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Formula One 2019 mid-season review
It’s the summer break in Formula 1 right now and it will continue over a three week period. For some teams like the Haas Racing Team that fields drivers Kevin Magnussen and Roman Grosjean, it is a much-needed break. Other drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen probably didn’t want to see the break as they are dominating the races as of late, especially the Mercedes.

However, drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc can use a much needed break since they surprisingly haven’t won a race yet as they were expected to at this point in the season.

Here’s a look at who’s hot and who’s not during the Summer Break and the Mid-season review for Formula 1 in 2019.

Who’s Hot
1. Lewis Hamilton – It should be no surprise that Hamilton and Mercedes are at the top of this list. The Englishman has scored eight wins in 12 starts; that’s a win percentage of 66.6%. Hamilton leads the championship points standings over his teammate Valtteri Bottas by 62 points. Should Hamilton keep on winning after the summer break, he’ll have the title wrapped up before the season finale in Abu Dhabi in December. Realistically, it’s a three-way title fight for the top spot right now with Bottas and Max Verstappen lurking behind him. Other stats include 10 podiums, four poles, 352 laps led out of 746 laps complete and an average finish of 2.2. The only time Hamilton has not won a race was at Melbourne, Baku, Speilberg and Hockenheimring. Especially notable in these races where Hamilton has not won, he has either finished first or second. Only twice has the Mercedes driver finished outside the podium and that was at Speilberg where he finished fifth, while Hamilton finished ninth at Hockenheimring, his worst drive of the season. It will be interesting to see if Hamilton can keep up his incredible hunt for another championship to add to his impressive resume.
2. Valtteri Bottas – If it’s not Hamilton who is having impressive drives, it’s his teammate Bottas who is the other Mercedes driver. Bottas sits second in points, 62 behind Hamilton. In 12 races he has collected two wins (Melbourne, Baku) and nine podiums and has sat on the pole three times (Shanghai, Baku, Catalunya). Bottas has 103 laps led and only one DNF that occurred at Hockenheimring, the only difficult day for the Mercedes team who otherwise finishes on the podium if not winning the race. The Finland native is already besting his 2018 stats where Bottas ended with eight podiums and two poles and 84 laps led. Needless to say, Bottas and Mercedes are working well with each other this year.
3. Sebastian Vettel – I think at this point in the season we would have expected Vettel and the Ferrari to win 12 races into the season. Some would say he should have won at the Canadian Grand Prix where Vettel was somewhat pushed off the track in one of the sectors and came back on the track dangerously and then was penalized by the stewards for the action. To this day, Vettel and his fans believe they still won the race where they came up second in the overall results after the time penalty. Since then, Vettel has had some disappointing finishes of fifth at Paul Ricard, fourth at Spielberg and 16th at Silverstone, one lap down. He has rebounded a little bit in the past two races, however, as Vettel has finishes of second and third respectively. At Mid-season, he has 73 laps led down from last year’s 345 laps led. Vettel has only been able to amass six podiums compared to his 12 last year. He has also been down on his average finish with a 4.4 where last year the German had a 3.9 average finish. Perhaps this summer break will be a good time for Vettel and his Ferrari team to reset and come in with a clear mind when Formula 1 returns to Spa Francorchamps on September 1. However, Vettel is likely out of the title hunt being 94 points behind, fourth in the standings.
4. Max Verstappen – A driver heating up as of late is Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who took the checkered flag at Spielberg and won a popular victory at Hockenheimring. While Verstappen has not yet matched his 2018 podium finishes, he is starting to come into his own in the past couple of races. In 2019 at the summer break he has five podium finishes with a worst finish of fifth at Montreal and Silverstone. Otherwise, Verstappen has finishes of second, third, fourth or winning the race. He has an average finish of 3.3 already bettering his 2018 average finish, where it was 6.1 at the end of the season. Verstappen still realistically has a chance to win the title at the end of the season at 69 points behind but he will need a lot of help over the next several races in order to catch Hamilton in the title hunt.
5. Charles Leclerc – Leclerc is having a decent season so far for his Ferrari team. He has almost matched his teammate Vettel’s podium finishes by having five of them. Leclerc more than likely could have had two more, if it weren’t for two DNFs at Monte Carlo and Hockenheimring which were both due to crash damage. Otherwise, his stats are solid with an average finish of 6.2 and 118 laps led. He has come close to winning multiple times, quite notably at Spielberg where Leclerc qualified on the pole position and finished second after leading 58 laps. He qualified on the pole one other time at Bahrain, the second race of the season after Melbourne. Leclerc has only completed 86 percent of the laps or 647 of the 746 laps possible. He is already doing better than last year when the Ferrari driver did not record any podiums, poles or laps led. I think it’s safe to say that his championship hunt is over as he is 118 points behind. Still, there are a lot of races remaining, nine in total, but he will have to start winning right out of the gate when the series returns September 1.
  
