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Logano Holds Off Harvick to Defend Bristol Night Race Title

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

BRISTOL, Tenn. – With Kevin Harvick hounding him mercilessly for 63 laps, Joey Logano kept his No. 22 Team Penske Ford out front after taking the lead on a Lap 438 restart and held on to win Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.Successfully defending last year’s victory at Thunder Valley, Logano won his third race of the season, his second at the .533-mile short track and the 11th of his career.Harvick recovered from two pit road speeding penalties to finish second, a mere .220 seconds behind Logano. Polesitter Denny Hamlin ran third, and Clint Bowyer got a much-needed fourth place result in his No. 15 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota.

It was a fascinating Chase over the final 63 laps, as Harvick would bury his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet into the corner at the top of the track, catch Logano in the turns and watch as Logano dived to the bottom on corner exit and pull away.

“There’s not much time to look in the rearview mirror, but I realized how different his line was than mine,” Logano said. “He’d drive in so hard and almost get to my back bumper, and then I’d drive off really good.

“It’s kind of interesting to watch a race like that when two cars are a similar speed, but in two completely different ways. That’s what’s so fun about Bristol is you can drive the car about five or six different ways and make it fast, so it’s fun to race here.”

Harvick said Logano’s ability to diamond the corner gave the Ford an advantage when it came to working traffic.

“He was just one step ahead of me in traffic,” Harvick said. “I couldn’t get my car to rotate across the center like I needed it to, and every time I tried to force it, it would snap the back out. He was able to go in really high and before the center of the corner drive down the corner and I was just having to wait just a split second to be able to put the throttle back down, and I couldn’t do that, that huge diamond all the way to the bottom like he could, and that was really beneficial for him through traffic…

“He was able to get those huge runs up off the exit of the corner and just stayed one step ahead of me through traffic, I felt like, and in clean air we probably were a little faster, but it didn’t really matter. I had to be in front of him to show that.”

Brad Keselowski came home fifth, followed by Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch, who led a race-high 192 laps but was hit with a pit road speeding penalty on his last stop under yellow on Lap 432.

Logano took over from there and racked up 176 laps out front in a race that saw 14 lead changes among five drivers. The runner-up finish was Harvick’s 10th of the season.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished ninth, followed by Ryan Newman and Jamie McMurray, who solidified their positions in the fight for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup berths on points. McMurray and Newman are 10th and 11th in the standings, respectively, the highest-scored drivers without a victory this season.

Given that there have been only 11 different winners in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this year, at least three drivers are certain to qualify for the Chase on points.

Kyle Busch, a four-time winner, and 29th in the standings, also moved closer to locking up a Chase berth, padding his advantage to 46 points over 31st-place Cole Whitt. Busch, who missed the first 11 events of the season because of injury, must remain in the top 30 for the next two races to qualify for the Chase.

Busch wasn’t pleased when NASCAR flagged him for the speeding penalty, but he made a masterful drive from the rear of the field to eighth place.

“I was proud of Kyle, keeping his cool and getting back up, because I think that gave us some more points, some more cushion there,” team owner Joe Gibbs said. “I think he’s doing a really good job of focusing and not losing his poise.”

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race – IRWIN Tools Night Race
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, Tennessee
Saturday, August 22, 2015

1. (5) Joey Logano, Ford, 500, $365198.
2. (7) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 500, $262605.
3. (1) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 500, $195330.
4. (10) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 500, $190166.
5. (9) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 500, $166213.
6. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 500, $167786.
7. (3) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 500, $121995.
8. (2) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 500, $175286.
9. (20) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 500, $135970.
10. (18) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 500, $145670.
11. (21) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 500, $142826.
12. (14) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 500, $138468.
13. (16) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 500, $147896.
14. (11) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 499, $124060.
15. (22) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 498, $150985.
16. (19) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 498, $122685.
17. (31) Aric Almirola, Ford, 497, $150171.
18. (26) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 497, $133905.
19. (40) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 497, $134049.
20. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 496, $151521.
21. (8) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 496, $113535.
22. (15) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 496, $101285.
23. (28) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 496, $128468.
24. (29) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 496, $111635.
25. (17) Greg Biffle, Ford, 496, $134018.
26. (25) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 495, $130818.
27. (32) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 495, $109440.
28. (23) Martin Truex Jr, Chevrolet, 495, $127175.
29. (33) Cole Whitt, Ford, 495, $112278.
30. (27) Brett Moffitt #, Ford, 495, $103385.
31. (30) Michael McDowell, Ford, 495, $97275.
32. (36) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 494, $109712.
33. (42) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 493, $99555.
34. (38) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, 492, $96895.
35. (34) Josh Wise, Ford, 491, $96760.
36. (37) David Gilliland, Ford, 488, $104675.
37. (43) Mike Bliss(i), Chevrolet, 486, $96505.
38. (39) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 480, $91228.
39. (41) Timmy Hill(i), Ford, 476, $87165.
40. (4) David Ragan, Toyota, Accident, 443, $110479.
41. (12) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Accident, 356, $107073.
42. (13) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, Engine, 110, $112101.
43. (35) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, Engine, 0, $71665.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 96.89 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 45 Mins, 02 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.220 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 52 laps.
Lead Changes: 14 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders: D. Hamlin 1-26; Kyle Busch 27-52; D. Hamlin 53; Kyle Busch 54-127; D. Hamlin 128-154; Kyle Busch 155-224; J. Logano 225-252; C. Edwards 253-280; Kyle Busch 281-302; C. Edwards 303-345; J. Logano 346-350; C. Edwards 351-353; J. Logano 354-432; B. Keselowski 433-436; J. Logano 437-500.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Busch 4 times for 192 laps; J. Logano 4 times for 176 laps; C. Edwards 3 times for 74 laps; D. Hamlin 3 times for 54 laps; B. Keselowski 1 time for 4 laps.

