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Author: Tucker White

  • Larson Slides to Victory at Eldora

    Larson Slides to Victory at Eldora

    While he didn’t have the dominant truck all night and was at one point trapped down a lap, Kyle Larson regained his lost lap, passed the dominant truck late in the going and scored the victory on the dirt of Eldora.

    After being penalized a lap for “intentionally bringing out a caution” early at Eldora Speedway, the driver of the No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet rallied back to take the lead from Bobby Pierce late in the race to win the Aspen Dental Dirt Derby. It’s his second victory in 12 Camping World Truck Series starts, his second top-10 finish of the season and the second in three starts at Eldora.

    Christopher Bell came home runner-up in his No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota. It’s his seventh top-10 finish of the season and second top-10 in two starts. Rico Abreu rounded out the podium in his No. 98 ThorSport Racing Toyota. Jake Griffin finished fourth in his No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota while Tyler Reddick rounded out the top-five in his No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford.

    Cole Custer came home sixth in his No. 00 JR Motorsports Chevrolet followed by Cameron Hayley who finished seventh in his No. 13 TSR Toyota. Daniel Hemric finished eighth in his No. 19 BKR Ford. Austin Wayne Self finished ninth in his No. 22 AM Racing Toyota as Matt Crafton rounded out the top-10 in his No. 88 TSR Toyota.

    Pierce, who led 102 laps, found his car stuck in fourth gear just as he was leading the race late in the going, finished 25th and exited the race after crashing out.

    Fifteen trucks finished the race on the lead lap and 27 were running at the finish.

    The race lasted one hour, 47 minutes and 13 seconds at an average speed of 41.971 mph. There were three lead changes among two different drivers and nine cautions for 52 laps.

    William Byron leaves Rossburg, Ohio with a nine-point lead over Crafton in the points standings.

    The next race for the Camping World Truck Series is July 30 at Pocono Raceway.

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  • Cut Tire Ends Impressive Run for Bowman

    Cut Tire Ends Impressive Run for Bowman

    Alex Bowman surprised a lot of people running in the top-10 most of the back half of the Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire before a tire blowout in the closing laps relegated him to a back half finish in his substitute drive for the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    With 29 laps to go, Alex Bowman was running eighth, but contact on pit road with Carl Edwards and further contact with Kurt Busch caused a tire rub on his left-rear that resulted in a blowout and contacting the wall on the frontstretch going into Turn 1.

    “I think the No. 19 was backing up because he was blocked in as I was leaving the pit box,” Bowman said of what he thought led to his tire going down. “My left-rear hit his right-rear as I was leaving.  It caved it in enough, we thought we would be fine, but obviously, when I got into the No. 41 it was already going down. I got really loose, got up the race track and got into him. I hate that for Kurt. Obviously, just got loose had a tire going down and then it went down at about the start/finish line, I just tried to hang on to it. It is really unfortunate. They knew we were here for sure and I had a blast.”

    Bowman was chosen to drive the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on Thursday after Earnhardt was declared medically unclear to race this weekend with symptoms of a concussion.

    “When I got the call I’m like, ‘Oh, Loudon? Really? Okay, well, I’ll try,’” he said. “And they were so welcoming. Such great people to get to work with. Greg (Ives) and all the guys. I had so much fun working with everybody. And I’ve got to thank Mr. ‘H’, too; it was just an absolute blast. I was off a little bit in practice and qualifying, so I feel like I got my act together for the race and it definitely showed.”

    The lackluster finish didn’t stop him from saying the experience “was amazing. I can’t thank Hendrick Motorsports and all these guys enough. They took me to my worst race track by far and made me look good. I just have to thank Mr. H. I had such an amazing time. Everybody, Greg (Ives, crew chief) and all the guys were so welcoming.”

    “I hate the circumstances and really hope Dale is feeling well, but I had so much fun today.  Obviously, I hate that we didn’t get the finish we deserve, but I’ve raced with a lot of these guys for a long time, I raced around them (but) I’ve never got to actually race with guys like Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, all those guys.  I had a lot of fun passing really good cars. Just really thankful for Nationwide and all of Hendrick Motorsports for letting me be here.”

