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Race Central NASCAR Cup Series news and information

  • Michigan native Brad Keselowski wins the pole for the Prue Michigan 400

    Michigan native Brad Keselowski wins the pole for the Prue Michigan 400

    BROOKLYN, Mich. (August 11, 2017) – Michigan native Brad Keselowski will lead the field to the green flag for the Pure Michigan 400 on August 13 after winning the pole with a speed of 203.097 mph. It marked his first pole in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at his hometown tack.

    Keselowski will be joined on the front row by Joey Logano, his teammate at Team Penske. Logano earned the second starting spot with speed of 203.063 mph, just six thousandths of a second behind Keselowski.

    Keselowski was happy with is qualifying efforts, especially since it is his hometown track.

    “It feels pretty good,” Keselowski said. “I’m not really known as a great qualifier, so maybe over time I’ve probably put a little less stock in qualifying, but I can tell you that when I saw that we were gonna win the pole those last few seconds of qualifying it put chills down my body. It’s a great feeling. It’s a special track for me to have any kind of success at. Those that have been in the media center long enough have probably heard me say this and I’ll say it again for those that haven’t, but any success you have at your home track is right there with having success in the biggest races of the year like Daytona for the 500 and the championship. It’s a big deal for any driver, not just myself. Of course, this is my home track and to be able to have any kind of success here just really feels so darn good and I just hope we can keep it up this weekend.”

    All 12 drivers in the final found posted a qualifying speed over 200.000 mph. Kevin Harvick will start third, Matt Kenseth rolls off fourth and Chase Elliott will start fifth. Elliott has finished second in each of the three Monster Energy Series starts at MIS.

    Fellow Michigan native Erik Jones will roll off eighth on Sunday. He was the top qualifying rookie.

    “It was a good effort for the 5-hour ENERGY Toyota, starting eighth on the outside so that hopefully bodes well for a strong day for us Sunday,” said Jones. “We’re going out there for a win so everything we do, all the calls we make, are going to be more aggressive. We have to take risks on the strategy side, I have to take risks on the race track just to put ourselves in position for a win. Obviously, track position is king here at Michigan so I’m just going to try to get out front and, hopefully, a great car and great strategy will get us that win.”

    In the first round of qualifying, Ryan Blaney posted the top speed of 201.686 mph. Speeds were fast as seven drivers topped 200.000 mph.

    The speeds only got faster in the second round, but once again it was Blaney leading the way. This time he had a speed of 203.120 mph. The top 19 finishers in round two all finished the round with a qualifying speed over 200.000 mph.

    The Pure Michigan 400 is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. on NBC Sports. Fans can get tickets at www.mispeedway.com or by phone at 800-354-1010.

    Retired University of Michigan head hockey coach Red Berenson will serve as the grand marshal for the Pure Michigan 400 on Sunday and give the command of “Start your engines!” Matthew Kiser, the Michigan State Police Trooper of the Year will serve as the honorary starter to wave the green flag.

    On Sunday, all the infield guests can stand on the backstretch to cheer on their favorite driver as they drive by just before the Pure Michigan 400. Fans are invited to exit the infield onto the backstretch at the M-50 and US-12 crossovers at 12:30 p.m. to find the perfect spot. The speedway staff will mark areas on the backstretch where the fans can stand to watch the parade lap. Please note fans cannot bring drinks or food onto the track.

    The parade lap will begin at the pre-race stage at the start/finish line on the frontstretch. The trucks will continue around the track and will get close to the fans on the backstretch. The parade lap will continue around turns three and four finishing back at the start/finish line.

    Fans can attend the Saturday concert in Turn 3 FREE with a Sunday admission ticket, MISCAMPING.com Infield or MISCAMPING.com APEX wristband. ACM-nominated LOCASH and International Country Stars Thompson Square will perform on August 12. NASCAR’s favorite Tim Dugger will lead off the entertainment.

    Tickets for a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race start at $35. Race fans who purchase early will have the best prices and the best seats.

    Children 12 and under are free on Saturday. On Sunday, children 12 and under tickets start at $20. Children 12 and under can attend three days of NASCAR action for just $20, ensuring families a weekend of fun at affordable prices.

    Fans can also take advantage of any of our special offers. You can get a free round of golf from Treetops, free food or have a special meet and greet with either Brad Keselowski. Call 800-354-1010 or visit www.mispeedway.com to purchase today!

    Nestled in the lush Irish Hills of Southeastern Michigan, Michigan International Speedway is NASCAR’s fastest racetrack. It has been the love of NASCAR racing and the thrill of a great time for race fans and drivers alike for nearly 50 years.

