Mobil 1, Outback, Hunt Brothers and everybody. It is a great day. It finally all came together and we were able to not have any cautions there at the end. Rodney had great strategy and I was able to take care of the car and get out front. I felt like the 78 was the car we had to race and then he had problems and from there we were in control.”

    It’s his 36th career victory in 590 starts and first at Sonoma Raceway.

    “It means a ton to finally check this one off the list,” Harvick added. “I feel like we have been close a couple times but never put it all together. Being so close to home and having raced here so much, this was one that was on the top of the list and today we were able to check that box.”

    Teammate Clint Bowyer brought his car home second, while Keselowski rounded out the podium in third.

    “You get there back in traffic and you’re so much faster than them you have to check up to save a mistake,” Bowyer said. “You run over them and you don’t mean to; you get frustrated and get a little bit farther behind and a little bit farther behind. I saw the 42 check up and I get into him and I was thinking, ‘Well, we’ll both survive this’. And then all of a sudden the 47 was coming through him and I smoked him and hurt the left front. We were fast all weekend. With clean air and a long run, that’s always my strong suit. We got the long run, we just hard to start dead last to get it.”

    “The Freightliner Ford was really good today,” Keselowski said. “We didn’t have the qualifying fun we wanted. We had amazing race pace. That’s a credit to everyone at Team Penske. It felt really good. I just wish I could run this race again I think I might have had better car than driver today and I learned a lot. Just an amazing fun day.”

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

    Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-10.

    Kyle Larson led the field to the green flag at 3:22 p.m. He held it for the first nine laps before Truex out-braked him going into Turn 11 to take the lead on Lap 10. A caution halfway through the stage shuffled the pit strategies, as is typical with a road course race, resulting in Chris Buescher, who elected not to pit, taking the lead under the caution. Teammate AJ Allmendinger took it from him exiting Turn 10 on Lap 19 and lost it to Truex in Turn 11 on Lap 22, who drove on to win the first stage.

    Truex retained the lead until he pitted under the Lap 38 caution, which went to Jimmie Johnson, who drove on to win the second stage.

    Denny Hamlin restarted the race with 56 to go as the race leader, having opted not to pit under the second stage caution. Kyle Busch took it from him going into Turn 11 with 47 to go and let Harvick power by him for the lead on the frontstretch two laps later. Truex returned to the front with 43 to go, out-braking Harvick going into Turn 11.

    A cycle of green flag stops occurred with 42 to go, with Truex pitting and exiting behind Harvick, setting up the run to the finish.

    Earnhardt brought out the first caution on lap 14 when he wheel-hopped, got loose going into Turn 11 and spun out. On the lap 30 restart, Earnhardt, Ryan Blaney and Danica Patrick ran three-wide going through Turn 4a, resulting in Patrick spinning out and getting t-boned by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. On the final lap, Kasey Kahne slammed the outside barrier on the frontstretch.

    The race lasted two hours, 46 minutes and 52 seconds at an average speed of 78.710 mph. There were 13 lead changes among 10 different drivers and six cautions for 12 laps.

    Larson leaves with a 13-point lead over Truex.

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  • Larson Takes Pole Position at Sonoma

    Larson Takes Pole Position at Sonoma

    Despite a botched entry into the final turn, Kyle Larson won the pole for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 after posting the fastest time in the final round of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Sonoma Raceway.

    His No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet carried a tad too much speed and about lost the car from behind going into Turn 11, but got an excellent drive off to stay in the green and post a time of 1:15.177 and a speed of 95.295 mph.

    Larson said afterward that his entire lap “actually felt pretty bad.”

    “I messed up into (Turn) 1 and into (Turn) 2 and was out a little bit too far,” he said. “Yeah, I felt like I gave up enough there that I wouldn’t have a shot at the pole. I thought maybe I’d maintain and run about the same lap time as the previous run. So, I was surprised and I was happy about that. This is cool to get a pole on a road course at my home state. This is my closest track to Sacramento or Elk Grove where I grew up. I have lots of friends and family here. We’re going to celebrate with the team. The Target Chevy was good. And then we’re going to head out to Calistoga and go watch some Sprint Car racing. So, I’m excited about that.”

    It’s his fourth pole in 127 career starts, third of the season and his second consecutive pole.

    Teammate Jamie McMurray will start his No. 1 Ganassi Chevrolet second after posting a time of 1:15.249 and a speed of 95.204 mph.

    “I have been on the pole here three times and haven’t been able to win the race. So, I’m not as worried with qualifying as excited as I am for how good our car was in race trim,” McMurray said. “We did two or three long runs and the car had good initial speed and I didn’t think it fell off as much as some of the other cars did. The No. 78 looked really fast, but I thought overall our car was one of the best in race trim. So, the fact that we have a good starting spot at the beginning is going to be big. The stages are going to be interesting to see how that affects the race or if it does. But, yeah, got a good car and just ready for tomorrow.”

