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  • Chase Briscoe Wins Season Finale; Christopher Bell Captures 2017 Truck Series Championship

    Chase Briscoe Wins Season Finale; Christopher Bell Captures 2017 Truck Series Championship

    The 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season finale was decided in Homestead-Miami tonight. It was the site where the 22-year-old, Christopher Bell, won his first ever championship, with five wins this season for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Meanwhile, Chase Briscoe collected his first ever Truck Series win for Brad Keselowski Racing.

    Chase Briscoe and Ben Rhodes started on the pole after qualifying early Friday afternoon. The stages were broken into 40/80/134 laps.

    The first stage was run cleanly without any problems. It was apparent that Christopher Bell had the truck to beat, as he wound up winning Stage 1 easily.  Austin Cindric finished sixth, Matt Crafton seventh and Johnny Sauter eighth.

    Stage 2 began on Lap 48, where this time it was Rhodes who had the dominant truck for about 35 laps. This was enough for him to win the second stage, with the Championship 4 contenders finishing second, fifth, sixth and eighth. It was a clean and green Stage 2 without any incidents, similar to Stage 1.

    The final stage went back underway on Lap 88 and was run to the finish without any yellow flags. Rhodes led for about five laps until he had to pit with issues, which then gave the lead back to Chase Briscoe. From there, Briscoe was able to hold on and win his first ever career series win.

    As soon as Briscoe took the checkered flag, Christopher Bell followed closely and finished second, which was enough to win the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship.

    “Such an awesome night to go out on top to cap off the season,” Briscoe said. “For it to be our last race at Brad Keselowski Racing, it was an awesome way to send Brad (Keselowski) out. Hopefully, he (Brad Keselowski) gets a championship on Sunday.”

    Briscoe led four times for 81 laps and placed second, and third, in the first two stages, respectively. This was Brad Keselowski Racing’s 11th win in 305 starts and Briscoe’s first in 23 starts.

    For Christopher Bell’s 2017 season, he ended with five wins, 15 top fives and 21 top-10 finishes, with 875 laps led. His second-place finish at Homestead was also good enough for him to earn KBM the fifth consecutive owner’s championship.

    “He’s the best boss you could have,” Bell said. “It’s something that, I’m just really thankful for the opportunity to be here. I remember the first time, I went to Kyle Busch Motorsports, I was so star struck by him whenever I was driving late models for him, to be around him and to win a championship for him. I’m just speechless.”

    Johnny Sauter finished third, Austin Cindric fourth and Matt Crafton sixth to round out the Championship 4.

    There were two cautions for 12 laps during the race and six lead changes among three drivers.

    The season starts all over again in 2018 at Daytona International Speedway Friday night on February 16, where a new crop of drivers and the same veterans will be competing for the championship all season long.

     

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Homestead-NCWTS-results-2017-T1723_UNOFFRES.pdf” title=”Homestead NCWTS results 2017 T1723_UNOFFRES”]

     

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Homestead Championship Weekend

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Homestead Championship Weekend

    All three series head to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend to crown their champions. The Camping World Truck Series finale will air on FS1 Friday evening, followed by the XFINITY Series race Saturday afternoon on NBCSN. Sunday the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will hit the track for the title event at 3 p.m. on NBC to determine its 2017 champion.

    Please check below for the complete schedule of events. All times are Eastern.

    Friday, Nov. 17

    On-Track:
    8:30-9:25 a.m.: World Truck S.ies Practice – FS1
    10-10:55 a.m.: World Truck Series Final Practice – FS1
    12:30-1:55 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – NBCSN
    2:30-3:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – NBCSN
    3:30 p.m.: Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
    5-5:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – NBCSN
    6:15 p.m.: Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN
    8 p.m.: Truck Series Ford EcoBoost 200 (134 laps, 201 miles) – FS1

