Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Author: Tucker White

  • Jimmie Johnson says there have been talks about changes to plate package

    Jimmie Johnson says there have been talks about changes to plate package

    Speaking before the media earlier today, Jimmie Johnson says the Driver’s Council has discussed changes desired for the upcoming trip to the “World Center of Racing” next week.

    During his media availability at Sonoma Raceway this afternoon, the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was asked whether there have been any discussions on making changes to the restrictor plate aerodynamic package ahead of the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

    “Yeah, I think we had one Driver Council meeting since,” he said. “I don’t remember spending a ton of time talking on it. I know following Talladega there were a lot of suggestions made.”

    He also added that he made some suggestions right after last month’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, in which he was caught in a 21-car wreck in turn 1 with 26 laps to go.

    “I certainly had some opinions of why passing was as difficult as it was and the energy that it created in the pack and the need to kind of bump-draft and slam-draft and then crash, like that whole process that took place. I know that they don’t want to over-react and we’re going to a different track in Daytona that works a little bit differently than Talladega does. So, I feel comfortable with it. I think, ideally, we would love to have the side draft be less impactful. We’d love to have a push from another car be more beneficial. And with the gear and horsepower reduction, I think that took away some of that offensive opportunity that existed. But, we’ll see how Daytona races and take it from there. I know that there’s another Driver Council meeting down in Daytona. It will probably be top of mind for everybody then.”

    The current restrictor plate aero package has been in place with minor changes made to it since the 2013 Daytona 500. For the most part, the only real change to it is usually the size of the holes in the restrictor plates in order to add or reduce horsepower.

    NASCAR has announced that the package as it was used at Talladega in May and the Daytona 500 in February will be used next weekend. This is in spite of three cars getting airborne in the most recent race at Talladega.

    “The one car that got in the air on its own was the 20 car (Matt Kenseth) and we looked at that,” said NASCAR Executive Vice-President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell earlier today at Sonoma. He added that NASCAR is “satisfied with the race package we have.”

    Despite the lack of major changes, Johnson says the drivers still notice the more minor ones.

    “They don’t change a ton. There’s some sensitivity change to the dynamics and how it works, but the package is still very similar. You just notice or feel like last time you could clear a car more easily, or I could get up and push somebody a little bit harder and give them a run around a car. So, it’s more subtle things that we notice. Certainly, when you’re in the car after 300 or 400 miles, you can’t complete a pass, the little bump turns into a nudge and into a slam and then we have chaos like we did at Talladega. So, I guess it if gets off to a slow start, you can probably bank on a wild finish.”

  • Hornish reigns victorious in the heartland

    Hornish reigns victorious in the heartland

    You would never have guessed this was the first time Sam Hornish Jr. had been in a car this season with his dominant performance and victory in America’s heartland.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 183 of the 250 laps on the way to winning the American Ethanol E15 250 at Iowa Speedway.

    “It doesn’t get much better than that,” Hornish said of his win. “I’ve just got to thank Toyota and everybody from Joe Gibbs Racing for getting me out here and giving me this opportunity. Got my wife and kids here and it’s the first time the kids have got to be here for one of dads wins so — I can’t tell you what this means to me. You work so hard to try to get a win when I have my kids here and the fact of how all of this went on and I’ve just got to thank God. He makes things happen. I was so nervous on Friday getting into the car thinking I’m going to make a mistake and man, to go out there and win the way we did I just can’t say anything more about it. Thank you TRD (Toyota Racing Development). I hope Matt (Tifft) is doing well. I definitely want to thank the fans and happy Father’s Day to everybody. This is definitely one of the best ones I’ve ever had I can guarantee you that.”

    It’s his fourth career win in the XFINITY Series in 111 starts, first of 2016, second at Iowa and first since May 2014.

