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Race Central NASCAR Cup Series news and information

Harvick Staying at Stewart-Haas Racing

CONCORD, N.C. — In case you missed it, Kevin Harvick is staying put with Tony Stewart.

Thursday, Stewart-Haas Racing announced that the driver of the No. 4 SHR Chevrolet was signed to a long-term extension. This put an end to rumors that Harvick might leave the team at the end of the season when his contract expired.

“When you have talented people who consistently deliver results, you hold on to them,” Gene Haas, team co-owner, said. “Kevin Harvick is an exceptional talent and we’re very proud to have him a part of Stewart-Haas Racing for years to come.”

Harvick joined SHR in 2014 after spending the past 13 years with Richard Childress Racing. In his first season with the team, he won five races on his way to claiming the Sprint Cup Series championship. Last season, Harvick tied Bobby Allison for the most runner-up finishes in the modern era of NASCAR at 13 and finished runner-up in the championship to Kyle Busch.

To date, Harvick has amassed nine wins, 42 top fives and 57 top-10s in 84 races with SHR.

“It was a big decision to join Stewart-Haas Racing and it has turned out to be my best decision,” said Harvick. “I came to Stewart-Haas Racing to win championships. We have one, but that only made us hungry for more. I’m very happy to have my future secure with a team so dedicated to winning.”

He currently sits first in points heading into Charlotte.

May 20, 2016
NASCAR Racing Schedule Charlotte All-Star Week

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series will compete at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend. The XFINITY Series is off. Please check below for the complete schedule of events.

All times are Eastern.

Thursday, May 19:

On Track:
12:30-1:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Practice (canceled due to rain)
2:30-3:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Second Practice (canceled due to rain)
4:30-5:55 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Final Practice – FS1 (Time moved due to rain – Results)

Press Conferences: (Watch live)
11:15 a.m.: Christopher Bell
11:30 a.m.: Daniel Hemric
11:45 a.m.: Cole Custer

Friday, May 20:

On Track:
1:30-2:55 p.m.: Sprint Showdown Final Practice (Sprint Showdown Qualifying) – FS1 (canceled)
3-4:40 p.m.: Sprint Cup All-Star Race Final Practice – FS1 (postponed to Saturday)
5:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FS1 (canceled — starting lineup)
7:15 p.m.: Sprint Showdown (20 laps, 20 laps, 10 laps) – FS1 (postponed to Saturday)
8:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series – NC Education Lottery 200 (134 laps, 201 miles) – FS1 (postponed to Saturday)

Garage Cam: (Watch live)
2:30 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (canceled)

Press Conferences: (Watch live)
11 a.m.: Dusenberry Martin Racing announcement with Carl Edwards
11:30 a.m.: Matt Kenseth
12:45 p.m.: Ryan Blaney
1:15 p.m.: Kevin Harvick

Saturday, May 21: (Updated due to rain on Friday)

On Track:
9:30-10:30 a.m.: Sprint All-Star Race practice – FS1
10:05-10:15 a.m.: Sprint All-Star Race Pit Road Speed Practice – FS1
11 a.m.: Sprint Showdown (20 laps, 20 laps, 10 laps) – FS1
12:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series NC Education Lottery 200 (134 laps, 201 miles) – FS1
7:10 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying (three laps with pit stop) – FS1
9 p.m.: Sprint All-Star Race (50 laps, 50 laps, 13 laps) -FS1

Press Conferences: (Watch live)
10:15 p.m.: Post-Sprint Cup Series race (time approx.)

Race Notes:

Greg Olsen, tight end for the Carolina Panthers, will drive the pace car for the All-Star Race Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Pre All-Star Race:

8:49:p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star Race, Driver & Crew Intros
9:10 p.m.: Presentation of Colors by 14th Weather Squadron, US Air Force, Asheville, North Carolina
9:10-9:20 p.m.: Invocation by Joe Gibbs
9:11: p.m.: National Anthem by Caleb Johnson
9:12 p.m.: Fly-by TOT: Team Aerodynamix (Turn 4 to Turn 1)
9:17 p.m. (approx.): “Drivers, Start Your Engines” by Tony Stewart (Done from inside his car)
9:26:p.m. (approx.): Start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star Race

Additional Info:

Complete NASCAR TV Schedule

May 18, 2016
Kenseth Wins Thriller At Dover, Tames A Wild Monster

Experience trumped exuberance on Sunday as 44-year-old Matt Kenseth was able to hold off youngsters Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott to win the Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway.

