Category: NASCAR Cup News

NASCAR Cup Series News

Hamlin saves enough fuel to earn fifth career win at Pocono

Coming off last week’s loss at New Hampshire Denny Hamlin had hopes of winning at Pocono Raceway, a track where he has been so successful over the years. Despite fuel concerns and one NASCAR Overtime, Hamlin was able to hold off his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Erik Jones and Martin Truex Jr. for his third win of the 2019 season and his first since Texas back in March.

“He (Chris Gabehart, Crew Chief) said we were good to the checkers, but not the green-white-checkered,” Hamlin said in his post-race interview with MRN Radio. “He said, we were going to have to have a different conversation if it went into overtime, but I knew with all of those caution laps with about six or seven to go, I knew we were good to go. It helped us out, honestly, I did everything I could to save fuel there when I got out front. If it was going to be not enough, it was going to be not enough.”

“Proud of the whole team putting me on great strategy there. This is a perfect team effort this weekend. We really identified our weakness from the first race and we went to work, as a driver and a team, therefore we’re better for it.”

Kevin Harvick sat on the pole after Saturday afternoon qualifying with Joey Logano on the outside pole. Several cars failed prerace inspection on Sunday morning. Those included Austin Dillon who failed twice for a rear toe issue, Jimmie Johnson, William Byron, Michael McDowell, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Corey Lajoie, Ross Chastain and Reed Sorenson. Everyone who failed the pre-race inspection had to go to the back when the race started.

Also going to the back were Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, who wrecked during Saturday morning practice sessions and had to go a backup car.

Stages were broken up into 50/50/60 laps to make up the 160-lap race.

Stage 1: Lap 1-Lap 50

The green flag for the Monster Energy NASCAR Gander RV 400 was moved to 3:08 p.m. ET Sunday due to the potential threat of rain showers. The PJ1 traction compound was also reapplied to the track on Sunday morning.

It was all Kevin Harvick from the get-go but there were a few minor incidents. Brad Keselowski who had been struggling all weekend hit the wall on the front stretch and had a right rear tire go down on Lap 5.

Just a few laps later, pit strategy came into play with Alex Bowman pitting on Lap 14 in hopes of splitting the stage up. More drivers started to come down between Laps 21-39. Kyle Busch and Jones pitted from the top five at the beginning of the green-flag pit stops. During the pit stop, Jones had an issue with the wrench breaking off which was a potential concern, but it never really became a problem for the No. 20 team.

On Lap 39, Harvick finally pitted from the lead along with Hamlin, from the top two spots. Both would have to stop two more times during the race. On the same lap, we would see Kyle Busch cycle out of the pit stops as the race leader. Busch would hang on to for the rest of the stage and win Stage 1.

Joey Logano, Harvick, Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Jones, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-10 finishers of Stage 1.

Stage 2: Lap 54-Lap 100

Harvick would recycle as the leader after staying out under the stage break. On Lap 61, Blaney made contact with the wall and had to pit for extensive damage. Four laps later, Kyle Busch made his pit stop. Jimmie Johnson also had issues under his pit stop, catching a jack.

A battle for the lead started began to heat up between Busch and Harvick as the weather started to threaten the area. Busch was able to take the top spot on Lap 72, with Harvick pitting on Lap 78. A caution flew on Lap 83 for Chase Elliott, who blew a right-front tire and came to a stop on the frontstretch. Elliott wound up with a disappointing last-place finish.

Kyle Busch stayed out, while a few others like Larson, Logano, Truex, Keselowski, Bowyer, Daniel Hemric, Bubba Wallace, Jones, Austin Dillon and Almirola, pitted.

As the restart came on Lap 87, rain hit the racetrack bringing out the caution again on Lap 91. However, it was a short-lived rain shower and the race resumed with five to go in Stage 2.

Race leader Busch pitted with three to go, as he had fuel concerns. However, an unlucky caution occurred one lap later when Daniel Suarez and Blaney made contact with each other with two to go in the second stage, and sent Blaney spinning, bringing out another yellow.

The Stage would end under caution with Johnson winning the stage, his first stage win since 2017. Harvick followed in second as Logano, Truex, Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Jones, Keselowski, Bowman and Larson all finished inside the top-10. Busch finished a disappointing 25th after leading at one point.

Stage 3: Lap 103-Lap 163

In what would be an exciting third and final stage, Hamlin took the lead after the restart. Busch was back inside the top-10 on Lap 113. Another caution flag was flown, however, on Lap 115, for Ryan Preece who slammed into the Turn 1 wall. Preece wound up 37th after the incident.

From there, it became a fuel mileage race to the finish. Jones reported that he was two laps short with 33 to go. Many other drivers also had concerns about saving fuel, including Hamlin. Anticipating that the leaders could run out of fuel, Busch pitted with 26 to go. Hamlin would wind up passing Jones for the lead with 17 to go and Truex moved up to second a few laps later.

Pole sitter Kevin Harvick also started to close in on the race leaders and was told that he was good to go on fuel to the checkers, barring any yellows. While it looked as though Hamlin would run away with the win, a caution came out with eight laps to go for the No. 53 of Josh Bilicki who stalled on the backstretch.

There was a broad range of different strategies with Bowman, Kurt Busch, Logano, DiBenedetto, Stenhouse and Blaney, among others, pitting, while the top leaders including Harvick, Hamlin and Jones, among others, opting to stay out.

