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  • Larson’s title run ended by engine failure

    Larson’s title run ended by engine failure

    Entering Kansas Speedway, Kyle Larson was third in points and trailed Martin Truex Jr. by 24 for the points lead. Exiting Kansas, his run at a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2017 left with his expired engine.

    Larson hit pit road for possible engine issues on Lap 67, saying later that it felt like a dropped cylinder. Three laps later, he was back on track. He was told to run until the car couldn’t run anymore.

    Well on Lap 77, the engine couldn’t run anymore as it gave way on the front stretch and brought out the second caution of the Hollywood Casino 400.

    “Well it just dropped a cylinder 10 laps ago or so and then it suddenly got worse and finally blew up,” Larson said. “I hate that we blew an engine and probably blew our shot at the championship, but luck is a big factor of our sport.”

    When asked his emotional state, he said he couldn’t say.

    “I guess it’s sinking in as each second passes by. But I don’t know,” he said. “Things happen. You look at the past playoffs and the No. 78 (Truex) had an engine issue last year and he was the best car all year; and then us, this year. So, it’s disappointing. But there’s still a long race left to go and maybe we can get lucky (he said prior to the end and his elimination).”

    Larson left with a 39th-place finish and dropped to ninth in points, thanks to the points reset.

  • Truex makes late pass to complete season sweep at Kansas

    Truex makes late pass to complete season sweep at Kansas

    Martin Truex Jr. overcame an early restart violation to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 and complete the season sweep at Kansas Speedway.

    Truex drove underneath Kyle Busch entering Turn 1 with 57 laps to go and drove on to his 14th career victory in 437 career starts.

    “Just can’t say enough about all these guys on this Furniture Row/Bass Pro Toyota, just really proud of them. Definitely raced with heavy hearts today with the of Jim (Watson) last night. Want to say our condolences to his family and all his friends. He was a heck of a guy and a great working put a heck of a lot of speed in these Furniture Row Toyota’s.

    “Glad we could get him on here today. Excited to get another one here at Kansas. This feels really awesome. It’s really Furniture Row’s home track. It just feels really good to finally get another one here. We got one in the spring after so many heartbreaks. And then today, it looked like it was going to happen and we just persevered.”

    Kurt Busch finished second and Ryan Blaney rounded out the podium.

    “I just feel like I’m on razorblades here,” Busch said. “I really wanted that one bad. At the end, I had the sticker tires. As I’m warming them up they weren’t grabbing in the back. I knew that I wasn’t going to get the jump that I needed. I tried to play middle of the ground. Early in the race with scuffs from qualifying I brushed the fence. Kansas; I don’t know what it is about this place. Kyle (Busch) struggles here too. I feel like I’m on pins and needles most of the day. (Tony) Gibson always throws nice adjustments at it and the race comes to us and we’re right there. We had a shot at winning. I just feel like I’m pushing too hard early on. I saw (Jimmie) Johnson spin. We saw the 77 spin. All the drivers asked for less downforce and yet never got the softer tire that we hoped for. But we’re right there. When we get it right we’re right there. It just feels like I have to overdrive. When you’re overdriving you’re not going to make it work.”

    “We started off in the back and was able to make some good ground early,” Blaney said. “We were able to run up through there and made good adjustments throughout the day which got us in a spot to be up toward the front towards the end and advance. It was a solid day for our team. We overcame a lot coming from the back and they should be proud of that.”

    “It was a good race. We did a nice job coming form the back back and I thought we got our car pretty decent there in the second stage. Then there was a mixup with some strategy stuff and pit calls and it felt like we were kind of at the back part of that but we were able to recover and miss that wreck which was big for us. We ran strong enough all day that we should have been in with where we ran. I am really proud of my team for the effort and we will move on to the next round and Martinsville.”

    Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-10.

    “It was a wild day for sure,” Elliott said. “We fought our balance all weekend. I know the result wasn’t terrible, but definitely feel like we could have been a lot better this weekend and just the way things worked out for us. But, our car got better as the day went along, we just didn’t have the balance on a very long run to go up and pass guys like you need to have. So, we will go to work and get this side of things ready for Texas.”

