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  • Brad Keselowski wins the pole at Michigan, Ford sweeps top spots

    Brad Keselowski wins the pole at Michigan, Ford sweeps top spots

    Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Discount Tire Team Penske Ford, won the pole on Friday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway with a time of 37.80 seconds at 190.471 mph. This was the 16th pole of his career and his second at Michigan.

    “We will find out as we go through race trim practice, but for right now, we’re going to celebrate and enjoy being the fastest car in qualifying,” Keselowski said to MRN Radio. “Really proud of our team here, our Discount Tire Ford Mustang. We unloaded so fast and made good adjustments to keep up with the changes in the track.”

    “Of course everyone else was getting faster. Good start, so let’s keep it up.”

    The top spot was traded many different times with Chevrolet holding the top spots before the Fords got on track and took the first two positions.

    The other Ford driver was Kevin Harvick who held the pole briefly before Keselowski took it. Harvick qualified second with a time of 37.87.

    “Yeah, it’s a good day for No. 4 Ford Mustang,” Harvick told MRN Radio. “I think track position is important everywhere we go. Coming to Michigan, it’s more important. That’s a good start to the weekend.”

    Keselowski also noted whether or not track position will be needed for Sunday’s race.

    “I’m not sure if track position will be quite as important as it was here in the spring,” Keselowski added. “You know, they put the PJ1 down and all that, I’m not complaining.”

    Speaking of track position, the winners have come from various starting spots here in the past five races. Joey Logano won from the pole in June, Harvick won from the pole last August, Clint Bowyer won from 12th in June of 2018, Kyle Larson won from ninth in August of 2017 and first in June of 2017.

    Keselowski was second fastest in pre-qualifying practice with a similar time of 37.90.

    All cars had tech inspection after practice and no drivers had any issues getting through inspection, therefore the lineup will be official. However, there will be another round for tech inspection on Sunday morning. Should a driver fail more than two times, they will be sent to the back of the field.

    Drivers will get to practice in race trim mode on Saturday as they have two more practice sessions. The second practice is slated for 8:35 a.m. ET live on CNBC and final practice will be at 11:30 a.m. ET live on the NBC Sports App.

    Please note: The qualifying times of Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 of Austin Dillon and the No. 8 of Daniel Hemric were disallowed due to having unapproved alternators. As a result of the L1 infraction, Dillon and Hemric will lose 10 driver points and 10 owner points will be deducted as well. Each crew chief will also face a $25,000 fine. Dillon originally qualified seventh and Hemric was 11th but they will now start from the back of the field.

    Updated Starting Lineup:

    1. Brad Keselowski
    2. Kevin Harvick
    3. William Byron
    4. Alex Bowman
    5. Clint Bowyer
    6. Chase Elliott
    7. Ryan Blaney
    8. Joey Logano
    9. Paul Menard
    10. Jimmie Johnson
    11. Daniel Suarez
    12. Aric Almirola
    13. Kurt Busch
    14. Denny Hamlin
    15. Martin Truex Jr.
    16. Erik Jones
    17. Kyle Larson
    18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    19. Matt Tifft
    20. Ryan Newman
    21. Ty Dillon
    22. Kyle Busch
    23. Michael McDowell
    24. David Ragan
    25. Chris Buescher
    26. Bubba Wallace
    27. Matt DiBenedetto
    28. Landon Cassill
    29. Ryan Preece
    30. Ross Chastain
    31. Corey LaJoie
    32. Quin Houff
    33. Austin Theriault
    34. Cody Ware
    35. Reed Sorenson
    36. Spencer Boyd (Making first Cup Series start)
    37. Austin Dillon
    38. Daniel Hemric

  • Chase Elliott dominates to win at The Glen

    Chase Elliott dominates to win at The Glen

    Started first, finished first is the name of the game for NASCAR’s most popular driver, as Chase Elliott completely dominated to win his fifth Cup Series career victory and his second consecutive win at The Glen.

    “The past month and a half has not been that fun at all, and this team has stuck together, just stayed the course,” Elliott said to MRN Radio. “That’s the most important thing when you’re struggling. So to be able to stay the course, come up here, sit on the pole Saturday, lead the most laps, win the race, I’ve never done that in my career. That’s the kind of team we can be. I feel really confident about that, so we just have to keep it rolling.”

    Stages were broken into 20/20/50 laps to make up the 90 lap race distance.

    Only Ryan Blaney had to go to the rear for making unapproved adjustments prior to the start of the race.

    Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 20

    No cautions took place in the first stage, however, there were a couple of incidents. Kyle Busch spun underneath William Byron on Lap 2 in Turn 1. There would be no caution, but more on this later.

    Aric Almirola reported that his shifter was about to break off. There was a near-miss between Denny Hamlin and Byron and Daniel Suarez had grass on his grille.

    In the remaining laps, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Blaney, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman and Chris Buescher all pitted with three laps to go in hopes to have track position for the Stage 2 restart. Byron also had grass on his grille after going through the bus stop.

    It was all Chase Elliott who led every lap to take the Stage 1 win.

    A heated interaction occurred between Byron and Kyle Busch under the stage break, as Byron went to retaliate by running into the rear end of Busch in the esses. However, Byron got the worst of it with damage to his hood.

    Busch would also have more problems occur on his pit stop, as he would be caught being too fast exiting on section eight. Corey LaJoie was penalized for driving through too many pit boxes on exit. Ross Chastain was penalized for having a crew member over the wall too soon.

    Elliott, Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Byron, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson, Erik Jones, Kurt Busch and Almirola rounded out the top-10 finishers for Stage 1.

    Stage 2: Lap 24 – Lap 40

    Larson assumed the lead as he would stay out under the stage break, but later pitted from the lead on Lap 29.

    On the other hand, Truex had a close call with Keselowski coming to the inner loop by going off the grass a little bit. Logano went through the inner loop grass as well and would have minor front end damage.