  • Kenseth finishes runner-up at The Glen

    Kenseth finishes runner-up at The Glen

    Matt Kenseth maintained his thin lead for the cutoff spot in the playoffs with a season-best second-place finish in the I Love New York 355 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International.

    Kenseth started the day from 15th and worked his way up to ninth. He short-pitted the end of the first stage and finished 24th when the stage concluded.

    He moved up the running order when those who didn’t short-pit the stage hit pit road under the stage break and drove to a third-place finish in the second stage.

    Kenseth didn’t pit under this caution, but did so when Landon Cassill’s car left a tire carcass on the race track on Lap 51. While pitting when he did left him possibly two to three laps short of making it to the end on fuel, the veteran Kenseth conserved just enough to not only make it to the end, but be in position to win.

    With two laps remaining, Martin Truex Jr. took over the race lead on a questionable fuel load, and Kenseth was in hot pursuit. Truex almost fumbled the lead twice on the final lap, with a botched entry of the inner-loop and locking up the brakes entering Turn 10. It allowed Kenseth to inch closer and closer, but he couldn’t get to Truex and settled for second.

    “Well, that last run after we pitted, we knew we were a little bit short, a few laps short,” Kenseth said. “You know, Martin had a really fast car and deserved to win the race. You know, and we started saving early in that run, just tried to manage the gap. I felt pretty good about our fuel savings and how much we saved. Of course I never really know, I just go by what Jason (Ratcliff) and them tell me. But I felt pretty good about where we were on fuel, but I think Martin had such a big lead, he was able to just kind of slow up as much as I did and make sure he had enough speed just to stay in front of me. It was kind of funny, them last three laps we were both saving pretty hard, and then Jason told me we were good with one to go, and so I stood on it and he stood on it, too. He even missed Turn 6 and tried to give it to me, but I couldn’t get close enough to take advantage.”

    Kenseth leaves with a 28-point lead over Clint Bowyer for the final playoff spot.

  • Truex stretches fuel to win at The Glen

    Truex stretches fuel to win at The Glen

    Martin Truex Jr. played the fuel game correctly in the closing laps of the I Love New York 355 at The Glen to win at Watkins Glen International.

    When caution flew for the final time on Lap 51, Truex opted to pit under the caution, while Brad Keselowski, who had last pitted on Lap 43, stayed out and inherited the lead.

    Truex reeled him in and applied pressure for a few laps, before Keselowski pulled aside and let Truex pass him going into Turn 11 on Lap 64.

    Truex and others who pitted under the Lap 51 caution were told they were two to three laps short of making the finish, while Keselowski was told he’d be short six laps.

    While Truex was saving fuel, Keselowski ran him down and powered by his outside on the approach to the inner-loop with 14 laps to go to retake the lead. Unfortunately for Keselowski, he didn’t conserve enough and pitted with three to go, handing the lead to Ryan Blaney for a brief period, before he ran out on the backstretch and was passed by Truex.

    He botched his entry of the inner-loop on the final lap and locked up going into Turn 10, costing him some of his lead to Matt Kenseth. But all that, and running dry coming to the line, wasn’t enough to stop Truex from crossing the line to claim his 11th career victory in his 427th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start.

    “I can’t believe that,” Truex said. “Man, that’s so stressful, to just let guys go by for the lead. I’ve never had to do that before. But I guess I was trusting Cole (Pearn). He was telling me what to do. He knew, based on our lap times, how fast we were going and what we needed to do. So hats off to him (and) this whole team.

    “I’ve wanted to win here a long, long time. This is a special place. I think, back in the 90’s, watching my dad run here. Coming here as a kid and spending time in the garage, just walking around and wishing someday, I’ll race here, let alone win.

    “This is a big one for our team. This is a big one for Cole. He had a tough week. He lost his best friend. We’re really think about his family. Just proud of Cole and his perseverance and everything he does for this team. Barney (Visser) and everybody at home, thank you guys so much for letting me drive this thing.”

    Kenseth finished second and Daniel Suarez rounded out the podium.

    Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five.

    “Yeah, that’s that hard thing. When you have them there at arm’s reach you want to go for it. That’s the win that will put you into the Chase right there in front of you. But if you run out of gas that’s the dagger that will knock you out for good,” Bowyer said on the difficulty of saving fuel. “It’s the right thing. We just have to keep knocking on the door. Another top-five with our Five Star Urgent Care car. It’s a new sponsor on the car. Hopefully we can get them on board for another shot.”

    Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, A.J. Allmendinger and Erik Jones rounded out the top-10.