It was the Wisconsin veteran’s 37th series career victory and his third at Dover. It came after an amazing 30 lap duel between the three drivers that ended with Larson coming close but leaving with no cigar.

“We had a good car today. I thought we were competitive and there were a few guys at different parts of the race that were a little bit better and Kyle (Larson) gave me all I wanted at the end, and then some. We were fortunate to be able to hold him off.” Kenseth said.

“I was trying to do all I could do to get by him (Kenseth) without getting into him,” said Larson. “I probably could have bumped him a little bit there in the middle of (Turns) 1 and 2, but it was a lot of fun racing with Matt, there. I was just trying to be patient. I knew I was better than he was. I was probably just a little too patient there, but I’m really proud of everybody on this team.”

Larson and Elliott finished second and third, respectively, behind Kenseth, and both drivers are still hunting for their first Sprint Cup Series victory.

“I don’t know that it gets a whole lot better than that as far as a race to the finish. I’m definitely proud to be a part of it. Unfortunately we couldn’t be on the good end of it, but proud of our effort today,” Elliott said.

The battle was set up after an 18 car pileup on the restart on lap 356 as leader Jimmie Johnson couldn’t get the car into gear. Several drivers including Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Greg Biffle were caught up and could not continue their race. Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, and Johnson himself were able to continue but were no longer competitive and went laps down.

On the ensuing restart, Carl Edwards went low on Larson on the backstretch and hit the SAFER Barrier wall head-on. Edwards was later released from the infield care center.

“I was trying to give Kurt (Busch) a little room, it looked like he got choked up and as I looked at the replay it looked like I moved down a little and (Kyle) Larson got underneath me. I don’t think he meant to do it, but it surprised me. I didn’t know he was that close. We’ll just chalk it up to racing,” Edwards said.

Tony Stewart also had a problem in the final 100 laps, as his suspension failed on him setting up the bad restart. Martin Truex Jr., for the second straight week, experienced a heartbreaking loss. Truex led 47 laps and was leading with just 52 laps to go before getting caught up and receiving damage in the 18 car wreck. Finally, Kevin Harvick led the 116 of the first 120 laps before fading and only leading one other lap due to slow pit stops leaving him in traffic on restarts.

Full Results for the AAA 400 Drive For Autism
1^st Matt Kenseth
2^nd Kyle Larson
3^rd Chase Elliott
4^th Kasey Khane
5^th Kurt Busch
6^th Brad Keselowski
7^th Denny Hamlin
8^th Ryan Blaney
9^th Martin Truex Jr.
10^th Trevor Bayne
11^th Paul Menard
12^th Clint Bowyer
13^th Danica Patrick
14^th Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
15^th Kevin Harvick
16^th Ryan Newman
17^th David Ragan
18^th Chris Buescher
19^th Landon Cassill
20^th Michael McDowell
21^st Jamie McMurray
22^nd Joey Logano
23^rd A.J. Allmendinger
24^th Brian Scott
25^th Jimmie Johnson
26^th Casey Mears
27^th Cole Whitt
28^th Carl Edwards
29^th Greg Biffle
30^th Kyle Busch
31^st Aric Almirola
32^nd Dale Earnhardt Jr.
33^rd Austin Dillon
34^th Tony Stewart
35^th Jeffrey Earnhardt
36^th Josh Wise
37^th Michael Annett
38^th Reed Sorenson
39^th Reagan Smith
40^th Matt DiBenedetto

Chase Grid
1^st Kyle Busch (Three wins)
2^nd Carl Edwards (Two wins)
3^rd Jimmie Johnson (Two wins)
4^th Brad Keselowski (Two wins)
5^th Kevin Harvick (One win)
6^th Matt Kenseth (One win)
7^th Denny Hamlin (One win)

May 15, 2016
Monsoon Mile: Qualifying Rained Out For The Sprint Cup Series At Dover

Kevin Harvick will start Sunday’s Sprint Cup race on the pole after qualifying was rained out at Dover International Speedway on Friday.

