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  • Kyle Busch Tricks The Triangle and Wins the Xfinity Race at Pocono

    Kyle Busch Tricks The Triangle and Wins the Xfinity Race at Pocono

    Kyle Busch is making milestones this year in the Cup Series and now he’s marked off another one in the Xfinity Series, by winning the Pocono Green 250 at Pocono Raceway. The win today was Busch’s first win at Pocono in the Xfinity series.

    He led 64 of  100 laps today in his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota culminating in his 92nd career win in the Xfinity Series. Busch dominated the race overall, finishing 2.85 seconds over second place Chase Elliott in his No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet.

    In Victory Lane, a happy Busch remarked, “It feels good for as good as our car was, and I tried to screw it up early again this week.” He added, “The car was on rails this week you know it was last week too, but we were able to overcome our deficits we had this week.” He also said, “It’s a lot of fun to race with meaning and cause, so I dedicate this win to the men and women that are fighting for our country both now and past.”

    UPDATE: According to a NASCAR spokesperson, Busch failed post-race inspection height measurements. Any possible penalties will be announced next week. 

    Stage 1 would be caution free from start to finish. Cole Custer brought the field to the green, but by Lap 2 Busch was leading the field and wouldn’t look back. There were some great battles going on with all the cars fanning out four and five wide on the track, making for an exciting race. Busch would take the stage win leading 23 of 25 laps.

    Stage 2 started off in an interesting way. During the caution, Busch, along with Christopher Bell, received speeding penalties and had to restart at the rear of the field. But, starting at the rear would not hinder either Bell or Busch as within 10 laps both drivers were back in the top 10. There was only one caution for the spinning car of Michael Annett. Paul Menard worked his way to the front to be the winner of Stage 2.

    Stage 3 had some of the best action with cars battling for position. John Hunter Nemechek, Bell, and Brandon Jones were all swapping the top spots. The yellow flag waived twice for cautions, once for Annett and Chase Briscoe who got tangled up and into the wall. The next caution would involve Justin Allgaier and Bell who were both in the top 10 all day, ending their chances at a win. Busch had the top spot when the green flag flew again and stayed there to the finish getting his first Xfinity win of 2018.

    Second place would go to Elliott in his No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet. After the race, he commented, “Kyle was really fast at the beginning though I thought about halfway through I was equal to him.” He went on to say, “If I was right behind him I could draft and stay close and I thought that was going to be good if I could’ve got the air and run a little further up on that restart.” He finished by saying, “ It was fun, had a good day, I’m looking forward to the next one.”

    Daniel Hemric in his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet would take the third spot today. Hemric summed his day up as a ”Chicken salad kind of day.” He explained it this way, “We struggled trying to get track position early, we hoped we had a lot more speed, it was so hard to make runs or passes. You get side by side but it all depends on what the guy behind you did, if he went with you or with the other guy.” He continued, “It seems like I was always the other guy who (they) didn’t get going with.”

    Austin Cindric and Cole Custer would round out the top five. Elliott Sadler, John Hunter Nemechek, Paul Menard, Tyler Reddick, and Ryan Truex finished sixth through 10th respectively.
    Sadler leads the Xfinity Series standings with 474 points, Cole Custer is second with 412 points and Daniel Hemric is in third place with 411 points. Tyler Reddick sits in fourth place with 410 points, and rounding out the top five is Christopher Bell with 395 points.

    The Xfinity Series will be heading next to Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, June 9.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Xfinity-Series-Pocono-Unofficial-Race-Results-6-2-18.pdf” title=”Xfinity Series Pocono Unofficial Race Results 6-2-18″]

     

  • Ryan Blaney rolls to Busch Pole in Pocono qualifying

    Ryan Blaney rolls to Busch Pole in Pocono qualifying

    Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service

    LONG POND, Pa. – Just as he had done in winning his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race last June, Ryan Blaney kept Kevin Harvick behind him at Pocono Raceway when it mattered most.