    Chris Buescher, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Truex led the field to the green flag at 3:19 p.m. On the restart following the competition caution, he was black-flagged for going below the white line before crossing the start/finish line. This handed the lead to Kyle Busch, who led from there, until he pitted under the second caution of the race — which flew for Brett Moffitt slamming the Turn 1 wall — and the lead went to Brad Keselowski.

    Back to green on Lap 52, Ryan Blaney got the superior start and took the lead. He was passed by Busch three laps later, who drove on to win the first stage.

    He kept on leading, until he hit pit road under a cycle of green flag stops on Lap 128.

    Following a two-lap stint in the lead by Jamie McMurray and 14 by Keselowski, the lead cycled back to Busch.

    After Moffitt brought out the fifth caution on Lap 156, Busch ducked onto pit road and handed the lead to Denny Hamlin, who drove on to win the second stage.

    Staying out to take the lead, Kevin Harvick led the field to the Lap 167 restart. Busch regained the lead prior to a multi-car wreck in Turn 2 following the Lap 198 restart, which forced a 10-minute and 10-second red flag and set up the run to the finish.

    CAUTION SUMMATION

    Caution flew for the first time on Lap 30, a scheduled competition caution, due to overnight rain. The second caution flew for Moffitt slamming the wall in Turn 1 on Lap 47. Kyle Larson’s engine giving way on the front stretch on Lap 77 brought out the third caution. The fourth caution flew when Moffitt slammed the wall a second time in Turn 2 on Lap 156. The fifth flew for the end of the second stage. The sixth caution flew when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. slammed the Turn 3 wall on Lap 175. Jimmie Johnson brought out the seventh caution when he spun out in Turn 4 and through the front stretch grass on Lap 188. He brought out the eighth caution when he spun out a second time in Turn 3. Caution flew on Lap 198 for a 14-car incident on the backstretch. Allmendinger brought out the 10th and final caution when he spun out and came to a halt in the grass with 32 to go.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted three hours, 11 minutes and 57 seconds, at an average speed of 125.189 mph. There were 14 lead changes among seven different drivers and 10 cautions for 49 laps.

    Truex leaves with a 27-point lead over Kyle Busch. Larson, McMurray, Matt Kenseth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fail to advance on in the Playoffs.

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  • Christopher Bell gets first NASCAR XFINITY Series win at Kansas

    Christopher Bell gets first NASCAR XFINITY Series win at Kansas

    By Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service

    KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 may have been the opening race in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoff, but the real drama involved two Joe Gibbs Racing teammates outside the championship battle.

    On Lap 197 of 200 at Kansas Speedway, Christopher Bell caught and passed Erik Jones for the lead, clearing Jones’ No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a slide job and drifting up to the outside wall right in front of his JGR teammate.

    Under a full head of steam, Jones plowed into the back of Bell’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, wrecking the No. 20 Camry, which slowed markedly and finished 15th, a lap down.

    Bell took the checkered flag with polesitter Tyler Reddick and some hard feelings on Jones’ part in his wake.

    “It’s not dirt racing,” Jones complained, referencing Bell’s dirt-track background. “He’s not clear. I can’t just stop on the top. I didn’t expect him to drive in on the bottom so hard he wouldn’t be able to hold his lane.

    “It’s unfortunate. I thought we were going to race for the win, and unfortunately, it wasn’t much of a race—it was more of a wreck. We’ll just have to move on.”

    Jones had led four times for 186 laps before Bell ran him down from more than two seconds back in the closing laps. The series leader in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Bell got the victory in his fifth start, becoming the first driver to get his maiden XFINITY win at the 1.5-mile track.

    Bell also is the 10th straight different winner in the series.

    “I never want to wreck anyone, especially my teammate,” Bell said. “I don’t know. My spotter said ‘Clear.’ I drove it in really deep. I felt like I cleared him – I don’t know.