Top 16 in Points: K. Harvick – 908; J. Logano – 865; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 819; B. Keselowski – 793; J. Johnson – 792; M. Truex Jr – 771; M. Kenseth – 753; Kurt Busch – 713; D. Hamlin – 712; J. McMurray – 696; R. Newman – 683; P. Menard – 674; J. Gordon – 672; C. Edwards – 666; C. Bowyer – 655; A. Almirola – 620.

August 22, 2015
Kyle Busch Grabs Overtime XFINITY Win at Bristol

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

BRISTOL, Tenn. – When Chris Buescher’s Ford faltered on a green-white-checkered restart on Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch took full advantage, as is his custom.

In a Food City 300 that went to two laps of overtime at the .533-mile short track, Busch finished .427 seconds ahead of Kyle Larson, as Buescher faded to 11th after his car failed to pick up fuel off Turn 2 of the next-to-last lap.

The victory was Busch’s third of the season in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, his eighth at Bristol and the 73rd of his career, extending his own series record.

“This is home—this is where I’m supposed to be,” Busch said, standing outside the car in Victory Lane. “I wish I was here Wednesday night (after the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race), so we could continue the sweep lookout for (Saturday), but that was a second place. Oh, well.”

Polesitter Denny Hamlin ran third, followed by Ty Dillon and Daniel Suarez, who got a bonus for his top-five run. As the highest finishing eligible driver in the XFINITY Dash 4 Cash program, Suarez picked up an extra $100,000.

Pit strategy put Buescher at the front of the field under the fourth caution of the race, caused by Cale Conley’s spin in Turn 4. Staying out on older tires while most of the lead-lap cars came to pit road for fresh rubber and fuel, Buescher nevertheless pulled away from Busch during a succession of restarts, as Busch saved his equipment for what he thought would be the inevitable late-race caution.

“I let the 60 (Buescher) go,” Busch said. “He ran out there to about a straightaway on us, and I was just trying to save and do what I could to keep my tires underneath me. I knew we were going to get some cautions at the end to bunch us back up, and fortunately we did.

“I wasn’t sure they were going to make it on fuel (having pitted on lap 131 of 302), and obviously they cut it close—a little too close.”

Busch got the yellow he needed, just in time. Brad Teague’s wreck on the frontstretch with five laps left set up the green-white-checkered and gave Busch the chance he needed.

Buescher, who saw his series lead shrink to 19 points over Ty Dillon, knew he could have made it to the end on fuel, had the race not gone to overtime.

NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Food City 300
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, Tennessee
Friday, August 21, 2015

1. (2) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 302, $53821.
2. (7) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 302, $39921.
3. (1) Denny Hamlin(i), Toyota, 302, $40792.
4. (11) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 302, $34852.
5. (9) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, 302, $34467.
6. (4) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 302, $30854.
7. (10) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 302, $31485.
8. (3) Kevin Harvick(i), Chevrolet, 302, $24344.
9. (12) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 302, $30097.
10. (15) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 302, $30769.
11. (5) Chris Buescher, Ford, 302, $31717.
12. (14) Darrell Wallace Jr. #, Ford, 302, $29516.
13. (13) Brandon Jones(i), Chevrolet, 302, $29416.
14. (27) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 302, $29350.
15. (16) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 302, $29904.
16. (19) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 302, $29269.
17. (21) Ross Chastain #, Chevrolet, 302, $29224.
18. (20) Cale Conley #, Toyota, 301, $29178.
19. (18) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 299, $29143.
20. (32) David Starr, Toyota, 298, $29603.
21. (29) Blake Koch, Toyota, 298, $29037.
22. (6) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 297, $28987.
23. (24) John Wes Townley(i), Chevrolet, 297, $28926.
24. (22) Dakoda Armstrong, Ford, 297, $28865.
25. (17) Ryan Reed, Ford, 295, $28955.
26. (40) Brad Teague, Toyota, 291, $28739.
27. (33) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 289, $28678.
28. (37) Ryan Ellis(i), Chevrolet, 288, $28588.
29. (25) Hermie Sadler III, Toyota, 287, $28547.
30. (36) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 275, $22802.
31. (8) Elliott Sadler, Ford, Accident, 254, $28461.
32. (28) Dylan Kwasniewski, Chevrolet, Accident, 253, $28391.
33. (34) Eric McClure, Toyota, 252, $28366.
34. (23) Harrison Rhodes #, Chevrolet, Accident, 247, $28345.
35. (30) Mario Gosselin, Chevrolet, Handling, 180, $28318.
36. (38) Jordan Anderson(i), Dodge, 170, $20227.
37. (26) Benny Gordon, Toyota, Electrical, 65, $19227.
38. (39) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Brakes, 28, $18227.
39. (35) Carl Long, Dodge, Handling, 22, $17227.
40. (31) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 3, $16227.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 86.27 mph.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 51 Mins, 57 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.426 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 52 laps.
Lead Changes: 10 among 4 drivers.

Lap Leaders: D. Hamlin(i) 1-2; K. Busch(i) 3-12; D. Hamlin(i) 13-26; K. Busch(i) 27-54; D. Hamlin(i) 55; K. Busch(i) 56-104; D. Hamlin(i) 105-124; K. Harvick(i) 125; D. Hamlin(i) 126-194; C. Buescher 195-300; K. Busch(i) 301-302.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): D. Hamlin(i) 5 times for 106 laps; C. Buescher 1 time for 106 laps; K. Busch(i) 4 times for 89 laps; K. Harvick(i) 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 10 in Points: C. Buescher – 800; T. Dillon – 781; C. Elliott – 777; R. Smith – 749; E. Sadler – 718; D. Suarez # – 697; D. Wallace Jr. # – 697; B. Scott – 681; B. Gaughan – 676; R. Reed – 606.