A restart came with four to go, but another caution occurred almost immediately as Kurt Busch accidentally came up and made contact with Stenhouse, causing him to hit the wall off Turn 1. Stenhouse retaliated by wrecking Busch, which also collected Michael McDowell. Also, Suarez was penalized for laying back on the restart.

The incident set up a NASCAR Overtime finish with two laps to go. Despite having some fuel concerns for potential multiple overtimes, Hamlin was able to hang on to tie NASCAR legend Fireball Roberts on the all-time wins list with 34 career wins.

“The lap traffic was a benefit for me,” Hamlin added. “It kind of slowed down the 20 (Jones) and I saw he was letting off early on entry and that allowed me to dive-bomb on the outside into the PJ1 in Turn 1. With the 19 (Truex) he had to go low to pass a lap car. I just decided to take the middle lane in Turns (3 and 4). Once again, I had an extra lane that wasn’t there in the past and I was able to get around him. Just once you get behind, it’s so hard to pass but we were able to get it done.”

Hamlin led twice for 53 laps to earn his third win of the 2019 season. There were seven cautions for 24 laps along with nine lead changes among five drivers.

Playoff Watch

Kyle Busch
Martin Truex Jr
Denny Hamlin
Brad Keselowski
Joey Logano
Kevin Harvick
Kurt Busch
Chase Elliott
Alex Bowman
Aric Almirola, +94
Ryan Blaney, +79
William Byron, +62
Erik Jones, +39
Kyle Larson, +37
Clint Bowyer, +12
Ryan Newman, +12

Below The Cut Line
Jimmie Johnson, -12
Daniel Suarez, -31
Paul Menard, -68
Ricky Stenhouse Jr, -88

Monster Energy Cup Series Race Number 21
Race Results for the 46th Annual Gander RV 400 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
Pocono Raceway – Long Pond, PA – 2.5 – Mile Paved
Total Race Length – 163 Laps – 407.5 Miles

Fin	Str	No	Driver	Team	Laps	S1Pos	S2Pos	S3Pos	Pts	Status
1	9	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Ground Toyota	163	4	5	0	53	Running
2	4	20	Erik Jones	Reser’s Main St Bistro Toyota	163	7	7	0	43	Running
3	8	19	Martin Truex Jr	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Toyota	163	5	4	0	47	Running
4	31	24	William Byron	Liberty University Chevrolet	163	0	0	0	33	Running
5	23	42	Kyle Larson	Credit One Bank Chevrolet	163	6	10	0	38	Running
6	1	4	Kevin Harvick	Busch Beer Gen X Ford	163	3	2	0	48	Running
7	17	8	Daniel Hemric #	Caterpillar Chevrolet	163	0	0	0	30	Running
8	11	2	Brad Keselowski	Alliance Truck Parts Ford	163	0	8	0	32	Running
9	5	18	Kyle Busch	Skittles Toyota	163	1	0	0	38	Running
10	30	12	Ryan Blaney	MoneyLion Ford	163	0	0	0	27	Running
11	13	14	Clint Bowyer	Toco Warranty/Haas Automation Ford	163	10	0	0	27	Running
12	3	10	Aric Almirola	Smithfield Ford	163	8	0	0	28	Running
13	2	22	Joey Logano	Shell Pennzoil Ford	163	2	3	0	41	Running
14	19	6	Ryan Newman	Performance Plus Ford	163	0	0	0	23	Running
15	32	48	Jimmie Johnson	Ally Chevrolet	163	0	1	0	32	Running
16	33	37	Chris Buescher	Kroger Fast Start Chevrolet	163	0	0	0	21	Running
17	10	95	Matt DiBenedetto	Toyota Express Maintenance Toyota	163	0	0	0	20	Running
18	16	21	Paul Menard	Menards/Duracel Optimum Ford	163	0	0	0	19	Running
19	34	3	Austin Dillon	Freightliner Chevrolet	163	0	6	0	23	Running
20	12	88	Alex Bowman	Nationwide Chevrolet	163	0	9	0	19	Running
21	14	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Roush Performance Ford	163	0	0	0	16	Running
22	21	43	Bubba Wallace	Victory Junction Chevrolet	163	0	0	0	15	Running
23	22	36	Matt Tifft #	Surface Sunscreen Ford	163	0	0	0	14	Running
24	7	41	Daniel Suarez	Haas Automation Ford	163	0	0	0	13	Running
25	35	34	Michael McDowell	Long John Silver’s Ford	163	0	0	0	12	Running
26	36	32	Corey LaJoie	Adirondack Tree Surgeons Ford	162	0	0	0	11	Running
27	6	1	Kurt Busch	Monster Energy Chevrolet	162	9	0	0	12	Running
28	24	0	Landon Cassill(i)	Mane N Tail Chevrolet	159	0	0	0	0	Running
29	25	13	Ty Dillon	GEICO Military Chevrolet	159	0	0	0	8	Running
30	37	15	Ross Chastain(i)	Chevrolet	159	0	0	0	0	Running
31	28	77	Quin Houff	Rapid City Rush Chevrolet	158	0	0	0	6	Running
32	38	27	* Reed Sorenson	Lehigh Valley Phantoms Chevrolet	158	0	0	0	5	Running
33	27	51	BJ McLeod(i)	JACOB COMPANIES/Pocono Organics Ford	158	0	0	0	0	Running
34	29	52	Austin Theriault	Trick Shot/Bangor Savings Bank Ford	157	0	0	0	3	Running
35	26	53	* Josh Bilicki(i)	Token 4 Token Chevrolet	146	0	0	0	0	Driveshaft
36	15	38	David Ragan	MDS Transport Ford	123	0	0	0	1	Accident
37	20	47	Ryan Preece #	Kroger Chevrolet	114	0	0	0	1	Accident
38	18	9	Chase Elliott	NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet	83	0	0	0	1	Accident

