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  • Earnhardt has Short Night at Bristol

    Earnhardt has Short Night at Bristol

    It has been a fantastic season for Dale Earnhardt Jr., arguably one of his best in many years. Saturday night, the Irwin Tools Night Race, however, left a little to be desired.

    On lap 162, Earnhardt was caught up in someone else’s wreck. Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin made contact sending Hamlin, who was leading, spinning into the retaining wall collecting Earnhardt during the melee.

    The No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports crew made repairs, which included replacing the door foam. Earnhardt was able to make a few additional laps, but the team made the decision to park the car on lap 176.

    The Steve Letarte led crew used the incident to be prepared for the Chase in case the same type of repair was needed. The main concern was finding a way to quickly replace the door foam. Letarte told his crew to “take a mental image” of the repair in case the situation occurs again.

    Earnhardt came into this weekend’s race sitting second in the points standings, only three points behind leader, Jeff Gordon.

    Photo Credit: Mike Holtsclaw/Speedway Media
    Photo Credit: Mike Holtsclaw/Speedway Media

    Earnhardt was asked what happened to cause the accident, and replied, “I couldn’t see what happened to Denny (Hamlin), but he got turned around or something and was coming up the track. There was a lot of smoke so I couldn’t really judge the speed of his car to know whether I needed to be going up there and go around him on the top. I had to make that choice. I just went ahead and went to the top and ended up getting into him. It wasn’t too hard of a hit just did a lot of damage and tore the lower (control arm) off the left-front. We are going to have our hands full when we get it back out there. We are going to try to fix it, but I don’t know. Obviously we are many laps down. We will see if we can run a decent speed.”

    Earnhardt would end the night in 39th position.

  • Ryan Blaney Beats Busch on Restart to Win Food City 300 at Bristol

    Ryan Blaney Beats Busch on Restart to Win Food City 300 at Bristol

    On a restart with six laps to go, Ryan Blaney would get the advantage on Kyle Busch and then held off Busch’s final charge to win the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. It marks Blaney’s second career victory in the Nationwide Series, following his first career win at Kentucky Speedway.

    Restarting second on the bottom when the preferred groove all night had been the top, Blaney would hit the gas as soon as he saw the second set of lines that make up the restart box, getting the advantage ahead of Busch heading into turn one.

    “Kyle didn’t go on the last restart – he said his tires were jacked up – and we got to the second line and I went,” Blaney said. “Luckily we were able to hold him off. Great Mustang all night. We lost track position early, but were able to make it back up.”

    Busch would hold on to finish second and commented post-race that he feels the leader has the biggest disadvantage on the restart and the third-place car of Dillon was right up his bumper.

    “NASCAR doesn’t police it – 22 laid back, was going five mph,” Busch added in the media center. “Next time I’ll just lock all four up & stack the field up. It’s a single lane racetrack, you can’t (bleep) pass here; it’s pathetic.”

    Blaney’s night didn’t go without incident as he got loose while underneath Kyle Larson racing for fourth, getting loose and sliding up, spinning Larson out. The incident would then turn uglier when Larson’s teammate Dylan Kwasniewski would be left with nowhere to go, but into the back of Larson.

    “First of all, I have to apologize to Kyle Larson.  I just got loose on the bottom and got into him,” Blaney started off his victory lane speech with.

    “The 22 was faster than I was for sure,” Larson said. “The spotter said they were looking for a caution so I was racing hard to keep the spot. We raced side-by-side into four, and then went into one and simply drove us in the wall. The 22 ruined our day, and also ruined our teammate’s day as Dylan had a good run going.

    “I know Ryan is a good kid – it’s just frustrating. It’s short track racing, I know it wasn’t on purpose – I just got in the wall and it made me mad.”

    Chase Elliott would finish third to keep the points lead, now 13 points ahead of his teammate Regan Smith. Ty Dillon and Regan Smith rounded out the top-five, and would have a post-race discussion with regards to how they raced each other in the closing laps.

    “I just don’t like how he raced all night,” Smith commented. “There was three or four times that he drove me in the fence. Everybody else could race me without touching me so I wanted to tell him what I thought. He said he was getting tight, so the next time I get by him I’ll fence him and say that I got tight.”

