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NASCAR Racing Schedule for Richmond

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the XFINITY Series head to Richmond International Raceway this weekend. All on-track action can be seen on NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra. The Camping World Truck Series is off. Please see the full schedule below.

All times are Eastern.

Thursday, Sept. 10:

On Track:

2:30-3:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – NBCSN/Live Extra
5-5:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series final Practice – NBCSN/Live Extra (Canceled due to weather)

GarageCam: (Watch live)

2 p.m.: XFINITY Series

Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

2:45 p.m.: Patrick Starpoli
3 p.m.: William Byron
3:15 p.m.: Noah Gragson
4:15 p.m.: Brian Scott

Friday, Sept. 11:

On Track:

10-11:55 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series Practice – NBCSN/Live Extra
1-2:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN/Live Extra
3:45 p.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN/Live Extra
5:45 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN/Live Extra
7:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series Virginia529 College Savings 250 (250 laps, 187.5 miles) – NBCSN/Live Extra

GarageCam: (Watch live)

12:30 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series

Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

9 a.m.: Ryan Newman
9:15 a.m.: Clint Bowyer
Noon: Carl Edwards
2:55 p.m.: Denny Hamlin
3:15 p.m.: Jeff Gordon
6:45 p.m.: Post-Sprint Cup Series Qualifying
9:30 p.m.: Post-XFINITY Series Race

Saturday, Sept. 12:

On Track:

7:30 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 (400 laps, 300 miles) – NBCSN/Live Extra

Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

10:30 p.m.: Post Sprint Cup Series Race

September 10, 2015
Carl Edwards Wins First ‘Back to Tradition’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Darlington Raceway was not your typical Southern 500. For starters, it was held on its traditional Labor Day weekend date, something diehard NASCAR fans have been clamoring for since this date was taken away from them after 2003.

It featured a new low-downforce package with aerodynamic changes as well, adding an unknown quality to the atmosphere of the 66th annual Bojangles Southern 500. Surprisingly, it was also the longest race of the year, coming in at four hours and 28 minutes, due to the high number of cautions, a record 18.

For Carl Edwards, it was a unique event, as he captured his first victory at Darlington Raceway and 25th career win. It all came down to a seamless pit stop during the 18th caution and a flawless restart that gave him the lead with eight laps remaining in the race. Edwards held off Brad Keselowski and claimed the checkered flag in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, celebrating with his own tradition, his trademark backflip.

It was a fitting victory for Edwards who has been a vocal advocate for the low-downforce setup.

“I don’t think I can get in trouble for how much I liked it, but I loved it; this is as good as it gets,” Edwards said. “This is what it’s about. We’re sliding cars, tires are falling off, this is the style of racing, if there’s any chance we can run this in the Chase, I hope we can do it. It was an awesome day.”

Although Edwards gave his pit crew credit for the win, it was a combined driver and team effort. On Lap 62, under caution, Edwards did not pit with the rest of the lead-lap cars. When he went to pit road on Lap 89, a caution for a crash involving Michael Annett trapped Edwards two laps down. It took him about 200 laps to drive his way back to the front of the field.

Edwards described the victory as “really special” and went on to say, “This is what we needed. We just needed a shot in the arm and needed to have a good night like this. All over, it’s cool.

Denny Hamlin led 57 laps, finishing third, followed by Joey Logano who led 29 laps, in fourth. Kevin Harvick led 44 laps and finished fifth.

“I hope I never forget those last 25 laps,” Edwards continued. “That was really fun, and the restart was fun, but truly racing with Brad and Kevin was a blast. I really had a good time.”

Pole-sitter Keselowski dominated much of the race, leading six times for 196 laps and finishing in second place. He spoke about the new aero package after winning the Coors Light Pole award Saturday, saying he thought that NASCAR was moving in the right direction. His failure to win the Southern 500 didn’t alter his opinion.

“It separates the race car drivers from the pretends, and that’s the way it should be,” he reiterated.