    Martin Truex Jr. will start his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota third after posting a time of 1:15.453 and a speed of 94.947 mph. Kyle Busch will start his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota fourth after posting a time of 1:15.459 and a speed of 94.939 mph. AJ Allmendinger will round out the top-five starters in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 1:15.553 and a speed of 94.821 mph.

    Danica Patrick, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Chris Buescher and Dale Earnhardt Jr. round out the top-10.

    Daniel Suarez and Kevin Harvick round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    No drivers were sent home for failing to make the race.

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  • Earnhardt Retirement Gift Tour Kicks Off at Sonoma

    Earnhardt Retirement Gift Tour Kicks Off at Sonoma

    With the 2017 season nearing the halfway mark and Dale Earnhardt Jr. retiring at the end of it, the retirement gifts for NASCAR’s favorite driver will come with greater frequency if past history is any indicator.

    In the last two years, a new tradition has formed — in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series — that when a well-known driver begins his final season, he must be showered with gifts and honors from almost every track on the circuit. Even if the driver asks not to be showered with gifts, in the case of Jeff Gordon, or even flat our says he won’t take part in coming to the deadline room week after week to talk about what it’s like to race his last race at *insert track,* as was the case with Tony Stewart, he finally caves in and takes part in a great (Gordon) or small (Stewart) degree.

    Having only announced his retirement the day after a wreck resulted in a 38th-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway in April, eight races into the season, Earnhardt had avoided this. That all changed today at Sonoma Raceway.

    When he arrived to meet with the media corp in the deadline room, Sonoma Raceway General Manager Steve Page announced that, along with a commemorative giant bottle of red wine, he’d had three service dog puppies, who’d live their lives in Sonoma County, California serving children with disabilities, named after him and wife Amy.

    “Yeah, this is really, obviously we all heard the story and I think it’s a great thing that the track did,” Earnhardt said. “Amy is going to love this idea and she is going to be a little sad she wasn’t here to see the dogs today, but it’s nice to know that these types of things are happening and you guys are making a difference in people’s lives. We really appreciate that and obviously, thank the track for their investment to make this happen. It warms my heart. We do love dogs and love making a difference in kids’ lives and this is a twofer. Pretty neat deal. Just thanks a lot. Excited to maybe come back and see how the dogs are doing. Be a lot of fun to do that. We aren’t disappearing we will be back to see you guys again, so thank you.

    “I love the idea that we… I can’t really say we, but the race track is going to do something that makes a difference for someone else,” he added. “Our whole idea on finishing up the season is to try to show our appreciation. And sort of express that to our fans and everyone in the industry on making this an incredibly enjoyable ride. This fits right into that. It’s awesome that we are going to be able or they are going to be able to help somebody and help some kids. These dogs are going to have wonderful lives and they are going to enjoy doing that as well. The dogs will enjoy making a difference in someone’s life. That’s pretty cool.”

  • Larson Fastest in Sonoma Final Practice

    Larson Fastest in Sonoma Final Practice

    Kyle Larson topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Sonoma Raceway.

    The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 1:15.899 and a speed of 94.389 mph. Kyle Busch was second in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 1:15.935 mph. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 1:16.017 and a speed of 94.242 mph. AJ Allmendinger was fourth in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet with a time of 1:16.034 and a speed of 94.221 mph. Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-five in his No. 1 Ganassi Chevrolet with a time of 1:16.199 and a speed of 94.017 mph.

    Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top-10.

    Larson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 91.817 mph.

    With less than 15 minutes remaining in the session, Chase Elliott got loose in Turn 10, spun and hit the outside wall. The damage forced him to roll out his backup car. In the opening minutes, Erik Jones spun out in Turn 11 and hit the tire barrier, forcing him to roll out his backup car.

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  • Truex Fastest in First Practice at Sonoma

    Truex Fastest in First Practice at Sonoma

    Martin Truex Jr. topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Sonoma Raceway.

    The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing was the fastest with a time of 1:15.740 and a speed of 94.587 mph. Denny Hamlin was second in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 1:16.158 and a speed of 94.068 mph. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was third in his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford with a time of 1:16.470 and a speed of 93.684 mph. Clint Bowyer was fourth in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a time of 1:16.534 mph. Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top-five in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 1:16.609 and a speed of 93.154 mph.

    Chris Buescher, AJ Allmendinger, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano rounded out the top-10.

    Busch posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 91.852 mph.

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  • Larson Takes Lead on Late Restart to Win at Michigan

    Larson Takes Lead on Late Restart to Win at Michigan

    While he dominated the day and led the most laps, despite failing to win a single stage, Kyle Larson took the lead on a late restart in the closing laps of the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway and held off challengers to score the victory.

    Restarting with 15 laps to go, Larson — in second — passed Kyle Busch to retake the lead going into Turn 1. He held off Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin in the final two restarts to collect his third career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in 127 starts.