    Another driver who had issues with the inner loop was Parker Kligerman who went spinning around after contact with Suarez. Since Larson pitted from the lead, Elliott would assume the lead on Lap 29.

    A caution broke out on Lap 32 when the No. 77 of Reed Sorenson began leaking fluid in the inner loop. This prompted NASCAR to clean up the fluid. Under the caution, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch pitted along with Byron.

    A restart came with four to go in Stage 2. With that, a battle heated up for the lead between Elliott and Truex for the stage win. However, Wallace was sent spinning into the Turn 5 tire barrier to bring out the caution on Lap 39.

    With the incident, Stage 2 would end under yellow with Elliott once again picking up the stage win. Truex, Harvick, Bowyer, Hamlin, Keselowski, Bowman, Jones, Blaney and Johnson were the remaining top-10 finishers in the second stage on Lap 40.

    Stage 3: Lap 43 – Lap 90

    The final stage began just how it ended with Elliott and Truex contending for the lead. Ryan Newman pitted on Lap 50 for a right front flat and was penalized for driving through too many pit boxes on exit. Hemric also spun through the inner loop two laps later with no caution and the Richard Childress Racing driver suffered major damage to the rear end after contact with Ty Dillon. Due to the contact, Dillon went through the inner loop picking up grass on his grille.

    Green flag pit stops started to take place on Lap 57 with Harvick being the first to pit. Elliott pitted from the lead with 30 to go, while Truex stayed out one lap longer and came in the next lap. Elliott retook the lead right after Truex re-entered the track.

    Two incidents broke out on Lap 61. Johnson went sliding in Turn 5 toward the tire barrier after getting loose. Then, Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace were bumping and banging on the frontstretch with Wallace turning Busch in Turn 1. A caution came out for the incident.

    The final restart of the race came with 25 to go. Elliott and Truex had a thrilling battle off the restart, banging doors with each other. So much so, that even with Elliott getting the lead, he was concerned with having a flat tire going down.

    But Elliott was able to fend off Truex for his second consecutive win at The Glen. Elliott led all but 10 laps to pick up his second win of the season.

    “Track position, obviously, having a clean air was the biggest thing,” Elliott added. “I thought he (Truex) was a little better there at the end. Just tried to hit my marks and stay mistake free. You know, just not hand it to him. I knew he was going to come up there and pass me, just didn’t want to beat myself and worked really hard at that. Glad we were able to seal the deal, it feels really good.”

    Elliott led three times for 80 laps and picked up 60 points, along with seven Playoff points.

    There were four cautions for 13 laps with four leaders among five lead changes.

    Monster Energy Cup Series Race Number 22
    Race Results for the 34th Annual Go Bowling at The Glen – Sunday, August 4, 2019
    Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, NY – 2.45 – Mile Road
    Total Race Length – 90 Laps – 220.5 Miles

    Fin Str No Driver Team Laps S1Pos S2Pos S3Pos Pts Status
    1 1 9 Chase Elliott NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet 90 1 1 0 60 Running
    2 4 19 Martin Truex Jr Bass Pro Shops Toyota 90 3 2 0 52 Running
    3 6 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Cares Toyota 90 2 5 0 49 Running
    4 14 20 Erik Jones DeWalt Toyota 90 8 8 0 39 Running
    5 19 12 Ryan Blaney PPG Ford 90 0 9 0 34 Running
    6 20 95 Matt DiBenedetto Procore Toyota 90 0 0 0 31 Running
    7 15 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Beer Ford 90 0 3 0 38 Running
    8 5 42 Kyle Larson McDonald’s Chevrolet 90 7 0 0 33 Running
    9 10 2 Brad Keselowski Autotrader Ford 90 0 6 0 33 Running
    10 7 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet 90 9 0 0 29 Running
    11 3 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Hazelnut Toyota 90 4 0 0 33 Running
    12 9 10 Aric Almirola Go Bowling Ford 90 10 0 0 26 Running
    13 16 37 Chris Buescher Cottonelle Chevrolet 90 0 0 0 24 Running
    14 17 88 Alex Bowman Axalta Chevrolet 90 0 7 0 27 Running
    15 12 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Acronis Ford 90 0 0 0 22 Running
    16 11 34 Michael McDowell Long John Silver’s Ford 90 0 0 0 21 Running
    17 18 41 Daniel Suarez Haas Automation Ford 90 0 0 0 20 Running
    18 22 21 Paul Menard Menards/Dutch Boy Ford 90 0 0 0 19 Running
    19 8 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 90 6 10 0 24 Running
    20 13 14 Clint Bowyer Rush Truck Centers/Haas Automation Ford 90 0 4 0 24 Running
    21 2 24 William Byron Hendrick Autoguard Chevrolet 90 5 0 0 22 Running
    22 31 38 David Ragan MDS Transport Ford 90 0 0 0 15 Running
    23 21 22 Joey Logano MoneyLion Ford 90 0 0 0 14 Running
    24 26 36 Matt Tifft # Maui Jim/Surface Sunscreen Ford 90 0 0 0 13 Running
    25 25 6 Ryan Newman Acronis Ford 90 0 0 0 12 Running
    26 24 96 * Parker Kligerman(i) TRD 40th Anniversary Toyota 90 0 0 0 0 Running
    27 32 15 Ross Chastain(i) Chevrolet 90 0 0 0 0 Running
    28 30 43 Bubba Wallace Victory Junction Chevrolet 90 0 0 0 9 Running
    29 34 0 Landon Cassill(i) StarCom Fiber Chevrolet 90 0 0 0 0 Running
    30 27 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Military Chevrolet 89 0 0 0 7 Running
    31 28 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 89 0 0 0 6 Running
    32 36 52 Josh Bilicki(i) Chevrolet 89 0 0 0 0 Running
    33 35 51 Cody Ware(i) JACOB COMPANIES Chevrolet 89 0 0 0 0 Running
    34 33 32 Corey LaJoie Samaritan’s Feet Ford 85 0 0 0 3 Engine
    35 23 8 Daniel Hemric # Caterpillar Chevrolet 84 0 0 0 2 Running
    36 29 47 Ryan Preece # Kroger Chevrolet 72 0 0 0 1 Rear Gear
    37 37 77 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 65 0 0 0 1 Steering