    Because Earnhardt didn’t start the race, he didn’t collect points for Bowman’s 26th-place finish. His absence dropped him to 15th in points at the Chase cutoff heading to Indianapolis.

  • Matt Kenseth Scores the Victory at Loudon

    Matt Kenseth Scores the Victory at Loudon

    Matt Kenseth will be dining on lobster following enduring a flurry of cautions late in the going to score the victory at the Magic Mile.

    The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota took the lead from Martin Truex Jr. in the closing stages of the race and held on with the rush of cautions in the remaining laps to win the New Hampshire 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    “You’re always pleased to be in victory lane,” Kenseth said. “The farther down the road you get, the better they feel for sure. Thanks to everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing. I’ve said it a million times, but I’m blessed with this opportunity to be over here with the guys I get to work with and my great sponsors, Dollar General and of course, can’t do it without Toyota, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), Interstate Batteries, WileyX, Gatorade. Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and the team over there made great, great adjustments today. I didn’t do a very good job qualifying and after round one today it was pretty much money, we just had to get there. It was a fun day.”

    It’s his 24th career victory in 597 career Sprint Cup Series starts, second of the season, third at Loudon, the eighth top-10 finish of 2016 and 18th in 33 starts at Loudon.

    His car failed post-race inspection at the Laser Inspection Station (LIS). Any penalties resulting from this will be announced on Wednesday.

    Tony Stewart came home to a runner-up finish in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.

    “It was fun,” Stewart said of his day. “The hardest part of the restarts was just which line you were in. If you were on the bottom you were at a huge disadvantage. You needed to be on that top line and needed to be able to hold them down when they got there. We restarted sixth on the outside that last time and that really was the key to getting us up where we were at the end.”

    It’s his 19th top-10 finish in 34 starts at Loudon and fifth of 2016.

    Despite being a non-factor for the whole race, Joey Logano edged out Kevin Harvick at the line to round out the podium in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

    “We were awful at the beginning of the race,” Logano said of his race. “We tried some new things and apparently they didn’t work so we aborted mission in the middle of the race and got some speed back in the 22 but not enough to beat the 20. I thought we would have something since we had four tires but we didn’t have the car to get up there with him. Overall, to recover to third after running 15th or 16th most of the race is pretty good for this team. We have a never quit attitude and it paid off today.”

    Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 SHR Chevrolet, wasn’t too happy with his race, saying he was “disgusted to tell you the truth. It’s the same thing every week. We just make mistake after mistake and until we clean that up we don’t have a chance to win races putting ourselves in a hole every time we make a mistake. It sucks because the cars are plenty fast, but we are just not executing.”

    Greg Biffle rounded out the top-five in his No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

    “It was a great run with the 18 car there toward the end,” Biffle said. “We finally had a chance to race with those guys a little bit. We are still working hard on these cars to get them faster.”

    Jamie McMurray finished sixth in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Ryan Newman finished seventh in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet as Kyle Busch led 133 laps, the most of any driver, on his way to an eighth-place finish in his No. 18 JGR Toyota.

    “Our Interstate Batteries Camry was fast today we just didn’t need all of those cautions at the end,” Busch said of his race. “The car was strong on a long run. We still seemed to battle the balance and just kept going loose and tight at different points on the track. Given how much we led we are a little disappointed with eighth but we’ll take it and look to Indy next weekend.”

    Denny Hamlin led five laps on his way to a ninth-place finish in his No. 11 JGR Toyota and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top-10 in his No. 17 RFR Ford.

    Jimmie Johnson, who led one lap, finished 12th. Brad Keselowski, who led one lap, finished 15th while Truex, who led 123 laps, finished 16th.

    Alex Bowman was running in the top-10 toward the end of the race before a tire blowout relegated him to a 26th-place finish.

    “It was amazing,” Bowman said of his day. “I can’t thank Hendrick Motorsports and all these guys enough. They took me to my worst race track by far and made me look good. I just have to thank Mr. H (Rick Hendrick). I had such an amazing time. Everybody, Greg (Ives, crew chief) and all the guys were so welcoming. I hate the circumstances and really hope Dale is feeling well, but I had so much fun today. Obviously, I hate that we didn’t get the finish we deserve, but I’ve raced with a lot of these guys for a long time, raced around them (but) I’ve never got to actually race with guys like Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, all those guys. I had a lot of fun passing really good cars. Just really thankful for Nationwide and all of Hendrick Motorsports for letting me be here.”