    “It’s my first XFINITY win. I’m sorry that Erik didn’t finish the race, but, man, I’m just stoked. This thing was awesome. To be able to win in the XFINITY Series is something I dreamed of as a kid. We were both on old tires. We were sliding around.

    “Bummed for the way it finished, but I’m glad it held on, man. I was getting tire smoke in the car there those last couple of laps, and I was worried we weren’t going to make it.”

    Ryan Blaney ran third, followed by playoff drivers and JR Motorsports teammates William Byron and Justin Allgaier, the latter of whom collected 11 stage points and took over the top spot in the standings by two points over Byron, who had to start from the rear of the field because of unapproved pre-race adjustments to his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

    Elliott Sadler, another JRM entry, recovered from a spin in Turn 4 on Lap 76 to finish seventh and is third in the Playoff standings, 11 points behind Allgaier.

    “A tire came apart—I don’t know whether I ran over something or not,” said Sadler, who turned sideways in the path of oncoming traffic. Eventual sixth-place finisher Austin Dillon did a masterful job of avoiding Sadler’s spinning car.

    “I gave ‘em a big target, but nobody hit us,” a relieved Sadler said after the race.

    Beyond the top three Playoff positions, little was decided. With two races left in the Round of 8, there’s an eight-point gap between fourth-place Brennan Poole, who ran 12th on Saturday, and eighth-place Cole Custer, who brought his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to pit road with two laps left because of a cut tire and finished 19th, two laps down.

    NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Kansas Lottery 300 – Kansas Speedway

    1. (4) Christopher Bell(i), Toyota, 200.
    2. (1) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 200.
    3. (3) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 200.
    4. (6) William Byron # (P), Chevrolet, 200.
    5. (13) Justin Allgaier (P), Chevrolet, 200.
    6. (5) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 200.
    7. (11) Elliott Sadler (P), Chevrolet, 200.
    8. (8) Matt Tifft # (P), Toyota, 200.
    9. (16) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 200.
    10. (15) Ryan Reed (P), Ford, 200.
    11. (12) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 200.
    12. (9) Brennan Poole (P), Chevrolet, 200.
    13. (24) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 200.
    14. (20) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 199.
    15. (2) Erik Jones(i), Toyota, 199.
    16. (19) Dylan Lupton, Toyota, 199.
    17. (21) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 199.
    18. (10) Daniel Hemric # (P), Chevrolet, 199.
    19. (7) Cole Custer # (P), Ford, 198.
    20. (23) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 198.
    21. (14) Spencer Gallagher #, Chevrolet, 197.
    22. (31) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 196.
    23. (18) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 196.
    24. (28) Harrison Rhodes, Chevrolet, 195.
    25. (22) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 195.
    26. (17) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 194.
    27. (32) David Starr, Chevrolet, 194.
    28. (34) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 192.
    29. (36) Mario Gosselin, Chevrolet, 192.
    30. (35) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 192.
    31. (40) Bobby Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 188.
    32. (26) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 188.
    33. (38) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 188.
    34. (33) Josh Berry, Toyota, Engine, 182.
    35. (39) Jennifer Jo Cobb(i), Chevrolet, 139.
    36. (30) Timmy Hill, Dodge, Vibration, 36.
    37. (37) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Suspension, 24.
    38. (27) Reed Sorenson(i), Chevrolet, Handling, 7.
    39. (29) Gray Gaulding(i), Chevrolet, Brakes, 3.
    40. (25) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, Handling, 2.

    Average Speed of Race Winner: 141.158 mph.
    Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 07 Mins, 31 Secs. Margin of Victory: 2.670 Seconds.
    Caution Flags: 4 for 20 laps.
    Lead Changes: 8 among 5 drivers.

    Lap Leaders: T. Reddick 0; E. Jones(i) 1-51; T. Reddick 52-54; E. Jones(i) 55-81; R. Blaney(i) 82-84; E. Jones(i) 85-93; T. Dillon(i) 94-97; E. Jones(i) 98-196; C. Bell(i) 197-200.

    Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): E. Jones(i) 4 times for 186 laps; T. Dillon(i) 1 time for 4 laps; C. Bell(i) 1 time for 4 laps; T. Reddick 1 time for 3 laps; R. Blaney(i) 1 time for 3 laps.

    Stage #1 Top Ten: 20,22,42,2,18,1,48,7,21,00
    Stage #2 Top Ten: 20,22,7,18,42,9,00,48,21,2

  • Martin Truex Jr. Earns Kansas Coors Light Pole Award

    Martin Truex Jr. Earns Kansas Coors Light Pole Award

    By Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service

    KANSAS CITY, Kan. – You can’t blame Martin Truex Jr. for looking ahead.

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series leader didn’t need to win the pole position at Kansas Speedway, having already qualified for the NASCAR Playoffs’ Round of 8 with a victory two weeks ago at Charlotte.

    But by posting the fastest lap in Friday’s knockout qualifying session at the 1.5-mile track, Truex got a leg up on a trip to the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, because the time trials at Kansas came with a significant bonus — first choice of pit stalls for the Oct. 29 Round of 8 opener at Martinsville Speedway.

    For the record, Truex ran the fastest lap of the afternoon in the final round of qualifying for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (on NBCSN at 3 p.m. ET), covering the distance in 28.719 seconds (188.029 mph) to beat Kevin Harvick (187.682 mph) for the top starting spot by .053 seconds.

    But Truex had to push his car to the limit in the final round to earn his third Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his second at Kansas and the 15th of his career.

    “I was shaking a little — I’m not going to lie,” Truex said. “My heart was beating. It gets the adrenaline going so high to put down a lap like that, to go the fastest you’ve gone all day in that final round.

    “We put it all together. We got the balance better, and I stepped up and put it on the line out there, and it stuck. The commitment level was high, and the car handled it well. That’s always a good combination.”

    Ryan Blaney had qualified third but his time was disallowed following post-qualifying inspection as it was found that the package tray on the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford did not maintain its original shape. As a result of that, Blaney will start from the 40th position in Sunday’s race.

    Matt Kenseth will start third and Denny Hamlin fourth, as playoff drivers garnered the top four spots on the grid. Daniel Suarez was fifth, followed by Erik Jones and Kyle Busch, as Toyota drivers claimed six of the top seven starting positions, the only exception being the Ford of Harvick.

    Because qualifying at Martinsville is on the same day as the race, pit selection at the .526-mile short track was tied to qualifying at Kansas, where the No. 1 pit stall gives a driver unfettered egress from pit road.

    “It was definitely on our minds,” said Truex, who has won a series-best six races in a dream season for the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team. “We talked about it. It was like ‘It’d be pretty nice to go to Martinsville and have the No. 1 pit stall.’

    “It was definitely on our minds, but I don’t know if it really played into how we got the job done or not. But it was definitely good timing, more than anything, because that’s going to be huge for us going into the Round of 8 next week.”

    Harvick, the 2014 series champion described his qualifying session as “three sketchy laps,” but feels he has a competitive car for the race that will trim the playoff field from 12 drivers to eight.

    “I think we have a car that can be capable of staying up there and hopefully having a chance to win the race at the end,” Harvick said. “It’s a good start to the weekend. That’s half the battle when you’re trying to collect stage points in the first stage and get pit stall selection and try and gain all the advantages that you can on Friday.

    “That’s something that our team did a good job at this year. I feel like our cars are a lot faster from the beginning of the year on the mile-and-a-half race tracks, and we’re on the game. It’s been a fun few weeks.”

    Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who currently leads Kyle Busch by seven points for the final spot in the Round of 8, and will start 12th. Playoff driver Jamie McMurray qualified eight in the fastest Chevrolet.

