Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Category: Race Central

Race Central Stories

  • Allgaier cashes in with “OneMain Financial 200” victory

    Allgaier cashes in with “OneMain Financial 200” victory

    Justin Allgaier had more than one reason to celebrate at Dover International Speedway’s Sunoco Victory Lane on Saturday.

    Not only did the driver of the JR Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet clinch a $100,000 bonus through the NASCAR Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash program, but Allgaier also was able to hold off teammate Elliott Sadler to win the “OneMain Financial 200” at Dover International Speedway.

    It is Allgaier’s first victory of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season and his first at the Monster Mile. Allgaier now has six career NASCAR Xfinity Series victories.

    “I knew Dover was going to be a good race track for us,” Allgaier said. “I’ve wanted a Monster [Trophy] for as long as I can remember.”

    Allgaier led a race-high 104 laps, but it was the final one that was the most heart-stopping, as Sadler edged ahead in Turn 3 for a few moments before the two cars touched exiting Turn 4.

    “I was about 90 percent sure I wasn’t going to win entering Turn 3,” Allgaier said. “I thought for sure I was going around. My only instinct was to keep the throttle down. Luckily, we came off the wall and were able to get across the line. It was a pretty crazy way to end the race.”

    For Kelley Earnhardt Miller, the co-owner of JR Motorsports along with her brother Dale Earnhardt Jr., the showdown was a bit nerve-wracking.

    “It’s part of the craziness of owning two cars when they are in that situation,” Miller said. “It’s awesome to see this team in Victory Lane and relish what they accomplish.”

    Allgaier edged Sadler by 0.306 seconds, the closest finish for a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Monster Mile since 2009. Daniel Hemric was third, followed by rookies Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick.

    “I could see Elliott in my mirror and saw that he could make a charge,” said Allgaier, who led the race’s final 68 laps. “He raced me so clean all day. We both wanted to win. To battle it out with a teammate is really special. To be able to hold him off is a big deal.”

    Twenty-two cars finished on the lead lap, including Friday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner Johnny Sauter (sixth), pole winner Brandon Jones (10th), John Hunter Nemechek (14th) and Ross Chastain (16th).

    Sadler leads Allgaier by 33 points in the NASCAR Xfinity Series point standings. Jones and Ryan Sieg (17th) were the other two Dash 4 Cash contenders entering Saturday’s race. Sadler and Jones led 33 laps apiece, while Reddick led 23.

    The “OneMain Financial 200” was the final Dash 4 Cash race of the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

    Eight caution flags flew across 45 laps in the 2:02:23 race.

    Dover International Speedway hosts the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff race on Saturday, Oct. 6 as part of the Monster Mile’s Oct. 5-7 tripleheader weekend.

    # # #

    About Dover Motorsports, Inc.

    Dover Motorsports, Inc. (NYSE: DVD) is a leading promoter of NASCAR sanctioned motorsports events whose subsidiaries own and operate Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. and Nashville Superspeedway near Nashville, Tenn. The company also plays host to the Firefly Music Festival, produced by Red Frog Events and Goldenvoice. For more information, visit www.DoverMotorsports.com.

  • Sauter Defends Dover Title and Wins the ‘JEGS 200’

    Sauter Defends Dover Title and Wins the ‘JEGS 200’

    Johnny Sauter marked his 40th birthday earlier this month and celebrated in style at Dover International Speedway on Friday with a victory in the “JEGS 200” NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.

    Sauter is only the second driver to win multiple NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races at Dover (Kyle Busch has four wins) and is the first to have back-to-back wins since Busch accomplished the feat in 2013-14.

    “I couldn’t be more proud to win this race the way we did,” Sauter said. “When you tame this place, you’ve really done something.”

    Sauter’s victory came in the longest NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in Dover history – 210 laps – and included a green-white-checkered finish.

    The overtime laps followed one of the most thrilling duels of this NASCAR season between Sauter and pole-winner Noah Gragson, who grabbed the lead following a restart on lap 188 and held off several Sauter charges.

    Gragson blocked one Sauter attempt exiting Turn 2, causing Sauter to scrape the wall. Several laps later, Sauter tried again on the outside. With Sauter’s truck partially clear, Gragson made contact with Sauter entering Turn 3, causing the 19-year-old to spin out.

