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  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Pocono and Iowa Plus Clinch Scenarios

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Pocono and Iowa Plus Clinch Scenarios

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series travel to Pocono Raceway this weekend while the XFINITY Series competes at Iowa Speedway. Please check below for the complete schedule of events.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, July 29:

    On Track – Pocono:
    11 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series First Practice – NBCSN
    12:30-1:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series First Practice – FS1
    3-3:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice – FS1
    4:15 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN

    On Track – Iowa:
    5-5:50 p.m.: XFINITY Series First Practice – NBCSN will start coverage at 5:30 p.m. on a delay  
    7-8:20 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – NBCSN

    Garage Cam: (Watch live)
    10:30 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series
    Noon: Camping World Truck Series

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    9:30 a.m.: Danny Stockman (Crew chief for the No. 27 Sprint Cup team) and Richard Childress Racing Competition Director Dr. Eric Warren
    9:45 a.m.: Brad Keselowski
    10 a.m.: Matt Kenseth
    10:15 a.m.: Daniel Hemric
    1:30 p.m: Jeff Gordon
    2:30 p.m.: Kyle Busch
    2:45 p.m.: Joey Logano
    3 p.m.: Kyle Larson
    5 p.m.: Post-Sprint Cup Series Qualifying (time approx.)

    Saturday, July 30:

    On Track – Pocono:
    9:05 a.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
    11 a.m.-12:20 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series final practice – NBCSN
    1 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Pocono Mountains 150 (60 laps, 150 miles) – FS1
    Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    On Track – Iowa:
    4:15 p.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN
    8 p.m.: XFINITY Series US Cellular 250 (250 laps, 218.75 miles) – NBCSN
    Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    10 a.m.: Aric Almirola
    3 p.m.: Post-Camping World Truck Series Race (time approx.)

    Sunday, July 31: 

    On Track – Pocono:
    1:30 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Pennsylvania 400 (160 laps, 400 miles), NBCSN – POSTPONED TO MONDAY at 11:00 a.m. on NBCSN – Green Flag: 11:07 a.m.
    Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

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

    Race Notes via NASCAR:

    6 Races Left Until The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup

    Only five Chase berths remain with six races left until the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup – Pocono, Watkins Glen, Bristol, Michigan, Darlington and Richmond.

    A visit to Victory Lane gets a winless driver into the Chase as long as he/she is in the top 30 in the points standings.

    The drivers who will get into the Chase because of wins are: Brad Keselowski (4 wins), Kyle Busch (3), Carl Edwards (2), Jimmie Johnson (2), Matt Kenseth (2), Kevin Harvick (1), Kurt Busch (1), Joey Logano (1), Martin Truex Jr. (1), Denny Hamlin (1) and Tony Stewart (1).

    Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman are the only currently winless drivers who have visited Victory Lane at Pocono Raceway – the site of Sunday’s race.

    Below are the remaining tracks after Pocono and winless drivers who have visited Victory Lane at them:

    Watkins Glen: AJ Allmendinger
    Bristol: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne
    Michigan: Greg Biffle, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne
    Darlington: Greg Biffle, Regan Smith
    Richmond: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman

    Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Official Clinch Scenarios

     Five drivers have officially clinched berths in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup (assuming they start the remaining races in the regular season): Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth.

    For this weekend, these drivers have the potential to officially clinch:

    • Kevin Harvick (1 Win, 671 Points, +434 Points Ahead of 31st) – Clinches with a win.
    • Kurt Busch (1 Win, 627 Points, +390 Points Ahead of 31st) – Clinches with a win.
    • Joey Logano (1 Win, 606 Points, +369 Points Ahead of 31st) – Clinches with a win.
    • Martin Truex Jr (1 Win, 573 Points, +336 Points Ahead of 31st) – Clinches with a win.
    • Denny Hamlin (1 Win, 542 Points, +305 Points Ahead of 31st) – Clinches with a win.