  Who’s Not
  
  1. Kevin Magnussen – It’s been a difficult season for Magnussen and his Haas F1 Team who has faced sponsorship rumors throughout the season. His best finish occurred at Melbourne where Magnussen finished sixth. After finishing sixth the 2019 season has not been kind to the Denmark driver with no podiums, no pole positions and no laps led. He has finished off the lead lap eight times and did not finish the Silverstone race due to a crash that relegated to him to a retirement in the running order. Magnussen will have to pick up the pace if he wants to be back at Haas Racing Team next year.
  
  2. Robert Kubica – Speaking of difficult seasons, it’s been one for Kubica and the ROKiT Williams Racing team who has been struggling all year. Kubica was only able to record a point at Hockenheimring where he finished 10th after starting 18th. Despite the 10th place finish his other finishes have been disastrous finishing 17th, 16th, 18th, 20th, 15th and recently 19th at Hungaroring. The summer break might be good timing for Kubica and the Williams Racing team who quite possibly need the break most of all. Kubica sits 18th in the standings.
  
  3. Antonio Giovinazzi – Giovinazzi sits last in the series points standings in what has been a painful season. The Alfa Romeo Racing driver has only been able to record one point in the Spielberg race where he finished 10th after starting seventh. However, his finish was one lap down in that race. The Italian native has finished one lap down or more in most of his races this year. Giovinazzi’s other best finish occurred at Bahrain with an 11th place finish. The Alfa Romeo Racing driver will have to pick up the pace more throughout the rest of the season if Giovinazzi wants to impress his team.
  
  4. George Russell – Like his teammate Kubica, Russell has had a frustrating season so far with his ROKiT Williams Racing team. His best finish took place at Hockenheimring a few weeks ago when Russell finished 11th. In other races, it’s been a struggle to finish on the lead lap. The Englishman has finished two laps down in most races and is last in the points standings. It looks like this will continue for the rest of the season but hopefully, Russell will find some motivation despite his disappointing finishes in the second half of the season.
  
  5. Daniel Ricciardo – With a new team in hand, Ricciardo was hoping for a fresh start with the Renault team but that hasn’t been the case. The Australian has only been able to record a best finish of sixth at Montreal. Other finishes include a seventh at Shanghai, ninth at Monte Carlo and seventh at Silverstone. Ricciardo has four DNFs (Melbourne, Bahrain, Baku, Hockenheimring). With those finishes, his average finish has come to 12.8 down from last year where it was 9.3. Here’s hoping the summer break is just what the doctor ordered for the Australian and his Renault team.
There you have it, your list of who’s hot and who’s at this point in the 2019 Formula 1 season. For the most part, it has been a battle between the Mercedes and the Ferraris’. However, lately, it’s been a battle between the Mercedes and the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver Verstappen. Three drivers have a shot at winning the title, with Hamilton having the better advantage with a 62 point lead over his teammate Bottas.

While a lot can and will happen in the nine races remaining, drivers fourth on back in the championship standings will need a lot of help to catch Hamilton who rarely makes a mistake in his races.
August 8, 2019
Tyler Reddick rebounds to top-five finish

In what was a whirlwind kind of day for Tyler Reddick and his No. 2 Anderson’s Maple Syrup crew, Reddick was able to rebound to a top-five finish at The Glen.

It all started on the first lap of the Xfinity Series Zippo 200 when Reddick missed the turn in the inner loop and had to stop before getting back on track. He would eventually have to make a pit stop to clean the grass off his grille.

Despite the Lap 1 incident and making a pit stop, the California native rebounded to a ninth-place stage finish in the first stage.

For Stage 2, Reddick restarted in the fifth position and stayed consistent throughout the stage until trouble rose again. After a restart on Lap 37, he once again went off the track, but this time it was in Turn 6. This cost the Richard Childress Racing driver several positions with Reddick finishing 15th in Stage 2.

Hoping to have a smooth third and final stage, it all went south again for Reddick on Lap 47, when he went through the inner loop once more. This sent the RCR driver all the way back to 20th.

