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Author: Tucker White

  • Bowyer Fastest in Final Martinsville Practice

    Bowyer Fastest in Final Martinsville Practice

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Clint Bowyer topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 20.174 and a speed of 93.863 mph. Kyle Busch was second in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 20.238 and a speed of 93.567 mph. Jamie McMurray was third in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 20.246 and a speed of 93.530 mph. Brad Keselowski was fourth in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 20.247 and a speed of 93.525 mph. Ryan Newman rounded out the top-five in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 20.250 and a speed of 93.511 mph.

    Nobody drove a run of 10 or more consecutive laps.

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  • Keselowski Fastest in Second Martinsville Practice

    Keselowski Fastest in Second Martinsville Practice

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Brad Keselowski topped the chart in second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford was the fastest with a time of 20.058 and a speed of 94.406 mph. Ryan Newman was second in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 20.144 and a speed of 94.002 mph. Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano finished tied for third with a time of 20.180 and a speed of 93.835 mph.

    AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top-five in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota with a time of 20.203 and a speed of 93.729 mph.

    Ryan Blaney, who ran the 13th-fastest single lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 92.533 mph.

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  • Why some drivers take longer to discover Martinsville rhythm

    Why some drivers take longer to discover Martinsville rhythm

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Martinsville Speedway best suits drivers who figure out the rhythm to racing around the .526 mile paperclip short track. Unsurprisingly, this heavily favors experienced drivers over rookies at Martinsville.

    The textbook example is Jeff Gordon. He once said that of all the tracks he raced at in his 23-year career, Martinsville was the one that changed the least. And the stats back that up. While he didn’t have the most all-time wins at Martinsville when he retired, he finished outside the top-10 only nine times in 47 career starts.

    Teammate Jimmie Johnson has also found similar success at Martinsville with nine wins, a better top-five finishing average and only a slightly smaller top-10 finishing average than Gordon.

    But Johnson admits it wasn’t smooth from the start.

    “For me it took being lapped by Tony Stewart to figure it out and then I followed him and got myself back on the lead lap and had a decent finish,” he said.

    Martinsville is no stranger to periods of dominance by one or more drivers. Richard Petty won 15 races at the tiny paperclip in his career, Darrell Waltrip won 11, Gordon won nine — including his final career victory in 2015 — and Johnson with nine. But the last six trips to Martinsville have produced six different winners: Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Gordon, Kyle Busch and Johnson.

    So at a track that rewards drivers who best understand its rhythm and is known for dominance by select drivers, what’s produced such parity? Hamlin says it’s data sharing.

    “Data sharing has changed the game in which drivers learn how to be fast and how to be good at certain racetracks,” Hamlin said. “That really was kind of a turning point, I think, for myself, and really circumstances ‑‑ every time the field ‑‑ if the field gets closer to you, you have room for error to get a race win….So when the field gets close like that, that just makes you have to be on your game every single time, where before I feel like I could have kind of overcome anything that kind of threw our way at any point in the race. There’s just ‑‑ you can’t do that now.”

    However, some drivers, even top level drivers, in NASCAR go their entire careers without deciphering it. NASCAR Hall of Fame member Bobby Allison, who won 31 of his 84 career races in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series on short tracks, went his entire career without winning a single race at Martinsville.

    Even when a driver knows the method of racing around Martinsville, it’s not simply something that can be duplicated and passed down to another driver. As Johnson explains, it’s something a driver must figure out on his/her own.

    “I came here and tested with the No. 24 and had Jeff working diligently with me to figure it out and it didn’t click, looking at the data he would hop in my car and go faster and it was just frustrating and then it finally clicked,” Johnson said. “It’s one thing to create short run speed, but there are some little things here in the rhythm that could just chew up tires and wear the tires out and make you drop back way too fast. It’s been great because I feel like once you understand how to get around here it’s something that you can keep for a long time, regardless of tire, generation of car, the test of time it really stands up here on this small track more than anywhere.”

  • Martinsville Cup Qualifying Canceled Due to Rain

    Martinsville Cup Qualifying Canceled Due to Rain

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying for the STP 500 was canceled due to persistent rain showers through the day and more showers expected to pass through the area prior to the start of the session.

    Kyle Larson will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday by virtue of being first in owners points.

    “It definitely helps to start up front.  I think this will be my most difficult track probably to earn stage points each of the stages, just because it’s not a track that suits me that well.  This is the toughest track for me, so it’s cool to be the only guy that has made points every stage.  I think the stage points are a big deal to gain points and help point your way to the playoffs if need be.  So, yeah, it’s been nice to run so strong early in the year, especially all throughout the race because, like I said, those stage points have turned out to be really big and important.” Larson said.

    Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano will round out the top-five starters.