    All of the above drivers have already clinched a top 30 spot, but need to clear the multiple wins hurdle. So, there’s a decent potential for no clinches this weekend if a zero-win driver wins or an already clinched driver wins.

    Complete NASCAR TV Schedule

     

  • Kyle Busch puts on clinic at the Brickyard

    Kyle Busch puts on clinic at the Brickyard

    Winning the pole and spanking the field in the previous day’s XFINITY race wasn’t enough for Kyle Busch as he won the pole and spanked the field a second time to score the victory at the Brickyard.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led a new track record of 149 of 170 laps on his way to winning the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    “I hoped it would be like that and be that good,” Busch said on his dominance. “This Skittles Camry was awesome, I can’t thank everyone from Skittles enough and everyone from M&M’s and their 75th anniversary year this season with us. Of course Interstate Batteries. This Toyota was awesome today, it was just so fast and able to get out front and stay out front. Not even some of my teammates could challenge. This was hooked up and on rails. I can’t say enough about Sprint and everything they’ve done for our sport. Of course the fans – thank everyone for being here and everyone watching on TV – you guys are awesome. We appreciate all of our partners at Joe Gibbs Racing. Adam Stevens (crew chief) and these guys are a phenomenal group and I’m proud to be with them. It’s fun to come out here and have such a dominant piece at Indy. They don’t come along often so I was just hoping I didn’t screw it up.”

    It’s his 38th career victory in 410 Sprint Cup Series starts, fourth of the season, second at the Brickyard, 13th top-10 finish of 2016 and 10th top-10 finish at the track. He’s the second driver to win in back to back years at Indianapolis and the first driver in NASCAR history to win both the pole and the victory in both XFINITY and Cup races on the same weekend.

    Matt Kenseth finished second in his No. 20 JGR Toyota. It’s his ninth top-10 finish of 2016 and 11th in 17 races at Indianapolis.

    “We never got in front of him (Kyle Busch) all day and the clean air is always really big here,” Kenseth said. “It was a great day for our Dollar General Camry. We did not have a good Friday, did not have a good Saturday and pretty respectable Sunday, so I have to thank all my teammates for helping us out. Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) made some great changes. We were pretty competitive all day, just never got quite to the lead to see what we had.”

    Jimmie Johnson overcame a speeding penalty to end Hendrick Motorsport’s three-race drought without a top-10 finish by rounding out the podium in his No. 48 HMS Chevrolet.

    He said afterwards that the way he and his team overcame the penalty “says a lot. We’ve been working really hard to get our cars where they need to be. We’re still not happy, but we’re getting closer. I’m very proud of the effort today. Unfortunately a mistake on my part in that second segment, trying to get in the pits I got dinged for speeding and then rallied from like 24th back.

    “We got third but I wish we would have gotten a win.”

    Denny Hamlin overcame a speeding penalty to finish fourth in his No. 11 JGR Toyota.

    “It was great, our FedEx Camry was great it got through traffic well as you saw going back to 20th with that penalty and driving to the front,” Hamlin said of his race. “Proud of the effort by our whole FedEx Camry team. It’s disappointing to just get a top-five. We had aspirations to come here and win. Like I said, you have to be perfect in every part of the race team, especially on race day to win these races, especially track position races and we just had one big mistake on pit road and we at least came back and got a top-five.”

    Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.

    “I don’t know that I was expecting much more than a top-five really,” Larson said. “I didn’t know we’d have that speed in our car. And we were probably a fifth or seventh-place car. But I was able to get some good restarts there at the end.

    “We qualified good for once, and it was just a solid weekend,” he added. “It was a good one.”

    Kevin Harvick finished sixth in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Joey Logano, who restarted second on the final restart, led six laps on his way to a seventh-place finish in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

    “It just was not good,” Logano said of the final restart. “I had a decent restart the first time, and the second one I probably had just as good of a restart, but the 20 got underneath me and I was kind of stuck from that point and kind of fell into the clutches of the tires behind me.  I was trying to stay down and be where I needed to be to get in front of them, but they just kept turning underneath me.  I hate that we finished seventh, but it’s probably where we deserved to finish from a speed point of view.  I thought our execution went very well today to give us an opportunity to win, but we couldn’t quite get it done when it mattered.”