    Playoff drivers Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott will start 13th and 14th, respectively. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the only playoff driver who failed to make the second round, will take the green flag from 24th.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Kansas-Starting-Lineup-MENCS-Oct.-2017-C1732_STARTROW.pdf” title=”Kansas Starting Lineup MENCS Oct. 2017 C1732_STARTROW”]

     

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Kansas

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Kansas

  • ‘Big One’ strikes in closing laps at Talladega

    ‘Big One’ strikes in closing laps at Talladega

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Several Playoff drivers were among more than a dozen collected in the “Big One” in the waning laps of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Entering Turn 3, Martin Truex Jr. — trying to make a pass on the top lane — hit the right-rear corner of David Ragan’s car, triggering the ensuing melee.

    “Well I tried to get into a hole that was closing up at the wrong time and by the time that I got in the brakes trying to get out of there I got in the 38 (Ragan) a little bit on the right rear and he got squirrely out there and all hell broke loose,” Truex said. “Just was trying to get to the end and get some track position and try to get towards the front and have a good day and ended up causing a wreck, so I hate it for everybody. We definitively had nothing to lose today, but at the same time you don’t want to be the person that causes others problems. Even though I feel like I’ve never been that guy here before it looks like today I was, so I hate it for all of those guys and all of their teams. I wish I didn’t make that mistake. Just 18 to go at Talladega, trying to get going and trying to fill a hole. Bad judgement and should have been more patient.”

    Ragan’s car turned down track and hooked Kurt Busch up into the outside wall. He continued on into Jimmie Johnson, hitting him in the right-rear tire area. Johnson’s car did a clockwise spin, the momentum of which carried him up the track and into the path of Kyle Busch. Busch t-boned Johnson, which sent both of them up into the outside wall.

    “We got hooked in the right rear, and I was pretty close to the front of the pack,” Kurt Busch said. “I am just happy everything turned out the way it did to just not get clobbered by all the cars coming by. My guess is the outside lane was all jumbled up getting aggressive and pushing and somebody spun out and clipped us in the right rear. I thought we were looking good with the Monster Ford. We were coming from behind and the inside lane was open and we were making hay, but now here we are coming out of the infield care center. That is just Talladega. That is how it works out. We need to figure out how to make the cars better so everybody can bump draft a little harder.”

    The force of the wall hit ripped Kyle Busch’s left-front wheel out of his wheel assembly.

    “I had no clue what happened. I just saw the 38 (Ragan) get sideways above me and then he came across my back and I missed him and he must have got the 48 (Johnson) and the 48 shot up right across in front of us,” Busch said. “I never seen him. I wish I would’ve saw him a little bit down there. I could’ve shot to the apron and tried to miss him, but unfortunately we just got messed up in that deal. I hate it for our situation and what we’ve got going on, that’s not what we needed today, but that’s what we got so we’ll just move on to next week.”

    A few seconds earlier, when the rest of the field was whoahing down in response to Kurt Busch’s wreck, Landon Cassill came across the nose of Austin Dillon’s car and turned up into Truex. Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth, who were riding in the middle of the field at the time, were caught behind Truex and sustained damage.

    This 16-car wreck brought out the ninth caution of the race, as well as the first of three successive red flags for 12 minutes and 31 seconds.

    While Truex leaves without sustaining a major blow to his points situation heading into the cutoff race for the Round of 12 at Kansas Speedway, it would require an absolute disaster run to undo his 53-point gap to the first drop spot, others aren’t so fortunate. Kyle Busch leaves occupying the ninth-place spot, seven points behind Johnson for the last transfer spot. Kenseth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who was also taken out in the wreck, reside in the 10th and 11th-place position’s in points.

    Harvick, in fourth, sits slightly more comfortable with a 22-point margin over Busch.

    Side note: While his car was the main pinball that triggered the wreck, Ragan’s team fixed it enough, and enough cars were taken out in the two subsequent wrecks, that he drove his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford to a 10th-place finish.

