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Author: Tucker White

  • Busch and Logano Speak Following Meeting with NASCAR

    Busch and Logano Speak Following Meeting with NASCAR

    After their altercation both on track on the final lap and on pit road after the race in Las Vegas, NASCAR summoned Kyle Busch and Joey Logano to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series hauler for a meeting with series officials the following week in Phoenix.

    Following the 15-minute session, each driver emerged from the hauler separately.

    First was Busch. His response was straight out of the Marshawn Lynch playbook from Super Bowl XLIX.

    “Everything is great,” Busch said to every question he was asked. “Really looking forward to getting in my car and being here in Phoenix.”

    But after qualifying, he spoke to Jeff Gluck of JeffGluck.com and told him why he punched Logano.

    He veered down in front of Logano to avoid slamming into Brad Keselowski and made contact with Logano in the process. He believes Logano took him out as revenge.

    “It was instantaneous,” Busch said. “I made a move down the backstretch that cut Joey off — and I had to; I wasn’t just going to roll out of the gas and fall in behind Brad and probably lose spots to more guys behind me. So I made a bold move — I was two-thirds of my way past Logano, and I figured I can wedge my way through there a little bit.

    “And I did, and it was instantaneous retaliation. That’s what I thought and that’s kind of what I still think.”

    Logano spoke to the media, saying he tried explaining to Busch that he “made a mistake underneath him.”

    “He asked for some data. I was able to show him that it was pretty clear, in my opinion, what happened,” Logano said. “So that’s that, and we’ll move.”

    Busch said he wasn’t convinced by the data.

    Asked if he and Busch are “good moving forward,” Logano said “time will tell.”

    “The only thing I can do at this point was to plead my case and say, ‘Hey, it was an honest mistake, it was hard racing at the end,’” he said. “We’re going to try to move on and all I can do now is focus on our Shell Pennzoil Ford and try to win Phoenix.”

  • Truex on his Win Being buried by Vegas Fight

    Truex on his Win Being buried by Vegas Fight

    Most race weekends, a driver winning the race is the top story. But on some weekends, the race win gets buried under other events.

    Last weekend in Sin City fell into the latter category.

    Martin Truex Jr., who led 150 of 267 laps, passed Brad Keselowski with two laps to go — thanks to a broken part on his car — and scored the victory in the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    It was his fourth victory in the last 15 races, half of his career victories, which is significant considering he went 218 races between his first career win in 2007 and second win in 2013, and another 69 before winning his third two years later.

    Putting aside the well-documented perseverance of his career, he also swept all three stages in the race.

    Any other weekend, his performance would’ve been the top story.

    But it played second-fiddle to the post-race brawl between Kyle Busch and Joey Logano following the conclusion of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas.

    Truex was a little disappointed that his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota team didn’t get the spotlight, but his team “got the trophy and the points” and that’s all that matters “at the end of the day.”

    “Hate it a little bit for my team for maybe not getting the recognition they deserve, but all in all, we got what we wanted out of Vegas, and looking forward to making positive highlights,” he said.

  • Elliott Fastest in First Practice at Phoenix

    Elliott Fastest in First Practice at Phoenix

    Chase Elliott topped the chart in the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Phoenix International Raceway.

    The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 26.258 and a speed of 137.101 mph. Kyle Larson was second in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 26.379 and a speed of 136.472 mph. Joey Logano was third in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 26.385 and a speed of 136.441 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was fourth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 26.438 and a speed of 136.168 mph. Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-five in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 26.440 and a speed of 136.157 mph.

    Jamie McMurray, who ran the 10th-fastest single lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 132.623 mph.

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  • Rough Day for Stewart-Haas Racing in Vegas

    Rough Day for Stewart-Haas Racing in Vegas

    Stewart-Haas Racing cars were the class of the field the first two races of the season, with a win in the Daytona 500 by Kurt Busch and most laps led in both the 500 and the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway by Kevin Harvick. Unfortunately, a 10th-place finish by Clint Bowyer was the highlight of a lousy day at Las Vegas Motor Speedway from the four-car organization.

    But even Bowyer admitted that was a struggle.

    “To be truthful, we weren’t the best all weekend, but we just kept digging,” he said after the race. “(Mike) Bugga didn’t give up on the box and kept adjusting on it and got me pretty good, the best we’d been right there at the end. It’s a top-10 and gives us some momentum. It’s our third race together and we got a top-10, so we’ve got to keep digging.”

    Kurt Busch dealt with electrical issues that forced him to pit and change batteries with 66 laps to go. He finished in 30th place, four laps down.

    “Obviously it wasn’t the day we were hoping to have with our Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion,” Busch said. “We didn’t have the long-run speed or the balance, and we had an electrical issue that forced us to change batteries on pit road. We kept battling, we didn’t give up. I hoped to have a better run here in front of the hometown fans.”