    Martin Truex Jr. finished eighth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. Austin Dillon finished ninth in his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Paul Menard rounded out the top-10 in his No. 27 RCR Chevrolet.

    Brad Keselowski, who led 15 laps, finished 17th.

    Nineteen cars finished the race on the lead lap and 33 were running at the finish.

    The race lasted three hours, 17 minutes and 46 seconds at an average speed of 128.940 mph. There were four lead changes among three different drivers and eight cautions for 34 laps.

    Harvick leaves Indianapolis with a 24-point lead over Keselowski in the points standings.

    Next up for the Sprint Cup Series is the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway next Sunday.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/C1620_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

  • Kyle Busch scores the pole at the Brickyard

    Kyle Busch scores the pole at the Brickyard

    Kyle Busch will lead the field to the green flag in tomorrow’s Sprint Cup Series race at the Brickyard.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota scored the pole for the Brickyard 400 after posting a time of 48.745 and a speed of 184.634 mph. It’s his 19th pole in 410 Sprint Cup Series starts, first at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, second of 2016 and 14th top-10 start of the season.

    “I don’t know if there’s necessarily a key,” Busch said when asked the key to his pole lap. “I just think that everything kind of worked together. There’s a lot of different variables that are happening as you go from run to run and round to round and changing what you do as a driver a little bit, but also changing the car a little bit and making adjustments to keep up with the race track.”

    “It means a lot,” he added. “It’s definitely pretty special to be running the way that we’re running and to have the success that we’ve had here the last couple of years at Indy and I’d love nothing more than to try to win here again.”

    Carl Edwards will start second in his No. 19 JGR Toyota after posting a time of 48.768 and a speed of 184.567 mph.

    “I was happy with my lap and I just – I was surprised Kyle got me,” Edwards said. “That was a good lap for him – I mean, that was a good lap that he ran because I felt like my lap was pretty good – but, yeah, it’s frustrating right now to be second because it’s so close and the pole position is obviously huge here. But by tomorrow, the race gets started and I think I’ll be pretty happy with that starting spot, so just good job by all my guys.”

    Tony Stewart will start third in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 48.826 and a speed of 184.328 mph.

    “I think it’s a big deal here,” Stewart said of starting third. “It always has been. It seems like the more downforce they take off these cars the easier it is to race around each other. That is what you need, but it always helps when you can start up front. When you can get up there and really get working on your car in cleaner air and plan for the end of the race that is really an advantage.”

    Denny Hamlin will start fourth in his No. 11 JGR Toyota after posting a time of 48.892 and a speed of 184.079 mph.

    “It was pretty good,” Hamlin said of his qualifying effort. “We got a little bit better each run as far as position is concerned, so I feel like we’re pretty close. I thought in race trim our Camry was really exceptionally good especially over the long run, so pretty optimistic about tomorrow.”

    Brad Keselowski, who will start fifth in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford after posting a time of 49.022 and a speed of 183.591 mph, said starting fifth “on a hot day like today isn’t too shabby, but of course we want the pole and we want to win the race. That’s the most important part is winning the race, so we can win the race from fifth.”

    Ryan Newman will start sixth in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Kevin Harvick will start seventh in his No. 4 SHR Chevrolet. Martin Truex Jr. will start eighth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. Jamie McMurray will start ninth in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Kyle Larson will round out the top-10 in his No. 42 CGR Chevrolet.

    Kurt Busch will start 11th in his No. 41 SHR Chevrolet. Austin Dillon will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying in his No. 3 RCR Chevrolet.

    Jeff Gordon, subbing for the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr., will start 21st.

    With 41 cars entered, Josh Wise was the lone driver who failed to qualify.