Even though Reddick had trouble throughout the race, he caught some lucky breaks by having multiple restarts near the end of the Zippo 200. On the final restart of the race on Lap 75, he restarted third, having a shot to win.

Eventually, Reddick finally brought home the No. 2 Chevy in the fifth position.

“It was just a crazy set of circumstances,” Reddick described to MRN Radio. “I mean, I never remember a race where I made so many mistakes and still finish sixth. Just crazy.”

Due to AJ Allmendinger’s disqualification after the post-race inspection, Reddick was credited with a fifth-place finish. It was his 15th top-five finish of the season. Reddick is currently the championship points leader over Christopher Bell by 32 points.

August 4, 2019
AJ Allmendinger fails post-race inspection at Watkins Glen
It was announced after the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen on Saturday that the No. 10 Kaulig Racing car driven by AJ Allmendinger failed post-race inspection due to a rear-height violation. His second-place finish was disqualified and he will be credited with a last-place finish of 37th.

This is the second time Allmendinger has failed post-race inspection this year in only two starts. The first was last month at Daytona when his third-place finish was also disqualified.

Allmendinger had a thrilling battle with eventual race winner Austin Cindric in the remaining laps of the Zippo 200. Allmendinger had this to say on Twitter regarding his post-race infraction.

“I can go into a full description of why it was low from contact early in the race on a restart,” Allmendinger said. “The issues we struggled with after cause track bar mount was bent and oil tank getting hung on the coil of the spring the rest of the race. But just doesn’t f***ing matter.”

The team has until noon Monday to appeal the decision.

Updated results
1. Austin Cindric
2. Christopher Bell
3. Justin Allgaier
4. Ryan Blaney
5. Tyler Reddick
6. Chase Briscoe
7. Cole Custer
8. Michael Annett
9. Noah Gragson
10. Ryan Preece
11. Jeremy Clements
12. John Hunter Nemechek
13. Scott Heckert
14. Justin Haley
15. Gray Gaulding
16. Alex Labbe
17. Brandon Jones
18. Brandon Brown
19. Josh Williams
20. Stephen Leicht
21. Cody Ware
22. Ray Black Jr
23. Stanton Barrett
24. Garrett Smithley, Two laps down
25. Dan Corcoran, Seven laps down
26. Josh Bilicki, Did Not Finish, Crash
27. B.J. McLeod, Did Not Finish, DVP
28. Tommy Joe Martins, Did Not Finish, Crash
29. David Starr, Did Not Finish, Fuel Pump
30. Ryan Sieg, Did Not Finish, Crash
31. Kyle Busch, Did Not Finish, Suspension
32. Chad Finchum, Did Not Finish, Brakes
33. Ross Chastain, Did Not Finish, Crash
34. Joey Gase, Did Not Finish, Transmission
35. J.J. Yeley, Did Not Finish, Overheating
36. Vinnie Miller, Did Not Start, Ignition
37. AJ Allmendinger, Originally finished second but failed post-race inspection.
August 3, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings- Pocono
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series came to Pocono Raceway on Saturday afternoon for their 14th race of the 2019 season with just three races remaining until the Playoffs begin at Bristol Motor Speedway in a few weeks.

Drivers like Harrison Burton, Ben Rhodes, Todd Gilliland, Sheldon Creed, Tyler Dippel, Spencer Boyd, Jordan Anderson and Stewart Friesen were hoping to have a good points day or perhaps grab a win at “The Tricky Triangle” to solidify their spot in the Playoffs.

It was action-packed from the start, as we saw most of Stage 1 run under yellow with two cautions. There was even an accident between Friesen and Anthony Alfredo on the first lap. Friesen was unfortunately done for the day after the incident and finished last.

After those two incidents, it was clean and green for the remainder of the race barring the two stage cautions that took place. Fan-favorite Ross Chastain was able to take home the win after completely dominating the race.

Drivers who were coming into the Gander RV 150 on the bubble, still find themselves on the outside looking in. Now the series heads to one of its most popular races of the year, Eldora Speedway, Thursday night.

