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  • Gaughan Takes Playoff Hit at Bristol

    Gaughan Takes Playoff Hit at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — While Brendan Gaughan still occupies a playoff spot with two races remaining in the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series regular season, his late wreck in the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway did him no favors.

    Gaughan was part of a three-wide row of cars exiting Turn 4 with 17 laps to go with him up against the wall, Jeb Burton driving the 24 car in the middle and Garrett Smithley on the bottom. Something broke on the right-front of Burton’s car (evidenced by the fire that broke out in the wheel well a few minutes later), leading to him drifting up into the left-rear of Gaughan. Burton hit and sent him spinning backward into the wall, making contact with his right-rear corner.

    He then comes down and makes contact with Ray Black Jr. Moments later, his left-rear tire goes flat and he spins up towards the wall. He makes slight contact with the wall again, with his front bumper, before doing a full 360° spin, coming to a stop and pulling down onto the apron.

    Gaughan finished the race 30th, and he wasn’t happy with Burton after what transpired.

    “We had a decent South Point Chevy. We were gonna sit there in the top-14, top-12 for the most part, and then we have the loose wheel. It’s just racing man. That happens. But two weeks in a row. I know he don’t have many races and I like him a lot normally, but right now, I’m gonna knock the hell out of him. The first time, he gave me a flat. The second time, he says he blew a tire, but if you know you got a tire blowing, don’t drive underneath somebody.”

    Burton later responded, saying he never meant “to get into him” and that he “just got tight.”

    Gaughan leaves Bristol 12th in points, maintaining a 43-point edge over Ross Chastain for the final playoff spot.

  • Kyle Busch Goes 2-for-2 in Bristol, Rallies with XFINITY Victory

    Kyle Busch Goes 2-for-2 in Bristol, Rallies with XFINITY Victory

    By Staff Report | NASCAR.com

    Kyle Busch completed the second leg in a potential Bristol Motor Speedway tripleheader sweep, rallying to victory in the NASCAR XFINITY Series on Friday night.

    Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota led a race-high 186 of 300 laps in the Food City 300. He also converted a come-from-behind victory Wednesday in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

    Busch was bitten by a pit-road speeding penalty during the intermission after his Stage 1 win, forcing him to restart in 19th place. But Busch roared back to the front — much like he did in his midweek truck win — in 58 laps to take Stage 2 and position himself for another victory on the .533-mile track.

    “At least I didn’t have to come through in the last stage because everybody was pretty fast there tonight in the last stage,” said Busch, whose Truck Series comeback came in the final stage. “I don’t know if I would have been able to make it all the way back up through there.”

    Busch’s fifth XFINITY win of the season was his ninth at Bristol and the 91st of his career. He’ll go for the tripleheader sweep in Saturday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series main event (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM), a Bristol feat he also accomplished in 2010.

    “I think we can, yeah,” Busch said of his chances, starting 18th in Bristol’s annual night race. “We’ve got a fast car. We just have to make the right adjustments overnight here and get it ready for tomorrow.”

    Daniel Suarez, Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, netted second place in the No. 20 Toyota, finishing 1.181 seconds behind Busch at the checkered flag.

    Series points leader Elliott Sadler finished third, clinching a playoff spot by ensuring himself a top-20 result in the regular-season standings. Ty Dillon and Justin Allgaier completed the top five.

    The series’ next race is scheduled Aug. 27 at Road America, the sprawling 4.048-mile road course in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

    Related Links: Race results | Series standings

  • Kyle Busch Puts on Clinic in Bristol XFINITY Race

    Kyle Busch Puts on Clinic in Bristol XFINITY Race

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — It was another Kyle Busch showcase, as he led a race-high of 186 to win the NASCAR XFINITY Series Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    He led the field to the green flag at 7:45 and led the first 16 laps, before Justin Allgaier powered by him, on the high side, on the Lap 16 restart to take the lead. Busch drove underneath him exiting Turn 2 on Lap 33 and drove on to win the first stage.

    He was busted for speeding and restarted the second stage from the tail-end of the field. However, he methodically worked his back to the head of the field on Lap 157, just in time for him to win the second stage.

    From there, while he briefly lost the lead to Daniel Suarez and Elliott Sadler, it was all Rowdy’s with 98 laps to go, who drove right on to his 91st career victory.

    Suarez finished second and Sadler rounded out the podium.

