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Sam Mayer and Carson Hocevar round out top 3 finishers at Salem Speedway

Sam Mayer and the GMS Racing team was racing with heavy hearts at Salem Speedway this weekend, as a co-worker, Jonathan Morrison, known as “Outlaw,” passed away this weekend.

They were hoping to put the No. 21 machine in victory lane so they could dedicate the win to him. However, Mayer and the team fell one spot short as he finished second to race winner Michael Self.

“It was pretty crazy starting in the back like that about mid pack,” Mayer told MAVTV post race. “I felt like we had a good car overall, I wish we would have been able to put four tires on it after that restart and go see what she had, but it got rain delayed and eventually canceled.

“I was really looking forward going out trying to get that win for “Outlaw” and GMS. It would have been really nice over there at GMS. Can’t thank them enough. The Chevrolet Accessories No. 21 was pretty sporty today, but just wasn’t able to get it done.”

For Mayer, it was his best ARCA Menards Series finish and his best finish since IRP last summer where he finished seventh.

Carson Hocevar, backed by the No. 28 team, collected his first ever ARCA Menards Series pole of his young career. It was the 16-year old’s first ARCA race back since IRP of last year, where he finished fifth after starting second that day.

However, that was the past and this is the present. Hocevar was hoping to put the No. 28 machine in victory lane today, but fell three positions short.

He got passed by eventual race winner Self for the lead on Lap 18. After that, Hocevar could never really catch the leader again. He quietly ran in the top five for the rest of the race. Hocevar ran his race, but the rain came and he wound up third. But he wanted to go back racing and was a little unsatisfied with a third place finish.

“I was really hoping they (ARCA) wouldn’t call it,” Hocevar told MAVTV in the post-race interview. “I was disappointed when the guys told me it was over, but KBR Development gave me a good Scotts-Berger Chevrolet. I think we had a really good shot at it. We were just too free early on, I was sitting there saving so I had to back my pace down, so I had something there at the end. Especially with it looking like it was going to go all the way green.”

“My guys did a heck of a job all weekend,” he continued. “So overall, a third place isn’t too bad.”

It was Hocevar’s third top five of his career and first of the season.

Carson Hocevar at Salem Speedway by KBM Development via Twitter

April 15, 2019
Harrison Burton collects top 10 finish after subbing for Christian Eckes

It was supposed to be an off weekend for Harrison Burton, the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series driver. However, Burton got a call late Saturday night and flew to Salem, Indiana to substitute for Christian Eckes. Eckes had fallen ill and was unable to compete in Sunday’s ARCA Menards Series race at Salem Speedway.

With the driver change to the No. 15, Burton had to drop to the rear of the field and start last. It didn’t take him long, however, to maneuver through the field.

As early as Lap 22, he was already in the top 10 and was running ninth on Lap 40. Burton was relatively quiet throughout the race but he fell one lap down on Lap 68 and never could get it back.

Right at the halfway mark, the skies opened up and the race was called official. Burton and the No. 15 JBL Audio Toyota ultimately finished eighth.

“It was 11:30 p.m. last night,” Burton told MAVTV. “I got a phone call and was told you need to come to Salem tomorrow. So I hate that I’m here for my buddy, my best friend Christian (Eckes) who is not feeling great right now, bouncing around from hospital to hospital.”

“My thoughts are with him (Christian Eckes) and I wanted to do well for him. I was a little disappointed on how that first little stint went.”

April 15, 2019
Dixon earns final podium spot, after blocking call on Rahal

Scott Dixon parked his car right in front of Graham Rahal on pit road in the staging area, following the final lap of the NTT IndyCar Series’ annual trip to Long Beach, Calif., because he believed Rahal would lose the final podium position for blocking him on the backstretch.

And he was correct, because race control came on the radio moments later to announce that Rahal made an illegal block which moved Dixon up to third.

