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Author: Tucker White

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. Out for the Rest of the 2016 Season

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. Out for the Rest of the 2016 Season

    DARLINGTON, S.C. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. won’t return to the driver’s seat for the remainder of 2016.

    Hendrick Motorsports announced today that the driver of the No. 88 HMS Chevrolet has not been medically cleared to compete for the rest of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

    Earnhardt has sat out the last six races after being diagnosed with symptoms of a concussion that his doctors say were triggered by his wreck at Michigan in June. He’s been undergoing regular evaluation at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program under the direction of Dr. Micky Collins and with Charlotte neurosurgeon Dr. Jerry Petty.

    “I wish I could return to the No. 88 team this season,” Earnhardt said. “To say I’m disappointed doesn’t begin to describe how I feel, but I know this is the right thing for my long-term health and career. I’m 100 percent focused on my recovery, and I will continue to follow everything the doctors tell me. They’re seeing good progress in my test results, and I’m feeling that progress physically. I plan to be healthy and ready to compete at Daytona in February. I’m working toward that.”

    Earnhardt also mentioned that he’s received overwhelming support from both inside and outside the Hendrick organization.

    “The support from both inside and outside the race team has been overwhelming. Everyone has been so encouraging and positive, from my teammates and sponsors to my family, friends and fans. It’s motivating and humbling at the same time.”

    Team owner Rick Hendrick said he knows “how hard Dale has worked and how frustrating this is for him. He wants to be back, and we want him back, but we want it to be for the long haul. We’ve had incredible support from everyone involved with the team, including all of our sponsors. They’ve put Dale’s health first every step of the way.”

    Alex Bowman and Jeff Gordon will continue to drive the No. 88 Chevrolet for the remainder of the season as they’ve been doing for the last six races.

    Hendrick Motorsports also released their driver schedule for the 88 car detailing which race will feature which driver. Gordon will drive the car in four of the final 12 races (Darlington, Richmond, Dover and Martinsville). Bowman will pilot the car in the other eight (Chicagoland, Loudon, Charlotte, Kansas, Talladega, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead).

    “Jeff and Alex will give us a great opportunity over the rest of the season,” Hendrick added. “Jeff is one of the best of all time and knows our system. He brings things to the table that no one else can. Alex is a young driver with a lot of talent, and he will give us a fresh perspective. We know they’re not only capable of running up front and giving us a chance to win, but they’ll help us get better.”

  • Roger Curtis leaving post as president of MIS

    Roger Curtis leaving post as president of MIS

    The Irish Hills will be looking for a new commanding officer in the coming days.

    International Speedway Corporation (ISC) announced today that Roger Curtis is leaving his post as president of Michigan International Speedway to pursue new opportunities. ISC’s Chief Operating Officer Joie Chitwood will take over as president of the speedway on an interim basis until a new track president is named.

    Curtis had been at the helm of the two-mile D-shaped oval located in Brooklyn, Michigan since 2006.

    ISC released a statement reading “We want to thank Roger Curtis for his many years of service with ISC, and the last 10 years, specifically, as the face of Michigan International Speedway,” stated Chitwood. “We wish him much future success.”

  • Chase Elliott says he just needed a better restart at the end

    Chase Elliott says he just needed a better restart at the end

    Asked what he needed on the last few laps to have gotten the win, Chase Elliott said he just needed “a better restart.”

    The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet will be able to say he finished runner-up in both races in the backyard of Chevrolet. He led 31 laps and was in prime position to score his first career victory in the Sprint Cup Series after he exited pit road ahead of eventual race winner Kyle Larson on the final round of green flag stops with 54 laps to go.

    He assumed the lead with 31 laps to go and was pulling away from Larson until a tire carcass from the No. 46 of Michael Annett brought out the caution with 13 laps to go.

    On the restart with nine laps to go, he spun the tires, Larson got a shove by Brad Keselowski and took the lead. Elliott made quick work of Keselowski, but couldn’t run down the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet in the closing laps.

    After the race, he was asked what he needed to get the win.