    “Fourth in points – 28 out and I’m trying to get all I can for my guys as they deserve it,” Dillon said. “We just got a little tight, but proud of guys. It’s Bristol. A little bump is a bump – it’s racing. Nobody got tore up.”

    Brendan Gaughan was sixth, followed by Kevin Harvick, Erik Jones, James Buescher and Chris Buescher.

    The race would start a little later than scheduled due to rain, though it was filled with action as the caution flag flew nine times for multiple incidents. The first involved John Wes Townley as he spun on the frontstretch; Townley was hoping to have a good run after missing a couple races due to a hard wreck in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. Hermie Sadler would get into the wall at lap 85, before Chad Boat, David Starr and Tanner Barryhill all got together at lap 112.

    The incident at lap 184 will be one that sticks out for Elliott Sadler as he would suffer right front damage after making contact with Timmy Hill as Hill spun on the frontstretch. The result would be a pair of flat tires later in the race, resulting in a 29th place finish for the championship contender. The final caution would come with 10 laps to go due to contact between Jamie Dick and Mike Bliss, setting up the final restart that changed everything.

    Chase Elliott will now lead his fellow drivers into Atlanta Motor Speedway next Friday night as he hopes to score a hometown victory.

  • Kevin Harvick Wins Sprint Cup Coors Light Pole Award at Bristol

    Kevin Harvick Wins Sprint Cup Coors Light Pole Award at Bristol

    Kevin Harvick captured his fifth pole of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway with a record speed of 131.362 mph, setting a new track record. It is his 11th career pole in the series.

    “My guys have done a great job bringing fast cars every week,” he said. “I knew we had a good car in practice and were able to get it pretty good in race trim.” He summed it up saying, “Any time you can beat the 24 (Jeff Gordon) right now, things are going okay.”

    Jeff Gordon was quickest in the first round and was looking for a third straight pole but he was unable to carry the top speed over to the final round and will begin on the outside pole in the IRWIN Tools Night Race.

    “I was really, really happy with the balance and how the car was getting through the corners,” Gordon explained. “I thought we did it, I really did. I thought we had enough. That was a good lap so it just tells you how good of a lap Kevin had.”

    Carl Edwards duplicated his run in the first round and will start in third place for the Saturday night race. Edwards won the Food City 500 this past spring at Bristol. Kyle Busch will start beside Edwards in the fourth position. Busch has five previous wins at the track, along with Gordon and his brother, Kurt. Joey Logano qualified fifth followed by Jimmie Johnson, who has one win at Bristol, in sixth place.

    Qualifying was intense as drivers tried to beat the rain which was threatening to interfere with qualifying. Kyle Larson, Aric Almirola, Casey Mears and Cole Whitt fell victim to the high speeds and made contact with the wall during qualifying. Larson was fastest in the first practice but did not advance to the final round of qualifying and will have to begin from 40th place.

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who was fastest in the final practice missed a little over half of the first round because his car was still in inspection when qualifying began. He did not make the cut-off for the final round and will start from the 21st position.

    Drivers who did not make it to the final round include notables Dale Earnhardt Jr. who will start 20th, Matt Kenseth (16), Clint Bowyer (14) and Denny Hamlin (13).

    Tune in to the Irwin Tools Night Race Saturday evening on ABC with television coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.

    Lineup for the IRWIN Tools Night Race
    Position Car No. Driver
    1 4 Kevin Harvick
    2 24 Jeff Gordon
    3 99 Carl Edwards
    4 18 Kyle Busch
    5 22 Joey Logano
    6 48 Jimmie Johnson
    7 41 Kurt Busch
    8 16 Greg Biffle
    9 2 Brad Keselowski
    10 9 Marcos Ambrose
    11 31 Ryan Newman
    12 5 Kasey Kahne
    13 11 Denny Hamlin
    14 15 Clint Bowyer
    15 55 Brian Vickers
    16 20 Matt Kenseth
    17 27 Paul Menard
    18 1 Jamie McMurray
    19 51 Justin Allgaier
    20 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
    21 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    22 47 AJ Allmendinger
    23 78 Martin Truex Jr.
    24 10 Danica Patrick
    25 14 Jeff Burton
    26 3 Austin Dillon
    27 23 Alex Bowman
    28 95 Michael McDowell
    29 34 David Ragan
    30 98 Josh Wise
    31 66 Brett Moffitt
    32 38 David Gilliland
    33 83 Ryan Truex
    34 26 Cole Whitt
    35 37 Dave Blaney
    36 36 Reed Sorenson
    37 32 J.J. Yeley
    38 7 Michael Annett
    39 40 Landon Cassill
    40 42 Kyle Larson
    41 33 David Stremme
    42 43 Aric Almirola
    43 13 Casey Mears
  • Kyle Busch Dominates Qualifying for Food City 300