    “I stumbled down the back coming to two to go, so we wouldn’t have made it,” Blaney said. “It stinks. I wish I would have saved earlier like the 78 did. I pushed hard and thought we were better to go on gas than they were. They did a good job saving. I could have done better. If I would have started saving sooner I think we would have made it. you never know. I am pretty proud of the effort. We got up front at the beginning of the day and stayed there pretty much all day. I thought our strategy was right and we had a good race car. Things just didn’t work out for us. That is just the way it goes sometimes.”

    “Of course you always want more when you come here, at least I do. We had a tough weekend, and we fought hard,” Allmendinger said. “The car wasn’t very good on the first run, and we made some better changes. Got it better. Got it pretty competitive there. I just really struggled in traffic. I got behind Jimmie, and tore up the tires. Once I got by him it was actually not too bad. From there it was just fuel saving. Don’t really know how much you have. I tried to save, I felt like I saved a lot. Maybe a little too much. Overall it was a solid day for the Kroger Clicklist Chevy. Always want more here, but it was a tough weekend and we got everything we could.”

    RACE SUMMARY

    Even before the race started, Trevor Payne didn’t take the start after pitting twice during the pace laps. He joined the race 10 laps down.

    Kyle Busch led the field to the green flag at 3:21 p.m. He led all 20 laps of the first stage on his way to winning it. Chase Elliott, who was among a number of drivers who short-pitted the stage with three laps remaining in the stage, took over the race lead when Busch pitted. Busch came back down pit road for a lug nut that was stuck between the caliber and wheel.

    Elliott pitted from the lead on Lap 32. This handed the lead to Suarez, who drove on to win the second stage.

    Truex took the lead from Suarez exiting Turn 1 on the Lap 45 restart. On the same lap, Busch and Keselowski made contact in the inner-loop and went spinning, though the race stayed green.

    A tire carcass that came from Landon Cassill’s car brought out the third caution and set up the run to the finish.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours, seven minutes and three seconds, at an average speed of 104.132 mph. There were nine lead changes among six different drivers and three cautions for eight laps.

    Truex leaves with a 116-point lead over Busch.

    Elliott, McMurray and Kenseth leave as the bubble drivers who are above the playoff cutline.

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  • Winning at all active tracks easier said than done

    Winning at all active tracks easier said than done

    A grand total of 2,519 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races have been run since June 19, 1949, and only 189 individual drivers can say they’ve won a race. Not one of those drivers, however, can say he’s won at every active race track on the NASCAR schedule.

    Every driver, even the winningest one’s, has a track or more missing from his résumé that would complete the “cycle.” Richard Petty, the winningest driver in the history of NASCAR, failed to win at 30 of the 80 tracks he raced at in his career. “The Silver Fox” David Pearson, second with 105 wins, didn’t record a victory at 26 of 63 race tracks he ran.

    In the cases of Petty and Pearson, the goose eggs came at tracks they both ran few times in their respective careers. But in the case of Bobby Allison, who sits fourth on NASCAR’s all-time wins list at 84, he went his entire racing career, 44 starts, without ever winning a single race at Martinsville Speedway. Rusty Wallace went his entire career without winning at Darlington Raceway, Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

    The amount of drivers lacking wins at certain tracks in the early days of the sport isn’t surprising, given how fluid the Cup Series schedule was for years. When the new millennium arrived, the schedule became less fluid. And, thus, should increase the chances of a driver pulling off a career “cycle” of winning at every active track, right?

    In theory, yes. In practice, no.

    Even with three new track arrivals and one departure, and the addition of five-year sanctioning agreements that keep tracks on the schedule for at least a five-year period, only five drivers are within five or fewer tracks needed to complete a career “cycle.” Kevin Harvick is missing wins at Kentucky Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway, Matt Kenseth needs wins at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Martinsville, Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International, Kyle Busch just lacks a win at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Jimmie Johnson needs victories at Chicagoland Speedway, Kentucky and Watkins Glen. The other two are the retired drivers of Tony Stewart, who ended his career without wins at Kentucky and Darlington, and Jeff Gordon, failing only to win at Kentucky.

    Busch could accomplish this feat by this season if he wins the October 8 Bank of America 500 at Charlotte. Even Johnson says it’s “safe to say that Kyle is going to be the first” to do so, given his performance at Charlotte.