    “Just a better restart again,” he said. “That was what it was all about for sure. Once that guy (Larson) got out front it was really hard to pass.”

    As is usually the case with Elliott, he put most of the blame on himself.

    “My guys did such a good job today of making the most of pit road,” he added. “That was the only place you could make a large sum of ground in a short period of time. They did exactly what I asked them to do. I said ‘you guys are going to have to bail me out here I messed up.’ They did they got us the lead just like I asked and I gave it away again.  It’s one of those things where you do or you don’t and I didn’t. You just got to recognize your mistakes, look at the positives I guess and move on down the road.”

    When asked if he was frustrated and/or disappointed during his post-race media availability, Elliott said he’d “be lying if I said I wasn’t. If I wasn’t, that would mean I didn’t care. So, you know, for me, just have to try to take the positives out of it, recognize an issue when you see one. There’s only one way to fix it, and that’s to hit it head on. No need of hiding from it. Just try to fix it. Hope you have more opportunities to improve and to show that you can do it down the road…there’s no guarantees in life. There’s certainly no guarantees in racing. Have to recognize that, and like I said, hit it head on.”

    The same mishap befell him back in June on a late restart at Michigan where he spun the tires leading the race and lost the victory to Joey Logano.

    Elliott leaves Michigan 11th in points and 14th on the Chase grid if the Chase started today.

  • Larson Finally Earns his Maiden Cup Victory

    Larson Finally Earns his Maiden Cup Victory

    After two and a half years, Kyle Larson finally made his way into victory lane in the Sprint Cup Series with a win in the Irish Hills of Michigan.

    Under mostly cloudy skies, Joey Logano led the field to the green flag at 2:18 p.m. Eastern time. During the first 20 laps, there wasn’t much drama outside of Chris Buescher engine issues that were related to a broken spark plug. That would relegate him to a 35th-place finish seven laps down. The first caution flew on lap 21. It was a scheduled competition caution after rain had fallen on the track the previous day.

    The race restarted on lap 25 and the caution flew the same lap when Kyle Busch got loose exiting turn 4 and went for a spin. Kevin Harvick took the lead from Logano going into turn 1 prior to the caution flying.

    When the race returned to green on lap 30, it settled into a stretch of long green flag racing that’s normal of Michigan. It was broken up by two green flag stops that saw the lead cycle to Jimmie Johnson at the end of the first and Chase Elliott at the end of the second.

    Debris brought out the third caution of the race on lap 118.

    The race went back to green on lap 126. The final round of stops took place starting with 54 laps to go. During the green flag cycle, the lead changed hands four times before cycling to Elliott who beat Larson off pit road when the two pitted together with 54 to go.

    A tire carcass that came off the No. 46 Chevrolet of Michael Annett brought out the fourth caution of the race with 13 laps to go.

    On the ensuing restart with nine laps to go, Elliott spun the tires and Larson got a push from Keselowski to take the lead. The 2014 Sprint Cup Series Rookie of The Year went on to win the Pure Michigan 400.

    “I was teared-up that whole last few laps because I could just feel it,” Larson said of the emotion of winning the race. “It was finally going to be it. This one is for the Clauson family. We really miss Bryan. We love you guys. We’re going to miss him. We parked it for him, so that’s really cool.

    “We had a lot of work to do for that first third of the race, and got it done. Thanks to Target. Thanks to everyone on this team. Chad (Johnson, crew chief) and the pit crew and everybody. We messed up that last stop by we made it back.”

    He spoke about the final restart.

    “We both spun our tires really bad,” Larson said. “And, the No. 2 (Brad Keselowski) pushed me really good. He could have probably pulled underneath me and went by. But he stayed with me and got me the lead. So, thanks to him. I had a lot of fun.”

    He was also asked if he thought he lost the race after he was beat off pit road by Elliott on the final round of green flag stops with 54 laps to go.

    “Yeah, we fell back to fourth and I thought we were done,” he said. “I’m sort of at a loss for words right now. My Adrenalin is going crazy right now. Thanks to all the fans who are watching. I had a good time.”

