Category: Race Central

Race Central Stories

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for New Hampshire

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for New Hampshire

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the XFINITY Series travel to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend. Saturday night will feature the XFINITY Series Overton’s 200 while the Cup Series closes out the competition Sunday afternoon with the Overton’s 301. Both races will be broadcast on NBCSN.

    Please check below for the complete schedule of events. All times are Eastern.

    Friday, July 14:

    On Track:
    11:30 a.m.-12:55 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – NBC Sports App/NBCSN joins in at 11:45 a.m.
    1-1:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – NBCSN
    3-3:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – NBCSN
    4:45 p.m.: Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN

    Garage Cam: (Watch live)
    11 a.m.: Cup Series
    2:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    10:15 a.m.: Joey Logano
    10:45 a.m.: Martin Truex Jr.
    11 a.m.: Kyle Busch
    11:15 a.m.: Blake Koch, Daniel Hemric and Dakoda Armstrong
    1:30 p.m.: Ryan Newman
    1:45 p.m.: Chase Cabre, Harrison Burton and Chase Purdy
    5:30 p.m.: Post-Cup Series Qualifying

    Saturday, July 15:

    On Track:
    10-10:55 a.m.: Cup Series Practice – NBC Sports App
    11:05 a.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – CNBC
    12:30-1:25 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN
    4 p.m.: XFINITY Series Overton’s 200 (200 laps, 211.6 miles) – NBCSN

    Press Conference:  (Watch live)
    6:30 p.m.: Post-NASCAR XFINITY Series Race

    Sunday, July 16:

    On Track:
    3 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 301 (301 laps, 318.46 miles) – NBCSN

    Press Conference: (Watch live)
    6:30 p.m.: Post-Cup Series Race

    Race Details:

    NASCAR XFINITY Series
    Race: Overton’s 200
    Date: Saturday, July 15
    Time: 4 p.m. ET
    TV: NBCSN, 3:30 p.m. ET
    Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    Distance: 211.6 miles (200 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on lap 200)

    Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
    Race: Overton’s 301
    Date: Sunday, July 16
    Time: 3 p.m. ET
    TV: NBCSN, 2:30 p.m. ET
    Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    Distance: 318.46 miles (301 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 75), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 150), Final Stage (Ends on lap 301)

    Complete TV Schedule

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

     

  • Keselowski and Johnson Among Those Eliminated by Multi-Car Wrecks at Kentucky

    Keselowski and Johnson Among Those Eliminated by Multi-Car Wrecks at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Three multi-car wrecks during the Quaker State 400 ended the night of a number of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers at Kentucky Speedway.

    Rounding Turn 3 on Lap 88, Brad Keselowski was running inside of Clint Bowyer when his car got loose and spun out. He clipped the left-rear corner of Bowyer and sent him spinning as well. Jimmie Johnson, coming up on the spinning Keselowski, had nowhere to go, took a critical hit to the right-front wheel-well, veered up the track and slammed the wall in Turn 4.

    Bowyer continued on with his race and finished 13th, but the night was over for Johnson and Keselowski.

    “I just got in an aero wake and it pulled me around,” Keselowski said. “I knew I was in a bad spot. I was trying to lay up but there is only so much you can lay up here because you get ran over from behind. The air pulled me around. It sucks. I feel bad for everyone on the Miller Lite Ford team and I think I tore up two or three other guys and that sucks for them. I don’t know. It is kind of a tough spot to be in on these tracks where they are kind of one groove. You can’t just lay up everytime. You give up too many spots or get ran over from behind. If you drive in with someone close to you the car just spins out. It just sucks but it is what it is. We have to find a way around it and we didn’t today.”

    The next wreck occurred after the ensuing restart on Lap 94 when Kasey Kahne tried to force his way inside of Trevor Bayne, sending him spinning and sending himself into the wall in Turn 1.

    “It was just a restart, I had a run on the No. 6 and I got under him getting into Turn 1 down the front stretch and he just drove over my front end, pretty simple,” Kahne said.

    The final multi-car wreck occurred in overtime.

    As race leader Martin Truex Jr. came to the line to take the white flag, Darrell Wallace Jr. ran Matt Kenseth up high in Turn 4, pushing him out of the racing groove and into the marbles, where he got loose and spun out in front of teammate Daniel Suarez, who t-boned the drivers side of Kenseth’s car. Austin Dillon, who was following Suarez, slammed into the back of him and hooked him towards the wall as he turned down towards and through the grass.

