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  • Moffitt and Crafton settle for top three finishes after crazy night in Las Vegas

    Moffitt and Crafton settle for top three finishes after crazy night in Las Vegas

    Brett Moffitt and Matt Crafton both collected top-five finishes in Friday night’s NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Strat 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    Moffitt has not been to victory lane since his championship winning race at Homestead-Miami Speedway last November. It looked like he had a good shot to win Friday night after starting on the outside pole.

    He ran strong throughout Stage 1, where he finished second. However, troubles came early for the No. 24 GMS Racing team during the pit stop when an air hose got stuck underneath his truck, which cost them a lot of positions.

    This saw Moffitt and company restart in the 25th position for Stage 2. It didn’t take them long to move through the field and he was up to 14th with 10 laps to go in Stage 2. Eventually, Moffitt was able to earn one stage point by finishing 10th.

    After pitting for four tires and adjustments, Moffitt went to third with 59 to go and then to second with 47 to go. He made his final pit stop of the night with 24 to go. He got close to race leader Kyle Busch, in fact right at his back bumper, but Busch made a block on Moffitt causing him to fall back.

    Ultimately, that’s all she wrote for Moffitt and the No. 24 GMS Racing team as they came up 1.21 seconds short of winning.

    “I was just trying to back air on him (Kyle Busch),” Moffitt told MRN Radio. “That was going to be my one chance of getting to his bumper. Only taking two tires there, they would fall off after about five or six laps and get tight. So, when I had a run, I knew (Turns) 3 and 4 would be a one groove track, but I was trying to pack some air and get him loose off the bottom. I felt like that was my only shot and went for it, and I felt like that was going to be a make or break move.”

    “Unfortunately, it was break,” last year’s defending champion said.

    Moffitt finished second and 10th in Stage 1 and 2, respectively.

    For Matt Crafton, it was a similar night as he rebounded to a third place finish in Friday night’s Strat 200 after barely missing a wreck off Turn 4 and receiving damage to the left rear.

    But he will have to wait at least one more race to snap his long winless streak. His top-five finish, however, didn’t come without effort.

    “That was hard fought for sure,” Crafton told MRN Radio. “Earlier, we had a great truck in the first few laps and then, the 2 (Sheldon Creed) spun and I checked up to miss him, and the 4 (Cory Roper) ran in to the back of me.”

    The driver of the ThorSport Racing No. 88 truck, continued, saying, “We fought all night. We had great restarts, got shuffled back at one point and drove back inside the top 10 and top eight there at the end. It was amazing on how fast it was with the left-rear quarter panel as bad as it was. So, I would say the No. 88 is back.”

    Crafton finished 13th in Stage 1 and ninth in Stage 2. He scored the 111th top five finish of his career at Las Vegas.

  • Stewart Friesen and Harrison Burton earn top-five finishes at Las Vegas

    Stewart Friesen and Harrison Burton earn top-five finishes at Las Vegas

    Stewart Friesen and Harrison Burton claimed top-five finishes in Friday night’s NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Strat 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    After a decent qualifying run of seventh, Friesen was looking for his first win Friday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway especially after having so many strong runs last year only to come short.

    Friesen was quiet in Stage 1 as he finished in the seventh position, but when Stage 2 began Friesen made some noise.

    He took the lead on Lap 39 from Kyle Busch and led until Lap 54 for 16 laps. Friesen held Busch up the best he could, but it wasn’t enough as Busch took the lead away and Friesen finished second in Stage 2.

    He restarted fourth for Stage 3 and had a battle with Ross Chastain, Matt Crafton, and Brett Moffitt for second. Friesen made his pit stop with 25 to go, but it was too much ground to make up and finished fourth for the 12th top-five of his career.

    “We just got mixed up on tires, mixed-match sets there after the 04 (Cory Roper) drive on the side of us,” Friesen told MRN Radio. “Gotta be aggressive, but too aggressive on the start. Probably should have given him more room, but solid run for us tonight. We’ll take it. We raced with the best of the best there for a while.”

