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Kenseth Wins Thriller At Dover, Tames A Wild Monster

Experience trumped exuberance on Sunday as 44-year-old Matt Kenseth was able to hold off youngsters Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott to win the Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway.

It was the Wisconsin veteran’s 37th series career victory and his third at Dover. It came after an amazing 30 lap duel between the three drivers that ended with Larson coming close but leaving with no cigar.

“We had a good car today. I thought we were competitive and there were a few guys at different parts of the race that were a little bit better and Kyle (Larson) gave me all I wanted at the end, and then some. We were fortunate to be able to hold him off.” Kenseth said.

“I was trying to do all I could do to get by him (Kenseth) without getting into him,” said Larson. “I probably could have bumped him a little bit there in the middle of (Turns) 1 and 2, but it was a lot of fun racing with Matt, there. I was just trying to be patient. I knew I was better than he was. I was probably just a little too patient there, but I’m really proud of everybody on this team.”

Larson and Elliott finished second and third, respectively, behind Kenseth, and both drivers are still hunting for their first Sprint Cup Series victory.

“I don’t know that it gets a whole lot better than that as far as a race to the finish. I’m definitely proud to be a part of it. Unfortunately we couldn’t be on the good end of it, but proud of our effort today,” Elliott said.

The battle was set up after an 18 car pileup on the restart on lap 356 as leader Jimmie Johnson couldn’t get the car into gear. Several drivers including Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Greg Biffle were caught up and could not continue their race. Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, and Johnson himself were able to continue but were no longer competitive and went laps down.

On the ensuing restart, Carl Edwards went low on Larson on the backstretch and hit the SAFER Barrier wall head-on. Edwards was later released from the infield care center.

“I was trying to give Kurt (Busch) a little room, it looked like he got choked up and as I looked at the replay it looked like I moved down a little and (Kyle) Larson got underneath me. I don’t think he meant to do it, but it surprised me. I didn’t know he was that close. We’ll just chalk it up to racing,” Edwards said.

Tony Stewart also had a problem in the final 100 laps, as his suspension failed on him setting up the bad restart. Martin Truex Jr., for the second straight week, experienced a heartbreaking loss. Truex led 47 laps and was leading with just 52 laps to go before getting caught up and receiving damage in the 18 car wreck. Finally, Kevin Harvick led the 116 of the first 120 laps before fading and only leading one other lap due to slow pit stops leaving him in traffic on restarts.

Full Results for the AAA 400 Drive For Autism
1^st Matt Kenseth
2^nd Kyle Larson
3^rd Chase Elliott
4^th Kasey Khane
5^th Kurt Busch
6^th Brad Keselowski
7^th Denny Hamlin
8^th Ryan Blaney
9^th Martin Truex Jr.
10^th Trevor Bayne
11^th Paul Menard
12^th Clint Bowyer
13^th Danica Patrick
14^th Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
15^th Kevin Harvick
16^th Ryan Newman
17^th David Ragan
18^th Chris Buescher
19^th Landon Cassill
20^th Michael McDowell
21^st Jamie McMurray
22^nd Joey Logano
23^rd A.J. Allmendinger
24^th Brian Scott
25^th Jimmie Johnson
26^th Casey Mears
27^th Cole Whitt
28^th Carl Edwards
29^th Greg Biffle
30^th Kyle Busch
31^st Aric Almirola
32^nd Dale Earnhardt Jr.
33^rd Austin Dillon
34^th Tony Stewart
35^th Jeffrey Earnhardt
36^th Josh Wise
37^th Michael Annett
38^th Reed Sorenson
39^th Reagan Smith
40^th Matt DiBenedetto

Chase Grid
1^st Kyle Busch (Three wins)
2^nd Carl Edwards (Two wins)
3^rd Jimmie Johnson (Two wins)
4^th Brad Keselowski (Two wins)
5^th Kevin Harvick (One win)
6^th Matt Kenseth (One win)
7^th Denny Hamlin (One win)

May 15, 2016
Alex Bowman Excels with Top Five Finish at Dover

There are no guarantees in life and certainly not in NASCAR. No one knows this better than Alex Bowman.