Another highlight of the Southern 500 was driver Tony Stewart who finished in 15th place but for a brief moment, had the crowd on their feet, as he took the lead on Lap 212 for 10 laps.

Kyle Busch accomplished what some doubted was possible. After missing 11 races when he was injured at the beginning of the season, he secured his spot in the Chase with a seventh place result that locked him into the top 30 in the Cup Series points standings.

“Making the Chase was something we weren’t all sure was possible after my injuries,” Busch said. “It’s a great opportunity to be with these guys on this M&M’S Crispy team. They’re working really hard at Joe Gibbs Racing, we’ve got a lot of speed, and I think all four cars have a really good shot at this championship.

“I had my hands full tonight. I think I just got a little behind on what our adjustments needed to be for the race, but our whole team just really turned this thing around, and it turned out to be a solid finish for us.”

With the return to Labor Day weekend, Darlington and NASCAR presented the first “return to tradition” spectacular at Darlington complete with new signage, ‘70s music, throwback paint schemes, a bevy of NASCAR legends including Hall of Famers and more, to a near capacity crowd. It was an event to be remembered and one that will continue through a five-year plan that promises to offer more of the same in the coming years.

Next week, the action intensifies as NASCAR travels to Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 12 for the last regular-season race before the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship playoffs begins. Television coverage will be provided by NBC Sports Network.

September 7, 2015
Denny Hamlin Captures XFINITY Win at Darlington despite Pit Stop Miscue

Denny Hamlin won the 33rd Annual VFW Sports Clip Help a Hero 200 Saturday afternoon at Darlington Raceway, claiming his 14th series victory in 152 XFINITY Series starts. It marked his third victory and eighth top-10 finish in 2015.

Hamlin led 117 of 147 laps, dominating the race with a seven second lead on the field by Lap 20. Kevin Harvick was Hamlin’s biggest threat on the track but was only able to take the lead three times for 15 laps. However, a mistake on pit road after a caution on Lap 72 left Hamlin short on fuel which meant he would have to pit early for the next pit stop.

Kyle Busch, who had started in 40th also proved to be a factor in the VFW Sports Clip Help a Hero 200. By lap 17 he had moved into the top 10 and at the end of the competition caution, Busch came out of the pits in fifth place.

Hamlin made his final pit stop on Lap 123 and with fresher tires was leaving everyone behind, forcing his rivals to pit. Daniel Suarez, who was competing for the Dash 4 Cash remained on the track with old tires, conserving fuel, and was able to hold the lead for 14 laps. But luck was on Hamlin’s side as the remainder of the race remained caution-free giving him enough time to overtake Suarez for the victory.

Kyle Busch also passed Suarez for second place giving Joe Gibbs Racing a 1-2-3 finish. The third place finish was enough for Suarez to win the Dash-4-Cash $100,000 bonus as the top finisher among those eligible.

After the race, Hamlin referred to not getting enough fuel as a “blessing in disguise.”

“We didn’t get the car completely full on the last stop. We had to short pit there,” he continued, “and with that short pit, I scraped the wall 10 laps before we pitted and I thought I had significant damage and almost a cut tire so it forced us to pit road early. Then the only kind of thing that kind of burns you there is getting caught on the racetrack when a caution comes out.”

“We were able to get through that. I didn’t think anyone could make it on fuel and then I saw those guys stretching it. The pace that we were running I knew it would be close,” Hamlin said.

“It was obviously high drama but, he noted, ”Joe Gibbs Racing obviously had pretty good odds there at the end of the race.”

Kyle Busch summarized the race, stating, “We passed a lot of cars today and kept it in one piece. Fought hard there at the end and just pit strategy kinda got mixed up a little bit there. Denny I guess was short on fuel, didn’t get it full the previous stop so stopped early and that won him the race. It got him away from all of us far enough that he could just kind of cruise there those final laps, didn’t really have to push hard and just kinda bide his time and just allow us to catch him. There wasn’t enough time for us to catch him so we come home second.”