    Blaney sped around the 2.5-mile triangular track in 50.877 seconds (176.897 mph) in Friday’s knockout qualifying session to earn the top starting spot for Sunday’s Pocono 400 (2 p.m. ET Sunday on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

    In winning his first Busch Pole Award at the Tricky Triangle, his second of the season and the fourth of his career, Blaney beat Harvick (176.807 mph) by .026 seconds. Harvick, a five-time winner in the series this year, had the top speed in each of the previous two rounds.

    But Pocono is becoming a special track for Blaney, who got his first taste of competition in a quarter midget on the dirt track outside Turn 3.

    “I’ve always enjoyed this place,” Blaney said. “I enjoyed coming here to watch my dad (Dave Blaney) race. I made my first-ever start in a race car at the dirt track out there. So it’s been special to me.

    “Me and Jeb Burton and Brandon McReynolds grew up racing scooters. There used to be a small Pocono with MRO (Motor Racing Outreach) in the infield over there. We used to race scooters around that. I have a lot of memories about this place.”

    Blaney and his No. 12 team also have developed a knack for negotiating the track with three distinctly different turns.

    “I feel like we have a pretty good line of communication with where we need to be from practice to qualifying to the race. I feel very comfortable, and the team feels very confident, and that’s always a good combination.”

    Harvick had a pole-winning lap going until he slipped in Turn 3.

    “I thought we did a really good job of trying to pick a pace and trying not to be a hero on every lap, and we were able to pick up a 10th (of a second) in each round,” Harvick said. “We got a little loose there in (Turn) 3, and I didn’t want to tug on the wheel any more just because of the fact I didn’t want it to get any looser.

    “So I just let it slide to the center and had to wait and gave up a good solid 10th there. It was still a great lap for our Busch Beer Ford, and starting up front is a big deal here.”

    Jamie McMurray qualified third in the No. 1 Chevrolet, followed by Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. Kyle Busch, who picked up his fourth victory of the season in last Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, will roll off fifth beside brother Kurt Busch, who qualified sixth.

    Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott and Daytona 500 winner Austin Dillon completed the top 12.

    Qualifying results 

  • Full weekend schedule for Pocono

    Full weekend schedule for Pocono

  • Mission Accomplished – Kyle Busch Dominates to Win Coca-Cola 600

    Mission Accomplished – Kyle Busch Dominates to Win Coca-Cola 600

    CONCORD, N.C. — Kyle Busch conquered Charlotte Motor Speedway Sunday night leading 377 of 400 laps and making history as he became the only driver to win at every track on which he has started.

    He started from the pole, swept all the stages and along the way he managed to reach another milestone. When he led his 122nd lap, he joined an elusive group of drivers who have led at least 15,000 laps during their career. It was his fourth victory this season and his 47th career win.

    “This one’s very special,” Busch said in Victory Lane. “I don’t know if there’s anything that can top Homestead (the 2015 title race), just with the meaning of what the championship is. But the Coke 600 — I’ve dreamt of this race since I was a kid.

    “To be able to come out here and win the Coca-Cola 600, it’s a little boy’s dream come true. Man, I just want to say that I thank NASCAR, for one, for giving me the chance to come out here and have this opportunity to race for my dreams and to accomplish those things.”

    Martin Truex Jr. drove his No. 78 to a runner-up finish and talked about the challenges they faced during the race.

    “I felt early on like we were probably second best to him and then screwed up on pit road, and then we had two pit road penalties in a row. So it was tough to come from the back, but it was one of those nights where we just fought until the end and felt like we had a second-place car to Kyle.  I felt like that last run we were catching him a bit, but he was probably just managing his lead and taking care of his tires.  We were just off a little bit tonight but definitely gaining on it, and hopefully, we can get some more wins here pretty soon.

    Denny Hamlin finished third in his No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota. Hamlin was doubtful that there was anything he could have done differently to become more competitive. He said he “we maximized what we had in our car. It was being driven as fast as it could go.”