In January, he was abruptly released from his Sprint Cup ride with Tommy Baldwin Racing. The last few months have been challenging but Bowman was back at the track this weekend at Dover International Speedway.

It was the first of a nine race deal with JR Motorsports in the XFINITY Series and Bowman made the most of the opportunity. He contended for the win, leading 33 laps on his way to a third place finish in the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200.

The 23-year-old NASCAR Next alumni qualified fifth in the No. 88 Advance Auto Parts Chevy but admitted he was apprehensive after being out of a race car for seven months (except for one race in a midget car at the Chili Bowl in January).

“I was a little worried, just being so rusty,” Bowman said. “I think it was more mental really than actually like driving the race car. It was just more me being nervous. I think Friday morning, I was probably the most nervous I’ve been in years, as far as getting in the race car.”

“This is one of the toughest places we come,” he continued, “and it was kinda like, ‘Can I still do this? Am I going to mess up, make stupid mistakes or do dumb things?’

He was also concerned about the communication with crew chief Dale Elenz.

“I haven’t given feedback on a race car in seven months either, didn’t really do a good job of that throughout practice, but I think Dave overcame it and gave me a really good piece for the race.”

Bowman gave much of the credit to his team and the speed of his car as he talked about the race.

“We were a bit off in the heat race so we made some big changes and it really paid off on the long run,” he explained. “I think we were definitely the strongest long run car all day. Then in that first run catching the 20 (Erik Jones) and driving by him shows a lot about our race car.

“Those Gibbs cars have been really, really good all year so for Dave and the guys to bring a race car that can pass those Gibbs cars is more than pretty much anybody has been able to do this season. I’m really thankful for that.”

Although he was ultimately pleased with a third place finish, Bowman’s goal was a victory.

“At the end”, he said, “it was like, well, we can finish second or we can try to win the thing. So, put on four tires and tried to win it and it just wasn’t our day, we couldn’t get to them.

“Just really thankful for Advance Auto Parts to be on board. It’s been a lot of fun this weekend. I haven’t driven a race car in like seven months so it is pretty incredible to come here and run as well as we did, it means a lot. It really just shows a lot for JRM.”

Bowman is already looking forward to the next race, realizing more than ever, that each performance is crucial to his future in NASCAR. He spoke candidly about what he wants to achieve this season.

“Hopefully, my phone starts ringing and I get some more races. That’s the biggest thing. I’ve got nine races this year and at this point in my career those nine races are really going to define where it goes,” Bowman said. “I’ve spent full seasons in the Cup Series and spent full seasons in the XFINITY series. As far as the XFINITY stuff goes, I did everything but win a race. I sat on poles, we ran up front, just never put a whole race together

“I think with my experience in the Cup Series for the last two years, these nine races, I have to go win some. I have to prove that I should be here and I think winning means that.”

He concluded by saying, “I need to win races. Hopefully, this proves to the garage that I’m capable of doing that.”

Bowman’s next race will be at Pocono Raceway on June 4 for JRM. Unless, of course, someone else offers this determined young driver, a chance to do more of what he loves.

May 14, 2016
Jones Comes Out On Top In A Dash At Dover

Erik Jones ended Saturday in victory lane as he won his second NASCAR XFINITY Series race of the season in the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200 at Dover International Speedway.

This was Jones’ fourth career XFINITY Series victory, and it came after some drama. With just 10 laps to go, Brendan Gaughan spun out in turn two which brought out the caution. Of the 11 cars still on the lead lap, five stayed out including Jones while six pitted for tires. This set up a dramatic five lap run where the six cars with fresh tires tried to race their way back up to the front of the field. In the end it didn’t matter up front as Jones was able to hold off Darrell Wallace Jr. and Alex Bowman.