    “Yeah, thankfully, Michigan has got some decent grip where you don’t spin your tires too bad,” Larson said. “We were able to just have good pushers every restart there and sucked down on their door into (Turn) 1 and get them loose underneath me. I was a little bit nervous, but I thought with the people behind me, I would be okay. The Cars 3 Chevy was good all day. I thought we were probably a third to fifth place car. The No. 78 and No. 18 were definitely better than I was, but we kept working on it and had good restarts there when it mattered.

    “I just had a hell of a push from Ryan Blaney behind me,” he added. “I can’t thank him enough for shoving me like that. It was cool to see him get his win last week and then he helped me a ton today to get this win. He stayed committed to me all the way down the frontstretch and got me past the No. 18 which was key.”

    Elliott finished second, while Joey Logano rounded out the podium.

    When asked what made the difference on the final restarts, Elliott said he didn’t know.

    “Man, I don’t know. It was all just about how your push went,” he said. “I am really proud of our effort today. I thought we way improved from where we were last year as far as those late-race restarts go and was able to hang with them and really just kind of rely on the guy behind you. Kyle (Busch) gave me a great push. I didn’t give him a very good push that time before. He went a little sooner than I thought he was going to. He gave me a good push and I think somebody pulled out on him. He had to go block them and it just ends up kind of disrupting the whole situation when that happens. But, a great day from our NAPA Chevy group. I think we overachieved today with where we started this weekend, which is always nice when you are here at the racetrack. Happy to do that and ready to get on down the road and get through these summer months and try to tune everything in.”

    Hamlin and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-five.

    Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-10.

    Larson led the field to the green flag at 3:20 p.m. and held the lead the first 33 laps before Truex passed him going into Turn 3 on lap 34 and drove on to win the first stage.

    Larson emerged with the lead under the stage break and held it through a cycle of green-flag stops. Four laps prior to the end of the second stage, however, Truex passed him exiting Turn 4 on lap 116 and won the stage.

    From that point, Truex was in control of the event. But then Ryan Sieg brought out a caution for a solo spin with 50 to go, and Busch exited pit road the race leader. He also had the race in check until debris in Turn 2 with 21 to go set up the run to the finish.

    Clint Bowyer brought out a caution with 14 to go when he tagged the wall in Turn 2, as did teammate Danica Patrick when she was taken out by a chain reaction backup on the ensuing restart and slammed the inside backstretch wall.

    The race lasted two hours, 47 minutes and 24 seconds at an average speed of 143.369 mph. There were 10 lead changes among four different drivers and eight cautions for 34 laps.

    Larson leaves Michigan with a five-point lead.

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  • Truex Finishes Sixth After Sweeping Stages

    Truex Finishes Sixth After Sweeping Stages

    Martin Truex Jr.’s quest to sweep a second race this season came up short when he faltered on a late restart in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

    He took the lead for the first time on lap 34 and drove on to win the first stage. He found himself without the lead, however, when Kyle Larson exited pit road with it under the stage break caution.

    It took him roughly 50 laps to return to the lead when he passed Larson exiting Turn 4 on lap 116 and took the second stage victory. This time around, he left pit road retaining the lead.

    Truex had the race in check, but then caution flew with 50 laps to go when Ryan Sieg spun out in Turn 4, and right in front of Truex.

    He left pit road fifth, behind Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Blaney, who all took two tires.

    On the ensuing restart, Truex stumbled and fell back to ninth in the running order.

    When the checkered flag flew, he was sixth.

    “We had the best car out there without a doubt – just inside lane restarts at the end killed us, so just stinks when you have to race like that, you know? You get just in a bad spot and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Truex said. “We seen it the last couple restarts, so just wrong place. Probably should have took two tires that last time we pitted – we took four. That killed us. Just wrong lane on the restart every single time all day long and couldn’t use the best car to win.”

    He leaves Michigan second in points, five back of Larson. He’s led 938 laps, the most of any driver this season and halfway to matching his 2016 total. His two stage wins puts him at 10 on the season, the most of any driver.

  • Keselowski Fastest in Final Practice at Michigan

    Keselowski Fastest in Final Practice at Michigan

    Brad Keselowski topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Michigan International Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford was the fastest with a time of 36.474 and a speed of 197.401 mph. Kyle Busch was second in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 36.512 and a speed of 197.195 mph. Kyle Larson was third in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 36.537 and a speed of 197.061 mph. Joey Logano was fourth in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 36.554 and a speed of 196.969 mph. Erik Jones rounded out the top-five in his No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 36.557 and a speed of 196.953 mph.

    Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-10.

    Larson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 195.416 mph.

    AJ Allmendinger got loose going into Turn 1 and made contact with the outside wall. The team will run a backup car for tomorrow’s race.

    Related Links: 
    First Practice Results
    Second Practice Results

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