August 21, 2015
Hamlin Wins Coors Light Pole at Bristol

By Reid Spencer|NASCAR Wire Service

BRISTOL, Tenn. – If it’s pole day in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Joe Gibbs Racing must be celebrating.

Denny Hamlin powered his No. 11 Toyota around .533-mile Bristol Motor Speedway in 14.602 seconds (131.407 mph) on Friday to win the pole for Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race (on NBCSN at 7:30 p.m. ET).

In breaking Kevin Harvick’s August 2014 track qualifying record by .005 seconds, Hamlin won his second Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his third at Bristol and the 22nd of his career.

JGR swept the top three spots in qualifying for the second straight week, having accomplished the feat last Saturday on the two-mile track at Michigan International Speedway. The pole was JGR’s fifth straight on an oval track (AJ Allmendinger, in a JTG Daugherty Chevrolet, claimed the top starting spot for the Aug. 9 race on the road course at Watkins Glen).

Hamlin edged teammate Kyle Busch (131.263 mph) by .016 seconds. Carl Edwards (130.655 mph) took the third starting spot, followed by David Ragan in a Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota (130.460 mph) and Joey Logano in a Team Penske Ford (130.344 mph).

Hamlin also won the pole for Friday night’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race.

“To have that two nights in a row here is hopefully going to pay dividends,” Hamlin said. “We’re excited. Bristol’s been a great track for me in the past, and we’ve got nothing to lose this weekend, just gearing up for the Chase, so I think our FedEx team’s ready.”

Hamlin has a victory at Bristol in addition to his two poles, and with a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup position guaranteed by virtue of his victory at Martinsville in April, he can go all-out for a win on Saturday night without fear of consequences.

Busch fought handling issues in the final two rounds of knockout qualifying and went for broke on his final attempt in the last round.

“We were just a little too free there the second segment and the first run of the third segment,” Busch said. “It’s a little edgy up there, so you try not to push too hard, but still make a good lap and come back safely.

“Then there at the end we tried a ‘Hail Mary’ and it worked. It picked us up speed, but it didn’t pick us up that spot.”

Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Clint Bowyer andJimmie Johnson grabbed the sixth through 10th spots on the grid, respectively. The qualifying effort was Stenhouse’s best of the year.

Jeff Gordon will start 24^th in his last race at Bristol as a full-time Sprint Cup driver.

Travis Kvapil, Jeb Burton and Reed Sorenson failed to make the 43-car field.

Irwin Tools Night Race Starting Lineup:

August 21, 2015
NASCAR Racing Schedule for Bristol Motor Speedway

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series all head to Bristol Motor Speedway this week. Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series practices, qualifying sessions and races can be seen on NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra. Camping World Truck Series events will be televised on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. Please see the full schedule below.

All times are Eastern.

Wednesday, Aug. 19:

On Track:

11 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series final practice – FOX Sports 1
4:45 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FOX Sports 2
5 p.m.: NASCAR America – NBCSN
6 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub – FOX Sports 1
6:15 p.m.: Whelen Modified Tour Bush’s Beans 150 (150 laps, 79.95 miles)
8:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series UNOH 200 presented by ZLOOP (200 laps, 106.6 miles) – FOX Sports 1

Friday, Aug. 21:

On Track:

9-11:25 a.m.: XFINITY Series final practice – NBCSN/Live Extra
11:30 a.m.-12:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series practice – NBCSN/Live Extra
1:30-2:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series final practice, NBCSN/Live Extra
3:45 p.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN/Live Extra
5 p.m.: NASCAR America Live – NBCSN
5:45 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN/Live Extra
7 p.m.: XFINITY Series Countdown to Green – NBCSN
7:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series Food City 300 (300 laps, 159.9 miles) – NBCSN/Live Extra

Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

10:15 a.m.: AJ Allmendinger
10:30 a.m.: Matt Kenseth
10:45 a.m.: Clint Bowyer
1 p.m.: Elliott Sadler
3:30 p.m.: Jeff Gordon
6:45 p.m.: Post-NSCS Qualifying Press Conference
9:45 p.m.: Post-NXS Race Press Conference

Saturday, Aug. 22:

On Track:

5 p.m.: NASCAR RaceDay: Bristol – FOX Sports 2
6 p.m.: NASCAR America Saturday – NBCSN
7 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series: Countdown to Green – NBCSN
7:30 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Irwin Tools Night Race (500 laps, 266.5 miles) – NBCSN/Live Extra
11 p.m.: NASCAR Post-Race Show – NBCSN
Midnight: NASCAR Victory Lane – FOX Sports 1

Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

10:45 p.m.: Post-NSCS Race Press Conferences

August 20, 2015
Ryan Blaney Battles Back From Penalty for Thrilling Victory at Bristol

By Chris Knight
NASCAR Wire Service

BRISTOL, Tenn – A spin with four laps to go in Wednesday night’s UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway proved to be the saving grace for Brad Keselowski Racing’s Ryan Blaney, who grabbed the lead on a green-white-checkered restart to win his first race of the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season.

Blaney recovered from an early race penalty for jumping a restart to find himself closing on leader Matt Crafton with five laps remaining. When Ty Dillon spun on Lap 196, it triggered the final caution of the night and the opportunity for Blaney to steal Crafton’s thunder. On the final restart, Crafton’s truck sputtered, failing to come up to speed, allowing Blaney to take off and seal his fourth career NCWTS victory.

“It feels really good,” Blaney said. “I’m proud of everyone on this No. 29 team. I’ve had a chance to drive this truck four times this year and we’ve come really, really close every single time and to finally get it to Victory Lane, my last start of the year for this truck, it really means a lot to get Chad (Kendrick, crew chief) and Brad (Keselowski, team owner) back to Victory Lane.