    Garage Cam: (Watch live)
    Noon: Cup Series
    2 p.m.: XFINITY Series

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    10:20 a.m.: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
    11:30 a.m.: Joe Gibbs (Owner, Joe Gibbs Racing), Joe Garone (President, Furniture Row Racing), Tony Stewart (Owner, Stewart-Haas Racing) and Walt Czarnecki (Executive Vice President, Penske Corporation)
    4:30 p.m.: Ron Hornaday Jr.
    7:15 p.m. (approx.): Post-Cup Series qualifying, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski
    10:15 p.m. (approx.): Post-Camping World Truck Series Race/Champion

    Saturday, Nov. 18

    On-Track
    10-10:55 a.m.: Cup Series Practice – CNBC
    11:15 a.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – CNBC
    1-1:50 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN
    3:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series Ford EcoBoost 300 (200 laps, 300 miles) – NBCSN

    Press Conference: (Watch live)
    9:15 a.m.: NASCAR Partnership Announcement
    12:20 p.m.: Jim Campbell (Chevrolet U.S. Vice President of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports), Dave Pericak (Global Director of Ford Performance) and Ed Laukes (Group Vice President, Marketing for Toyota Motor North America)
    6 p.m. (approx.): Post-XFINITY Series Race/Champion

    Sunday, Nov. 19
     
    On-Track
    3 p.m.: Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 (267 laps, 400.5 miles) – NBC

    Press Conference: (Watch live)
    11 a.m.: NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France and NASCAR President Brent Dewar
    6:15 p.m. (approx.): Post-Cup Series Race/Champion

    Complete TV Schedule

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

    Race Details:

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
    Race: Ford EcoBoost 200
    Place: Homestead-Miami Speedway
    Date: Friday, Nov. 17
    Time: 8 p.m. ET
    TV: FS1, 7:30 p.m. ET
    Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    Distance: 201 miles (134 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 40), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 80), Final Stage (Ends on lap 134)

    NASCAR XFINITY Series
    Race: Ford EcoBoost 300
    Place: Homestead-Miami Speedway
    Date: Saturday, Nov. 18
    Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
    TV: NBCSN, 3 p.m. ET
    Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    Distance: 300 miles (200 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on lap 200)

    Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
    Race: Ford EcoBoost 400
    Place: Homestead-Miami Speedway
    Date: Sunday, Nov. 19
    Time: 3 p.m. ET
    TV: NBC, 2:30 p.m. ET
    Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio                   
    Distance: 400.5 miles (267 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 80), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 160), Final Stage (Ends on lap 267)

     

  • Late Wreck Ends Rhodes’ Title Run

    Late Wreck Ends Rhodes’ Title Run

    Ben Rhodes’ Playoff run came to an end late Friday night when he got turned into the wall, and a teammate, in the closing laps of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway.

    Restarting with 20 laps to go, Austin Cindric, who lined up behind Rhodes on the restart, dove under Rhodes to get the — while shallow, less than ideal entry — preferred groove through Turn 1. Rhodes moved down to block, came across Cindric’s nose and turned head-on into the inside wall. The impact lifted the right-side of his truck off the ground for a second, before landing on all four’s.

    Rhodes’ lifeless truck spun up towards the track and into the path of teammate Matt Crafton, sending them both head-on into the outside wall in Turn 1.

    The trucks rolls a few more yards, before coming to a stop in the middle of Turn 1.

    This brought out the fourth caution of the night, as well as a 17-minute, seven-second red flag for cleanup.

    “He put me in a bad place and (I was) trying to do everything I could to keep the spot, but once you file into Turn 1, we were all going to wreck. I’m not sure that was the right move on his part. I did everything I could to just make sure we were having a good day. We were in front of him all day long. We were going to be into the final four. I don’t know. It looked like a desperation move to me, because there’s so much racing left to do. I guess if I was in his position, I mean can’t blame him. But it’s definitely not the move I would’ve liked to see this early in the race. There’s so much to go on. The line in front of me started checking up. I could’ve done the same thing, but you have to be smart on the restarts, especially when you have, what, 70 laps to go, still?”