    “We were going wreckers or checkers,” said Gragson, who finished 20th and led 60 laps. “Today, we were wreckers.”

    Sauter praised Gragson for visiting him in Victory Lane and predicted he would have more battles with the young driver in the future.

    “He’s obviously going to be a guy we will race against for the championship,” Sauter said. “You’ve got to get to the finish of these races.”

    The crash on Lap 199 led to a long caution period before the green-white-checkered finale. On the final restart, Sauter pulled away from Matt Crafton to notch his 19th career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory.

    “It’s not every day you get a truck like that,” said Sauter, who led 137 laps in the GMS Racing No. 21 Chevrolet. “When you have a truck as fast as ours, you have to find a way to win the race.”

    Crafton finished second, more than half a second behind Sauter. Justin Haley was third, followed by David Gilliland and 17-year-old Harrison Burton. Gilliland’s 17-year-old son Todd was 10th, one lap down.

    “Noah and Johnny were putting on a good show,” Crafton said. “We just didn’t have any short-run speed. I tried everything I could [at the end]. All in all, not a bad day.”

    Sauter averaged 98.386 mph in the race which lasted 2:08:04. Seven caution flags flew taking up 46 laps as Sauter increased his lead in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series point standings to 51 points over Ben Rhodes, who finished eighth.

    “This is such a cool place to race at,” Sauter said. “I turned 40 this week. I just want everyone to know how much I appreciate it.”

  • Kyle Larson Captures Pole at Dover’s Monster Mile

    Kyle Larson Captures Pole at Dover’s Monster Mile

    Kyle Larson scored his first Busch Pole Award of the season at Dover International Speedway with a 158.103 mph lap and will lead the field to the green flag in Sunday’s AAA 400. It is his fifth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career pole.

    He spoke about the adjustments the team made after the first two rounds of qualifying to fine tune his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.

    “The first round caught me off guard. I was really loose getting in, but they made great adjustments on the DC Solar Chevy throughout the next two rounds,” he said. “The second round we were probably a little too tight, but they kind of found the happy medium there for the final round. So, I’m happy about that.”

    Larson has four top fives and six top 10s with an average finish of 7.875 at the Monster Mile with a runner up finish in this race last year. After capturing the pole, he heads into the weekend with confidence.

    “We’ve always qualified good here,” he added. “I had yet to get a pole. I’ve raced well here but have yet to get a win. Maybe we’ll get both out of the way this weekend.”

    Kevin Harvick will join Larson on the front row after a qualifying lap of 157.494 mph.

    “We’re feeling good about qualifying well,” Harvick said. “That’s not been something that we’ve done 100-percent great here. We’ve qualified OK. It definitely goes a long way in helping get your day started.

    “This is definitely a race track that can take a while to work your way up the field, so you don’t want to dig yourself a hole early on. They made the car better all three rounds. We ran our fastest lap at the end. I lost a lot of time in (Turns) 1 and 2. I got myself hung a little higher and longer than I needed to finish the corner. Still a good lap for us and I’m looking forward to race runs.”

    Martin Truex Jr. will start in third after a lap of 157.432 mph.

    “Yeah, Turn 4 we just got a little too tight both second and third round,” he said. “Thought maybe second round I could just drive the car a little different. If it hit it right, we’d be really good and I had an awesome lap going until I got there that last round. I thought I had a shot at it and just got tight off 4 again, so missed it a little bit there, but overall it was another good solid day for us on a Friday, looking forward to getting ready to race tomorrow.”

    Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will round out the top five starting positions.

    Of note, Jimmie Johnson, an 11-time winner at Dover, is hoping to find victory lane for the first time this season. One more checkered flag would put him in a three-way tie with Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip on the all-time list, with 84 wins. However, he will have his work cut out for him as Johnson did not make it through to the third round of qualifying and will start 19th.

    Tune into the AAA 400 Drive for Autism Sunday at 2 p.m. on FS1 with radio coverage by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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

     

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Dover-starting-lineup-AAA-400-5-6-18.pdf” title=”Dover starting lineup AAA 400 5-6-18″]

     

  • Full Weekend Schedule for Dover

    Full Weekend Schedule for Dover

  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Dover

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Dover

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series finally returns to action this week at Dover International Speedway after a five-week off period.