    It’s his first career victory, eighth top-10 finish of the season and third in six starts at Michigan. He’s also the first driver of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program and NASCAR Next program to win a Sprint Cup Series race.

    His win also ends a 99-race winless drought for Chip Ganassi Racing.

    “It was a big one. It was a big one,” team owner Chip Ganassi said. “I hate to put the onus on somebody else, but boy I’m sure glad to. And I can’t thank Target enough and all of our other sponsors that make up the team in all the series’ that we’re in. It’s one big team…all the engineers and all these people work so damn hard. And to go winless for so long is really difficult. Only one person wins in this sport. It’s like golf. There’s only one winner. And we’re just proud to be here right now. I’m really proud to represent out team and proud to represent our sponsors.”

    Elliott led 31 laps on his way to a runner-up finish in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

    “Just a better restart again,” Elliott said of what he would’ve needed to be the one standing in victory lane instead of Larson. “That was what it was all about for sure. Once that guy (Larson) got out front it was really hard to pass. My guys did such a good job today of making the most of pit road. That was the only place you could make a large sum of ground in a short period of time. They did exactly what I asked them to do. I said ‘you guys are going to have to bail me out here I messed up.’ They did they got us the lead just like I asked and I gave it away again. It’s one of those things where you do or you don’t and I didn’t. You just got to recognize your mistakes, look at the positives I guess and move on down the road.”

    It’s his 12th top-10 finish of 2016 and second at Michigan.

    Brad Keselowski led 14 laps on his way to rounding out the podium in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford.

    “It was a typical crazy restart at Michigan here at the end,” Keselowski said. “It is about getting a good launch and push. It looked like Kyle got a good launch and maybe something happened to the 24. I was able to give him a push, a really hard push, and got sideways there and was able to get the lead. The 42 just drove away. Those two cars, the 42 and 24 were pretty close. They both had a lot of speed. We were right there though, just a notch behind.”

    It’s his eighth top-10 finish in 15 starts at Michigan.

    His car failed post-race laser inspection. Any penalties that results from this will be announced on Wednesday.

    Ryan Blaney finished fourth in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford.

    “We were up towards the front most of the day and some runs were better than others,” Blaney said. “It is kind of a decent day for us. It is nothing to complain about. I thought we were in a decent spot there that last restart and it didn’t work out great. Congrats to Larson. That is cool to see a rookie winning. These are the days we need. These are the days this team deserves. We always want to win in Ford’s backyard but we will go on to Darlington and try to get it done there.”

    Kevin Harvick led 33 laps on his way to rounding out the top-five in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.

    “We just lost the handle there on the last couple of runs,” Harvick said of his race. “For whatever reason we got really loose in and then after that on the restart we were tight on two tires. Everybody on our Jimmy John’s/Busch Beer Chevrolet did a good job we just didn’t quite have what we need to to win the race today.”

    Jimmie Johnson led 37 laps on his way to a sixth-place finish in his No. 48 HMS Chevrolet. Carl Edwards led one lap on his way to a seventh-place finish in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

    “We really struggled badly most of the day,” Edwards said of his day. “Dave (Rogers, crew chief) did a great job there at the end. Just a little disappointed, I thought we would have been a lot better than that. We’ll just have to regroup, figure it out and talk to our teammates. We’ll figure it out.”

    Jamie McMurray finished eighth in his No. 1 CGR Chevrolet. Denny Hamlin finished ninth in his No. 11 JGR Toyota. Joey Logano led 24 laps on his way to rounding out the top-10 in his No. 22 Penske Ford.

    Greg Biffle, who led one lap, finished 11th. Matt Kenseth, who led eight laps, finished 13th. Austin Dillon, who led one lap, finished 16th. Ryan Newman, who led one lap, finished 17th. Martin Truex Jr., who led seven laps, finished 20th. Regan Smith, who led one lap, finished 26th.

    Eighteen cars finished the race on the lead lap and 39 were running at the finish.

    The race lasted two hours, 27 minutes and 29 seconds at an average speed of 162.730 mph. There were 20 lead changes among 13 different drivers and four cautions for 17 laps.