    David Ragan was also involved as he drove over the grass with the words “restart zone” painted over it to avoid Kenseth and Suarez.

    Dillon was the only one who was available for comment afterwards and said, in short, he “had nowhere to go.”

    “We were committed to the top for the final restart, so I had nowhere to go when they spun in front of me. It was a rough end to a challenging night,” he said.

    Of the drivers involved, Keselowski left Kentucky highest in points in eighth, followed by Johnson in ninth. Bowyer leaves 10th, while Kenseth leaves 11th. Suarez left 19th, Kahne left 22nd and Ragan left 28th.

  • Larson Ends Weekend with  Runner-Up Finish at Kentucky

    Larson Ends Weekend with Runner-Up Finish at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Calling Kyle Larson’s weekend at Kentucky Speedway an adventure would be quite an understatement.

    First, his car failed inspection so many times in qualifying that he didn’t even post a lap and started dead last. Even on raceday, it took more than one attempt to finally clear tech inspection. And they did so with less than 30 minutes to go before the start of the Quaker State 400.

    Starting dead last, Larson moved his way through the field and made it all the way up to third by the conclusion of the first stage. But he was sent to the tail-end of the field on the following restart for speeding on pit road and was forced to work up through the field a second time.

    While he didn’t score any stage points in the second stage, a result of finishing outside the top-10, He found  himself running top-five in the closing laps of the race itself.

    With race leader Martin Truex Jr. pulling out to a 15-second lead in the closing laps, it looked as though Larson would have to settle for just a top-five. But that all went out the window when Kurt Busch’s engine expired on the frontstretch with two laps to go.

    While Truex opted to stay out, Larson and a company of others elected to pit. He exited third (fourth in the running order) and restarted behind Truex, who chose the outside line, on the overtime restart.

    He gave a push to shove Truex out ahead coming to the green, but ended up behind Kyle Busch. Exiting Turn 2, however, Larson got underneath him, powered by and cleared him going into Turn 3.

    A four-car wreck exiting Turn 4 ended the race under caution and locked in a runner-up finish for Larson.

    He said afterwards that he wasn’t sure what he could’ve done to catch Truex.

    “Yeah, I don’t know what we could have done to beat him,” Larson added. “He was obviously pretty fast with the lead there. It would have been fun to get to race him because I felt like I had the second best car today; and it would have been interesting to get a restart with him earlier and get to hang with him that last run there. But, we brought the Target Chevy home second after not being able to qualify and having to start last in the race and then having my speeding penalty there. I guess I was just a little too fast leaving my stall and got a penalty. So, I’ve got to clean that stuff up. I’m mad at myself that I made that mistake. I don’t really know if it affected the outcome, but you never know.”

    Larson leaves Kentucky the points leader, retaining a one-point lead over Truex.

  • Truex Dominates and Survives Overtime Restart to Win at Kentucky

    Truex Dominates and Survives Overtime Restart to Win at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Martin Truex Jr. put on a clinic in the Quaker State 400, leading the most laps and sweeping the stages, but had to out-duel the field in overtime to win for the third time this season at Kentucky Speedway.

    Restarting in overtime, Kyle Larson shoved Truex out ahead of the field and a multi-car wreck in Turn 4 coming to the white flag ended the race under caution, rendering the victory to Truex.

    It’s his 10th victory in 423 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career starts.

    Larson finished runner-up, followed by Chase Elliott on the bottom step of the podium.

    Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five.

    Erik Jones, Jamie McMurray, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-10.

    RACE RECAP

    Busch led the field to the green flag at 7:49 p.m. He led the first 29 laps before Truex edged him out at the line on Lap 30. Busch regained it the following lap, but Truex drove him back down to take it and win the first stage.

    Busch took back the lead on the ensuing Lap 88 restart exiting Turn 2. But as was the case in the first, Truex reeled him in, passed him on Lap 136 and won the second stage. Joey Logano broke up the Busch/Truex parade up front by bypassing pit road under the stage break and taking the race lead, only to lose it on Lap 171.

    Truex then built himself up a 12-second lead, only surrendering the lead under a cycle of green flag stops with 43 laps to go, which he took back with 39 to go. Kurt Busch’s blown engine on the frontstretch with two to go brought out the race’s eighth caution, setting up the overtime finish.