    “That No. 1 pit stall kind of saved them a few times,” he continued. “We had such fast pit stops with our team. There was one time we came out right beside him, and I really wanted control of that restart, and it looked like — they said 18 over 11.  So he must have just barely beat me out of the pits, and that maybe would have given him some dirty air to see could he pass. He hadn’t really had to pass anyone all day.

    “Their car looked exceptional from my standpoint.  They were about a half a tenth faster. that’s too much to overcome in the long run, and we didn’t have a good enough long run to really run him back down anyway. They just were a tiny bit faster, so we’ve just got to look at the data and find where we need to gain that speed.”

    Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top five while Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman, finished sixth through ninth, respectively. There were only nine drivers on the lead lap at the finish line.

    Kevin Harvick was attempting to win three straight races for the second time this year. Instead, he found trouble on Lap 83 when a flat left front tire sent his No. 4 Ford into the Turn 3 wall, ending his day.

    Next Sunday, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series travels to Pocono Raceway as the regular season continues.

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

     

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Charlotte-Coca-Cola-Unofficial-Results-5-27-18.pdf” title=”Charlotte Coca-Cola Unofficial Results 5-27-18″]

     

  • Keselowski wins the Xfinity Series Alsco 300 at Charlotte

    Keselowski wins the Xfinity Series Alsco 300 at Charlotte

    CONCORD, N.C. — Keselowski held off Cole Custer to win Saturday’s Xfinity Series Alsco 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway to capture his 38th series victory and his fourth at Charlotte. Keselowski won in overtime after the yellow flag came out for debris with two laps remaining.

    “It’s kind of an eventful day from the rain and everything that happened there. Strategies, the car handling and things going on this week with Roger and the Hall of Fame, but so far it’s been a great week and I couldn’t ask for a much better start for Memorial Day Weekend than to bring home a win.” Keselowski said.

    A hot, humid and an hour-long rain delay didn’t stop Brad Keselowski from becoming the first repeat winner in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this season.

    “It was brutally hot out there. The humidity was just killer. I don’t usually get that hot in a race car, but it was smoking out there.” Keselowski said.

    Cole Custer finished second, Christopher Bell third, Ty Dillon fourth and Elliott Sadler finished fifth.

    Custer was disappointed with his runner-up finish, saying, “I wasn’t happy because you want to win, but our Haas Automation Mustang was pretty good all weekend. I think they kind of got lucky on the strategy and how the cautions flew, but I think we probably had the best car. It is what it is. You give up the track position, but it was fun racing. It’s a real edgy race track and fun to move around the VHT and stuff, so it was a fun race for sure.”

    Bell, on fresher tires, thought that he might be able to pass Keselowski on the final restart.

    “I had better tires than him and just didn’t execute. I’m going to be curious to look at the restart there and see if – see what happened and why I couldn’t get going. Bottom line, just didn’t do a good job accelerating there and that’s all she wrote,” Bell said.

    Ty Dillon came back from a penalty to score a fourth-place finish.

    “We had an uncontrolled tire penalty in Stage 3 and had to start in the rear, but our car was so fast that we were back in the top 10 in just a few laps. It was risky, but we decided to play with pit strategy at the end so that we would have fresher tires than the rest of the field to finish out the race. We were so fast but came up three spots short in the end. I can’t thank these RCR guys enough for building such a fast race car. I always like getting in these cars, and I’m looking forward to being back with them in Kentucky.”

    Sadler finished fifth and continues to hold the series points lead by 38 over Christopher Bell.

    After winning Stage 1 and 2 and leading 93 laps, Kyle Busch was poised to capture his 92nd Xfinity Series victory. But his hopes were dashed on the Lap 161 restart.  Busch, who was mired in traffic after a series of cautions and differing pit strategies, spun and slid into Chase Briscoe. He would, however, rally to an eighth-place finish.

    The Xfinity Series heads to Pocono Raceway Saturday, June 2, for the 12th race of the season.