    Kyle Busch Dominates Qualifying for Food City 300

    When any NASCAR series travels to Bristol Motor Speedway, everyone automatically says Kyle Busch is the guy to beat. He once again lived up to that hype on Friday afternoon in qualifying for the Food City 300.

    Busch turned in a lap of 125.142 mph to score his fifth pole of the season and his fourth career pole at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is also his 41st career Nationwide Series pole.

    Busch will be driving the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.The No. 54 is currently second in owner’s points, 21 points behind the No. 22 Penske Racing Ford, driven this week by Ryan Blaney, who qualified second. Blaney posted a lap of 124.339 mph edging out Kyle Larson, who qualified third.

    With Busch, Blaney and Larson locking down the top three spots, it is a recipe for excitement. Blaney will be pushing hard to hold or extend the owner’s points lead over the No. 54 of Busch. Larson and Busch have a fantastic history at Bristol as they were involved in one of the most exciting finishes in Nationwide Series history.

    All three drivers perform well at the World’s Fastest Half-Mile nestled in the hills of northeast Tennessee. Busch has won the last three races here, Larson has three starts and three top-five finishes, and Blaney has two starts with two top-10s.

    Points leader, Chase Elliott, will take the green in fourth in his NAPA Chevrolet. Elliott Sadler rounds out the top five in the No. 11  Sport Clips Toyota.

    Milka Duno will have to wait to make her NASCAR debut. Duno ran 48 laps in the first round of qualifying, but only managed a lap of 116.566 mph, almost two mph slower than the 40th place qualifier.

    Other notables: Ty Dillon 7th, Regan Smith 8th , Kevin Harvick 13th, Chris Buescher 23rd

    The green falls on the Food City 300 at 7:30 pm local time.

  • Brad Keselowski Breaks Through in UNOH 200 for First NCWTS Win at Bristol

    Brad Keselowski Breaks Through in UNOH 200 for First NCWTS Win at Bristol

    Brad Keselowski doesn’t have to hear the words “winless in the truck series” again as after the UNOH 200 presented by ZLOOP at Bristol Motor Speedway, the 2012 Sprint Cup Series Champion can call himself a winner in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

    “It means a lot, as a driver. I don’t want to understate that,” Keselowski said. “My family has been part of this series since its inception – from a kid watching to now here as a driver and owner. I wasn’t able to get there before because I chose to do it the hard way; a lot of people know I do things the hard way. We’re here and I’m proud of everyone that got me here. I’m proud as a driver – I don’t want to understate it – but there are a lot of young guys on this team that are aspiring Cup mechanics and work through it.”

    Keselowski would pass Kyle Busch for the lead with 71 laps to go before holding off both Kyle Busch Motorsports teammates Busch and Darrell Wallace Jr. in the final laps as he battled through the lapped trucks. Keselowski becomes the 25th driver to win in all three of NASCAR’s national series, while he and his father Bob Keselowski become the first father/son duo to win races in the Camping World Truck Series.

    Wallace Jr. tried everything possible in the book in the final sprint to the checkered, getting all the way up to Keselowski’s back bumper, but was unable to get by as he finished second for his seventh top 10 finish of the season.

    “Trying to gather myself, trying to replay every option. We finished second and I wish I could take it back and try again,” he commented post-race. I would’ve had to wreck him to win, and I respect Brad too much to do it. We had to get on it on the restart, and tried to get right up there and came up just short. It felt good to pass the 51 (Busch), though. We’ll go to Canada, figure out how to turn right and have some fun.”

    Ron Hornaday finished third, followed by the ThorSport Racing teammates Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter.

    “We fought loose, loose the whole time since the very first run,” Crafton said. “We made an adjustment near the end and just stepped over the line, and were a little tight. We just needed track position at the end as we probably would’ve had something for him.”