    “I feel like we survived this one,” Ragan said. “We had a little bit of luck on our side. Our team did a nice job repairing some of the damage we got in one of the big wrecks. It had been a quiet, low-key race. And then the last 30 laps, everybody raced really hard. I’m proud of our Juice Battery team for fixing me back up so we could come out of it with a top-10”

  • Keselowski Survives Carnage to Win at Talladega

    Keselowski Survives Carnage to Win at Talladega

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Brad Keselowski outlasted three straight red flag-inducing wrecks, passed Ryan Newman on the final lap and held off teammate Joey Logano to win the Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Entering Turn 3 on the final lap, Keselowski juked to Newman’s outside to take the lead. He put the block on Logano, before dropping down to the bottom to stop the advance of Newman and took the checkered flag.

    “I survived. What a special day. We haven’t been as good as we want to be on the mile and a half’s. We knew we needed to come to Talladega and get it done, and this is a great track for us and one that we really enjoy coming to. It’s great to get a win here. I never thought I’d win here, but five times!”

    It’s his 24th career victory in his 300th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start.

    Newman finished second and Trevor Bayne rounded out the podium.

    “We held them off longer than I expected,” Newman said of the last few laps. “I couldn’t tell how much nose damage I had and I hadn’t led all day, so I didn’t know what to expect. I saw the No. 2 (Keselowski) car in the mirror backing up and then he lost his draft and then he backed up again and he caught the No. 22 (Logano). That was all it took for him to get a good run. I would have maybe played it differently and backed it up in hindsight, backed up to them in hindsight, but I don’t think it would have made a difference. They were double-teaming me and you know it was still a good race to finish second with the Caterpillar Chevrolet.”

    “Man I am proud of all of my guys on this Liberty National Ford,” said Bayne after the race. “They did a great job fixing our Ford after all of the damage we got throughout the day. These guys just never give up. And in the end on that last corner off of four we got a huge run off the top and got to third, so I was pretty pumped with that. I think we were eighth coming across for the white flag, but I wanted those two more spots and we did.”

    Logano and Aric Almirola rounded out the top-five.

    Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Grey Gaulding and David Ragan rounded out the top-10.

    Retiring with 10 career restrictor-plate victories, Earnhardt said, when asked if it meant anything to him that he’ll go down as one of the best restrictor plate races in the history of NASCAR, “absolutely.”

    “Anytime anybody says you’re the best at anything, it’s an awesome feeling. I can’t deny that it feels awesome to hear that. People consider you good at anything, it’s a great feeling. I knew that I wasn’t going to win 200 races and seven championships and do all those great things. I just wanted to come in here and be considered talented. But to be great at anything was beyond my imagination. I appreciate people’s compliment’s on my plate driving and the success we’ve had at all the plate races.”

    RACE SUMMARY

    Earnhardt led the field to the green flag at 2:16 p.m. Logano powered by on the top side, on the backstretch, to take the lead on the third lap.

    He and the Ford’s pitted on Lap 15, while the Chevrolet’s tried to duck onto pits on Lap 27. But Erik Jones plowed into the back of Jamie McMurray, turning him into the outside wall, causing a multi-car wreck that brought out the first caution of the race.

    After another caution brought out by Paul Menard slamming the wall in Turn 3, Keselowski edged out Logano in a one-lap shootout to win the first stage.

    Kahne led the field back to the green on Lap 61, losing the lead on the restart to Matt Kenseth. Hamlin acquired it from Kenseth two laps later.

    Debris brought out the fourth caution on Lap 80.

    Lap by lap battling between Kurt Busch and Ryan Blaney after the Lap 87 restart led to dicey racing all the way to the conclusion of the second stage, won by Blaney.

    He took it back from Brendan Gaughan on the Lap 115 restart, lost it to Hamlin on Lap 117 and muscled his way back to the front on the front stretch on Lap 119. Chase Elliott, on the backstretch, powered by Blaney on the high side to take the lead with 64 laps to go.

    The Ford’s ducked onto pit road for their final stop with 45 to go, followed by the Toyota’s — and Hendrick cars — the next lap. This handed the lead to Kyle Busch.