This was also the third XFINITY Series “Dash 4 Cash” race, after Bristol and Richmond last month. The 200 lap race was split into two 40 lap heats and a 120 lap main event. The heat races determined the starting order of the main event and each heat race determined the four “Dash 4 Cash” drivers, who may only be XFINITY Series regulars. The highest finishing of these four in the main event win $100,000. If a driver wins two “Dash 4 Cash” events in a season, it would officially count as a race victory when it comes to Chase contention.

Justin Allgaier won the first heat race after a great back and forth duel with Jones in the final 10 laps. Allgaier and Jones were the two “Dash 4 Cash” drivers from this race. The second heat race was the most newsworthy yet of any of the six “Dash 4 Cash” heat races so far. This race began with Elliott Sadler jumping the start and beating the leader to the start-finish line. Sadler was black-flagged again after speeding on his subsequent pass-through penalty and ended the heat three laps down. Sadler later rallied back from a 32nd start in the main and finished sixth.

With just a handful of laps remaining in the heat, Justin Marks became the cause of the first, and so far only, heat caution when his No. 42 Chevrolet spun out and hit the wall on the front stretch. Marks was released from the infield car center a little later. Ty Dillon was able to get around leader Daniel Suarez on the restart to win the heat, and both Dillon and Suarez were the two “Dash 4 Cash” drivers in this race.

In the end, Jones was able to win the race and win the “Dash 4 Cash” for the second time this season.

“We struggled there on the long runs and we had something going on there internally that made us not so great on the long run, but we were able to hold on because we were better than most of the rest of the field,” Jones said post race. “It ended up coming down to the short run and I knew we were in a pretty good spot on the restart and we were able to hold on from there for five more laps and get to victory lane.”

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace’s second place finish was the highest finish for an African-American driver in NASCAR XFINITY Series history. But it did not come easy for the young Roush Fenway Racing driver as he had to do it in a back-up car after damaging his primary car in a wreck during Friday’s opening practice.

Meanwhile Alex Bowman, in third place, had spent most of the race either leading or running second to Jones before pitting on the final caution. It was pretty impressive for a driver who hasn’t been in a stock car in seven months before this weekend. Bowman hopes to land another ride soon, but if not, his next race will be at Pocono in a few weeks, once again in the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

Full Results:
1^st Erik Jones
2^nd Darrell Wallace Jr.
3^rd Alex Bowman
4^th Justin Allgaier
5^th Ty Dillon
6^th Elliott Sadler
7^th Joey Logano
8^th Matt Tifft
9^th Daniel Suarez
10^th Brennan Poole
11^th J.J. Yeley
12^th Blake Koch
13^th Jeb Burton
14^th Drew Herring
15^th Brendan Gaughan
16^th Ryan Sieg
17^th Ray Black Jr.
18^th Ryan Reed
19^th BJ McLeod
20^th Ross Chastain
21^st Dakoda Armstrong
22^nd Jeremy Clements
23^rd Joey Gase
24^th Garrett Smithley
25^th Brandon Jones
26^th Timmy Hill
27^th Alex Guenette
28^th Mario Gosselin
29^th Paul Menard
30^th Travis Kvapil
31^st Ryan Ellis
32^nd Mike Harmon
33^rd Jeff Green
34^th Carl Long
35^th Derrike Cope
36^th Morgan Shepherd
37^th Josh Reaume
38^th Matt DiBenedetto
39^th Ryan Preece
40^th Justin Marks

Chase Grid for the NASCAR XFINITY Series:

Erik Jones (3* wins)- Locked in as long as he stays above 30^th in points and attempts every race until Richmond

Elliott Sadler (1 win)

*: Jones has won two “Dash 4 Cash” races, thus he technically has a bonus win on the Chase grid.