    The other two SHR cars didn’t make it to the finish.

    Exiting the tri-oval on lap 68, Kevin Harvick suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall. He said the tire started vibrating four or five laps prior and was he trying to nurse it to the end of the stage.

    He was critical of the response time by American Medical Response.

    “The worst part was the medical response. It took them forever to get to the car,” Harvick said. “I thought we made that better, but obviously we haven’t.”

    He finished 38th and lost the points lead.

    With 16 to go, Danica Patrick’s engine expired on the frontstretch, relegating her to a 36th-place finish.

    “We just got the car to a place where I think we could have got a little more racy with it,” Patrick said, “especially if we would have caught some breaks, but then it just flattened out. I just rode around the top in case I blew up, but having a teammate behind me was not ideal for the timing of it, but unfortunately it happened. We’ll just move on.”

  • Busch and Logano Collide and Fight in Vegas

    Busch and Logano Collide and Fight in Vegas

    Kyle Busch and Joey Logano made contact both on the track on the final lap and on pit road after the Kobalt 400 race concluded at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    On the backstretch on the final lap, Busch veered to the bottom to avoid hitting Brad Keselowski, who was fading on the final two laps with a broken part on his car but made contact with the right-side of Logano’s car. In Turn 3, Logano got loose and bounced into Busch’s car, sending him spinning down onto pit road.

    After the race, Kyle Busch got out of his car and proceeded to Logano’s car parked down pit road with the other top-five cars and punched him.

    The fight lasted roughly 18 seconds before Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series officials broke it up and Busch was pulled out of the pile by NASCAR official Mike Lancaster (per Alex Hayden of MRN on Twitter). Logano was pulled out of the pile after just a few seconds by his PR rep Kyle Zimmerman.

    The only noticeable injury sustained was a cut on Busch’s forehead, above his right eye.

    “I got dumped,” Busch told Vince Welch of FOX Sports. “(Logano) Flat out drove straight into the corner and wrecked me”

    Logano’s take was different from Busch’s.

    “We were just racing hard there at the end,” Logano said. “I was underneath him on the backstretch and he tried to crash me into the corner getting underneath Brad there and at that point, I was just trying to get through the corner. I was sideways all the way through and get into him. Nothing intentional. I understand his frustration, he crashed. The same thing could have happened into 3 what he did to me.”

    “There wasn’t much talking, there was a lot of swinging. I don’t know. I was racing hard there at the end with our Pennzoil Ford. Kyle and I usually race really well together,” Logano continued. “We usually never have any issues, and he tried to pin me down into the corner underneath Brad and we about crashed on entry. And then I was still trying to gather it up by the center and I was gonna spin out, so I’m trying to chase it up and he was there. It obviously wasn’t anything intentional, but obviously, he thinks that, so, I don’t know, we’ll get by.”

    Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer spoke about the altercation Monday morning during an appearance on the “Morning Drive” program on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    He stated that the competition department was reviewing video of the post-race incident and the on-track contact that led up to it.

    “It’s certainly under review,” O’Donnell said. “We have to take everything, make sure we look at all the video, but just from our in assessment last night, as far as on-track I don’t think we saw anything that was intentional by any means. We have to have discussions with both drivers. I think our intention would be not to react unless we see something we haven’t seen yet.”

    “It’s an emotional sport,” he went on to say, “and I think it shows exactly how much every position on the track means.”

     

  • Truex Takes Lead in Closing Laps to Clean House in Sin City

    Truex Takes Lead in Closing Laps to Clean House in Sin City

    Martin Truex Jr. had the dominant car most of the day but had to beat Brad Keselowski when it mattered most in the closing laps of the Kobalt 400.

    Keselowski edged out Truex on the final restart and had the win in check, but Truex closed the gap, thanks to a broken part on Keselowski’s car, and passed him on the backstretch with two laps to go to score the victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    Keselowski said his team will need to take the car apart to find out the cause of what happened.

    “At the end, we have to go to inspection and stuff, so we’re not allowed to look. I just know it was something major,” he said. “It wouldn’t turn and I lost brakes, so that’s a pretty good indicator, but that’s the way it goes. That’s racing and that’s why you watch until the end and you never know what’s gonna happen.

    “It’s frustrating, but you put yourself in position to win and good things will happen. That happened to us last week and didn’t happen this week, so you just pick up the pieces and move on. Luckily, they’re really big pieces. We’ve got a lot to be proud of.”

    Keselowski and Truex led a combined 239 of 267 laps of the first leg in the three-race west coast swing on the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule. Starting from the pole, Keselowski led most of the first stage and surrendered it under the second caution of the race when teammate Joey Logano opted not to pit.

