Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Category: Race Central

Race Central Stories

  • Busch fends off Allgaier in last lap thriller

    Busch fends off Allgaier in last lap thriller

    Kyle Busch held off Justin Allgaier on the final restart with four laps to go to win Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Indiana 250 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This was Busch’s fourth victory of the season and his 96th of his career.

    “We just didn’t have the grip in traffic,” Busch said to PRN Radio. “The car was really really fast in a straight line. I could pass some of those guys on the straightaways, even if I botched the corners, it seemed like I could catch them back. Different situations with some of those guys. The 7 (Allgaier) was really good, really smart, played a great race. We were faster, just faster at the end to make sure we stayed in front of those guys.”

    This was Busch’s seventh and final race of the 2019 Xfinity Series season.

    “Real proud of the effort, certainly want to thank Big Machine Vodka, Big Machine Label group for being on my stuff there and partner at the racetrack this weekend. Also want to thank the fans for their support, this Combos Supra, these guys, everybody on this team did a great job. It’s cool here to win anytime at Indy, so we’ll take it.”

    Before the race, Busch qualified on the pole claiming his 66th career pole.

    There were a couple of drivers that had to go to the rear before the start of the race. Ronnie Bassett Jr., Josh Bilicki and B.J. McLeod went to the rear for unapproved adjustments and Kyle Weatherman for an engine change.

    Stages were 30/30/40 laps to make up the 100 lap race.

    Stage 1 Lap: 1- Lap 30

    Stage 1 was green for the most part, aside from a few incidents. The No. 10 of Austin Dillon came down pit road early on Lap 12 and reported no oil pressure. The issue only got worse for Dillon as the car ran out of power on the backstretch, eventually coming to a stop on the access road. This brought out the first caution of the day on Lap 16.

    Some different strategy was played out with Busch, Cole Custer, Justin Haley, Noah Gragson, Michael Annett and Chase Briscoe, all pitting under caution. Busch had to come back down pit road once again due to not having the lug nuts tight on the right front.

    Two more cautions came out before the stage ended on Lap 30. One was for the No. 52 of David Starr who had his motor expire and the other was for Ryan Sieg who spun off Turn 2 on the final lap of the stage. Another driver, Tyler Reddick had some issues on the pit stops. Reddick was served a penalty for having too many men over the wall after his stop.

    With the track position and by staying out, Brandon Jones went on to win Stage 1. Austin Cindric, Busch, Gragson, Custer, Allgaier, Christopher Bell, Haley, Briscoe and Reddick rounded out the top-10 finishers in the first stage.

    Stage 2: Lap 36 – Lap 60

    Busch and Gragson, along with a few others, stayed out under the stage break to assume the lead for the second stage.

    It didn’t take long for the caution to fly again as the No. 86 of Brandon Brown went spinning by himself in Turn 1. Two other drivers also had slight contact with each other. Bell and Gragson made minimal contact off the restart. With the contact, Bell had to come down pit road to fix the left front fender.

    On Lap 52, eight laps before the stage ended, a thrilling battle for the lead took place between Allgaier and Busch, with Allgaier eventually taking the lead from Busch. The JR Motorsports driver went on to win Stage 2 after holding off Busch. It was a sign of what was to come later.

    Busch, Reddick, Jeb Burton, Jones, Bell, Briscoe, Custer, Sieg and Gragson were the top-10 finishers for Stage 2.

    Stage 3: Lap 66 – Lap 100

    A lot of action and incidents took place in the third and final stage. Allgaier and Busch continued to battle for the lead before a caution came out on Lap 80 for the No. 23 of John Hunter Nemechek. Mostly everyone came down pit road with Haley being the only one to pit for two tires.

    The restart came with 16 to go and saw new names out front, as Bell and Reddick were fighting for the lead. However, before they could break away from the field, another yellow was seen with 11 to go as it saw Cindric making contact and spinning the No. 19 of Brandon Jones.

    This would shape up another restart with eight laps to go. On the same lap, a vicious crash took place among the leaders. Bell and Reddick took each other out and hit the wall hard off Turn 2. Despite the hard hits, both drivers walked away from the incident. With the long clean up effort, NASCAR officials threw the red flag to let track officials clean up the accident.

    Eventually, this would set up a four-lap dash to the finish. With a little bit of help from Burton, Busch got the push he needed in order to get out front of Allgaier. The two broke away from the field to fight it out.

    In the end, the All-time Xfinity Series wins leader Busch held off Allgaier for his fourth Indianapolis Xfinity Series win and the 96th of his career.

    Earlier in the year, Busch has noted he may retire if he hits the 100 win mark in the series. He’s only four away from win No. 100.

    “Yeah, hopefully, we can go five for five and we’ll make it 101, and hang our hat.”

    Busch led five times for 46 laps to score his fourth win of the season.

    There were eight cautions for 31 laps, one red flag, and 14 lead changes among seven drivers.

    With it being Busch’s last start in the Xfinity Series due to NASCAR’s restrictions on Cup drivers, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver will end his Xfinity Series season with four wins, five top-fives and top-10 finishes, two poles and an average finish of 9.4.