     

    Updated Playoff Points Standings

    1. Kyle Busch, 4 wins
    2. Martin Truex Jr, 4 wins
    3. Denny Hamlin, 3 wins
    4. Brad Keselowski, 3 wins
    5. Joey Logano, 2 wins
    6. Chase Elliott, 2 wins
    7. Kevin Harvick, 1 win
    8. Kurt Busch, 1 win
    9. Alex Bowman, 1 win
    10. Aric Almirola, +96
    11. Ryan Blaney, +89
    12. William Byron, +60
    13. Erik Jones, +54
    14. Kyle Larson, +46
    15. Clint Bowyer, +12
    16. Jimmie Johnson, tied with Ryan Newman

    Up Next: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back to Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, August 11.

  • Cindric holds off Allmendinger in thriller for first career win

    Cindric holds off Allmendinger in thriller for first career win

    Austin Cindric earned his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Watkins Glen in a last-lap thriller. It was an intense battle after Cindric started on the outside pole for the Zippo 200 and made a gusty pit call with 10 laps to go. He also had to dodge a near wreck off a restart, going from seventh to second, then trading the lead back and forth with AJ Allmendinger, to get to victory lane.

    “That was nuts, I didn’t know how that was going to work out,” Cindric said to MRN Radio describing his near miss. “Sometimes you have to take advantage of it and we executed all day.”

    All-time Xfinity Series winner Kyle Busch was back in the field for his first race since Texas back in March. Busch sat on the pole, continuing his impressive streak of earning one pole every year in the Xfinity Series. It was his first pole since Bristol last August.

    Stages were broken up into 20/20/42 laps to make up the 82 laps distance.

    Several drivers had issues before the race started, however. Cole Custer went to a backup car after crashing in Friday’s practice session. Vinnie Miller, who spun in qualifying early Saturday morning, couldn’t get the car started and was pushed behind the wall. The 74 of Dan Corcoran was also pushed behind the wall, before returning to the race later.

    Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 20

    While Kyle Busch checked out, Tyler Reddick missed the inner loop on the first lap. Many other drivers like Chase Briscoe, Michael Annett, Alex Labbe, Brandon Jones and Ray Black Jr. also had issues with grass on their grille, forcing them to pit to clean it off. Josh Bilicki, in the No. 93, went spinning around in Turn 7, but the race remained green.

    Miller’s issues continued as he went out for the rest of the race on Lap 8 with an ignition problem. J.J. Yeley also went to the garage on the same lap.

    The first caution flew on Lap 10 for the No. 35 of Joey Gase who stalled in Turn 1. During the caution, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Blaney, Custer, Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, Briscoe, Reddick and Annett, along with others, pit.

    Allgaier’s name would come up again on Lap 14, as Ross Chastain made contact with him in Turn 3, which sent Allgaier toward the tire barrier to bring out the caution again. Allgaier would later retaliate by sending Chastain into the tire barrier, which would end Chastain’s day.

    No other incidents took place for rest of the stage, other than Cindric pitting with three to go.

    Busch went on to take the stage win after leading every lap. Christopher Bell, Jeremy Clements, Justin Haley, Blaney, Ryan Preece, Noah Gragson, Ryan Sieg, Reddick, Gaulding rounded out the top-10 stage finishers.

    Tommy Joe Martins and Clements were penalized for a crew member over the wall too soon under the stage break.

    Stage 2: Lap 23 – Lap 40

    After staying out, Bell and Blaney would regain the front spots with Stage 1 winner Busch restarting 15th.

    Not much happened in the second stage, aside from Cindric and Custer going side-by-side with each other in the inner loop with Custer getting the worst of it by collecting grass on his grille, and a possible tire rub as well. Custer would end up pitting to clean the grass off his grille.

    Another major issue broke out for Busch when he went to make a pass on race leader Blaney in the inner loop. Busch could not stop and was going toward the wall in the carousel after what turned out to be a broken control arm. This sent Busch behind the wall for the rest of the race and he ended up with a disappointing 32nd place finish. This would bring out the caution on Lap 33.

    Allmendinger took the lead off the restart on Lap 37 and held on for the rest of the stage to take the stage win. Blaney, Preece, Cindric, Briscoe, Nemechek, Jones, Allgaier, Haley and Bell claimed the remaining top-10 spots for Stage 2. Briscoe and Nemechek would later pit under the stage break.

    Stage 3: Lap 43 – Lap 82

    Like Stage 1, Reddick once again went through the inner loop on Lap 47 and fell back to 20th. Sieg also went around in the inner loop as well after making contact with Nemechek.

    Green flag pit stops started to occur on Lap 48 with Blaney pitting from second. His teammate, Cindric would pit one lap later. This continued until 20 to go with race leader Allgaier being the final driver to pit. In what would be the battle for the lead, Allmendinger pitted from first on Lap 51 but had a slow stop with him coming out behind Cindric.

    After Allgaier pitted, Cindric would cycle out as the race leader. A thrilling battle took place with Allmendinger and Blaney a few laps before with Allmendinger getting the better of it.

    While it looked liked Cindric would run away with the race win, a caution came out on Lap 68 for Garrett Smithley’s tire carcass that was left in the inner loop and eventually picked up by the 99 of Cody Ware. Right before the yellow, Tommy Joe Martins went spinning around in Turn 1.