July 28, 2019

Kevin Harvick scores his first Busch Pole Award at Pocono

Kevin Harvick claimed the Busch Pole Award at Pocono Raceway Saturday afternoon, leading the way in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a 174.058 mph lap in 51.707 seconds.

It was his fourth pole of the season and his first at the 2-5-mile track. Harvick has 12 top fives and 17 top 10s at the “Tricky Triangle” but is still searching for that elusive Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win at Pocono.

The qualifying order is unofficial until the final inspection which will take place Sunday morning before the Gander RV 400.

Harvick is hoping to carry the momentum from his victory last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and capture his first Pocono checkered flag.

“It has been a really good track for me and my guys and really the whole company knows that we’d love to cross this one off – one of the last two of tracks that we haven’t won at,” Harvick said.

“it’s been a successful race track and the first race this year we had a great car and the right strategy and jacked it up and the steering box broke. It’s just kind of been one thing after another like that and tomorrow it’s gonna take a fast car, but it’s also gonna take everything falling your way so that you can get the strategy right. It’s restarts and pit strategy and all the normal Pocono things that you have to battle are still going to be the things you have to overcome.”

Current points leader Joey Logano will start on the outside pole after a qualifying lap at 173.377 mph followed by Aric Almirola in third (173.164 mph).

Almirola was happy with his lap but thought he could have done more.

“I might have left a little bit on the table, but I felt good about our lap,” he explained. “We made a lot of changes to our race car after practice. We weren’t really happy with our race car in final practice, so we made a lot of changes going into qualifying for the impound race procedure, so I wasn’t really sure what we were gonna have there and it kind of surprised me. I’m really happy with that. Our Smithfield Ford Mustang has got a lot of speed and now we’ve got to go race for 400 miles. Track position is really, really important here.”

Erik Jones (173.110 mph) will start fourth as Austin Dillon (172.659 mph) rounds out the top five.

“We have had good speed,” Jones said. “I thought with that lap we would have it. That’s kind of frustrating. We have a fast car and I thought we had a shot at the pole. It’s kind of frustrating, but we are starting up front, either way, so we will make a good day of it.”

Jimmie Johnson qualified sixth while defending race winner, Kyle Busch, will start sixth. William Byron, Kurt Busch and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top 10 qualifiers.

The Gander RV 400 is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday and will be broadcast live on NBCSN with radio coverage by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

July 27, 2019
NASCAR announces change to uncontrolled tire penalties
On Wednesday, NASCAR redefined specifics in the rule book to clarify adjustments with how officials will declare an uncontrolled tire violation during pit stops.

“After discussions internally and with competitors and teams, NASCAR will adjust how we officiate the uncontrolled tire rule to focus on preventing a safety hazard rather than concentrating on the subjective ‘arm’s length’ criteria,” NASCAR said in a statement.

The original judgment call of “arm’s length” will no longer apply, and is set around three cornerstone evaluations.
- Tire(s) cannot roll into traffic lanes of pit road outside of the designated team’s pit box;
- Removed tire(s) do not return to the outside half of the pit box;
- Tire(s) are handled in a safe manner, avoiding instances of bouncing or throwing tires.
NASCAR also made additional clarifications that any tires removed from the car during pit stops may not exceed the “proximity limits” to other pit boxes as noted in the NASCAR Rule Book. This new rule will take effect immediately, applying to the upcoming races at Pocono Raceway and Iowa Speedway for NASCAR’s top three national touring series.

“This is something we’ve been looking at for some time over the last year or two,” said Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s Vice President of officiating and technical inspection. “The evolution of the pit stop has changed over time. There was a time when we needed to officiate that call based on an arm’s length.

“We have reviewed that numerous times and looked at it and feel like, in coordination with working with the teams, the timing is right to go ahead and remove that part of the rule from the rule book. We will continue to officiate uncontrolled tires. They still have to be controlled from the outside half of the pit box to the inside half.”

Another concern NASCAR addressed and made changes to was mandating outside tires to be changed first. Watkins Glen is quickly approaching the schedule, and since teams usually change the right side tires first at 37 races throughout the year, one race was the exception with pit wall on the opposite side. One strategy teams were considering was to continue changing right side tires first, which would then become the “inside” tire during pit stops at the New York road course.

For safety reasons, NASCAR regulated this and informed teams that if they elect to change four tires, the pit crew must change the outside tires first.

“This is something we’ve been working with the teams on,” Sawyer said. “They came to us and they had been looking at changing the inside tires first, and Watkins Glen would have been the first event that they would have been trying to do that.

“Through the collaboration, through some additional conversations, we felt like that going forward starting at Watkins Glen, for all four-tire stops you’d have to change the outside tires first. That’ll go into effect across all three national series and at every event starting at Watkins Glen next week.”