    Truex passed Logano with ease on the ensuing restart and held it for most of the day, only losing it during green-flag pit cycles or when others went on different pit strategies from him.

    Keselowski passed Chase Elliott to take second with less than 40 to go, closed the gap on Truex and passed him in Turn 3 to take the lead with 23 to go. Danica Patrick’s engine expired on the frontstretch with 18 to go, setting up the nine-lap run to the finish.

    On the final lap, Kyle Busch veered hard to the bottom lane on the backstretch, making contact with Logano in the process. In Turn 4, Logano got loose, made contact with Busch and sent him spinning.

    Busch went to Logano’s car on pit road after the race and a fight ensued.

    “We were just racing hard there at the end,” Logano said after the fight. “I was underneath him on the backstretch and he tried to crash me into the corner getting underneath Brad there and at that point, I was just trying to get through the corner. I was sideways all the way through and get into him. Nothing intentional. I understand his frustration, he crashed. The same thing could have happened into 3 what he did to me.”

    Kyle Larson, Elliott, Logano and Keselowski round out the top-five.

    Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer round out the top-10.

    The race lasted two hours, 56 minutes and 39 seconds at an average speed of 136.032 mph. There were 14 lead changes among six different drivers and six cautions for 34 laps.

    Keselowski leaves Las Vegas with a one-point lead over Larson.

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  • Truex Fastest in Final Practice at Las Vegas

    Truex Fastest in Final Practice at Las Vegas

    Martin Truex Jr. topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 28.630 and a speed of 188.613 mph. Chase Elliott was second in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 28.636 and a speed of 188.574 mph. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third in his No. 88 HMS Chevrolet with a time of 28.657 and a speed of 188.436 mph. Matt Kenseth was fourth in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 28.684 and a speed of 188.258 mph. Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 28.702 and a speed of 188.140 mph.

    Ryan Blaney, who clocked in the eighth-fastest single lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 185.347 mph.

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  • Elliott Fastest at Las Vegas in Second Practice

    Elliott Fastest at Las Vegas in Second Practice

    Chase Elliott topped the chart in second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 28.197 and a speed of 191.510 mph. Kyle Larson was second in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 28.599 and a speed of 188.818 mph. Matt Kenseth was third in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 28.633 and a speed of 188.594 mph. Kyle Busch was fourth in his No. 18 JGR Toyota with a time of 28.645 and a speed of 188.515 mph. Kasey Kahne rounded out the top-five in his No. 5 HMS Chevrolet with a time of 28.713 and a speed of 188.068 mph.

    Elliott posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 186.480 mph.

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  • Keselowski Takes the Pole at Las Vegas

    Keselowski Takes the Pole at Las Vegas

    Brad Keselowski will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday after earning pole position for the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford scored the pole after posting a time of 27.881 and a speed of 193.680 mph. Martin Truex Jr. will start second in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota after posting a time of 27.913 and a speed of 193.458 mph. Ryan Blaney will start third in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford after posting a time of 27.920 and a speed of 193.410 mph. Matt Kenseth will start fourth in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota after posting a time of 27.923 and a speed of 193.389 mph. Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 27.956 and a speed of 193.161 mph.

    Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Erik Jones, Kyle Busch and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-10.

    Daniel Suarez and Chase Elliott rounded out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    With 39 entries, nobody failed to make the race.

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  • Kenseth’s Season to Date a Mixed Bag

    Matt Kenseth comes into sin city after mixed results in the first two weeks of the NASCAR season.

    His season started with a wreck halfway through the Daytona 500. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time when teammate Kyle Busch suffered a right-rear tire blowout and spun out in Turn 3 on lap 105, collecting Erik Jones and Kenseth.

    Kenseth left Daytona with the third last-place finish of his career and 32nd in points.

    Despite the finish, Kenseth said it was “hard to count Daytona.”

    “Everybody – it’s so easy to get caught up in a wreck there, and like our wreck at Daytona, I really didn’t have anything to do with that, we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, so there’s just nothing you can do about that. I don’t put a lot of stock in where you leave in the points standings after Daytona. I just never have because it doesn’t really have much to do with the rest of the season.”

    The following week in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he was busted for speeding twice, but rallied to finish third on a day when the Joe Gibbs Racing cars were a non-factor.

    He left Atlanta 15th in points.

    Kenseth thought he ran “pretty well really the whole day,” even with the speeding penalties.

    “We knew they added segments (at Atlanta). It’s just that you go through the segments pretty fast,” Kenseth said. “When they’re twice as long, even if you’re not trying to cheat a segment or do something like that, if you look away for a second at your pit stall or whatever and you get going a little bit, you’ve got some room to slow down and correct because they’re timed segments.”