Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Author: Tucker White

  • Truex Fastest in First Practice at Richmond

    Truex Fastest in First Practice at Richmond

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

    The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 21.743 and a speed of 124.178 mph. Erik Jones was second in his No. 77 Furniture Row Toyota with a time of 21.945 and a speed of 123.035 mph. Ryan Blaney was third in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 21.992 and a speed of 122.772 mph. Trevor Bayne was fourth in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford with a time of 22.116 and a speed of 122.084 mph. Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 22.181 and a speed of 121.726 mph.

    Kasey Kahne, who clocked in the 22nd fastest single lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 119.324 mph.

    The only incident of the session occurred 74 minutes into the session when Jones spun out and made slight contact with the wall.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/C1709_PRAC1.pdf”]

  • The White Zone: Was this past Bristol race really that great?

    The White Zone: Was this past Bristol race really that great?

    I’ve had three days to process the events of Thunder Valley this past Monday and I must ask if the race was honestly as great as everyone is saying.

    I sat in the press box in the middle of Turns 3 and 4 to watch the race for about 350 laps. I went down to the infield media center to watch 75 laps, taking about five minutes to get down there from the press box and 20 to 25 laps clicking off in the process, and I watched the final 50 laps outside the deadline room and photographed the cars circling around the .533-mile concrete oval while listening to the radio broadcast of the race.

    Everyone around me was saying, “What an awesome race that was!” I, however, was just thinking, “That was just average for Bristol.”

    The biggest problem I saw was it was extraordinarily hard to pass a car, especially the leader, on the bottom lane. When a car would catch the leader, the leader would simply jump to the top line in the turns and pull away.

    That’s not just me looking too deeply into something either. Kyle Larson admitted after the race Monday that running the bottom wasn’t advantageous.

    “It’s hard to keep your momentum up on the bottom, and the bottom seems to be faster here for 20 or 25 laps, and then once you get ‑‑ it seems like 3 and 4 slows down quicker around the bottom,” Larson said. “It slows down quicker than it does in 1 and 2 so you can pop up and run the top there. Yeah, it’s just all about timing that right. In that second stage Joey (Logano) was really close behind me, and I actually beat him to the top of 3 and 4 and started pulling away a little bit and he moved up there, and then the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) was really good around the bottom. It’s just an awesome racetrack. We have options to move around and makes the racing really competitive and exciting.”

    In other words, that VHT substance that was supposed to fix the problem of cars running single-file against the wall didn’t really fix the problem.

    I wouldn’t be so hard on this if three weeks earlier I hadn’t covered arguably the best race ever at Martinsville Speedway. Now I know that race also made the outside lane work, but you needed a really strong car to make the outside work and the inside was still far superior.

    It worked at Martinsville because of the mix of strategies and the inside being superior. At Bristol Motor Speedway, seeing so many strong cars race different lines and not lose momentum is like watching dirt racing, which I consider overrated.

    What made Bristol great was the single-groove racing that forced drivers to put the chrome bumper to the driver in front or out-brake them going into the corners. That’s not possible with progressive banking. The only way we return to the “Bristol of old” is to do away with the progressive banking.

    Plus, I’m not a big fan of gimmicks designed solely to “enhance” the racing. Restoring non-variable, 36 degree banking — and yes, I know that figure was also disputed by a number of individuals over the years — back to the high banks of Bristol is a more natural remedy to what Marcus Smith and Jerry Caldwell are trying to accomplish with the VHT.

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

  • Truex Finishes Eighth After Late Speeding Penalty

    Truex Finishes Eighth After Late Speeding Penalty

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Martin Truex Jr. rallied to an eighth-place finish after being busted for speeding with less than 40 laps remaining in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    A two-car wreck brought out the final caution with 37 laps to go. Kevin Harvick opted not to pit and assumed the lead. Truex exited pit road first and would’ve restarted second, but was penalized for short-cutting the radius of Turns 3 and 4 on the apron, which NASCAR rules as speeding per their time over distance formula, and restarted from the tail-end of the field on the ensuing restart.

    In the final 32 laps, he worked his way up to eighth in the running order and settled for eighth in the final finishing order.

    “We were going for it, I wish we could have had a shot there just to see if we could have won,” said Truex.

    “This is the best run we’ve had here in a long time. It’s bittersweet, I wish we could have seen if we could have beat the 48 (Jimmie Johnson). We were close there before that last caution, but it is what it is and you try to get what you can get and sometimes you cross the line and today we crossed the line. All in all, it was an awesome day and a lot of fun.”