    In what seemed like a questionable strategy, Cindric pitted from the lead under the yellow for fresh tires. He would restart sixth with Allmendinger as the race leader.

    A wreck with Haley and Bilicki occurred on the restart in Turn 1 with contact from Briscoe, which brought out the caution again.

    A late-race restart took place with seven laps to go. Bell almost went spinning around after contact with Allgaier that caused a logjam in the esses. This also saw Cindric going from sixth to second after the incident.

    This later produced a thrilling battle for the win between Allmendinger and Cindric. Both would trade the lead with each other with less than three laps remaining, with Cindric at one point, almost going off course after a shot from Allmendinger. Both would be side-by-side at the finish on the white flag lap.

    Eventually, Cindric had the better car and pulled away from Allmendinger to earn his first Xfinity Series career win at Watkins Glen International.

    “This is awesome,” Cindric said. “I’ve got so many people to think. You fans are awesome, thank you for coming to Watkins Glen every single year. This is why you come. I’m so pumped.”

    Cindric led twice for eight laps to pick up his first career win. There were seven cautions for 16 laps with nine lead changes among six leaders.

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series continues the road course season by heading to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday, August 10.

    UPDATE: Allmendinger’s car failed post-race inspection after a rear-height violation and he will be credited with a 37th place finish. The Kaulig Racing team has until noon Monday to appeal the decision.

    Xfinity Series Race Number 20
    Race Results for the 25th Annual Zippo 200 at The Glen – Saturday, August 3, 2019
    Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, NY – 2.45 – Mile Road
    Total Race Length – 82 Laps – 200.9 Miles

    Fin Str No Driver Team Laps S1Pos S2Pos S3Pos Pts Status
    1 2 22 Austin Cindric MoneyLion Ford 82 0 3 0 48 Running
    2 4 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 82 2 9 0 46 Running
    3 9 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 82 0 7 0 38 Running
    4 3 12 Ryan Blaney(i) Pirtek Ford 82 5 1 0 0 Running
    5 5 2 Tyler Reddick Anderson’s Pure Maple Syrup Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 32 Running
    6 6 98 Chase Briscoe # Ford Performance Ford 82 0 4 0 38 Running
    7 13 0 Cole Custer GoBowling Ford 82 0 0 0 30 Running
    8 14 1 Michael Annett Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 29 Running
    9 18 9 Noah Gragson # West Herr Auto Group Chevrolet 82 7 0 0 32 Running
    10 8 8 Ryan Preece(i) Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet 82 6 2 0 0 Running
    11 11 51 Jeremy Clements RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet 82 3 0 0 34 Running
    12 20 23 John Hunter Nemechek # Digital Ally Chevrolet 82 10 5 0 32 Running
    13 23 5 Scott Heckert Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 24 Running
    14 12 11 Justin Haley # LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 82 4 8 0 33 Running
    15 15 8 Gray Gaulding GPSPURE.com Chevrolet 82 9 0 0 24 Running
    16 21 90 Alex Labbe DGM Racing Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 21 Running
    17 10 19 Brandon Jones First Foundation Toyota 82 0 6 0 25 Running
    18 27 86 Brandon Brown # Vero Tru Social Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 19 Running
    19 30 36 Josh Williams Star Brite/Star Tron/Sleep Well Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 18 Running
    20 28 1 Stephen Leicht teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 17 Running
    21 26 99 Cody Ware Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 16 Running
    22 24 7 Ray Black II ISOKERN Fireplaces & Chimneys/Scuba Life Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 15 Running
    23 31 42 Stanton Barrett(i) Horseheads Brewing Toyota 82 0 0 0 0 Running
    24 29 0 Garrett Smithley teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 80 0 0 0 13 Running
    25 34 74 Dan Corcoran(i) Woobie Shoes/Threatcon 5 Clothing Chevrolet 75 0 0 0 0 Running
    26 16 93 Josh Bilicki Lemons of Love Chevrolet 72 0 0 0 11 Accident
    27 33 15 BJ McLeod teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 67 0 0 0 10 DVP
    28 22 66 Tommy Joe Martins Gusset.com Toyota 65 0 0 0 9 Accident
    29 32 52 David Starr Chevrolet 57 0 0 0 8 Fuel Pump
    30 17 39 Ryan Sieg Midstate Chevrolet 47 8 10 0 11 Accident
    31 1 18 Kyle Busch(i) iK9 Toyota 35 1 0 0 0 Suspension
    32 35 13 Chad Finchum MBM Motorsports Toyota 30 0 0 0 5 Brakes
    33 19 4 Ross Chastain(i) Buckle Up New York Chevrolet 19 0 0 0 0 Accident
    34 36 35 Joey Gase MBM Motorsports Toyota 9 0 0 0 3 Transmission
    35 25 38 JJ Yeley(i) RSS Racing Chevrolet 6 0 0 0 0 Overheating
    36 37 78 Vinnie Miller Pit Viper Sunglasses Chevrolet 0 0 0 0 1 Ignition
    37 7 10 AJ Allmendinger Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 1 Running
  • Friesen survives, wins his first career race at Eldora

    Friesen survives, wins his first career race at Eldora

    It took 437 laps led and 63 starts but finally, Stewart Friesen is a winner in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series. Friesen had to hold off Sheldon Creed and company to win the Dirt Derby at Eldora Speedway.

    “Thank you to all the race fans that stuck with us, that kept pulling for us,” Friesen said after he got out of his truck in Victory Lane. “Everybody that came to my hauler and thought that this is the week. Today, this is the day. This is part of it!”

    “Just thanks to all these race fans. This was meant to be.”

    Friesen was on the last spot in the Truck championship but with the win, he is locked into the field of eight for the Truck Series Playoffs that will start in Bristol.