    Heading down the backstretch, Logano powered by Busch on the topside to retake the lead with 41 to go.

    The caution flew with 37 to go when Bayne hit the wall in Turn 3.

    Back to green with 29 to go, the caution flew again five laps later when DJ Kennington turned Joey Gase into the wall exiting Turn 2.

    Restarting with 18 to go, the next three cautions resulted in red flags. The first was a 16-car wreck in Turn 3: 12 minutes and 31 seconds, the second was a five-car wreck in Turn 3: five minutes and 45 seconds and last was 17 minutes and 14 seconds.

    These three wrecks set up the run to the finish.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted three hours, 47 minutes and 52 seconds, at an average speed of 131.577 mph. There were 30 lead changes among 16 different drivers and 11 cautions for 47 laps.

    Martin Truex Jr. leaves with a 19-point lead over Keselowski.

    Kyle Busch, Kenseth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and McMurray leave in the bottom four spots.

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  • Nemechek rallies from Playoff elimination with sixth at Talladega

    Nemechek rallies from Playoff elimination with sixth at Talladega

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — John Hunter Nemechek was on the brink of an early exit from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs after he was caught up in a wreck roughly halfway through the running of the Fred’s 250. But he weaved his way through a multi-truck wreck with roughly 20 laps remaining and took advantage of the trucks caught up in the final-lap melee to claim a sixth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Entering the day, Nemechek occupied the bottom Playoff spot. The early misfortune of Kaz Grala and Chase Briscoe, combined with a seventh-place finish in both the first and second stage, put him in excellent position to race his way in.

    Unfortunately for him, restrictor plate racing is rarely that simple.

    Entering Turn 3 with 35 laps to go, Ben Rhodes ran into the left-rear corner of Clay Greenfield’s truck. This sent him sliding down the track into the path of Matt Crafton, who rammed into and further turned Greenfield around.

    Nemechek, who was riding behind and ran into the back of Crafton at one point, found himself trapped when Greenfield’s car slid back up the banking. He made contact with Greenfield’s truck, which forced him up into the left-front corner panel of Regan Smith, and spun down the track and into the grass.

    Despite the damage, Nemechek’s team kept him in the race and on the lead lap.

    He was riding behind the Lap 71 melee that collected five cars. He used just about all of the apron near the start/finish line as the hole to cleanly get through the wreck quickly closed.

    He worked his way to 13th when Austin Wayne Self’s spin in Turn 4 forced overtime.

    Nemechek jumped up to the top lane with two laps to go, but the top line was in disarray after race leader Parker Kligerman jumped to the bottom.

    While it denied him a chance to steal the victory, it put him back far enough that when the race-ending Big One broke out in Turn 1 on the final lap, he just drove right through it and finished sixth.

    “I’m pretty sure that we were in almost every wreck there was today,” Nemechek said. “I just can’t thank all my guys enough. They never gave up. My pit crew was awesome at fixing the truck. We got stage points. We accomplished everything that we wanted to, except for winning stages and winning the race. I would’ve much rather had Christopher (Bell) stay running up front, being uneventful.”

    Nemechek leaves fourth in points, trailing Bell by 33.

  • Earnhardt Takes Pole Position at Talladega

    Earnhardt Takes Pole Position at Talladega

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. will lead the field to the green flag tomorrow afternoon after winning the pole for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    The driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet posted a final round time of 50.256 and a speed of 190.544 mph. It’s his 15th career pole in 626 career starts.

    Earnhardt spoke about winning the pole in what will likely be his final race at Talladega.

    “We’ve been fighting our teammate, Chase (Elliott) and his group for poles at these tracks for a long time and it’s been a lot of fun to be honest with you, how these two teams have pushed and elevated each other,” he said. “Really, all the credit for getting a pole at a place like this goes to the team and goes to the car and the guys that work on it, the engine, the body men; we’ve got an amazing staff back at Charlotte that builds some awesome stuff.