    Harvick leaves with a 25-point lead over Keselowski in the points standings.

    Next up for the Sprint Cup Series is one of the crown jewel events, the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

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  • Rosberg wins eventful race in Belgium

    Rosberg wins eventful race in Belgium

    Nico Rosberg out-lasted the chaos of the first 10 laps to put on a clinic and score the victory at Spa-Francorchamps.

    Going into turn 1 off the start, Kimi Raikkonen got into teammate Sebastian Vettel and sent him spinning. Raikkonen suffered damage to his front wing and was forced to pit for repairs.

    One lap later, Carlos Sainz suffered a right-rear tire blowout that destroyed the rear-end of his car and sent him spinning in the chicane. This necessitated a virtual safety car period.

    The race went back to green and was put under safety car conditions on lap 6 after Kevin Magnussen got loose cresting the top of Radillion, overcorrected, veered to the right, spun 180 degrees, hit one barrier rear-end first and then slammed into another head-on. Per Will Buxton of NBC Sports, Magnussen suffered only a cut to his left ankle.

    After three laps of riding around behind the safety car, the race was red-flagged to repair the barrier.

    The cars rolled back onto the track at 8:41 a.m. Eastern time for a lap around the track before going back to green on lap 11. At that point, the race proceeded more orderly.

    There were some run ins between Max Verstappen and the two Ferrari drivers at various points with the young Dutch driver being aggressive on the defensive.

    Aside from the first 10 laps, it was the standard Mercedes clinic performance for Rosberg who drove on to score the victory in the Belgian Grand Prix.

    “It’s been a great weekend,” Rosberg said to a chorus of boos from the fans trackside. “Very, very happy with that result, of course. I understand that some of you are very disappointed. I understand you wanted Verstappen to be up here…You’ve been amazing to see so many of you come. It’s been very impressive to see a great atmosphere.

    “Thank you to my team of course. Great car they’ve given me. Very special day.

    “Oh, and congrats to Lewis (Hamilton). From last place to third must’ve been pretty impressive.”

    It’s his 20th career win and 49th podium finish in 198 Formula 1 starts.

    Daniel Ricciardo came home second in his No. 3 Red Bull Racing car.

    Mark Webber chugs champagne from Daniel Ricciardo's shoe following Ricciardo's podium finish in the Belgian Grand Prix. Photo: Dan Istitene/Getty Images
    Mark Webber chugs champagne from Daniel Ricciardo’s shoe following Ricciardo’s podium finish in the Belgian Grand Prix. Photo: Dan Istitene/Getty Images

    As Mark Webber, who was conducting the podium interviews, proceeded to interview him, was about to repeat his actions from Germany and guzzle champagne out of his shoe again. Instead, he asked Webber to do the honors. To which he did.

    “Thanks for doing that,” Ricciardo said. “I think we just made our country even more proud.

    “It was pretty messed up at the start. There was a lot of safety car’s and then the red flag. We knew we had a bit of damage actually from the first corner, but we fixed the front wing and then got back out. I mean it was a race by myself, but obviously I enjoyed it the pace and to keep Lewis behind was a good achievement today.”

    It’s his 14th podium finish in 101 starts.

    Lewis Hamilton, who started the race from pit lane, rounded out the podium in the other Mercedes.

    “Firstly, I got to say a big thank you to this crowd. It was incredible today,” Hamilton said. “I know a lot of these people came out for Max, which is amazing and is great for the sport, but I just want to say a big thank you to everyone for supporting me today. The team did an amazing job this weekend. I changed three engines. I’m actually ahead of these guys now on engines, which is a good thing. Thanks to the team. Just a remarkable day, what beautiful weather, great crowd and a great race.”

    It’s his 97th podium finish in 180 starts.

    Nico Hulkenburg finished fourth and teammate Sergio Perez rounded out the top-five.

    Vettel recovered from his lap 1 spin to finish sixth. Fernando Alonso brought his McLaren Honda home to a seventh-place finish. Valtteri Bottas finished eighth. Kimi Raikkonen finished ninth and Felipe Massa rounded out the top-10.