Kevin Harvick finished fourth followed by Chris Buescher in fifth. Buescher remains the XFINITY Series points leader, increasing his lead to 29 points over Ty Dillon who finished 15th. Chase Elliott is third in points, 35 behind Buescher after engine problems led to a 24th place result.

The NASCAR XFINITY Series heads to Richmond International Raceway for its next race on Sept. 11 with television coverage on NBCSN.

Complete Results:

September 5, 2015
Keselowski Takes Coors Light Pole at Kentucky

By Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service

DARLINGTON, S.C. – With two races left before the start of the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Brad Keselowski got the momentum builder he needed with Saturday’s pole-winning effort at Darlington Raceway.

“Boy, this feels good,” said Keselowski, who toured the treacherous 1.366-mile Lady in Black in 27.492 seconds (178.874 mph) to edge Kurt Busch for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 (7 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The Coors Light Pole Award was Keselowski’s first of the season, his first at Darlington and the ninth of his career. The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion has but one top five to his credit in six previous starts at the track “Too Tough to Tame,” but NASCAR’s switch to a low-downforce configuration for this race seemed to suit the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford.

“For my team, we haven’t had, to date I would say, as strong of a year as what we had last year, and I think that kind of wears on everybody a little bit, including myself,” Keselowski said. “But I feel like we have positive momentum, and you always want to see results that showcase that, and this is one of those results that I feel like we can carry for the next 12 weeks.

“I’m just really pleased with today’s qualifying effort and the momentum we’re carrying.”

With tire fall-off a clear reality at Darlington, Busch set the fast speed of the time trials in the first round, running 179.501 mph to edge Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (179.389 mph) by .017 seconds. Through each subsequent round, the top speeds declined as tires accumulated wear, with Keselowski leading both the second and final sessions, the latter of which determines the pole winner.

Kevin Harvick, last year’s winner from the pole, qualified third at 177.415 mph, followed by Joey Logano (177.319 mph) and Jeff Gordon (177.192 mph).

Harvick, though, didn’t seem particular worried.

“I feel a lot better about it in race trim than I did in qualifying trim,” said the reigningSprint Cup champion. “We try to concentrate on that the most because there is so much falloff. The cars are going to slide around so much that I really feel like the cars need to be as manageable as you can make them throughout the night.

“It’s really not about the first two or three laps. You’ve got to be able to stay in there and be able to maneuver your car and be comfortable and keep it off the wall for at least 400 miles so that you can be around at the end. So, we’ll try to take care of our car and make sure we do everything right and get our car adjusted so that we’re ready for the last 100 miles of the race.”

There was plenty of suspense throughout the three rounds of knockout qualifying.Denny Hamlin, pole winner for Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at the Lady in Black, had to bump his way into the top 24 late in the opening round.

Three-time Darlington winner Jimmie Johnson was the last driver to punch a ticket to the second round, bumping Matt DiBenedetto by .009 seconds for the 24th spot. But Johnson’s run ended with a 19th-place run in the second session.

Trying to squeeze enough speed out of her No. 10 Chevrolet, Danica Patrick tagged the outside wall during her final run in the first round, forcing the team to roll out a backup car. Accordingly, Patrick will start from the rear of the field on Sunday.

Fast in Friday’s practice, Greg Biffle also sustained damage to his No. 16 Ford after contact with the wall in the second round. Biffle was credited with a 24th-place qualifying effort, and his team opted to try to repair the car, rather than resorting to a backup.

Note: Josh Wise, Timmy Hill and Travis Kvapil failed to make the 43-car field.

September 5, 2015
NASCAR Racing Schedule for Darlington Raceway

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the XFINITY Series head to Darlington Raceway for a Labor Day racing weekend. All on-track action can be seen on NBC, NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra. The Camping World Truck Series is off this weekend.

All times are Eastern.