    Up Next: The Xfinity Series has one more race before their playoff run begins at Richmond. The series will head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next Saturday on Sept 14.

    Official Results

    1. Kyle Busch, led 46 laps
    2. Justin Allgaier, led 24 laps, won Stage 2
    3. Noah Gragson, led one lap
    4. Jeb Burton
    5. Justin Haley
    6. Brandon Jones, led eight laps, won Stage 1
    7. Cole Custer
    8. Chase Briscoe
    9. Austin Hill
    10. Ryan Sieg
    11. Jeremy Clements
    12. Michael Annett
    13. Gray Gaulding
    14. Garrett Smithley
    15. Ronnie Bassett Jr
    16. Landon Cassill
    17. Josh Williams, led four laps
    18. Joey Gase
    19. Stefan Parsons
    20. Ray Black Jr
    21. Josh Bilicki
    22. B.J. McLeod
    23. Stephen Leicht
    24. Tommy Joe Martins
    25. Matt Mills
    26. Vinnie Miller, one lap down
    27. Austin Cindric, OUT, Engine
    28. Brandon Brown, three laps down
    29. Christopher Bell, OUT, Accident
    30. Tyler Reddick, OUT, Accident
    31. John Hunter Nemechek, OUT, Crash
    32. Mike Harmon, OUT, Electrical
    33. Chad Finchum, OUT, Transmission
    34. Austin Dillon, OUT, Fuel Pump
    35. Kyle Weatherman, OUT, Overheating
    36. Morgan Shepherd, OUT, Handling
    37. David Starr, OUT, Engine
    38. J.J. Yeley, OUT, Suspension

  • Custer declared winner at Darlington after Hamlin fails post-race inspection

    Custer declared winner at Darlington after Hamlin fails post-race inspection

    DARLINGTON, S.C. –  Denny Hamlin’s apparent victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 was short-lived when his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota failed post-race inspection. NASCAR determined that the height requirements were not met stating that the left front was too low while it was too high in the right rear.

    This was the fourth time this season that a car has been disqualified following a race in the Xfinity Series but only the first time that it has involved the winner.

    Cole Custer’s Stewart-Haas Racing No. 00 Ford was declared as the winner, moving him from second to first place to claim his sixth victory this season and his first at Darlington Raceway. He is now tied with Christopher for the most wins in the series and is third in the playoff standings.

    ‘It’s a really strange feeling,” obviously, Custer said in his post-race interview. “You don’t want to win them that way, but it is what it is. We all play by the same rules. Was that the deciding factor? No, with everything, he won the race but it is what it is. We get the points. We get the money and we get everything, including the trophy so we’ll take it.”

    Tyler Reddick finished second after leading 70 laps. Ryan Blaney led 50 laps and is credited with third place with Christopher Bell and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounding out the top five finishers.

    Earnhardt was pleased with his result in the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet featuring a throwback paint scheme that honored his father’s first start in the premier series in 1975 at Charlotte.

    “I love this place,” said Earnhardt. You never know how good you are till you come back and try it. All these guys are elite. All these guys do this every single week, and they’re very, very talented. To think you can take a year off and come back and be good, you just never know. But we did all right!”

    Chase Briscoe, Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier and Austin Cindric rounded out the top 10.

    There are only two races left before the Xfinity Series Playoffs begin. Reddick leads the regular-season standings by 51 points over Bell while Custer is 136 points behind in third place.

    Next week the Xfinity Series heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indiana 250.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

  • Byron captures the Bojangles’ Southern 500 pole at Darlington

    Byron captures the Bojangles’ Southern 500 pole at Darlington

    DARLINGTON, S.C. – William Byron captured the pole for the 70th Annual Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway with a lap of 28.51 seconds (172.487 mph). This was Byron’s first career pole at the 1.366-mile track known as the “Lady in Black’ and the ‘Track to Tough to Tame.’

    Byron is also the youngest drive to win the pole at the historic track. It was the fourth of his Cup Series career and will be his 12th top 10 start this season. Byron hit another milestone by becoming only the third driver to win poles at NASCAR’s  three crown jewel races that include the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600 and the Southern 500, in one season. Bill Elliott and Glen ‘Fireball’ Roberts are the only other drivers to accomplish this feat.

    “Our race setup (at Darlington) was good in qualifying trim,” Byron said. “It just happened to work out that way that we focused on qualifying, and I’m sure Chad (Knaus) puts his extra little bit into it too and I kind of put my extra couple cents into it to make sure I hit everything right.

    “I felt good driving down here this morning. Only having to make one lap today is pretty easy, so I said, ‘Go on out there and try to not screw up and make a good lap.’”

    Brad Keselowski qualified second, Kyle Larson third, Kurt Busch was fourth and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top-5 qualifiers.

