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Race Central Stories

  • Kyle Busch takes Bristol Truck pole

    Kyle Busch takes Bristol Truck pole

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Busch will lead the field to the green flag this evening after winning the pole for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 46 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota scored the pole with a time of 14.827 and a speed of 129.413 mph. Christopher Bell will start second with a final round time of 14.920 and a speed of 128.606 mph. Johnny Sauter will start third with a final round time of 14.959 and a speed of 128.271 mph. Noah Gragson will start fourth with a final round time of 14.961 and a speed of 128.253 mph. Brandon Jones will round out the top-five starters with a final round time of 15.001 and a speed of 127.911 mph.

    Matt Crafton, Grant Enfinger, Cody Coughlin, Ben Rhodes and Jesse Little will round out the top-10 starters.

    Kaz Grala and Justin Haley will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    Chris Windom and Mike Senica failed to make the race.

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  • Kyle Busch Fastest in Final Truck Practice at Bristol

    Kyle Busch Fastest in Final Truck Practice at Bristol

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

    The driver of the No. 46 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota was the fastest with a time of 14.706 and a speed of 130.477 mph. Ben Rhodes was second in his No. 27 ThorSport Racing Toyota with a time of 14.801 and a speed of 129.640 mph. Christopher Bell was third in his No. 4 KBM Toyota with a time of 14.816 and a speed of 129.509 mph. Matt Crafton was fourth in his ThorSport Toyota with a time of 14.816 and a speed of 129.509 mph. Johnny Sauter rounded out the top-five in his No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet with a time of 14.844 and a speed of 129.264 mph.

    Brandon Jones, Grant Enfinger, Parker Kligerman, Cody Coughlin and Justin Haley rounded out the top-10.

    Bell posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 124.808 mph.

    First Truck Practice Results

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  • Coughlin Fastest at Bristol in First Truck Practice

    Coughlin Fastest at Bristol in First Truck Practice

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Cody Coughlin topped the chart in first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 13 ThorSport Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 14.828 and a speed of 129.404 mph. Kyle Busch was second in his No. 46 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota was second with a time of 14.832 and a speed of 129.369 mph. Johnny Sauter was third in his No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet with a time of 14.863 and a speed of 129.099 mph. Matt Crafton was fourth in his No. 88 ThorSport Toyota with a time of 15.006 and a speed of 127.869 mph. Austin Cindric rounded out the top-five in his No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford with a time of 15.039 and a speed of 127.622 mph.

    John Hunter Nemechek, Brandon Jones, Justin Haley, Noah Gragson and Ryan Truex rounded out the top-10.

    Grant Enfinger, who clocked in the 11th-fastest single lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 125.682 mph.

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  • Enfinger’s Season After 13 Races

    Enfinger’s Season After 13 Races

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Grant Enfinger’s first full season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has him just on the outside, vying for a playoff spot, with three races remaining in the 2017 regular season.

    Ask him how he’d rate his season, he’d say, “it depends on where in the season you ask me.”

    “If you’re asking me right now, probably a C,” he said. “We’ve been an A at certain parts of the season, and we’ve been an F at certain parts of the season.”

    His season started with him pushing teammate Ben Rhodes with two laps to go in the NextEra Energy Resource 250 at Daytona International Speedway. Exiting Turn 2, Rhodes got loose, turned down into teammate Matt Crafton and triggered a 12-truck wreck. Enfinger wound up 16th.

    He rebounded the following week with an eighth-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway but was a non-factor in a 17th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway.

    After an 11th  place at Kansas Speedway, Enfinger went on a run of five top-10 finishes and four top-fives. That run consisted of a seventh at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a bottom-step podium finish at Dover International Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, a fifth at Gateway Motorsports Park and a fourth at Iowa Speedway.

    “We got through the first three or four races and weren’t where we really wanted to be, and then we started to gain a lot of momentum, and had some really good finishes and had some really good trucks,” he continued.

    This five-race hot streak came to an end when he collided with teammate Rhodes, only half a lap into the second stage of the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway.

    Enfinger bounced back with a fourth-place finish at Eldora Speedway, bringing him to his highest points position of the season to date.

    After finishes of 13th at Pocono Raceway and eighth at Michigan International Speedway, he now sits seventh in points, 14 back of teammate Rhodes, who currently occupies the final playoff spot.