    “So it was pretty cool, but just lost a little bit of handling at the end of the night,” the No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing driver explained to MRN Radio. “Just happy to be here.”

    Friesen will be looking to carrying this momentum to Martinsville, where he may collect his first win of his career.

    Harrison Burton, driver of the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra made his first Las Vegas start tonight at the 1.5-mile speedway. Needless to say it was a great night for the No. 18 team, after who finishing fifth.

    “We were a little bit too tight, center off and both ends of the corner,” Burton told MRN Radio. “(Turns) 3 and 4 were a little worse, then 1 and 2. I’m still learning, some of its me and I’m still trying to get myself better as well. So, came out here with a good night and a good finish, so had some good stage points all the way through I feel like.”

    “So, we will build on that and have a good night, move on and work on our truck for Martinsville.”

    Burton finished fourth and sixth in both stages, respectively.

  • Kevin Harvick earns Las Vegas Pole for Pennzoil 400

    Kevin Harvick earns Las Vegas Pole for Pennzoil 400

    LAS VEGAS – Kevin Harvick will start out front for the 26th time of his career in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a time of 29.914 seconds at 180.517 mph.

    Harvick’s time was briefly third on the speed charts during the final round of qualifying, as Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott were initially first and second respectively. However, they did not cross the start-finish line before time expired after their first lap, so their second laps around did not count, handing the pole to the third place driver.

    “The fastest car in qualifying trim is fourth,” Harvick said. And he was correct. Austin Dillon was fastest in practice, but ended up fourth in the qualifying order.

    “I told them before we qualified today that the fastest car would not get the pole today. In the final round it was going to come down to where you were at.”

    Qualifying for this race was a big mind game, as drivers waited until the last second to go out for their timed run. In the final round, this cost Bowman and Elliott who will start 11th and 12th.

    Hamlin will start second and was the only other driver in the 29 second bracket. Kyle Busch, Dillon, and Daniel Hemric rounded out the top five. Hemric was the only rookie in the final round of qualifying. David Ragan, Kyle Larson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano completed the top 10 of the starting spots.

    The Pennzoil 400 will start on Sunday, March 3 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, or listen live on PRN.

  • Weekend schedule for Las Vegas Motor Speedway

    Weekend schedule for Las Vegas Motor Speedway

    NASCAR heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for another triple-header weekend as the Monster Energy Cup Series, Xfinity Series and the Gander Outdoors Truck Series hit the track for the third race of the 2019 season.

    All times are Eastern.

    Thursday, February 28
    5:05 p.m.- 5:55 p.m. Truck Series First Practice- Not televised
    7:05 p.m.- 7:55 p.m. Truck Series Final Practice – Not televised

    Friday, March 1
    3:05 PM – 3:55 PM Cup Series First Practice – FS1
    4:05 PM – 4:55 PM Xfinity Series First Practice – FS1
    5:10 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Single Vehicle / Two Rounds) – FS1
    6:35 p.m. – 7:25 p.m.: Xfinity Series Final Practice – FS1
    7:40 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Multi-Vehicle / Three Rounds) – FS1
    9 p.m.: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Strat 200 (Stages 30/60/134 Laps = 201 Miles)   
    TV: FS1 – Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)                                                                                 
    Saturday, March 211:30 a.m. – 12:25 p.m.: Cup Series Second Practice
    2:40 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Multi-Vehicle / Three Rounds)
    2:30 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice
    4 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Boyd Gaming 300 (Stages 45/90/200 Laps = 300 Miles)                                                                                                             TV: FS1 – Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)

    Sunday, March 3
    3:30 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube (Stages 80/160/267 Laps = 400.5 Miles)      TV: FOX – Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)


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

  • Kyle Busch grabs 22nd career Truck Series pole for Strat 200 at Vegas

    Kyle Busch grabs 22nd career Truck Series pole for Strat 200 at Vegas

    LAS VEGAS – Kyle Busch drives his Toyota Tundra to the top spot for the start of tonight’s Strat 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series.