    “I felt good about my lap,” Larson said after qualifying third. “The balance was fine. I could have maybe come to the green a little bit better but I don’t think I would have had a shot at the pole. We had a lot of speed in happy hour so I’m pretty confident going into the race tomorrow. You never know until the race starts, but I felt really good about it.”

    Larson’s teammate, Kurt Busch, was happy with his fourth place effort.

    “For us, I thought it was a good lap. Everything seemed to match up. We ran a fast lap in practice yesterday, we just didn’t pick up as much as everyone else did. That half of a tenth adds up quick in qualifying. We have a really good race car with the downforce that’s on it and we weren’t too trimmed out, so to speak, for a run at the pole. We were really digging hard to get another pole at the Southern 500. Fourth is a good spot to be and we’ll go from there.”

    Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500  is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

    Darlington Raceway
    Starting Lineup for the Bojangles’ Southern 500
    Provided by NASCAR Statistics
    Bojangles’ Southern 500

    Pos No Driver Team Time Speed
    1 24 William Byron HendrickAtgrd/CtyChvrltThrwbck Chev 28.51 172.487
    2 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Ford 28.576 172.088
    3 42 Kyle Larson Clover Chevrolet 28.617 171.842
    4 1 Kurt Busch Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet 28.63 171.764
    5 41 Daniel Suarez Haas Automation Ford 28.704 171.321
    6 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Throwback Chevrolet 28.724 171.202
    7 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 28.756 171.011
    8 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Throwback Chevrolet 28.766 170.952
    9 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Darlington Throwback Toyota 28.787 170.827
    10 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Pennzoil Ford 28.801 170.744
    11 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Beer/Big Buck Hunter Ford 28.812 170.679
    12 37 Chris Buescher Kroger Fast Lane to Flavor Chevrolet 28.829 170.578
    13 14 Clint Bowyer Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Ford 28.831 170.566
    14 3 Austin Dillon American Ethanol Chevrolet 28.841 170.507
    15 20 Erik Jones Sport Clips Throwback Toyota 28.848 170.466
    16 88 Alex Bowman Axalta Throwback Chevrolet 28.855 170.425
    17 21 Paul Menard Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 28.872 170.324
    18 8 Daniel Hemric # Caterpillar Chevrolet 28.892 170.206
    19 95 Matt DiBenedetto No. 95 IMSA GTO Throwback Toyota 28.905 170.13
    20 47 Ryan Preece # Kroger Chevrolet 28.91 170.1
    21 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Dog’s Most Wanted Ford 28.931 169.977
    22 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 28.956 169.83
    23 34 Michael McDowell Dockside Logistics Ford 29.017 169.473
    24 6 Ryan Newman Oscar Mayer/Velveeta Ford 29.019 169.461
    25 0 Landon Cassill(i) StarCom Fiber Chevrolet 29.087 169.065
    26 38 David Ragan Shriners Hospital for Children Ford 29.097 169.007
    27 32 Corey LaJoie CorvetteParts.net Ford 29.103 168.972
    28 43 Bubba Wallace Victory Junction 15th Anniversary Chevrolet 29.163 168.625
    29 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet 29.173 168.567
    30 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 29.229 168.244
    31 15 Ross Chastain(i) Chevrolet 29.239 168.186
    32 36 Matt Tifft # Hilliker Glass/Surface Ford 29.272 167.997
    33 18 Kyle Busch Snickers Throwback Toyota 29.385 167.351
    34 77 Reed Sorenson Motor Racing Network Chevrolet 29.764 165.22
    35 52 JJ Yeley(i) JACOB Companies Chevrolet 29.796 165.042
    36 51 BJ McLeod(i) JACOB Companies Chevrolet 30.07 163.538
    37 27 * Joe Nemechek(i) Chevrolet 30.26 162.512
    38 54 * Garrett Smithley(i) AQRE App Chevrolet 30.568 160.874
    39 66 * Joey Gase(i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 30.888 159.207
  • Christopher Bell wins at Road America, first on road course and sixth of season

    Christopher Bell wins at Road America, first on road course and sixth of season

    Despite wild closing laps with road course ringers and Cup regulars spinning off track, Christopher Bell displays his talent and wins the CTECH Manufacturing 180 at Road America in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

    “Man, I’m honestly in shock,” Bell said. “I really butchered qualifying and tore the crap out of the left front. I felt like once we got in the race there, we’d be able to drive by those guys. Instead, they dropped the green flag and they were driving by me. That wasn’t much fun.

    “Then I told Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) I was really, really tight. We got those tires off and he said the left-front was hurt pretty bad. We got pretty good there when we put our new set of tires on.

    “That strategy worked out well for us coming in there (with 14 to go) and then the yellow coming out. This car was really, really fast today. We’ve had a great road course season.”

    NASCAR was forced to throw a caution for debris, setting up the race for a two-lap shootout for the win. Bell controlled the restart perfectly, but AJ Allmendinger spun his tires and fell back from the outside front row. Bell would hold off the field for the win, but it was eventful throughout the field behind him.