The field for Sunday’s race, as per the NASCAR rule book, was determined by the most recent practice session. Harvick was the fastest on Friday’s lone Sprint Cup practice session and will thus start on pole. Fellow Chevrolet driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. will begin the race opposite Harvick on the front row. Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top five.

Harvick returns to Dover for the first time since his dominating victory last fall. Going into the day all but needing to win to advance to the next round of the Chase, Harvick responded by leading 355 laps in route to a dominant first win at the “Monster Mile”. He also enters this race as the Sprint Cup Series points leader, with nine top 10s in the first 11 races this season.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. comes into Sunday riding a streak of eight straight top twenties at Dover but only one win 15 years ago. Earnhardt Jr. currently sits ninth in Sprint Cup Series points, ridding off the strength of three second place finishes.

Practice was also marked by a massive wreck between Danica Patrick, Tony Stewart, and Jamie McMurray. Something broke on Patrick’s car while exiting turn 4 and she spun down the front stretch while the rear of her Chevrolet caught on fire. Stewart slammed the outside wall before getting caught in Patrick’s leaked oil and smacked the inside wall hard. Meanwhile McMurray also hit the wall hard but was able to avoid the oil. All three hit walls that were not protected by SAFER barriers. All three drivers were checked and released from the media center, but the session was delayed for half an hour for repairs.

Full starting lineup for the AAA 400 Drive For Autism at Dover International Speedway:
1^st Kevin Harvick
2^nd Dale Earnhardt Jr.
3^rd Kyle Busch
4^th Carl Edwards
5^th Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
6^thDenny Hamlin
7^th Martin Truex Jr.
8^th Ryan Newman
9^th Kurt Busch
10^th Matt Kenseth
11^th Kasey Kahne
12^th Austin Dillon
13^th Chase Elliott
14^th Brad Keselowski
15^th Aric Almirola
16^th Greg Biffle
17^th Brian Scott
18^th Ryan Blaney
19^th Paul Menard
20^th AJ Allmendinger
21^st Jimmie Johnson
22^nd Joey Logano
23^rd Kyle Larson
24^th Jamie McMurray
25^th Trevor Bayne
26^th Casey Mears
27^th David Ragan
28^th Michael McDowell
29^th Matt DiBenedetto
30^th Chris Buescher
31^st Danica Patrick
32^nd Clint Bowyer
33^rd Regan Smith
34^th Tony Stewart
35^th Landon Cassill
36^th Cole Whitt
37^th Michael Annett
38^th Reed Sorenson
39^th Jeffrey Earnhardt
40^th Josh Wise

Although McMurray, Patrick, and Stewart will be going to back-up cars, they will not go to the back as NASCAR rules dictate a team can go to a back-up car as long as they switch before qualifying.

May 13, 2016
NASCAR Racing Schedule for Dover

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, XFINITY Series and the Camping World Truck Series travel to Dover International Speedway this weekend. Please check below for the complete schedule of events.

All times are Eastern.

Thursday, May 12:

On Track:
2-2:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Practice
4-4:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice

Friday, May, 13:

On Track:
10-10:55 a.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – FS1
11 a.m.-12:20 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Practice – FS1
12:30-1:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – FS1
2:15 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
3:45 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
5:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series JACOB Companies 200 (200 laps, 200 miles) – FS1

Garage Cam: (Watch live)
10:30 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series

Press Conferences: (Watch live)
8:45 a.m.: Brendan Gaughan
9:00 a.m.: Joey Logano
9:15 a.m.: Ty Dillon
9:30 a.m.: Martin Truex Jr.
12:45 p.m.: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
1:15 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson
5 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Post-Qualifying
7:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Post-Race (time approx)

Saturday, May 14:

On Track:
9:30 -10:25 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series Second Practice – FS1
10:45 a.m.: XFINITY Series Qualifying – FS1
12:30-1:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice – FS2
2 p.m.: XFINITY Series Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200 Heat #1 (40 laps, 40 miles) – FOX
2:50 p.m. (approx): XFINITY Series Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200 Heat #2 (40 laps, 40 miles) – FOX
3:30 p.m. (approx): XFINITY Series Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200 main race (120 laps, 120 miles) – FOX

Press Conferences: (Watch live)
4:30 p.m.: XFINITY Post-Race (time approx)

Sunday, May 15:

On Track:
1 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 Drive for Autism (400 laps, 400 miles) – FS1

Press Conferences: (Watch live)
4:30 p.m.: Sprint Cup Post-Race (time approx)

Additional Info:

Complete NASCAR TV Schedule

Special NASCAR Programming:

“NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed” – Sunday, May 15 at 9 p.m. ET on CMT

May 11, 2016
Contenders Taken Out in Late Race Wreck

Several strong cars were taken out of contention in a wreck in the closing stages of last night’s race.

A lap after the penultimate restart, Denny Hamlin threaded the needle going between Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson entering turn 3. This pulled the air off of the No. 2 Ford and sent Keselowski spinning. Likewise, doing so also sent Hamlin spinning. He got into the side of Larson and put him into the wall. Hamlin continued spinning and rear-ended the wall. Blinded by the enveloping smoke, Joey Logano t-boned the drivers side of the No. 11 Toyota.

“I had a huge run off of turn two and I was going to go low on the on 2 (Keselowski), but he went to block, so I went through the middle and I didn’t let off into turn three,” Hamlin said on what caused the accident. “I went through the middle of them and I either got touched from the 2 or I got loose underneath the 42 (Larson). I’m not sure really until I get a good look at it honestly.

“I was going in there three-wide. I wasn’t letting off and the 42 was just too close up there. It wasn’t his fault by any means, but we were both trying to drive in there to clear each other and I just got loose and I mean that’s crazy there was no contact, but both me and 2 (Brad Keselowski) got loose there. Shame – I just screwed us on pit road twice. Our car was a fast car today. Just didn’t show it. We were just in the back because I sped twice. I’ve got to get better on pit lane to give us a chance and then I was just going for it there because I knew our car had some speed. I was on two tires and the guys in front of me were on none or two. I was just going for it. I’ve got the win and that’s part of this format is going for it and that’s what we did.”

“I think everybody got a glimpse of just how important and how impactful the air is to the race cars,” Keselowski said speaking on the wreck. “We just all went down in the corner and the air spun us all out just with the positioning we had. It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.”

“It just looked like the 2 got loose and then the 11 got loose,” Logano said. “I was hoping the 11 would come down the hill and when you’re in the smoke you can’t see anything. I hit the wall, so I knew where that was and I just kept riding and riding and hoping the 11 would come down the hill because I couldn’t see and he stayed up there and I got him right in the door. It’s unfortunate. It’s just racing. Things happen sometimes.”

Keselowski brought his car home to a 10th-place finish while Larson finished 35th, Hamlin finished 37th and Logano finished 38th.

Keselowski leaves sixth in points, Logano leaves seventh, Hamlin leaves 13th and Larson leaves 21st.

May 8, 2016
Kyle Busch Bowls Winning Strike at Kansas

While the yellow brick road didn’t lead to the Emerald City tonight, it did lead Kyle Busch to victory lane in America’s heartland.

The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 69 laps and was up front when it counted to take the checkered flag in the GoBowling.com 400 at Kansas Speedway. It’s his 37th career victory in the Sprint Cup Series, his third of the season and his first at Kansas.

“This is pretty big – man, there’s been a lot of rough days here at Kansas, that’s for sure,” Busch said. “A lot of good ones too, but I just can’t say enough about this team and everyone on this M&M’s Camry, this thing was awesome tonight. At the beginning and middle part of the race we weren’t great, but Adam Stevens (crew chief) and the guys, they just kept working on it. The 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) was probably the fastest car, but we kept ourselves in the game. It was pretty impressive.”