    He was helped by the fact that only 16 cars were on the lead lap for the final restart.

    It was a black mark on an otherwise excellent day for the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. He led 116 laps, second to Kyle Larson for most in the race, finished second to Larson in the first stage and won the second stage.

    He leaves Bristol third in points, trailing Larson by 37 points, but maintains a three-point advantage over him in playoff point accumulation.

  • Johnson Takes Lead in Closing Laps to Win at Thunder Valley

    Johnson Takes Lead in Closing Laps to Win at Thunder Valley

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Jimmie Johnson passed Kevin Harvick with 21 laps to go and drove on to win the day-late Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Harvick opted not to pit under the final caution of the race with 40 to go and assumed the race lead. Johnson lined up second after Martin Truex Jr., who beat him off pit road, was busted for speeding and sent to the tail-end of the field.

    On the final restart with 32 to go, Harvick got off to a flying start and held off Johnson for a time. But his old tires were no match for Johnson’s four fresh tires and he lost to Johnson with 21 to go.

    “Yeah, it was kind of interesting because when the No. 42 (Kyle Larson) was there, it just created an environment to run the top and I wasn’t as good on the top,” Johnson said. “The No. 42, not being up there and that first couple of cars; the bottom was really where it was at for the short run. This Lowe’s Chevrolet was flying!

    “This track has been difficult over the years and we really hit on something Saturday afternoon in that last practice session around the bottom and honestly, it’s what I’ve been looking for here for 16 years and we finally figured it out. So, I’m very, very happy.”

    It’s Johnson’s 82nd career victory in 551 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts.

    Harvick’s teammate Clint Bowyer came home second and Harvick rounded out the podium in third.

    “We’ve come a long way with this team,” Bowyer said putting it into “perspective,” as he stated. “These guys have worked so hard; it’s a fun group, everybody at Haas. My teammates are awesome. It’s so much fun to work with this group each and every week. Hell yeah, you want to be up there and win it. But the day we had, I got caught speeding on pit road and had to bounce back. The guys kept working on the car. I appreciate the opportunity that Gene Haas and Tony Stewart gave me. Mobil 1, Haas Automation and everyone that’s a part of it.”

    Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano rounded out the top-five.

    Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-10.

    “I’m a little disappointed, but not bad. I’m more disappointed in myself from getting that speeding penalty with 80 (laps) or so to go,” Larson said. “I was just pushing it down pit road and pushed it a little too far. I had a shot there still at the end, but four tires were better than ours.”

    Larson led the field to the green flag at 1:11 p.m. He led the first stage from start to finish and got the playoff point for winning it.

    He dominated most of the second stage but lost the lead when Truex passed him in Turn 2 on lap 202 and Truex won the second stage.

    After losing the lead to Landon Cassill during the caution break, he took it back with ease on the ensuing restart. But on the lap 329 restart, Logano took the lead after Truex chose to restart on the bottom.

    Jimmie Johnson made contact with Logano as he took the lead with 106 to go.

    During the eighth caution, Hamlin opted not to pit and took the lead. Restarting with 73 to go, he held off Johnson for six laps before Johnson took it.

    A two-car wreck with 40 to go set up the run to the finish.

    Kurt Busch brought out the first caution on lap 54 when he bounced off Trevor Bayne exiting Turn 4, slid down the track and hit the inside wall. Chris Buescher slammed into the back of Reed Sorenson trying to slow down in an attempt to miss Busch.

    Kyle Busch brought out the third caution on lap 210 when he suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in Turn 2.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. brought out the third caution on the lap 217 restart when a right-front tire cut led to him slamming the wall in Turn 1 and rupturing an oil cooler line.

    On lap 323, David Ragan attempted to thread the needle between teammate Cassill and Danica Patrick exiting Turn 2. Patrick bumped into him, sending him into Cassill and sent him spinning into the outside wall in Turn 3.

    Kyle Busch suffered a second right-front tire blowout and slammed the Turn 3 wall with 116 to go, bringing out the sixth caution.

    Erik Jones made contact with Gray Gaulding, cut down his right-front tire and slammed the wall in Turn 3. AJ Allmendinger clipped the left-rear corner of Jones’s car.

    The final caution flew when Kasey Kahne hit the wall in Turn 3 and was rear-ended by Paul Menard with 40 to go.