    Austin Cindric pitted during the last caution flag to make a late-race charge through the field. After restarting in the 20th position, he had passed 15 cars and found himself on the heels of Matt DiBenedetto. Coming through Turn 14, DiBenedetto ended up spinning his No. 18 iK9 Toyota Supra, allowing Cindric to cross the start-finish line second — 1.891 seconds behind Bell.

    “We talked about a five-to-go plan, that was like a green-white-checkered,” said Cindric, who came a position short of claiming three straight road-course wins in August. “I wasn’t 100 percent confident, but at the same time, we were battling a lot of wheel hop after four or five laps on tires and we had a lot more than on tires.

    “In this kind of racing, you pretty much know that you’re going to get used up if you’re slower, so we wanted to go on offense and that was our strategy all day and we probably just needed one or two laps to get our Menards–Richmond Ford Mustang in Victory Lane. All in all, a good day, good points. P-2 is all right.”

    Cindric also shared his viewpoint in the last two laps fittingly.

    “It was chaos, it was insane. I think it’s why all these people show up at Road America and enjoy this type of racing. You never know what you’re going to get, it always comes down to those last-lap dashes to the finish, I’m glad to be able to put on a show at a place like this.”

    Allmendinger admitted to the poor restart, but also collided with Noah Gragson after Turn 1 and spun off course. He would later be collected in a different off-course exchange and finished in a dismal 24th position.

    The rest of the top five included points leader and Bristol Motor Speedway winner Tyler Reddick. Gragson and Kaz Grala. Justin Haley, Chase Briscoe, Jeremy Clements, Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer completed the top 10. Allgaier and Custer both recovered from earlier race incidents.

    It was Bell’s 14th career Xfinity Series victory but his first triumph on a road course.

    “I guess I just get lucky on these things, that’s for sure,” Bell said.

    Just three races remain in the regular Xfinity Series season. They compete next in the throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway with the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

  • Weekend Schedule for Road America and Canada

    Weekend Schedule for Road America and Canada

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series competes at Road America this weekend with JR Motorsport’s Justin Allgaier as the 2018 defending race winner. The Gander Outdoors Truck Series heads to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park where Justin Haley won the event last year.

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is off this week but will return next weekend at Darlington Raceway.

    Please check below for the complete schedule.

    All times are Eastern.

    Road America

    Friday, Aug. 23

    1:35 p.m. – 2:25 p.m.: Xfinity Series First Practice – NBC Sports App

    3:35 p.m. – 4:55 p.m.: Xfinity Series Final Practice – NBC Sports App

    Saturday, Aug. 24

    11:40 a.m. – Xfinity Series Qualifying – Multi-car/Two rounds – NBC Sports App Live/NBCSN Tape Delay at 1:30 p.m.

    3 p.m.: Xfinity Series CTECH Manufacturing 180 (45 laps/182.16 miles) – NBCSN/ MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Canadian Tire Motorsports Park

    Saturday, Aug. 24

    9:35 a.m. – 10:25 a.m.: Truck Series First Practice – No TV

    11:35 – 12:55 p.m.: Truck Series Final Practice – No TV

    Sunday, Aug. 25 

    9:35 a.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – Multi-truck/Two rounds – FS2

    2:30 p.m. – Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250 (64 laps/157.37 miles) – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

  • Denny Hamlin wins the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night race pole at Bristol

    Denny Hamlin wins the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night race pole at Bristol

    Denny Hamlin won the Pole Award for Saturday night’s 59th Annual Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race with a lap of 14.848 seconds, 129.230 mph.

    “I didn’t know I beat (Kyle) Larson. I thought it was Martin (Truex Jr.). Perfect. Even better. I was wondering why he was giving me the finger when I pulled in. No, that’s awesome. We’re about to go up and watch this Xfinity race in the stands, so nice. I didn’t know what he ran. I knew we had a shot. The second practice especially, our car was really good and had good speed at the front of the run and end of the run. I was confident as long as the crew chief did his job and I did my job, we’d definitely have a chance.” Hamlin said.

    This was Hamlin’s first pole of the season, fourth at Bristol and the 31st of his career.

    “Fortunately for us, qualifying doesn’t pay any money and it doesn’t pay any points. It really hasn’t weighed on us. I mean obviously with the aero package that we have, you can make your car on most tracks as fast or slow as you want to, but you have concerns about racing after that. We’ve really focused on making our cars race well and that’s where all the accolades come from. Sure, you want to win a pole. That’s obviously a big deal.” Hamlin said.

    The No. 42 of Kyle Larson had the pole for a second or two until he eventually had to settle to start outside pole. Larson had a time of 14.87 to start second.

    “Overall, I’m happy with how we qualified and the grip I had in my car. In practice, I was really loose. So hopefully we’ll have a good race tomorrow and try and get my first Bristol Cup win.” Larson said.

    Martin Truex Jr, Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola, Chase Elliott, Matt DiBenedetto, Kevin Harvick, Erik Jones and Alex Bowman rounded out the top-10 finishers.