“To do that in that fashion coming from a lap down and being able to drive through the field like that says a lot about our race team and a lot about what as an organization we can do.”

Keystone Light Pole Award winner Kyle Busch’s slow start allowed outside pole-sitter Blaney to steal the lead early by the exit of Turn 1, controlling the field through the first caution on Lap 31 for a spin in Turn 2.

On the restart, Blaney roared away from the field, but a few laps later, NASCAR black-flagged him on Lap 37 for jumping the restart, forcing a pass-through penalty, giving the lead to Cole Custer.

Busch, who restarted fifth, methodically worked his way forward and attempted to take the lead away from the young NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner, but Custer kept Busch at bay through the race’s second caution on Lap 79 for debris in Turn 1.

Busch and Johnny Sauter would trade the lead following the caution before Custer returned to the top spot on lap 90.

A more than 1.5-second lead for Custer would be erased when Ray Black Jr. and Caleb Holman crashed in Turn 4 on lap 112.

With darkening skies overhead and the threat of rain approaching the World’s Fastest Half-Mile, a majority of the teams elected to stay out. Despite his best efforts, Crafton tried to snatch the lead away from the JR Motorsports driver, but to no avail.

Custer slowly saw Crafton become a diminishing factor in his rear-view mirror until he hit heavy lap traffic with 50 laps remaining. That’s when Spencer Gallagher spun in Turns 3 and 4, and Custer found himself trapped in the high-line and collided with Gallagher.

Heavy front-end damage sent the No. 00 Chevrolet to pit road for repairs, eliminating the NASCAR Next driver from competition. As the accident happened, Crafton slipped by on the inside and took the lead — which he held until the green-white-checkered restart that lost him the race.

While under yellow for the fourth time of the night, heavy rain began to fall, causing a red flag for 45 minutes, 50 seconds while the track was dried.

Next up for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is the Aug. 30 race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the third-annual Chevrolet Silverado 250. Blaney is the defending champion.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race – UNOH 200 presented by ZLOOP
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, Tennessee
Wednesday, August 19, 2015

1. (2) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 202, $46349.
2. (1) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 202, $31811.
3. (7) John H. Nemechek #, Chevrolet, 202, $25409.
4. (17) Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 202, $19358.
5. (3) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 202, $17800.
6. (4) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 202, $16114.
7. (6) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 202, $16948.
8. (19) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 202, $15892.
9. (12) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 202, $15837.
10. (18) Dalton Sargeant, Toyota, 202, $14482.
11. (14) John Wes Townley, Chevrolet, 202, $15726.
12. (15) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 202, $15560.
13. (10) David Gilliland(i), Ford, 202, $13253.
14. (21) JJ Haley, Chevrolet, 202, $13198.
15. (11) Ben Kennedy, Toyota, 202, $15965.
16. (5) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 202, $15282.
17. (24) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 201, $15221.
18. (9) Cameron Hayley #, Toyota, 201, $15143.
19. (26) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 199, $15088.
20. (22) Justin Jennings, Chevrolet, 199, $15532.
21. (20) Ray Black Jr. #, Chevrolet, 198, $14977.
22. (13) Spencer Gallagher #, Chevrolet, 195, $14949.
23. (23) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 194, $12672.
24. (31) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 190, $14894.
25. (29) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 189, $13739.
26. (32) Wendell Chavous #, Chevrolet, 188, $13533.
27. (30) Korbin Forrister #, Chevrolet, 176, $12505.
28. (28) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 176, $12258.
29. (25) Mason Mingus, Chevrolet, Brakes, 158, $12202.
30. (16) Daniel Suarez(i), Toyota, Overheating, 154, $11202.
31. (8) Caleb Holman, Chevrolet, Accident, 112, $10702.
32. (27) Tyler Tanner, Chevrolet, Brakes, 12, $9202.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 80.481 mph.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 20 Mins, 16 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.512 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 5 for 41 laps.
Lead Changes: 9 among 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders: K. Busch(i) 0; R. Blaney(i) 1-37; C. Custer 38-78; K. Busch(i) 79-82; J. Sauter 83-89; C. Custer 90-159; M. Crafton 160-174; B. Jones # 175; M. Crafton 176-199; R. Blaney(i) 200-202.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): C. Custer 2 times for 111 laps; R. Blaney(i) 2 times for 40 laps; M. Crafton 2 times for 39 laps; J. Sauter 1 time for 7 laps; K. Busch(i) 1 time for 4 laps; B. Jones # 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 10 in Points: T. Reddick – 550; M. Crafton – 544; E. Jones # – 543; J. Sauter – 497; D. Hemric # – 460; C. Hayley # – 451; T. Peters – 448; J. Townley – 447; S. Gallagher # – 416; B. Kennedy – 410.

August 20, 2015
Matt Kenseth Cruises To Dominant Sprint Cup Victory At Michigan

By Reid Spencer

BROOKLYN, Mich.—From Matt Kenseth’s point of view, the competition package NASCAR used at Michigan International Speedway could well have had a big, bright bow on it.

The Coors Light Polesitter for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, Kenseth quickly exhibited his mastery of the high-drag aerodynamic package, leading 146 of 200 laps in winning for the third time this season, the third time at Michigan and the 34th time in his career.

The 2003 premier series champion had to survive a restart with 13 laps left, after Jimmie Johnson spun off Turn 4 to cause the eighth and final caution of the race. With a push from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, Kenseth cleared Kevin Harvick after the Lap 187 restart and went on to win by 1.722 seconds.

“Denny did a spectacular job pushing me,” Kenseth said of the last run. “From the restart zone to about Turn 2 was like a superspeedway race–whoever got locked up—and those Chevys could really hook up.