Dixon had a run on Rahal exiting Turn 8 and racing down the backstretch on the final lap of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, when Rahal moved down the track to block his advance.

“I moved right as quick as I could, out of the corner, as you can see,” Rahal said to Marty Snider of NBC Sports, pointing at a TV monitor. “Then I gave him a lane.

“By the rules, you’re allowed to make your move, which I did, on the exit of the corner, and that was it.”

"Car 9 has finished third."

Graham Rahal gets called for blocking Scott Dixon. Dixon will finish third in the @GPLongBeach. #AGPLB pic.twitter.com/YPSFiet259
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) April 14, 2019

“As the rule is, you can’t come back to defend if somebody is already there,” Dixon said. “And that’s what happened.”

Rahal didn’t deny that he blocked. He even out-right admitted that he did.

“You’re allowed to block in this series,” he said. “You’re allowed to make a move. I made a move. That’s allowed.”

Rahal said afterwards that it wasn’t a tough result to swallow, because his used red front tires were shot, and that he had no grip, but he wanted an explanation for what was wrong with his move.

“The problem is we see such large discrepancies in what is a block, what’s not a block.

“It’s fine. We just need to go forward and understand it better.”

At the end of the day, however, while he believed he deserved third, he was happy with the good points day.

“We haven’t had a lot of luck this year,” he added. “So I’ll just take it as it is and move on.”

For Dixon, the podium finish salvaged a pit road mistake, where the crew couldn’t fully connect the fuel hose to the car for a few seconds. Running the start of the race on used reds wasn’t the right call, according to Dixon.

“Definitely the last stint was strong for our car. It’s unfortunate we had the fuel probe issue. I think we could’ve had a great race for second there.”

Dixon leaves Long Beach third in points, 33 back of Josef Newgsarden. Rahal leaves in ninth, 76 back of Newgarden.

April 14, 2019
Rossi puts on clinic in Long Beach

LWe were all just living in Alexander Rossi’s world on Sunday, as he won on the streets of Long Beach for the second year in a row.

The Andretti Autosport driver dominated from pole position, from the drop of the green flag, as he led all but six laps to win the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

His 20.236 second margin of victory is the largest at Long Beach since Al Unser Jr. beat Scott Pruett by 23 in 1995.

Even at a track where he’s led nearly 150 laps over the last two years, he didn’t think he’d be this dominant.

“We knew it was going to be a really hard fought battle, but the NAPA Auto Parts crew gave me such a great car.

It’s his fifth career victory in 54 career starts in the NTT IndyCar Series. He’s the eighth driver to win in back-to-back years at Long Beach. It’s also the 200th victory for Andretti Autosport.

Points leader Josef Newgarden finished second, his 25th career podium finish.

Following a last-lap blocking penalty assessed to Graham Rahal, Scott Dixon overcame a pit road miscue to round out the podium.

Rahal and Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top five.

Rahal said the call was “not that tough to swallow,” as he was going to lose the position if he didn’t block, because his used red front tires were all used up.

“I had no braking grip whatsoever,” he said.

Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Takumo Sato, James Hinchcliffe and Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the top 10.

Who had a good afternoon

Despite the last-lap blocking penalty, Rahal earned a top five finish for the second time this season. It ties his best finish of the season.

Dixon rebounded from a pit road miscue on his final pit stop, when his team couldn’t get the fuel hose to connect, to salvage a podium finish.

Who had a bad afternoon

After a strong start to the season, including a win at Circuit of the Americas, Colton Herta retired from the race, after suffering damage to his front wing from snapping loose and hitting the wall in Turn 9.

Colton Herta crashes. No tacos, people. 🙁#AGPLB pic.twitter.com/j0Jv21E3qu
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) April 14, 2019

He’s finished last in back-to-back races.

What else happened

The only caution of the race flew on the first lap for a three-car incident in Turn 2, that involved Spencer Pigot, Jack Harvey and Marcus Ericsson.