Friday, Sept. 4:

On Track:

11 a.m.-12:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Practice – NBCSN/Live Extra
1-1:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – NBCSN/Live Extra
3-4:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – NBCSN/Live Extra
4:30-6:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN/Live Extra
6:30 p.m.: NASCAR America Live – NBCSN

GarageCam: (Watch live)
10:30 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series
12:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series

Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

9:40 a.m.: Chase Elliott
9:55 a.m.: Joey Logano
10:15 a.m.: Matt Kenseth
1:30 p.m.: Aric Almirola
2 p.m.: Jeff Gordon
2:30 p.m.: Bill Elliott

Saturday, Sept. 5:

On Track:

11:45 a.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN/Live Extra
1 p.m.: NASCAR America Live – NBCSN
1:45 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN/Live Extra
3 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series: Countdown to Green – NBC
3:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 (147 laps, 200.8 miles) – NBC/Live Extra

Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

2:45 p.m.: Post-Sprint Cup Series Qualifying
5:45 p.m.: Post-XFINITY Series Race

Sunday, Sept. 6:

On Track:

5 p.m.: NASCAR America Sunday – NBCSN
6 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Countdown to Green – NBCSN
7 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 (367 laps, 501.3 miles) -NBC/Live Extra
11 p.m.: NASCAR Victory Lap – NBCSN
Midnight: NASCAR Victory Lane – FOX Sports 1

Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

11 p.m.: Post-Sprint Cup Series Race

September 2, 2015
Erik Jones and Rudy Fugle Put Right Pieces Together for Road Course Success

On Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, Erik Jones checked off another box on his resume – road course race winner.

Starting from the second spot, Jones ran up front throughout the race, getting by Cole Custer on a late race restart to take the lead. He then held off Alex Tagliani in the closing laps to score the victory.

“I knew we had to clear him (Alex Tagliani) in (turn) one and if we didn’t clear him in one that (turns) two and three were going to be tough and he was obviously wanting to win bad,” Jones noted. “We raced hard and hopefully we put on a good show. It was fun to be out there and have him chase you down. It’s nerve-wracking and you’re doing all you can and wondering how he’s finding speed in some corners and you’re not. It’s just cool to see it play out like that and get the lead real late and be able to hold it off and bring home the win.”

Crew chief Rudy Fugle admits the team played a conservative strategy with the points situation but felt that they would have a shot based on the speed they had shown.

“We were right there with the 29 (Alex Tagliani) and depending on how things worked out, I knew we’d have a shot and the 00 (Cole Custer) was faster today than I thought he was going to be, so we had to deal with him. It all worked out and this is a great win up here,” he added.

Jones came into the event as one of the early race favorites as he has been strong at each track this year, but also finished third last year. He credited the team on the victory with bringing a good piece, noting that this was the same truck from last year, but just improved. Fugle noted that it starts with Toyota and Toyota Racing Development giving them the support and tools that they need.

“These races are won back at the shop and then once we get here, we see how things are going,” Fugle explained. “I have a strategy and the team comes up with a strategy with my engineer and stuff and you just keep getting – you learn more, you learn what your fuel mileage is, you learn how the tires wear and you just take a guess at it and then there’s still a little bit of feel, you know? We almost missed the first pit stop with the caution coming out right when it did – it could have been way worse. It just worked out perfect where we didn’t get hurt. Some of that is just that race feel and experience and the difference there, but it’s definitely won at the shop –everybody back there and everybody back at Toyota.”

Jones has also worked at perfecting his road course craft, going to the Ron Fellows School last year, and the Bondurant School this year.

“I saw it as if, ‘Hey, if I can get a tenth each time I go to those schools, it’s worth it,’ and I feel like I did,” he commented. “Just kind of put all that together and came here for the first year and downloaded everything and tried to get a little bit better for this year and figure out where I needed to better and where I needed to improve and just kind of figured it out as I went I guess and it’s just fun. I just always enjoyed it from the start. It wasn’t something I went out and did and was like, ‘Oh, man, I don’t like this at all,’ so it’s just something that always was fun for me and I wanted to get good at.”

