Category: Race Central

At Phoenix International Raceway, it was Brad Keselowski grabbing the pole with his Team Penske teammate Joey Logano second. This weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it was the opposite as Joey Logano grabbed the pole with Keselowski second.

Logano would lap the track at 27.939 seconds to score his eighth career Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Award. The lap also marks a new track record for the mile and a half oval.

“They do a great job,” Logano said. “I told (Keselowski) we’re 1-to-1 now. Two weeks right off the bat to have a front row is awesome for Penske. It’s a privilege to drive these cars. Everything is clicking. Now we just need to put it all together and win the big one.”

This weekend marked the second time NASCAR has used the Knock-Out Qualifying format for the Sprint Cup Series. In the first 25 minute session, Brian Vickers set the quickest time ahead of Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Austin Dillon and Clint Bowyer. Then in the second session, Logano was quickest ahead of Bowyer, Jamie McMurray, Martin Truex Jr. and Keselowski.

Keselowski went out and set the quickest time early in the last session, though it was Logano that was able to top it later. Keselowski would end up second, only three hundreths off of the pole.

“I knew Joey was going to beat it,” he commented. “You know if you leave it out there, your teammate was going to get it. either way, it’s still a great front row – two weeks in a row. It doesn’t feel great to be second, so I know how he felt last week.”

Clint Bowyer would qualify third for his first top 10 start of 2014, followed by rookie Austin Dillon and Jimmie Johnson. Johnson is looking for his fifth career win at Las Vegas this weekend.

Last year’s Rookie of the Year Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was second, followed by McMurray, Aric Almirola, Vickers and Ryan Newman.

Carl Edwards and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top 12.

Kasey Kahne would barely missed getting into the top 12 by a hundreth of a second. The driver of the No. 5 Farmer’s Insurance Chevrolet attributed that to not being able to get a solid lap in following wasted time due to a flat tire. Kahne would have a tire go flat and had to wait for NASCAR to allow him to change it with another tire the team had in their inventory.

“There’s just so much going on down here,” Kahne said. “When we had the flat tire, it took so long to get approved. There was no one around. If there’s going to be this much going on and hectic, they’ve got be aware and have more people knowing what’s going on.”

Kahne was followed by his Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon. Last week’s winner Kevin Harvick would qualify 16th.

Once again, there were concerns following qualifying with regards to the cooling issues. Team are not allowed to use the cooling machines and as a result, drivers are riding around the apron to cool their cars.

“Riding the apron has to be done for cooling, but it’s the most dangerous thing I’ve done,” Vickers commented. “If he slips up at all, I’m done. I know we’re all working on it but something needs to be done.”

Kevin Harvick, a four-time winner at Phoenix International Raceway, paced Saturday morning practice, logging in 42 laps during the session, including the quickest one.

Harvick was simply fast. The driver of the #4 Budweiser Chevrolet was the only driver during the morning practice to break 137 mph at 137.757 mph. Jamie McMurray was second quickest in his No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevy with a speed of 136.830, which was just ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, rookie, Kyle Larson, at 136.380 mph.

Daytona 500 champion, Dale Earnhatdt Jr., came in fourth with a speed of 136.664 mph, with Brad Keselowski, the pole-sitter for Sundays race, rounding out the top five.

Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, and Joey Logano, rounded out the top 10.

Final practice for the Sprint Cup Series is scheduled for 2 p.m ET on Fox Sports 1.

On Friday afternoon, NASCAR debuted knockout qualifying. Team Penske teammates, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, will lead the field to green on Sunday at The Profit on CNBC 500 presented by Small Business Fueling America. Coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.

Emotions ran high at the end of the 56^th Annual Daytona 500 as Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored his first victory in the Great American race since 2004. It had been a long ten years since he last won in 2004. The years were filled with plenty of close finishes including three runner-ups, but Earnhardt Jr. could never close the deal. That all changed Sunday night as Earnhardt Jr. held off a storming pack in route to victory lane.

A very long day began early Sunday afternoon and finished in the late hours of the day. Drivers who finished the race had waited out the rain, survived crashes, and fought like heck for a shot at the victory. They all poured their heart and soul into the biggest race of the year, which gave us all a reminder on just how big this race actually is.

A long rain delay took up much of the afternoon as drivers, teams, and fans waited six hours, 21 minutes, and 40 seconds from the first rain drops to see the cars finish the event. The wait was well worth it as once the lights went on, action immediately picked up.

It wasn’t until after the halfway point that Dale Earnhardt Jr. first led the race. After a round of pit stops concluded around Lap 130, it was Earnhardt Jr. out front. Not too long after he took the lead was when the first of four major wrecks of the day unfolded.