“Denny did a heck of a job giving me a good push there to get by. Honestly, the toughest one was with the 3 (Dillon, with the two drivers swapping the lead after a restart on Lap 131). We went back and forth a few times and made some contact there, and it was hard to get away from him. My car took about five laps to get going, but once it got going, it was pretty stellar.”

Harvick ran out of fuel under green on Lap 114 but recovered to finish second. Martin Truex Jr. ran third, followed by Austin Dillon (who started from the rear of the field after an engine change) and Hamlin.

Kenseth’s victory was the fifth for Joe Gibbs Racing in the last six Sprint Cup races but Kenseth stopped short of declaring the JGR cars the favorites for the series championship this year. There are three regular-season races left before the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs start at Chicagoland Speedway on Sept. 20.

“It’s early to talk favorites—there’s so much racing to do, and there are 16 teams (in the Chase) that are capable of winning races on a weekly basis as well as a championship,” Kenseth said. “It’s one week at a time like always.

“It’s been a great week, and we’ve had a great couple months. We definitely have some momentum built. The guys gave us a rocket today and gave us rockets the last couple months. We’re just going to work hard to try to keep it rolling.”

Harvick, the reigning series champion, has finished second in five of his last six starts at Michigan, and he notched his seventh runner-up result since winning his second race of the season at Phoenix in March.

“We had an up and down day, that’s for sure,” Harvick said. “The first half of the race or so (we) really struggled with the handling of the car. The guys did a great job of getting that, and then ran out of gas and came back and didn’t lose a lap and were able to have a good enough handling car to drive back up through there.

“Just really proud of my team and everything that they did. I didn’t have anything for the 20 (Kenseth) today, but for everything that we overcame, it was still a good day.”

Despite starting from the rear of the field, Kyle Busch finished 11th, solidified his position in the top 30 in points and moved closer to a spot in the Chase. Now 29th in the standings, Busch leads 30th-place Justin Allgaier by 18 points and 31st-place Cole Whitt by 23.

A four-time winner since returning from an 11-race injury absence, Busch must be in the top 30 after 26 races to lock up a spot in the Chase.

Clint Bowyer’s Chase hopes took the hardest hit on Sunday. After running consistently in the top five, Bowyer’s No. 15 Toyota bounced off the outside backstretch wall on Lap 126—the result of contact with Ryan Newman’s Chevrolet—and careened into the inside wall.

Bowyer finished 41st and dropped one position in the standings to 15th, 23 points ahead of Aric Almirola in 16th and 26 ahead of Kasey Kahne in 17th. Bowyer currently is in the final Chase-eligible position. If the next three races produce one or more unique winners, however, his Chase spot could be in serious jeopardy.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race – Pure Michigan 400
Michigan International Speedway
Brooklyn, Michigan
Sunday, August 16, 2015

1. (1) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 200, $226586.

2. (7) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 200, $185285.

3. (22) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 200, $137130.

4. (4) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 200, $150746.

5. (2) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 200, $114000.

6. (3) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 200, $97890.

7. (10) Joey Logano, Ford, 200, $137348.

8. (17) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 200, $130540.

9. (14) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 200, $141756.

10. (9) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 200, $107415.

11. (6) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 200, $132906.

12. (24) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 200, $98790.

13. (34) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 200, $118098.

14. (30) Aric Almirola, Ford, 200, $126501.

15. (11) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 200, $103615.

16. (18) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 200, $118431.

17. (21) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 200, $132826.

18. (13) David Ragan, Toyota, 200, $114879.

19. (15) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 200, $113610.

20. (16) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 199, $102340.

21. (5) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 199, $113754.

22. (25) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 198, $127390.

23. (20) Greg Biffle, Ford, 198, $117023.

24. (19) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 198, $82390.

25. (23) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 198, $93415.

26. (27) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 198, $93015.

27. (35) Cole Whitt, Ford, 198, $102823.

28. (26) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 198, $115573.

29. (28) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 197, $106398.

30. (32) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 197, $98798.

31. (33) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 197, $93062.

32. (36) David Gilliland, Ford, 197, $88915.

33. (29) Jeb Burton #, Toyota, 197, $80840.

34. (38) Brett Moffitt #, Ford, 197, $80740.

35. (39) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 197, $80565.

36. (31) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 196, $80515.

37. (41) Josh Wise, Ford, 196, $80454.

38. (37) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, 194, $75877.

39. (8) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 190, $119741.

40. (42) Travis Kvapil(i), Chevrolet, 190, $67805.

41. (12) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 164, $97963.

42. (40) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, Overheating, 51, $67805.

43. (43) Timmy Hill(i), Chevrolet, Parked, 9, $56305.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 143.455 mph.
Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 47 Mins, 18 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.722 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 31 laps.
Lead Changes: 16 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: M. Kenseth 1-22; A. Dillon 23-40; M. Kenseth 41-59; J. Gordon 60; Kyle Busch 61-62; M. Kenseth 63-75; C. Bowyer 76; M. Kenseth 77-98; K. Harvick 99-113; C. Edwards 114-116; M. Kenseth 117-122; C. Edwards 123-124; A. Dillon 125; M. Kenseth 126-164; Kyle Busch 165-172; A. Almirola 173-175; M. Kenseth 176-200.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): M. Kenseth 7 times for 146 laps; A. Dillon 2 times for 19 laps; K. Harvick 1 time for 15 laps; Kyle Busch 2 times for 10 laps; C. Edwards 2 times for 5 laps; A. Almirola 1 time for 3 laps; C. Bowyer 1 time for 1 lap; J. Gordon 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 16 in Points: K. Harvick – 866; J. Logano – 818; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 784; M. Truex Jr. – 755; B. Keselowski – 754; J. Johnson – 752; M. Kenseth – 751; Kurt Busch – 683; D. Hamlin – 670; J. Mcmurray – 663; P. Menard – 654; R. Newman – 649; J. Gordon – 648; C. Edwards – 628; C. Bowyer – 616; A. Almirola – 593.