    “I’m so out of touch with stats that I felt like Jeff and Tony (Stewart) were the only guys kind of in that conversation and then last weekend I learned that Kyle is now down to one,” Johnson said. “And I’m like ‘Well, dang, there’s somebody else in the party here (laughter). And Kyle will get it.’ I can’t believe he hasn’t won at Charlotte already in a Cup car. It’s safe to say that Kyle is going to be the first one to close out all the tracks, I think, with the way he runs and how good he runs at that track. I still have here, Kentucky has been a disaster for me, Chicago I should have closed a long time ago. I think Kyle, if you’re a betting man, I’d put Kyle as closing out all the tracks first.”

  • Keselowski fastest in final practice

    Keselowski fastest in final practice

    Brad Keselowski topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Watkins Glen International.

    The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford was the fastest with a time of 1:10.067 and a speed of 125.880 mph. Kurt Busch was second in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a time of 1″10.077 and a speed of 125.862 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was third in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 1:10.224 and a speed of 125.598 mph. Clint Bowyer was fourth in his No. 14 SHR Ford with a time of 1:10.342 and a speed of 125.387 mph. Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 1:10.402 and a speed of 125.281 mph.

    Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray, Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-10.

    Hamlin posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 123.825 mph.

    Boris Said damaged his car when he drove his car through the grass in the interloop and the splitter dug into the ground.

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  • Kyle Busch fastest in first practice

    Kyle Busch fastest in first practice

    Kyle Busch topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Watkins Glen International.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest with a time of 1:10.270 and a speed of 125.516 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was second in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 1:10.675 and a speed of 124.797 mph. Denny Hamlin was third in his No. 11 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 1:10.817 and a speed of 124.546 mph. Jamie McMurray was fourth in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 1:10.829 and a speed of 124.525 mph. Erik Jones rounded out the top-five in his No. 77 Furniture Row Toyota with a time of 1:10.862 and a speed of 124.467 mph.

    Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Kasey Kahne and Michael McDowell rounded out the top-10.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Danica Patrick spun out during the session. Kurt Busch and Corey LaJoie both did so and sustained damage to their cars.

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  • Logano’s playoff chances dented by late penalties

    Logano’s playoff chances dented by late penalties

    Joey Logano’s ever-dwindling playoff hopes took a further hit yesterday with not one, but two pit road penalties in the closing laps of the Overton’s 400 at Pocono Raceway.

    He ducked onto pit road to make his final stop with 36 laps to go. The call then came from Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race Director David Hoots that Logano had to serve a pass through for speeding on pit entry.

    He came down two laps later to serve his pass through, locking up the brakes getting onto pit road. Logano’s team opted to change all four tires while he was serving his pass through, which is a no-no. As a result, he was issued a stop and go penalty for stopping to service his car while serving a penalty.

    “My bad,” crew chief Todd Gordon said on the radio afterwards.

    Logano rejoined the race in 27th, one lap down, which is where he finished.

    This race has been the tale of his season since scoring his encumbered victory at Richmond Raceway. Logano, who finished outside the top-10 only once in the first quarter of the season, has only posted three top-10 finishes since his win at Richmond.

    It also didn’t help that his performance was average at best, with a 17.7 average running position through the race.

    He leaves Pocono trailing Matt Kenseth by 69 points for the 16th-place cutoff in the playoffs.

  • Eight collected in first lap melee at Pocono

    Eight collected in first lap melee at Pocono

    Eight drivers were officially collected in the Lap 1 multi-car wreck in Turn 3 of the Overton’s 400 at Pocono Raceway.

    Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson were racing for position entering Turn 3 when Kenseth got loose and spun out in front of the field. This caused a stack-up behind him with Aric Almirola slamming into the back of Michael McDowell, sending him spinning through the grass. Same thing happened to Austin Dillon, being rammed from behind by teammate Paul Menard and sent spinning into the left-rear corner of Chris Buescher.

    Matt DiBenedetto swerved into the grass to avoid the mess, only to clip the front-end of Almirola, bounce up in the air and dig his splitter into the grass.

    Danica Patrick also got turned by the melee, but it’s not clear what caused her to spin.

    Unofficially, Almirola is credited with a last-place finish.

    And his response to what happened out there, “I have no idea.”

    “Our Smithfield Ford Fusion was really good to start off there. I had passed about seven cars the first two corners,” Almirola said. “I was making a lot of progress and then we got to Turn 3 and everybody just stacked up. I saw some smoke. I saw some cars stopped. I got piled in from behind and just drove into the accident. I haven’t seen a replay and have no idea what caused the wreck. Sort of a bummer not to even make a whole lap. Not our day.”

    Except for Almirola and DiBenedetto, everyone collected in the wreck continued on in the race. Kenseth was the highest finisher of the eight, which could do wonders to preserving his 17-point margin over Clint Bowyer for the final spot in the playoffs.