    Busch set the pace with a time of 30.184 seconds at 178.903 mph.

    His 22nd career pole comes a day after announcing his contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing and Mars Inc..

    “My relationship with Joe (Gibbs), JD (Gibbs) and the family has grown a lot of the years and each year I think it gets better and better,’’ Busch said.

    He is the only driver to win a triple sweep in a single weekend, and is in solid position to accomplish the same feat again this weekend at Vegas.

    Brett Moffitt was second-fastest at 178.359 mph, followed by Harrison Burton (178.224 mph), Grant Enfinger (178.036 mph) and Cory Roper (177.895 mph).

    The rest of the final group for qualifying were Austin Hill (177.731), Stewart Friesen (177.521), Brennan Poole (177.509), Sheldon Creed (177.433), Ryan Reed (177.293), Johnny Sauter (177.235) and Natalie Decker (176.794).

    Tonight’s race is scheduled for 134 laps/201 miles with the green flag waving shortly after 9 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

  • Four takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series at Atlanta

    Four takeaways from the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series at Atlanta

    1. Kyle Busch Finally Breaks Ron Hornaday’s Record – After waiting since victory lane of Pocono last summer, Kyle Busch finally broke the illustrious record of Hornaday’s all-time wins. It took Busch 145 starts to get to win number 52. He’s had a lot of victories and memorable moments, such as winning the Truck Series owners championship two times. Busch catches a lot of flack but he could be one of the greatest drivers to race in today’s generation. Busch is only 33-years-old and he will more than likely have at least 10 to 15 more years in the sport to capture more victories and possibly break more records as well.
    2. Unhappy Fans – Five to 10 years ago, we had Cup Series drivers racing in almost every Xfinity and Truck Series race. However, some fans were outraged by them winning all the time. With that, the fans pushed and pushed in an attempt to ban veteran drivers from racing in lower tier series. Eventually NASCAR put a limit on Cup Series drivers competing in other series. This weekend at Atlanta, there were no Cup Series drivers in the Xfinity race and only one in the Truck race. Low and behold, once Kyle Busch took the checkered flag, many fans were complaining about this issue. However, when I looked in the stands, there was hardly anyone there for either race that day. Sure the weather forecast looked gloomy but that crowd was pathetic. When FOX showed a flashback to Kevin Harvick winning the Xfinity race at Atlanta in 2009, those grandstands were packed. I know times are different and that was 10 years ago. But, I watched a 2001 NASCAR Busch Series race the other night that was held in Colorado at Pikes Peak and the crowd was packed. This particular Busch Series race has only one Cup Series driver in it and that was Harvick, who at the time, was racing in both series. Yet, there was no outrage then. If the fans want to see only Xfinity and Truck Series drivers compete in their respective series, then I need to see more support than what I saw on Saturday.
    3. NASCAR Restarting The Race – I think we all won on this one. Kudos to NASCAR for waiting out the rains and heavy fog instead of calling the race nine laps early. We got to see an entertaining finish and Busch had to work hard for that win. Now if NASCAR can continue this consistency throughout the year, then this would be great.
    4. NASCAR.com Streaming Service – In today’s day and age, you see a lot of streaming services offered like Netflix, MLB Network, NFL Network, Fox Sports Go, NBC Sports App and NBC Sports Gold (a premium package for race fans that is offered). This past Friday, we saw a new era when it comes to streaming in NASCAR. Most practice sessions were steamed on the website before Fox Sports took over at 2 p.m. on live TV. This will take place every Friday when Fox Sports has coverage through June. It’s unknown if NBC will follow suit when they over coverage of the races. Like many of you, I was skeptical about how this would turn out. I have watched some Formula E practices on Facebook and YouTube, and it wasn’t that great. So I was leery. So at 10:30 a.m. I logged on to my phone to stream practice. When I logged on, I had to submit my email to access the stream. Not only that, but I had to agree to subscribe to NASCAR’s newsletter, which is a smart marketing move by NASCAR. However, my excitement was drained when I heard no sounds from the racecars but eventually, sound was added on and all was right in the world. I had to get the quality right a couple of times for the video, as it kept going back to 240p instead of 720p. The radio announcers brought a unique twist and covered almost everyone. Not just the top drivers, which was refreshing. Seeing the whole practice without commercial breaks was also a plus. Now if this could change but it seems that NASCAR is testing the waters to possibly have a streaming service offered somewhere down the road once the TV contract expires in 2024. Already, Fans Choice TV will be broadcasting every regional NASCAR race. Dirtvision has an option to pay for a weekend pass to watch their coverage of the World of Outlaws. NHRA also has their own network where you can watch races live, instead of tape delay on FOX Sports 1. CARS-Short Track Tour also has premium service options as well for their live coverage at the track. It’ll be interesting to see if NASCAR follows suit on this in the coming years. As the old saying goes, “the times, they are a changing.”