    Magnussen, Marcus Ericsson, Sainz, Jenson Button and Pascal Wehrlein failed to finish the race.

    Hamilton leaves Belgium with only a nine-point lead over Rosberg in the drivers championship.

    Next up on the Formula 1 calendar is the Italian Grand Prix at Monza next Sunday.

  • Hamlin fastest in final practice

    Hamlin fastest in final practice

    Denny Hamlin topped the chart in final Sprint Cup Series practice at Michigan International Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 36.386 and a speed of 197.878 mph. Chase Elliott was second in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 36.403 and a speed of 197.786 mph. Jimmie Johnson was third in his No. 48 HMS Chevrolet with a time of 36.420 and a speed of 197.694 mph. Kasey Kahne was fourth in his No. 5 HMS Chevrolet with a time of 36.464 and a speed of 197.455 mph. Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 36.472 and a speed of 197.412 mph.

    Kurt Busch was sixth in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Joey Logano was seventh in his No. 22 Penske Ford. Kyle Larson was eighth in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Carl Edwards was ninth in his No. 19 JGR Toyota. Alex Bowman rounded out the top-10 in his No. 88 HMS Chevrolet.

    Larson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 196.346 mph. Elliott was second at an average speed of 196.015 mph. Johnson was third at an average speed of 195.995 mph.

    During the session, Hamlin got loose exiting turn 4 and his car went nose-first through the frontstretch grass. He suffered minor damage to the left front-end of his car. Whether they chose to repair the damage or go to a backup car was unknown at the time of this piece’s publishing.

    The session was shortened by lightning in the area.

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  • Stewart fastest in second practice

    Stewart fastest in second practice

    Tony Stewart posted the fastest time in second Sprint Cup Series practice at Michigan International Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 35.622 and a speed of 202.122 mph. Ryan Blaney was second in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 35.745 and a speed of 201.427 mph. Chase Elliott was third in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 35.786 and a speed of 201.196 mph. Kurt Busch was fourth in his No. 41 SHR Chevrolet with a time of 35.805 and a speed of 201.089 mph. Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 35.833 and a speed of 200.932 mph.

    Martin Truex Jr. was sixth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. Kevin Harvick was seventh in his No. 4 SHR Chevrolet. Alex Bowman was eighth in his No. 88 HMS Chevrolet. Jimmie Johnson was ninth in his No. 48 HMS Chevrolet. Kasey Kahne rounded out the top-10 in his No. 5 HMS Chevrolet.

    Kyle Busch, who’s fastest single lap was 12th fastest, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 199.713 mph. Johnson was second at an average speed of 199.578 mph.

    The Sprint Cup Series is back on track later today at 11:30 a.m. for final practice.

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  • Logano Grabs the Pole at Michigan

    Logano Grabs the Pole at Michigan

    Joey Logano will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday in the Irish Hills of Michigan.

    The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford scored the pole for the Pure Michigan 400 after posting a time of 35.697 and a speed of 201.698 mph.

    “I was surprised after the first couple of rounds when we weren’t as fast as the last time we were here,” Logano said. “We were eighth going into the final round, but we made great adjustments to find a little bit more speed out of this thing. I was down there waiting and Todd (Gordon) said ‘Take it!’ So I said ‘Yeah, I am going to take it.’ So I got pumped up and I had the attitude that we were going to grab it or we were going to crash. It worked out well.”

    It’s his 17th career pole in 279 career Sprint Cup Series starts, third of 2016, third at Michigan International Speedway and his 18th top-10 start of the season.

    Jimmie Johnson will start second in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet after posting a time of 35.728 and a speed of 201.523 mph.

    “We keep stacking pennies and making this car better and better,” Johnson said. “My hat’s off to everyone at Hendrick Motorsports and all the hard work they’re putting into things. Great practice and great qualifying. We need some more practice sessions tomorrow and roll them into a good race.”

    It’s his 10th top-10 start of the season and 20th in 30 races at Michigan.