    “Anytime you get an opportunity to strap into a JGR car you know that you’ve got an opportunity and the car they told me as soon as I got here they’ve done a lot of work since we were here last time and man, this car was so good over the long run,” Hornish added. “I’d be remised if I didn’t thank Brad Keselowski because I picked both lanes that I could to get in front of him on those restarts because I knew that’s one guy that would give me a push. I was just happy about that – thanks to him. And, just man, I just can’t believe it. You always wait for when you have a car that’s this good for something to happen — run over a piece of debris or whatever. I love coming here to Iowa – the fans. I was worried it was going to be too hot and I was going to get all sweaty in the car, which I did, but man it was just put it on cruise once we got about 40 laps into a run. Car was good and I got a good idea of what it takes to be fast around here to keep the tires underneath it. Just fantastic day.”

    Ty Dillon finished runner-up in his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

    “I gave it just about everything I could there at the end,” Dillon said. “We had a heck of a battle for second place with Brad (Keslowski) and I felt I could have run down the 18 car if we hadn’t of had that late caution. Wow what a race. Second place is still a great finish and I know our guys worked hard. They earned it. On Friday in practice we were not where we wanted to be, but we made some great adjustments and moved forward. Today was an overall great day for us, and even better, we got American Ethanol and Kum & Go a solid finish in their home state.”

    It’s his ninth top-10 finish of the season and fourth in five starts at Iowa.

    Brad Keselowski rounded out the podium in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. It’s his sixth top-10 finish in six starts at Iowa.

    Daniel Suárez led 62 laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 19 JGR Toyota.

    “We just needed a little bit better long run right there,” Suárez said of his performance. “At the beginning of the race we were super strong for 10 or 15 laps and for the second part of the race we had to start making bigger changes and adjustments to try to help the long run but we ended here on the short run. That’s part of racing. We’ll keep working and come back in a couple weeks.”

    Alex Bowman rounded out the top-five in his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

    Elliott Sadler finished sixth in his No. 1 JRM Chevrolet. Justin Allgaier finished seventh in his No. 7 JRM Chevrolet. Brennan Poole led one lap on his way to an eighth-place finish in his No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Darrell Wallace Jr. led four laps on his way to a ninth-place finish in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. In his XFINITY Series debut, Ben Kennedy rounded out the top-10 in his No. 2 RCR Chevrolet.

    “Man, this was a blast,” Kennedy said. “I had so much fun. We had a fast Ruud Chevrolet. My goal at the beginning of the weekend was to finish in the top 10 and we achieved that. We were just a little too tight there at the end. I learned a ton on those restarts, what to expect throughout the run and how the lines change during the race. We could really utilize that top line as the run went on. I think we were one of the first teams to make that work. Overall, it was a great learning experience and I’m happy to go home with a top 10 finish. I can’t thank everyone at Richard Childress Racing and Ruud enough for this opportunity. It’s been a great weekend.”

    Drew Herring, Ryan Preece and Derrick Cope retired from the race due to accidents. Jeff Green retired from the race due to transmission issues. Timmy Hill retired from the race due to engine issues. Dexter Bean retired from the race due to vibration issues. Morgan Shepherd, Carl Long and Tyler Young retired from the race due to brake issues. Josh Reaume retired from the race due to electrical issues.

    Thirty of the 40 cars finished the race and 16 finished on the lead lap.

    The race lasted two hours, seven minutes and 51 seconds at an average speed of 102.659 mph. There were 10 lead changes among four different drivers and six cautions for 33 laps.

    Suárez leaves Newton, Iowa still the points leader.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/N1614_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

  • Rosberg flat out dominates in Azerbaijan

    Rosberg flat out dominates in Azerbaijan

    There was no stopping Nico Rosberg this weekend as he took the pole, led the most laps, posted the fastest single lap and took the victory in the first race in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

    This kind of performance has become almost second nature to the driver of the No. 6 Mercedes AMG Petronas car as he took the top step of the podium for the 19th time in his career and fifth of the 2016 season. It’s only the second time this season that he achieved a “grand slam” of starting on the pole, leading the most laps, posting the fastest single lap and winning the race.