    Cindric, after the race, said the incident was merely “two guys racing for the same amount of real estate.”

    The wreck relegated Rhodes to a 20th-place finish. He leaves Phoenix fifth in points.

  • Johnny Sauter Goes Back To Back After Wild Race In Phoenix

    Johnny Sauter Goes Back To Back After Wild Race In Phoenix

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series headed out west tonight for the annual running of the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway and it sure didn’t disappoint.

    Johnny Sauter was able to score his second consecutive victory after holding off John Hunter Nemechek on a late race restart.

    Christopher Bell and Noah Gragson set the front row in qualifying on Friday afternoon.

    The stages were broken up into 40/80/150 laps.

    In the first stage, it was run cleanly and smoothly without any incident, as Gragson and Bell traded the lead back and forth before Bell eventually took the Stage 1 win. With this stage win, he was able to clinch a spot in the Championship 4 at Homestead.

    Stage 2 was similar to Stage 1. Bell and Gragson swapped the lead a few times before the second caution came out for the 98 of Grant Enfinger who made contact with the Turn 1 wall. This prompted Stage 2 to end under yellow, seeing Bell sweep both of the stages. Matt Crafton also clinched the third championship spot after Stage 2 due to collecting enough points needed.

    When Stage 3 began on lap 88, it might have been one of the wildest stages all year. There were several incidents and three red flags. The first incident came on lap 121 for Josh Reaume, who stopped on the track. Then shortly after the restart, a big accident took place on the frontstretch involving Austin Cindric, Ben Rhodes, Matt Crafton, Austin Hill and Norm Benning.

    As they say “cautions breed cautions” and it was in effect tonight, as another incident took place after the restart on the backstretch, where Ryan Truex hit the wall hard, collecting Dalton Sargeant, Jesse Little, Todd Gilliland and Stewart Friesen.

    The race went back to green on lap 141 and this saw race leader Bell, and Gragson, racing hard for the win until Gragson and Bell made slight contact, which sent both of them into the wall ending their shot at the win. During the wreck, Gragson hit the wall hard backward and then Justin Haley plowed right into him, causing more contact for Gragson’s No. 18. John Hunter Nemechek was also involved, after running over a piece of debris. Gragson was evaluated and released from the infield care center.

    With a late race restart that saw two to go, Nemechek gave all he could for Sauter, but Sauter eventually held off the No. 8 and won his second consecutive race of the 2017 season after winning Texas last week.

    Sauter led once for five laps and placed sixth in both stages. There were six cautions for 38 laps and three red flags. The race had nine leaders among three drivers.

    Along with Sauter, Matt Crafton, Austin Cindric and Christopher Bell will now be competing for the championship next weekend at Homestead Miami.

     

     

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Phoenix

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Phoenix

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Texas

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Texas

    NASCAR heads to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend with all three national series as the Playoffs continue. The Truck Series hits the track Friday for the JAG Metals 350 followed by the XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 Saturday night. The Cup Series closes out the action Sunday at 2 p.m. on NBCSN with the AAA Texas 500.

    Please check below for the complete schedule of events. All times are Eastern.

    Thursday, Nov. 2

    On-Track:
    3-3:55 p.m.: World Truck Series Practice (Follow Live)
    5-5:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice (Follow Live)

    Friday, Nov. 3
    On-Track:
    1-2:25 p.m.: Cup Series First Practice – NBCSN/NBC Sports App
    3-3:45 p.m.: XFINITY Series First Practice – NBCSN/NBC Sports App
    4 p.m.: Truck Series Texas Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
    5-5:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – NBC Sports App
    6:15 p.m.: Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBC Sports App (Will air tape delayed on NBCSN at 11:30 p.m.)
    8 p.m.: Truck Series JAG Metals 350 Driving Hurricane Harvey Relief (147 laps, 220.5 miles) – FS1

    Garage Cam: (Watch live)
    12:30 p.m.: Cup Series
    2:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    11 a.m.: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Appreci88tion
    11:30 a.m.: Erik Jones
    11:45 a.m.: Chase Elliott
    Noon: Ryan Blaney
    12:15 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson
    12:40 p.m.: Cole Custer, Brennan Poole, Matt Tifft
    3:15 p.m.: Martin Truex Jr.
    3:45 p.m.: Richard Petty Motorsports announcement
    7:15 p.m.: Post-Cup Series Qualifying (time approx.)
    10:15 p.m.: Post-Truck Series Race (time approx.)