    So far for 2018, there have been four different Truck Series races with four different winners. Drivers will be itching at the bit to get back behind the wheel after a long rest period.  At Dover, there have been five different winners in the past five races.

    There are 34 trucks listed on the preliminary entry list this week.

    Here’s a look at who might end up taking the checkered flag tomorrow night at Dover.

      1. Matt Crafton – Currently in 2018, Crafton and the No. 88 Ford has zero wins to start the season. However, Dover just might be the place where he’ll snap a winless streak just like Joey Logano did last weekend at Talladega. In five races, Crafton has one win, three top fives and three top 10 finishes, along with 181 laps led with an average start of 6.0 and an average finish of 8.4. The last time he went to victory lane was two years ago. Dover could be the track in which Crafton punches his ticket into the Playoffs. He’ll need some work to do so as he was 13th and 10th, respectively in the two practice sessions on Thursday.
      2. Johnny Sauter – Dover is another one of Sauter’s best race tracks. He is the defending race winner from last year’s race after leading just 33 laps and he still has momentum from the Daytona season opener win. Sauter will have to pull double duty this weekend after Spencer Gallagher was indefinitely suspended from NASCAR. Sauter is the highest active driver among all drivers when it comes to Dover. He has one win, three top fives and three top 10 finishes with 33 laps led. Sauter has an average start of 11.6 and an average finish of 4.8. In the two practice sessions today, he was second and third fastest respectively. Keep an eye out for the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevy team.
      3. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland will return this weekend to drive the No. 4 Pedigree Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports. In his only start at this track which came last year, he was running a smart race until an incident took place on Lap 115 as Gilliland had suspension issues. Despite the woes, he was able to lead 25 laps after starting 15th. He’ll look to rebound and challenge for the win on Friday night. Gilliland was fourth in both practice sessions Thursday afternoon.
      4. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt is having a stellar 2018 season so far. He collected the second win of his career at Atlanta back in February and collected three top fives, and three top 10 finishes this year. While Moffitt will be making his track debut in a truck at Dover, he does have some experience racing cup cars and in the K&N East Pro Series. In fact, Moffitt has even taken the checkered flag here way back in 2009. His first cup start here was for Jay Robinson Racing and he ended up finishing 22nd. While he doesn’t have any race experience with a truck, Moffitt will be using his past experiences to figure this place out. He was eighth and first fastest in both practice sessions.
      5. Noah Gragson – Gragson has one start here at Dover in the Truck Series which came last year. After starting eighth, he finished fifth in Stage 1 but fell outside the top 10 in Stage 2. Gragson stayed around the top 10 for the rest of the race, as he would wind up finishing ninth, one lap down. He was sixth and second fastest in two practice sessions.

    Qualifying will be especially important at Dover. In the last five races, the winner has come from a starting spot no lower than 11th which happened last year when Johnny Sauter took the checkered flag.

    Qualifying is slated for Friday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1.

    The JEGS 200 can be seen live on FS1 with race coverage beginning at 5:00 p.m ET and on MRN Radio. The approximate green flag is 5:18 p.m. ET.

  • Logano ends winless drought at Talladega

    Logano ends winless drought at Talladega

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Through the escape hatch with steering wheel in hand, Joey Logano hi-fived his crew, then turned around let out a roar of victory.

    “Ford teamwork did it today, not only with the Team Penske Fords, but all of the Fords out there,” Logano said. “We worked really well together and we got a blue oval in victory lane, so so proud of that. So proud to get this Shell Pennzoil team back in victory lane.

    “It feels so good to be back in victory lane. There’s no feeling like this. Whoah, it feels so good.

    “It’s been quite the weekend. It was a long time coming. We’ve been getting consistent and scoring points, but the win was just around the corner.

    “Man, it feels so good. Gosh, I don’t have to worry about the whole Playoffs thing anymore. We’re in! God, it just feels really good.”

    With no serious threat from the outside line to contend with in the closing laps, Logano held off Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch during the 18-lap run to the finish to score his 19th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in 337 starts.

    Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Harvick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the Top-five.