    The race lasted three hours, four minutes and 29 seconds at an average speed of 86.674 mph. There were 14 lead changes among seven different drivers and nine cautions for 76 laps.

    Larson leaves Bristol with a 27-point lead over Elliott.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/C1708_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

  • Cup Race Postponed to Monday, Complete Schedule

    Cup Race Postponed to Monday, Complete Schedule

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway has been postponed to Monday at 1 p.m. ET on FOX due to rain.

    The forecasts for Sunday called for 100 percent chance of rain all day long. The forecasts for Monday call for a 40 percent chance of rain.

    Kyle Larson will lead the field to the green flag for the Food City 500 Monday afternoon.

    This is the third race in four years at Bristol postponed by rain and the fourth straight year a race at Bristol has been affected by rain. Please check below for the complete schedule.

    Monday, April 24:

    On Track Schedule – Bristol Motor Speedway (All times are Eastern)

    12:20 p.m.: Driver Introductions
    12:53 p.m.: Presentation of Colors: Grundy High School JROTC Color Guard
    12:53 p.m.: Invocation: Mike Rife, Vansant Church of Christ, Vansant, Virgina
    12:54 p.m.: National Anthem: TBD
    12:56 p.m.: Flyover TOT by: (4) T-38s 49th Fighter Training Squadron from Columbus AFB,     Mississippi (Turn 1 to Turn 4)
    12:56 p.m.: Food City Salute Commercial (Colossus TV)
    12:57 p.m.: Bristol August Video (Colossus TV)
    12:58 p.m.: Bristol Motor Speedway Hype Video (Colossus TV)
    1 p.m.: Dale Earnhardt Jr Congratulations Food City Video (on Colossus TV)
    1:01 p.m.: “Drivers, Start Your Engines” command: Kerry Earnhardt and Kelley Earnhardt Miller
    1:07 p.m.: Start of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 (500 laps, 266.5 miles), FOX

     

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Bristol-starting-lineup-C1708_STARTROW.pdf” title=”Bristol starting lineup C1708_STARTROW”]

  • Erik Jones Rallies from Late Speeding Penalty to Win Bristol XFINITY Race

    Erik Jones Rallies from Late Speeding Penalty to Win Bristol XFINITY Race

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Erik Jones rallied back from a late speeding penalty and took the lead in the closing laps to score the victory in the NASCAR XFINITY Series Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    After being penalized for speeding on pit road during the fifth caution of the race, Jones worked his way back through the field until he restarted second on the penultimate restart with 23 laps to go. Two laps later, he put the chrome bumper to leader Ryan Blaney, took the lead and held him off on a three-lap restart to end the race and win for the eighth time in his career.

    “It was just hard racing,” said Jones. “We ended up racing hard and getting by him. To come back from a pit road penalty like that, it’s a race I won’t forget for a long time — just an awesome day.”

    Blaney finished runner-up and Daniel Suarez rounded out the podium.

    Elliott Sadler and Daniel Hemric round out the top-five.

    Ty Dillon, Kyle Larson, Brennan Poole, Blake Koch and Michael Annett round out the top-five.

    Larson led the field to the green flag at 1:04 p.m. He lost the lead to Jones on lap 20, but took it back five laps later passing him exiting Turn 2 and held it through the end of the stage.

    The race restarted on lap 95 and was stopped twice, for a spin into the Turn 2 wall by Ray Black Jr. and rain delaying the race for over 90 minutes (1:38.52), but won by Daniel Hemric after the leaders opted to short-pit the stage caution as the caution for rain came with eight laps before the end of the stage.

    Blaney cycled to the lead under the stage break caution.

    Larson took the race lead again with 95 to go, but he lost it under the fifth caution with 95 to go and wasn’t a factor in the race win.

    The run to the finish was set up by an incident on the backstretch related to Ross Chastain.

    Justin Allgaier spins out in the closing laps of the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Photo: Tucker White/SpeedwayMedia.com

    With 95 to go, Black spun out in Turn 4 and his front-end was clipped by David Starr. With 56 to go, Darrell Wallace Jr. tapped Brendan Gaughan and sent him spinning into a head-on collision with the inside wall on the frontstretch. With 45 to go, Wallace spun out and got t-boned by Garrett Smithley, brining out the red flag for five minutes and 10 seconds. The final caution flew with seven laps to go for a two-car incident involving Justin Allgaier and William Byron.