The penalty for uncontrolled tires remains the same: a pass-through penalty during green-flag runs or dropping to the rear of the field when under caution.
July 25, 2019
Roush Fenway Racing Announces Multi-Year Partnership with Cyber Protection Giant Acronis

Global leader in cyber protection Acronis to be featured in the team’s IT efforts and on both Roush Fenway Ford Mustangs at Watkins Glen

CONCORD, N.C. (July 24, 2018) – Roush Fenway Racing has announced a three-year partnership with Acronis, a global leader in cyber protection specializing in the development of on-premises and cloud-based backup, disaster recovery, secure file sync and share, and data access solutions.

The multi-year relationship will serve as both a marketing platform and technology partnership, with Roush Fenway utilizing the Acronis’ tools to enhance its racing operations. The Acronis brand will make its on-track debut at Watkins Glen in August, serving as the primary partner for the Ford Mustangs of both Ryan Newman and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at the famed road course event in upstate New York.

Acronis will also serve as the primary partner on Newman’s No. 6 Ford at the much anticipated Bristol night race (August 17) and at the Monster Mile of Dover (October 6).

“It’s great to bring Acronis on board and we are looking forward to having them on both of our cars at Watkins Glen,” said Newman. “They are the standard in cyber protection and we are looking forward to working with them both as a marketing and technology partner.”

In addition, the partnership will help expand Roush Fenway’s technological capabilities with advanced cloud backup and disaster recovery services, cutting-edge file sharing, and robust computer power simulations.

Acronis designs its solutions to address the Five Vectors of Cyber Protection — ensuring the safety, accessibility, privacy, authenticity, and security of data (SAPAS). This unique approach allows Acronis to deliver easy, efficient, and secure cyber protection. As a result, the company is now the technology partner of choice in several motorsports, including Formula 1, Formula E, and NASCAR.

These same solutions will help Roush Fenway Racing ensure the security and safety of the team’s systems, applications, and data – both at the track and at the race shop. At the same time, Acronis will be showcasing its capabilities to help grow its business worldwide.

“Acronis technology meets the efficiency and reliability requirements demanded by motorsport teams that compete at the highest level. Through this partnership, Acronis will enable Roush Fenway Racing to focus on developing their car and achieving results on the racetrack without having to worry about the safety of their data. We are looking forward to a long successful partnership together,” said Dan Havens, Acronis Growth Officer.

“We are very pleased to announce our partnership with Acronis,” said Roush Fenway President Steve Newmark. “Acronis is a world leader in the fields of cyber protection and disaster recovery, and we are excited about the capabilities that the partnership brings to Roush Fenway.”

About Acronis

Acronis leads the world in cyber protection — solving safety, accessibility, privacy, authenticity, and security (SAPAS) challenges with innovative backup, security, disaster recovery, and enterprise file sync and share solutions that run in hybrid cloud environments: on-premises, in the cloud, or at the edge. Enhanced by AI technologies and blockchain-based data authentication, Acronis protects all data, in any environment, including physical, virtual, cloud, mobile workloads, and applications. With 500,000 business customers, and a powerful worldwide community of Acronis API-enabled service providers, resellers, and ISV partners, Acronis is trusted by 79 of the top 100 most valuable brands and has over 5 million customers. With dual headquarters in Switzerland and Singapore, Acronis is a global organization with offices worldwide and customers and partners in over 190 countries. Learn more at acronis.com.

July 24, 2019
Kevin Harvick wins at New Hampshire

With a 22 race winless streak, Kevin Harvick was not going to be denied a second lobster at New Hampshire.

Harvick had to hold off Denny Hamlin to win his first race of the season, and the first win for his team, Stewart-Haas Racing.

“(Hamlin) got to me, he tried to move me out of the way down there, and I knew that was coming as close as he was,” Harvick told NBCSN at the start/finish line. “So I just stood on the brakes and I’m like half throttle down the back straightaway. I’m like, ‘You’re not getting under me again.’ And he drove to the outside of me and I just waited till he got near me and I just put a wheel on him.”

Hamlin finished second after leading 113 laps, all of them in the final stage. He took the lead after his teammate, Kyle Busch, had trouble and cut a tire and slammed into the wall in Turn 1. He went on to finish ninth but for Hamlin, it was more dejection that anything.

“I kind of shoved (Harvick) up a little higher and tried to get him out of the groove,” Hamlin told NBCSN after the race. “I wanted to just tap him there, but I didn’t want to completely screw him. I at least wanted to give him a fair shot there. Down the backstretch, I kind of let off, and I’m like, all right, well, I’ll just pass him on the outside and kind of do this thing the right way, and once I had that big run, he just turned right. But I would do the same thing. It was a fun race, and congratulations to him and his team. They made a great call there at the end.”

Erik Jones finished third, followed by Ryan Blaney and Matt Dibenedetto rounding out the top five.

Kyle Busch dominated the first stage and half of the second stage and finished ninth.

We had a good car all day,” Busch said after the race. “Just got into it on a restart I guess with Larson and that got us damage and that got us behind the eight ball. We would have been on strategy with where (Denny Hamlin) was the whole rest of the day, but we had to fix damage.”

Jimmie Johnson was having a decent run when his power steering began having issues and the seven-time champ had to come in and fell multiple laps down and out of contention.