    Twenty-six cars finished the race on the lead lap and 38 were running at the finish.

    Michael McDowell and Josh Wise were the only two retirements from the race.

    The race lasted two hours, 57 minutes and 53 seconds at an average speed of 107.416 mph. There were 13 lead changes among six different drivers and seven cautions for 36 laps.

    Harvick leaves Loudon with a 14-point lead over Keselowski in the points standings.

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  • The White Zone: Do you really want to see Jeff Gordon back next week?

    The White Zone: Do you really want to see Jeff Gordon back next week?

    “The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading…” and I need to unload the question of whether you really want to see Jeff Gordon in a Sprint Cup car next week.

    In case you missed it, it was announced earlier today at a press conference at New Hampshire Motor Speedway that the now retired driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet will drive the No. 88 HMS Chevrolet if Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t medically clear to race next week’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    “As far as Jeff Gordon’s situation, certainly he’s a four-time champion with 93 wins, he’s not a bad person to think about to put in the car,” said HMS General Manager Doug Duchardt. “This week he’s in France. And obviously the way the week went, we didn’t even think we were going to need a replacement driver. We just thought we were going to need a backup driver. However, if Dale is not able to go to Indianapolis, we will put Jeff Gordon in the car.”

    For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you know that I was a die-hard fan of “Big Daddy” Jeff up until his final race. I practically worshipped him since I was the age of five. One of my biggest honors as a journalist was getting to interview Gordon at Bristol in April. Albeit as part of a news conference, but an interview nonetheless.

    This may be a tad unprofessional to admit, but part of me does want to see him race again. On the other hand, there’s a larger part of me that doesn’t. At least not in NASCAR.

    On November 1, 2015, Gordon was leading Jamie McMurray on the final lap of the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Perched atop the Turn 3 and 4 stands for the Motor Racing Network, Dave Moody made the call of the race, “The Drive for Five is still alive!” As darkness descended on Ridgeway, Virginia, Gordon scored his 93rd career victory and guaranteed that he would end his career racing for a championship.

    Needless to say, the darkness didn’t damper the crowd that stuck around to watch him celebrate victory.

    He didn’t win the championship with a sixth-place finish in the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but he rode into the Florida sunset fighting for a championship. That’s a feat few pro athletes, let alone drivers, get to do.

    It was a perfect ending to the career of arguably the greatest driver in NASCAR history.

    Unfortunately, if Earnhardt’s concussion symptoms linger, that storybook ending will be totally undone.

    I would much rather believe Gordon’s last race was fighting for the championship than a meaningless one-off at Indianapolis. It would be one thing if Gordon were to simply backfill for Earnhardt, meaning he’ll get in the car after Earnhardt starts the race to allow Earnhardt to get the points, but a concussion means that Earnhardt wouldn’t start the race.

    Maybe it’s the paranoia talking, but I’m afraid this might lead to Gordon wanting to do more part-time rides. I’m deathly afraid of seeing someone I idolized turning into a meaningless back-marker. I’ve seen it happen too many times in NASCAR and other forms of racing. The most famous example is Michael Schumacher. He’s arguably the greatest driver in the history of Formula 1 and one of the greatest drivers in the history of auto racing. He retired from F1 in 2006 after finishing second in points for Scuderia Ferrari. He came out of retirement four years later to race for the relatively new factory Mercedes team.

    Needless to say, he was a shadow of his former glory only finishing on the podium once in a three-year span. This is especially bittersweet considering he both holds the record for most podium finishes of any driver and finished every race on the podium in the 2002 season.

    The bottom line is I’m not sure I want to see Gordon do a meaningless one-off, even at Indianapolis. It’s not because I don’t believe he would run well. I want Gordon’s final race to be him racing for the title at Homestead in 2015 because so few great athletes and drivers ever get to end their career as such.

    Maybe I’m putting too much thought into this and feel free to explain why you think I am in the comments below, but him subbing for Earnhardt – should Earnhardt not start the race – would ruin such a great ending to his career that so few get.

    My plane is about to take off, so I must be going. Until then, I’ll leave you with this fact. Scotland’s national animal is the unicorn.