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

    Unofficial Race Results
    Alsco 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway
    May 26, 2018
    Pos Driver
    1 Brad Keselowski
    2 Cole Custer
    3 Christopher Bell
    4 Ty Dillon
    5 Elliott Sadler
    6 Ryan Truex
    7 Daniel Hemric
    8 Kyle Busch
    9 Matt Tifft
    10 Kaz Grala
    11 Chase Briscoe
    12 Michael Annett
    13 Ryan Sieg
    14 Garrett Smithley
    15 Brandon Jones
    16 Austin Cindric
    17 Joey Gase
    18 Joe Nemechek
    19 Ray Black Jr.
    20 David Starr
    21 Spencer Boyd
    22 Ty Majeski
    23 Tyler Reddick
    24 Tommy Joe Martins
    25 Josh Bilicki
    26 Ross Chastain
    27 Brandon Hightower
    28 Vinnie Miller
    29 Ryan Reed
    30 Timmy Hill
    31 Jamie McMurray
    32 Justin Allgaier
    33 Dylan Lupton
    34 Alex Labbe
    35 Jeremy Clements
    36 J.J. Yeley
    37 Chase Elliott
    38 Josh Williams
    39 Jeff Green
    40 B.J. McLeod

  • Kyle Busch captures the Coca-Cola 600 pole

    Kyle Busch captures the Coca-Cola 600 pole

    Kyle Busch won the Busch Pole Award for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a qualifying lap of 191.836 mph.

    This was his third pole of the season and the 30th of his career. It’s the first step for Busch as he attempts to capture his fourth win of the season at Charlotte, the only track on the Cup Series schedule where he has not won a points-paying race. He has the second-best driver rating (104.9) at the 1.5-mile track with 11 top fives and 16 top 10s.

    The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has come close to victory lane placing second in the Coca-Cola 600 last year. He spoke about the significance of winning NASCAR’s longest race.

    “It’s important to me, but I’m not sure it’s important in the grand scheme of things,” Busch said. “It’s certainly important to me, and I would love to get that knocked out of the way and to be finished with it until another new track comes up on the circuit.

    “Certainly, it’s been a trying time here over the course of my career and to have it come to fruition in a points race, (but) the last I checked, I have a trophy at home that says, ‘Winner at Charlotte Motor Speedway,’ so I’ll take that to my grave with me if I do never get a points win here. That will be my saving grace, I guess.”

    Joey Logano qualified second, Denny Hamlin third and Erik Jones was fourth, followed by Brad Keselowski in fifth.

    “The Coke 600, to me, is a crown jewel event. I think of the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400, Coca-Cola 600 are three of the biggest races we have all year. As a Coca-Cola driver, I’d like to be spraying this stuff all over Victory Lane. That would be really nice,” Logano said.

    Kevin Harvick didn’t make a qualifying attempt after his car failed technical inspection three times and as a result, he will start at the back of the field on Sunday. His car chief Robert Smith was ejected from the track and Harvick will lose 30 minutes of practice time in the final practice on Saturday.

    “There were some things in the garage that basically the template side of it wasn’t getting used and straight edges weren’t getting used and we were just purely going off the OSS, and that was fine until it somewhat starts getting out of hand. They changed some things around last week and some personnel around and positions around and started checking things differently.

    “Everybody is gonna push things as much as they can and I think everybody knows that the 4 team is out to push things as much as they can and win races, so it’s disappointing to start in the back. It’s disappointing not to have Cheddar (Smith, car chief) here, but we’ll get through it as a race team and we’ll have a good car on Sunday. “We’ll just have to serve our penalty and move on,” said crew chief Rodney Childers.