Jack Harvey doing some landscaping at the iconic fountain in Long Beach.

We're underway in the @GPLongBeach on @NBCSN. @INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/LkjkhqkoXV
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) April 14, 2019

Nuts and bolts

There was one caution for four laps and five lead changes among three different drivers.

Newgarden leaves with a 28-point lead over Rossi, who overtakes Dixon for second in points.

IndyCar returns to action on May 11 in the IndyCar Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, to kick off the Month of May that leads up to the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500.

April 14, 2019

Custer wins at Richmond and collects the $100,000 Dash4Cash bonus

Cole Custer took the lead from Austin Cindric with 20 laps to go and won Friday nights NASCAR Xfinity (NXS) Toyota Care 250 at Richmond Raceway. Custer led 122 laps in route to his fourth career series win and second win of the season.

“It is a great race for us. Our first short track win and second win of the year. It means a ton.” Custer said.

Custer also collected the $100,000 Dash4Cash bonus as the highest finisher among four eligible drivers.

Justin Allgaier finished third, Tyler Reddick fourth and Ryan Sieg finished fifth. Want to win also, go to Bet East and collect.

Cindric’s second-place equaled his career-best NXS career finishes and captured his sixth top-10 finish in 2019.

“It is great to get LTi Printing a great finish here at Richmond and be able to capitalize on what was a better short run car tonight. I have kind of had all spectrums all three of my races here. We will come back here in the playoffs for an important race in the first round with a good notebook. Congrats to Cole and those guys.” Cindric said.

At Talladega, Custer, Cindric, Allgaier and Reddick will be eligible for the next $100,000 Dash4Cash bonus.

Reddick collected his sixth top-five finish of the year despite power-steering Issues.

“Wow, what a battle by my No. 2 Anderson’s Maple Syrup team today to claim our fifth-consecutive top-five finish at one of my most challenging tracks.” Reddick said. “About halfway during Stage 2, the power steering went out in our Camaro, and that didn’t help the situation. We never gave up and kept fighting for every spot we could.”

Elliott Sadler came out of retirement for this race and he finished 12th.

Supra driver Riley Herbst finished ninth in his 2019 NXS debut.

“We started on the pole and led a few laps in the beginning. The whole first stage we just rode in third and fourth. We were cruising. We had a really good Toyota Supra. I made a lot of mistakes tonight. At the end of the stage, I spun my tires and that brought me back down to the mid-teens and 20s.” Herbst said. “I definitely learned a lot every single lap tonight and Richmond is definitely a difficult race track, but it’s fun.”

Xfinity Series Race Number 8 Race Results for the 32nd Annual ToyotaCare 250 – Friday, April 12, 2019 Richmond Raceway – Richmond, VA – 0.75 – Mile Paved Total Race Length – 250 Laps – 187.5 Miles