For Jones, it marks his second win of the season and hands him the points lead, three points ahead of Matt Crafton. With knowledge that he will be moving up to the XFINITY Series next year with Joe Gibbs Racing, certainly scoring a truck championship before he moves up the ladder is high on the list.

September 1, 2015
Jones Cruises To Victory In Canada, Takes Points Lead

By Stephanie Wallcraft

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario – Two weeks ago in the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Alex Tagliani got turned out of the lead by Regan Smith and lost his shot at a win.

Today in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Tagliani had a chance to be the one doing the turning.

Heading into Turn 5B on the final lap, Tagliani says he was in a position to push Erik Jones aside and claim victory for himself. But he didn’t. Instead, Tagliani held back as Jones cruised to his second win of the season and vaulted to the top of the NCWTS point standings.

“If I would have stayed where I was he would have been gone in (Turn) 5B,” Tagliani said. “I don’t drive that way. I just want to continue the trend.”

Tagliani thought he would have time to take one more clean shot at Jones through the final series of turns, but a broken third gear took that chance away.

“It shredded completely,” he said. “It was pretty much good all race. I felt a couple of times it was kind of scratchy on the downshift, but no sign it was going to be bad. As soon as I put third gear on the back straight, it just went.

“I put it in fourth and it just kind of limped all the way back home.”

The 19-year-old Jones felt the pressure from veteran road course racer Tagliani down the stretch, but maintained his concentration to become the first driver to lead the entire last lap of a NCWTS race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

“It was a blast,” Jones said of the race. “It was nerve-wracking. It’s a little intense when you’ve got a guy like that running you down for 15 laps.”

It turned out that Jones and Tagliani had shared a parade truck before the race and had a philosophical discussion about racing with respect. Tagliani told Jones he knew he was in a heated points battle and that Jones didn’t have to worry about him trying the same thing Smith had done to him at Mid-Ohio.

“We had a pretty long talk about racing people the way you want to be raced,” Jones said. “I’ve never been one to want to move somebody to win a race, and he hasn’t, either. It’s nice to see that respect, especially from a veteran like that to me.

“It’s not something he had to do. It means a lot to me that he did.”

Jones worked hard to improve his road course craft coming into this weekend. Time spent at a pair of driving schools paid off, as did a strong effort by the team to improve their truck.

“We had a good truck last year, and we were able to do some improving on our Tundra to get it to where it needed to be for this year,” Jones said. “I was able to improve on myself and fix some of my mistakes this year as well and get a little bit better.”

Matt Crafton finished in second place, which keeps him second in the point standings behind Jones, who now holds a three-point advantage. Tyler Reddick, the standings leader entering the race, placed 19th and is now third (15 points behind Jones) in the championship hunt.

Ben Kennedy, Daniel Hemric, and Tagliani rounded out the top five.

Cole Custer mounted one of the strongest challenges to Jones in the late going, but contact between he and Tagliani took him out of the running with 11 laps to go. He ended up in 10th.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race – Chevrolet Silverado 250
Canadian Tire Motorsport ParkSunday, August 30, 2015

    1. (2) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 64, $64245.

    2. (3) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 64, $48243.

    3. (6) Ben Kennedy, Toyota, 64, $35572.

    4. (13) Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 64, $27034.

    5. (1) Alex Tagliani(i), Ford, 64, $26832.

    6. (9) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 64, $21752.

    7. (7) Cameron Hayley #, Toyota, 64, $21202.

    8. (14) Spencer Gallagher #, Chevrolet, 64, $20651.

    9. (12) John H. Nemechek #, Chevrolet, 64, $19661.

    10. (5) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 64, $20500.

    11. (8) Gray Gaulding, Toyota, 64, $19441.

    12. (19) Brian Wong, Toyota, 64, $16997.