    The Coca-Cola 600 will be broadcast at 6 p.m. Sunday on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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

    Starting Lineup
    Coca-Cola 600, Charlotte Motor Speedway
    Sunday, May 27th | 6:00 PM ET
    1. Kyle Busch
    2. Joey Logano
    3. Denny Hamlin
    4. Erik Jones
    5. Brad Keselowski
    6. Ryan Newman
    7. Jamie McMurray
    8. Ryan Blaney
    9. Aric Almirola
    10. Daniel Suarez
    11. Kyle Larson
    12. Austin Dillon
    13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    14. Paul Menard
    15. Martin Truex Jr.
    16. Kurt Busch
    17. Matt Kenseth
    18. Chris Buescher
    19. David Ragan
    20. Ty Dillon
    21. William Byron
    22. Chase Elliott
    23. Jimmie Johnson
    24. Darrell Wallace Jr.
    25. Ross Chastain
    26. Kasey Kahne
    27. Alex Bowman
    28. Clint Bowyer
    29. Michael McDowell
    30. AJ Allmendinger
    31. Matt DiBenedetto
    32. Parker Kligerman
    33. Corey LaJoie
    34. Gray Gaulding
    35. Landon Cassill
    36. Timmy Hill
    37. Jeffrey Earnhardt
    38. BJ McLeod
    39. Kevin Harvick
    40. JJ Yeley

  • Full Weekend Schedule for Charlotte

    Full Weekend Schedule for Charlotte

    Staff Report | NASCAR.com

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series head to Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend. Check out the tentative full schedule, subject to change.

    Note: All times are ET.

    Thursday, May 24
    2:35-3:25 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, FS1
    4:05-4:55 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series practice, FS1
    6:05-6:50 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, FS1
    7:15 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Award qualifying, FS1

    PRESS PASS (Watch live)
    12:30 p.m.: Kevin Harvick
    1:30 p.m.: Brad Keselowski
    1:45 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson
    2 p.m.: Daniel Hemric
    2:15 p.m.: Elliott Sadler, Ross Chastain and Ryan Reed
    3:45 p.m.: Daniel Suarez
    4 p.m.: Matt Kenseth
    4:15 p.m.: Bubba Wallace
    4:30 p.m.: Joey Logano
    5:30 p.m.: Toyota Racing Development announcement
    8:15 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying

    Friday, May 25
    No events scheduled

    Saturday, May 26
    9:05-9:55 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, FS1
    10:10 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Pole qualifying, FS1
    11:05-11:55 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, FS1
    1 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Alsco 300 (200 laps, 300 miles), FS1

    PRESS PASS (Watch live)
    3:45 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Xfinity Series race

    Sunday, May 27
    6 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 (400 laps, 600 miles), FOX

    PRESS PASS (Watch live)
    3:05 p.m.: NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2019 Inductees
    10:15 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race

  • Kevin Harvick Grabs the $1 Million in All-Star Race Thriller

    Kevin Harvick Grabs the $1 Million in All-Star Race Thriller

    Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service

    CONCORD, N.C. – Kevin Harvick’s answer to NASCAR’s new competition package was the same old song—another victory in a season that already has produced a surfeit of success.

    This time it was Saturday night’s Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with a restrictor-plate limiting the horsepower and a large blade on the rear of the cars providing downforce and maneuverability.

    Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was still the strongest car in the field, and the driver who already has five points wins this season added another in the marquee exhibition race, taking control of the event with an overtime surge at the end of the 20-lap third stage and sealing the victory by outrunning Daniel Suarez in the final two-lap drag race to the finish.

    With lane choice on the final restart, Harvick picked the top lane in front of eventual third-place finisher Joey Logano. The choice paid off, as Logano gave the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford a strong push off the second corner, allowing Harvick to clear the No. 19 Toyota on the backstretch.

    “I thought on that last restart that my best opportunity was Logano,” Harvick acknowledged. “He’s one of the best on the restarts. I knew he would work with me as good as possible because that’s just the way that most of us do it from Ford. We were able to just stay even through (Turns) 1 and 2, and I really thought once we got to the backstretch we could clear him.

    I didn’t want to be on the bottom. I didn’t feel my car was stable enough to be under someone when they were on my right side. I had to take my lumps through 1 and 2 and hope that the guy behind me was still with me when we got to the exit of 2, and we were able to win.”