August 16, 2015
Regan Smith Pulls Last Lap Move For XFINITY Win At Mid-Ohio

By Chris Knight
NASCAR Wire Service

LEXINGTON, Ohio—What a difference a week makes.

After experiencing pure frustration last weekend at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Regan Smith answered his second road course race of the season with a bump-and-run on leader Alex Tagliani in the second-to-last corner on the last lap to score his first NASCAR XFINITY Series win of the season in Saturday’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The short-track-like move ended a 52-race winless streak for Smith driving the No. 7 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports.

“These guys work their butts off all week,” said Smith after earning his fifth career win. “This car was destroyed door tops down, they rebuilt it in one day. The guys back at the shop phenomenal job, my road guys have stuck behind me for a while. We’ve had a lot of opportunities to win. I hate to do it in the last corner, but it’s been too long, a long time, I wasn’t going to pass the opportunity up.

“I’ve been wrecked so many times on these road courses, I had to do what I had to do right there. I didn’t spin him, just got the spot. We’re going to celebrate hard tonight.”

Tagliani, who was searching for his first XFINITY Series victory in seven races, had to settle for a disappointing second after taking the lead from Smith with 15 laps remaining.

“If I knew that he was going to win like that probably instead of passing him fair and square early on in the race, I would have probably pushed him off a bit,” said Tagliani. “But, he knows I’m not going to be there next weekend to retaliate.”

In his first XFINITY Series race of the season, Tagliani scored his third career Coors Light Pole in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford and jumped to the early lead, separating himself by more than 1.2 seconds over defending race winner Chris Buescher until the first caution of the day on Lap 6 for a stalled car on the backstretch.

With pit strategy already on the minds of crew chiefs, many of the leaders elected to pit early, but Boris Said stayed out and inherited the lead for the restart. Said’s time at the front was short-lived, as he was immediately challenged on the restart by reigning XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott, who took the lead in Turn 1.

Elliott led until Lap 12 when the second caution waved for Kenny Habul. Leaders Elliott and Said pitted, with Elliott Sadler assuming the top spot briefly before Buescher grabbed control from his Roush Fenway Racing teammate.

Following the third caution of the race, Tagliani swiped the lead from Buescher in Turn 3, only to have his momentum stalled by a caution for fluid on the race track.

Tagliani maintained the race lead through the halfway point.

Under a Lap 41 yellow, the majority of the field made their final scheduled pit stop, with Smith claiming the lead after pit stops and the racing resuming with 30 laps remaining.

Despite another yellow flag for fluid on the track, the leaders elected to stay out.

Racing resumed with 20 laps to go with Smith easily escaping from the furry of furious side-by-side action behind him. Tagliani, though, quickly emerged from the pack and set his sights on Smith, setting up to reassume command on Lap 61 and set the tone for the thrilling finish.

Buescher leads Ty Dillon by 24 points in the XFINITY Series standings.

NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Lexington, Ohio
Saturday, August 15, 2015

               1. (7) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 75, $54536.

               2. (1) Alex Tagliani, Ford, 75, $53559.

               3. (3) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 75, $36111.

               4. (2) Chris Buescher, Ford, 75, $34901.

               5. (6) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 75, $30734.

               6. (10) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 75, $26756.

               7. (5) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 75, $24890.

               8. (11) Darrell Wallace Jr. #, Ford, 75, $25157.

               9. (16) Dylan Lupton, Chevrolet, 75, $23878.

               10. (8) Ben Rhodes, Chevrolet, 75, $24550.

               11. (9) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, 75, $23523.

               12. (12) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 75, $23448.

               13. (4) Boris Said, Toyota, 75, $23347.

               14. (21) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 75, $23220.

               15. (13) Justin Marks, Chevrolet, 75, $23545.

               16. (26) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 75, $23068.

               17. (14) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 75, $22967.

               18. (20) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 75, $23040.

               19. (32) Ross Chastain #, Chevrolet, 75, $22765.

               20. (24) Cale Conley #, Toyota, 75, $23213.

               21. (22) Andy Lally, Chevrolet, 75, $22638.

               22. (17) Ryan Reed, Ford, 75, $22592.

               23. (23) Dakoda Armstrong, Ford, 75, $22557.

               24. (30) Blake Koch, Toyota, 75, $22497.

               25. (36) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 75, $16575.

               26. (35) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 75, $22389.

               27. (25) Michael Self, Chevrolet, 75, $16354.

               28. (15) Kenny Habul, Toyota, 75, $22324.

               29. (19) Brandon Jones(i), Chevrolet, 75, $22289.

               30. (34) Tim Cowen, Ford, 72, $16543.

               31. (28) David Starr, Toyota, 69, $22198.

               32. (27) Tomy Drissi, Toyota, Accident, 68, $22152.

               33. (37) Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, 68, $16121.

               34. (18) Dylan Kwasniewski, Chevrolet, 66, $16101.

               35. (31) Eric McClure, Toyota, 60, $22063.

               36. (29) Carlos Contreras, Chevrolet, Suspension, 50, $14562.

               37. (39) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 33, $13562.

               38. (40) John Jackson, Chevrolet, Brakes, 18, $12562.

               39. (38) Josh Reaume #, Dodge, Fuel Pump, 6, $11562.