With 55 laps remaining, calamity struck as Kevin Harvick got into Brian Scott coming off of turn 4. Scott drifted up into Aric Almirola, sending Almirola spinning across the track. Almirola tagged Austin Dillon and Danica Patrick as he came down the track, creating chaos all around.

Other drivers involved included David Gilliland, Michael Waltrip, Paul Menard, Justin Allgaier, Parker Kligerman, Kasey Kahne, Marcos Ambrose, Josh Wise and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Most drivers involved only suffered slight damage, but Waltrip and Gilliland were among the drivers who had to go to the garage.

The next multi-car incident occurred with 38 laps remaining. Austin Dillon got into Kyle Larson in turn 3, sending Larson’s car around in the middle of the pack. Others piled-in as cars scrambled all around. The wreck also included Marcos Ambrose, Michael Annett, Brian Vickers, Terry Labonte, Kasey Kahne, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman, Brian Scott, and Jamie McMurray. Once again, a majority of the drivers involved suffered little damage and continued racing.

Earnhardt Jr. led the field on the ensuing restart. He and Greg Biffle had quite the battle for the lead going as they stayed side-by-side for many laps. Biffle’s teammate Carl Edwards was the next to battle Earnhardt Jr. out front, but Earnhardt Jr. figured out a way to maintain the lead.

The sixth caution of the race was for a third multi-car incident. Again, Austin Dillon was the trigger as he gave teammate Ryan Newman a bump going into turn 3. That sent Newman into the wall and eventually around. Others including Parker Kligerman, Cole Whitt, Brian Scott, Justin Allgaier, and Terry Labonte suffered damage.

A green-white-checker finish followed as a very long Daytona 500 was set to conclude. Earnhardt Jr. led the inside lane to green as he had to battle Brad Keselowski on the outside. Keselowski couldn’t keep up too well as the outside somewhat faded and Earnhardt Jr. was able to stay in control of the charge at the front.

Earnhardt Jr. played an incredible amount of defense on the final laps as he had to keep back a hard charging Denny Hamlin and Keselowski. As the fourth and final accident of the day took place behind the leaders off of turn 4, it was Earnhardt Jr. holding off Hamlin to the line.

The victory was Earnhardt Jr.’s first since the June 2012 race at Michigan. The win also marked Earnhardt Jr.’s second Daytona 500 victory and first in ten years.

“I didn’t know if I’d ever get the chance to feel that (Daytona 500 victory) again” Earnhardt Jr. said in victory lane. He then elaborated about trying so hard over the past few years and finally getting the elusive victory.

The free-for-all feeling this Daytona 500 had to it wasn’t just for fun as it marked the beginning of the new season. The season of winning it could be called as wins are a driver’s ticket to the Chase. Dale Earnhardt Jr. likely punched his ticket into the postseason with this victory.

After winning both the Sprint Unlimited and the Budweiser Duel, Hamlin would finish second in the Daytona 500, followed by Brad Keselowski and Hendrick Motorsports teammmates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

Matt Kenseth finished sixth, followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Greg Biffle, Austin Dillon and Casey Mears.

On lap 39 at 2:13 p.m. EST, the 56th annual Daytona 500 was red-flagged as light rain fell from the sky.

A steady rain has continued to fall, with NASCAR sending the Air Titan track drying system on track at 4:17 p.m. EST. However, the rain stopped around 6:30 and NASCAR has been working since to get the racing surface dry to finish off the biggest race of the season.

NASCAR announced at approximately 7 p.m. that they are planning to resume the race at 8:30 p.m. EST. NASCAR allowed teams to send out two crew members to remove the tarps from the cars, clean windshield, remove tape and hook up generators at 8 p.m. EST. NASCAR added that teams will be allowed to adjust tire pressure closer to the restart time and drivers also can change visor on their helmet.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch is the current leader after starting 37th due to a poor qualifying effort. Busch won the Camping World Truck Series opener on Friday night. Kasey Kahne is second, followed by Denny Hamlin, Brian Vickers and Paul Menard.

So far, the race has been slowed by a pair of cautions with the first caution flying due to debris after Kyle Larson got into the outside wall. The second caution would fly at lap 35 for Martin Truex Jr. blowing his motor.

“Super disappointing,” Truex said, who was competing in his first points race for Furniture Row Racing. “I mean it’s definitely a tough break for the team. The car was super-fast today and I went to bed last night thinking that this was my best shot ever to win the Daytona 500. The car was just so good and we were just riding around, biding our time, being patient and trying to get to the end of this thing.”

Truex Jr. qualified second for the race and was scheduled to start on the front row, though had to start the race in the rear due to being involved in a wreck in the Budweiser Duel.