Before we get there, however, it’s time to take a look at this week’s power rankings following Pocono.
1. Ross Chastain – No surprise here with Chastain taking home the win for the third time this season. The Florida native put a butt whopping on the field leading twice for 54 of the 60 laps. The only time he was never out front was Stage 2, where Chastain made a pit stop in that stage in order to restart out front for the final stage. He is more than likely locked in at this point but the team is searching for some additional sponsorship for the rest of the year. However, Chastain also stated they are good for the Playoffs and just need some help.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Second
2. Harrison Burton – Burton was able to grab a much-needed points day at Pocono, facing possible elimination for the Playoffs. The Kyle Busch Motorsports driver qualified sixth on Friday afternoon. From there, Burton finished third in Stage 1 and won Stage 2. He was able to lead six laps before finishing third. Burton will face some challenges this week as he heads to Eldora for the first time since 2017, where he finished 15th.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Third
3. Brett Moffitt – While disappointed with his fifth-place finish Saturday afternoon, Moffitt was able to up his finish from his disappointing outing at Kentucky a few weeks back. The Grimes, Iowa native started fourth, finished fifth and second in both stages, respectively. Still, Moffitt was frustrated with not being able to pass. It was his sixth top-five of the season.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Fourth
4. Tyler Ankrum – The Kentucky winner followed up with a second-place finish and was close to winning again. Ankrum finished 10th in Stage 1 while not earning any stage points in Stage 2. While the race was winding down, Ankrum found himself chasing down race leader Chastain with less than 15 to go. Chastain started to save a little bit of fuel, which allowed the DGR-Crosley driver to close in. Ankrum then had to save fuel and back off until he was clear to chase after Chastain. Despite his efforts, Ankrum fell one second short of the win. It was Ankrum’s third top-five of the season.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
5. Matt Crafton – Speaking of much-needed points day, Crafton finished sixth in his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 after running as high as third late. The California native qualified eighth, finished 11th in Stage 1 and fifth in Stage 2. With help of track position, Crafton was close to taking the lead of the race. However, he’ll have to wait until Eldora on Thursday night for another chance, where it will mark one year since his last win in the series.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
  
  Fell Out
  
  1. Stewart Friesen – Tough day for Friesen and his No. 52 Halmar Racing team who didn’t even make a lap in the race. It all started on Lap 1 when Friesen got loose and went crashing up the hill, receiving major damage to his truck. The damage was too extensive to repair and he finished last, not even being able to complete one lap. Friesen will have to hope his dirt racing background pays off in Thursday’s night race at Eldora.
  
  Previous Week Ranking- First
  
  2. Austin Wayne Self – There is not much to be said for the Texan coming out of this race. Wayne Self competed in the ARCA race Friday afternoon in preparation for Saturday’s Truck race. He qualified 18th, finished 10th in Stage 2 and then wound up with a disappointing 15th place outing.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Fifth
  
  Honorable Mention
  
  1. Christian Eckes – Eckes won the ARCA race Friday afternoon, dominating the event. Shortly after, he jumped straight into a Kyle Busch Motorsports truck to qualify 13th. The nearby New York native finished seventh in Stage 1 and 22nd in Stage 2 after making a pit stop in the stage. In the end, Eckes wound up fourth.
  
  2. Tony Mrakovich – Looking down the running order, Truck Series fans will see the Pennsylvania native finishing 12th for NEMCO Motorsports. It was just the second Truck Series race of the year for the young 20-year-old and his best finish yet. Mrakovich competed in his family-owned team at Martinsville and Dover earlier this season but failed to qualify. His only other finish was 26th at Fort Worth.
  
  3. Tyler Dippel – Dippel came close to earning his second career top-10 finish Saturday afternoon. He finished ninth in Stage 1 and seventh in Stage 2. Ultimately, the Youngs Motorsports driver came home 11th, just one spot short of the top-10. Dippel is one of the drivers that will have to win in the next two races in order to make the Playoffs.
July 29, 2019
Jones and Truex Round Out Top Three Finishers

Erik Jones and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team were facing the possibility of not making the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs as they headed into the weekend at Pocono Raceway.

But Jones was able to improve his chances with a much needed strong run Sunday afternoon after using various pit strategy throughout the Gander RV 400. The Michigan native qualified fourth giving him great track position for Sunday’s race and was able to capture a second-place finish.

However, it was almost a disastrous day for the No. 20 JGR driver. It all started in the first stage during the pit stops when Jones pitted from the top five in order to gain track position for Stage 2 and the wrench broke during the stop. In what could have been a prominent problem for Jones, he caught a lucky break when the wrench did not become an issue. Jones went on to finish seventh in Stage 1.

For Stage 2, Jones would wind up restarting back in the pack and would have to work his way back up through the field once more. With a few lucky cautions and pitting again during the second stage, he would once again finish seventh in the second stage.