    “We just needed the assistance from behind,” Busch said. “The 17 car was strong. All the Fords were great today. I was hoping he would get to us on the back straightaway so we could go on offense on the front to go win it but it just didn’t materialize. I wanted to stay with Harvick, my teammate, and navigate around the 22 but everyone behind kind of broke off and was racing too hard and nobody got that big head of steam to try to push through and break apart the 22’s lead.”

    “I thought our NAPA Chevy was good,” Elliott said. “It wasn’t, I don’t think, as fast as we’ve been previously at the restrictor plate tracks, but I feel like it was a solid car. I got to the end and those guys around me were working together so much. I thought for sure one of them wanted to win a little worse than what they did. They were being very patient with one another and I was surprised by that. If it was me, I feel like I would have wanted to try or do something. Those guys weren’t having it. I was trying to move forward and make a lane and push and they were not interested in advancing. So, it could have been a lot worse, so we’ll move on to Dover.”

    “We had a really good Bush Ford,” Harvick said. “We got the handling a lot better there after the first run of the race when it was pushing really bad and loose in the corners and through the tri-oval. They did a good job adjusting the car. The 41 pulled out sooner than I thought he would there and we wound up getting hung out. All in all it was a really good day. I am happy to finish the race. It is a good day for the guys. We can tweak on one finally rather than having to rebuild one.”

    “I just wasn’t sure what to do there,” Stenhouse said. “I knew the 9 was going to try to get by us and we are all trying to get a win there. The 22 was in a great position. When we got two-wide behind him it didn’t slow him down much. We weren’t ever really gaining on him. It was a lot of fun out there today. I made a few mistakes on pit road and we caught some good cautions to keep us on the lead lap. I thought the racing was good. The cars were super tough to drive. They were sliding around everywhere which was fun. I think that made for a good race throughout the runs and the stages and the different strategies that we had. All in all it was a fun weekend and I had fun on the boulevard with all the fans. I appreciate all of them coming out. I really wanted to win on Dale Sr.’s birthday. That would have been really cool.”

    David Ragan, Aric Almirola, Alex Bowman, Ryan Newman and Daniel Suarez rounded out the Top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Kevin Harvick led the field to the green flag at 2:26 p.m. As was the case in the previous day’s XFINITY Grand National Series race, the lead cars merged into a single-file line (but on the bottom in today’s race). Harvick and the Fords (and Martin Truex Jr.) broke up the single-file train when they pitted on Lap 13, and handed the lead to Alex Bowman. He and the four-car, eventually 14-car, lead pack held a lead of over 30 seconds, over the, at one point, 15-car peloton (main group). Darrell Wallace Jr. acquired the lead from him on Lap 39. He and the Chevrolets pitted on Lap 43, and the lead cycled to Brad Keselowski, who drove on to win the first stage.

    Back to green on Lap 61, Brad Keselowski fell to the bottom line to be in front of teammate Joey Logano, which allowed William Byron and the outside line to advance past him to take the lead on Lap 62. Keselowski got pushed past Byron and back to the lead the following lap. He and the Fords, along with Daniel Suarez, pitted on Lap 67, followed by the Toyotas and most of the Chevrolets the next lap. The lead cycled to Matt DiBenedetto.

    A multi-car wreck on the backstretch brought out the caution on Lap 71. DiBenedetto pitted under the caution, handing the lead to Joey Logano.

    The race restarted on Lap 78. As Jimmie Johnson pulled the outside line up to the front, Denny Hamlin jumped in front. Then on the 97, he went to pass Logano on the outside going into Turn 1. Logano threw the block, but Hamlin dove to the open space on the bottom, and took the lead. Hamlin held court on the high side for five laps, but jumped to the bottom when Kurt Busch pulled the inside line back up. Paul Menard took up the reigns of the top line and ran side-by-side with Hamlin for the lead for three laps (starting on Lap 104), before pulling ahead, with the Penske Fords in tow, and winning the second stage.

    Byron exited pit road with the race lead and led the field back to green with 72 laps to go. Harvick didn’t get going on the restart and the outside lane fell back to fifth. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. jumped to the outside to takeover the top line, but kicked Harvick out of line in the process. With 65 to go, Kurt Busch jumped to the high side and powered by Byron exiting Turn 2 to take the lead, just edging out Byron at the line, with 63 to go. Ryan Blaney made contact with Byron going into Turn 1, killing the momentum of the bottom line. With 60 to go, the entire field was in a single-file line against the wall.