    “Bristol can either be really good or really bad. It seems like it can be that way no matter how many times you’ve been here. You just hope you hit on it right and can survive. It’s a long race and sometimes it’s hard to just make it to the end. I haven’t had a whole lot of success here anyways, so hopefully tomorrow is better.” Elliott said.

    A few other notables that are starting outside the top-10. Joey Logano in 11th, Ryan Blaney in 12th, Brad Keselowski in 13th, Clint Bowyer in 20th, William Byron in 21st, Jimmie Johnson in 30th and Kyle Busch in 31st.

    “We were decent, but I was hoping for a little bit more. I had a great first lap and just got a little bit out on the second one.” Keselowski said.

    Winning at Bristol has came from various starting spots. Kyle Busch won from 17th in the spring, Kurt Busch won from ninth last August, Kyle Busch won from the pole in spring of 2018 and 18th in 2017, and Jimmie Johnson from 11th in spring of 2017.

    The NRA Bass Pro Shops 500 is slated to get underway shortly after 7:30 p.m./ET live on NBCSN and PRN Radio.

    Starting Line Up by Row
    Bristol Motor Speedway
    Provided by NASCAR Statistics – Friday, 8/16/2019 @ 06:46 PM Eastern

    Pos No Driver Team Time Speed
    1 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota 14.848 129.23
    2 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet 14.874 129.004
    3 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Toyota 14.875 128.995
    4 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet 14.896 128.813
    5 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 14.901 128.77
    6 9 Chase Elliott Hooters Spirits Chevrolet 14.923 128.58
    7 95 Matt DiBenedetto Toyota Express Maintenance Toyota 14.937 128.46
    8 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Beer Ford 14.94 128.434
    9 20 Erik Jones STANLEY Toyota 14.945 128.391
    10 88 Alex Bowman Nationwide Chevrolet 14.963 128.236
    11 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 14.976 128.125
    12 12 Ryan Blaney Dent Wizard Ford 14.981 128.082
    13 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 14.997 127.946
    14 6 Ryan Newman Acronis Ford 15.002 127.903
    15 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 15.028 127.682
    16 38 David Ragan MDS Ford 15.053 127.47
    17 8 Daniel Hemric # Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet 15.084 127.208
    18 41 Daniel Suarez Haas Automation Ford 15.088 127.174
    19 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevrolet 15.116 126.938
    20 14 Clint Bowyer Peak Lighting Ford 15.129 126.829
    21 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 15.166 126.52
    22 43 Bubba Wallace United States Air Force Chevrolet 15.188 126.337
    23 47 Ryan Preece # Kroger Chevrolet 15.192 126.303
    24 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Military Chevrolet 15.225 126.03
    25 21 Paul Menard Menards/Knauf Ford 15.243 125.881
    26 32 Corey LaJoie Incredible Bank Ford 15.273 125.633
    27 36 Matt Tifft # Surface Sunscreen Ford 15.275 125.617
    28 34 Michael McDowell Love’s Travel Stops Ford 15.311 125.322
    29 37 Chris Buescher Bush’s Beans Chevrolet 15.314 125.297
    30 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 15.331 125.158
    31 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 15.34 125.085
    32 0 Landon Cassill(i) Permatex Chevrolet 15.366 124.873
    33 51 BJ McLeod(i) Pinnacle Sports and Entertainment Chevrolet 15.468 124.05
    34 27 Quin Houff Chevrolet 15.579 123.166
    35 53 Josh Bilicki(i) AQRE Chevrolet 15.631 122.756
    36 54 JJ Yeley PODS Ford 15.732 121.968
    37 77 Reed Sorenson Go-Parts.com Chevrolet 15.733 121.96
    38 52 Kyle Weatherman(i) Belmont Classic Cars Chevrolet 15.786 121.551
    39 15 Ross Chastain(i) Chantz Auto Group Chevrolet 15.84 121.136
  • Playoff contender Brett Moffitt wins at Bristol

    Playoff contender Brett Moffitt wins at Bristol

    Start first and finish first was the name of the game for the GMS Racing driver Brett Moffitt as he took home the win Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. It was Moffitt’s third win of the season and locks him into the Round of 6 as the Playoffs continue.

    “This is unbelievable,” Moffitt excitedly told MRN Radio. “I’ve had runs in the past where I’m decent but I never felt confident at this track. There’s so much that can happen, but man, getting the first win here and having Junior Johnson on the hood of this truck and to go to victory lane at Bristol, Tennessee up here in the mountains, you know where Moonshine is started.”

    “It’s so cool to have him on this truck and honor him at this place, but to win in this round and get locked in is truly unbelievable and the best win of the season thus far. So it’s all good.”

    Moffitt and another playoff championship contender, Ross Chastain, started on the front row.

    Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 57

    Stage 1 only saw one incident that took place on Lap 4 for Sheldon Creed, Jordan Anderson and Jesse Little for an accident in Turn 2. Other than that, Niece Motorsports driver Ross Chastain went on to win the first stage with a dominant truck.