Things got a bit more interesting in the final stage when fuel became a concern among the drivers, including Jones, who was in the top three. He was told by his crew that he was two laps short with 33 to go. From there, Jones was trying all he could do to save what he needed in case the race went green the rest of the way.

Jones, who was leading the race, was passed by eventual race winner and teammate Denny Hamlin with 17 to go, then he was passed by Truex a couple of laps later. The No. 20 team caught a timely caution with eight to go, allowing Jones to save fuel under the caution period.

Despite having one more shot at the win, the JGR driver had to settle for a second-place finish, finishing .341 seconds behind his teammate and race winner Denny Hamlin.

“It was hard racing at the end,” Jones exclaimed to MRN Radio. “This package, the late restarts make for an exciting finish and today was no exception. I wish we could have gotten up there to challenge Denny (Hamlin). Martin (Truex) gave us a good push on the restart. The bottom doesn’t have what the top has on a restart. So we did all we could.”

“We overcame a lot in this Reser’s Camry. We were pretty far off at the start of the race and we got way better. Had a chance to win and had things worked out a little better, things would have been a bit different. Can’t ask for a lot more for doing burnouts, but we’re getting close every week. It’s going to turn our way one of these times.”

With the second-place finish, Jones earned his seventh top five of the season.

Despite finishing third after having a shot at the win and not leading any laps, Truex was fairly happy with the outcome.

“It was a good day overall for our Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Camry,” Truex told MRN Radio in his post-race interview. “We were trying to save fuel there on that long run. We ran second to the 20 (Jones) and thought we were in better shape than him on fuel, he started to save more, and I did as well.”

“I started thinking, man. I probably should try to pass him here and we got into lap traffic, then the 11 (Hamlin) got by me. Then I got by the 20 and it’s like the 11 had control of the race after that. When the caution came out, he got to lead the restart and I got on the bottom. You just can’t do anything on the front row on the bottom. We got in a sucker hole there and were lucky to come back third.”

Truex qualified his No. 19 machine eighth in Saturday’s qualifying session. And while he did not lead any laps, the New Jersey native finished fifth and fourth in both stages, respectively. Truex was only able to run as high as second in the race before earning his eighth top-five of the season.

The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team sits second in the playoff points standings with four wins.

July 29, 2019
Kyle Larson rebounds to top-five finish after tough start

What a weekend it was for the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team. It all started during the Saturday morning practice session when Kyle Larson wrecked his primary car and had to go to a backup car for the race.

Despite qualifying 23rd, he had to go the back for the start of the race. However, it didn’t take Larson long to get the front with pit stops taking place. By the time Stage 1 ended, the California native finished sixth in the first stage. In Stage 2, Larson fell back just a little bit to finish 10th, only earning one playoff point.

It was a quiet day for Larson and his No. 42 team until the last stage when he became a factor. More so on the final restart, when he was trying to make things happen behind the leaders. However, Larson fell short, but still finished fifth after what could have been a weekend gone bad.

“I was pretty surprised on how fast our car was,” Larson explained to MRN Radio. “The last run there, I didn’t get into the wall but it was close. I kind of bailed out of the throttle and lost the momentum, so fell back to seventh. I was able to get to fifth there, happy about our finish, good points day. It was nice to have a good run with a fast back up car there. That’s two weeks in a row, we’ve been really fast in a backup car.”

“Just shows what we would really be capable of in our primary car if I just would stop crashing in practice. Got to work on that, but happy where our team has been lately. It’s a good time of the season to start running well. We definitely have the speed, I just have to clean up my mistakes.”

With the fifth-place finish, Larson scored his fourth top-five of the season and he currently sits 14th in the playoff standings, +37 above the cut line.

July 29, 2019

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

Eckes and Moffitt content with top-five finish at Pocono

After winning the ARCA race Friday afternoon at Pocono, Christian Eckes had to jump straight into the famed No.51 Kyle Busch Motorsports to compete in the Truck Series.

With the ARCA Menards Series win, the nearby Middletown, New York native was hoping to take the sweep at “The Tricky Triangle.”

Eckes started 13th at Pocono Raceway and eventually made his way up to the front. In Stage 1, he finished seventh while finishing outside the top-10 in Stage 2 after making a pit stop late in the stage to gain some track position in hopes of winning the race.

After pitting, Eckes restarted fourth for the final stage after staying out under the stage break.

It was clean and green for the rest of the way, and with fuel being somewhat of a concern for the race leaders, Eckes came home fourth.