     

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. Out of New Hampshire Race

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. Out of New Hampshire Race

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. will not compete in this weekend’s Sprint Cup race in New Hampshire due to symptoms of a concussion.

    The driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was evaluated this week in Charlotte and physicians declared him unclear to take part in the New Hampshire 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    Earnhardt released a statement saying he “wasn’t feeling great the week going into Kentucky (Speedway) and thought it was possibly severe allergies. I saw a family doctor and was given medication for allergies and a sinus infection. When that didn’t help, I decided to dig a little deeper.”

    This is the second time that concussion symptoms have sidelined Earnhardt. He sat out two races late in the 2012 season following being caught in the last lap “Big One” in the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. After experiencing severe headaches, he went to see a physician and was diagnosed with a concussion. This was compounded by another concussion he sustained in a wreck at Kansas Speedway during a test a few weeks prior.

    “Because of my symptoms and my history with concussions, and after my recent wrecks at Michigan and Daytona, I reached out and met with a neurological specialist,” he added. “After further evaluation, they felt it was best for me to sit out.”

    “I’m disappointed about missing New Hampshire this weekend. I’m looking forward to treatment with the goal of getting back in the race car when the doctors say I’m ready.”

    Team owner, Rick Hendrick, voiced his support of the decision, saying, “I’m proud of Dale for standing up. The number-one priority is his health, so we’re going to give him all the time he needs. We completely support the decision by the doctors and will be ready to go win races when he’s 100 percent. In the meantime, we have full confidence in Greg (Ives) and the team, and we know they’ll do a great job.”

    Alex Bowman will drive in his place this weekend. No timetable for his return was announced and the organization will give an update next week prior to the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

  • Scott Miller Cites ‘Strategic Reasons’ for Running Aero Package at Michigan and Kentucky

    Scott Miller Cites ‘Strategic Reasons’ for Running Aero Package at Michigan and Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — When asked why NASCAR only ran the lower downforce package at tracks with a less abrasive surface, Scott Miller said that there were “strategic reasons” for doing so.

    Speaking to the media after the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, NASCAR’s senior vice-president of competition was asked if it would be in the interest of the sanctioning body to add a race with the package at a track with a more abrasive surface, such as Darlington, in the interest of getting a representative sample to continue modifying the package for 2017.

    “There were some strategic reasons why we chose to do it the way we did it, and we engaged the entire industry in putting the plan together of when we’re going to do it,” Miller said. “That certainly does make sense, but the timing of that and some testing that we had and a lot of other things‑‑ there’s a lot of things that go into making these decisions and making the schedules, so it just didn’t line up for us to be able to do that in the initial plan.”

    The package used in last night’s race was also used in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Both instances were met with reception, from fans and media, with statements such as, “it’s a step in the right direction, but the race itself was meh.” This is in contrast to 2015 where NASCAR ran what would become the 2016 aero package at tracks with more abrasive surfaces such as Kentucky before the repave, and Darlington Raceway.

    Miller didn’t rule out this package being used again this season.

    “Now, after tonight we’ll go back and we’ll sort of reconvene with the drivers and the owners and the OEMs and decide where we’re going,” he added. “We’re open to a lot of different options, and if something like that bubbles up and we have industry support for it, nothing right now is out of the question.”

    He did, however, rule out this package being used in the Chase.

    “One thing that I think we won’t do is change the Chase around,” he said. “We’ll stick to our guns and run the 2016‑‑ regular 2016 package in the Chase races.”

    He concluded by saying the main objective is to get this package ready for 2017.

    “All of this has been geared toward deciding what we’re going to do for 2017 and getting it decided as early as we possibly can, which gives the teams the most runway into next season, which is something that they’ve needed and been asking for, so that’s what we’re striving toward,” he said.

  • Truck Catches Fire in Kentucky Parking Lot

    Truck Catches Fire in Kentucky Parking Lot

    SPARTA, Ky. — A scary incident took place early during tonight’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Quaker State 400  race as a white GM pickup truck caught fire in one of the parking lots right behind the frontstretch grandstands at Kentucky Speedway.

    A car that was next to the truck was also on fire and a third vehicle had minor fire damage.