    Debris on the frontstretch brought out the caution with 60 to go. Stenhouse took fuel only and exited the pits with the lead.

    Back to green with 55 to go, Stenhouse powered ahead of Hamlin exiting Turn 2. He tried to throw the block on Suarez, but got himself kicked out of line, handing the lead back to Hamlin. Logano jumped to the high-side to try and pass Hamlin with 51 to go. When Keselowski jumped up to join him up high, they powered by Hamlin exiting Turn 4 and Logano took the lead with 49 to go. Keselowski got under his teammate to fight for the lead, but it ended with 43 to go when the Fords and Hamlin pitted. The rest pitted the following lap, and the lead cycled back to Logano.

    During that cycle, Hamlin served a pass through for speeding, and a stop and go penalty for speeding during his pass through.

    Caution flew with 32 to go for Timmy Hill blowing his engine in Turn 4.

    The race restarted with 29 to go.

    A 14-car wreck in Turn 4 brought out the caution with 23 to go, setting up the run to the finish.

    Back to green with 18 to go, the outside line faded quickly. With 12 to go, it regained momentum enough that Chase Elliott jumped to the high side and pulled the line up to fifth. With 10 to go, Stenhouse jumped to the high line, but Elliott juked to the bottom, and Stenhouse followed suit. Two laps later, the leaders merged into the bottom lane. Aric Almirola tried frantically to reform the outside line, but he couldn’t pull the field up to Logano, who held off Harvick and Kurt Busch’s attempt to break out of line to pass him and score the victory.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted three hours, 16minutes and 47 seconds, at an average speed of 152.489 mph. There were 25 lead changes among 16 different drivers, and six cautions for 29 laps.

    Kyle Busch leaves Talladega with a 30-point lead over Logano.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/C1810_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

  • Sadler rallies from penalty to claim Dash 4 Cash at Talladega

    Sadler rallies from penalty to claim Dash 4 Cash at Talladega

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — If you went by Elliott Sadler’s post-race photo op after he collected $100,000 in the NASCAR XFINITY Grand National Series Dash 4 Cash, you’d think it was just a run of the mill afternoon. What the race results don’t tell you, however, was that he rallied from a speeding penalty that put him a lap down to finish fifth.

    “That’s an up and down day, for sure,” Sadler said. “We came from the back to fourth in five laps. We won the second stage. Then when the No. 42 (John Hunter Nemechek) wrecked when we went to pit under green, I sped up to avoid him clipping us. Obviously it costed us and we lost a lap from the penalty. My team never gave up and we came back to get another top-five finish and win the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash for a second week in a row. We have the OneMain Financial 200 next weekend and we’ll do all we can to win the $100,000 prize there too.”

    For most of the Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway, it was a run of the mill event for Sadler. He started the day second and rode there for most of the first stage. Coming to the line to start the final lap of the stage, Sadler broke out of line to make his move on race leader Daniel Hemric, but nobody went with him and he finished the stage in eighth.

    Elliott Sadler leads Ryan Reed and Spencer Gallagher, coming to the conclusion of the second stage of the NASCAR XFINITY Grand National Series Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway. Photo: Stephanie McLaughlin/SpeedwayMedia.com

    After a five-car wreck on the backstretch brought out the caution on Lap 31, he opted not to pit and assumed the race lead, which he held for the remainder of the second stage. He exited the pits second, but took it back on the restart on Lap 57.

    As Sadler slowed down on the apron to enter pit road, John Hunter Nemechek out-braked and shot right past him, running over an area covered in water and spinning out. Sadler sped up to avoid hitting Nemechek and slowed down as he traveled down pit road, as NASCAR rules state you’re required to do if you must use pit road to avoid an accident. But because he pitted for service, which NASCAR has stated that you can’t do if forced to use pit road to avoid an accident, NASCAR posted him for speeding.