    Moffitt, Johnny Sauter, Ben Rhodes, Chandler Smith, Matt Crafton, Stewart Friesen, Tyler Ankrum, John Hunter Nemechek and Austin Hill rounded out the top-10 stage finishers for Stage 1. Sauter, Rhodes, Harrison Burton, Grant Enfinger and Hill were among the drivers to pit under the stage break.

    Stage 2: Lap 66 – Lap 112

    Stage 2 saw a lot more action. On Lap 68, a caution came out for the returning Angela Ruch who went spinning on the front stretch. Then, on Lap 77, Nemechek wrecked on the front stretch after Sauter got loose off of Turn 4. During the incident, Nemechek also collected Sauter as he turned down on the track with Sauter receiving right front fender damage.

    These were the only incidents that happened in Stage 2 but this time Moffitt took the stage win after Chastain nearly dominated once again. However, during the stage break, the Florida native was penalized for a safety violation and was sent to the rear of the field.

    Chastain, Smith, Crafton, Friesen, Ankrum, Rhodes, Raphael Lessard, Enfinger and Sam Mayer completed the top-10 stage finishers for Stage 2.

    Stage 3: Lap 121- Lap 200

    The third and final stage saw the most action. On Lap 131 Tyler Dippel spun in Turn 2 after contact with Brennan Poole. Dylan Lupton and Timmy Hill were also involved. On Lap 137 Natalie Decker brought out the caution again. During the caution, Ankrum reported his engine was skipping intermittently. Burton also had a broken shock mount to his No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports truck.

    The caution came out once again with 48 to go for Friesen and Crafton. Both had made contact in one of the turns after Crafton got a little bit sideways and then got into Friesen and sent Friesen into the wall. On Lap 168, Jennifer Jo Cobb went around after Rhodes made slight contact with her. After the incident, the replays showed Rhodes was trying to lift and not make contact but eventually did.

    During the last 27 laps, it seemed the race would take forever with a stop and go for caution. Lessard went spinning around in Turn 1 with 24 to go after contact with Chastain. Meanwhile, Sauter made contact with the inside wall. With 17 to go, Gus Dean, Decker and Dippel were involved and had damage to their trucks.

    Under the caution, Decker was trying to get the push truck to back off as she had her truck fired but the push truck did not realize it and eventually sent Decker around on the surface. The race was red-flagged with 14 to go due to oil on the track and to allow fans to see a run to the finish.

    The final caution of the night took place with eight to go, as rookie Mayer hit the wall. This would set up a three-lap dash for an exciting finish. Moffitt, the 2018 Truck Series champion, was able to fend off rookie Smith in a thrilling battle to the checkered flag.

    “We got the next two races where we can go race aggressive and try to get more points for the following round, but this is a lot of pressure off our race team,” Moffitt added to MRN Radio.

    With the win, Moffitt moves onto the Round of 6 and will not have to worry about Canada or Las Vegas.

    There were 12 cautions for 73 laps with nine lead changes among three drivers.

    Playoff Points Standings after Bristol:

    1. Brett Moffitt (W, Advanced to Round of 6)
    2. Ross Chastain, -16
    3. Stewart Friesen, -24
    4. Matt Crafton, -28
    5. Grant Enfinger, -28
    6. Johnny Sauter, -38
    7. Austin Hill, -41
    8. Tyler Ankrum, -51

    Official Results

    1. Brett Moffitt, led 65 laps
    2. Chandler Smith
    3. Ross Chastain, led 78 laps
    4. Stewart Friesen
    5. Grant Enfinger, led 57 laps
    6. Sheldon Creed
    7. Matt Crafton
    8. Ben Rhodes
    9. Todd Gilliland
    10. Austin Hill
    11. Johnny Sauter
    12. Raphael Lessard
    13. Parker Kligerman
    14. Ryan Sieg
    15. Austin Wayne Self
    16. Landon Huffman
    17. Timmy Hill
    18. Gus Dean
    19. Brennan Poole, One lap down
    20. Tyler Ankrum, Seven laps down
    21. Sam Mayer, OUT, Crash
    22. Jennifer Jo Cobb, Seven laps down
    23. Harrison Burton, Eight laps down
    24. Tyler Dippel, OUT, Crash
    25. Natalie Decker, OUT, Crash
    26. Clay Greenfield, OUT, Steering
    27. Dylan Lupton, OUT, Dvp
    28. Jordan Anderson, OUT, Engine
    29. John Hunter Nemechek, OUT, Crash
    30. Angela Ruch, OUT, Crash
    31. J.J. Yeley, OUT, Transmission
    32. Jesse Little, OUT, Crash

    Up Next: The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series heads north of the border where they will continue the Round of 8 at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Sunday, August 25.

  • Weekend Schedule for Bristol-2

    Weekend Schedule for Bristol-2

    NASCAR heads to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend. The Gander Outdoors Truck Series will feature the first race in Round 1 of their championship Playoffs while the Xfinity Series has five races remaining in the regular season. The Monster Energy Cup Series will close out the weekend with three to go.