Fin	Str	No	Driver	Team	Laps	S1Pos	S2Pos	Pts	Status
1	4	0	Cole Custer	Haas Automation Ford	250	3	1	58	Running
2	5	22	Austin Cindric	LTi Printing Ford	250	7	2	48	Running
3	7	7	Justin Allgaier	Brandt Professional Agriculture Chevrolet	250	1	0	44	Running
4	2	2	Tyler Reddick	Anderson’s Maple Syrup Chevrolet	250	6	8	41	Running
5	13	39	Ryan Sieg	Larryâ€™s Hard Lemonade Chevrolet	250	0	5	38	Running
6	10	8	Zane Smith	PatientPop Chevrolet	250	8	4	41	Running
7	11	23	John Hunter Nemechek #	Falci Adaptive Motorsports Chevrolet	250	5	3	44	Running
8	9	98	Chase Briscoe #	Nutri Chomps Ford	250	9	7	35	Running
9	1	18	Riley Herbst	Monster Energy Toyota	250	0	0	28	Running
10	14	11	Justin Haley #	LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet	250	0	10	28	Running
11	15	4	Ross Chastain	teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet	250	0	0	26	Running
12	27	10	Elliott Sadler	Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet	250	0	0	25	Running
13	6	1	Michael Annett	Pilot Flying J Chevrolet	250	0	0	24	Running
14	38	21	Kaz Grala	HotScream Chevrolet	250	0	0	23	Running
15	33	90	Dillon Bassett	Bassett Gutters and More Chevrolet	250	0	0	22	Running
16	3	20	Christopher Bell	Ruud Toyota	250	2	0	30	Running
17	17	8	Gray Gaulding	ACI Chevrolet	250	0	0	20	Running
18	32	1	Stephen Leicht	teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet	250	0	0	19	Running
19	20	0	Garrett Smithley	teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet	250	0	0	18	Running
20	34	93	Brandon Brown #	W.G. Speeks/Carrier Chevrolet	250	0	0	17	Running
21	19	7	Ray Black II	ISOKERN Fireplaces & Chimney/Scuba Life Chevrolet	250	0	0	16	Running
22	12	9	Noah Gragson	Switch Chevrolet	249	4	6	27	Running
23	28	35	Joey Gase	Donate Life Virginia Toyota	249	0	0	14	Running
24	23	15	Tyler Matthews	LineTec Services Chevrolet	248	0	0	13	Running
25	21	36	Donald Theetge	Circuit Acura/Mercedes-Benz St-Nicolas Chevrolet	247	0	0	12	Running
26	24	66	Colin Garrett	Racing for Heroes Toyota	247	0	0	11	Running
27	26	78	Vinnie Miller	Koolbox Chevrolet	246	0	0	10	Running
28	29	5	Matt Mills	J.F. Electric Chevrolet	245	0	0	9	Running
29	22	52	David Starr	Extreme Kleaner Chevrolet	245	0	0	8	Running
30	30	99	BJ McLeod	JW Transport LLC Toyota	245	0	0	7	Running
31	35	74	Mike Harmon	Woobies Shoes Chevrolet	243	0	0	6	Running
32	36	17	Kyle Weatherman	Chevrolet	237	0	0	5	Running
33	8	19	Brandon Jones	Juniper Toyota	175	10	9	7	Engine
34	25	42	Chad Finchum	Smithbilt Homes Toyota	119	0	0	3	Brakes
35	18	51	Jeremy Clements	RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet	112	0	0	2	Engine
36	16	86	Mason Diaz	Solid Rock Carriers Chevrolet	63	0	0	1	Engine
37	37	13	Timmy Hill	Richie Anderson Memorial/CrashClaimsR.US Toyota	15	0	0	1	Vibration
38	31	38	Jeff Green	RSS Racing Chevrolet	10	0	0	1	Engine

April 13, 2019

Hamlin wins O’Reilly’s 500 at Texas Motor Speedway

Denny Hamlin won Sunday’s O’Reilly’s Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, his second win of 2019 and the 33rd of his career. It was also his third win at the speedway after sweeping both events in 2010.

Hamlin crossed the checkered flag after starting sixth and leading 45 laps, along with earning the Stage Two win earlier in the day. Clint Bowyer was second, 2.74 seconds behind while Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, and pole winner Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-five. William Byron, Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-10.

The win was not without adversity, as Hamlin was penalized twice; he missed pit road in the first stage and was hit with a speeding penalty, then was hit with an uncontrolled tire penalty. However, crew chief Chris Gabehart and team continued to work through and put Hamlin in the position he needed to be in for contention.

“Yeah, our car was really, really fast. We obviously saw that,” said Hamlin from Victory Lane. “Once we got out front, we were able to pull away from the pack a bit. Got a little bit loose when we were racing our teammates in the 18 and 20, so I wasn’t able to be as aggressive as I was earlier in the race. We had a super fast car, that’s why we won.”