    Sebastian Vettel was outmatched by Rosberg and brought his car home to a runner-up finish in his No. 5 Scuderia Ferrari. Sergio Pérez, who was handed a five-place grid penalty following a gear change and went from second to seventh in the starting order, rounded out the podium in his No. 11 Sahara Force India-Mercedes.

    Kimi Räikkönen brought the other Ferrari home to a fourth-place finish. Lewis Hamilton was a non-factor for much of the race and brought his Mercedes home to round out the top-five.

    Valtteri Bottas finished sixth in his No. 77 Williams Martini Racing-Mercedes. Daniel Ricciardo finished seventh in his No. 3 Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer. Teammate Max Verstappen came home eighth in his No. 33 car. Nico Hülkenberg finished ninth in his No. 27 Force India Mercedes. Felipe Massa rounded out the top-10 in his No. 19 Williams Mercedes.

    As for the Haas F1 Team, Romain Grosjean finished 13th and Esteban Gutiérrez.

    Rosberg leaves Baku with a 24-point lead over teammate Hamilton in the Drivers’ Championship. Mercedes leaves with an 81-point lead over Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship.

    In two weeks, Formula 1 returns to the Austrian Alps to run the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.

  • Blown Engine Ends Rowdy’s Day

    Blown Engine Ends Rowdy’s Day

    After being beaten in the XFINITY Series race the day before on the final lap, Kyle Busch’s run of poor finishes continued today in the Irish Hills as his engine let go and caught fire early in the race.

    Even after coming down pit road under the first caution of the race, the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota continued to report that temperatures were still climbing and that the engine was about to blow.

    “At least I had a 30 lap warning that it was coming,” Busch said. “It had been shaking pretty bad and going south for a while and it had been building its own heat.”

    Coming down the backstretch on lap 54, the engine blew up and the underside of his car caught fire. He took the car behind the wall and retired from the race.

    “Just been feeling the motor kind of going south for about 30 laps or so and finally let go,” he said. “At least there was plenty of warning and I knew it was going to get hot in there and it certainly did once it let go and it was on fire. It’s just been a dismal month, just haven’t been able to hit anything and get good finishes going.

    “Our car has been really fast and Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and the guys have been doing a great job getting us good stuff to the race track, but it just wasn’t our day today. Again, this is six in a row here. We started out the season good and strong and had some top-fives and such so it was a good foundation for us to build off of and fortunately we have all that and this is just a continuation of hurting us in the points, but points don’t matter. We’d like to be able to get out luck turned around and get back to finishing races where we know we can.”

    Since scoring his third victory of the season at Kansas Speedway, Busch has had finishes of 30th, 33rd, 31st and 40th.

    “There’s nothing you can do to change it around, you’re not going to go to the luck store and buy any,” he said of his string of bad finishes. “We had a lot of good fortune go our way at the beginning part of the season I guess. We still had blown tires that hurt us, but we’re either top-four or we’re bottom four. There is no absolute in between for us.”

    Busch also finished last in this race one year ago. This makes him the first driver to do so since Mike Bliss at New Hampshire in 2013 and 2014.

    He leaves Michigan ninth in points as NASCAR heads to Sonoma Raceway, the track that was the catalyst to his championship run last season.

  • Earnhardt Jr. Taken out in Early Wreck

    Earnhardt Jr. Taken out in Early Wreck

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t have the best of days in the Irish Hills after a wreck in the early stages of today’s race.

    Rounding Turn 2, the driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet threaded the needle of AJ Allmendinger and Chris Buescher. Buescher got loose and clipped the left-rear corner of Earnhardt. This got Earnhardt loose and sent him up into the left-front of Allmendinger. Both ended up in the wall. Earnhardt continued to hit the wall down the backstretch before his car spun out down across the track onto the runoff area.