Kevin Harvick finished second in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet while Kurt Busch rounded out the podium in his No. 41 SHR Chevrolet.

“For whatever reason I got tight, I hit a big piece of debris down there about six or seven laps into the run,” Harvick said of those final laps chasing down Kyle Busch. “From that point on I just got really tight…We overhauled this thing this morning to try to get it close. They did a great job.”

“We battled hard,” Busch said of his night. “I was trying to find all the different lines on the track to find speed. We did a lot of things good and to win you’ve got to be great. We are right there, we are knocking on the door, but thanks to Haas Automation, Monster Energy, Chevrolet, everybody at Stewart-Haas it’s a great second and third place finish. We always want to win and we have been doing really good with this Tony Gibson (crew chief) led team.”

Matt Kenseth led three laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 20 JGR Toyota.

“It’s our best finish of the year so that’s the bright side,” Kenseth said. “I’m sort of happy for Kyle (Busch) and Adam (Stevens, 18 crew chief), but seriously happy for everyone at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing). Martin (Truex Jr.) had them covered and I don’t know what happened to him in the pits or whatever. We were about a second to fourth-place car most of the day. I thought we were as good as the 18 (Busch) if we could have had the position, but it was tough to stick on that bottom. I tried something different there to try to lay back and get the pass, but once they were single file I couldn’t go get them. We were just a little off, but these guys had great pit stops and great adjustments and we seem to be getting closer.”

Ryan Blaney was the highest finishing rookie as he rounded out the top-five in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford.

“We started off the race really, really good, and I thought that’s when we were the strongest – when the sun was up and the track was a little bit hotter,” Blaney said. “We were really strong and then as the night came and it cooled off a little bit, we lost a little bit of speed. I felt like everyone kind of gained grip and got better and we lost a little bit. It took us a while to try to get that back. We got it closer towards the end there, but it was still a decent finish for us. We got some spots with that little accident, but we were up there all day. It was just a good day for us, a good night and something to build off of for sure.”

Austin Dillon finished sixth in his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Ryan Newman finished seventh in his No. 31 RCR Chevrolet followed by AJ Allmendinger who finished eighth in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet. Chase Elliott finished ninth in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-10 in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford.

“It was a long night,” Keselowski said. “We had so much long run speed, but weren’t where we wanted to be on the short runs, so we would kind of lose track position and then gain it back at the end. We kind of clawed our way up into that fifth to 10th range and stalled out there a couple times. With about 30 to go we made a great strategy call that got us up to fourth with fresh tires, and it looked like we were gonna have a shot to give Kyle a run for the race win and kind of got caught up there in turn three battling for second, so that kind of put us in the back. We drove back up to 10th in the last 20 laps from 17th or whatever, so it was up and down.”

Martin Truex Jr., who led race-high of 172 laps, had a loose wheel on his final stop and finished a disappointing 14th.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Truex said on the loose wheel. “Went around (turns) one and two and I was like, ‘Wheels loose.’ I kept telling myself that maybe it’s not me, maybe it’s just shaking because it has tape on it or something stupid. It was loose and I knew it right away. Frustrating, but that’s how it goes.”

The race lasted two hours, 49 minutes and 20 seconds at an average speed of 141.909 mph. There were 16 lead changes among 10 different drivers and six cautions for 30 laps.

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May 7, 2016
Martin Truex Jr. on the Pole for Kansas

Martin Truex Jr. will lead the field to the green flag for tomorrow’s race in America’s heartland.

The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota scored the pole for the GoBowling.com 400 at Kansas Speedway with a time of 28.284 and a speed of 190.921 mph. It’s his eighth career pole and first of 2016.