“You know, it was a pretty good weekend overall,” Eckes said to MRN in his post-race interview. “I wish we could have swept the weekend a little bit, but you know, as a whole, the race was pretty exciting. It was a great weekend and it’s something we can build on for the next two races at KBM.”

Although Eckes was happy with his top-five finish, GMS Racing driver, Brett Moffitt was frustrated after finishing fifth.

Photo by Kirk Schroll for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Moffitt was hoping to put the Kentucky race behind him after running out of gas on the last lap in hopes of taking the checkered flag at Pocono.

The GMS Racing driver qualified his No. 24 Chevy in the fourth spot and placed fifth in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2.

He would restart seventh for the final stage but never could catch the lucky break or caution he needed in order to have a shot at the win. In the end, he finished fifth, earning his eighth top-five of the season.

“Very uneventful day here at Pocono,” Moffitt said to MRN Radio. “It’s frustrating, it’s so spread out, the PJ1 didn’t really come into play at all which was unfortunate. I applaud NASCAR on trying something, but we need to do something to make the racing better here. It’s just all about track position, getting out front and staying out front.”

“All in all, we had a pretty good No. 24 Chevy Accessories GMS Silverado. Jerry (Baxter, Crew Chief) and everyone did a great job working on what we had. It felt like we were fighting on some type of engine issue or driveline issue, where I couldn’t make runs on guys like they could get on me. It just plagued us all race on, I wasn’t able to be aggressive.”

July 27, 2019
Christian Eckes wins ARCA race at Pocono, earns essential points victory
After more than an hour delay and threatening skies around Pocono Raceway, the ARCA Menards Series drivers were able to get back on track for the FORTS USA 150 with nearby Middletown, New York native Christian Eckes grabbing the checkered flag.

It was Eckes second career ARCA Menards Series win of the season, his first since Nashville in May and the fourth career victory of his young racing career.

After starting on the outside pole and with a little bit of luck, Venturini Motorsports driver Christian Eckes took the win at Pocono by 13 seconds over Todd Gilliland.

“Once they told me what happened to the 18 (Gilliland) it was all about keeping our heads down and not making any mistakes,” Eckes said. “We knew there was a long way to go and we needed to be perfect to close it out.”

Gilliland qualified on the pole earlier in the afternoon before the weather started to threaten Pocono Raceway as the race start time got closer. Lightning was detected within the eight-mile radius when the race was supposed to start, adding another 30 minutes to the delay.

Finally, after a little over an hour, the ARCA Menards Series drivers were able to take the green flag after 5 p.m. ET and it was all Todd Gilliland, well, almost all Todd Gilliland.

It was an eventful start as Michael Self and Chandler Smith made slight contact with each other. Gilliland put on a dominating performance leading the first 30 laps before making his scheduled pit stop.

Unfortunately, the No. 18 driver got caught with a penalty for going above the blend line before coming back on track safely. Smith was also penalized for speeding on pit road. While that happened, Christian Eckes, who pitted before Gilliland, was able to take the lead on Lap 34 as pit stops cycled out. Willie Mullins, driving his family-owned No. 3 machine, received a penalty as well for the same issue Gilliland faced, and he had to make a drive-through.

Gilliland got set back to the second position, but was well over 15 seconds behind Eckes. The Sherrils Ford, North Carolina native would need a lot of help from the leader, Eckes, or a lucky caution to give him one more shot at the win.

However, Gilliland was unlucky to catch the break he needed and Eckes went on to score the hometown win for the second time this season.

“We need to be perfect from here on out,” Eckes said. “Without missing the race at Salem, we’d be 150 points ahead. Without the last lap at Elko, we’d be within 50 points or so. We were perfect here today and we need to be perfect every week from here on out. I’ve won at three of the five tracks and my crew chief Kevin Reed has won at all five of them so I am confident we can make a run at it.”

Gilliland was able to rebound for a second-place finish after the blend line violation during his round of pit stops.

“The blend line rule is different in Trucks and ARCA,” he said. “In the truck, we can go above the line with the right side tires as long as we keep the left side tires below it. In ARCA they want you to keep all four tires below it until you’re between Turns 1 and 2. It wouldn’t have been a problem for me at all to keep them below the line. I should have known it but I didn’t.”

Championship points leader Michael Self came home in the third spot after giving up a top-five position earlier in the race for a right rear tire that was going down.