    Saturday, Nov. 4

    On-Track:
    3-3:55 p.m.: Cup Series Second Practice – CNBC/NBC Sports App
    5-5:50 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – CNBC/NBC Sports App
    6:05 p.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – CNBC/NBC Sports App
    8:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 (200 laps, 300 miles) – NBCSN/NBC Sports App

    Press Conference: (Watch live)
    11 p.m.: Post-XFINITY Series Race (time approx.)

    Sunday, Nov. 5

    On-Track:
    2 p.m.: Cup Series AAA Texas 500 (334 laps, 501 miles) – NBCSN/NBC Sports App

    Press Conference: (Watch live)
    5:30 p.m.: Post-Cup Series Race (time approx.)

    Complete TV Schedule

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

    Race Details:

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 
    Race: JAG Metals 350
    Place: Texas Motor Speedway
    Date: Friday, Nov. 3
    Time: 8 p.m. ET
    TV: FS1, 7:30 p.m. ET
    Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    Distance: 220.5 miles (147 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 35), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 70), Final Stage (Ends on lap 147)

    NASCAR XFINITY Series
    Race: O’Reilly Auto Parts 300
    Place: Texas Motor Speedway
    Date: Saturday, Nov. 4
    Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
    TV: NBCSN, 8 p.m. ET
    Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    Distance: 300 miles (200 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on lap 200)

    Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
    Race: AAA Texas 500
    Place: Texas Motor Speedway
    Date: Sunday, Nov. 5
    Time: 2 p.m. ET
    TV: NBCSN, 1:30 p.m. ET
    Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio                   
    Distance: 501 miles (334 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 85), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 170), Final Stage (Ends on lap 334)

     

  • KBM Drivers Gilliland and Burton Earn Top Five Finishes at Martinsville

    KBM Drivers Gilliland and Burton Earn Top Five Finishes at Martinsville

    Kyle Busch Motorsports teammates Todd Gilliland and Harrison Burton both had a great day in the Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway and even had some fun racing with each other, as well.

    First off, Burton qualified in 10th place, his best career starting position, for the second time. By having a strong truck contending for the win, he finished 10th in Stage 1 and sixth in Stage 2. After various pit strategies and stops, the Huntersville, North Carolina scored a career-best finish of fourth.

    ““I just want to say how proud I am of my whole team,” Burton said. “We unloaded on Friday with a fast truck, we qualified well and we raced even better. Martinsville has given me trouble in the past, but I think I learned a lot from my previous races here and it showed today. Everyone at KBM worked hard to bring me a fast No. 51 DEX Imaging Tundra for my final race of the season and I’m happy with my fourth-place finish.”

    In just his fifth race, Gilliland had scored his second career-best finish. He fell behind in Stage 1 when he made a pit stop to allow the crew to fix his truck and finished 15th in the first stage.

    Stage 2 was much better for the 17-year-old. After restarting ninth, he would quietly finish in the seventh position. When all was said and done, the scoring pylon showed Gilliland fifth right behind his teammate, Burton. It was Gilliland’s second-best career finish.

    “It was a good day for our Pedigree Toyota Kyle Busch Motorsports team,” Gilliland said. “We struggled really bad in the beginning and then made some really good changes to be able to battle up there into the top five. I’m really proud of this whole KBM team – Pedigree, Toyota coming on board and helping to get us here. It’s fun racing teammates up there. I just wish we were a little further ahead but really happy to get a fifth-place finish here at Martinsville.”