“Thought it was good,” Truex said of his qualifying run. “Feels good to be getting another pole – it’s been a long time. I think I’ve got a XFINITY Series pole here at Kansas back in about ’05, so it’s been a little while here at Kansas and it’s been a few years in the Cup Series altogether. We’ve been really close with our Furniture Row team the past few years. We’ve qualified second a handful of times and been just right there at it. We’ve led the first round. We’ve led the second round. We just haven’t quite figured out how to lead that third round, so today just really proud of everyone at Furniture Row Racing. Bass Pro Shops/ TRACKER Boats Toyota was really good all day long and just can’t say enough about my team and what we have going on right now. Our Toyotas are really fast. Everybody at TRD (Toyota Racing Development) is giving us great engines and just doing all the things it takes to have fast race cars and that’s what it takes to get poles. Excited to be here. Excited for all of our guys and Barney (Visser, team owner) and just everyone in general for all they do and hopefully we’ll be able to finish the deal here tomorrow night.”

Matt Kenseth will start second in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota after posting a time of 28.337 and a speed of 190.564 mph. Denny Hamlin will start third in his No. 11 JGR Toyota after posting a time of 28.361 and a speed of 190.402 mph. Kurt Busch will start fourth in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 28.401 and a speed of 190.134 mph.

“I told them to write down the driver needs to get (Turns) 3 and 4 done better so that our lap times can improve,” Busch said. “I felt like I overdrove Turn 3 and I could feel the engine bog down a little bit off of 4 just because I killed the speed, I killed the momentum of the car. I didn’t quite carry it smoothly through 3 and 4. One and 2 was alright, but all-in-all the Haas Automation/Monster Energy Chevy, it feels good to be the top Chevy.”

Brad Keselowski will round out the top-five starters in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford after posting a time of 28.435 and a speed of 189.907 mph.

Kyle Busch will start sixth in his No. 18 JGR Toyota. Ryan Blaney will start seventh in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford. Ryan Newman will start eighth in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

“Well, it was a decent run,” Newman said. “I’m okay with starting eighth. Track position is going to be important during the race. We’ve had a solid day and we have a good Grainger Chevy. I’m happy for my buddy, (Martin Truex, Jr.) even though he’s not the right brand, congrats to him.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will start ninth in his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

“That’s our goal in qualifying every week now, short track or mile-and-a-half, is to qualify in the top 10,” Stenhouse said. “We’re a little bit better at it at the mile-and-a-half for sure, but we had a little mishap there in the first round. I had to go out twice or I think we could have been a little higher in that final round. We got a little extra run on the tires there that first round, so that was a bummer.

“We did make some changes right before we switched to qualifying trim that I think made a good direction for our car and it actually ran faster and was a little bit better for us on the long run, so I’m excited to look at that and try to put all the pieces together and make the right adjustments for tomorrow night,” Stenhouse added.

Trevor Bayne will round out the top-10 starters in his No. 6 RFR Ford.

Paul Menard will start 11th in his No. 27 RCR Chevrolet. Carl Edwards will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying in his No. 19 JGR Toyota.

Forty cars were entered, so no driver was sent home.

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May 6, 2016
Dillon Gives Stewart a Top-10

TALLADEGA, Ala.– While Tony Stewart was the driver of record for starting the race, relief driver Ty Dillon drove the car to a top-10 finish at Talladega.

After switching out with Stewart under the first caution of the race, the relief driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing survived carnage to finish sixth in the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. It gave Stewart his first top-10 since the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway in October of 2014.

In what was unofficially his first Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega, Dillon described it as “just wild and crazy.”

“We had a really strong car,” Dillon said. “Fighting from behind, it’s hard to get it up front. I felt like if we could lead a pack at any point, we would have put ourselves up front. Early one, once I first got in the car, we drove right up to into the Top 10 really quick and we had some air on the nose and was able to go. The team built an awesome race car. I just kind of got mired back. I made some mistakes being my first time here racing. But we were able to dodge crashes and survive here, which is the big thing. We made some good moves at the end to get us into to the top six or seven.”

The decision for Stewart to get out of his car after starting the race at Talladega was done at the request of his doctors. Even still, the ever competitive “Smoke” wasn’t too thrilled with the prospect.