    Denny Hamlin will start third in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota after posting a time of 35.747 and a speed of 201.416 mph.

    “It was good and my runs were good – all of them were good,” Hamlin said of his qualifying runs. “Just really, just a little off obviously. That was the closest we were to the fastest speed. We were one of the top cars in every session and can’t really complain, no real balance complaints, just a little off on speed really.”

    It’s his 22nd top-10 start of the season and 11th top-10 start at Michigan.

    Kevin Harvick will start fourth in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 35.753 and a speed of 201.382 mph. Chase Elliott will round out the top-five starters in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet after posting a time of 35.767 and a speed of 201.303 mph.

    Alex Bowman will start sixth in his No. 88 HMS Chevrolet. Ryan Blaney will start seventh in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford. Jamie McMurray will start eighth in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Carl Edwards will start ninth in his No. 19 JGR Toyota. Ryan Newman will round out the top-10 starters in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

    Kasey Kahne will start 11th and Kyle Larson will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    Forty cars were entered, so nobody was sent home.

    Twenty-two Chevrolet’s, 11 Ford’s and seven Toyota’s will comprise the 40-car field in Sunday’s race.

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  • Keselowski on driving a Ford Sweepstakes replica: ‘I got it up there pretty good’

    Keselowski on driving a Ford Sweepstakes replica: ‘I got it up there pretty good’

    Driving a Sweepstakes replica car around the Irish Hills of Michigan earlier this morning, Brad Keselowski said he “got it up there pretty good.”

    Speaking to the media on pit road earlier today, the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford spoke about taking a 1901 Ford Sweepstakes replica car for a drive around the speedway.

    “I got it up there pretty good, up to about 50 or 60,” Keselowski said. “I had a rider and Kelli (Stavast) didn’t want to get anyone hurt but we still got it going pretty good. Those cars there are all about horsepower. Now you look at our cars and it is about horsepower and handling and everything that matters to win here on the Cup side. Back then it was about just running. The race that Sweepstakes won, there were 40 entries and only two finished. The others all blew up or broke down and had all kind of issues.”

    He also talked about how motorsports “has changed a lot. It changed a lot from there, that’s for sure. It was fun to drive. There are a lot of little things we probably take for granted now as far as amenities are concerned. The sport is building and getting better all the time. The cars we have now are really phenomenal pieces. Under appreciated by me at least.”

    He drove the car as part of a pre-race segment for NBC Sports. He, along with his passenger Kelli Stavast of NBC Sports, delivered the Heritage Trophy, which is handed to the winning manufacturer of every NASCAR race at Michigan, to track president Roger Curtis.

    Both were dressed up in clothing from the era with Keselowski dressed in a grey suit, bowtie, brown hat and goggles, and Stavast wore a white dress.

    Asked about the handling of the car, Keselowski said the car had “the new low, low, low downforce (package). It is good we gave Roger his trophy back, the manufacturer trophy that Ford had from Joey’s win here in the spring. Hopefully, we can get that back here on Sunday. That would be great. I am glad to be in Michigan. Happy to be here.”

  • Truex Fastest at Michigan in First Practice

    Truex Fastest at Michigan in First Practice

    Martin Truex Jr. topped the chart in first Sprint Cup Series practice at Michigan International Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 35.724 and a speed of 201.545 mph. Jimmie Johnson was second in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 35.797 and a speed of 201.134 mph. Joey Logano was third in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 35.827 and a speed of 200.966 mph. Ryan Blaney was fourth in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 35.861 and a speed of 200.775 mph. Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 35.869 and a speed of 200.730 mph.

    Kyle Busch was sixth in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Chase Elliott was seventh in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet. Kasey Kahne was eighth in his No. 5 HMS Chevrolet. Tony Stewart was ninth in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Carl Edwards rounded out the top-10 in his No. 19 JGR Toyota.

    Larson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 194.178 mph. Stewart was second at an average speed of 193.710 mph.

    The Sprint Cup Series is back on track this evening at 5:15 p.m. for qualifying.

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