    Sheldon Creed came home with a career-best finish of second followed by Grant Enfinger and Mike Marlar, a dirt regular, who came home fourth. Kyle Bisch Motorsports driver Todd Gilliland came home in fifth.

    Chase Briscoe and Matt Crafton started on the front row and they are no strangers to being up front on the dirt. Briscoe won this race last year with Crafton winning the year before. Briscoe led from wire to wire even though the stage was slowed by two quick cautions. Landon Huffman who is subbing for Spencer Boyd spun it around. Then Jake Griffin spun it around as well right after the green flag waved from the Huffman spin. When it was all said and done it was Briscoe winning the stage followed by Gilliland, Brett Moffitt, Creed and Crafton to round out the top five.

    Stage 2:

    Most of the leaders decided to stay out after the stage break with the exception of Gilliland and Moffitt while Briscoe continued to dominate as he did in the first stage. Also like the first stage, some yellows disrupted the flow of the action. Harrison Burton spun his truck around on Lap 57 and the dirt version of “The Big One” happened on Lap 65 which involved Austin Hill, Burton, Christian Eckes, Carson Hocevar, Colt Gilliam and more. Many were able to continue but for Hill and Gilliam, their nights were over.

    The action and the yellows did not stop though as the No. 34 of Mason Massey spun it around on Lap 76 when he got a cut tire. Creed spun it after they went back to green after the Massey spin but there was no yellow waved.

    Like the first stage though it was all Briscoe as he went wire to wire to win the stage.

    Final Stage:

    Friesen stayed out while Briscoe and Crafton, among others, went in to pit after the stage ended. With going in to pit Briscoe restarted 12th while Friesen led the field to green to start the final stage. Friesen started to pull away but it was all for nothing due to the No. 45 of Chastain spinning right in front of the field. But somehow, someway, all of the field escaped without hitting Chastain’s truck.

    There were a few more incidents after this one including a yellow that featured three wrecks in one. First, the No. 54 of Kyle Strickler spun trying to navigate the high side and before that the No. 32 of Devin Dodson and the No. 10 of Jennifer Jo Cobb. Last but not least Johnny Sauter and Briscoe got connected after the Strickler spin. Norm Benning spun with 31 laps to go after they went back to green following the multiple trucks that spun in the previous caution. The fun didn’t stop there as Dodson spun it around again with 17 laps to go.

    Briscoe was a man on a mission but he tried a little bit too hard and spun out with nine laps to go while battling Creed for fifth. Briscoe went on to finish seventh.

    There is only one race left to make the field of eight for the Gander Outdoors Truck Series Championship and that will be determined by the race in Michigan, a week from Saturday (August 3), on FS1.

  • Kevin Harvick wins at New Hampshire

    Kevin Harvick wins at New Hampshire

    With a 22 race winless streak, Kevin Harvick was not going to be denied a second lobster at New Hampshire.

    Harvick had to hold off Denny Hamlin to win his first race of the season, and the first win for his team, Stewart-Haas Racing.

    “(Hamlin) got to me, he tried to move me out of the way down there, and I knew that was coming as close as he was,” Harvick told NBCSN at the start/finish line. “So I just stood on the brakes and I’m like half throttle down the back straightaway. I’m like, ‘You’re not getting under me again.’ And he drove to the outside of me and I just waited till he got near me and I just put a wheel on him.”

    Hamlin finished second after leading 113 laps, all of them in the final stage. He took the lead after his teammate, Kyle Busch, had trouble and cut a tire and slammed into the wall in Turn 1. He went on to finish ninth but for Hamlin, it was more dejection that anything.

    “I kind of shoved (Harvick) up a little higher and tried to get him out of the groove,” Hamlin told NBCSN after the race. “I wanted to just tap him there, but I didn’t want to completely screw him. I at least wanted to give him a fair shot there. Down the backstretch, I kind of let off, and I’m like, all right, well, I’ll just pass him on the outside and kind of do this thing the right way, and once I had that big run, he just turned right. But I would do the same thing. It was a fun race, and congratulations to him and his team. They made a great call there at the end.”

    Erik Jones finished third, followed by Ryan Blaney and Matt Dibenedetto rounding out the top five.

    Kyle Busch dominated the first stage and half of the second stage and finished ninth.

    We had a good car all day,” Busch said after the race. “Just got into it on a restart I guess with Larson and that got us damage and that got us behind the eight ball. We would have been on strategy with where (Denny Hamlin) was the whole rest of the day, but we had to fix damage.”

    Jimmie Johnson was having a decent run when his power steering began having issues and the seven-time champ had to come in and fell multiple laps down and out of contention.

    Well, it was certainly a letdown, to say the least,” Johnson said after the race on NBCSN. “We had some issue with the power steering and the water pump pulleys. I thought it might have been from some contact on a restart. I got in the back of the car in front of me. They told me that wasn’t the case. So, I assume some debris got in the pulley system and took out my power steering and the water pump as well. So, it’s just unlucky on that front. Certainly, the wrong time of the year to have some bad luck. It looked like the guys I’m worried about in the points didn’t have the best day either, so maybe I got a pass on this one. I’m just disappointed, to say the least.”

    The Cup Series heads to Pocono for the second race of the season at the Tricky Triangle where Kyle Busch will try and sweep the series in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.


  • Christopher Bell wins at New Hampshire

    Christopher Bell wins at New Hampshire

    In dominant fashion, Christopher Bell did what he has done for most of the season, ending the race in victory lane.

    “I just had a really good race car,” Bell told NBCSN. “This track’s been really good to us and our team.”

    Bell led 186 of the 200 laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway en route to his fifth victory of the season and the second at New Hampshire.

    Cole Custer finished second, followed by Justin Allgaier, Tyler Reddick and Paul Menard rounding out the top five.