  • Truex frustrated with lapped cars after runner-up finish

    Truex frustrated with lapped cars after runner-up finish

    As Brad Keselowski climbed out of his car, with an American flag in hand, Martin Truex Jr. stood adjacent to his car a few hundred yards away, with arms crossed. The source of his frustration was lap traffic.

    “They just have no respect for the leaders running for the win,” he said. “It’s completely uncalled for, ridiculous. It’s a shame.”

    Truex was trapped a lap down when he pitted with 53 laps to go, because the caution flew for fluid on the track. He took the wave-around and restarted fourth with 43 to go, behind all the lapped cars.

    He particularly took issue with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He understood that Stenhouse was racing for the lucky dog, but believed he should’ve let him by when the field got strung out (thus making it unlikely Stenhouse would get his lap back).

    “He just kept hugging the bottom, hugging the bottom, hugging the bottom and knew that’s where I needed to run,” Truex said. “I kept telling – my spotter kept telling his we need the bottom.”

    “These cars punch such a big hole and it’s so bad in dirty air, it completely killed us for 25, 30 laps to the point my front tires were gone once I finally got by him.”

    Despite the holdup, Truex was cutting two-tenths off Keselowski’s lead with eight to go. With seven to go, after he passed Stenhouse, he ran six-tenths faster than Keselowski.

    With less than three to go, he was less than three-tenths of a second behind Keselowski. This time in Turn 1, Keselowski took the bottom from Truex. On the final lap, Truex made a late dive to the bottom, as he drove like he expected Keselowski to take it. While he kept within three-tenths, this moment of indecision cost him a chance at a victory.

    “We clearly had the best car and were in position to win,” he said.

    His runner-up finish was the end result of an afternoon in which he led four laps and finished fifth and third in the stages. He leaves Atlanta Motor Speedway 12th in points, 30 back of Denny Hamlin.

  • Brad Keselowski holds off Truex for second Atlanta Cup win

    Brad Keselowski holds off Truex for second Atlanta Cup win

    Brad Keselowski was battling flu-like symptoms all weekend but fought through to win his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season.

    Keselowski, who received two IV injections before the race, held off a hard-charging Martin Truex Jr. to win the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    The win is Keselowski’s second at Atlanta and the 28th of his Cup career. This also marks three consecutive top-three finishes at Atlanta for Keselowski, who clinched his spot in the Playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.

    “I was good enough to get the job done,” Keselowski said. “First I have to give credit to first, my wife [Paige], who was sick like I was. She took care of me just like everybody did in the care center. I couldn’t be here right now without you.

    “And second, Doug Yates, we ran over a piece of debris with probably 50 laps to go and overheated really bad and I thought there was no way this engine would make it to the end. Doug Yates and his team, they do a great job. I’m pretty sure it’s all used up, Doug, but it’s in Victory Lane.”