    The third-stage victory also proved critical. In the second attempt at overtime, Harvick passed Kyle Larson for the top spot and held on to win the stage. That gave him lane choice for the final stage, and he never relinquished the lead.

    “We needed to be in control of the race to have a chance at winning,” Harvick said. “If we were third or fourth, we would have been in big trouble. We needed to be on the front row with clean air, because that was the only chance our car would handle good enough. It was so fast.”

    Harvick picked up his second victory in the All-Star Race, the first won coming in 2007. The winner of the previous two points races, at Dover and Kansas, Harvick didn’t earn championship points for his victory at Charlotte, but he did claim the $1-million prize that goes to the winner. 

    Leading every lap of the final 10-lap segment of the scheduled 80-lap event, Harvick crossed the finish line .325 seconds ahead of Suarez, who came close to clearing Harvick off the second corner after the final restart but didn’t have enough room to slide up in front of the No. 4.

    Denny Hamlin was fourth, followed by Chase Elliott, who earned the last spot in the 21-car main event via the Fan Vote. Jimmy Johnson, Kyle Larson, AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne completed the top 10. Kahne rallied from four laps down after contact with the frontstretch wall on Lap 56.

    Suarez got a push from Hamlin on the final restart, but the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates didn’t stay connected as long as Harvick and Logano did.

    “The 11 (Hamlin) was doing a very good job as much as he could to push me,” Suarez said. “For whatever reason, he just disconnected a little bit, and I couldn’t keep the run with the 4 (Harvick) and the 22 (Logano).

    “They stayed connected for the entire corner, and after that I knew it was going to be tough. After that, I started just playing defense. I tried to slow them down, and I just didn’t do a good job or I just couldn’t do it enough.”

    A six-car wreck that started near the apex of Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 75—during the first attempt at overtime at the end of Stage 3—eliminated the strong cars of Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski, both of whom led laps in the event.

    Truex entered the corner four-wide with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. below him, Clint Bowyer to his outside at Kurt Busch at the top of the track. Contact with Stenhouse’s Ford sent Truex’s Toyota up the track into Bowyer’s Ford, trapping Busch against the outside wall. Kyle Busch’s Camry also sustained damage in the wreck.

    “We had a really strong race car and felt like we maybe had a shot to win it,” Truex said. “Just four-wide going into (Turn) 3 there, and we all just ran out of room. The 17 (Stenhouse), I had him squeezed down so low, I just don’t know that he could hold it down there.

    “I was trying to keep the 14 (Bowyer) to my outside and just one those deals at the end of the race. I knew we had to get through that green-white-checkered to have a shot to win, but I also knew if I lifted there, I would have been the only one that lifted, and the others would have went on and passed me, and we wouldn’t have won this thing.”

    Fans got their first look at the new competition package in the Monster Energy Open, which produced scintillating racing and multiple lead changes in each of the three stages. Race winner Allmendinger advanced to the main event, along with Stage 1 winner Alex Bowman and Stage 2 winner Suarez, who fell one spot short of the rare feat of winning the All-Star Race after transferring from the Open.

    Notes: Harvick led the final 25 laps of the first stage. All told, he led 36 of the 93 laps (with the race extended 13 laps by the Stage 3 overtimes)… Kyle Busch led the final 19 laps of Stage 2 as the only driver other than Harvick to take a checkered flag on Saturday… Harvick’s pit crew climbed the frontstretch catch fence en masse after the victory… Truex led three times for 17 laps before being wiped out in the Lap 75 wreck.

    Full race results

  • Kyle Busch Falls One Spot Short in Tying Ron Hornaday Jr.’s Record

    Kyle Busch Falls One Spot Short in Tying Ron Hornaday Jr.’s Record

    It was a case of ‘what could have been’ for the No. 51 driver of the Cessna Kyle Busch Motorsports machine. Busch was looking to tie Ron Hornaday Jr.’s all-time winning streak Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. However, the Las Vegas native will have to wait for another race.