    Doing so won’t be easy, given that, as he notes, his team is without the consistency that carried them for the aforementioned five-race stretch.

    “In the last couple of races, we’ve struggled,” Enfinger added. “We just haven’t had the finishes we’ve needed, but we’re looking to get back on track here at Bristol.”

  • Kahne and Suarez taken out in late wreck at Michigan

    Kahne and Suarez taken out in late wreck at Michigan

    Kasey Kahne and Daniel Suarez’s day ended on Lap 140 of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 when the two collided in Turn 2 at Michigan International Speedway.

    Kahne was making a pass underneath Suarez in Turn 1 when he drifted up into Suarez’s path. Because he hadn’t cleared Suarez, he came across his nose, slid up the track and slammed the outside wall in Turn 2. Suarez, who was pushed up the track from the contact, partially submarined underneath the left-rear side of Kahne’s car, dealing terminal damage to his car.

    His car about spun out, before stabilizing and drifted down towards the apron. Kahne’s car, meanwhile, clung near the wall for a few more seconds, before the back-end came out from underneath him and sent him down onto the apron, where he came to rest.

    “We had to fight from the back and had a good Liftmaster Chevrolet. We kept working to get up there. Daniel (Suarez) was going backwards and I was going by and I ran the bottom,” Kahne said. “I expected we could be close off the corner, and I was just coming off and then we hit. So, I don’t know. I expected to run side-by-side down the backstretch, but not give a lot of room, because you don’t. Nobody does. But I was making the pass and I don’t know how we hit. Ruined it. It’s over.”

    “I was very, very tight. I was trying to hold my line. I think the 5 was passing me (and) went up a little bit too soon for me. I was trying to leave him some room. I (got) out of the throttle at that point, but I don’t know if he was told it was already time to go up. I don’t know. It’s just unfortunate because we came from a streak of top-fives and now this is going to be the end of it. We’re going to regroup and come back stronger next week.”

    While the wreck doesn’t affect Kahne’s playoff chances, as he has a win at Indianapolis to fallback on, it doesn’t help Suarez, who’s now 17th in points and 139 behind Matt Kenseth in the cutoff spot.

  • Dominant Keselowski drive ends in disappointing finish

    Dominant Keselowski drive ends in disappointing finish

    Brad Keselowski led a race-high of 105 laps, but got shuffled back on the final restart and wound up with a mediocre finish in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

    Starting from pole position, Keselowski led all but three laps that fell during a cycle of green flag stops, and won the first stage.

    He continued his dominant run through the second stage, only ceding the race lead on Lap 111 to hit pit road. This time, however, Martin Truex Jr., who pitted a few laps earlier, cycled ahead of him in the running order. This lead to Truex taking over the race lead when the pit cycle concluded and winning the second stage, with Keselowski finishing second.

    On the ensuing restart on Lap 128, Keselowski raced side-by-side with Truex for 75 percent of the lap, before edging ahead of Truex exiting Turn 4 to take the race lead. But Truex powered by him to retake the lead the next lap, and Keselowski didn’t return to the lead again.

    He took just right-side tires on, what was originally, the final round of stops with 39 laps to go to regain lost track position. Truex still cycled ahead of him, but he found himself in position to end the day with a solid finish. A flurry of late cautions, however, pushed him down the running order.

    Keselowski restarted 11th on the overtime restart, but was swallowed up on the bottom lane and wound up finishing 17th.

    “It just didn’t come together there at the end, but it was nice to lead a bunch of laps,” Keselowski said. “That was good and something I was really proud of, but I just didn’t have enough to really run with the 77 and the 78. We tried a little strategy to kind of get something out of it, but the way it all played out I ended up getting the bottom lane on the restarts and getting absolutely swallowed. We tried. We put in as much effort as we could. We knew we didn’t have as much as those two, but we gave it 100 percent effort and I was really proud of my team for that.”

    Keselowski leaves Michigan fifth in points, 213 back of Truex.

  • Larson splits Furniture Row duo in overtime to win at Michigan

    Larson splits Furniture Row duo in overtime to win at Michigan

    Kyle Larson extended his Michigan International Speedway win streak to three by passing the Furniture Row Racing drivers in overtime of the Pure Michigan 400.