    13. (18) TJ Bell(i), Chevrolet, 64, $19137.

    14. (17) Mason Mingus, Chevrolet, 64, $19027.

    15. (22) Ray Black Jr. #, Chevrolet, 64, $19406.

    16. (23) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 64, $18697.

    17. (16) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 64, $18586.

    18. (24) Korbin Forrister #, Chevrolet, 64, $18476.

    19. (4) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 62, $18367.

    20. (29) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 61, $17506.

    21. (28) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 59, $16896.

    22. (10) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 57, $15787.

    23. (15) Matt Tifft, Toyota, 56, $15566.

    24. (27) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 55, $15455.

    25. (20) John Wes Townley, Chevrolet, 54, $15551.

    26. (11) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, Accident, 43, $15346.

    27. (21) Daniel Brown, Chevrolet, 42, $15291.

    28. (25) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, Brakes, 21, $15013.

    29. (26) Justin Jennings, Chevrolet, Brakes, 12, $14958.

    30. (31) Josh Reaume(i), RAM, Engine, 10, $14458.

    31. (30) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, Engine, 0, $12958.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 83.476 mph.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 53 Mins, 07 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.665 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 5 for 13 laps.
Lead Changes: 14 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders:   A. Tagliani(i) 1-6; E. Jones # 7-12; C. Hayley # 13-25; C. Custer 26; A. Tagliani(i) 27; C. Custer 28-36; E. Jones # 37; M. Crafton 38; T. Bell(i) 39; C. Custer 40-46; E. Jones # 47; C. Custer 48-52; E. Jones # 53-61; A. Tagliani(i) 62; E. Jones # 63-64.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): C. Custer 4 times for 22 laps; E. Jones # 5 times for 19 laps; C. Hayley # 1 time for 13 laps; A. Tagliani(i) 3 times for 8 laps; M. Crafton 1 time for 1 lap; T. Bell(i) 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 10 in Points: E. Jones # – 590; M. Crafton – 587; T. Reddick – 575; J. Sauter – 535; D. Hemric # – 500; C. Hayley # – 489; T. Peters – 470; J. Townley – 466; S. Gallagher # – 452; B. Kennedy – 451.

August 30, 2015
Wisconsin Native Paul Menard Wins in Nail-biting Road America Finish

By Chris Knight

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – The decision to compete in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR XFINITY Series sixth annual Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville at Road America (Wis.) paid off in a huge way for Paul Menard who scored his third career XFINITY victory at his hometown track.

Menard, a native of Eau Claire, Wis. started eighth and saw a decision to stay out after pitting on Lap 24 work to his advantage as he edged out a relentless Ryan Blaney by 0.573 seconds at the 14-turn road course. After the contest, Menard said had the race extended a lap further, he would not have collected his first XFINITY win since Michigan International Speedway last June.

“I’ve been really fortunate to win at some of the coolest tracks, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Road America is right there,” Menard said. “These guys called a great race. We didn’t have the fastest car. We had a really good short run car. We really burned off the rear tires as we ran, but the Richmond Water Heaters / Menards Chevrolet was fast and (crew chief Danny) Stockman made a hell of a call at the end.”

If wondering about running out of fuel wasn’t enough, Menard also had to fend off a hard-charging Blaney.

“I was definitely concerned,” added Menard on both circumstances. “I was saving as much as I could under caution, but then when we fired off I was just chattering the left rear tire really bad. It took a couple of laps for it to come in, then the (No.) 22 started burning his stuff up, but it just didn’t fire off very good in the end, but it came to us.”

After inclement weather forced the cancelation of Coors Light Pole qualifying, Ben Rhodes earned the top starting spot based upon turning the fastest lap at the 4.05-mile road course in the first XFINITY Series practice session Friday afternoon.

Rhodes, a NASCAR Next alum, would find himself under pressure from the drop of the green flag when JR Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott made the move for the lead in Turn 1. Quickly, though, the field would be under the first full-course caution of the day when Tomy Drissi found himself stuck in the gravel trap in Turn 5.