    Ty Dillon and Allgaier rounded out the top-five.

    Brennan Poole, Daniel Hemric, Austin Dillon, Joey Logano and Cole Custer rounded out the top-10.

    CAUTION SUMMARY

    Caution first flew on Lap 12 for David Starr when he slammed the wall in Turn 1. The second flew when Aric Almirola and Ryan Reed crashed in Turn 3 on Lap 29. The third flew on Lap 39 when Reed slammed the wall in Turn 4. The fourth flew for the end of the first stage on Lap 86. The fifth flew for Brandon Jones spinning out on the front stretch on Lap 124. The sixth flew for the end of the second stage. The seventh flew for Tommy Joe Martins slamming the wall in Turn 1 with 84 laps to go. The final caution flew with 23 to go when Brendan Gaughan got turned into the front stretch wall.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted one hour, 48 minutes and 30 seconds, at an average speed of 88.424 mph. There were 11 lead changes among four different drivers and eight cautions for 46 laps.

    Sadler leaves with a 110-point lead over William Byron.

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  • Jones Takes Pole Position at Thunder Valley

    Jones Takes Pole Position at Thunder Valley

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Erik Jones will lead the field to the green flag tomorrow night after winning the pole for the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota posted a final round time of 14.891 and a speed of 128.082 mph.

    “It’s cool anytime you get your first pole, but to the Bristol (night race), that’s pretty cool. I’m just excited,” Jones said. “We’ve got a really good 5-hour Energy Camry. We had a really good week last week, and we’ve done a good job keeping the momentum going so far. Hoping for a good day tomorrow night. Obviously, really excited to get this race going now and see what we can do.”

    Kyle Larson will start second with a time of 14.984 and a speed of 128.057 mph. Kasey Kahne will start third with a time of 15.005 and a speed of 127.877 mph. Chase Elliott will start fourth with a time of 15.031 and a speed of 127.656 mph. Matt Kenseth will round out the top-five with a time of 15.042 and a speed of 127.563 mph.

    Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer and Ryan Blaney will round out the top-10.

    Jamie McMurray and Daniel Suarez will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    Kyle Busch, who won the pole for both the Truck and XFINITY race this weekend, got loose entering Turn 3 on his first run of the second round and failed to advance. He’ll start 18th.

    Timmy Hill failed to make the race.

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  • Blaney Fastest at Bristol in Final Cup Practice

    Blaney Fastest at Bristol in Final Cup Practice

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Ryan Blaney topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford was the fastest with a time of 14.926 and a speed of 128.554 mph. Kyle Larson was second in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 14.983 and a speed of 128.065 mph. Ryan Newman was third in his No. 31 Wood Brothers Racing Chevrolet with a time of 15.016 and a speed of 127.784 mph. Jamie McMurray was fourth in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 15.051 and a speed of 127.487 mph. Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 15.078 and a speed of 127.258 mph.

    Chris Buescher, Trevor Bayne, Erik Jones, AJ Allmendinger and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-10.

    Matt Kenseth, who clocked in the 13th-fastest single lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 125.930 mph.

    First Cup Series Practice Results

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  • Hamlin Fastest in First Cup Practice at Bristol

    Hamlin Fastest in First Cup Practice at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Denny Hamlin topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 14.848 and a speed of 129.230 mph. Kyle Busch was second in his No. 18 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 14.489 and a speed of 129.221 mph. Kasey Kahne was third in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 14.881 and a speed of 128.943 mph. Ryan Blaney was fourth in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 14.884 and a speed of 128.917 mph. Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a time of 14.946 and a speed of 128.382 mph.

    Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-10.

    Jamie McMurray, who clocked in the 13th-fastest single lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 126.604 mph.

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  • Kyle Busch Fastest in Final XFINITY Practice at Bristol

    Kyle Busch Fastest in Final XFINITY Practice at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Busch topped the chart in final NASCAR XFINITY Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 15.435 and a speed of 124.315 mph. Joey Logano was second in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 15.491 and a speed of 123.865 mph. Brennan Poole was third in his No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 15.526 and a speed of 123.586 mph. William Byron was fourth in his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 15.553 and a speed of 123.372 mph. Justin Allgaier rounded out the top-five in his No. 7 JRM Chevrolet with a time of 15.561 and a speed of 123.308 mph.

    Daniel Hemric, Cole Custer, Elliott Sadler, Matt Tifft and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top-10.