    “I tried to go to the top, and I was just too free,” Sauter commented. “I was just committed to the bottom and we were decent on the long run, but just way too free. We made an adjustment before with a spring to make it free to race at night, but couldn’t go back on that. A wise man told us that if you can’t win at Bristol, finish the race so that’s what we did.”

    John Hunter Nemechek finished sixth to tie his best career finish for the third time this season.

    “It was a lot of fun,” the teenager said. “We had a great truck today. It seemed the longer we ran, the more it came. I can’t thank all these guys enough for this truck. We ended up better than I thought that we did.”

    Joey Coulter would battle through a sinus infection to finish seventh.

    “I think I was the only one that was glad it rained, because it let me get another good night sleep,” he commented. “These guys don’t have any quit in them. It doesn’t matter how rough qualifying or the practice is, they keep laughing with jokes and it keeps me pumped up.”

    Cole Custer would finish eighth, followed by Ben Rhodes and Corey Lajoie. Busch would have a flat tire after contact with the wall with 26 laps to go, resulting in a green flag pit stop and a 24th place finish. Gray Gaulding also had a flat tire with 20 laps to go while running inside the top 10, finishing 23rd.

    With his top-five finish, Sauter keeps the points lead, eight points ahead of Crafton, 17 ahead of Hornaday, heading into next weekend’s race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

    “We just need to go there and be smart,” he commented. “I had fun with it last year and look forward to getting up there and seeing a lot of great race fans.”

  • NCWTS UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway Postponed Until Thursday Morning

    NCWTS UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway Postponed Until Thursday Morning

    As a result of a heavy rain falling Wednesday evening from 8:30 p.m. ET on and not letting up, NASCAR made the decision to postpone the UNOH 200 presented by ZLOOP to Thursday morning at 10 a.m. ET. Fox Sports 1 announced at the end of their broadcast that they will carry the race live. The race will also air on  MRN.com and   SiriusXM.com/NASCAR.

    When the race goes green tomorrow, Kyle Busch will lead the field to the green as he hopes to find victory lane at Bristol Motor Speedway for the fifth time in the Camping World Truck Series. He will be joined on the front row by Cole Custer, who is running a limited schedule this year. In his four starts thus far this year, Custer has not finished outside of the top 15 once.

  • Kyle Busch Wins Pole for UNOH 200

    Kyle Busch Wins Pole for UNOH 200

    Kyle Busch continues to dominate the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series by scoring the pole for Wednesday night’s UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Wednesday’s pole was his fourth pole win of the season in only seven attempts. It’s an impressive record by any standard.

    Busch has a total of 40 wins, 76 top fives, and 96 top tens in just 121 starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

    Busch posted a lap of 124.662 mph in his Dollar General Toyota Tundra to edge out series rookie, Cole Custer. The sixteen year old Custer, making just his fifth start in the Camping World Truck Series, qualified second with a lap 124.484 mph.

    Ron Hornaday Jr., Brad Keselowski, and rookie Gray Gaulding round out the top five.

    Other notables: Last week’s winner and series points leader, Johnny Sauter, will start seventh. Busch’s teammate, Darrell Wallace Jr. will start eighth. Matt Crafton will take the green in 11th. Timothy Peters starts 20th.

    The green flag will fall on the UNOH 200 at 8:30 pm local time on Wednesday night.

  • Darrell Wallace Jr. Fastest in Practice for UNOH 200 at Bristol

    Darrell Wallace Jr. Fastest in Practice for UNOH 200 at Bristol

    Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) driver, Darrell Wallace Jr. was fastest in practice for the UNOH 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event slated for Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Wallace turned in a lap of 125.264 mph in his ToyotaCare Toyota Tundra to edge out his boss, KBM team owner, Kyle Busch. Busch was .041 seconds slower than the up and coming star who has visited victory lane twice already this season – once at Gateway Motorsports Park and then at the only dirt track on the series schedule – Eldora. The KBM team has visited victory lane seven times this season.

    This practice session will be the only session for the Camping World Truck Series drivers, as two thunderstorms passed through the area causing some items on the schedule for today to be postponed or cancelled.

    Another up and coming star in the series, Gray Gaulding, was also very impressive in practice. Gaulding wound up third on the practice sheet with a lap of 123.970 mph in his Gemini Southern/Krispy Kreme Chevrolet.