May 14, 2016
Matt The Monster: Crafton Wins At Dover

Matt Crafton won his first race of the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Friday in the JACOB Companies 200 at Dover International Speedway.

It was Crafton’s 12th career victory in the Camping World Truck Series and his first win at Dover. Daniel Suarez ended up second after competing for the win in the later stages. Fellow Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Christopher Bell finished third, Johnny Sauter ended the day fourth, and Cole Custer was able to recover from a penalty for jumping a restart while leading to round out the top five in fifth.

KBM driver and last week’s winner at Kansas William Byron inherited the pole after the scheduled qualifying session was rained out earlier in the day. Byron led the first 80 laps before John Wes Townley stayed out and led three laps under caution. Tyler Reddick took the lead after Townley pitted with one more caution lap to go and led for 39 laps before Crafton was able to get around with just 78 total laps to go. Crafton was able to hold off a charge by Suarez in the final dozen laps to win.

“I just wanted to manage just enough and I could gap (Suarez) just enough and could run hard enough to push the right front tire off,” Crafton said. “I think everybody was a little bit tight and then you’d get to somebody and you’d be really tight. Then (the lead car)’d drive away. There were a couple times (the crew) said he was seven back and within a lap-and-a-half he was three back and I thought ‘I better go now.’”

It was a frustrating end for Suarez, who has eight top five finishes in 17 starts for KBM in the Truck Series but no victories. The Monterrey, Mexico driver said after the race in the media center that “We’re here to win races” and to expect him to close in on that first win sometime soon. It was later announced that his No. 51 Toyota was found to be too high in the left rear in post-race inspection; possible penalties could be given out on Wednesday.

There were six caution flags for 29 laps in the 200 lap race. The first was for a single car accident when Austin Wayne Self spun out in turn two on lap 44. The second was when Brandon Brown lost control of his Chevrolet just a few minutes later on lap 57. Ben Rhodes tangled with fellow rookie Rico Abreu in a turn four incident on the Brown caution’s restart. CJ Faison spun in turn four on lap 81. On lap 133, Townley tagged the wall and wrecked in turn four. Finally, there was a debris caution on lap 169 to set up the finish.

Full Results:

1^st Matt Crafton

2^nd Daniel Suarez

3^rd Christopher Bell

4^th Johnny Sauter

5^th Cole Custer

6^th Spencer Gallagher

7^th Tyler Reddick

8^th Ryan Truex

9^th Daniel Hemric

10^th Kaz Grala

11^th William Bryon

12^th Matt Tifft

13^th Ben Kennedy

14^th Timothy Peters

15^th John Hunter Nemechek

16^th Nick Drake

17^th Austin Hill

18^th Jordan Anderson

19^th Cameron Hayley

20^th Brandon Jones

21^st Tyler Young

22^nd Rico Abreu

23^rd Travis Kvapil

24^th Tommy Joe Martins

25^th CJ Faison

26^th Bobby Pierce

27^th Parker Kligerman

28^th Ben Rhodes

29^th John Wes Townley

30^th Jennifer Jo Cobb

31^st Brandon Brown

32^nd Austin Wayne Self

Camping World Truck Series Chase Grid

With Crafton’s first victory of the season, he has now joined the grid (Ordered by points):

Matt Crafton-1 win

William Byron-1 win

John Hunter Nemechek-1 win

Johnny Sauter- 1 win

May 13, 2016
Monsoon Mile: Qualifying Rained Out For The Sprint Cup Series At Dover

Kevin Harvick will start Sunday’s Sprint Cup race on the pole after qualifying was rained out at Dover International Speedway on Friday.

The field for Sunday’s race, as per the NASCAR rule book, was determined by the most recent practice session. Harvick was the fastest on Friday’s lone Sprint Cup practice session and will thus start on pole. Fellow Chevrolet driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. will begin the race opposite Harvick on the front row. Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top five.