Well, it was certainly a letdown, to say the least,” Johnson said after the race on NBCSN. “We had some issue with the power steering and the water pump pulleys. I thought it might have been from some contact on a restart. I got in the back of the car in front of me. They told me that wasn’t the case. So, I assume some debris got in the pulley system and took out my power steering and the water pump as well. So, it’s just unlucky on that front. Certainly, the wrong time of the year to have some bad luck. It looked like the guys I’m worried about in the points didn’t have the best day either, so maybe I got a pass on this one. I’m just disappointed, to say the least.”

The Cup Series heads to Pocono for the second race of the season at the Tricky Triangle where Kyle Busch will try and sweep the series in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

July 21, 2019
Kurt Busch wins in thrilling fashion at Kentucky

Kurt Busch won the Quaker State 400 in overtime at Kentucky Speedway Saturday night after a thrilling overtime battle with younger brother, Kyle Busch, to earn his first victory of the 2019 season.

It appeared that Joey Logano might run away with the race win in overtime but a late race caution changed everything. With six laps to go Bubba Wallace spun in Turn 1 and set up a late race overtime restart.

Busch passed Logano on the restart and set his sight on his brother. During the last half lap, the two brothers dueled for the win. Kurt Busch was able to beat him to the finish line by inches after almost wrecking each other for the win. It was his first victory for Chip Ganassi Racing.

“That was epic!” Kurt Busch said to PRN Radio in his post-race interview. “I was hoping we would get a shot, one more restart. I was just hoping that it would go our way and get that yellow. Then my little brother (Kyle Busch), the best guy in the world to go racing against. He’s been winning a ton, I couldn’t be happier for him and where he’s gone in his career.”

“That duel in Turn 3 and 4, and who was going to lift first, what’s going to happen, he gave me just enough on the outside like a true racer would. We made it work and both could have clobbered each other, and third place (Erik Jones) could have won, but I’m glad I came out on top with my Monster Energy Chevrolet. To get this team (the win), there’s a ton of first-time winners in victory lane.”

Daniel Suarez started on the pole, his first of the season and his first since Pocono of 2018.

The stages were broken up into 80/80/107 laps to make up the 267-lap race at Kentucky Speedway.

There was action before the race started, as fuel was accidentally laid down before the start of the race. Therefore, speedy dry was put down on top of the PJ1 that was also applied again in the morning hours.

The first half of the race was mainly clean and green, and what you would expect at a 1.5-mile track. There were some incidents, including one where Brad Keselowski reported “something is audibly off,” a possible tire vibration. The first caution of the race flew on Lap 47 for Chase Elliott’s car, as he blew a right front tire and left debris all over the track.

Another yellow flew on Lap 55 for Corey Lajoie, who spun off Turn 4 but wound up not hitting the wall. Kurt Busch would lead for the first time right before the caution by taking the lead on Lap 53. Before Busch could go on to win Stage 1, the caution flew once more on Lap 64 for Landon Cassill and Bayley Currey who both spun in Turn 2. Both drivers would escape without any major damage.

Despite the yellow, Kurt Busch would hang on to the lead and win the first stage after leading 30 laps.

Suarez led the first 49 laps, before finishing 14th in Stage 1. Also during the stage, Keselowski had a possible valve spring issue.

Stage 2 saw a lot of different strategies take place, with drivers taking only two tires or just fuel in order to get that much-needed track position.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would take advantage of that track position by staying out and taking the lead at the beginning of Stage 2. Stenhouse led for 21 laps until Kyle Busch took the lead on Lap 104. Another strategy call was made by Suarez’s pit crew on Lap 108 by pitting. After pitting, Suarez was told he could make it to the end of the stage without stopping again.

However, that was all thrown out the window as he would be caught speeding on pit road. Other pit stops would be made for those who stayed out. Logano pitted on Lap 120 for a possible vibration but looked as though it was all clear after the pit stop.

Later in the stage, Austin Dillon learned he was going to have to change the battery at the end of Stage 2. Dillon did so and it cost him a good finish. He wound up 35th, 29 laps down.

More issues appeared to rise for Elliott’s crew who pitted from 22nd. Elliott received an uncontrolled tire penalty, which was later overturned by NASCAR.

The race leader Kyle Busch pitted on Lap 149 from the lead. Despite pitting, Busch would remain the leader. Other drivers were caught with penalties, however. Daniel Hemric had a penalty for removing a jack from his pit box.

Kyle Busch would maintain the lead as pit stops cycled through and go on to win the second stage.

The third and final stage went green with 101 laps to go and saw a lot of action.

Kurt Busch would be back up front for the restart. There were some great battles going on which allowed Kyle Busch to close in once again.

Although, as cautions breed cautions, another one was seen as the No. 48 car of Jimmie Johnson was loose and snapped around, hitting the wall off Turn 2 on Lap 179. It would be the sixth caution of the night.

More interesting items developed on the next restart, as William Byron was cited by NASCAR for a restart violation. Byron would wind up serving a stop and go penalty.

Pit stops began to take place shortly after with 54 to go. Once Clint Bowyer passed Kurt Busch for the lead, Busch pitted in hopes of being the race leader once stops cycled out. Bowyer then pitted as well, but Busch exited just ahead of him. Meaning, if the stops cycled out as they normally do, Busch would be the new race leader.

However, other drivers were trying to outsmart each other during the final laps of the race. Kyle Busch would lead the next 13 laps before pitting. Hamlin then led five laps before pitting, Newman for 15 laps until he ran out of gas and Suarez led three laps until Lap 248.