    With the win, Keselowski broke a tie with Indianapolis legend Mark Donohue for the most wins as a Team Penske driver with 60. The driver of the No. 2 Ford has won 27 of his 28 Cup victories for Roger Penske. The other win came in April 2009 at Talladega when Keselowski ran a partial schedule for car owner James Finch driving the No. 09 Chevrolet.

    “This is one I’m not going to forget for a very long time,” he said. “Any win means a lot, but that’s a big number. Now, I get to wear that yellow Mark Donohue helmet. We’re going to wear it next week.

    “What a tremendous honor.”

    Completing the top- five were Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Clint Bowyer.

    Rounding out the Top 10 were Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Aric Almirola, Chris Buescher, and Daniel Suarez.

    The race was the first for the 2019 rules package at an intermediate track. Cars featured larger spoilers, increased downforce, and a tapered spacer to reduce horsepower. However, to the surprise of many, speeds were actually up from a year ago.

    Kyle Busch, who was making his 500th career Cup start, rallied to finish sixth after he suffered a flat right-rear tire on Lap 223. It was a topsy turvy weekend for Busch, who won Friday’s Gander Outdoors Truck Series race, but crashed his primary car in Saturday’s final Cup practice, and was forced to start from the rear of the field.

    Kyle Larson led the most laps (142) but slid to 12th after getting busted for a speeding penalty on Lap 225. Larson has failed to win the last five races after he led the most laps, including four times last season.

    On Lap 268, there was a bizarre incident on pit road during green flag stops that caused a caution. B.J. McLeod slowed down significantly and attempted to turn into the wrong pit stall. Meanwhile, Ryan Preece, who was glancing at his tachometer, plowed into the rear of McLeod. Both cars suffered heavy damage. It was later reported that McLeod was about five stalls away from his actual stall.

    Truex was also penalized for having a crew member go over the wall too soon. However, on further review, NASCAR rescinded the penalty.

    On Lap 293, Keselowski passed his teammate Joey Logano to take the lead. Logano, who was seeking his first Atlanta win, was forced to hit pit road for a loose wheel soon with just 20 laps to go. His other teammate, Ryan Blaney, was also forced to hit the pits on Lap 313 for a flat tire.

    Keselowski, with the flu bug, avoided the tire bug and held off Truex for his first win of 2019.

    Larson won Stage One and Harvick was the Stage Two winner.

  • The White Zone: Some thoughts on Sunday’s race at Atlanta

    The White Zone: Some thoughts on Sunday’s race at Atlanta

    Race No. 2 of the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is in the books. I had some observations of the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 that I wish to share with the class.

    The package

    Let’s just get something out of the way first: It wasn’t the “full” aerodynamic package that we’ll see next week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. So I’m not currently giving my “full” take on it as a whole.

    With that said, however, I had some observations on this version of the 2019 package that was run at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and will be run in the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    The key things this package was designed to do, according to NASCAR, was tighten up the field and make passing the leader not such a Herculean task. And…It was hit and miss.

    Behind the leader, passing was relatively easy. You’d have to set up earlier in the straight, because the cars have so much more drag, but if you had momentum going into the turn, you’re more likely to catch the leading car.

    In terms of passing for the lead, there were still times when the lead car would pull away from the field; which is one of the biggest problems with the 1.5 mile track races. Unlike past races, however, reeling in and passing the leader wasn’t a Herculean task. Drivers like Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. cut down the gap to the lead car and, except in the case of Truex, passed the leader.

    Now it should be noted that the tire falloff, which was significant at Atlanta, probably played a great factor in being able to catch the leader.

    Bottom line: We got a taste of what this package offers, but next week at Las Vegas will be a greater indication of what we’ll see this season. Furthermore, it wasn’t a bad race. Cars could pass one another and catching and passing the leader wasn’t an insurmountable challenge.