Harvick returns to Dover for the first time since his dominating victory last fall. Going into the day all but needing to win to advance to the next round of the Chase, Harvick responded by leading 355 laps in route to a dominant first win at the “Monster Mile”. He also enters this race as the Sprint Cup Series points leader, with nine top 10s in the first 11 races this season.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. comes into Sunday riding a streak of eight straight top twenties at Dover but only one win 15 years ago. Earnhardt Jr. currently sits ninth in Sprint Cup Series points, ridding off the strength of three second place finishes.

Practice was also marked by a massive wreck between Danica Patrick, Tony Stewart, and Jamie McMurray. Something broke on Patrick’s car while exiting turn 4 and she spun down the front stretch while the rear of her Chevrolet caught on fire. Stewart slammed the outside wall before getting caught in Patrick’s leaked oil and smacked the inside wall hard. Meanwhile McMurray also hit the wall hard but was able to avoid the oil. All three hit walls that were not protected by SAFER barriers. All three drivers were checked and released from the media center, but the session was delayed for half an hour for repairs.

Full starting lineup for the AAA 400 Drive For Autism at Dover International Speedway:
1^st Kevin Harvick
2^nd Dale Earnhardt Jr.
3^rd Kyle Busch
4^th Carl Edwards
5^th Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
6^thDenny Hamlin
7^th Martin Truex Jr.
8^th Ryan Newman
9^th Kurt Busch
10^th Matt Kenseth
11^th Kasey Kahne
12^th Austin Dillon
13^th Chase Elliott
14^th Brad Keselowski
15^th Aric Almirola
16^th Greg Biffle
17^th Brian Scott
18^th Ryan Blaney
19^th Paul Menard
20^th AJ Allmendinger
21^st Jimmie Johnson
22^nd Joey Logano
23^rd Kyle Larson
24^th Jamie McMurray
25^th Trevor Bayne
26^th Casey Mears
27^th David Ragan
28^th Michael McDowell
29^th Matt DiBenedetto
30^th Chris Buescher
31^st Danica Patrick
32^nd Clint Bowyer
33^rd Regan Smith
34^th Tony Stewart
35^th Landon Cassill
36^th Cole Whitt
37^th Michael Annett
38^th Reed Sorenson
39^th Jeffrey Earnhardt
40^th Josh Wise

Although McMurray, Patrick, and Stewart will be going to back-up cars, they will not go to the back as NASCAR rules dictate a team can go to a back-up car as long as they switch before qualifying.

May 13, 2016
NASCAR Racing Schedule for Dover

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, XFINITY Series and the Camping World Truck Series travel to Dover International Speedway this weekend. Please check below for the complete schedule of events.

All times are Eastern.

Thursday, May 12:

On Track:
2-2:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Practice
4-4:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice

Friday, May, 13:

On Track:
10-10:55 a.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – FS1
11 a.m.-12:20 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Practice – FS1
12:30-1:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – FS1
2:15 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
3:45 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
5:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series JACOB Companies 200 (200 laps, 200 miles) – FS1

Garage Cam: (Watch live)
10:30 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series

Press Conferences: (Watch live)
8:45 a.m.: Brendan Gaughan
9:00 a.m.: Joey Logano
9:15 a.m.: Ty Dillon
9:30 a.m.: Martin Truex Jr.
12:45 p.m.: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
1:15 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson
5 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Post-Qualifying
7:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Post-Race (time approx)

Saturday, May 14:

On Track:
9:30 -10:25 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series Second Practice – FS1
10:45 a.m.: XFINITY Series Qualifying – FS1
12:30-1:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice – FS2
2 p.m.: XFINITY Series Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200 Heat #1 (40 laps, 40 miles) – FOX
2:50 p.m. (approx): XFINITY Series Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200 Heat #2 (40 laps, 40 miles) – FOX
3:30 p.m. (approx): XFINITY Series Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200 main race (120 laps, 120 miles) – FOX