    Twenty-one Chevrolet’s, 11 Ford’s and eight Toyota’s will comprise the 40-car field.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/C1620_STARTROW.pdf”]

  • Kyle Busch fastest in final practice

    Kyle Busch fastest in final practice

    Kyle Busch topped the chart in final Sprint Cup Series practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 48.749 and a speed of 184.619 mph. Kevin Harvick was second in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with a time of 48.842 and a speed of 184.268 mph. Kyle Larson was third in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 48.975 and a speed of 183.767 mph. Ryan Newman was fourth in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 49.000 and a speed of 183.673 mph. Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five in his No. 19 JGR Toyota with a time of 49.032 and a speed of 183.554 mph.

    Austin Dillon was sixth in his No. 3 RCR Chevrolet. Jimmie Johnson was seventh in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Martin Truex Jr. was eighth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. Danica Patrick was ninth in his No. 10 SHR Chevrolet. AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top-10 in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet.

    Denny Hamlin, who fastest lap was 17th fastest overall, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 177.938 mph.

    The Sprint Cup Series will be back on track tomorrow afternoon at 1:45 for qualifying.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/C1620_PRACFINAL.pdf”]

  • Kyle Busch says he’d give the Indy 500 a shot

    Kyle Busch says he’d give the Indy 500 a shot

    During his media availability earlier today, Kyle Busch mentioned he’d like a try at the Indianapolis 500.

    “Sure, I’d give it a shot and see what it’s all about, but obviously you’ve got to have funding to go run that race,” he said. “It’s a big race for all those teams that come here to run that race and putting on a good effort for myself means that you want to get with a top-tier team that has success here and that you know can run well and you can have good stops on pit road because it seems as though pit road is a big deal in those car here at Indy and just being able to learn as much as you can, so trying to get a little bit of track time in the times that we’re not busy doing what we’re doing is awfully hard to do.”

    He started off by saying, however, that plans would have to be made long in advance.

    “Yeah, you definitely can’t do it a month before for sure,” he added. “There’s got to be planning involved and you’ve got to be ahead of the curve and probably this is about the start time in which you need to get some things started planning and definitely have all those plans solidified probably by the end of the NASCAR season in November.”

    NASCAR drivers running the Indianapolis 500 isn’t new. Bobby and Donnie Allison, and Cale and Lee Roy Yarbrough all ran the Indy 500 in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Since 1994, four NASCAR drivers have run both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. John Andretti 10th in the Indianapolis 500 and 36th in the Coca-Cola 600 in 1993. Tony Stewart ran both races in 1999 finishing ninth in the 500 and finishing fourth in the 600 after starting from the rear of the field. He’s the only driver to run both races to completion when he did so in 2001 finishing sixth in the 500 and third in the 600. From 2002 to 2004, Robby Gordon ran both races. Kurt Busch attempted both races in 2014 finishing sixth in the 500, but losing an engine and finishing 40th in the 600.

  • Johnson fastest in first practice

    Johnson fastest in first practice

    Jimmie Johnson topped the chart in first Sprint Cup Series practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 48.864 and a speed of 184.185 mph. Denny Hamlin was second in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 49.298 and a speed of 182.563 mph. Casey Mears was third in his No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet with a time of 49.904 and a speed of 180.346 mph. Kevin Harvick was fourth in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with a time of 50.043 and a speed of 179.845 mph. Ryan Newman rounded out the top-five in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 50.060 and a speed of 179.784 mph.

    Carl Edwards was sixth in his No. 19 JGR Toyota. Chase Elliott was seventh in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet. Tony Stewart was eighth in his No. 14 SHR Chevrolet. Jeff Gordon, subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr., was ninth in his No. 88 HMS Chevrolet. Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top-10 in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota.

    No driver posted a 10 consecutive lap average during the session.