    Allgaier posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 122.516 mph.

    First XFINITY Series Practice Results

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  • Allgaier Fastest in First XFINITY Practice at Bristol

    Allgaier Fastest in First XFINITY Practice at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Justin Allgaier topped the chart in first NASCAR XFINITY Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 15.306 and a speed of 125.363 mph. Kyle Busch was second in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 15.334 and a speed of 125.134 mph. Blake Koch was third in his No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet with a time of 15.396 and a speed of 124.630 mph. Elliott Sadler was fourth in his No. 1 JRM Chevrolet with a time of 15.397 and a speed of 124.622 mph. Austin Dillon rounded out the top-five in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 15.407 and a speed of 124.541 mph.

    Brennan Poole, Aric Almirola, William Byron, Brandon Jones and Joey Logano rounded out the top-10.

    Allgaier posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 122.152 mph.

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  • Enfinger’s Eventful Day Ends with Top-Five at Thunder Valley

    Enfinger’s Eventful Day Ends with Top-Five at Thunder Valley

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — NASCAR’s annual midweek day of racing at Bristol Motor Speedway had barely commenced when penalties from Michigan resulted in Grant Enfinger losing points he earned just days earlier. By night’s end, he brought his truck home to a fourth-place finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 200 and salvaged some of those lost points.

    Following the LTi Printing 200 at Michigan International Speedway, Enfinger was hit with two penalties, resulting in a double-encumbered finish. The first penalty was the result of a post-race ride-height violation, and the second was a safety violation for crew chief Jeff Hensley for an “improperly affixed” weight. The subsequent 10-point penalty resulted in him going from 14 points back of teammate Ben Rhodes, to 24 behind.

    But his performance through the day and evening at Thunder Valley demonstrated bridging the gap might not be a tall task. He finished 11th and seventh in the day’s practice sessions, and qualified his car seventh for the race.

    While Enfinger didn’t race “under the radar,” as he did finish top-10 (fifth and ninth) in both the first and second stage, he never posed a threat to Kyle Busch’s dominance, as had teammate Matt Crafton. But he drove his way through traffic, both lead and lapped, and drove it to a fourth-place finish as the checkered flag waved.

    “ We had a decent restart there at the end, and we really had a good Champion Power Equipment Tundra all day,” Enfinger said. “We weren’t great. The 46 (Kyle Busch) – he’s really good at this racing stuff. He made us all look bad. But a solid run for us. We’ll take it. We need a little bit more, but very, very proud of everybody on this ThorSport Racing team. We had to battle through some adversity this week, but we still got some more to come, so we’ll keep fighting strong.”

    Enfinger leaves Bristol seventh in points. Unfortunately, teammate Rhodes, who currently occupies the cutoff spot, out-pointed him, in spite of a fifth-place finish. He trails Rhodes by 26 with two races to go in the Truck Series regular season.

  • Kyle Busch Rallies from Speeding Penalty to Win Bristol Truck Race

    Kyle Busch Rallies from Speeding Penalty to Win Bristol Truck Race

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — While Kyle Busch was the dominant driver, he had to overcome a speeding penalty, which he did with ease, ran down and passed Matt Crafton, and even held him off on an overtime restart to win at Thunder Valley.

    Busch was busted for speeding under the second stage break caution and restarted at the tail-end of the field on the ensuing restart. He made quick work of the field, catching and passing Crafton for the race lead with 33 laps to go to score his 49th career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory in 140 career starts.

    Crafton finished second and John Hunter Nemechek rounded out the podium.

    Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes rounded out the top-five.

    Johnny Sauter, Christopher Bell, Parker Kligerman, Austin Cindric and Brandon Jones rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Busch led the field to the green flag at 10:44 p.m. He led every lap of the first stage on his way to winning it on Lap 56.

    Cindric took the lead under the caution and restarted the race leader. A lap after the Lap 64 restart, however, Crafton got to his corner panel and loosened him. Taking the lead on Lap 65. But Busch ran him down, and lapped traffic allowed him to pass Crafton exiting Turn 2, retake the lead and win the second stage on Lap 121.

    He was busted for speeding, which set up the run to the finish.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted one hour, 13 minutes and five seconds, at an average speed of 88.829 mph. There were six lead changes among four different drivers and five cautions for 31 laps.

    Bell leaves with a 42-point lead over Sauter.

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