    After starting fourth in the NC Education Lottery 200, Busch remained in the top 10 in both stages finishing sixth and second, respectively. While he was strong throughout the stages, it was the pit stops that ultimately cost him a shot at winning.

    “Pure talent, Busch said. “That’s about it. My pit crew did absolutely nothing to help me out tonight. My truck drove like crap. These splitters are absolutely horrendous. You can’t pass in traffic.”

    Busch suffered two pit road penalties for his crew being over the wall too soon. At the end of the day, he finished in the second position behind race winner Johnny Sauter. Busch will have to wait another day to earn career win number 51.

    “You can’t race alongside anybody,” Busch added. “You can get within five truck-lengths of no one. But somehow, someway, I was able to get back to the front. Had a blast.”

    By finishing second, he earned his third top five of the year.  He will have three more opportunities in 2018 to tie or surpass Hornaday’s record.

  • Johnny Sauter Earns First Career Victory At Charlotte

    Johnny Sauter Earns First Career Victory At Charlotte

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series had a home race Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Johnny Sauter was able to earn his 20th career victory, but he had to earn it with late race cautions and battles for the lead throughout the race

    After rain canceled qualifying, it was Sauter and Kansas race winner Noah Gragson, on the front row after the field was set by owner points.

    The stages were broken up into 30/30/74 laps.

    After battling weather conditions all day long, the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 took the green flag in the first stage with a battle as Sauter and Gragson battled side-by-side for multiple laps until Gragson broke away by Lap 10. An early caution came out, however, on Lap 21 as Grant Enfinger cut down a right rear tire.

    During the pit stops, there were a couple of penalties handed out as Myatt Snider pit outside the box and had to serve a one-lap penalty and Gragson was penalized for too fast exiting.

    Eventual Stage 1 winner Brett Moffitt stayed out to win the first stage followed by Justin Haley, Sauter, Dalton Sargeant, John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Busch, Parker Kligerman, Todd Gilliland, Matt Crafton and Jesse Little rounding out the top 10.

    Stage 2 began on Lap 37 with Nemechek taking the lead several laps later. Not much happened for the 23 laps in the stage, as it remained caution free and the No. 8 driver won the stage.

    Busch, Moffitt, Gilliland, Sauter, Ben Rhodes, Crafton, Haley, Brandon Jones and Gragson completed the top 10 for Stage 2.

    Stage winner Nemechek suffered a slow pit stop and Kyle Busch’s team had another pit road penalty for being over the wall too soon.

    Stage 3 was restarted with 67 to go. It wasn’t until Lap 72, where Sauter was able to take the lead back from Moffitt. The race was caution free until 54 to go as Justin Fontaine spun out in Turn 4 to bring out the fourth caution of the race.

    Moffitt and Jesse Little stayed out to be the leaders on the initial restart and Busch again, was penalized for being over the wall too soon which set him back.

    There were three more cautions in the remaining 50 laps. One for Josh Reaume with 47 to go, debris with 22 to go and again with 11 to go.

    Before the last caution with 11 to go, Gragson got loose after a push from team owner Busch which almost spun him out on the restart. A half lap later, Austin Wayne Self spun in Turn 4 while Crafton and Gilliland had a run in with each other as well.

    After the late race craziness, Sauter was able to hold on to win his first ever career Truck Series race at Charlotte.

    “This is a tough place,” said Sauter. “Everyone wants to win here. I never thought I’d win here. To win this race is just super special. I never thought 40 would be so good.

    “This is the biggest race of my career, and I’ve won a lot of big races. We kept making adjustments on the truck all night and made it better and better.”

    Sauter led five times for 71 laps and earned five Playoff points. He now leads Gragson by 59 in regular season point standings.

    There were seven cautions for 36 laps, along with five leaders among 12 lead changes.

     

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/NCWTS-Charlotte-Unofficial-Results-5-18-18.pdf” title=”NCWTS Charlotte Unofficial Results 5-18-18″]