  • Kyle Busch puts chrome bumper to Harvick to win at Pocono

    Kyle Busch puts chrome bumper to Harvick to win at Pocono

    It appeared Kyle Busch was out of it when he pitted with 25 laps to go. With 16 to go, however, he put the chrome bumper to Kevin Harvick and set sail to victory in the Overton’s 400 at Pocono Raceway.

    Martin Truex Jr. commanded the race on the final restart on Lap 106. Cars started hitting pit road for the final time with 37 to go, and Truex followed suit three laps later. Busch assumed the race lead, having yet to pit. He did so with 25 to go.

    Brad Keselowski led the next five circuits before making his final stop, cycling the lead to Denny Hamlin.

    With 17 to go, Harvick got to Hamlin’s inside and made the pass for the lead rounding Turn 1, but he didn’t hold it to the start/finish line as Busch bumped him out of the racing groove rounding Turn 3 and took the lead with 16 to go.

    The gap from him to Harvick widened further as the laps closed and he drove across the line to claim his 39th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in 447 career starts.

    “I never thought this day would happen. Such an awesome race car. Adam Stevens and all these guys on this No. 18 team, they never give up. They’ve been fighting all year long. We’ve all been fighting all year long. Just wasn’t sure why, you know, or what was next, but obviously this is a great day for us. Great day for all of our fans. Appreciate the fans here at Pocono. Thanks for coming out. This is something I’ve been waiting for for a long, long time.”

    Harvick finished second and Truex rounded out the podium.

    Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five.

    Clint Bowyer, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, Matt Kenseth and Chase Elliott rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Busch led the field to the green flag at 3:20 p.m. He lost the lead during a cycle of green flag stops on Lap 22, but powered by Matt Kenseth going into Turn 1 to take it back and win the first stage. During the aforementioned pit cycle, Truex, Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kenseth all led.

    Kenseth regained the lead by opting not to pit under the stage break, only to lose it when Busch powered by him on the outside through Turn 3 on the Lap 56 restart. He held it until caution flew on Lap 70, debris from Kyle Larson’s car, saw him lose it to Hamlin exiting pit road. But because Hamlin didn’t maintain pace car speed, Race Director David Hoots bumped him from the lead and moved up Austin Dillon.

    His time up front didn’t last long, however, as Hamlin too it back on the restart, going into Turn 1.

    Truex returned to the lead on Lap 90, but opted to short-pit the second stage with three laps remaining in it. This handed the lead to Clint Bowyer, who won the stage and set up the run to the finish.

    CAUTION SUMMARY

    Caution flew for the first time on the first lap for a multi-car wreck in Turn 3. Jimmie Johnson brought out the third caution on Lap 57 when he made contact with teammate Kasey Kahne and spun out in Turn 3.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours, 50 minutes and seven seconds at an average speed of 141.080 mph. There were six lead changes among nine different drivers and five cautions for 21 laps.

    Truex leaves with an 85-point lead over Larson.

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  • Kyle Busch takes pole position at Pocono

    Kyle Busch takes pole position at Pocono

    Kyle Busch conserved his tires through the first round of qualifying and it paid off in the final round with pole position for today’s Overton’s 400 at Pocono Raceway.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota won the pole with a time of 50.175 and a speed of 179.372 mph.

    “I felt like I hit it pretty good. Gave up a couple things in a couple of spots, but overall, felt like it was a really good lap. [I] was gonna come over the radio and say, ‘Man, that’s close. You know, I think that’s right on target.’ But obviously it was way better. Just proud of these guys. The adjustments really worked us there through rounds and got us to where we needed to be in order to continually get faster each time out. You never really see that happen on re-run tires, cycled scuffs. Obviously, our M&M’s Caramel Camry is pretty fast. Looking forward to today’s race. It’s a great opportunity for us, starting up front, being able to be in clean air like we were last time. So hopefully, we can just do the right things and put ourselves in a better spot in the end.”

    It’s his 24th pole in 447 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts.

    Martin Truex Jr. will start second after posting a time of 50.317 and a speed of 178.866 mph. Jamie McMurray will start third with a time of 50.552 and a speed of 178.034 mph. Denny Hamlin will start fourth with a time of 50.635 and a speed of 177.743 mph. Ryan Blaney will round out the top-five with a time of 50.682 and a speed of 177.578 mph.

    Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones and Joey Logano round out the top-10.

    Brad Keselowski and Kasey Kahne round out the 12 drivers that made the final round.

    No drivers failed to make the 38-car field.

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