    “Yeah, it wasn’t too bad, actually,” Earnhardt said in response to being told his wreck looked hard. “I knew I was going to hit the wall. The No. 34 just drove into the left front quarter panel. Oh, man. I don’t know; them restarts and all that. You’ve got a responsibility to try and take care of everybody out there even when you’re three-wide. I’m disappointed in that. But, we had a pretty good car and we were just kind of taking our time, there. And the car was great. So, it’s a shame.

    Earnhardt added that he wished Buescher “would have taken better care of us.”

    “He just lost the car and hit the quarter panel,” he said. “It happens, though. I’m angry, but I won’t be too upset about it later. It’s frustrating right now because we had a good car and I was happy with the way the car drove. We had good speed, we just needed to continue to work on getting our track position and we were doing that. We won’t get a chance to get the finish I think we could have got today.”

    When asked about the wreck from his point of view, Allmendinger said he wasn’t “really sure. I think Junior got hit and I was on the outside of him and that was it. It was kind of weird back there. I’m not really sure what kind of car we had. I thought in clean air we weren’t too bad, but I guess a lot of people could say that. Just not a lot of fun racing there.”

    The damage done to both cars was significant and neither continued on in the race. Allmendinger finished 38th and Earnhardt finished 39th.

  • Chase Ellliott: ‘You can’t do dumb stuff and win these races’

    Chase Ellliott: ‘You can’t do dumb stuff and win these races’

    Despite earning his career-best finish today in the Irish Hills, Chase Elliott was unsurprisingly dejected at coming up short once again.

    After leading the most laps in Long Pond, Pennsylvania wasn’t enough to score the victory, the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet came up short once again after leading 35 of the 200 laps and finished second in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

    As his track record indicated, he wasn’t too happy about coming up short again and put the blame on his restarts.

    “I just did something dumb. You can’t do dumb stuff and win these races. Completely my fault. The guys gave me a great car today. This whole NAPA group has been working so hard these past few weeks and that one was on me. Like I said, you can’t do dumb stuff and win these things and I did today.”

    His runner-up finish comes just six days after he led 51 of 160 laps in the Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 at Pocono Raceway where he came home fourth.

    Despite coming up short twice in the last six days, Elliott is having a rookie season not seen in many years. As of today’s race, he’s amassed two poles, six top fives, 11 top 10s, led 118 laps, finished on the lead lap in 12 races, was running at the finish in all but one race – Daytona 500 – and currently sits sixth in points.

    In comparison, Jimmie Johnson after 15 races had three poles, two wins, four top fives, 10 top 10s, led 552 laps, finished on the lead lap in 11 races, was running at the finish in all but one race and was second in points.

    So while Elliott hasn’t won and has one less pole than Johnson, although both took the pole for the Daytona 500, his average finish of 11.3 is equal to Johnson’s 11.3 after 15 races and Elliott has finished in the top-five and top-10 more often than Johnson after 15 races.

    One common denominator to the success of both rookie season’s was Jeff Gordon. A number of the cars Johnson used in 2002 were cars Gordon used in his championship 2001 season. In Elliott’s case, he inherited the crew and team that helped Gordon to a third-place points finish in his final season last year.

    He leaves Michigan still the favorite to win rookie of the year honors. While Ryan Blaney has been running at the finish the same amount as Elliott, he’s had only one top five, six top 10s, finished on the lead lap in 10 races and has yet to lead a single lap.

    When the Sprint Cup Series heads to Sonoma in two weeks, Elliott will be a sentimental favorite racing for a team that’s made Sonoma a playground.

  • Joey Logano Returns to Victory Lane at Michigan

    Joey Logano Returns to Victory Lane at Michigan

    After seven months of going without a win, Joey Logano returned to the victory circle with a dominant performance in the backyard of the American automotive industry.

    The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford led 139 of the 200 laps on his way to winning the FireKeepers Casino 400.