    Stage 1:

    Custer started on the pole but was quickly taken by Bell on Lap 2 into Turn 1. Bell led all the way until 10 to go in the stage when the No. 23 of John Hunter Nemechek lost his brakes and got into the wall. His day was quickly over, not the result that he was looking for at New Hampshire.

    With under 10 to go in the stage during this caution, teams chose to select some different strategies. The leaders came in but Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones, among others, stayed out in the hope that either a caution would come out close to the stage ending or they could hold on for some stage points.

    That hopefulness worked as Jones ended up winning the stage with Bell, Reddick, Sieg and Allgaier rounding out the top five.

    Stage 2:

    Stage two continued with Reddick and Bell side by side with the Oklahoma native getting the advantage. Allgaier was able to get up to second but was unable to get past Bell for the stage win.

    Custer ended up in third with Reddick and Menard rounding out the top five. With the stage going green the entire way, only 20 cars remained on the lead lap.

    Final Stage:

    Bell and Allgaier came in one and two and came out of pit lane, one and two, as they restarted the third and final stage.

    Bell started out with the lead and pulled away from the field fairly easily. Allgaier wasn’t so lucky as he battled Custer for second and eventually lost the spot to Custer. It stayed like that until Lap 141 when the yellow waved for what was a debris caution. The lap before, the No. 9 of Noah Gragson, tagged the wall and was quickly losing positions after battling for a top 10 spot.

    They went back under green but for the first time this afternoon, the beating and banging was evident. It started when Gragson got into with Austin Cindric. Cindric continued battling, this time with the No. 8 of Ryan Truex.

    While that was going the No. 18 of Harrison Burton was battling with Menard until Menard had enough and turned Burton heading into Turn 1 on Lap 153. Menard said on the radio that, “He needs to race me clean. He hit me twice.” Burton went on to finish 29th.

    The race went back green once again with 42 laps to go and like most of the day, Bell started from the front and pulled away once the green was in the air. However, unlike the previous caution, it was Custer who was chasing down Bell and not Allgaier. Custer was making ground for a little bit but in the end, Bell was too much for him and ended up in victory lane.

    Next up for the Xfinity Series? Their second trip to Iowa where Christopher Bell won earlier this year.

  • Cole Custer wins XFinity Pole at New Hampshire

    Cole Custer wins XFinity Pole at New Hampshire

    Cole Custer continued his hot streak by winning the pole for Saturday afternoon’s Roxor 200 at a hot and steamy New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    “I didn’t know it was going to be a pole lap honestly,” Custer said after the qualifying. “I thought I could’ve hit it a little bit better. This Haas Automation Mustang has been the best car I have had in New Hampshire in a long time. I can’t thank Mike Shiplett and everybody enough. They brought a really fast car and hopefully we can stay up front today.”

    Christopher Bell will start second, followed by Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney and Chase Briscoe rounding out the top five.

    Brandon Jones will start sixth, followed by Harrison Burton, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Truex and Noah Gragson to round out the top 10.

    Tyler Reddick will start 11th for this afternoon’s race.

    After crashing in practice, Camden Murphy attempted to go out and qualify in his Mike Harmon Entry but during his pace lap, he felt something was wrong and went back down onto pit road and did not record a lap.

    The ROXOR 200 will get underway at 4 p.m. ET and will be televised on NBCSN.

  • Kurt Busch wins in thrilling fashion at Kentucky

    Kurt Busch wins in thrilling fashion at Kentucky

    Kurt Busch won the Quaker State 400 in overtime at Kentucky Speedway Saturday night after a thrilling overtime battle with younger brother, Kyle Busch, to earn his first victory of the 2019 season.

    It appeared that Joey Logano might run away with the race win in overtime but a late race caution changed everything. With six laps to go Bubba Wallace spun in Turn 1 and set up a late race overtime restart.

    Busch passed Logano on the restart and set his sight on his brother. During the last half lap, the two brothers dueled for the win. Kurt Busch was able to beat him to the finish line by inches after almost wrecking each other for the win. It was his first victory for Chip Ganassi Racing.

    “That was epic!” Kurt Busch said to PRN Radio in his post-race interview. “I was hoping we would get a shot, one more restart. I was just hoping that it would go our way and get that yellow. Then my little brother (Kyle Busch), the best guy in the world to go racing against. He’s been winning a ton, I couldn’t be happier for him and where he’s gone in his career.”

    “That duel in Turn 3 and 4, and who was going to lift first, what’s going to happen, he gave me just enough on the outside like a true racer would. We made it work and both could have clobbered each other, and third place (Erik Jones) could have won, but I’m glad I came out on top with my Monster Energy Chevrolet. To get this team (the win), there’s a ton of first-time winners in victory lane.”

    Daniel Suarez started on the pole, his first of the season and his first since Pocono of 2018.

    The stages were broken up into 80/80/107 laps to make up the 267-lap race at Kentucky Speedway.

    There was action before the race started, as fuel was accidentally laid down before the start of the race. Therefore, speedy dry was put down on top of the PJ1 that was also applied again in the morning hours.

    The first half of the race was mainly clean and green, and what you would expect at a 1.5-mile track. There were some incidents, including one where Brad Keselowski reported “something is audibly off,” a possible tire vibration. The first caution of the race flew on Lap 47 for Chase Elliott’s car, as he blew a right front tire and left debris all over the track.

    Another yellow flew on Lap 55 for Corey Lajoie, who spun off Turn 4 but wound up not hitting the wall. Kurt Busch would lead for the first time right before the caution by taking the lead on Lap 53. Before Busch could go on to win Stage 1, the caution flew once more on Lap 64 for Landon Cassill and Bayley Currey who both spun in Turn 2. Both drivers would escape without any major damage.

    Despite the yellow, Kurt Busch would hang on to the lead and win the first stage after leading 30 laps.

    Suarez led the first 49 laps, before finishing 14th in Stage 1. Also during the stage, Keselowski had a possible valve spring issue.