    The race lasted two hours, 21 minutes and 38 seconds at an average speed of 67.738 mph. There were 15 lead changes among seven different drivers and nine cautions for 85 laps.

    Sadler leaves Bristol with a 16-point lead over Byron.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/N1707_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

  • Kyle Busch Fastest in Final Cup Practice at Bristol

    Kyle Busch Fastest in Final Cup Practice at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Busch topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 14.925 and a speed of 128.563 mph. Daniel Suarez was second in his No. 19 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 14.960 and a speed of 128.262 mph. Kasey Kahne was third in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 14.961 and a speed of 128.253 mph. Chase Elliott was fourth in his No. 24 Hendrick Chevrolet with a time of 14.969 and a speed of 128.185 mph. Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-five in his No. 48 HMS Chevrolet with a time of 14.971 and a speed of 128.168 mph.

    Kahne posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 127.482 mph.

    Halfway through the session, Chris Buescher got loose exiting Turn 4 and damaged the right-rear corner of his car. His team opted to roll out the backup.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/C1708_PRACFINAL.pdf”]

  • Larson Takes Bristol XFINITY Pole

    Larson Takes Bristol XFINITY Pole

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Larson will lead the field to the green flag this afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway after winning the pole for the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300.

    The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet scored the pole after posting a new track record time of 14.992 and a speed of 127.988 mph. Austin Dillon will start second in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 15.043 and a speed of 127.554 mph. Cole Custer will start third in his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford after posting a time of 15.074 and a speed of 127.292 mph. Erik Jones will start fourth in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota after posting a time of 15.104 and a speed of 127.039 mph. Justin Allgaier will round out the top-five starters in his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet after posting a time of 15.128 and a speed of 126.838 mph.

    Ty Dillon, Matt Tifft, Daniel Hemric, Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez will round out the top-10 starters.

    Ross Chastain and Brendan Gaughan will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/N1707_STARTROW.pdf”]

  • Kyle Busch Fastest at Bristol in Second Cup Practice

    Kyle Busch Fastest at Bristol in Second Cup Practice

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Busch topped the chart in second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 14.890 and a speed of 128.865 mph. Erik Jones was second in his No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 14.915 and a speed of 128.649 mph. Denny Hamlin was third in his No. 11 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 14.970 and a speed of 128.176 mph. Kevin Harvick was fourth in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with a time of 14.980 and a speed of 128.091 mph. Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top-five in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 14.990 and a speed of 128.005 mph.

    Jones posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 127.178 mph.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/C1708_PRAC2.pdf”]

  • The Performance of Joe Gibbs Racing Early On

    The Performance of Joe Gibbs Racing Early On

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — When you look at the performance of Joe Gibbs Racing, compared to the last year or two, it’s not hard to understand why one would see a problem.

    The Huntersville, North Carolina racing stable is the deepest into a season without a win from any driver since 2007 when Denny Hamlin broke through with a win at Loudon. Two of their drivers, Matt Kenseth and Daniel Suarez, are outside the top-10 in points as well. All four drivers combined have no more than three top-10 finishes (Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth with three and Hamlin and Daniel Suarez with two) and only Busch and Kenseth have a top-five on the season. Busch has led the second-most laps of any driver this season with 413, but the only other Gibbs driver to lead a lap is Hamlin with 28.

    Busch admitted that the organization hasn’t been strong from the start.

    “I would have to say that obviously, we’re not as strong this year out of the gate, I think last year’s win total was a lot more than this year. I feel as though we’re competitive and we’re close, but we’re not there,” he said.

    Compare their performance to Martin Truex Jr. of JGR affiliate Furniture Row Racing.

    Truex not only has a win and has led almost as many laps as Busch but he has amassed stage wins to rack up the playoff points that come with winning the stages.

    “There’s things we’re seeing other teams doing that we haven’t necessarily ventured off into yet and some of those things, whether they’re better for you or worse for you, it may depend on what the wind tunnel says or what the K & C numbers say and things like that. We’re working on all those things though,” Busch said.

    But the Gibbs drivers go to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend where they have a combined 10 wins amongst them. Two of the four, Busch and Kenseth, occupied the top-five spots in the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice for the Food City 500 and all but Suarez placed in the top-10 in practice.

    Busch also noted that it’s too early for concern and you should ask the question deeper into the season.

    “I don’t think there’s any reason for cause for concern yet, but ask me that question again in about 10 weeks,” he added.