Racing resumed on Lap 4 with Elliott checking out from the field and before the first round of green-flag pit stops. The reigning champion stretched his lead to over 10 seconds when he relinquished the top spot on Lap 11 for a routine pit stop.

Championship contender Ty Dillon inherited the lead when Elliott pitted. Dillon, who finished 10th, stretched his fuel run an extra lap to earn a crucial bonus point towards the championship picture.

When pit stops cycled through, Elliott reclaimed the point on Lap 16 and built a 13.7-second lead over second-place Brian Scott at the halfway mark. On Lap 22, the second caution waved for fluid on the track, erasing Elliott’s substantial advantage.

Despite half of the field electing to come to pit road for service behind them, Elliott and his JRM team stood firm on their plan and stayed out. On the restart, Elliott withstood a challenge for Brian Scott and Ryan Blaney, but in Turn 14 and through the frontstretch, Scott mounted the pressure and made the move on Elliott to take the lead on Lap 27.

Unable to make it to the end on fuel, Scott pitted under green on Lap 29 handing the lead to defending race winner Brendan Gaughan. Three laps later, though, Gaughan pitted, handing the lead to hometown hero Paul Menard who pitted during the second caution with 13 laps remaining.

Planning to stay out till the end, Menard in saving mode purposely gave up the lead to Blake Koch who led with 10 laps remaining when pole-sitter Rhodes found himself stuck in the gravel trap in Turn 7 issuing the third full course caution. During the extended caution, Koch lost power putting Menard back at the point.

On the Lap 41 restart, Menard withstood challenges from Darrell Wallace Jr. and Blaney to seal the win in his 197th career start.

Next up for the NASCAR XFINITY Series is a trip to the track dubbed “Too Tough To Tame” at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway for the VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 on Sept. 5 (3:30 p.m. ET on NBC).

NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville
Road America
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Saturday, August 29, 2015

                1. (8) Paul Menard(i), Chevrolet, 45, $44401.

               2. (3) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 45, $44938.

               3. (5) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 45, $35687.

               4. (2) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 45, $38976.

               5. (17) Darrell Wallace Jr. #, Ford, 45, $32908.

               6. (7) Boris Said, Toyota, 45, $26329.

               7. (4) Justin Marks, Chevrolet, 45, $26863.

               8. (12) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 45, $23729.

               9. (6) Chris Buescher, Ford, 45, $23450.

               10. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 45, $24122.

               11. (26) Michael Self, Chevrolet, 45, $23096.

               12. (9) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 45, $23019.

               13. (25) Dylan Lupton, Chevrolet, 45, $22919.

               14. (14) Kenny Habul, Toyota, 45, $22792.

               15. (15) Andy Lally, Chevrolet, 45, $23116.

               16. (16) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 45, $22640.

               17. (33) Kevin O’Connell, Chevrolet, 45, $16738.

               18. (23) Lawson Aschenbach, Chevrolet, 45, $22437.

               19. (24) Ryan Reed, Ford, 45, $22361.

               20. (27) David Starr, Toyota, 45, $22811.

               21. (22) Blake Koch, Toyota, 45, $22235.

               22. (20) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 45, $22189.

               23. (28) Eric McClure, Toyota, 45, $22154.

               24. (10) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, 45, $22093.

               25. (34) Tim Cowen, Ford, 45, $16172.

               26. (40) Stanton Barrett, Ford, 45, $15986.

               27. (32) Ross Chastain #, Chevrolet, 44, $21951.

               28. (11) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 44, $21921.

               29. (35) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 44, $21885.

               30. (36) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 43, $16140.

               31. (37) Roger Reuse, Chevrolet, 43, $15794.

               32. (1) Ben Rhodes, Chevrolet, 41, $21749.

               33. (18) Dylan Kwasniewski, Chevrolet, 41, $15718.