Press Conferences: (Watch live)
4:30 p.m.: XFINITY Post-Race (time approx)

Sunday, May 15:

On Track:
1 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 Drive for Autism (400 laps, 400 miles) – FS1

Press Conferences: (Watch live)
4:30 p.m.: Sprint Cup Post-Race (time approx)

Additional Info:

Complete NASCAR TV Schedule

Special NASCAR Programming:

“NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed” – Sunday, May 15 at 9 p.m. ET on CMT

May 11, 2016
Contenders Taken Out in Late Race Wreck

Several strong cars were taken out of contention in a wreck in the closing stages of last night’s race.

A lap after the penultimate restart, Denny Hamlin threaded the needle going between Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson entering turn 3. This pulled the air off of the No. 2 Ford and sent Keselowski spinning. Likewise, doing so also sent Hamlin spinning. He got into the side of Larson and put him into the wall. Hamlin continued spinning and rear-ended the wall. Blinded by the enveloping smoke, Joey Logano t-boned the drivers side of the No. 11 Toyota.

“I had a huge run off of turn two and I was going to go low on the on 2 (Keselowski), but he went to block, so I went through the middle and I didn’t let off into turn three,” Hamlin said on what caused the accident. “I went through the middle of them and I either got touched from the 2 or I got loose underneath the 42 (Larson). I’m not sure really until I get a good look at it honestly.

“I was going in there three-wide. I wasn’t letting off and the 42 was just too close up there. It wasn’t his fault by any means, but we were both trying to drive in there to clear each other and I just got loose and I mean that’s crazy there was no contact, but both me and 2 (Brad Keselowski) got loose there. Shame – I just screwed us on pit road twice. Our car was a fast car today. Just didn’t show it. We were just in the back because I sped twice. I’ve got to get better on pit lane to give us a chance and then I was just going for it there because I knew our car had some speed. I was on two tires and the guys in front of me were on none or two. I was just going for it. I’ve got the win and that’s part of this format is going for it and that’s what we did.”

“I think everybody got a glimpse of just how important and how impactful the air is to the race cars,” Keselowski said speaking on the wreck. “We just all went down in the corner and the air spun us all out just with the positioning we had. It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.”

“It just looked like the 2 got loose and then the 11 got loose,” Logano said. “I was hoping the 11 would come down the hill and when you’re in the smoke you can’t see anything. I hit the wall, so I knew where that was and I just kept riding and riding and hoping the 11 would come down the hill because I couldn’t see and he stayed up there and I got him right in the door. It’s unfortunate. It’s just racing. Things happen sometimes.”

Keselowski brought his car home to a 10th-place finish while Larson finished 35th, Hamlin finished 37th and Logano finished 38th.

Keselowski leaves sixth in points, Logano leaves seventh, Hamlin leaves 13th and Larson leaves 21st.

May 8, 2016
Kyle Busch Bowls Winning Strike at Kansas

While the yellow brick road didn’t lead to the Emerald City tonight, it did lead Kyle Busch to victory lane in America’s heartland.

The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 69 laps and was up front when it counted to take the checkered flag in the GoBowling.com 400 at Kansas Speedway. It’s his 37th career victory in the Sprint Cup Series, his third of the season and his first at Kansas.

“This is pretty big – man, there’s been a lot of rough days here at Kansas, that’s for sure,” Busch said. “A lot of good ones too, but I just can’t say enough about this team and everyone on this M&M’s Camry, this thing was awesome tonight. At the beginning and middle part of the race we weren’t great, but Adam Stevens (crew chief) and the guys, they just kept working on it. The 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) was probably the fastest car, but we kept ourselves in the game. It was pretty impressive.”

Kevin Harvick finished second in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet while Kurt Busch rounded out the podium in his No. 41 SHR Chevrolet.

“For whatever reason I got tight, I hit a big piece of debris down there about six or seven laps into the run,” Harvick said of those final laps chasing down Kyle Busch. “From that point on I just got really tight…We overhauled this thing this morning to try to get it close. They did a great job.”