    “What a great race car,” Logano said. “To win here in Roger’s backyard and Ford’s back yard, this is always a big win for us here. We appreciate the great car. What a crazy race with the low downforce and with more cautions and more opportunity to screw up pretty much. What a fun race, racing with Chase (Elliott) and Kyle Larson. It is fun to see the young guys up there racing. I am not alone up there as a young guy anymore. I have guys up there younger than me racing for a win.”

    It’s his 15th career victory in 271 starts in the Sprint Cup Series, second victory and 10th top 10 in 16 starts at Michigan International Speedway and his first victory and ninth top 10 of the 2016 season.

    Logano’s win is the 100th for Roush-Yates Engines in the Sprint Cup Series.

    Chase Elliott led 35 laps on his way to a runner-up finish in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

    “I just did something dumb,” Elliott said talking about his final restart. “You can’t do dumb stuff and win these races. Completely my fault. The guys gave me a great car today. This whole NAPA group has been working so hard these past few weeks and that one was on me. Like I said, you can’t do dumb stuff to win these things and I did today.”

    It’s his 11th top-10 finish of the season and his first in two starts at Michigan.

    Kyle Larson led one lap as he rounded out the podium in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Asked what he could’ve done differently, he said he wasn’t “sure there was anything I could have done there. It was pretty tight to fire off for two or three laps; sometimes for a full run. My restarts were pretty good. You’ve got to have a good guy behind you if you get a good push. I just had good restarts and kept some track position, it seemed like. It might have been hard to pass. So, just staying out front the whole time was a big key. The Target Chevy was really fast. I think we had a third or fourth-place car. So, thanks to all these guys for working hard at the shop on not having much time to figure out this aero package and bring a nice piece here. I wish we could have gotten a win. But, we’ll keep fighting and hopefully we can run up front more often.”

    “So, just staying out front the whole time was a big key. The Target Chevy was really fast. I think we had a third or fourth-place car. So, thanks to all these guys for working hard at the shop on not having much time to figure out this aero package and bring a nice piece here. I wish we could have gotten a win. But, we’ll keep fighting and hopefully we can run up front more often.”

    It’s his second top 10 finish in six starts at Michigan. His car, however, failed post-race inspection. Any penalties from this will be announced on Wednesday.

    Brad Keselowski, who ran out of gas in the first quarter of the race while leading, led 10 laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 2 Penske Ford.

    “I am not sure the new package was everything we wanted it to be but it is a step in the right direction as far as putting the drivers in control of the racing but not in reducing the aero stuff we wanted,” Keselowski said. “I guess we have to think about it a little.”

    Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-five in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.

    Carl Edwards finished sixth in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

    “Man, I was hoping for a caution there at the end and we got it,” Edwards said. “Then I had a pretty ugly restart. It’s tough out there today and the restarts were really tough. Once the cars got strung out a little bit, we were a little bit free in spots, but overall the guys did a great job. We rallied back from terrible track position and I was really nervous in the middle of the race. I didn’t think we were going to be able to finish in the top-15 so sixth place is a good day.”

    Tony Stewart finished seventh in his No. 14 SHR Chevrolet followed by Austin Dillon who finished eighth in his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Jamie McMurray finished ninth in his No. 1 CGR Chevrolet and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10 in his No. 41 SHR Chevrolet.

    Ryan Newman, who led one lap, finished 11th. Martin Truex Jr., who led 10 laps and spun out early in the race bringing out the first caution, finished 12th. Jimmie Johnson led four laps and finished 16th. Paul Menard, who led one lap, finished 18th.

    Denny Hamlin wrecked out of the race with 12 laps remaining and finished 33rd. Matt DiBenedetto exited the race with 15 laps to go and was scored 34th as a DNF. Brian Scott wrecked out of the race with less than 50 laps remaining and finished 36th. Jeffrey Earnhardt wrecked out of the race just past halfway and finished 37th. AJ Allmendinger and Dale Earnhardt Jr. wrecked out of the race on lap 61 and finished 38th and 39th. Kyle Busch had an engine let go on lap 51 and finished 40th.

    Twenty-eight cars finished on the lead lap while 33 finished the race.