    “Anytime I can do anything good at Martinsville is great for me. It’s been a bit of a struggle here and we’ll definitely take it. I think more than anything, have a nice pit pick and hopefully we can get our car dialed in tomorrow to try to stay there. We definitely got a big help with that today.” Elliott said.

    Jamie McMurray, Ryan Blaney, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch will round out the top-10 starters.

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  • Bell Fastest in First Martinsville Truck Practice

    Bell Fastest in First Martinsville Truck Practice

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Christopher Bell topped the chart in the first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota was the fastest with a time of 20.204 and a speed of 93.724 mph. Brett Moffitt was second in his No. 7 Red Horse Racing Toyota with a time of 20.264 and a speed of 93.447 mph. Noah Gragson was third in his No. 18 KBM Toyota with a time of 20.274 and a speed of 93.400 mph. Kaz Grala was fourth in his No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet with a time of 20.279 and a speed of 93.377 mph. Chase Briscoe rounded out the top-five in his No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford with a time of 20.283 and a speed of 93.359 mph.

    Bell also posted the fastest 10 consecutive average at a speed of 93.724 mph.

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  • Larson Talks About Car Wreck after Fontana Race

    Larson Talks About Car Wreck after Fontana Race

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — For most drivers, the post-race routine — if it doesn’t include talking to the media — is getting into a vehicle and heading back to Charlotte via land vehicle or airplane and nothing more. For race winner Kyle Larson, however, his post-race departure involved a collision.

    He was heading to the airport when a driver ran a red light and hit him. He believes the person who hit him was one of the traffic coordinators.

    “I don’t think he realized that they picked the cones up from the side where we were coming from,” Larson said. “I don’t think he expected anybody to be coming from where we were and he just darted out in the intersection.”

    Larson made contact with him in his right-front, but was able to veer slightly before contact. So, as he put it, “it honestly didn’t even hurt that bad, or at all, really.”

    “Our Chevy Suburban was good. The hood was buckled and the left front was messed up. The tow was out of it quite a bit,” Larson added. “But, that guys truck, the right front was not a part of it anymore. So, it is a funny story. Just the irony of it, I guess, having a near perfect weekend and a quarter-mile from the track to get in a car accident.”

    Asked if the person who hit him knew who he was, Larson said he didn’t “think he did. But, once the cops showed up, I think he realized who I was. And it was pretty funny.” He was asked if the cops realized who he was, he said “Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, that was cool. They were quick about it, too.”

  • Hamlin Fastest in First Cup Practice at Martinsville

    Hamlin Fastest in First Cup Practice at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Denny Hamlin topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 19.879 and a speed of 95.256 mph. Kyle Busch was second in his No. 18 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 19.920 and a speed of 95.060 mph. Kyle Larson was third in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 19.939 and a speed of 94.970 mph. Ryan Newman was fourth in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 19.952 and a speed of 94.908 mph. Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-five in his No. 1 Ganassi Chevrolet with a time of 19.956 and a speed of 94.889 mph.

    Joey Logano, who ran the eighth-fastest single lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 94.749 mph.

    Daniel Suarez locked his brakes entering Turn 3 and backed his car into the wall, forcing his team to roll out their backup car.

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  • Late Race Incidents Affect Outcome of Cup Race in Fontana

    Late Race Incidents Affect Outcome of Cup Race in Fontana

    A Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway that was light on the caution count for 90 percent of its running was altered by cars spinning and/or hitting a wall in the closing laps.

    In the first 180 laps, the caution flew only three times. It flew twice for the stage breaks and once on the third lap for Brad Keselowski spinning out on the frontstretch. Other than that, it was mostly clean.

    With 20 laps to go, however, Gray Gaulding suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the outside wall in Turn 1, bringing out the fourth caution of the race.

    On the ensuing restart, Martin Truex Jr. made contact with Matt Kenseth and sent him spinning down the track, where he slammed the inside wall driver-side.

    With nine to go, Corey LaJoie spun out in Turn 2 and brought out the race’s sixth caution.

    With three to go, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun out in Turn 2, setting up the overtime finish.

    It’s the fourth straight race this season to have the final caution fly with 16 or fewer laps to go. The final caution flew with 16 to go at Atlanta Motor Speedway when Austin Dillon’s car stalled on the apron in Turn 2, 16 to go at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when Danica Patrick’s engine expired on the frontstretch and six to go at Phoenix International Raceway when Joey Logano suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in Turn 1.

  • Keselowski Rallies from Spin to Finish Runner-up

    Keselowski Rallies from Spin to Finish Runner-up

    The day for Brad Keselowski started with a spin through the frontstretch grass, then ended with a second-place finish at Auto Club Speedway.