“Our Mustangs were fast all weekend long,” said Bowyer. “Took awhile for our Mustang to get good. This Rush Trucks Center Cummins car, to be honest, was a little off all weekend long. I was pretty nervous coming into the race, but we made some good adjustments and leaned on our teammates.”

Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch had the dominant car of the race, leading 66 laps before contact with the wall sent him to pit road and a 10th-place finish. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney led 45 laps before an overheating issue sent him out of the race with a 37th-place finish.

The race saw 26 lead changes among 13 drivers, with five cautions slowing the race for 29 laps. The next race is April 7 at Bristol Motor Speedway, as the Food City 500 will start at 2 p.m. EDT on FS1.

March 31, 2019

Kyle Busch scores 95th Xfinity Series win at Texas

Kyle Busch continues to stretch his record with the most Xfinity Series wins as he raced to victory in the My Bariatrics Solutions 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. The win was his 95th in the series and 203rd national event win overall. Busch also won the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Vankor 350 the night before.

“Not taking any tires certainly [helped us],” said Busch, from Victory Lane. “We jumped the field there and I was worried about the restart because I didn’t think there was gonna be enough room.

“This car certainly had the grip…it was really fast in the long run, just couldn’t get people away from me on the front side of the run to settle into my rhythm and go, and every time I got up to the outside people would drive by me on the bottom.”

Tyler Reddick took second-place ahead of Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell, who dominated the event, winning the pole and leading 128 laps.

“He (Busch) wasn’t better than us anywhere,” said Bell. “He just had track position there. We were starting to struggle and when they said we were going to put two tires on I was all for it, but I didn’t get any better and those guys didn’t slow down.

“We’re in the Dash 4 Cash and that’s pretty cool, our goal was to make sure we were in the top four Xfinity guys. It’s extremely frustrating to lose one like that, but I’m proud of this team and this Supra was pretty fast and the class of the field.”

Chase Briscoe was the highest finishing Ford in fourth, while Jeb Burton finished fifth in his first XFINITY start of the season. Michael Annett finished sixth, and Justin Haley, Jeffrey Earnhardt, John Hunter Nemechek, and Stage 2 winner Ryan Sieg rounded out the top-10.

The next race will be April 6, 2019 at Bristol Motor Speedway as the Alsco 300 will be the first Dash 4 Cash event of 2019.

Xfinity Series Race Number 6
Race Results for the 23rd Annual My Bariatric Solutions 300 – Saturday, March 30, 2019
Texas Motor Speedway – Fort Worth, TX – 1.5 – Mile Paved
Total Race Length – 200 Laps – 300. Miles