    The Herald-Leader’s Mark Story spoke with Kentucky Speedway’s General Manager, Mark Simendinger who stated that the fire originated in the cabin of the truck and that someone had been rescued from the burning vehicle. He added that the rescued individual did not appear to be seriously injured.

    “I always tell our people, be prepared, something weird will happen,” Simendinger told Story. “But we never envisioned this.”

    The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

    Video courtesy of NBC Sports

  • Keselowski Survives Carnage and Fuel Scare to Win at Kentucky

    Keselowski Survives Carnage and Fuel Scare to Win at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Not only did Brad Keselowski endure carnage, but he also saved enough fuel to hold off a charging Carl Edwards, make the finish and score the victory in the Bluegrass State.

    When asked how he saved fuel in the end, he said he “almost didn’t, but I’ve got to give credit to my guys, the Roush Yates Engine shop, and everybody at Ford. We knew the fuel mileage. We went out and we set a really fast pace there on that restart and was just using fuel, and then it became obvious that you were gonna have to save fuel at the end, but I already used so much. It’s a testament to our guys to have the fuel mileage that we did to be able to get back what I burnt early in the run and get the Miller Lite Ford in Victory Lane. It’s number four this year. Gosh, that’s great. Usually these repaves are kind of my Achilles heel, but to get a win here at Kentucky. I know it’s been a good track for us in the past, but this isn’t the same Kentucky, I can tell you that. These cars were tough to drive today, but a good tough. This was a hard-fought battle and I’m really proud of everybody on the 2 crew to get win number four and take that first place.”

    It’s the 21st career victory in 251 Sprint Cup Series starts, fourth of the 2016 season and 12th top-10 finish of the season as well as his third win and fifth top-10 finish in six races at Kentucky Speedway for the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford.

    Edwards posted his 12th top-10 finish of 2016 and third top-10 at Kentucky in six races with a runner-up finish in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

    “I thought I had him, too,” Edwards said of trying to get by Keselowski on the final lap. “He played it perfectly and he did it – he won at the absolute slowest possible speed he could. I thought he was out of fuel and that was that. I just appreciate the crowd coming out here, it’s always neat to come to Kentucky. It’s the site of my first win 13 years ago and it’s a special place…That’s a tough one to be that close. We were getting such good fuel mileage with our TRD (Toyota Racing Development) engine, I think we might have had a little extra there. That’s going to be the hard part, going to bed knowing you could have gone a little faster.”

    Ryan Newman rounded out the podium in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

    “We had a good car,” Newman said of his race. “We really struggled, like most people did in dirty air. Track position was definitely key, but I’m proud of these guys on the Caterpillar Chevrolet; all the ECR guys, they obviously did a good job on the fuel mileage to make that happen. I think all us drivers that made it, knew what we were doing, it’s just a matter of it we thought we were as good as we were. And, I could have used this iced cold Coke about 30 laps from the end. I’m just proud of the guys. It’s our first Top-5 of the year, but we’ll keep digging.”

    Kurt Busch, who started from the rear in a backup car, led 10 laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. His fourth-place finish gives him a top-five finish at every track on the NASCAR schedule.

    “That is a nice feather in the cap,” Busch said of the significance of the milestone. “It’s special to have raced for good teams over the years to give me winning cars. Top five’s are special everywhere. As a driver it feels like you got something at each of the places to be competitive, give to the team, to give feedback and then the team can give better feedback to me on how we can win. Today, we persevered. I have never seen such an effort from everybody to dig deep and to just be back on their heels the whole time and just start to lean forward, lean forward and then right at the end to turn into fuel mileage and our car just came to us at the end. It was a perfect day for us to get a top five. We had to sweat it all weekend.”

    Tony Stewart rounded out the top-10 in his No. 14 SHR Chevrolet.

    Greg Biffle finished sixth in his No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Jamie McMurray finished seventh in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Matt Kenseth led two laps on his way to an eighth-place finish in his No. 20 JGR Toyota, preserving his status as the only driver to finish in the top-10 in every Sprint Cup Series race held at Kentucky.

    “We were three laps short, exactly if the calculations were right,” Kenseth said of fuel mileage concerns. “It was unfortunate tonight. We ran well tonight with our Dollar General Camry, its’ the best we ran in two months really. I thought we had a top-three to a top-five car. Throughout the night we just didn’t get good fuel mileage.”