    Stage 2 saw a lot of different strategies take place, with drivers taking only two tires or just fuel in order to get that much-needed track position.

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would take advantage of that track position by staying out and taking the lead at the beginning of Stage 2. Stenhouse led for 21 laps until Kyle Busch took the lead on Lap 104. Another strategy call was made by Suarez’s pit crew on Lap 108 by pitting. After pitting, Suarez was told he could make it to the end of the stage without stopping again.

    However, that was all thrown out the window as he would be caught speeding on pit road. Other pit stops would be made for those who stayed out. Logano pitted on Lap 120 for a possible vibration but looked as though it was all clear after the pit stop.

    Later in the stage, Austin Dillon learned he was going to have to change the battery at the end of Stage 2. Dillon did so and it cost him a good finish. He wound up 35th, 29 laps down.

    More issues appeared to rise for Elliott’s crew who pitted from 22nd. Elliott received an uncontrolled tire penalty, which was later overturned by NASCAR.

    The race leader Kyle Busch pitted on Lap 149 from the lead. Despite pitting, Busch would remain the leader. Other drivers were caught with penalties, however. Daniel Hemric had a penalty for removing a jack from his pit box.

    Kyle Busch would maintain the lead as pit stops cycled through and go on to win the second stage.

    The third and final stage went green with 101 laps to go and saw a lot of action.

    Kurt Busch would be back up front for the restart. There were some great battles going on which allowed Kyle Busch to close in once again.

    Although, as cautions breed cautions, another one was seen as the No. 48 car of Jimmie Johnson was loose and snapped around, hitting the wall off Turn 2 on Lap 179. It would be the sixth caution of the night.

    More interesting items developed on the next restart, as William Byron was cited by NASCAR for a restart violation. Byron would wind up serving a stop and go penalty.

    Pit stops began to take place shortly after with 54 to go. Once Clint Bowyer passed Kurt Busch for the lead, Busch pitted in hopes of being the race leader once stops cycled out. Bowyer then pitted as well, but Busch exited just ahead of him. Meaning, if the stops cycled out as they normally do, Busch would be the new race leader.

    However, other drivers were trying to outsmart each other during the final laps of the race. Kyle Busch would lead the next 13 laps before pitting. Hamlin then led five laps before pitting, Newman for 15 laps until he ran out of gas and Suarez led three laps until Lap 248.

    While all this was going on, Kyle Busch and Logano were battling each other for a potential race win as they would be the new leaders once stops cycled out. Both raced each other hard for the lead and nearly wrecked each other while doing it. Logano took the lead with just 18 laps to go.

    In what looked liked it was going to be the Joey Logano show, a late race yellow ended his hopes with six laps to go. This set up a NASCAR overtime finish with Logano and Kyle Busch on the front row. Older brother Kurt Busch would sit right lurking close behind.

    As the race restarted, Logano got shuffled back in the middle as Kurt Busch and Erik Jones went three wide on the leaders. Busch was on the high line and got around Logano and Kyle Busch.

    Both brothers would duel it out all the way to the finish line, even touching each other, leaving Kurt Busch with some tire smoke from a fender rub. In the end, it was older brother Kurt Busch barely beating his younger brother at the line by .076 seconds.

    With this win, he has won with every car owner he has driven for in the series.

    “I felt the connection with Chip (Ganassi, Team Owner) was perfect right away,” Busch added in his interview with PRN. “I mean, it was a 30-minute conversation, we knocked out a contract and then we went racing. And then, it’s a matter of making all the right steps to make this No. 1 car a winner. Tonight, we had luck on our side, positioned ourselves with speed and handling was there.”

    With the future a little uncertain for Busch by having just a one year contract, he is still not sure what next season holds for him, but indicated that he’s not retiring anytime soon.

    “It’s a matter of getting going now,” the 2004 champion said. “We got that win and now the second half is in front of us, and it’s a matter of everything coming together, you know? The manufacture, the sponsor, the team owner and the driver. I thought this year might be the last, but we’re having so much fun, we’ll see how things go.”

    With this win, Kurt Busch is now locked into the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Busch is currently seeded seventh in the Playoff standings.

    It was Busch’s first win of the season, his first since the Bristol night race last August and the 31st of his career. He led four times for 41 laps and won Stage 1.

    There were seven cautions for 35 laps with 10 leaders among 15 lead changes.

    Playoff Watch

    1. Kyle Busch, Four wins
    2. Martin Truex Jr, Four wins
    3. Brad Keselowski, Three wins
    4. Joey Logano, Two wins, Current regular standings points leader
    5. Denny Hamlin, Two wins
    6. Chase Elliott, One win
    7. Kurt Busch, One win
    8. Alex Bowman, One win
    9. Kevin Harvick -101
    10. Aric Almirola, -204
    11. Ryan Blaney, -211
    12. William Byron, -229
    13. Kyle Larson, -235, +40 points in
    14. Clint Bowyer, -265, +10 points in
    15. Jimmie Johnson, -265, +10 points in
    16. Erik Jones, -273, +2 points in
    Outside looking in
    17. Ryan Newman, Two points out
    18. Daniel Suarez, Two points out
    19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr, 46 points out

    Up Next: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series continues their summer stretch of races by heading to the Northeast for race No. 20 of the 2019 season. There are only seven races left until the Playoffs began.

  • Custer takes Kentucky for fifth Xfinity win of 2019

    Custer takes Kentucky for fifth Xfinity win of 2019

    Cole Custer took the Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway Friday night, leading 88 of the 200 scheduled laps to take his fifth NASCAR Xfinity Series win of 2019. The win gives him the most wins of anyone this season, breaking the tie with Christopher Bell, who has four so far in 2019.