“We battled hard,” Busch said of his night. “I was trying to find all the different lines on the track to find speed. We did a lot of things good and to win you’ve got to be great. We are right there, we are knocking on the door, but thanks to Haas Automation, Monster Energy, Chevrolet, everybody at Stewart-Haas it’s a great second and third place finish. We always want to win and we have been doing really good with this Tony Gibson (crew chief) led team.”

Matt Kenseth led three laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 20 JGR Toyota.

“It’s our best finish of the year so that’s the bright side,” Kenseth said. “I’m sort of happy for Kyle (Busch) and Adam (Stevens, 18 crew chief), but seriously happy for everyone at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing). Martin (Truex Jr.) had them covered and I don’t know what happened to him in the pits or whatever. We were about a second to fourth-place car most of the day. I thought we were as good as the 18 (Busch) if we could have had the position, but it was tough to stick on that bottom. I tried something different there to try to lay back and get the pass, but once they were single file I couldn’t go get them. We were just a little off, but these guys had great pit stops and great adjustments and we seem to be getting closer.”

Ryan Blaney was the highest finishing rookie as he rounded out the top-five in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford.

“We started off the race really, really good, and I thought that’s when we were the strongest – when the sun was up and the track was a little bit hotter,” Blaney said. “We were really strong and then as the night came and it cooled off a little bit, we lost a little bit of speed. I felt like everyone kind of gained grip and got better and we lost a little bit. It took us a while to try to get that back. We got it closer towards the end there, but it was still a decent finish for us. We got some spots with that little accident, but we were up there all day. It was just a good day for us, a good night and something to build off of for sure.”

Austin Dillon finished sixth in his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Ryan Newman finished seventh in his No. 31 RCR Chevrolet followed by AJ Allmendinger who finished eighth in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet. Chase Elliott finished ninth in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-10 in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford.

“It was a long night,” Keselowski said. “We had so much long run speed, but weren’t where we wanted to be on the short runs, so we would kind of lose track position and then gain it back at the end. We kind of clawed our way up into that fifth to 10th range and stalled out there a couple times. With about 30 to go we made a great strategy call that got us up to fourth with fresh tires, and it looked like we were gonna have a shot to give Kyle a run for the race win and kind of got caught up there in turn three battling for second, so that kind of put us in the back. We drove back up to 10th in the last 20 laps from 17th or whatever, so it was up and down.”

Martin Truex Jr., who led race-high of 172 laps, had a loose wheel on his final stop and finished a disappointing 14th.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Truex said on the loose wheel. “Went around (turns) one and two and I was like, ‘Wheels loose.’ I kept telling myself that maybe it’s not me, maybe it’s just shaking because it has tape on it or something stupid. It was loose and I knew it right away. Frustrating, but that’s how it goes.”

The race lasted two hours, 49 minutes and 20 seconds at an average speed of 141.909 mph. There were 16 lead changes among 10 different drivers and six cautions for 30 laps.

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May 7, 2016
William Byron wins in Trucks at Kansas

William Byron was up front when it mattered in the end to score his maiden victory in NASCAR in America’s heartland.

The driver of the No. 9 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota took advantage of Ben Rhodes getting into race leader Johnny Sauter going into turn 3 on the final lap to win the Toyota Tundra 250 at Kansas Speedway. It’s the first career victory in the Camping World Truck Series for the 18 year old out of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Matt Crafton led a race high of 57 laps on his way to a runner-up finish in his No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota. Daniel Hemric rounds out the podium in his No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford. Christopher Bell led five laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 4 KBM Toyota. Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five in his No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet.

Ryan Truex finished sixth in his No. 81 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota. Cole Custer finished seventh in his No. 00 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Timothy Peters led one lap on his way to an eighth-place finish in his No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota. Ben Kennedy finished ninth in his No. 33 GMSR Chevrolet. Spencer Gallagher rounded out the top-10 in his No. 23 GMSR Chevrolet.