    The Sprint Cup Series cars are back on track later today at 4:00 for final practice.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/C1620_PRAC1.pdf”]

  • Jeff Gordon: ‘I was asked to drive Tony Stewart’s car in Daytona’

    Jeff Gordon: ‘I was asked to drive Tony Stewart’s car in Daytona’

    Jeff Gordon revealed today that he was asked to drive in place of Tony Stewart at Daytona.

    During his media availability at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the substitute driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was asked if he would’ve been available to drive in a substitute role had this been during the FOX portion of the season.

    “Well the crazy thing about all this I was asked to drive Tony Stewart’s car in Daytona to start the season out with his injuries and the incident that happened there,” Gordon said. “No, I wasn’t able to do it because of my commitments to FOX. Now, Rick has some amazing ways to convince people into things that the average person might not be able to. So, I don’t know maybe he could have called Eric Shanks (president, COO and executive producer of FOX Sports) or something, but no I don’t think so.”

    Following the conclusion of the 2015 season, Gordon moved to the broadcast booth to work the first 16 Sprint Cup Series races of the 2016 season for FOX Sports.

    He was on vacation with his family in France while the Sprint Cup Series was in New Hampshire when he was contacted by Rick Hendrick about driving the No. 88 car.

    “I was in the South of France at that time,” he said. “I get that text (from Hendrick), and I looked at her (Ingrid) and said ‘Oh boy, here we go.’ I had no idea. When Rick said to me ‘Are you coming to Indianapolis?’ I said ‘Yes I am. I am coming on Saturday.’ He said ‘Well, you better bring your uniform.’ I asked what he was talking about and he started to tell me about what was going on.”

    It was announced last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway that if Dale Earnhardt Jr. was unable to compete at Indianapolis, Gordon would drive in his place.

    “Honestly I didn’t have to think twice about it,” Gordon said. “When Rick calls, he has that confidence in me, and asked me to step-up and do something for the organization – whether it was driver, or other responsibilities. The way he has been there for me. The way this team and organization has been there for me over the years, I didn’t anticipate this. This is certainly the last thing that was going to happen. But I knew it was Indianapolis. I didn’t think about it. I felt like if there was one place that I was capable of doing it, it would be here.”

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Indianapolis

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Indianapolis

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and XFINITY Series head to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend. Please check below for the complete schedule of events.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, July 22:

    On Track:
    Noon-1:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series First Practice – NBCSN
    1:30 p.m.-2:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series First Practice – NBCSN
    3-3:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – NBCSN
    4-5:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN 

    Garage Cam: (Watch live)
    11:30 a.m.: XFINITY Series
    1 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    10:30 a.m.: Jeff Gordon
    11 a.m.: Wood Brothers
    11:30 a.m.: Kyle Busch
    11:45 a.m.: Roush Fenway Racing
    12:15 p.m.: Ryan Newman
    12:30 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson
    12:45 p.m.: Tony Stewart

    Saturday, July 23:

    On Track:
    11:45 a.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN
    1:45 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN
    3:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series Lilly Diabetes 250 Heat #1 (20 laps, 50 miles) – NBCSN
    4:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series Lilly Diabetes 250 Heat #2 (20 laps, 50 miles) – NBCSN (time approx.)
    5:05 p.m.:  XFINITY Series Lilly Diabetes 250 Main (60 laps, 150 miles) – NBCSN (time approx.)
    Radio: SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and IMS Radio Network

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    12:15 p.m.: Danica Patrick 
    3 p.m.: Sprint Cup Post-Qualifying
    6 p.m.: XFINITY Post-Race

    Sunday, July 24: 

    On Track:
    3 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents The Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard (160 laps, 400 miles) – NBCSN
    Radio: SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and IMS Radio Network

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    6:30 p.m.: Sprint Cup Post-Race

    Race Notes via NASCAR:

    7 To Go: Only 5 Chase Berths Remain With 7 Races Left Until NASCAR’s Playoffs

    Only seven races remain for drivers to lock up one of the final five Chase berths.

    A visit to Victory Lane gets a winless driver into the Chase as long as he/she is in the top 30 of the points standings.