Fin	Str	No	Driver	Team	Laps	S1Pos	S2Pos	Pts	Status
1	5	18	Kyle Busch(i)	iK9 Toyota	200	2	4	0	Running
2	3	2	Tyler Reddick	Nationwide Children’s Hospital Chevrolet	200	6	3	48	Running
3	1	20	Christopher Bell	Ruud Toyota	200	1	5	50	Running
4	15	98	Chase Briscoe #	Nutri Chomps Ford	200	0	0	33	Running
5	6	8	Jeb Burton	State Water Heaters Chevrolet	200	0	7	36	Running
6	13	1	Michael Annett	Pilot Flying J Chevrolet	200	0	0	31	Running
7	11	11	Justin Haley #	LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet	200	0	9	32	Running
8	14	81	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Xtreme Racing Toyota	200	0	0	29	Running
9	8	23	John Hunter Nemechek #	Romco Equipment Co. Chevrolet	200	9	0	30	Running
10	19	39	Ryan Sieg	CMR Construction & Roofing Chevrolet	200	0	1	37	Running
11	9	22	Austin Cindric #	MoneyLion Ford	200	7	0	30	Running
12	4	7	Justin Allgaier	Cessna Chevrolet	200	3	0	33	Running
13	16	9	Noah Gragson #	Switch Chevrolet	200	10	6	30	Running
14	22	36	Josh Williams	Simcraft Chevrolet	200	0	0	23	Running
15	23	90	Ronnie Bassett Jr	Bassett Gutters and More Chevrolet	199	0	0	22	Running
16	18	4	Ross Chastain	Swan/Perpetua Advisors Chevrolet	199	0	2	30	Running
17	21	86	Brandon Brown #	Brandonbilt Motorsports Chevrolet	199	0	0	20	Running
18	12	21	Kaz Grala	HotScream Chevrolet	198	0	0	19	Running
19	24	99	Tommy Joe Martins	Diamond Gusset Jeans Toyota	198	0	0	18	Running
20	31	52	David Starr	Whataburger Chevrolet	198	0	0	17	Running
21	20	8	Gray Gaulding(i)	GGPure.com/Flywheel Chevrolet	198	0	0	16	Running
22	30	1	Stephen Leicht	teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet	198	0	0	15	Running
23	35	42	Chad Finchum	Amana Toyota	197	0	0	14	Running
24	37	35	Joey Gase	Donate Life Louisiana Toyota	196	0	0	13	Running
25	34	78	Vinnie Miller	Koolbox Chevrolet	196	0	0	12	Running
26	17	51	Jeremy Clements	RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet	196	0	0	11	Running
27	29	5	Matt Mills	J.F. Electric Chevrolet	194	0	0	10	Running
28	33	66	Tyler Hill(i)	Chris Kyle Memorial Benefit Toyota	191	0	0	0	Running
29	36	74	Mike Harmon	Woobies Shoes Chevrolet	189	0	0	8	Running
30	26	93	Josh Bilicki	The BOSS/Woodshed Chevrolet	184	0	0	7	Running
31	38	0	Garrett Smithley	Trophy Tractor Chevrolet	160	0	0	6	Engine
32	28	15	BJ McLeod	teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet	138	0	0	5	Running
33	2	19	Brandon Jones	jdgibbslegacy.com Toyota	133	5	10	11	Accident
34	7	0	Cole Custer	Jacob Companies Ford	132	4	8	13	Accident
35	25	7	Ray Black II	ISOKERN Scuba Life Chevrolet	79	0	0	2	Accident
36	10	12	Brad Keselowski(i)	Pirtek Ford	68	8	0	0	Accident
37	32	13	Timmy Hill	Chris Kyle Memorial Benefit Toyota	20	0	0	1	Brakes
38	27	38	Jeff Green	RSS Racing Chevrolet	16	0	0	1	Brakes

March 30, 2019

Kyle Busch fends off Friesen for fourth consecutive Truck Series win

Just when you think someone else in the Truck Series has a great shot to win, Kyle Busch comes through and wins again for the fourth consecutive time this season. It was his first win at Texas since 2014 and Busch didn’t miss a beat.

The three stages were 35/35/71 laps for the Vankor 350, making up the 147 total laps.

It was a wild race from the get go in the first stage that was 35 laps. Stage 1 saw four cautions and a thrilling finish at the end of all 35.

The night didn’t start out so well for the Kyle Busch Motorsports team. Todd Gilliland brought out the first caution on lap three after bouncing off the wall and teammate Harrison Burton wrecked in Turn 2 on lap 11 thus ending his night early due to extensive damage.

Turn 2 was the trouble spot again as Lap 18 saw Angela Ruch wreck off of Turn 2 and Gus Dean was involved to bring out the caution again. Dean was in an incident all by himself on the frontstretch, where he cut a right-rear tire down on Lap 26.

Kyle Busch pitted under the Lap 26 caution, falling behind the leaders. This saw Thorsport teammates Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes battle it out for the stage win. Enfinger barely edge Rhodes at the line to win Stage 1.

Unfortunately, issues arose for Enfinger and the No. 98 team, as their pit crew was over the wall too soon, which saw them get a penalty and lose any track position gained.