               34. (19) Dakoda Armstrong, Ford, 41, $21698.

               35. (21) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 35, $21661.

               36. (29) Tomy Drissi, Toyota, 35, $20158.

               37. (31) Cale Conley #, Toyota, Rear Gear, 22, $19158.

               38. (38) Derek White, Dodge, Transmission, 22, $12158.

               39. (39) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Brakes, 7, $11158.

               40. (30) Jeff Green, Toyota, Transmission, 2, $10158.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 77.874 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 20 Mins, 21 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.572 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 3 for 11 laps.
Lead Changes: 9 among 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders:    0; C. Elliott 1-12; T. Dillon 13; B. Gaughan 14-15; C. Elliott 16-26; B. Scott 27-29; B. Gaughan 30-31; P. Menard(i) 32-34; B. Koch 35-39; P. Menard(i) 40-45.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): C. Elliott 2 times for 23 laps; P. Menard(i) 2 times for 9 laps; B. Koch 1 time for 5 laps; B. Gaughan 2 times for 4 laps; B. Scott 1 time for 3 laps; T. Dillon 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 10 in Points: C. Buescher – 835; C. Elliott – 819; T. Dillon – 816; R. Smith – 785; E. Sadler – 750; D. Wallace Jr. # – 736; B. Scott – 723; D. Suarez # – 717; B. Gaughan – 705; R. Reed – 631.

August 29, 2015
Alex Tagliani Wins Pole at Canada

By Staff report | NASCAR.com

Wheeling the No. 29 BK Racing Ford at 110.539 mph in a second-lap attempt, road course veteran Alex Tagliani earned the Keystone Light Pole Award at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Saturday’s two-round qualifying session. The Quebec native and road course veteran shattered the previous track record with a 80.084-second lap around the track.

This marks Tagliani’s first Camping World Truck Series start of 2015.

Tagliani’s late run took the top spot away from Erik Jones, who settled for second with a fastest lap of 110.466 mph in his No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota.

Reigning series champion Matt Crafton (110.113 mph), BKR’s Tyler Reddick(110.002 mph) and JR Motorsports’ Cole Custer (109.777 mph) rounded out the top five.

Reddick led the first round, propelling his No. 19 Ford at 110.276 mph, while teammate Tagliani drafted with him.

Robert Mitten brought out the red flag in the first round of qualifying when he smacked the tire wall off Turn 8, leaving his No. 53 Dodge nearly vertical. Mitten climbed out unharmed and ultimately secured a 22nd-place starting position.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is back on track Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET for the Chevrolet Silverado 250 (FOX Sports 1).

Full qualifying results

August 29, 2015
NASCAR Racing Schedule for Road America and Canada

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is off this weekend, but the XFINITY Series will compete at Road America while the Camping World Truck Series travels to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. XFINITY Series events can be seen on NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra. All events for the Truck Series will be televised on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. Please see the full schedule below.

All times Eastern.

Friday, Aug. 28:

On Track – Road America:

2:30-3:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – NBCSN/Live Extra (Results)
4 p.m.: NASCAR America Live – NBCSN
4:30-5:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – NBCSN/Live Extra (Results)
6 p.m.: NASCAR America Live NBCSN
7 p.m.: NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour – NBCSN

Saturday, Aug 29:

On Track – Road America:

12:15 p.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN/Live Extra
2:30 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Countdown to Green – NBCSN
3 p.m.: XFINITY Series Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville (45 laps, 182.16 miles) – NBCSN/Live Extra

On Track – Canadian Tire Motorsports Park:

9:30-10:25 a.m.: Camping World Truck Series Practice – FOX Sports 1
11:35 a.m.-12:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice – FOX Sports 1
5:45 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FOX Sports 2

Sunday, Aug. 30:

On Track – Canadian Tire Motorsports Park:

1 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Setup – FOX Sports 1
1:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250 (64 laps, 157.37 miles) – FOX Sports 1

August 28, 2015