    Series veteran, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Cole Custer rounded out the top-five.

    The green flag will fall on the UNOH 200 at 8:30 pm local time on Wednesday night.

  • Jeff Gordon beats Logano on Late Race Restart to Claim Victory at Michigan

    Jeff Gordon beats Logano on Late Race Restart to Claim Victory at Michigan

    On a restart with 17 laps to go, Jeff Gordon kept even with Joey Logano on the restart and was able to clear him off of turn two to take the lead. From there, Gordon would hold off Logano’s attempt to pass him with 16 laps to go before cruising away from the field for the victory. It marks Gordon’s third victory of the 2014 season and the 91st victory of his Sprint Cup Series career.

    “It wasn’t easy. It’s never easy to win especially at these tracks especially with aerodynamics and track position meaning so much,” Gordon said. “Alan (Gustafson) called a perfect race. Kept getting into that inside lane and not getting good restart. I knew with Joey and Kurt that it’d get it interesting and Kurt got loose. That final restart there – I got a good jump and was able to get ahead. It seemed whomever got out front was able to get ahead. I give him credit – he tried to get back by, but wasn’t able to. We set sail and next thing, I saw the checkered flag. It was a great race!”

    For the fourth consecutive race at Michigan International Speedway, Kevin Harvick would pick up a runner-up finish as he continues to show the strength that has carried him to three wins this season with Stewart-Haas Racing.

    “Our car handled great all day,” Harvick commented. “We just didn’t have the speed that the 24 had today. All in all, it was a good day for our Jimmy John’s Chevrolet. Gotta thank everybody at SHR for working hard and keeping these cars running well. We’ve been doing a lot to get things consistent and run strong, but we have a little more work to do to catch that 24.”

    For Logano, it marked a disappointing third place finish after leading the most laps throughout the afternoon as he was able to take the lead early from pole sitter Gordon in the race, only giving it up throughout the race when he hit pit road.

    “We were battling those restarts pretty hard and basically you use every trick that you have,” he commented. “Every game that you could play was played and I was clear of him. I should’ve pulled down and pulled off the draft, but he was able to get to my quarter panel and get by. Gosh, it was close. It’s a really good show for us to make sure that we’re in the contention for the Chase.”

    Paul Menard battled hard in the late stages of the race to finish fourth, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin. Earnhardt Jr. and Hamlin had a discussion post-race with regards to a disagreement during the final laps of the race. Brad Keselowski finished eighth while Jimmie Johnson fought back to finish ninth.

    Johnson fell back to 35th early in the race, before having the shifter knob break. The crew would hand him a pair of vice grips to attach, however he wasn’t able to. The crew would then re-install the shifter under a pit stop, putting Johnson a lap down. He then fought back throughout the second half of the race to get back on the lead lap, before fighting his way through the field to finish ninth. The fight back through the field wasn’t clean, though, as there was some contact with Ryan Newman during the final 15 laps. Post-race, Newman would approach Johnson and the pair had a discussion.

    “Its just normal Ryan Newman stuff,” Johnson commented after their discussion. “Anybody whose been around racing knows the frustration in racing Ryan Newman. I don’t want to take anything away from this team as they were able to salvage a good finish. It sucks that we weren’t able to get up further today.”

    Greg Biffle would round out the top 10, ahead of Newman, Marcos Ambrose, A.J. Allmendinger, Jamie McMurray, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kasey Kahne, Casey Mears, Danica Patrick, Brian Vickers and Aric Almirola.

    Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch both didn’t have the days that they were looking for as Kenseth got heavy rear-end damage during a incident initiated by Patrick spinning on lap 26. Patrick would get loose on the restart, spinning sideways, collecting Justin Allgaier, Michael Annett, Martin Truex Jr., Trevor Bayne and Kenseth. For Busch, he’d find his day end real early in the race as he got into the wall on lap three.

    Rookie Kyle Larson also ran into issues, blowing a right front tire, causing him to plow into the wall on lap 97, causing the car to catch fire. Larson would get out of the car quickly, unharmed.

    “It’s a shame. We’re just going to have to work extra hard to make the Chase,” Larson commented. “I thought we had a car to win the race for sure, and then on pit road, 88 and I got together on pit road and it screwed the toe. The crew worked hard on the car, but a blown right front tire took us out there.”