Since Kyle Busch made a pit stop in Stage 1, he was able to stay out during the stage caution and claim the lead.

Like Stage 1, Stage 2 was off to another wild start. On Lap 48, DGR-Crosley driver Anthony Alfredo, wrecked in Turn 2 after getting loose. When Alfredo hit the wall, his truck caught fire. However, he climbed out of his truck unscathed with no injuries.

The red flag was flown on Lap 52 in an attempt to let safety workers clean up the accident and fluid that was put down by Alfredo. The red flag lasted for 15 minutes.

Daytona winner Austin Hill started to have problems with his truck. Rising water temperatures were the issue as it rose to 270 degrees. The team came down pit road to pull the tape off, but went one lap down as a result.

Kyle Busch went on to win Stage 2. It was his sixth stage win of the season.

The race only got more wilder when the race restarted with 71 to go for the final stage.

Busch retook the lead with 66 to go after a fierce battle with Brett Moffitt. Moffitt was able to close in 10 laps later, but the battle was built by yet another caution with 45 to go. This saw Korbin Forrister spin off Turn 2.

Another incident and the caution flag was flown with 31 to go for Codie Rohrbaugh who wrecked in Turn 2.

The final restart of the night came with 25 to go. It saw Busch, Moffitt, Sauter, among others battling for the race win. However, with 20 to go, Moffitt cut a right-rear tire ending any chances at a shot to win. This saw Stewart Friesen go to second.

For the last 15 laps of the race, Friesen and Busch battled hard with each other for the race win. Unfortunately, with less than 10 to go, Friesen’s truck got loose and started to go away, and he began falling back. He ran out of time and was unable to catch Busch.

Busch was able to fend off Stewart Friesen for his fourth consecutive Truck Series win of the season.

“Yeah, it was a pretty good night for us,” Busch told MRN Radio. “Obviously, the Cessna Beechcraft Tundra was fast. I wish we were faster. I thought we were pretty good. Not as good as we wanted to be though when we stacked up against the field. The 24 (Brett Moffitt) was really fast, the 52 (Stewart Friesen) was really fast. They made me work for it. They certainly got my money’s worth tonight.”

“You know, I want to say thanks to TRD, Rowdy Manufacturing, all the fans, the Truck Series fans,” Busch continued to MRN Radio. “The Truck Series fans are the thorough bread of our sport. Coming out here on a Friday night to support the truck guys is what makes all this go round. I appreciate them. Gander Outdoors and Black Clover, DEX sunglasses, Adidas, Incredible Bank. It takes a lot of us to go get all of this to go, so it’s fun.”

Busch led seven times for 97 laps. There were six leaders among 16 lead changes and nine cautions for 47 laps.

Stewart Friesen continues to lead the standings by six points over Grant Enfinger.

The Truck Series takes a month off and will return to action at the Dover International Speedway on Friday, May 3.

March 30, 2019
Johnson qualifies on pole for O’Reilly Auto Parts 500

FORT WORTH, Texas (March 29, 2019) – Seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson returned to form Friday evening at Texas Motor Speedway, qualifying on-pole for Sunday’s 23rd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts 500.

Johnson toured TMS’ high-banked/1.5-mile oval in 28.588-seconds at 188.890 mph in his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, completing an impressive sweep of all three sessions. Johnson will be joined in the two-car front row by Hendrick Motorsport teammate William Byron in the No. 24 Axalta/Primeline Chevy after his lap of 188.416 mph.

In addition, Hendrick’s Chase Elliott will start third after lapping at 188.271 mph in the No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Camaro.
But this moment clearly belonged to Johnson, who now has 36 Cup poles in 622 series starts.

“I feel like over my career good Fridays mean a good Sunday,” said Johnson, who earned his second pole in 32 Cup races at TMS. “We’ll have to see how it works in traffic and dirty air. The work that went into these cars the last 36 months, we’re not out of the woods yet. But this is a great weekend for us to work on our 1.5-mile program and we’re off to a great start. Our struggles have been highly frustrating because of the effort we’ve put into it.”