    TALLADEGA, Ala. – APRIL 28: Elliott Sadler, driver of the #1 OneMain Financial Chevrolet, celebrates winning the Dash 4 Cash after the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 28, 2018 in Talladega, Alabama. Photo: Josh Hedges/Getty Images

    Sadler fell to 34th in the running order, and worked his way to 20th when Hemric’s shredded tire and wall hit in the tri-oval brought out the caution with seven laps to go. He took the wave-around to get back on the lead lap, and car after car running out of fuel bumped him up to 14th on the final restart. It allowed him to bump-draft with teammate Justin Allgaier up to a fifth-place finish, past Christopher Bell to claim the Dash 4 Cash at Talladega.

    “Coming down to the end, I knew the 22 (Austin Cindric) was gonna restart second, and the 20 (Bell) was behind him. So I knew I was racing both of those guys, but the 22 had damage. So I’m thinking in my head ‘I either need to get to the third lane or the first lane, as quick as I can, not in the same lane that they’re in.’ Then the 22 ran out of gas. Then I knew it was just the 20. And I was trying to get the third lane going, because I thought the 20 was in the middle. Then Justin (Allgaier) made a great move to the middle. Then the 20 moved to the top, and kind of opened up the middle. So I went with Justin. So I was just racing the 20 there at the end. So when we got by them, I just stayed behind Justin and kept bumping him, bumping him, going ‘Man, wherever we finish, we finish, but I don’t need to fan out here and create a distraction and then the 20 come back and beat us, because I knew we couldn’t win the race at that point, off of (Turn) 4. So you’re very aware, I am at least, of who I’m racing and where they’re at, especially at Talladega.”

    Sadler leaves Talladega with a 40-point lead over teammate Tyler Reddick.

  • Gallagher steals victory on final lap at Talladega

    Gallagher steals victory on final lap at Talladega

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Spencer Gallagher wasn’t one of the primary contenders all day. He didn’t win a stage, nor did he lead more than one lap. But that one lap was the one that mattered, when all was said and done.

    “This is a day that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Today was the culmination of what we at GMS Racing have worked for for years. We brought an incredible race car to the track. These guys put it together amazingly well, between GMS Racing and GMS Fab. We had very good speed all day here, and anybody who knows what they’re talking about will tell you that’s going to be a big deciding factor coming down to the end at a place like this. We had a good starting spot (on the restart). I think everybody kind of got pre-occupied with trying to side-draft each other up high, going into (Turn) 3 there. And if y’all are going to leave half a race track, I’m going to take it. Thank you very much! So then when we got side-by-side, I just knew I had to get clear of Tyler (Reddick) going into Turn 1. That was going to decide the race. I was able to stay close to him, getting in. Give him a good side-draft, breakaway from him, get a little momentum, get myself clear. From there, it’s block until you either get wrecked or see the checkers. And fortunately, we found the latter option.”

    As the field was coming to take the green flag in overtime, race leader Austin Cindric, who had inherited the lead a lap prior when Justin Allgaier’s car sputtered in Turn 1 with a lack of fuel, sputtered in the tri-oval with a lack of fuel. Tyler Reddick, who would’ve restarted on the bottom of Cindric, led the field to the green.

    Gallagher got to his inside coming down the backstretch, side-drafted him to get alongside and pass Reddick to score his first career NASCAR XFINITY Grand National Series victory.

    Brandon Jones, Allgaier, Noah Gragson and Elliott Sadler rounded out the Top-five.

    Ryan Sieg, John Hunter Nemechek, Reddick, Cole Custer and Garrett Smithley.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Daniel Hemric led the field to the green at 3:27 p.m. He led the stage from start to finish. Sadler broke out of line coming to the final lap of the first stage, but few others did, allowing Hemric to win the stage with ease.

    Back to green on Lap 31, it didn’t stay as such the whole second stage. Caution flew two laps later for a two-car wreck on the backstretch.

    Restarting on Lap 42, Ryan Reed drove past Hemric on the outside, down the backstretch to take the lead. Elliott Sadler left Hemric out to dry exiting Turn 4 to take second. And on the next lap, he took the race lead and won the second stage.

    The race restarted on Lap 57. Sadler and most of the lead cars pitted with 38 laps to go. John Hunter Nemechek tried to out-brake him onto pit road, but spun out after running over water and wound up in the grass. He got the car going and the race stayed green. Sadler sped up to avoid hitting Nemechek, and was forced to serve a pass through penalty for speeding.