    Bell finished second in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, while Tyler Reddick took home third, Michael Annett finished fourth, and Chase Briscoe finished fifth. Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Truex, Ryan Sieg, and Justin Haley rounded out the top-10. The race was slowed by five cautions for 24 laps, with 14 lead changes among eight drivers.

    “It’s been unbelievable,” said Custer. “This one just goes to my team. That car was just unbelievable, and they knew exactly what to do with it when the track changed, and I was just lucky to drive it there at the end.”

    When asked if he could have gotten by Bell late in the going, Custer was clear that it would have been a challenge.

    “It is hard to say,” said Custer. “At that point, I thought I would. He was close enough to us in lap time that I thought if he got the lead at that point it would have been really hard to get back by him. Dirty air is always a little bit of a factor here. I don’t know if the PJ1 really made it better or worse tonight. It may have made it a little better. Clean air is always key.”

    Mike Shiplett, Crew Chief for the No. 00, was clear that he could sense Custer’s growing maturity and confidence.

    “I think every time he gets in the race car he just gets a little bit better just in the way he communicates with us and the way he keeps focusing forward and driving,” said Shiplett. “He is doing a great job. I am proud of him.”

    Third-place finisher Reddick scored his first top-five finish since winning at Michigan, which capped a 10-race stretch where he finished no worse than fourth. He won three times during that stretch (Talladega, Charlotte, Michigan), but in the three races prior to Kentucky, his best finish was ninth at Chicago.

    “After the last couple of weeks, we needed a solid race like tonight to get back into our groove,” said Reddick. “The balance was tricky to get figured out tonight. Firing off to start the race, I was just way too loose and would fall back on any restarts. We’d build tight the longer we went in a run, but it was just a little too late to contend for the lead at the end of the stages.”

    Austin Cindric, who currently sits fourth in points, had an up-and-down day as well. Despite starting on the pole and leading a lap late in the going, a lap 56 spin ended with him gently backing into the wall. He would go on to finish 14th, two laps down.

    Another front-runner who faced adversity was JGR driver Brandon Jones. Jones led 12 laps early in the going after starting sixth. However, an engine failure on lap 106 netted him a 30th-place finish and his second-straight DNF. His sixth DNF of 2019 leaves him on the Playoff bubble in 12th.

    The series heads into Loudon on July 20, as the ROXOR 200 will air at 4 p.m. EST on NBCSN.

  • Daniel Suarez wins pole for Quaker State 400 at Kentucky

    Daniel Suarez wins pole for Quaker State 400 at Kentucky

    Daniel Suarez will lead the field to green for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 Saturday night after running the fastest qualifying lap at Kentucky Speedway and claiming the pole.

    The driver of the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was the last to qualify Friday evening and his 184.590 mph lap knocked his teammate, Aric Almirola, off the pole,  besting his speed by .126 seconds. It was his first Busch Pole Award this year and the second of his career.  

    “The car’s been very fast the entire day,” Suarez said. “We had probably the fastest car in last practice and the fastest car in qualifying, so I’m very proud of my guys, Ford Performance, Haas Automation and everyone who makes this program possible.”

    In his third year of competition in the Cup Series, Suarez is impatiently anticipating his first series win.   

    “I really want to win so bad,” he explained. “I haven’t been in Victory Lane for a while. The last time I was in Victory Lane was in Brazil, and it was in a go-kart race. I have been looking forward to bring a trophy home for a while.

    “We have very fast cars. Now it’s up to me to make it happen tomorrow (Saturday) night.”

    Almirola hasn’t been to victory lane since last year at Talladega Superspeedway but has one top five and 10 top-10 finishes this season. He sees starting up front as an opportunity for more.

    “It is a great day for us,” he said. “Everybody has been doing a good job of trying to figure out how to bring more speed and more driveability in our cars. I feel like this weekend so far we are off to a good start and the cars are fast and driving good. We have part one done, we have qualified up front and got ourselves good track position and pit stall selection and good clean air. Now we just have to go put a race together.”

    Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski qualified third with a speed of 183.443 as Ford claimed the top three spots. Kurt Busch broke up the Ford dominance and will start fourth in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with Kevin Harvick rounding out the top five in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.

    “That wasn’t bad. That was our best qualifying effort on a mile and a half this year I think,” Keselowski said. “That is something to be proud of. I didn’t quite have the speed to get the pole. I would have liked a later draw. I think there would have been some speed there. Daniel was a tenth-and-a-half ahead. All in all a decent run for our Discount Tire Ford Mustang and I am happy for Doug Yates and all of the Ford guys to have all three of our cars up front with the Fords. We will see what we have tomorrow.”

    Daniel Hemric, Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr., Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch round out the top 10 starting positions.  

    The Quaker State 400 is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and will be televised on NBCSN with radio coverage by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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

    Starting Lineup for the Quaker State 400:

    1. Daniel Suarez

    2. Aric Almirola

    3. Brad Keselowski

    4. Kurt Busch

    5. Kevin Harvick

    6. Daniel Hemric

    7. Clint Bowyer

    8. Martin Truex Jr.

    9. Austin Dillon

    10. Kyle Busch

    11. Joey Logano

    12. William Byron

    13. Jimmie Johnson

    14. Paul Menard

    15. Ryan Blaney

    16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    17. Michael McDowell

    18. Denny Hamlin

    19. Kyle Larson

    20. Chase Elliott

    21. Erik Jones

    22. Alex Bowman

    *23. Ryan Newman – Failed pre-race inspection once, will start 35th

    24. Matt DiBenedetto

    25. David Ragan

    26. Chris Buescher

    27. Ty Dillon

    28. Bubba Wallace

    29. Corey LaJoie

    30. Ryan Preece

    31. Matt Tifft

    32. Bayley Currey

    33. Ross Chastain

    34. Landon Cassill

    35. BJ McLeod

    *36. Quin Houff – Failed pre-race inspection once, will start 36th