    Bad luck for Ryan Preece

    Late in the afternoon, Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece were running top 10 and looked in great shape to finish top 10.

    With 54 laps to go, however, Ryan Preece plowed into the back of BJ McLeod as he was leaving pit road and his day ended behind the wall in 35th.

    Preece said afterwards that he was looking down at his tachometer when McLeod dived down into his pit box in front of him.

    Buescher brought his car home ninth.

    Now one rather good afternoon isn’t necessarily an indicator of future success, but it shows that the JTG Daugherty Racing duo might be people to watch next week.

    The flu doesn’t keep Keselowski down

    Yesterday, Brad Keselowski sat out most of final practice, due to flu symptoms. Team Penske development driver Austin Cindric was on standby if he couldn’t race.

    He did, however, and won.

    Keselowski wasn’t the dominant car (that belongs to Kyle Larson). He didn’t even finish top 10 in either stage. He was even caught a lap down by the aforementioned pit road incident (he took the wave-around to get it back).

    What he did do, however, was reel in teammate Joey Logano and pass him for the lead with 32 to go. Even as his tires fell off and the handling went away, he held off a charge by Martin Truex Jr. with two laps to go to win at Atlanta.

    If he had any lingering side effects, he hid it well.

    It was his 60th combined victory across all series and disciplines of racing as a Team Penske driver, which puts him ahead of Mark Donahue as the winningest driver in team history.

    “I think any win means a lot, but that’s a big number. Now I get to wear that yellow Mark Donohue helmet.”

  • Kyle Busch becomes all-time winningest Truck series driver with Atlanta victory

    Kyle Busch becomes all-time winningest Truck series driver with Atlanta victory

    Kyle Busch overcame a loose wheel to win the Ultimate Tailgating 200 and become the Gander Outdoor Truck Series all-time winningest driver.

    The win was Busch’s 52nd career series victory, which moved him past NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. to take sole possession of first on the all-time wins list. The victory is also Busch’s fifth at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the 195th of his NASCAR career across the three series.

    Busch held off Johnny Sauter on a restart with five laps to go to win. Sauter finished second and completing the top five were Grant Enfinger, Brett Moffitt, and Ben Rhodes.

    Busch was forced to come to pit road on Lap 54 due to a loose wheel. It took 24 laps for the 33-year-old to recover the lead. Despite the adversity, Busch still managed to win the first two stages.

    “It certainly means a lot. I want to thank our amazing partners that allow us to do what we do,” Busch said in Victory Lane. “I can’t say enough about my guys at Kyle Busch Motorsports – they do a phenomenal job.

    “I slipped getting out of my truck – it’s a little wet out here in case y’all didn’t notice. It was a great race out there. I wish it would have ended. I would have liked to have seen Harrison (Burton) finish second. I’m not sure how far he fell. He ran a great race today.”

    Busch dominated to win Stage 1 over his KBM teammate Harrison Burton.

    Austin Hill, last week’s winner, started on the pole after qualifying was washed out and 2018 owner points set the lineup.

    On Lap 16, Natalie Decker spun off  Turn 4 to bring out the first caution.

    Busch drove through the field and beat Ben Rhodes to take the Stage 2 win.

    The caution came out on Lap 53 for debris when Joe Nemechek got into the grass, which resulted in dirt getting onto the racing surface.

    With 25 laps left in the race, Busch held a one-second lead over Johnny Sauter with Matt Crafton running in third.

    On Lap 112, the second time was a charm for Decker as she spun off turn four again to bring out the caution. Busch won the race off pit road, but Matt Crafton was forced to pit again with a loose wheel.

    The race returned to green with 13 laps to go, but several trucks wrecked on the restart, which resulted in a red flag.

    Spencer Boyd, Chad Finely, Parker Kligerman, Jesse Little, and Austin Wayne Self were among those involved.

    But there was no stopping Busch, who made history in just his 146th series start.