The race lasted two hours and 21 minutes at an average speed of 108.511 mph. There were 19 lead changes among nine different drivers and 11 cautions for 47 laps.

Peters leaves Kansas with an eight-point lead over Hemric in the point standings.

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May 7, 2016
Martin Truex Jr. on the Pole for Kansas

Martin Truex Jr. will lead the field to the green flag for tomorrow’s race in America’s heartland.

The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota scored the pole for the GoBowling.com 400 at Kansas Speedway with a time of 28.284 and a speed of 190.921 mph. It’s his eighth career pole and first of 2016.

“Thought it was good,” Truex said of his qualifying run. “Feels good to be getting another pole – it’s been a long time. I think I’ve got a XFINITY Series pole here at Kansas back in about ’05, so it’s been a little while here at Kansas and it’s been a few years in the Cup Series altogether. We’ve been really close with our Furniture Row team the past few years. We’ve qualified second a handful of times and been just right there at it. We’ve led the first round. We’ve led the second round. We just haven’t quite figured out how to lead that third round, so today just really proud of everyone at Furniture Row Racing. Bass Pro Shops/ TRACKER Boats Toyota was really good all day long and just can’t say enough about my team and what we have going on right now. Our Toyotas are really fast. Everybody at TRD (Toyota Racing Development) is giving us great engines and just doing all the things it takes to have fast race cars and that’s what it takes to get poles. Excited to be here. Excited for all of our guys and Barney (Visser, team owner) and just everyone in general for all they do and hopefully we’ll be able to finish the deal here tomorrow night.”

Matt Kenseth will start second in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota after posting a time of 28.337 and a speed of 190.564 mph. Denny Hamlin will start third in his No. 11 JGR Toyota after posting a time of 28.361 and a speed of 190.402 mph. Kurt Busch will start fourth in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 28.401 and a speed of 190.134 mph.

“I told them to write down the driver needs to get (Turns) 3 and 4 done better so that our lap times can improve,” Busch said. “I felt like I overdrove Turn 3 and I could feel the engine bog down a little bit off of 4 just because I killed the speed, I killed the momentum of the car. I didn’t quite carry it smoothly through 3 and 4. One and 2 was alright, but all-in-all the Haas Automation/Monster Energy Chevy, it feels good to be the top Chevy.”

Brad Keselowski will round out the top-five starters in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford after posting a time of 28.435 and a speed of 189.907 mph.

Kyle Busch will start sixth in his No. 18 JGR Toyota. Ryan Blaney will start seventh in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford. Ryan Newman will start eighth in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

“Well, it was a decent run,” Newman said. “I’m okay with starting eighth. Track position is going to be important during the race. We’ve had a solid day and we have a good Grainger Chevy. I’m happy for my buddy, (Martin Truex, Jr.) even though he’s not the right brand, congrats to him.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will start ninth in his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

“That’s our goal in qualifying every week now, short track or mile-and-a-half, is to qualify in the top 10,” Stenhouse said. “We’re a little bit better at it at the mile-and-a-half for sure, but we had a little mishap there in the first round. I had to go out twice or I think we could have been a little higher in that final round. We got a little extra run on the tires there that first round, so that was a bummer.

“We did make some changes right before we switched to qualifying trim that I think made a good direction for our car and it actually ran faster and was a little bit better for us on the long run, so I’m excited to look at that and try to put all the pieces together and make the right adjustments for tomorrow night,” Stenhouse added.

Trevor Bayne will round out the top-10 starters in his No. 6 RFR Ford.

Paul Menard will start 11th in his No. 27 RCR Chevrolet. Carl Edwards will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying in his No. 19 JGR Toyota.

Forty cars were entered, so no driver was sent home.

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May 6, 2016