    Kevin Harvick led 128 laps, the most of any driver, on his way to a ninth-place finish in his No. 4 SHR Chevrolet. Martin Truex Jr. led 46 laps and overcame a pass-through penalty to round out the top-10 in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota.

    Austin Dillon, who led one lap, finished 16th. Danica Patrick, who led two laps, finished 17th. David Ragan, who led two laps, finished 22nd. Ty Dillon led one lap and finished 25th.

    Sixteen cars finished the race on the lead lap and 32 were running at the finish. Eight cars failed to finish the race via accident.

    The race lasted three hours, six minutes and 55 seconds at an average speed of 128.580 mph. There were 16 lead changes among nine different drivers and 11 cautions for 53 laps.

    Harvick leaves Kentucky with a four-point lead over Keselowski in the drivers’ championship standings.

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  • Kyle Busch Puts on XFINITY Clinic in Kentucky

    Kyle Busch Puts on XFINITY Clinic in Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — The odds-on favorite thoroughbred Kyle Busch put on a classic domination clinic on his way to winning in the Bluegrass State.

    “This is a great effort by this team and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing,” Busch said of his feelings on winning at Kentucky. “Everything was really, really good about this race car since we unloaded. NOS Energy Drink Camry had really good speed and Chris Gayle (crew chief) and the guys did an awesome job each and every week, this 18 Camry is always the best, always the one to beat. I think that’s just a true testament to everyone at Toyota and TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and this XFINITY Series program. I want to thank the fans as well with everyone out here and everyone at home watching on TV. It was a new repave and it probably wasn’t one of the best races from the visual, but a couple of odd things were definitely happening at the end when (Erik) Jones got me on the restart then he kind of got back when his motor didn’t re-fire there. That last restart there, I heard three-wide for a second and I don’t know what to do here but I tried to give a little bit of room and then I heard clear and I turned down. It was enough excitement from my vantage point.”

    He led 185 of the 201 laps on his way to scoring his 81st career victory in 320 XFINITY Series starts in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. It’s his fifth victory and ninth top-10 finish of the 2016 season. It’s also his second victory and seventh top-10 finish in nine races at Kentucky Speedway.

    Austin Dillon posted his fifth top-10 finish in five races at Kentucky and 10th top-10 finish of the season with a runner-up finish in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Daniel Suárez earned his second top-10 finish in three races at Kentucky as he rounded out the podium in his No. 19 JGR Toyota. Erik Jones led three laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 20 JGR Toyota. Darrell Wallace Jr. rounded out the top-five in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

    Elliott Sadler finished sixth in his No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Ty Dillon led 10 laps on his way to a seventh-place finish in his No. 3 RCR Chevrolet. Ryan Blaney finished eighth in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford. Brennan Poole finished ninth in his No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-10 in his No. 22 Penske Ford.

    Ray Black Jr., who led one lap, finished 19th. Ross Chastain, who led one lap, finished 22nd. Jeff Green, who led one lap, exited the race with transmission failure prior to halfway and finished 33rd.

    Eleven cars finished the race on the lead lap while 32 were running at the finish.

    The race lasted two hours, five minutes and 24 seconds at an average speed of 144.258 mph. There were 11 lead changes among six different drivers and five cautions for 22 laps.

    Suárez leaves Kentucky with a nine-point lead over Sadler in the points standings.

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  • Edwards Fastest in Final Sprint Cup Practice at Kentucky

    Edwards Fastest in Final Sprint Cup Practice at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Carl Edwards topped the chart in final Sprint Cup Series practice at Kentucky Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.808 and a speed of 187.448 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was second in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 28.950 and a speed of 186.528 mph. Kyle Larson was third in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 28.972 and a speed of 186.387 mph. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was fourth in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 29.018 and a speed of 186.091 mph. Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five in his No. 18 JGR Toyota with a time of 29.034 and a speed of 185.989 mph.

    Kevin Harvick was sixth in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Austin Dillon was seventh in his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. AJ Allmendinger was eighth in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet. Brad Keselowski was ninth in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford. Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-10 in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford.

    Larson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 183.629 mph.

    All that remains for the Sprint Cup Series is to run the Quaker State 400 Saturday evening.

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