    The race lasted two hours, 58 minutes and 47 seconds at an average speed of 134.241 mph. There were 14 lead changes among eight different drivers and nine cautions for 46 laps.

    Harvick leaves Michigan with a 30-point lead over Kurt Busch.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/C1615_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

  • Austin Dillon fastest in final practice

    Austin Dillon fastest in final practice

    Austin Dillon topped the chart in final Sprint Cup Series practice at Michigan International Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 37.056 and a speed of 194.301 mph. Brad Keselowski was second in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 37.111 and a speed of 194.013 mph. Jimmie Johnson was third in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 37.142 and a speed of 193.851 mph. Trevor Bayne was fourth in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford with a time of 37.156 and a speed of 193.778 mph. Kurt Busch rounded out the top-five in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with a time of 37.163 and a speed of 193.741 mph.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. was sixth in his No. 88 HMS Chevrolet. Martin Truex Jr. was seventh in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. Kyle Larson was eighth in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Joey Logano was ninth in his No. 22 Penske Ford. AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top-10 in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet.

    Truex posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 191.991 mph. Keselowski was second at an average speed of 191.968 mph. Ryan Blaney, whose fastest single lap was 14th fastest, was third at an average speed of 191.746 mph.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/C1615_PRACFINAL.pdf”]

  • Daniel Suárez Earns Win #1 in Michigan

    Daniel Suárez Earns Win #1 in Michigan

    Overjoyed with emotion in scoring his maiden victory at the NASCAR level, Daniel Suárez said, “I just have no words. I don’t think I could speak English or Spanish right now.”

    “This machine is unbelievable and it was unbelievably fast,” he went on to say. “Everyone on this 19 car, this Toyota Camry, did an amazing job. Definitely the fastest car out there. I just have no words to describe what I’m feeling right now. It’s just unbelievable and to win this weekend with my friend Erik Jones and for the loss of his Dad, it’s just unbelievable. I would like to dedicate this win to him.”

    Suárez, a NASCAR Drive for Diversity and NASCAR Next alum, also took a moment to mention teammate Erik Jones, whose father passed away on Tuesday at the age of 53, after losing a battle to cancer.

    “I would like to dedicate this victory to Erik and his family,” he said.

    After being busted for speeding early on in the race, the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota overcame being sent to the rear, passed his teammate Kyle Busch with two laps to go and scored the victory in the Menards 250 at Michigan International Speedway.

    “That was a very, very fast race car,” Suárez said of Busch’s car in the closing laps. “We had a penalty at the beginning of the race and that was my bad. Then since practice we had a little issue with the clutch and we thought we fixed it and then in the second half of the race it came back again, but that will happen when you have a really fast car. Everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing and everything they’ve been doing to build really fast race cars and I’m just very proud to be part of this family and this organization.”

    It’s his first win in 48 starts in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, 11th top-10 finish in the 2016 season and first top-10 finish in two starts at Michigan. He’s the first Mexican national to win a national-level NASCAR race, sixth foreign-born driver to win a race in the XFINITY Series, second to win one on an oval track and first to do so since Canadian national Larry Pollard at Langley Speedway in 1987.

    Busch led a race-high of 88 laps on his way to a runner-up finish in his No. 18 JGR Toyota.

    “You never want to get beat, but its cool when you get beat fair and square,” Busch said of coming in second to Suárez. “He did a really good job. He ran me down and had a really good car there at the end and passed me and did everything he needed to do, so congratulations Daniel Suarez, that’s pretty awesome. First win here, and to beat us – to beat a car like, a guy like me. Kyle Busch charm school finished one, two, four today. I’ll take what we can get with our NOS Energy Drink Camry. Obviously we want to win and thought we had the best car the majority of the race, just last 20 laps or so, got really loose on me. I wasn’t able to hold the corners like I needed to in order to maintain the lead I needed to stay in front.”

    It’s his eighth top-10 finish in nine races at Michigan and eighth of 2016.