    The drivers who likely would get into the Chase because of wins are: Brad Keselowski (4 wins), Kyle Busch (3), Carl Edwards (2), Jimmie Johnson (2), Matt Kenseth (2), Kevin Harvick (1), Kurt Busch (1), Joey Logano (1), Martin Truex Jr. (1), Denny Hamlin (1) and Tony Stewart (1).

    McMurray, Menard and Newman are the only currently winless drivers who have visited Victory Lane at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – the site of Sunday’s race.

    Below are the remaining tracks after Indy and winless drivers who have visited Victory Lane at them:

    Pocono: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman
    Watkins Glen: AJ Allmendinger
    Bristol: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne
    Michigan: Greg Biffle, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne
    Darlington: Greg Biffle, Regan Smith

    *Complete NASCAR TV Schedule*

  • Cut Tire Ends Impressive Run for Bowman

    Cut Tire Ends Impressive Run for Bowman

    Alex Bowman surprised a lot of people running in the top-10 most of the back half of the Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire before a tire blowout in the closing laps relegated him to a back half finish in his substitute drive for the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    With 29 laps to go, Alex Bowman was running eighth, but contact on pit road with Carl Edwards and further contact with Kurt Busch caused a tire rub on his left-rear that resulted in a blowout and contacting the wall on the frontstretch going into Turn 1.

    “I think the No. 19 was backing up because he was blocked in as I was leaving the pit box,” Bowman said of what he thought led to his tire going down. “My left-rear hit his right-rear as I was leaving.  It caved it in enough, we thought we would be fine, but obviously, when I got into the No. 41 it was already going down. I got really loose, got up the race track and got into him. I hate that for Kurt. Obviously, just got loose had a tire going down and then it went down at about the start/finish line, I just tried to hang on to it. It is really unfortunate. They knew we were here for sure and I had a blast.”

    Bowman was chosen to drive the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on Thursday after Earnhardt was declared medically unclear to race this weekend with symptoms of a concussion.

    “When I got the call I’m like, ‘Oh, Loudon? Really? Okay, well, I’ll try,’” he said. “And they were so welcoming. Such great people to get to work with. Greg (Ives) and all the guys. I had so much fun working with everybody. And I’ve got to thank Mr. ‘H’, too; it was just an absolute blast. I was off a little bit in practice and qualifying, so I feel like I got my act together for the race and it definitely showed.”

    The lackluster finish didn’t stop him from saying the experience “was amazing. I can’t thank Hendrick Motorsports and all these guys enough. They took me to my worst race track by far and made me look good. I just have to thank Mr. H. I had such an amazing time. Everybody, Greg (Ives, crew chief) and all the guys were so welcoming.”

    “I hate the circumstances and really hope Dale is feeling well, but I had so much fun today.  Obviously, I hate that we didn’t get the finish we deserve, but I’ve raced with a lot of these guys for a long time, I raced around them (but) I’ve never got to actually race with guys like Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, all those guys.  I had a lot of fun passing really good cars. Just really thankful for Nationwide and all of Hendrick Motorsports for letting me be here.”

    Because Earnhardt didn’t start the race, he didn’t collect points for Bowman’s 26th-place finish. His absence dropped him to 15th in points at the Chase cutoff heading to Indianapolis.

  • Matt Kenseth Scores the Victory at Loudon

    Matt Kenseth Scores the Victory at Loudon

    Matt Kenseth will be dining on lobster following enduring a flurry of cautions late in the going to score the victory at the Magic Mile.

    The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota took the lead from Martin Truex Jr. in the closing stages of the race and held on with the rush of cautions in the remaining laps to win the New Hampshire 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

    “You’re always pleased to be in victory lane,” Kenseth said. “The farther down the road you get, the better they feel for sure. Thanks to everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing. I’ve said it a million times, but I’m blessed with this opportunity to be over here with the guys I get to work with and my great sponsors, Dollar General and of course, can’t do it without Toyota, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), Interstate Batteries, WileyX, Gatorade. Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and the team over there made great, great adjustments today. I didn’t do a very good job qualifying and after round one today it was pretty much money, we just had to get there. It was a fun day.”