    Restarting fourth, Larson gave a shove to race leader Martin Truex Jr., then dove under him, splitting him from teammate Erik Jones in second, and took the lead heading into Turn 1. The race was all Larson’s from there, as he drove on to his fourth career victory in 134 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts.

    “I was running a few options through my head of what to do if I got a good jump, and that was one of them and it worked out perfect. I can’t believe that happened. We were struggling all day. We were definitely not as good as the last two times we won here, but we preserved and had a great restart at the end.”

    Truex and Jones round out the podium.

    Ryan Newman and Trevor Bayne round out the top-five.

    “Oh, it was just a good run for the Velveeta Shells & Cheese Chevrolet,” Newman said. “Luke (Lambert, crew chief) did a great job making the call for us to stay out and caught the break there with the No. 22’s (Joey Logano) tire. We got a couple of good restarts and make it a little bit out of nothing. We were challenged all day and struggled a little bit, but it seems like whenever we’ve got this Velveeta name on the car we end up in the top 5.”

    “It’s refreshing. We’ve had a tough couple of months not getting the results we thought that we deserved. Today, to get a result feels really good,” Bayne said. “We had fast car early on. We had fuel strategy at the end. Probably gonna have a shot to beat the 78 if it stayed green. Got a caution and I was like, ‘Oh man, here goes Indy again.’ We had a good first restart. The second restart was even better. We were able to push the 42 up to the lead and getting into (Turn) 3 I tried to go for it from the top and hit the Speedy Dry, got loose, and came home fifth. Cost us a couple spots. Man, when you’re in that position you have to go for it. I wouldn’t have slept good at night if I didn’t stuff it in there and try something. It just didn’t stick. It feels really good for our team.”

    Chris Buescher, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Jamie McMurray and Kyle Busch round out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Brad Keselowski led the field to the green flag at 3:19 p.m. He led all but three laps (Erik Jones led those three during a cycle of green flag stops) on his way to winning the first stage.

    It was the mostly the same story through the second stage. Only this time, Truex, who pitted a few laps earlier than Keselowski, cycled ahead of him in the running order, took over the race lead when Kyle Busch pitted on Lap 114 and drove on to win the second stage.

    Keselowski regained the lead for a lap on the Lap 129 restart, edging out Truex exiting Turn 4, but Truex took it back going into Turn 1.

    Everyone started hitting pit road for the final cycle of green flag stops with 41 laps to go, with Truex doing so a lap later. Jones pitted from the lead with 39 to go, as did Keselowski, handing the lead to Denny Hamlin. He hit pit road with 23 to go, giving the lead to Busch.

    Joey Logano suffered a right-front flat running down the backstretch with 15 to go, and debris from said flat brought out a caution with 14 to go. Busch pitted under the caution, handing the lead back to Truex.

    He got an excellent restart with nine to go, diving down in front of Jones heading into Turn 1. But as he was pulling away from the field, caution flew for a two-car wreck in Turn 2, setting up the overtime finish.

    CAUTION SUMMARY

    The first caution flew on Lap 61 for the end of the first stage. The second caution flew on Lap 121 for the end of the second stage. The third caution flew when Kasey Kahne came across the nose of Daniel Suarez, sending them both into the outside wall in Turn 2 on Lap 139. The fourth caution flew with 14 laps to go for debris on the backstretch. The fifth and final caution flew for a wreck involving Michael McDowell and Paul Menard.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours, 40 minutes and 38 seconds, at an average speed of 150.903 mph. There were 14 lead changes among seven different drivers and five cautions for 28 laps.

    Truex leaves with a 129-point lead over Larson. Elliott, McMurray and Matt Kenseth leave maintaining the final three playoff spots.

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  • Bubba Wallace wins a thrilling LTi Printing 200

    Bubba Wallace wins a thrilling LTi Printing 200

    BROOKLYN, Mich. (August 12, 2017) – Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. made a move to go three-wide with 11 laps remaining and then held off all challengers to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series LTi Printing 200 at Michigan International Speedway.