    Jeff Burton was brought into sub for Tony Stewart as Stewart misses his second straight race, however Burton would not have a good day, either, finding his day end early with electrical problems on lap 82.

    “I first smelt it and didn’t see anything. Then I saw a lot of smoke and it was getting pretty bad. I couldn’t see any fire at all,” Burton said. “I was terrible in traffic; I couldn’t drive it all. But once we got into clean-air, it was pretty good. It’s not how I wanted it to go, but I’m proud of all these guys for stepping up in how they handled the situation.”

    With the victory, Gordon takes the points lead ahead of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates Earnhardt Jr. by three points.

  • Chris Buescher Scores First Career Victory in Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200

    Chris Buescher Scores First Career Victory in Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200

    After making his pit stop a little earlier than his competitors, Chris Busecher was able to stretch the fuel and hit all his marks around the 13-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car road course to score his first career Nationwide Series victory in his 30th career start.

    “Its incredible, just incredible and cold – these guys got me good,” Buescher said. “It’s such an honor to be here with Nationwide’s Children Hospital on board this car; it’s great to get Luke here to victory lane. It was just an amazing, amazing trip.”

    After hitting pit road, Buescher let the pit cycle go through, taking over the lead with 24 laps to go. The caution would fly with 20 laps to go, setting up a late race restart.

    “It was nerve-wracking. I wasn’t sure if I was happy or disappointed,” Buescher said of the caution. “I knew we had a little more fuel, but it bunched us all up there. This Ford Mustang was fast. My fuel light came on near the end, but I wasn’t telling (crew chief) Scott (Graves).”

    Buescher then held off Regan Smith and Brian Scott on the restart before stretching the lead out to two seconds and cruising to victory. Crew chief Graves commented post-race that he was ready to throw up over the course of the last 20 laps.

    “This is amazing. That is so cool to do that,” Graves said. “We’ve been saying all year that we’re here to win and to do that, you need to take risks. You need to get out front and make things happen – and we did that today.”

    Buescher hasn’t had the perfect rookie season, posting some poor finishes throughout the season. However, over the second half of the season, Buescher has gotten stronger behind the wheel, posting some top-10 finishes. With the victory, Buescher becomes the third rookie to win this season as he joins Chase Elliott and Ty Dillon.

    Regan Smith would finish second after running a solid, clean race, for his 18th top-10 finish of the 2014 season.

    “We broke the exhaust at some point. It started popping pretty bad at some point,” he said. “As the race went on, the popping got worse and it finally broke off that we didn’t have any power off of the corners. Chris drove a great race and congratulations to him. Great job by these guys on their effort today.”

    Brian Scott led a race-high 39 laps before finishing third despite some early race contact with Alex Tagliani that sent him off-course.

    “I got to say thanks Nationwide Children’s hospital for letting us having a patient champion,” Scott commented. “The deal with Tagliani – he kind of out-braked me, dive bombed me and I said alright. Then he drove us out into the grass and changed our strategy in having to call an audible near the end of the race. I think we could’ve won the race if it had not been for that.”

    Chase Elliott finished fourth to keep the points lead, 10 points ahead of Smith, while Alex Tagliani rounded out the top-five.

    “Sorry to Brian. I made a move to the inside and once I tapped him, he kept sliding to the outside,” Tagliani said. “Good day for the 22 car in gaining some points as once the 54 had problems, the risk versus reward was too high in making sure to bring the car home in one piece.”

    Justin Marks finished sixth, followed by Elliott Sadler, Dylan Kwasniewski, Trevor Bayne and Dakoda Armstrong.

    Richard Childress Racing teammates Ty Dillon and Brendan Gaughan looked fast early, but finished 19th and 20th respectively, after Dillon had power-steering issues while Gaughan had over-heating issues. Pole sitter Sam Hornish Jr. also looked strong, leading 12 laps before running second behind Scott, until he pulled behind the wall with mechanical issues underneath the hood.

    Throughout the day, different drivers would get off course, some having more problems than others in getting stuck in the kitty litter or tire barrier. One of the most significant incidents was when Jeff Green’s throttle stuck with 20 laps to go, resulting in heavy contact with the tire barrier. Green would get out of the car, able to walk away under his own power.

    The Nationwide Series is back in action next Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.