    Kurt Busch is the defending Cup Series race winner, Kyle Larson won the Xfinity Series Food City 300 last year and Johnny Sauter will be trying to repeat his August 2018 win at Bristol in the Truck Series.

    All times are Eastern.

    Thursday, August 15

    9:05 a.m. – 9:55 a.m.: Truck Series First Practice – No TV
    10:05 a.m. – 10:55 a.m.: Xfinity Series First Practice – NBC Sports App
    11:05 a.m. 11:55 a.m.: Truck Series Final Practice – No TV
    1:35 p.m.2:25 p.m. Xfinity Series Final Practice – NBC Sports App
    4:35 p.m. Truck Series Qualifying Impound (Single Vehicle/Two Laps All Positions) – 7 p.m. Tape Delay on FS1
    8:30 p.m.: Truck Series UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics (Stages 55/110/200 Laps = 100.6 Miles) – FS1/MRN

    Friday, August 16

    11:05 a.m. 11:55 a.m.: Cup Series First Practice – NBCSN
    1:05 p.m. 1:55 p.m. Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN
    4:05 p.m. Xfinity Series Qualifying Impound (Single Vehicle/Two Laps All Positions) – NBCSN
    5:35 p.m. Cup Series Qualifying Impound (Single Vehicle/Two Laps All Positions) – NBCSN/PRN
    7:30 p.m. Xfinity Series Food City 300 (Stages 85/170/300 Laps = 159.9 Miles) – NBCSN/PRN

    Saturday, August 17

    7:30 p.m.: Cup Series Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (Stages 125/250/500 Laps = 266.5 Miles) – NBCSN/PRN

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

  • Grant Enfinger claims regular season title

    Grant Enfinger claims regular season title

    Coming into the Corrigan Oil 200, ThorSport Racing driver Grant Enfinger knew he had an excellent chance to win the regular-season title giving him an automatic lock into the Playoffs, despite not winning a single race this year.

    Only something catastrophic like not starting the race would have prevented the Alabama native from winning the title. Even though we’ve seen crazier things in NASCAR, Enfinger was able to fire up his truck and was declared the regular-season champion.

    “It’s been a hard road for the most weekends out of the year but I feel like we’re making the most out of every opportunity,” Enfinger said to MRN Radio. “I think God has blessed us with everything we need, everything we wanted.”

    “We’ve been close to some checkered flags but today was not one of them. We still overcame a lot from yesterday. We had a terrible F-150 yesterday but we had a good one today, capable of running up front. Really big to get this regular-season championship for the driver points, as well as the owner points. That’s a big deal for the Playoffs. I can’t say thank you enough to Duke and Rhonda Thorson, everybody at ThorSport Racing. LTI Printing who came on this weekend, Champion Power Equipment, Curb Records, Protect The Harvest, everyone who lets us do this.”

    This is the first time in Enfinger’s career that he has won the regular-season championship.

    He finished sixth and third in both stages in the Corrigan Oil 200 to complete what has been a successful season so far for the Alabama native. He has earned seven top fives and 13 top-10 finishes along with two poles and 236 laps led.

    Enfinger will be seeded second when the Playoffs begin Thursday night, August 15 at Bristol Motor Speedway. He also is seeded second in the owners’ championship.

  • Austin Hill holds off Creed and Dippel in overtime win

    Austin Hill holds off Creed and Dippel in overtime win

    In an overtime restart, Austin Hill in No. 16 Hattori Racing Toyota was able to hold off Sheldon Creed and Tyler Dippel for his second win of the 2019 season.

    “I definitely didn’t want to do a green-white-checkered; we were kind of close on fuel,” Hill told MRN Radio. “I got a really good push out the back by the 18 (Harrison Burton), kind of propelled us and put us out front, then I just started to throw blocks and luckily, they were racing two and three wide out back and kind of gave us a gap out front, we were able to keep that gap.”

    “I thought the 2 (Sheldon Creed) was going to have a shot at it going into (Turn) 3, he got a really big run but we were able to protect that bottom because that’s the lane he was trying to go. Can’t thank Hino, AISIN enough for coming on board.”

    It was the regular-season finale Saturday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway for the Truck Series regulars. Drivers like Sheldon Creed, Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland, Tyler Dippel, Gus Dean and Ben Rhodes had one more shot to make it into the Playoffs with a win.

    Fan-favorite Ross Chastain sat on the pole in his No. 45 Niece Motorsports truck with Christian Eckes on the outside pole. Playoff potential Matt Crafton had issues with his clutch during qualifying and made an engine change to be the cautious side, therefore had to start in the back.

    Stages were broken into 20/20/60 to make up the 100 lap race.

    Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 20

    Nothing major happened in Stage 1 to bring out the caution. However, Tyler Ankrum and Austin Wayne Self were posted for a start violation and both were black flagged and had to serve a pass-through penalty.

    Norm Benning never had the chance to get his truck started when the command to Start Your Engines was issued. Benning unfortunately had to sit out for the rest of the race, not completing a single lap and wound up 32nd.