    It’s his 24th career victory in 597 career Sprint Cup Series starts, second of the season, third at Loudon, the eighth top-10 finish of 2016 and 18th in 33 starts at Loudon.

    His car failed post-race inspection at the Laser Inspection Station (LIS). Any penalties resulting from this will be announced on Wednesday.

    Tony Stewart came home to a runner-up finish in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.

    “It was fun,” Stewart said of his day. “The hardest part of the restarts was just which line you were in. If you were on the bottom you were at a huge disadvantage. You needed to be on that top line and needed to be able to hold them down when they got there. We restarted sixth on the outside that last time and that really was the key to getting us up where we were at the end.”

    It’s his 19th top-10 finish in 34 starts at Loudon and fifth of 2016.

    Despite being a non-factor for the whole race, Joey Logano edged out Kevin Harvick at the line to round out the podium in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

    “We were awful at the beginning of the race,” Logano said of his race. “We tried some new things and apparently they didn’t work so we aborted mission in the middle of the race and got some speed back in the 22 but not enough to beat the 20. I thought we would have something since we had four tires but we didn’t have the car to get up there with him. Overall, to recover to third after running 15th or 16th most of the race is pretty good for this team. We have a never quit attitude and it paid off today.”

    Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 SHR Chevrolet, wasn’t too happy with his race, saying he was “disgusted to tell you the truth. It’s the same thing every week. We just make mistake after mistake and until we clean that up we don’t have a chance to win races putting ourselves in a hole every time we make a mistake. It sucks because the cars are plenty fast, but we are just not executing.”

    Greg Biffle rounded out the top-five in his No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

    “It was a great run with the 18 car there toward the end,” Biffle said. “We finally had a chance to race with those guys a little bit. We are still working hard on these cars to get them faster.”

    Jamie McMurray finished sixth in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Ryan Newman finished seventh in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet as Kyle Busch led 133 laps, the most of any driver, on his way to an eighth-place finish in his No. 18 JGR Toyota.

    “Our Interstate Batteries Camry was fast today we just didn’t need all of those cautions at the end,” Busch said of his race. “The car was strong on a long run. We still seemed to battle the balance and just kept going loose and tight at different points on the track. Given how much we led we are a little disappointed with eighth but we’ll take it and look to Indy next weekend.”

    Denny Hamlin led five laps on his way to a ninth-place finish in his No. 11 JGR Toyota and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top-10 in his No. 17 RFR Ford.

    Jimmie Johnson, who led one lap, finished 12th. Brad Keselowski, who led one lap, finished 15th while Truex, who led 123 laps, finished 16th.

    Alex Bowman was running in the top-10 toward the end of the race before a tire blowout relegated him to a 26th-place finish.

    “It was amazing,” Bowman said of his day. “I can’t thank Hendrick Motorsports and all these guys enough. They took me to my worst race track by far and made me look good. I just have to thank Mr. H (Rick Hendrick). I had such an amazing time. Everybody, Greg (Ives, crew chief) and all the guys were so welcoming. I hate the circumstances and really hope Dale is feeling well, but I had so much fun today. Obviously, I hate that we didn’t get the finish we deserve, but I’ve raced with a lot of these guys for a long time, raced around them (but) I’ve never got to actually race with guys like Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, all those guys. I had a lot of fun passing really good cars. Just really thankful for Nationwide and all of Hendrick Motorsports for letting me be here.”

    Twenty-six cars finished the race on the lead lap and 38 were running at the finish.

    Michael McDowell and Josh Wise were the only two retirements from the race.

    The race lasted two hours, 57 minutes and 53 seconds at an average speed of 107.416 mph. There were 13 lead changes among six different drivers and seven cautions for 36 laps.

    Harvick leaves Loudon with a 14-point lead over Keselowski in the points standings.

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