    Paul Menard led one lap on his way to rounding out the podium in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. It’s his ninth top-10 finish in 11 starts at Michigan.

    Erik Jones, whose No. 20 Toyota carried the name of his father, Dave Jones, above the window of his car, led 18 laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his JGR Toyota.

    “Just missed it,” Jones said of his performance in the latter half of the race. “I don’t know, we were way too tight at the end. The Reser’s Camry just wasn’t good enough today. It’s unfortunate, but we just struggled all day with it being too tight and it got worse and worse as the race went on. We couldn’t keep up with adjustments, but we’ll work at it to get better and we’ll get another one soon.”

    Elliott Sadler got around Kyle Busch in the closing laps of the race for two laps before getting loose in turn 1 and losing the lead. He would settle for rounding out the top-five in his No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

    Joey Logano finished sixth in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

    “Man, there is not much good I can say about that,” Logano said. “I don’t know how we finished sixth. We were missing it everywhere. Everyone made a mistake. It is hard to be positive. I made a mistake leaving the pit box and we had bad pit stops and needed more speed in the Mustang today. Nothing good happens when you have all three of those things going wrong for you. I don’t know.”

    Alex Bowman led the opening 11 laps, but lost the lead to Jones and finished seventh in his No. 88 JRM Chevrolet. Justin Allgaier finished eighth in his No. 7 JRM Chevrolet followed by Darrell Wallace Jr. who finished ninth in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

    “It is hot, I will tell you that,” Wallace said. “Man. It was a solid day for us really. From how we started and how we practiced we shouldn’t have had any speed with our LoudMouth Exhaust Ford Mustang. I didn’t think we would finish in the top-10 with how bad it was but we kept after it. I keep saying over and over again that when we have these headaches of a day, practice day and qualifying runs, I keep telling myself that we will race better and we always do. I am glad that nothing freaky happened and we were able to come away with a solid top-10 and this has been one of the hardest seasons for all of us but we are still in it. Our heads are still up. I may be a little more sweaty than others, though.”

    Brandon Jones rounded out the top-10 in his No. 33 RCR Chevrolet.

    JJ Yeley, who led one lap, finished 20th.

    Thirty-one cars finished the race and 19 finished on the lead lap. Chris Cockrum exited the race after his car rear-ended the wall with 39 laps remaining. Jeff Green and BJ McLeod both had transmission issues and were unable to finish the race. Mario Gosselin exited the race with a vibration and Morgan Shepherd had an early exit after an oil leak. John Jackson exited the race with clutch issues. Josh Williams exited the race due to overheating. Josh Wise and Matt DiBenedetto exited the race due to rear gear failure.

    The race lasted one hour, 36 minutes and 11 seconds at an average speed of 155.952 mph. There were 11 lead changes among seven different drivers and three cautions for 14 laps.

    Suárez leaves Michigan with an 18-point lead over Sadler and Ty Dillon.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/N1613_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

  • Edwards Fastest at Michigan in Second Practice

    Edwards Fastest at Michigan in Second Practice

    Carl Edwards topped the chart in second Sprint Cup Series practice at Michigan International Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 36.406 and a speed of 197.770 mph. Kyle Busch was second in his No. 18 JGR Toyota with a time of 36.412 and a speed of 197.737 mph. Joey Logano was third in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 36.466 and a speed of 197.444 mph. Ryan Blaney was fourth in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 36.473 and a speed of 197.406 mph. Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five in his No. 2 Penske Ford with a time of 36.475 and a speed of 197.395 mph.

    Martin Truex Jr. was sixth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. Kyle Larson was seventh in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Jimmie Johnson was eighth in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was ninth in his No. 88 HMS Chevrolet. Ryan Newman rounded out the top-10 in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

    Johnson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 195.394 mph. Kevin Harvick, whose fastest single lap was 13th fastest overall, was second at an average speed of 195.256 mph.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/C1615_PRAC2.pdf”]