While all this was going on, Kyle Busch and Logano were battling each other for a potential race win as they would be the new leaders once stops cycled out. Both raced each other hard for the lead and nearly wrecked each other while doing it. Logano took the lead with just 18 laps to go.

In what looked liked it was going to be the Joey Logano show, a late race yellow ended his hopes with six laps to go. This set up a NASCAR overtime finish with Logano and Kyle Busch on the front row. Older brother Kurt Busch would sit right lurking close behind.

As the race restarted, Logano got shuffled back in the middle as Kurt Busch and Erik Jones went three wide on the leaders. Busch was on the high line and got around Logano and Kyle Busch.

Both brothers would duel it out all the way to the finish line, even touching each other, leaving Kurt Busch with some tire smoke from a fender rub. In the end, it was older brother Kurt Busch barely beating his younger brother at the line by .076 seconds.

With this win, he has won with every car owner he has driven for in the series.

“I felt the connection with Chip (Ganassi, Team Owner) was perfect right away,” Busch added in his interview with PRN. “I mean, it was a 30-minute conversation, we knocked out a contract and then we went racing. And then, it’s a matter of making all the right steps to make this No. 1 car a winner. Tonight, we had luck on our side, positioned ourselves with speed and handling was there.”

With the future a little uncertain for Busch by having just a one year contract, he is still not sure what next season holds for him, but indicated that he’s not retiring anytime soon.

“It’s a matter of getting going now,” the 2004 champion said. “We got that win and now the second half is in front of us, and it’s a matter of everything coming together, you know? The manufacture, the sponsor, the team owner and the driver. I thought this year might be the last, but we’re having so much fun, we’ll see how things go.”

With this win, Kurt Busch is now locked into the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Busch is currently seeded seventh in the Playoff standings.

It was Busch’s first win of the season, his first since the Bristol night race last August and the 31st of his career. He led four times for 41 laps and won Stage 1.

There were seven cautions for 35 laps with 10 leaders among 15 lead changes.

Playoff Watch

1. Kyle Busch, Four wins
2. Martin Truex Jr, Four wins
3. Brad Keselowski, Three wins
4. Joey Logano, Two wins, Current regular standings points leader
5. Denny Hamlin, Two wins
6. Chase Elliott, One win
7. Kurt Busch, One win
8. Alex Bowman, One win
9. Kevin Harvick -101
10. Aric Almirola, -204
11. Ryan Blaney, -211
12. William Byron, -229
13. Kyle Larson, -235, +40 points in
14. Clint Bowyer, -265, +10 points in
15. Jimmie Johnson, -265, +10 points in
16. Erik Jones, -273, +2 points in
Outside looking in
17. Ryan Newman, Two points out
18. Daniel Suarez, Two points out
19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr, 46 points out

Up Next: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series continues their summer stretch of races by heading to the Northeast for race No. 20 of the 2019 season. There are only seven races left until the Playoffs began.

July 13, 2019
Daniel Suarez wins pole for Quaker State 400 at Kentucky

Daniel Suarez will lead the field to green for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 Saturday night after running the fastest qualifying lap at Kentucky Speedway and claiming the pole.

The driver of the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was the last to qualify Friday evening and his 184.590 mph lap knocked his teammate, Aric Almirola, off the pole, besting his speed by .126 seconds. It was his first Busch Pole Award this year and the second of his career.

“The car’s been very fast the entire day,” Suarez said. “We had probably the fastest car in last practice and the fastest car in qualifying, so I’m very proud of my guys, Ford Performance, Haas Automation and everyone who makes this program possible.”

In his third year of competition in the Cup Series, Suarez is impatiently anticipating his first series win.

“I really want to win so bad,” he explained. “I haven’t been in Victory Lane for a while. The last time I was in Victory Lane was in Brazil, and it was in a go-kart race. I have been looking forward to bring a trophy home for a while.

“We have very fast cars. Now it’s up to me to make it happen tomorrow (Saturday) night.”

Almirola hasn’t been to victory lane since last year at Talladega Superspeedway but has one top five and 10 top-10 finishes this season. He sees starting up front as an opportunity for more.

“It is a great day for us,” he said. “Everybody has been doing a good job of trying to figure out how to bring more speed and more driveability in our cars. I feel like this weekend so far we are off to a good start and the cars are fast and driving good. We have part one done, we have qualified up front and got ourselves good track position and pit stall selection and good clean air. Now we just have to go put a race together.”

Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski qualified third with a speed of 183.443 as Ford claimed the top three spots. Kurt Busch broke up the Ford dominance and will start fourth in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with Kevin Harvick rounding out the top five in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.

“That wasn’t bad. That was our best qualifying effort on a mile and a half this year I think,” Keselowski said. “That is something to be proud of. I didn’t quite have the speed to get the pole. I would have liked a later draw. I think there would have been some speed there. Daniel was a tenth-and-a-half ahead. All in all a decent run for our Discount Tire Ford Mustang and I am happy for Doug Yates and all of the Ford guys to have all three of our cars up front with the Fords. We will see what we have tomorrow.”

Daniel Hemric, Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr., Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch round out the top 10 starting positions.