    CAUTIONS

    Caution flew for the first time on Lap 31 as a scheduled competition caution due to rain that pelted the track the whole weekend. The second flew on Lap 81 for the end of the first stage. The third caution flew on Lap 88 for a three-car wreck in Turn 3 involving Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson. The fourth flew on Lap 95 for a two-car wreck in Turn 2 involving Kasey Kahne and Trevor Bayne. The fifth flew on Lap 112 when Bayne went spinning in Turn 4. The sixth flew on Lap 138 when Joey Gase hit the wall in Turn 2. The seventh flew for the end of the second stage.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours, 55 minutes and 57 seconds at an average speed of 138.604 mph. There were nine lead changes among four different drivers and nine cautions for 39 laps.

    Larson leaves with a one-point lead over Truex.

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  • Cody Coughlin Nabs Top-15 Finish At Kentucky

    Cody Coughlin Nabs Top-15 Finish At Kentucky

    Cody Coughlin was able to nab a top-15 finish in Thursday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Kentucky Speedway.

    In the first stage, Coughlin finished in the 20th position after running seventh earlier in the race. In the second stage, he improved his finishing position to sixteenth.

    In the remaining laps during the final stage, Coughlin was inside the top 10 but fell back quickly after his engine let go on the back stretch. Nonetheless, he was able to get to the start/finish line to finish 15th in the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225.

    “That was a bit weird, I had no warning that was going to happen until the engine just let go,” Coughlin said. “It’s disappointing because we had another top-10 finish within our grasp. It was fun racing up there for much of the night. It was certainly wild at times. I’m glad the rain stopped and we were able to get this race in.”

    This was Coughlin’s sixth top-15 finish of his career and his fourth this year.

    Coughlin sits 13th in the driver standings after Kentucky.

  • Multi-Car Melee Rocks Initial Start of XFINITY Kentucky Race

    Multi-Car Melee Rocks Initial Start of XFINITY Kentucky Race

    SPARTA, Ky. — A combination of games played on the restart and other drivers trying to get a jump on the start resulted in a multi-car accident on the initial start of the day-late NASCAR XFINITY Series race in the Bluegrass State.

    Coming to the start/finish to take the initial start of the day-late Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway, Kyle Busch — rather than accelerate in the restart zone, as most drivers do — waited for the flagman to start the race.

    The rest of the field, probably anticipating Busch to accelerate in the restart zone, tried to time the start to get a jump on those ahead. This caused a stack up near mid-pack, resulting in Blake Koch ramming into the back of Brendan Gaughan, turning him up into the left-front wheel of Brandon Jones and came back down and made contact with Michael Annett.

    Ryan Reed received significant damage after he slammed into the back of Koch.

    Gaughan continued on in the race, only to crash out a few laps later when his car slammed the wall in Turn 2.

    Reed leaves eighth in points, 224 behind Elliott Sadler. Koch leaves 12th in points, 278 behind Elliott Sadler, with Gaughan in 13th behind 300.

  • Kyle Busch Stretches Fuel to Win in XFINITY at Kentucky

    Kyle Busch Stretches Fuel to Win in XFINITY at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Kyle Busch demonstrated new tires weren’t entirely superior to worn tires and stretched his fuel to win the day-late NASCAR XFINITY Series Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

    After caution flew with 34 laps to go, he made the decision to stay out when race leaders Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney pitted. He took off on the restart and extended his record number of victories in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

    He noted in victory lane that the win didn’t come easy and it was challenging.

    “That’s what racing is all about, these guys keep getting better and we just bide our time a little bit as well today. We did what we needed to do to be there at the end and gave it our best opportunity there. We took four tires and that kind of got us behind there with two pit stops to go and then some of those guys came in again. Obviously our car was really fast out front and once I got in clean air I didn’t think anybody had anything for us,” Busch said.

    It’s his 88th career victory in 333 XFINITY Series starts.

    Blaney rallied from an outside tire violation to finish runner-up and Jones rounded out the podium.

    Kevin Harvick and Ty Dillon rounded out the top-five.

    Joey Logano, William Byron, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top-10.

    RACE RECAP

    The field barely made it to the start/finish line for the initial start of the race before the accordion effect of stack up of cars resulted in a multi-car wreck on the frontstretch. It only went two laps green before a wreck in Turn 2, Brendan Gaughan, brought out the second caution on the eighth lap.