    On the initial start, Denny Hamlin spun the tires and forced Keselowski off the gas. The resulting accordion effect led to the front bumper of Ryan Newman, who turned Keselowski up the track. It left him with a damaged left-rear corner panel.

    Exiting Turn 4 on the third lap, Keselowski got loose trying not to hit Ty Dillon, and was tapped in his left-rear by Jimmie Johnson, and spun down the track and through the frontstretch grass, bringing out the first caution of the race.

    “I got ran into the back of and it did a lot of damage to the car and we were in a lot of trouble and started to freefall through the field and then I got ran over again,” Keselowski said in his post-race press conference. “I got ran over, so I’m not really sure who, why, what. I haven’t seen any of that.”

    With his damaged race car, he fought his way back into the top-10 just past halfway through the race and was in the top-five when the final caution flew with three laps to go.

    Keselowski restarted third on the overtime restart and passed Hamlin to finish second.

    “The last two restarts we really hit pretty well,” Keselowski added. “I don’t know if I would have had a shot at Kyle, but I would have liked to have seen. We came from third on that last one and a couple of three-wide passes and what-not. Kyle was smart. He picked the outside lane and kind of pinned me behind a guy that had older tires, so by the time I cleared everybody Kyle was just too far gone.”

  • Larson Sweeps Weekend in Fontana

    Larson Sweeps Weekend in Fontana

    Instead of bridesmaid status for the fourth straight week, Kyle Larson dominated most of the day at Auto Club Speedway and took the lead in the closing laps to return to victory lane in NASCAR.

    He led 110 laps from start to the finish of the Auto Club 400 and beat Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski on the final restart to score his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory.

    “I was staying as calm as I could be, but also frustrated at the same time,” Larson said. “It seems like every time I get to the lead at the end of one of these things, the caution comes out and I’ve got to fight people off on restarts. Our Target Chevy was amazing all day. We were able to lead a lot of laps today. Truex was better than us that second stage by quite a bit. We were able to get the jump on him the following restart and led pretty much the rest of the distance. I had to fight them off there after the green flag stops and that was a lot of fun.

    “This is just amazing. We have been so good all year long; three seconds in a row. I’ve been watching all the TV like ‘he doesn’t know how to win’, but we knew how to win today, so that was good.”

    This win is in addition to his victory in the XFINITY Series race the day prior.

    Keselowski overcame a spin on the third lap to finish runner-up. Clint Bowyer came home third.

    “It was a good weekend for us,” Bowyer said. “We never showed the speed in practice, but I wasn’t worried about it because I knew the car was really comfortable on the long run and things like that. I was proud of the effort that (Mike) Buga and all the guys give me each and every week.

    “I’m just having fun again. That’s what it’s about.”

    Starting on pole, Larson lost the lead only during the green flag cycle in the middle of the first stage. But he quickly regained it and won it.

    Though Larson dominating Stage 1, Truex took command of the race under the stage break and easily won the second stage.

    “Well, I had slid through my (pit) box at the end of that first stage and I had to overdrive some to get to second and then Truex was just really good that run and I had run the top of (Turns) 3 and 4 and probably wore my tires out too much,” Larson said. “When I got to the lead in the third stage I knew to just commit to the bottom of (Turns) 3 and 4 and save my tires the best I could. Our long run was really good the rest of the race.”

    On the ensuing restart, Larson made a power move on Truex in Turn 1 to take the lead back. Other than surrendering it to Kyle Busch and Ty Dillon during a cycle of green-flag stops with 45 laps to go, which he took back with 37 to go, he was in command the entire run to the finish.

    The complexion of the race changed when Corey LaJoie spun out in Turn 2, bringing out the penultimate caution with nine to go. Hamlin, Truex and Erik Jones elected to stay out while everyone else pitted.

    Restarting with five to go, Larson powered by Truex for second with ease. He had a run on Hamlin but was boxed in by Truex to his inside and the outside wall. This only delayed him momentarily as he passed Hamlin to take the lead exiting Turn 2 with three to go and held him off on the overtime restart to win.

    On the initial start, Hamlin got a bad start, forcing Keselowski to back into Ryan Newman. Keselowski was turned up into Kevin Harvick, who then made contact with Newman. Two laps later, Keselowski, with some help from Jimmie Johnson, spun out exiting Turn 4 and spun through the grass.

    With 20 to go, Gray Gaulding suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in Turn 2.

    With 16 to go, Truex hooked Matt Kenseth exiting Turn 2, turning him down the track where he slammed the inside wall driver-side.

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun out exiting Turn 2 with three to go, setting up the overtime finish.

    The race lasted two hours, 57 minutes and 48 seconds at an average speed of 136.359 mph. There were 17 lead changes among eight different drivers and seven cautions for 29 laps.

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