“It sucks, to be honest,” Stewart said. “I know why we got to do it, but it sucks. It still sucks that you have to do it but if I hadn’t broke my back at the end of January, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Stewart suffered a burst fracture of his L1 vertebrae in a dune buggy crash in the desert on January 31. The injury forced him to miss the first eight races of his retirement season. He returned last week to an 18th-place finish at Richmond International Raceway.

He added that this would be the “last time we have to do it and I am back in next week.”

Stewart leaves Talladega 38th in points 71 back of current 30th-place driver Matt DiBenedetto.

May 1, 2016
Brad Keselowski Endures Carnage to Win at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala.– As the field wrecked behind, Brad Keselowski was up front when it mattered and scored the victory at the Alabama roulette wheel.

The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford led 46 laps, the most of anyone, and survived a host of wrecks on his way to winning the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

“I didn’t have a great frame to see what happened to everyone else,” Keselowski said. “The guys at Team Penske gave me a great Miller Lite Ford and this Fusion was hauling it. One of the best tickets to stay out of the wrecks at Talladega is if you can stay up front, and you’ve got a great shot of not getting wrecked. But this No. 2. Daytona didn’t go the way we wanted it to go. We thought we were gonna be better than that, but we just didn’t show the speed in the 500 and the guys went to work and they brought me a really strong car here for Talladega. I’m so proud of everybody at Team Penske. To be back in Victory Lane with two wins this year, and we feel like we can get a lot more. We’re growing as a team. We made a lot of changes at Team Penske and this feels really good, really good.”

The victory was the 19th of his Sprint Cup Series career, second of 2016 and fourth at Talladega.

Kyle Busch led 12 laps on his way home second in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. He described what others were doing at the end of the race as “some moves that you made that were just lucky and just trying to get through some of the holes that were there and that were forming and guys bumping and banging each other, pushing all around and everything and trying to get the most out of what we had with our Skittles Camry,” Busch said. “You know, second’s not bad. I think the quota of three cars on their lids today is a little high, but it’s racing.”

Austin Dillon rounded out the podium in his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

“My car was actually probably dragging; the No. 1 (Jamie McMurray) could stick to my back bumper and he gave me a heck of a push all the way through (Turns) 3 and 4 and when he did that, I knew we were going to have a shot at it,” Dillon said. “But as soon as I pulled out, it was kind of a parachute but I had to make a shot at it. I wanted to have a shot at the win. If I would have pushed the No. 18 (Kyle Busch), he might have beaten the No. 2, I don’t know. But hat’s off to these guys. They fought so hard. We pitted 15 times, they said. That’s amazing. The car was killed, and to come home with a third place finish we’ve got to thank the good Lord above.”

Jamie McMurray finished fourth in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.

“I was really fortunate,” McMurray said. “I was only caught up in one of the wrecks. And I don’t know exactly what happened in the other two. Honestly, I don’t even know what happened in mine. I was so lucky that I got hit in the back and I spun to the bottom, but it didn’t tear-up the front-end. It didn’t tear the splitter up. And I don’t know that my car was faster afterwards, but it didn’t seem to hurt it any.”

Chase Elliott led 27 laps and was the highest finishing rookie as he rounded out the top-five in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. When asked about what stood out to him in his Cup debut at Talladega, he said, “trying to finish. You can’t have a good day unless you finish. Just trying to focus in on that. Obviously, it got a little wild. For us, we just tried to keep that in mind and make it to the end.”

Ty Dillon, subbing for Tony Stewart, finished sixth in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Clint Bowyer earned his second top-10 of the season with a seventh-place finish in his No. 15 HScott Motorsports Chevrolet. Kurt Busch was leading with two laps to go before getting shuffled back and finishing eighth in his No. 41 SHR Chevrolet. Ryan Blaney finished ninth in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford. Trevor Bayne led 22 laps on his way to rounding out the top-10 in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

The race lasted three hours, 34 minutes and 15 seconds at an average speed of 140.046 mph. There were 37 lead changes among 17 different drivers and 10 cautions for 41 laps.

Kevin Harvick leaves Talladega with a nine-point lead over Kyle Busch in the points standings.

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May 1, 2016