    Justin Allgaier, who didn’t pit during this cycle, assumed the race lead. As Reddick in ninth, the first car in the running order who pitted under the final cycle, ran nearly a lap behind, Allgaier stayed in the line of a group of lapped cars. Hemric hit the wall in the tri-oval with seven to go, setting up the run to the finish.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours, 17 minutes and 44 seconds, at an average speed of 133.258 mph. There were 12 lead changes among 11 different drivers, and five cautions for 29 laps.

    Sadler leaves Talladega with a 40-point lead over Reddick.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/N1809_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

  • Harvick Takes Pole Position at Talladega

    Harvick Takes Pole Position at Talladega

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — A part failure by his teammate almost ruined the day for Kevin Harvick. But when he went back out, he topped the chart. When he pulled his car into victory lane to celebrate winning the Busch Pole Award, he was hugging crew chief Rodney Childers like he’d just won the race.

    “It’s just a huge credit to the team and Roush-Yates Engines, and everybody who works on all the super-speedway stuff to make it what it is. Made some huge improvements.”

    Harvick earned his 22nd career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole with a final round lap of 49.247 seconds and 194.448 mph.

    His first run cut short when he ran over debris left by teammate Aric Almirola, who’d spun out after a piece of the left-rear end broke in Turn 1. Further inspection revealed the debris punctured his left-rear tire.

    But NASCAR gave him a new left-rear tire (which is allowed, at their discretion) and he turned the fastest lap in the first round, at 49.291 and 194.275 mph.

    Kurt Busch will start second, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott in the Top-five.

    “I have never been on the pole for a plate race,” Busch said, “and I wanted to check that off the list. Thank you, Doug Yates. We wouldn’t be in this position if we didn’t have great horsepower. That is the fun part of our qualifying, showcasing the talent of the engine builder and the way these guys build the aero package. To have two Stewart-Haas cars on the front row is great. We would have loved to gotten the pole but outside pole is great and I am proud of our Monster Energy Ford.”

    Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski round out the Top-10 starters.

    Alex Bowman and David Ragan round out the 12 drivers that made the final round.

    Forty cars will start tomorrow’s race.

    Nobody failed to make the event.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/C1810_STARTROW.pdf”]

  • McMurray Barrel Rolls and Tops Chart in Final Practice

    McMurray Barrel Rolls and Tops Chart in Final Practice

    *THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED TO NOTE THAT NASCAR HAS CHANGED THE SIZE OF THE RESTRICTOR PLATES IN THE CUP CARS THIS WEEKEND, FOLLOWING JAMIE MCMURRAY’S WRECK.

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Outside the infield care center at Talladega Superspeedway, Jamie McMurray stood by the guard rails and watched a replay of the backstretch barrel roll that sent him to the care center.

    “I think that we blew a left-rear tire. I don’t know. That’s what it sounded like. I heard the tire start to come apart, and you’re kind of along for the ride. The car, I think it turned to the right and then kind of back to the left. Obviously, I was in the front of that draft. Once it starts rolling, you don’t have any control. You can’t tell what’s up and what’s down. You’re spinning so fast. I was just thankful. Honestly, the whole time it’s flipping, I was like ‘Just please land the right way up so I can get out.’ You just never know if there’s going to be a fire. We literally had only run like four or five laps. You know you have a full tank of fuel. To get out upside-down, I’ve never done that. But it’s a challenge when you watch guys try to do that. So I was thankful that the car landed on all four.”

    McMurray had only completed five laps in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, when he suffered a left-rear tire failure, spun-out and got airborne. Compounding the matter, Ryan Newman t-boned him just as he was getting airborne, sending him rolling right over the front of Newman’s car and landing on the hood of his car.

    McMurray rolled over two and a half times before the catch fence stopped him, accelerating his roll down the apron until he came to a halt.

    Along with Newman, Ty Dillon and Daniel Suarez collected damage.

    McMurray’s barrel roll wreck prompted NASCAR to reduce the size of the restrictor plates in the Cup cars this weekend from 7/8th’s of an inch to 55/64th’s of an inch.

    Ironically, McMurray ended the session at the top of the chart, with a time of 46.947 and a speed of 203.975 mph.

    Dillon, Suarez, Erik Jones and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the Top-five.

    First practice results

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/C1810_PRACFINAL.pdf”]