“We had a right rear tire go down and we had to pit early,” Self said. “Once the field cycled through and we didn’t get a caution it evened out for us. We weren’t close to second place and we were way ahead of fourth so we were just trying to make sure we didn’t do anything to give it away at the end.”

There were no cautions during the FORTS USA 150 at Pocono, which saw four lead changes among five drivers. Just four cars finished on the lead lap.
1. Christian Eckes
2. Todd Gilliland
3. Michael Self
4. Corey Heim
5. Raphael Lessard, One Lap Down
6. Austin Wayne Self, One Lap Down
7. Bret Holmes, One Lap Down
8. Chandler Smith, One Lap Down
9. Travis Braden, One Lap Down
10. Joe Graf Jr, Two Laps Down
11. Thad Moffitt, Three Laps Down
12. Bobby Gerhart, Four Laps Down
13. Ed Pompa, Five Laps Down
14. Willie Mullins, Seven Laps Down
15. Tim Richmond, 10 laps Down
16. Brad Smith, Did Not Finish, Handling
17. Tommy Vigh Jr., Did Not Finish, Electrical
18. Dick Doheny, Did Not Finish, Vibration
19. Mike Basham, Did Not Finish, Brakes
20. Don Thompson, Did Not Start
July 26, 2019
ARCA Menards Series Preview-Pocono II

The summer stretch continues for the 2019 ARCA Menards Series season as they head east to “The Tricky Triangle” known as Pocono Raceway, located in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

It will be the 15th race of the season when the ARCA drivers hit the track Friday afternoon for the FORTS USA 150. And with six races remaining, the championship points race heats up between the top five drivers including Michael Self, Bret Holmes, Christian Eckes, Travis Braden and Joe Graf Jr., who all still have a realistic shot at winning the title. But some will need extra help in order to have a chance at the championship.

Last week’s winner and breakout star, Chandler Smith, will look to carry that momentum over to the 2.5-mile racetrack. While Smith has no starts at Pocono, the 17-year-old did compete in last month’s open test.

“This biggest thing I learned in the test is discipline,” he said. “The main thing is going to be passing. We were extremely strong when we went there. We all felt like if we raced, we were going to whoop the field. The main thing is being able to race around the aero and getting used to that much side force.”

While Smith doesn’t have the experience at Pocono, his teammate Michael Self does. And overall, his experience has been alright for the most part but he wants to do better. He has two starts at Pocono with a best finish of third in 2017 when Self did not compete with Venturini Motorsports. Self’s only start with Venturini came last month where he started third and finished 11th.

Self hopes to have a better outcome this time around.

“Our first race here a few weeks ago was definitely frustrating,” Self says. “We struggled with balance throughout practice but felt like we made progress on it and had an idea of which direction we needed to go during the race. Then, as soon as we rolled off the grid, we started losing power due to the alternator going bad. It kind of just went downhill from there as we had an axle issue around halfway, and then we completely lost power with about five laps to go when it was looking like we might’ve still been able to manage a top-10. I’m definitely wanting to put all that in the rearview mirror this weekend and put together a clean day at a track that I really enjoy going to.”

Self competed in the open test last month but noted that it did not go as well as he hoped.

“On test day I was overdriving it really bad,” he said. “I watched the Dartfish video and decided that I was going to calm down and we went out and finished third that day.”

Christian Eckes will have twice the track time when he visits Pocono Raceway Friday afternoon. Eckes will be competing in the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports truck and will have plenty of practice time to get the handle of the track.

“Pocono has always been a place I’ve enjoyed going to,” said Eckes. “It’s pretty flat, and for whatever reason, I’ve always been good at places like that. We have a little bit of momentum coming in and we’re really excited to get back to the track. It hasn’t been an easy year by any means, but I’m confident our JBL Team can get us back on track at Pocono this weekend.”

Eckes has three starts dating back to his first race in June of 2018, all for Venturini Motorsports. His best finish came recently in last month’s race, where the New York native finished third after starting ninth.

It will be hard to stop the Venturini Motorsports powerhouse team, as Smith won the race at Iowa with Eckes finishing second and Self in third.

With a disappointing couple of weeks and races, Joe Graf Jr. finally earned a top-10 finish at Iowa last weekend, placing ninth. Sitting fifth in the championship points standings, Graf hopes that top-10 finish will be the spark that he needs to go on a tear for the last six races of the season.

“Hopefully, we can have a good finish on Friday afternoon, we desperately need it,” said Graf who sits fifth in the championship standings. “We’ve been OK this year – definitely not the performances or finishes we would be ecstatic with, but everyone at Chad Bryant Racing continues to work hard knowing we’re capable of contending for race wins.”