    “I just hold the wheel straight and try not to bounce into the apron, but get as close to it as you can and make sure you run a clean lap. But there ain’t much to it as a driver. This place has meant a lot to me. It’s awesome to hear those fans happy for us and hopefully, we’re going to give them a lot more to cheer about before this weekend is over.”

    Chase Elliott will start second with a time of 50.291 and a speed of 190.412 mph.

    On whether he could have done anything differently to capture the pole, Elliott said, “I don’t think so, but congrats to Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) and the No. 88 team. They do a good job. Our team does great with this stuff. We definitely have a knack for it. We just hope that we can run good tomorrow and it lasts over the long haul. As hot as it is down here I think it’s going to be pretty important and we’ll try to finish this thing. We’ll see.”

    Joey Logano will start third with a time of 50.301 and a speed of 190.374 mph. Kurt Busch will start fourth with a time of 50.329 and a speed of 190.268 mph while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will round out the top-five with a time of 50.355 and a speed of 190.170 mph.

    Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Blaney and Trevor Bayne round out the top-10. Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson will start 11th and 12th as the remaining drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    No car failed to make the race.

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  • Kligerman Wins Talladega Truck Race

    Kligerman Wins Talladega Truck Race

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Before the season started, at the Henderson Motorsports shop in Abingdon, Virginia, I asked NBC Sports analyst Parker Kligerman why he was taking a part-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ride. His response was “Why the hell not?” Today I asked him if this win validated that response, he said it didn’t need validating because he’s having a hell of a lot of fun.

    Getting a push down the backstretch from Grant Enfinger, Kligerman took the lead from Bell coming to the white flag. Entering Turn 1, Justin Haley made contact with Noah Gragson and Johnny Sauter, sending either Gragson or Sauter into Stewart Friesen and triggering the five-car wreck that ended the Fred’s 250 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    “It was just crazy. Every move worked,” Kligerman said of his closing laps. “And it’s just sometimes, they’d click. Those last 10 laps, no matter if I went high and I’d separate a pack, or I’m trying to get the bump and the run. Every move just works.”

    It’s his 12th victory in 68 career starts.

    Bell finished second and Myatt Snider rounded out the podium.

    Enfinger and Austin Cindric rounded out the top-five.

    John Hunter Nemechek, Vinnie Miller, Clay Greenfield, Matt Crafton and Tyler Young rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Bell led the field to the green flag at 1:16 p.m., but lost the lead immediately to Sauter, who led the first stage from start to finish and won it.

    DJ Kennington and Cindric led during the first stage break, but Sauter took back the lead on the ensuing restart and led all the remaining laps of the second stage on his way to winning it.

    The intensity picked up from the drop of the green for the final stage, with 48 laps to go. Snider edged out Bell at the line to take the lead with 47 to go. Sauter shoved Snider ahead of Bell, but Kligerman shoved Cody Coughlin to the front coming to the line with 46 to go. Kligerman went to the inside of Coughlin and took the lead with 45 to go. Friesen was shoved by Bell to the front down the backstretch with 43 to go.

    On the restart, following a three-truck wreck in Turn 3, Kligerman got a push from Bell to the front around Friesen through Turn 1 35 to go.

    A multi-truck wreck in the tri-oval with 23 to go set up the run to the finish.

    CAUTION SUMMATION

    Caution flew for the first time on Lap 20 for a one-truck wreck exiting Turn 4. The second caution on Lap 42 was for the end of the second stage. A three-truck wreck in Turn 3 on Lap 55 brought out the third caution. Caution flew on Lap 71 for a multi-truck incident, coming to the start/finish line. The final caution flew in Turn 1 on the final lap, ending the race.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted one hour, 57 minutes and 18 seconds, at an average speed of 129.258 mph. There were 17 lead changes among 11 different drivers and six cautions for 27 laps.

    Bell leaves with a 52-point lead over Sauter. Chase Briscoe and Kaz Grala fail to advance on in the Truck Series Playoffs.

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