The Quaker State 400 is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and will be televised on NBCSN with radio coverage by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

Starting Lineup for the Quaker State 400:

1. Daniel Suarez

2. Aric Almirola

3. Brad Keselowski

4. Kurt Busch

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Daniel Hemric

7. Clint Bowyer

8. Martin Truex Jr.

9. Austin Dillon

10. Kyle Busch

11. Joey Logano

12. William Byron

13. Jimmie Johnson

14. Paul Menard

15. Ryan Blaney

16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

17. Michael McDowell

18. Denny Hamlin

19. Kyle Larson

20. Chase Elliott

21. Erik Jones

22. Alex Bowman

*23. Ryan Newman – Failed pre-race inspection once, will start 35th

24. Matt DiBenedetto

25. David Ragan

26. Chris Buescher

27. Ty Dillon

28. Bubba Wallace

29. Corey LaJoie

30. Ryan Preece

31. Matt Tifft

32. Bayley Currey

33. Ross Chastain

34. Landon Cassill

35. BJ McLeod

*36. Quin Houff – Failed pre-race inspection once, will start 36th

July 12, 2019
Ford Performance NASCAR: Kentucky (Paul Menard Media Availability)

Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)
Friday, July 12, 2019
Quaker State 400 Media Availability — Paul Menard

PAUL MENARD No. 21 Menards/Quaker State Ford Mustang — HOW WOULD YOU GAUGE YOUR SEASON SO FAR, HALFWAY THROUGH? “It is certainly not where we want to be. I feel like we have definitely shown some speed in the races, it is just a matter of putting together the entire race, something we have struggled to do. It starts on Friday, or qualifying day. The package that we are dealt this year it is really hard to pass and track position is as important as it has ever been and when you qualify 15th it is hard to make up passes and get stage points and do the things you need to do to make the playoffs. The times we have qualified in the top-10 we have been able to get stage points and finish in the top-10 a few times. Track position is key. That is something we have been working on for sure but it isn’t playing out to our satisfaction but we keep working on it.”

WHAT WOULD IT MEAN FOR YOU TO BE IN VICTORY LANE TOMORROW NIGHT? “It would be huge. Quaker State and I go way back. They sponsored my families Indy cars back in the ‘90s and they were on my first Legends car way back in the day, a green Quaker State car. They have been big supporters of me through the years. They are great people I have been to Houston a few times visiting their headquarters down there and they have some really cool stuff that they do. It is a huge company obviously. I was fortunate years ago to go back into the laboratory and see how they actually make the oil. I saw how they blend the oil. It was a lot of really cool stuff that they do. It is an honor to have them here. They love Kentucky Speedway and do a good job promoting the race.”

WHAT YOUR YOUR PLANS NEXT YEAR? “I have a good job, for sure. I love the Wood Brothers. I love my race team. They are good people. I have a contract for next year. I guess it is getting to be that time of year when people start talking about things. I have a contract and I love my team. We just have to perform better, that is all.”

YOU CAN BREAK A CONTRACT IF YOU WANT TO RIGHT? BUT IT DOESN’T SOUND LIKE YOU ARE READY TO HANG IT UP YET. “Yeah, I mean I guess if you get enough lawyers involved anything can happen. That is what they get paid for.”

YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE TRACTION COMPOUND: “Yeah, We are definitely using it in 3 and 4. 1 and 2 we are right on the edge of being wide open and having to lift a little in 1 and 2. We haven’t moved up there yet. We will definitely be up there in the race once you are in dirty air and trying to make passes you will be running all over the compound in 1 and 2. 3 and 4 it is the preferred groove up there. I think it will be a benefit in 1 and 2 during the race to give you an option to pass. I think 3 and 4 it will be harder to pass because everybody will be up there. To finish the pass on the bottom is going to be pretty difficult.”

HOW HAS THE CHARACTER OF THE TRACK CHANGED SINCE THE REPAVE HERE? “It is a little faster I would say. Definitely a lot smoother. There are some bumps that are coming back especially down the backstretch. The backstretch is getting pretty bumpy, surprisingly. It is a typical repave. It has a lot of grip in the surface so Goodyear has to make a durable tire which they have done and that makes the cars kind of edgy and kind of a one-groove. They put the PJ1 stuff down and that seems to be making a difference but it made 1 and 2 a little faster than it used to be. We are wide open at certain times. Maybe not throughout a whole run but we will have some options down there for sure.”

IS THERE ANYTHING FROM THIS TRACK THAT YOU CAN CARRY INTO THE 1.5 MILE TRACKS IN THE PLAYOFFS? “It is a unique track for sure. It is not like Chicago was a couple of weeks ago. I honestly compare it more to Texas than any other track we come to, especially 1 and 2, it is very similar to the 1 and 2 there. Texas 3 and 4 is a lot faster and higher banked. Both are recently repaved and the same surface and I think we are running the same tires. There are a lot of things we learn here that we can take to Texas in the fall. The notes I have been looking at this week have been more pertaining to Texas in the spring and getting ready for Kentucky as opposed to Kansas or Chicago or even Charlotte.”

WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT COMING TO KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY? “Years ago, I am probably dating myself, but when I first got into the sport this was one of the first tracks I ran. My second Busch Series race was here in 2003 I believe. Then before the testing rules and things came into effect we used to test here all the time. All the race teams did. It seemed like every week or two we were coming to Kentucky to test. For me it is cool to see the transition. You fly into Cincinnati airport and drive 30 miles here and you see things grow up. We just put a Menards store in Florence that just opened a couple weeks ago and that is cool. Seeing the transformation of the race track and what it was then and what it is now is cool. There are a lot of race fans in this area between Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. It is a good spot for a race track. It is kind of central.”