    The longest green flag run of the first stage was the second on the Lap 15 restart, stretching 11 laps, before caution, a scheduled competition flew on Lap 26

    On the Lap 6 restart, Jones passed teammate Busch exiting Turn 2 to take the lead and drove on to win the first stage. When he pitted under the caution, Blaney, who pitted under the competition caution, assumed the race lead and won a caution-free second stage with ease.

    With tire falloff not being as steep this weekend, he elected not to pit, as did the first 16 cars.

    Jones and Busch took the fight to Blaney on the Lap 100 restart, especially when he got loose exiting Turn 4, allowing the two of them to get to his inside. With a three-wide battle for first coming to the start/finish line, Busch edged out Jones and Blaney to retake the lead.

    When Joey Gase’s engine expired in Turn 2, spilling fluid down the backstretch, the leaders pitted, Jones took just two tires and exited with the race lead.

    Back to green on lap 137, Blaney caught him with less than 50 laps to go and spent a number of laps applying the pressure, until a solo-spin in Turn 2 by Ray Black Jr. with 34 to go brought out the eighth caution, setting up the run to the finish.

    OTHER CAUTIONS

    Paul Menard brought out a caution on Lap 104 when he got loose and rear-ended the Turn 2 wall.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours, 30 minutes and 56 seconds at an average speed of 119.258 mph. There were seven lead changes among four different drivers and eight cautions for 44 laps.

    Elliott Sadler leaves with a 45-point lead over Byron.

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  • Kyle Busch Captures Cup Series Pole at Kentucky

    Kyle Busch Captures Cup Series Pole at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Kyle Busch will lead the field to the green flag tomorrow night after winning the pole for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.

    Inclement weather forced NASCAR to cancel the final round of qualifying.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota scored the pole with a new track record time of 28.379 and a speed of 190.282 mph.

    It’s his 22nd career pole in 444 career starts.

    Martin Truex Jr. will start second with a time of 28.392 and a speed of 190.194 mph. Matt Kenseth will start third with a time of 28.460 and a speed of 189.740 mph. Jamie McMurray will start fourth with a time of 28.464 and a speed of 189.713 mph. Denny Hamlin will round out the top-five with a time of 28.468 and a speed of 189.687 mph.

    Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Daniel Suarez and Brad Keselowski will round out the top-10.

    Kyle Larson didn’t post a lap after failing to pass tech inspection on multiple tries. He’ll start 40th.

    No driver failed to make the race.

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  • XFINITY Race at Kentucky Postponed to Saturday at Noon

    XFINITY Race at Kentucky Postponed to Saturday at Noon

    SPARTA, Ky. — The NASCAR XFINITY Series Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway has been postponed to Saturday at noon ET due to rain showers approaching the track.

    Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, announced the decision, stating,  “NASCAR and Kentucky Speedway have decided to postpone tonight’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race until tomorrow. Fan safety is our No. 1 priority. Due to extreme weather forecasted deep into this evening, we did not see any opportunity to get the race completed tonight.”

    Tomorrow’s forecast has only a 10 percent chance of rain in the afternoon (Weather.com).

    Kyle Busch will lead the field to the green flag at noon. The race will be broadcast on NBCSN with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

     

  • Kyle Busch Takes Pole Position in XFINITY at Kentucky

    Kyle Busch Takes Pole Position in XFINITY at Kentucky

    SPARTA, Ky. — Kyle Busch will lead the field to the green flag tonight after winning the pole for the Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota nabbed pole position with a final round time of 29.681 and a speed of 181.935 mph. Erik Jones will start second in his No. 20 Gibbs Toyota with a final round time of 29.730 and a speed of 181.635 mph. Ryan Blaney will start third in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford with a final round time of 29.776 and a speed of 181.354 mph. Joey Logano will start fourth in his No. 22 Penske Ford with a final round time of 29.913 and a speed of 180.524 mph. William Byron rounded out the top-five in his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet with a final round time of 29.975 and a speed of 180.150 mph.

    Tyler Reddick, Brennan Poole, Cole Custer, Paul Menard and Daniel Hemric will round out the top-10.

    Kevin Harvick and Ty Dillon will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    With 43 cars entered, three — Brandon Brown, Quintillion’s Houff and Morgan Shepherd — failed to make the race.

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