Rounding out the top-12 after the Hendrick trio were Daniel Suarez, Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin, Daniel Hemric, Joey Logano, Ty Dillon, Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones and Brad Keselowski.

Sunday’s race, scheduled for 334 laps/501 miles, will get the green flag at 2 p.m. (CDT) with FOX beginning its coverage at 1:30 p.m. Radio coverage will be provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry fielded by Joe Gibbs Racing, is the defending event winner. Busch will start 18
th in the 39-car field.

Johnson limped into Texas after finishing two laps off of Keselowski’s winning pace in the No. 2 Ford Mustang fielded by Penske Racing around Martinsville Speedway’s half-mile oval last Sunday.

Working this season with crew chief Kevin Meendering in place of long-time partner Chad Knaus, Johnson sent a message earlier Friday when he paced the afternoon practice at 189.747 mph.

“We’re working hard,” Johnson said. “I know I post it, and I say it, and I know my team does, some believe us and some don’t. But this is a tough, tough sport and we’re guilty of trying too hard and being too aggressive with setups at times. But with all of that said, very aggressive coming here to Texas and it paid off. We really put speed in the right areas of that car and had a solid practice session and three rounds of qualifying.”

Johnson’s stellar performance capped another convoluted group qualifying session, which saw most drivers choosing to remain parked on pit road until the waning moments for a one- or two-lap flyer. NASCAR sought to address that situation with a rules change earlier this week, one that might require another revision or stricter enforcement.

“We all knew there would be some challenges with this rules package,” Johnson said. “NASCAR is trying to keep an open mind, we’re competitors and trying to work the system as best we can. But in the final round, it’s either 12
th or the pole. It’s so hard for NASCAR to call this or officiate it. It’s just tricky and I appreciate the fans being open-minded to this…it’s a moving target and we’re trying to make the most of it.”

Johnson’s Round 3 hot lap knocked Suarez of Stewart-Hass Racing off the provisional pole in the closing seconds after his lap of 187.881 mph in the No. 41 Ruckus Ford Mustang.

Ironically, Suarez had put down a lap of 187.871 mph around a clear track to put the No. 41 on the provisional pole in Round 2. With approximately 1:16 remaining in the 10-minute session, the field exited pit road
en masse with Johnson moving to the top of the chart at 187.956 mph.

Johnson also paced Round 1, and the top 24 drivers advancing into Round 2, with a lap at 188.626 mph.

Alex Bowman, Johnson’s Hendrick teammate, saw his session end at the opposite end of the grid. Bowman brought out a caution and a short red flag stoppage when he slid high and banged the Turn 2 wall with the right rear quarter-panel of the No. 88 Lluma Camaro. Bowman headed to the garage area, where his crew was in the process of rolling out his backup Chevy.

“I just got loose,” Bowman said. “We were pretty much wide-open in practice and there’s not much room for error when you’re riding wide-open around this place. But that’s on me.”

March 30, 2019
Shout Out Of The Week – Martinsville-Spring

Overlooked in the running order of the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series at Martinsville Speedway could be Austin Dillon, who drove the No. 8 Phone Skope Chevy for Nemco Motorsports. Dillon finished 13th after starting 12th.

It was a quiet day for the No. 8 group, considering they won this race last spring. Dillon managed to finish ninth in Stage 1, but fell out of the top-10 for Stage 2.

It was Dillon’s 71st Truck Series start of his career dating back 10 years to 2009, where he made his Truck Series debut that year for Richard Childress at Iowa finishing 12th. He won the championship two years later in 2011, after collecting two wins, 10 top five finishes and 16 top 10s that year.

It was Dillon’s first Truck Series race since Atlanta Motor Speedway last year, where he drove the No. 20 Young’s Motorsports entry finishing 10th that day.

March 27, 2019

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