CAN YOU EVALUATE THE PLATE RACING WITH THE TAPERED SPACERS? “Yeah, it is different for sure. There are bigger runs. With the old package you had to sit there and you really had to build up some momentum. Depending on where you are on the track. This package if you are first or second you are pretty much wide open and can’t do anything without a big push from behind. The further back you get you get these huge runs and if there is a hole you have to go for it. When we went to the lead last week, the 11 just latched onto my bumper halfway down the stretch and everyone was side-drafting and there was a lane up top and we just went to the front. You get these huge runs. It is different than what it has been. We have a lot more downforce now but the cars are as out of control as they have ever been because we are all packed up and the air disturbance with the air ducts and the nose make a lot of air disturbance. It is hard to call out that I am tight and you have to free up and loose and tighten me up because it is all of those things at once.”

IS IT FUN? “The fun factor is probably higher with this package, year. It is a little hairier at times with this and at other times you feel like you can do more because you feel you can get runs. Overall, I would say it is a pretty good package.”

July 12, 2019
MOTOR RACING NETWORK DEBUTS NEW PODCAST SERIES: JEFF GORDON – A COLORFUL CAREER

July 10, 2019
Upset Special: Justin Haley Wins Weather-Shortened Coke Zero Sugar 400
- NASCAR Xfinity Series Regular Gets Victory When Race Halted After 127 Laps
- Haley Becomes Youngest Coke Zero Sugar 400 Winner
- William Byron, Jimmie Johnson, Finish 2-3
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 7, 2019) – In one of the most improbable upsets in the history of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, 20-year-old Justin Haley was declared the winner of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 Sunday at Daytona International Speedway when the race was halted after 127 laps of the scheduled 160 due to inclement weather.

Haley, having raced his No. 77 Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports into the top 10, assumed the lead during a red-flag period after a number of other front-running drivers pitted, thinking the race was going to be restarted. Haley’s team opted for him to stay on the track.

Worsening weather caused an extension of the red flag, with Haley atop the leaderboard. Approximately two hours later, the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular was announced as the winner, the youngest in event history. Haley is ineligible for a NASCAR Playoffs berth that normally would accompany a Monster Energy Series victory, due to his full-time status in the Xfinity Series.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron (No. 24 Axalta Patriotic Chevrolet) and Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Ally Chevrolet) finished second and third, respectively.

“This is absolutely a blessing,” said a relieved Haley after getting word of the victory. “The stars aligned. I didn’t think I’d ever get redemption from last year in Daytona.”

Haley’s surprise victory follows a runner-up finish Friday night in the Circle K Firecracker 250 Powered by Coca-Cola, an Xfinity Series race he nearly won last year, in what was his second career Xfinity Series start. That July night, Haley tried a dramatic last-lap move and scooted underneath Kyle Larson and Elliott Sadler at the finish line to seemingly pull off the victory. But Haley’s path caused his left-side tires to go below both yellow lines that separate the apron from the racing surface; that was deemed a violation and Haley was dropped to 18th in the final results.

“To come back and get redemption in the Cup Series is pretty cool,” Haley said after the nerve-racking wait for the final decision from NASCAR officials.

“You just don’t know [what’s going to happen]. People keep asking you how you’re feeling. I’m like ‘well, I can’t do anything about it’. If we go racing, we go racing. If it rains out, we rain out. I can’t do anything about it. At the end of the day, I was just waiting.”

The red-flag situation was caused by a 17-car incident on Lap 117 between Turns 1 and 2. Austin Dillon (No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet) and Clint Bowyer (No. 14 Mobil 1/Rush Truck Centers Ford) were running 1-2 when Bowyer tried an inside move. Dillon’s Chevrolet edged into the path of Bowyer’s Ford, triggering the trouble.

The race was divided into three stages of 50, 50 and 60 laps. Stage winners collect additional, valuable points that go toward the season-long standings for the Monster Energy Series championship.

Sunday’s polesitter Joey Logano (No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford) is the reigning Monster Energy Series champion and also won the DAYTONA 500 in 2015, but came in Sunday looking to win the Coke Zero Sugar 400 for the first time. He got the pole position when inclement weather caused the cancellation of RaceTrac Qualifying on Friday, forcing the starting grid to be established by car owner point standings.

Logano was dominant throughout the first stage, leading three times for 35 laps. Among those 35 was the last lap, when Logano got past front-running Kevin Harvick (No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford) in Turn 3.

Dillon, the 2018 DAYTONA 500 champion, took the second stage which carried a heightened sense of urgency for drivers running at or near the front. A threat of rain developed and with the completion of the second stage making the race “official,” drivers battled especially hard for the front – just in case there would be no third stage. Stage 2 had nine lead changes, with Dillon leading four times for 39 laps including the last three laps of the stage.

Tickets for the 2020 DAYTONA 500 and all Daytona International Speedway events can be purchased online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP. Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and Snapchat, and by downloading Daytona International Speedway’s mobile app, for the latest speedway news.
July 7, 2019

Category: NASCAR Cup News

Starting Lineup for the Quaker State 400: