Category: RC XFINITY

July 10, 2015

By Reid Spencer

SPARTA, Ky. – Brad Keselowski held off Erik Jones and a charging Kyle Busch after a restart with 31 laps left and collected his first NASCAR XFINITY Series victory of the season in Friday night’s Kentucky 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

A late two-tire call put Keselowski in front for a restart on Lap 170, and though the No. 22 Team Penske Ford ceded the lead to Jones for 22 circuits, Keselowski regained the top spot with a daring move to the inside through traffic entering the tri-oval on Lap 92 and held on to win by less than a quarter-second.

The victory was Keselowski’s third at Kentucky and the 33rd of his career. Behind Keselowski, Jones and Busch, Daniel Suarez ran fourth, followed by Elliott Sadler and Paul Menard.

Over the final run, Jones injected himself into what had been a two-way battle between Keselowski and Busch for the majority of the race.

Keselowski made the winning move after Jones’ progress was impeded by a lapped car in Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 92.

“I just caught a little break, to be honest,” Keselowski said. “One of the lapped cars locked in Erik. He had done a heck of a job and still was doing a heck of a job, and sometimes things don’t go your way.

“I kind of thought it might happen and went into the corner high, just ready for something to happen, and it did, and I was able to make the most of it coming off Turn 4 and make the pass for the lead.

“This team, the 22 team since it started in 2010, has been really a dream ride and an honor for me to be a part of it.”

Jones got the lead on the final restart when Busch shoved Keselowski and caused the No. 22 Ford to spin its tires.

“I wish I would have known the lapped car was going to the bottom and he would have went to the top,” Jones said. “Getting the lead on the restart, we had a shot at it at that point. It was good enough to maintain, and it’s a bummer it didn’t work out.

“But it’s nice to be running with those guys, with Kyle and Brad, and to be mixing it up with ‘em. We’ll keep building and see what we can do next time.”

At the outset, it didn’t take Busch long to move up from his sixth starting position to the lead. On Lap 16, the No. 54 Toyota shot past Ty Dillon through Turns 1 and 2 and took over the top spot for the first time in the race.

With the exception of the restart lap after a competition caution on Lap 25—with Paul Menard surging ahead by a nose at the stripe to lead Lap 31—Busch stayed firmly in control of the proceedings until a caution for Ryan Sieg’s spin in Turn 4 on Lap 71 slowed the field for the third time.

After pit stops under yellow, Keselowski wrestled the lead from Busch on Lap 79, moments before the No. 13 of Derek White clobbered the outside wall between Turns 3 and 4 to cause the fourth caution.

Undeterred by the yellow, Keselowski sped away after the subsequent restart on Lap 85 as Busch fell back to third behind Suarez. Busch, however, regained the second position on Lap 97 and narrowed his gap to the leader to a half-second before Keselowski pulled away to a 1.8-second advantage when Busch ran afoul of lapped traffic.

But Busch grabbed the top spot from Keselowski during an exchange of green-flag pit stops on Laps 136 and 137, leaving Keselowski at a half-second disadvantage. With both drivers saving fuel in the event of a green-flag run to the finish, Busch opened a one-second edge and maintained it until John Wes Townley’s brush with the wall on Lap 163 brought out the fifth caution.

Busch and Keselowski led the top cars to pit road on Lap 165, with Busch opting for four tires and Keselowski, Jones and Suarez for right sides only.

That left Keselowski in the lead and Busch in fourth for a restart on Lap 170. And on this night, two tires won the day, as Keselowski led Jones to the stripe by .241 seconds.

Note: Eleventh-place finisher Chris Buescher extended his series lead to 36 points over Chase Elliott, who ran 13th, the first driver one lap down.

NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Kentucky 300

Kentucky Speedway

Sparta, Kentucky

Friday, July 10, 2015

               1. (4) Brad Keselowski(i), Ford, 200, $88227.

               2. (7) Erik Jones(i), Toyota, 200, $64594.

               3. (6) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 200, $54681.

               4. (10) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, 200, $39154.

               5. (11) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 200, $34718.

               6. (5) Paul Menard(i), Chevrolet, 200, $24272.

               7. (8) Darrell Wallace Jr. #, Ford, 200, $28858.

               8. (16) Dale Earnhardt Jr.(i), Chevrolet, 200, $21645.

               9. (3) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 200, $26609.

               10. (13) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 200, $26978.

               11. (15) Chris Buescher, Ford, 200, $25522.

               12. (17) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 200, $24991.

               13. (14) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 199, $25435.

               14. (12) Ryan Reed, Ford, 199, $23879.

               15. (2) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 199, $26452.

               16. (21) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 199, $23624.

               17. (20) Dakoda Armstrong, Ford, 199, $23297.

               18. (1) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 198, $23146.

               19. (9) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 198, $23019.

               20. (18) Ross Chastain #, Chevrolet, 197, $23393.

               21. (29) David Starr, Toyota, 196, $22767.

               22. (28) Blake Koch, Toyota, 196, $22636.

               23. (22) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 196, $22484.

               24. (26) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 194, $22332.

               25. (32) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 194, $22356.

               26. (23) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 194, $22080.

               27. (27) Eric McClure, Toyota, 192, $21953.

               28. (31) Tyler Young(i), Chevrolet, 190, $21826.

               29. (24) Cale Conley #, Toyota, 189, $21674.

               30. (39) Mike Harmon, Dodge, 180, $15848.

               31. (34) Peyton Sellers #, Chevrolet, Brakes, 166, $21422.

               32. (19) John Wes Townley(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 158, $21295.

               33. (36) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, Engine, 116, $15185.

               34. (33) BJ McLeod(i), Chevrolet, Vibration, 107, $15073.

               35. (25) Harrison Rhodes #, Chevrolet, Electrical, 90, $20947.

               36. (35) Derek White, Toyota, Accident, 75, $19460.

               37. (38) Josh Reaume #, Dodge, Suspension, 10, $12460.

               38. (37) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Carburetor, 10, $11460.

               39. (40) Ryan Ellis(i), Chevrolet, Vibration, 3, $10460.

               40. (30) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 3, $9460.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  136.054 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 12 Mins, 18 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.241 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  5 for 24 laps.

Lead Changes:  10 among 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders:    0; T. Dillon 1-15; K. Busch(i) 16-30; P. Menard(i) 31; K. Busch(i) 32-78; B. Keselowski(i) 79-137; D. Wallace Jr. # 138-139; K. Busch(i) 140-165; B. Keselowski(i) 166-169; E. Jones(i) 170-191; B. Keselowski(i) 192-200.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  K. Busch(i) 3 times for 88 laps; B. Keselowski(i) 3 times for 72 laps; E. Jones(i) 1 time for 22 laps; T. Dillon 1 time for 15 laps; D. Wallace Jr. # 1 time for 2 laps; P. Menard(i) 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 10 in Points: C. Buescher – 593; C. Elliott – 557; T. Dillon – 547; E. Sadler – 528; R. Smith – 527; D. Wallace Jr. # – 510; B. Scott – 478; D. Suarez # – 477; B. Gaughan – 473; R. Reed – 471.

By Jack McCarthy

JOLIET, Ill. — Erik Jones’ last-ditch push had a victory payoff on Sunday.

Neck-and-neck with Ryan Blaney entering the final dozen laps, Jones finally slipped ahead after a restart and rolled to a 1.958-second victory margin in Sunday’s Owens Corning AttiCat 300 race at Chicagoland Speedway.

“I got the inside of him and just barreled into (turn) three as hard as I could to clear and slid in front,” said Jones, who started 11th in his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. “Fortunately it worked and he didn’t try to cross us over or anything else.”

Jones claimed his second NASCAR XFINITY Series race of the season, recorded his eighth top 10 series finish and completed a weekend sweep that included Friday’s NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series American Ethanol 200 at Iowa Speedway.

Jones, the youngest NASCAR driver to win two races in the same weekend, has run in all three series this season.

Time behind the wheel has proven invaluable for the 19-year-old driver.

“It seemed like last year I’d be into these situations and be so nervous,” he said. “This time its like ‘I’ve got this.’ I felt like I’ve done it so many times throughout the year and throughout the day that it felt more natural. That’s definitely a product of seat time and being in the car every week or the truck every week.

“It’s been a huge, huge help.”

Jones led 94 of the race’s 200 laps while Blaney topped the field for 43 laps.

The race — the 14th in this season’s XFINITY series — was originally set for 9:30 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, but was washed out as downpours hit Joliet and the entire Chicago area.

Nearly 14 hours later, Sunday’s restart went off a bit after noon (ET) without a hitch under dry conditions and increasingly sunny skies.

Blaney nearly had a storybook finish as he overcame earlier misfortune to lead the race with less than a dozen laps remaining.

Driving the No. 22 Hertz Ford for Team Penske, Blaney wrecked his primary car in Saturday qualifying, started Sunday with a backup car in the back row but quickly maneuvered into the top 10 and moved into the lead with 45 laps to run.

“I thought it was a good day for us, a decent day,” Blaney said. “I felt like I threw it away yesterday wrecking our primary. For our team to get a backup car out and work as hard as they did and have a car contending for the win and to be leading in the last little bit and then just not pull it off, that really speaks volumes to them about how well they prepared.”

The race featured a track record 23 lead changes, plus seven cautions for 39 laps.

Series points leader Chris Buescher finished fifth and maintained his series lead with 528 points, 29 points ahead of second place Ty Dillon.

He shook off a penalty for speeding on pit road and rallied to the top five.

“It’s a good points day, that’s how it ended up,” Buescher said. “The pit road speeding penalty is on me. … I got us a little bit behind there and put us in a bad spot but the guys did a good job coming back.”

He regained track position when 22 drivers were penalized for pitting too soon with 46 laps remaining.

Chase Elliott, who won last summer’s XFINITY Chicagoland race on the way to the 2014 series championship, spun out with 23 laps to go and finished 14th. He’s still looking for his first win of the season.

Ross Kenseth, driving the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, was sixth in his XFINITY Series debut, a nice rebound after a Friday spinout during practice in his first time running the track.

“In the last two days we were a lot better than my first day here,” said Kenseth, son of 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth. “At the end I thought we were really good — a third, fourth-place car — (but) was a little disappointed we didn’t get into the top five. … But the guys worked so hard at it and gave me a great car this weekend.”

The XFINITY series takes a break this week and resumes with a July 4 race at Daytona International Speedway.

NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Owens Corning AttiCat 300

Chicagoland Speedway

Joliet, Illinois

Sunday, June 21, 2015

1. (11) Erik Jones(i), Toyota, 200, $97576.

2. (24) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 200, $66966.

3. (1) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 200, $51456.

4. (5) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 200, $41298.

5. (9) Chris Buescher, Ford, 200, $37841.

6. (2) Ross Kenseth, Toyota, 200, $35523.

7. (7) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, 200, $32698.

8. (13) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 200, $30622.

9. (8) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 200, $29492.

10. (10) Darrell Wallace Jr. #, Ford, 200, $29760.

11. (3) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 200, $29254.

12. (14) Ryan Reed, Ford, 200, $27699.

13. (4) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 200, $27918.

14. (6) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 200, $27639.

15. (16) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 200, $26786.

16. (19) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 200, $26159.

17. (15) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 200, $26033.

18. (25) Ross Chastain #, Chevrolet, 200, $26107.

19. (18) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 200, $25780.

20. (23) Cale Conley #, Toyota, 200, $26154.

21. (17) Ben Rhodes, Chevrolet, 200, $25527.

22. (20) Blake Koch, Toyota, 200, $25371.

23. (27) TJ Bell, Toyota, 200, $25220.

24. (26) David Starr, Toyota, 200, $25068.

25. (21) Harrison Rhodes #, Chevrolet, 200, $25077.

26. (28) Eric McClure, Toyota, 200, $24791.

27. (30) Peyton Sellers #, Chevrolet, 200, $18639.

28. (12) Dakoda Armstrong, Ford, 197, $24462.

29. (34) Jimmy Weller, Chevrolet, 197, $18336.

30. (33) Martin Roy, Chevrolet, 192, $24485.

31. (32) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 192, $24054.

32. (36) Mike Harmon, Dodge, Ignition, 165, $17917.

33. (35) Josh Reaume #, Toyota, 146, $17801.

34. (22) Dylan Lupton, Chevrolet, Accident, 145, $23690.

35. (31) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 134, $17567.

36. (38) Bobby Gerhart, Chevrolet, Engine, 69, $21842.

37. (37) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Handling, 44, $14842.

38. (39) John Jackson, Dodge, Vibration, 34, $13842.

39. (40) Matt Frahm, Chevrolet, Clutch, 5, $12842.

40. (29) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 2, $11842.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 118.812 mph.

Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 31 Mins, 30 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.958 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 7 for 39 laps.

Lead Changes: 23 among 11 drivers.

Lap Leaders: A. Dillon(i) 0; R. Kenseth 1; A. Dillon(i) 2-27; J. Clements 28-29; A. Dillon(i) 30; R. Smith 31-38; E. Jones(i) 39-70; R. Blaney 71-73; E. Jones(i) 74-75; C. Elliott 76; D. Suarez # 77; R. Sieg 78-83; R. Blaney 84-85; E. Jones(i) 86-99; A. Dillon(i) 100; B. Gaughan 101-102; R. Smith 103-112; E. Jones(i) 113-130; R. Blaney 131-133; E. Jones(i) 134-150; B. Gaughan 151-152; D. Starr 153-154; R. Blaney 155-189; E. Jones(i) 190-200.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): E. Jones(i) 6 times for 94 laps; R. Blaney 4 times for 43 laps; A. Dillon(i) 3 times for 28 laps; R. Smith 2 times for 18 laps; R. Sieg 1 time for 6 laps; B. Gaughan 2 times for 4 laps; D. Starr 1 time for 2 laps; J. Clements 1 time for 2 laps; D. Suarez # 1 time for 1 lap; R. Kenseth 1 time for 1 lap; C. Elliott 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 10 in Points: C. Buescher – 528; T. Dillon – 499; C. Elliott – 485; R. Smith – 466; D. Wallace Jr. # – 462; E. Sadler – 447; B. Scott – 430; B. Gaughan – 419; R. Reed – 410; D. Suarez # – 407.

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

BROOKLYN, Mich. – In his first NASCAR XFINITY Series race back from a broken right leg and left foot, Kyle Busch proved conclusively that he hasn’t lost a step.

Taking advantage of contact between the Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick and the Ford of polesitter Joey Logano—as those two drivers were battling for the lead—Busch passed Chase Elliott for the lead on lap 122 of 125 and held on to win Saturday’s Great Clips 250 at Michigan International Speedway.

Busch’s series-best 71st victory, his second at the two-mile track, came nearly two months after the driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was sidelined by a brutal Feb. 21 crash into a concrete wall in Turn 1 at Daytona International Speedway.

Busch returned to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series action in the Sprint All-Star Race in May but deferred his XFINITY Series comeback to Saturday’s race at Michigan.

“It feels good,” Busch said after climbing from his car in Victory Lane. “This is only a preliminary for what we’ve got to do on Sundays (in the Sprint Cup Series), but it’s a start. You’ve got to start somewhere, right?

“I can’t say enough about this team. (Crew chief) Chris Gayle did an awesome job today with this race car. We messed up a little bit today on a pit call, but we made up for it. Hard racing today, man. It was crazy, the side-by-side action we got here. The track’s kind of widening out, lending itself to some cool action.”

After a restart on Lap 116, the race unraveled for Logano and Harvick. As the two drivers fought for the lead in Turn 3, with Logano to the outside, Harvick’s Chevrolet got loose and washed up the track into Logano’s Ford.

The right rear of Logano’s Ford brushed the outside wall, but both drivers were able to continue, albeit after losing several positions. Harvick finished sixth, and Logano, who led a race-high 54 laps came home seventh.

Harvick took responsibility for the incident.

“I just got loose underneath him,” Harvick explained. “I had a huge run down the back straightaway. That late in the race, I figured I need to try to win the race, and I got in there, and he was on the outside of me, but it was too late to not have contact at that point.

“So totally my fault. I just got loose under him going for the win.”

Harvick’s mea culpa was little consolation for Logano, who had the race’s dominant car for most of the day.

“We were racing for a win here, and it just seems like he drove in there pretty hard trying to slide me,” Logano said. “I drove up in there, too, and he got loose underneath me and got into my left rear and up we both went into the race track.

“It’s unfortunate. I had a fast Discount Tire Ford, obviously the winning car, leading a ton of laps and up there at the end of the race. I was racing hard, and he just drove over his head a little bit.”

Despite his runner-up finish, Elliott left Michigan disappointed he couldn’t find a way to keep Busch behind him in the closing laps.

“I’ll be honest—second does not feel good, to me at least,” Elliott said. “I thought we had a car good enough to compete today… We finally got ourselves in position there. We had two even-numbered restarts where we were six and fourth (in the preferred outside lane) that put us in position there to have an opportunity on that last restart.

“Obviously, the 22 (Logano) would have been really hard to beat, and Kevin got into him by accident and moved him up the racetrack. Obviously, that opened up our opportunity to have a shot at the win… (Kyle) is really good at what he does, and I don’t really have an excuse for it. So, yeah, he outran me.”

Kyle Larson finished third, followed by Chris Buescher, who extended his series lead to 25 points over Ty Dillon, who came home 13th. Elliott is third in the standings, 35 points back.

NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Great Clips 250 benefiting Paralyzed Veterans of America
Michigan International Speedway
Brooklyn, Michigan
Saturday, June 13, 2015

1. (11) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 125, $52773.
2. (12) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 125, $41458.
3. (4) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 125, $26229.
4. (20) Chris Buescher, Ford, 125, $31031.
5. (16) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 125, $27396.
6. (7) Kevin Harvick(i), Chevrolet, 125, $19450.
7. (1) Joey Logano(i), Ford, 125, $28607.
8. (14) Aric Almirola(i), Ford, 125, $19040.
9. (2) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 125, $25518.
10. (13) Denny Hamlin(i), Toyota, 125, $19490.
11. (8) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 125, $24362.
12. (6) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 125, $24185.
13. (9) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 125, $23932.
14. (15) Alex Bowman(i), Chevrolet, 125, $17805.
15. (3) Darrell Wallace Jr. #, Ford, 125, $25779.
16. (18) Dakoda Armstrong, Ford, 125, $23552.
17. (17) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 125, $23501.
18. (5) Paul Menard(i), Chevrolet, 125, $17701.
19. (19) Ryan Reed, Ford, 124, $23400.
20. (10) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, 124, $23850.
21. (23) Ross Chastain #, Chevrolet, 124, $23273.
22. (22) Harrison Rhodes #, Chevrolet, 124, $23218.
23. (32) Eric McClure, Toyota, 124, $23168.
24. (33) Peyton Sellers #, Chevrolet, 123, $23091.
25. (24) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 122, $23191.
26. (29) Cale Conley #, Toyota, 122, $22965.
27. (35) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 122, $22914.
28. (34) Martin Roy, Chevrolet, 122, $22838.
29. (36) Josh Reaume #, Chevrolet, 121, $22787.
30. (37) Jimmy Weller, Chevrolet, 120, $23037.
31. (27) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Accident, 111, $22682.
32. (40) Mike Harmon, Dodge, 107, $22621.
33. (21) David Starr, Toyota, Accident, 105, $22580.
34. (26) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, Accident, 105, $22559.
35. (28) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 79, $22530.
36. (25) Blake Koch, Toyota, Electrical, 74, $20909.
37. (38) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, Transmission, 32, $19909.
38. (39) Carl Long, Dodge, Vibration, 31, $12909.
39. (31) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 2, $11909.
40. (30) CJ Faison, Toyota, Electrical, 0, $10909.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 132.567 mph.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 53 Mins, 09 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.477 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 26 laps.
Lead Changes: 13 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: J. Logano(i) 1-9; B. Scott 10-15; K. Busch(i) 16-29; B. Scott 30-33; K. Busch(i) 34-42; J. Logano(i) 43-73; P. Menard(i) 74-78; C. Buescher 79-88; A. Almirola(i) 89; J. Logano(i) 90-92; C. Buescher 93-105; J. Logano(i) 106-116; C. Elliott 117-121; K. Busch(i) 122-125.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): J. Logano(i) 4 times for 54 laps; K. Busch(i) 3 times for 27 laps; C. Buescher 2 times for 23 laps; B. Scott 2 times for 10 laps; P. Menard(i) 1 time for 5 laps; C. Elliott 1 time for 5 laps; A. Almirola(i) 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 10 in Points: C. Buescher – 489; T. Dillon – 464; C. Elliott – 454; R. Smith – 434; D. Wallace Jr. # – 428; E. Sadler – 414; B. Scott – 394; R. Reed – 378; B. Gaughan – 378; D. Suarez # – 369.

BROOKLYN, Mich. (June 13, 2015) — In a race that saw action all over the track on Saturday, perhaps the most impressive pass came with four laps remaining in the Great Clips 250 Benefiting Paralyzed Veterans of America.

Kyle Busch chased down Chase Elliott with less than 10 laps remaining to put pressure on the 2014 Series Champion. Busch passed Elliott with four laps remaining and held on for the victory.

It marked Busch’s 71st victory in the NASCAR XFINITY Series

Busch called it a very emotional win on his first trip back in the XFINITY series this year.

“You never know when it’s your last, obviously that’s for sure after Daytona and what happened,” he added. “It is certainly really good to be back in Victory Lane and I can’t say enough about my wife and my family, everyone that pushed me so hard to get me back in the race cars and doing what I love to do.”

Busch had to fight off a number of attacks from a bunch of very competitive cohorts, especially late in the race when he got around Chase Elliott with four laps remaining to win by just under one half second. Kyle Larson ended up third, followed by current series points leader Chris Buescher, Elliott Sadler, Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano, both of whom appeared on the verge of winning late in the race before coming in contact with each other with seven laps remaining.

Harvick had cut down under Logano, then moved up rather unexpectedly, with both drivers brushing the wall and falling to sixth and seventh, respectively, where they would finish. That gave the lead to Elliott, but not for long. Four laps later Busch made a bold move, passing four cars with help from a push by Harvick.

“Our car was really fast and I felt like if we could just get to clean air then we could probably hold everyone off,” Busch explained, “but it was going to be hard to pass that 22 (Logano). Fortunately, Harvick took care of that for us.”

Harvick took full responsibility for the scrape with Logano. “It was totally my fault,” he said.

Logano, who led a race high 54 laps, unhappily agreed with Harvick.

“We were racing for a win here and it just seems like he (Harvick) drove in there pretty hard in trying to slide me,” Logano added. “I drove up in there too and he got loose underneath me and got into my left rear and up we both went into the wall. I was racing hard and he just drove over his head a little bit.”

Next up Sunday is the Quicken Loans 400. Tickets are available by phone at 800-354-1010.