    It was not an easy victory for Wallace as Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell and Kyle Busch all made moves for the lead but was it Wallace who held on for the victory. On the race winning move, Wallace went under race leader Cindric with only 11 laps left. On the top side, Bell went high to make it three wide. At the end of the maneuvering between the three, it is was Wallace with the lead.

    After the race Wallace could not contain his emotion for what this meant for him and his team.

    “Such a huge moment, not only for myself, but for everybody involved,” Wallace said. “This is such a huge win for me. It is good to be back in the truck series. This is a product of having the truck series come to Michigan and put on a great race. I knew those laps were going to be hectic.”

    Wallace raced looking out his mirrors more than his windshield those closing laps. Then with two laps left, Bell made one final attempt to get past Wallace on the bottom. Bell made the pass, but could not clear Wallace who fought back on the high side to re-take the lead. From there it was all Wallace as Bell could not get past him.

    It was an impressive win for Wallace considering this was his first race in the truck series in 2017. He even overcame a pit road penalty on lap 53 for crewmembers over the wall too soon.

    Matt Crafton won the pole for the race with a fast lap 184.256 mph. Johnny Sauter started on the front row alongside Crafton.

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series held two practice sessions on Saturday in preparation for the Pure Michigan 400. Two-time Michigan winner Kyle Larson led the day’s opening practice session with a speed of 202.532 mph. Michigan native and pole sitter for the Pure Michigan 400, Brad Keselowski was second-fastest speed of 202.332 mph.

    In the final practice session it was Keselowski at the top of the board with a speed of 200.865 mph. It was Martin Truex Jr. in second and Joey Logano in third. Erik Jones had the seventh-fast time in the first session of the day and the 12th-quickest time in the final practice of the day.

    The Pure Michigan 400 starts at 3 p.m. on Sunday. Keselowski will lead the field to the green flag after winning the pole award. Tickets remain for the race.

    Nestled in the lush Irish Hills of Southeastern Michigan, Michigan International Speedway is NASCAR’s fastest racetrack. It has been the love of NASCAR racing and the thrill of a great time for race fans and drivers alike for nearly 50 years.

  • Michigan native Brad Keselowski wins the pole for the Prue Michigan 400

    Michigan native Brad Keselowski wins the pole for the Prue Michigan 400

    BROOKLYN, Mich. (August 11, 2017) – Michigan native Brad Keselowski will lead the field to the green flag for the Pure Michigan 400 on August 13 after winning the pole with a speed of 203.097 mph. It marked his first pole in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at his hometown tack.

    Keselowski will be joined on the front row by Joey Logano, his teammate at Team Penske. Logano earned the second starting spot with speed of 203.063 mph, just six thousandths of a second behind Keselowski.

    Keselowski was happy with is qualifying efforts, especially since it is his hometown track.

    “It feels pretty good,” Keselowski said. “I’m not really known as a great qualifier, so maybe over time I’ve probably put a little less stock in qualifying, but I can tell you that when I saw that we were gonna win the pole those last few seconds of qualifying it put chills down my body. It’s a great feeling. It’s a special track for me to have any kind of success at. Those that have been in the media center long enough have probably heard me say this and I’ll say it again for those that haven’t, but any success you have at your home track is right there with having success in the biggest races of the year like Daytona for the 500 and the championship. It’s a big deal for any driver, not just myself. Of course, this is my home track and to be able to have any kind of success here just really feels so darn good and I just hope we can keep it up this weekend.”

    All 12 drivers in the final found posted a qualifying speed over 200.000 mph. Kevin Harvick will start third, Matt Kenseth rolls off fourth and Chase Elliott will start fifth. Elliott has finished second in each of the three Monster Energy Series starts at MIS.

    Fellow Michigan native Erik Jones will roll off eighth on Sunday. He was the top qualifying rookie.

    “It was a good effort for the 5-hour ENERGY Toyota, starting eighth on the outside so that hopefully bodes well for a strong day for us Sunday,” said Jones. “We’re going out there for a win so everything we do, all the calls we make, are going to be more aggressive. We have to take risks on the strategy side, I have to take risks on the race track just to put ourselves in position for a win. Obviously, track position is king here at Michigan so I’m just going to try to get out front and, hopefully, a great car and great strategy will get us that win.”

    In the first round of qualifying, Ryan Blaney posted the top speed of 201.686 mph. Speeds were fast as seven drivers topped 200.000 mph.