               40. (33) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 3, $10562.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 67.493 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 30 Mins, 33 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.766 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 25 laps.Lead Changes: 8 among 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   A. Tagliani 1-7; B. Said 8-9; C. Elliott 10-13; E. Sadler 14-15; C. Buescher 16-25; A. Tagliani 26-42; R. Smith 43-60; A. Tagliani 61-74; R. Smith 75;.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): A. Tagliani 3 times for 38 laps; R. Smith 2 times for 19 laps; C. Buescher 1 time for 10 laps; C. Elliott 1 time for 4 laps; E. Sadler 1 time for 2 laps; B. Said 1 time for 2 laps.

Top 10 in Points: C. Buescher – 765; T. Dillon – 741; C. Elliott – 740; R. Smith – 714; E. Sadler – 705; D. Wallace Jr. # – 665; D. Suarez # – 658; B. Scott – 643; B. Gaughan – 642; R. Reed – 587.

August 16, 2015
Kyle Busch Rallies For Second Straight Truck Series Win

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

BROOKLYN, Mich.—Not even a pit road speeding penalty could keep Kyle Busch from his appointed rounds on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.

With drafting help from Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Erik Jones entering Turn 1, Busch regained the lead from Ryan Blaney on Lap 97 of 100 in the Careers for Veterans 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and held on to win by .157 seconds.

Blaney held the second spot, and Jones finished third, followed by Johnny Sauter and Austin Dillon. Two-time defending series champion Matt Crafton battled a buckling windshield, a penalty for pitting too soon to correct it and a late spin after contact from John Wes Townley’s Chevrolet to finish sixth.

Crafton gained three points on series leader Tyler Reddick, who ran ninth, and now trails by eight. Jones is third in the standings, nine points back.

The victory was Busch’s first at MIS after four runner-up finishes in the series, and it was his second in two starts since returning from an injury that sidelined the driver of the No. 51 Toyota from all racing activity from Feb. 21 through mid-May.

“First win for me, first win for KBM here,” said Busch, who won for the 44th time in the Truck Series. “I loved racing with those guys up there—Jones, Blaney and Dillon. It was pretty hectic on how all that was going to shape up and play out…

“Just cool to finally get that monkey off my back here in the Truck Series and notch another race track where I’ve won in all three divisions here at Michigan.”

Under caution on Lap 27, Busch was penalized for speeding while entering pit road and restarted at the back of the field on Lap 31. By Lap 51, Busch had worked his way back to fifth in the running order, and after an exchange of green-flag pit stops, he regained the lead on Lap 69.

“We were trying something new with our tach settings, and it didn’t really work,” Busch said of the speeding infraction.

Drivers gauge pit road speeds with their tachometers and a series of lights on the dashboard. In essence, Busch was seeing two sets of lights at the same time, calibrated to different settings, and that led directly to the speeding penalty.

Once Busch passed Blaney with fewer than four laps left, Blaney—without a teammate to help—was resigned to a second-place finish.

“When we got the lead (after a Lap 95 restart), I knew it was going to be hard to keep him behind us, because he can lay back to the 4 (Jones) and just get a big run and get by you,” Blaney said. “There’s nothing, as the leader, that you can do about it.

“You’re wide open. You can break the draft all you want, but when he’s got a partner, it’s just like speedway racing—he can go by you.”

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race – Careers for Veterans 200 Presented by Cooper Standard and Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation
Michigan International Speedway
Brooklyn, Michigan
Saturday, August 15, 2015

               1. (10) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 100, $43447.

               2. (12) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 100, $36614.

               3. (7) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 100, $26735.

               4. (9) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 100, $20254.

               5. (3) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 100, $15653.

               6. (1) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 100, $19792.

               7. (2) Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 100, $16325.

               8. (5) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 100, $16241.

               9. (11) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 100, $16185.

               10. (6) Cameron Hayley #, Toyota, 100, $17107.

               11. (16) Alex Bowman(i), Chevrolet, 100, $13852.

               12. (17) John H. Nemechek #, Chevrolet, 100, $15934.

               13. (23) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 100, $15850.

               14. (19) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 100, $15795.

               15. (13) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 100, $16138.

               16. (14) Spencer Gallagher #, Chevrolet, Accident, 99, $15711.

               17. (8) John Wes Townley, Chevrolet, 99, $15799.

               18. (20) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 98, $15572.

               19. (28) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 98, $15515.

               20. (18) Cody Coughlin, Toyota, 96, $15988.

               21. (15) Chad Finley, Ford, 96, $13210.

               22. (27) Korbin Forrister #, Chevrolet, 95, $15404.

               23. (30) Wendell Chavous #, Chevrolet, 95, $15376.

               24. (22) Mason Mingus, Chevrolet, Accident, 87, $14099.

               25. (4) Ben Kennedy, Toyota, Accident, 82, $14220.

               26. (21) Ray Black Jr. #, Chevrolet, 66, $13042.

               27. (31) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 40, $12987.

               28. (25) Caleb Roark, Chevrolet, Vibration, 19, $12747.

               29. (32) Tyler Tanner, Chevrolet, Clutch, 16, $12692.

               30. (26) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, Electrical, 15, $12192.

               31. (29) Todd Peck, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 12, $10692.

               32. (24) Justin Jennings, Chevrolet, Handling, 6, $9692.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 128.94 mph.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 33 Mins, 04 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.157 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 26 laps.
Lead Changes: 15 among 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders:    0; D. Hemric # 1-4; A. Dillon(i) 5-6; K. Busch(i) 7-26; A. Dillon(i) 27; E. Jones # 28-34; R. Blaney(i) 35; E. Jones # 36-44; J. Sauter 45-68; K. Busch(i) 69-76; R. Blaney(i) 77-81; K. Busch(i) 82-89; A. Dillon(i) 90; K. Busch(i) 91-94; R. Blaney(i) 95-96; K. Busch(i) 97-100.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): K. Busch(i) 5 times for 44 laps; J. Sauter 1 time for 24 laps; E. Jones # 2 times for 16 laps; R. Blaney(i) 3 times for 8 laps; A. Dillon(i) 3 times for 4 laps; D. Hemric # 1 time for 4 laps.