Even though Graf earned a top-10 finish last week, the Chad Bryant Racing driver is hungry for a win heading into Pocono.

“I’m ready to win, I go to the race track every weekend wanting to win,” he added. “Pocono would be a great place to do it. To sweep the season for Chad Bryant Racing and to get my second career ARCA Menards Series win at a place where I’ll have a lot of friends and family cheering me on, that’s a big deal.”

“It’s not going to be that easy though – just driving to the front and staying there. It’s a competitive field and there hasn’t been a lot of falloff between those running in the top-10. At the same time, that can be frustrating but it’s also like motivation.”

Graf has three starts at Pocono, earning two top-10 finishes with a best finish of seventh in his first outing in June of 2018. In last month’s race, he finished eighth after starting sixth.

While Graf has a little bit of experience at Pocono, his teammate Corey Heim will be making his speedway debut this weekend at “The Tricky Triangle.” Despite not having any racing starts at Pocono, Heim competed in the open test last month. The Chad Bryant Racing driver is excited about his debut and will take the time he needs in order to get up to speed.

“Very excited about my speedway debut in ARCA,” said Heim who finished sixth in the series’ most recent race at Iowa Speedway. “I’m very fortunate that Chad Bryant Racing and my crew chief Paul (Andrews) continue to give me fast race cars and I know sooner or later – it will be time to shine in Victory Lane.”

This is the biggest race track I’ve ever competed on in my racing career, so while that’s exciting, it can also be a little bit intimidating too. Luckily, I have a lot of good people around me that can help.”

“It’s important to make sure we get our No. 22 Speedway Children’s Charities Ford Fusion dialed in during practice, qualify up front and then see what happens in 60 laps. It will be a quick race and I think strategy will be crucial for the winning move.”

With Ty Majeski making all six starts and being quite successful in most of them, Heim will be in the car for the rest of the season until the season finale at Kansas in October.

Making a return to the ARCA Series after a short hiatus is Willie Mullins as his family-owned No.3 team returns to the track. It’ll be the first time since Charlotte in May where we will see the Virginia native on track. When Mullins gets on track Friday, it will almost like a homecoming race for his team.

“A lot of our crew live in the Pocono area, so it’s a homecoming for them to get to run their local track,” Mullins explained. “Kevin Belmont, our spotter, is from up there. George Kerner and all of those guys, that is where their home is. It’s kind of a homecoming for them and I’m glad we can run their local track.”

Mullins goal and mindset is simple; finish the race and leave the track without any major incident.

“We want to come out of there and not tear up a race car,” Mullins said. “We’ve raced two times this year and we’ve left the track with torn up cars two times this year. We’re expecting a top-15 finish; we just need to go out there and not tear up the car.”

After starting 19th in last week’s race at Iowa, Bret Holmes and the family-owned No. 23 team finished eighth. Coming into Pocono, Holmes has five starts and recently earned his best career track finish of fifth in last month’s race.

“Even though we had a top-five finish last time at Pocono Raceway, we’re still working hard to improve on that run. Before that race, I felt like Pocono was my worst track. After that top-five run, it gave me a lot more confidence heading into this race. I think there’s still some things I need to work on and figure out. There are only a few races left in the season, so we’re putting in as much work as possible to come out with the best finishes we can. Every position matters at this point when it’s so close in the point standings.”

Since 1983, Pocono Raceway has seen a grand total of 69 ARCA races with a wins list that has seen multiple winners with ARCA legends and future NASCAR superstars who all made their mark by winning at Pocono. Former ARCA Series competitor and legend Tim Steele has the most wins with nine victories.

Other drivers on the entry list include Bobby Gerhart, J.J. Pack, Don Thompson, Ed Pompa, Tommy Vigh Jr., Dick Doheny, Todd Gilliland, Travis Braden, Raphael Lessard, Austin Wayne Self, Sean Corr, Thad Moffitt, Brad Smith, Mike Basham and Tim Richmond.

It will be a one day show for the ARCA Menards Series drivers with the only practice session scheduled for Friday morning at 9 a.m. ET on arcaracing.com and General Tire pole qualifying at 1:35 p.m. ET, also live on arcaracing.com.

The FORTS USA 150 is slated to get underway a little after 4 p.m. ET with a 60 lap dash live on Fox Sports 1.

July 25, 2019