    The speeds only got faster in the second round, but once again it was Blaney leading the way. This time he had a speed of 203.120 mph. The top 19 finishers in round two all finished the round with a qualifying speed over 200.000 mph.

    The Pure Michigan 400 is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. on NBC Sports. Fans can get tickets at www.mispeedway.com or by phone at 800-354-1010.

    Retired University of Michigan head hockey coach Red Berenson will serve as the grand marshal for the Pure Michigan 400 on Sunday and give the command of “Start your engines!” Matthew Kiser, the Michigan State Police Trooper of the Year will serve as the honorary starter to wave the green flag.

    On Sunday, all the infield guests can stand on the backstretch to cheer on their favorite driver as they drive by just before the Pure Michigan 400. Fans are invited to exit the infield onto the backstretch at the M-50 and US-12 crossovers at 12:30 p.m. to find the perfect spot. The speedway staff will mark areas on the backstretch where the fans can stand to watch the parade lap. Please note fans cannot bring drinks or food onto the track.

    The parade lap will begin at the pre-race stage at the start/finish line on the frontstretch. The trucks will continue around the track and will get close to the fans on the backstretch. The parade lap will continue around turns three and four finishing back at the start/finish line.

    Fans can attend the Saturday concert in Turn 3 FREE with a Sunday admission ticket, MISCAMPING.com Infield or MISCAMPING.com APEX wristband. ACM-nominated LOCASH and International Country Stars Thompson Square will perform on August 12. NASCAR’s favorite Tim Dugger will lead off the entertainment.

    Tickets for a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race start at $35. Race fans who purchase early will have the best prices and the best seats.

    Children 12 and under are free on Saturday. On Sunday, children 12 and under tickets start at $20. Children 12 and under can attend three days of NASCAR action for just $20, ensuring families a weekend of fun at affordable prices.

    Fans can also take advantage of any of our special offers. You can get a free round of golf from Treetops, free food or have a special meet and greet with either Brad Keselowski. Call 800-354-1010 or visit www.mispeedway.com to purchase today!

    Nestled in the lush Irish Hills of Southeastern Michigan, Michigan International Speedway is NASCAR’s fastest racetrack. It has been the love of NASCAR racing and the thrill of a great time for race fans and drivers alike for nearly 50 years.

  • Kenseth finishes runner-up at The Glen

    Kenseth finishes runner-up at The Glen

    Matt Kenseth maintained his thin lead for the cutoff spot in the playoffs with a season-best second-place finish in the I Love New York 355 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International.

    Kenseth started the day from 15th and worked his way up to ninth. He short-pitted the end of the first stage and finished 24th when the stage concluded.

    He moved up the running order when those who didn’t short-pit the stage hit pit road under the stage break and drove to a third-place finish in the second stage.

    Kenseth didn’t pit under this caution, but did so when Landon Cassill’s car left a tire carcass on the race track on Lap 51. While pitting when he did left him possibly two to three laps short of making it to the end on fuel, the veteran Kenseth conserved just enough to not only make it to the end, but be in position to win.

    With two laps remaining, Martin Truex Jr. took over the race lead on a questionable fuel load, and Kenseth was in hot pursuit. Truex almost fumbled the lead twice on the final lap, with a botched entry of the inner-loop and locking up the brakes entering Turn 10. It allowed Kenseth to inch closer and closer, but he couldn’t get to Truex and settled for second.

    “Well, that last run after we pitted, we knew we were a little bit short, a few laps short,” Kenseth said. “You know, Martin had a really fast car and deserved to win the race. You know, and we started saving early in that run, just tried to manage the gap. I felt pretty good about our fuel savings and how much we saved. Of course I never really know, I just go by what Jason (Ratcliff) and them tell me. But I felt pretty good about where we were on fuel, but I think Martin had such a big lead, he was able to just kind of slow up as much as I did and make sure he had enough speed just to stay in front of me. It was kind of funny, them last three laps we were both saving pretty hard, and then Jason told me we were good with one to go, and so I stood on it and he stood on it, too. He even missed Turn 6 and tried to give it to me, but I couldn’t get close enough to take advantage.”

    Kenseth leaves with a 28-point lead over Clint Bowyer for the final playoff spot.