    Chastain went on to lead every lap in Stage 1 to take the stage win. Ben Rhodes, Eckes, Bret Moffitt, Todd Gilliland, Grant Enfinger, Austin Hill, Harrison Burton, Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton rounded out the top-10 finishers in the first stage.

    With his consistency throughout the season, Enfinger was able to lock up the regular-season title by just starting the race.

    A melee broke out on pit road during the stage break. The No. 9 of Codie Rohrbaugh was trying to pull into his pit for a scheduled pit stop but made contact with Chastain and Sauter who were trying to pull out at the same time. Chastain suffered major damage from the incident and would wind up not finishing the race.

    Gilliland was sent to the rear for a crew member over the wall too soon. Wayne Self was also sent to the rear for passing on the left on pit road.

    Stage 2: Lap 27- Lap 40

    Only one incident brought out the caution during the second stage on Lap 32 as Christian Eckes spun off Turn 2 due to a flat tire. This would be the only caution during Stage 2.

    With Chastain out of the race, Moffitt played pit strategy by staying out and taking the lead going into Turn 1 with three laps to go. Moffitt hung on to win Stage 2.

    Hill, Enfinger, Jordan Anderson, Rhodes, Self, Dean, Gilliland, Creed and Bayley Currey rounded out the top-10 finishers for the second stage.

    There were no incidents during the stage break on pit road.

    Stage 3: Lap 47- Lap 105

    There were a few laps of green flag racing before the caution flew once again on Lap 56. This time it was the No. 04 of Cory Roper who slapped the Turn 2 wall and suffered right rear damage. Roper would eventually be out of the race with a broken track bar. He finished a disappointing 28th. TJ Bell who was driving the No. 38 Niece Motorsports truck was also out for the rest of the day due to a mechanical issue. Hill was sent to the rear for speeding on pit road.

    Moffitt and Self stayed out under caution to assume the lead. However, neither could make it on fuel and would be six laps short to finish if the race remained green the rest of the way. But, another caution broke out on Lap 65 for Rohrbaugh, who spun off the exit of Turn 4. This saw race leaders Moffitt and Self pit under caution with Sauter also making a pit stop.

    The race had a short green flag run until 15 laps to go when Eckes found trouble once again with a right rear flat that went down causing him to spin out. During the green flag run, Rhodes suffered a flat tire, ending any chance to compete for the championship.

    The restart came with 10 laps to go and it was crunch time for many drivers who needed a win and were close on fuel for the finish. Fortunately, some of those drivers caught a break with another caution flying again for Eckes with eight to go.

    This set up a restart with four to go that saw Ankrum, Hill, Crafton and Moffitt in the top spots. When the restart came Crafton accidentally pushed Ankrum a little too hard which then sent him spinning in front of the field collecting Natalie Decker, Alfredo and Sauter. The DGR-Crosley drivers had the most damage with Sauter able to pull away.

    With the wreck, the race went into overtime with five extra laps added to the originally advertised distance. Despite the overtime finish and drivers like Dippel and Creed giving it one last shot, the Winston, Georgia native was able to hang on and win for the second time this season.

    “Our Toyota Tundra was really fast today, Hill said.”We had to come from the back. I sped on pit road, had issues on getting the right front tire off all day long. We had to fight a lot of adversity. This is a brand new truck for us, to be able to go one for one with it, it’s an awesome way to start this truck off. With playoffs being next week, this gives us a confidence booster going forward.”

    There were 11 lead changes among 17 lead changes with eight cautions for 35 laps.

    Playoff Seedings

    1. Brett Moffitt
    2. Grant Enfinger -3
    3. Stewart Friesen -8
    4. Ross Chastain -10
    5. Austin Hill -10
    6. Matt Crafton -11
    7. Johnny Sauter -13
    8. Tyler Ankrum -17

    Official Results

    1. Austin Hill
    2. Sheldon Creed
    3. Tyler Dippel
    4. Brett Moffitt
    5. Austin Wayne Self
    6. Bayley Currey
    7. Grant Enfinger
    8. Stewart Friesen
    9. Ray Ciccarelli
    10. Matt Crafton
    11. Harrison Burton
    12. Johnny Sauter
    13. Gus Dean
    14. Jordan Anderson
    15. Christian Eckes
    16. Trey Hutchens
    17. Codie Rohrbaugh
    18. Josh Reaume
    19. Jennifer Jo Cobb
    20. Joe Nemechek
    21. Jesse Iwuji
    22. Spencer Boyd
    23. Ben Rhodes, Two laps down
    24. Todd Gilliland, OUT, Crash
    25. Tyler Ankrum, OUT, Crash
    26. Anthony Alfredo, OUT, Crash
    27. Natalie Decker, OUT, Crash
    28. Cory Roper, OUT, Crash
    29. T.J. Bell, OUT, Clutch
    30. Ross Chastain, OUT, Crash
    31. Camden Murphy, OUT, Vibration
    32. Norm Benning, OUT, Engine

    Up Next: The Round of Eight starts at Bristol Motor Speedway Thursday, August 15 live on Fox Sports 1.