Top 10 in Points: T. Reddick – 514; M. Crafton – 506; E. Jones # – 505; J. Sauter – 461; C. Hayley # – 425; D. Hemric # – 420; T. Peters – 416; J. Townley – 414; S. Gallagher # – 394; B. Kennedy – 381.

August 15, 2015
Kenseth Wins Coors Light Pole at Michigan

By Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Matt Kenseth’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota crew woke a sleeping giant just in time for qualifying for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN) at Michigan International Speedway.

But Kenseth jokingly credited a sleepless night — brought on by worry over teammate Denny Hamlin’s lack of punctuality — for his pole-winning effort in Friday’s time trials at the two-mile track.

Getting the most out of the high-drag aerodynamic package in force at the event at Michigan, Kenseth covered the distance in 36.458 seconds (197.488 mph) to win his third Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his first at MIS and the 16th of his career.

Hamlin (196.990 mph) was second fastest, and Carl Edwards (196.276 mph) claimed the third starting spot, as Joe Gibbs Racing swept the top three positions on the grid for the 23rd Sprint Cup race of the season.

Austin Dillon (195.918 mph) qualified fourth as the top Chevrolet in the field, followed by Tony Stewart (195.477 mph) in a Chevrolet and Kyle Busch (195.450 mph) in the fourth JGR Toyota. Joey Logano, last week’s winner at Watkins Glen, qualified 10th as the only Ford driver to crack the top 12.

Based on practice speed, Edwards was a favorite to win the pole, but Kenseth, who was 10th on the speed chart in the opening practice session, closed the gap in time from qualifying.

“We were a long ways off Carl in practice, and I don’t even know what changes they made, but they changed a lot of stuff that really woke this thing up and had some speed,” Kenseth said. “I knew I got through (Turns) 1 and 2 good, but Denny put up such a fast lap, and I got into (Turn) 3, and I was bound and determined that I was going to make it wide open.

“I had the first half of the corner. It was the second half that was starting to get exciting. I got sliding up the track and bogged down a little bit. I wasn’t sure that we were going have it, but I have to say thanks to those guys (the crew). They gave me a car with a lot of speed.”

In Hamlin’s view, Busch’s return from an injury has achieved a critical mass of four talented, veteran drivers at JGR who can benefit from each other’s expertise.

“When you have drivers that you can feed off of, like the three teammates that I have, it makes a difference, and so that’s where you’re seeing the results,” Hamlin said.

That didn’t prevent the driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry from throwing a barb toward the 43-year-old teammate who beat him for the pole.

“Matt was probably too old to remember to lift there,” Hamlin said of Kenseth’s qualifying run.

Kenseth provided a different perspective.

“I could say it’s because I didn’t get enough sleep,” Kenseth said. “I flew up with Denny today, and he likes to come to everything at the last minute. I didn’t sleep last night thinking that we weren’t going to make it up here, so it’s really just for lack of sleep. I get to credit Denny for the pole.”

Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Logano completed the top 10. Reed Sorenson failed to make the 43-car field.

Complete Starting Lineup:

August 14, 2015
NASCAR Racing Schedule for Michigan and Mid-Ohio

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series will compete this week at Michigan International Speedway while the NASCAR XFINITY Series travels to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. All Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series practices, qualifying sessions and races can be seen on NBC Sports Live Extra. The Camping World Truck Series events will be televised on FOX Sports 1. The full schedule is listed below.

All times are Eastern.

Friday, August 14:

On Track – Michigan:

11 a.m.-1:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Practice – NBCSN/Live Extra
1:30-2:25 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Practice – FOX Sports 1
3-4:25 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice (Will be shown on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET)
5:05 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN/Live Extra

On Track – Mid-Ohio:

1:30-2:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – NBCSN/Live Extra
3-4:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – RSN/Live Extra

Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

9:45 a.m.: Greg Biffle
10 a.m.: Matt Kenseth
10:15 a.m.: Tyler Reddick
10:30 a.m.: Erik Jones
3:15 p.m.: Jeff Gordon
6 p.m. (approx.): Post-NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying

Saturday, August 15:

On Track – Michigan:

8:30-9:25 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series Practice – CNBC/Live Extra
9:40 a.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FOX Sports 1
11:30 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice – CNBC/Live Extra
12:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Setup – FOX Sports 1
1 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Careers for Veterans 200 presented by Cooper Standard and Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation – (100 laps, 200 miles) – FOX Sports 1

On Track – Mid-Ohio:

11:15 a.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – Live Extra
3 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Countdown to Green – NBCSN
3:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio (75 laps, 169.35 miles) – NBCSN/Live Extra

Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

2:30 p.m.: (approx.): Post-Camping World Truck Series Race

Sunday, August 16:

On Track – Michigan:

11:30 a.m.: NASCAR RaceDay: Michigan – FOX Sports 1
1:30 p.m.: NASCAR America Sunday – NBCSN
2 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Countdown to Green – NBCSN
2:30 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 (200 laps, 400 miles) – NBCSN/Live Extra
5:30 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Post-Race Show – NBCSN
11 p.m.: NASCAR Victory Lap – NBCSN
Midnight: NASCAR Victory Lane – FOX Sports 1

Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

11 a.m.: MIS President Roger Curtis and Consumers Energy VP and Chief Customer Officer Garrick J. Rochow
11:30 a.m.: Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, Michigan Economic Development Corporation CEO Steve Arwood, Travel Michigan Vice President Dave Lorenz and grand marshal Michael Harris
5:15 p.m. (approx.): Post-Sprint Cup Series race

August 13, 2015