  • Nemechek Wrecks Out Early at Martinsville

    Nemechek Wrecks Out Early at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Two weeks ago at Talladega Superspeedway, John Hunter Nemechek rallied from a wreck he was caught up in to finish sixth and advance to the Round of 6. Today in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Texas Roadhouse 200 at Martinsville Speedway, there was no such rally.

    Entering Turn 1 on Lap 37, Nemechek got loose and spun out. His truck spun up track before the right-rear corner made contact with the outside wall in the middle of Turns 1 and 2. The force of impact brought the right-front towards and into the wall. The rear of the truck jutted outward, while the right-front clung to the wall for a few seconds.

    This single-truck incident brought out the first caution of the race.

    “Soft brake pedal. I don’t know. Didn’t give any warning. It never got squishy. We were just kind of riding around, biding our time there. I dove into (Turn) 1 normal, hit the brake pedal and it went straight to the floor. Sucks for our guys. Sucks for Fire Alarm Services. We had a fast truck in race trim. I felt like we had a contending-winning truck if we could’ve got some track position. It’s early on. It definitely sucks to be out of the race this early, but we dug ourself out of one hole in the first round. Hopefully, they won’t know what hit them in Texas.”

    Nemechek leaves sixth in points, 62 out of the points lead and 28 out of the Round of 6 drop zone.

  • Gragson Makes Outside Pass on Final Restart to Win at Martinsville

    Gragson Makes Outside Pass on Final Restart to Win at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — While celebrating victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Texas Roadhouse 200 at Martinsville Speedway, Noah Gragson did a throwback to Tony Stewart and Helio Castroneves, climbing the catchfence, and something uniquely his own, doing pull-ups.

    On the final restart with 10 laps to go, Matt Crafton was the race leader. But by the time the field exited Turn 2 and dove into Turn 3, Gragson was the clear leader and drove onto his first career victory in the Truck Series.

    “Oh it’s really tough racing against these veterans. Those last like 40 laps with Johnny Sauter beating off my back bumper. He did that earlier to us in the spring (at Martinsville) and I wasn’t going to let him pass me again like that. We got that caution there at the end. You can’t pass on the outside at Martinsville, but I did it!”

    Crafton finished second and Johnny Sauter rounded out the podium.

    Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Chase Briscoe led the field to the green flag at 1:14 p.m. After John Hunter Nemechek brought out the first caution on Lap 37, Crafton took over the lead when Briscoe pitted and drove on to win the first stage.

    Returning to green on Lap 60, Crafton spent the next 10 laps getting his rear bumper beaten in by Sauter. Finally on Lap 71, he pulled aside and allowed Sauter to take the inside line, which let him take the lead on Lap 72 and go on to win the second stage.

    Christopher Bell, who inherited the lead when Sauter pitted, led the field to green with 89 laps to go. With 79 to go, Crafton got too deep into Turn 3, clipped the curb and spun Bell.

    Crafton retook the lead, as a result, and led the rest of the way, until Bayley Currey spun out and planted his truck in the grass, setting up the final 10-lap run to the finish.

    CAUTION SUMMATION

    Caution flew for the first time on Lap 37 when Nemechek got loose, spun out and slammed the outside wall in Turn 1. The end of the first stage brought out the second caution on Lap 50. The third caution flew on Lap 100 for the conclusion of the second stage. The two-car incident with Bell and Crafton in Turn 3 with 79 to go brought out the fourth caution. A three-car incident in Turn 1 with 64 to go involving Briscoe, Ty Dillon and Justin Hayley brought out the fifth caution. Bayley Currey’s spin in Turn 1 brought out the sixth and final caution with 16 to go.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted one hour, 32 minutes and 55 seconds, at an average speed of 67.932 mph. There were six lead changes among five different drivers and six cautions for 45 laps.

    Bell leaves with a three-point lead over Sauter. Austin Cindric and Nemechek leave in the Round of 6 drop zone.

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Martinsville

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Martinsville