Category: RC XFINITY

Race Central NASCAR XFINITY Series news and information

Chase Elliott Becomes Youngest NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion

It’s just a peachy situation for the entire Elliott family, right?

On Saturday afternoon at Phoenix International Raceway, Chase Elliott started 10th and kept himself solidly in the top-10 throughout the day. He would fall back just outside of the top-10 when he took two left side tires, but would make his way back up through the field after a four-tire change. When the checkered flags were flown, he would be in the fifth spot, but more importantly, ahead of his teammate Regan Smith.

As a result of holding a 52 point lead heading into next weekend’s final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Elliott clinched the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship.

“Just honestly disbelief,” Elliott commented. “I’ve never been apart of anything like this, and just to have the opportunity to work these guys has been a blessing to just be here. I don’t know what to think. I don’t even know how to feel right now. I didn’t know if I was allowed to do a burnout, but I did one anyone. This is pretty cool. I really appreciate Regan and the way he raced me all year.”

Elliott becomes the first rookie to a win championship, as well as the youngest champion at the age of 18 years, 11 months and 18 days. His season has featured three victories, 16 top-fives and 26 top-10s in the 32 races.

“I’m so in disbelief right now that I don’t know what to feel,” Elliott continued. “It’s a true blessing to be here. I really can’t believe it. This is really a testament to everybody that works on this car every week. They always make me a look a heck of a lot better than I am.”

With his father Bill already having won a championship, the Elliott family becomes the fifth father-son duo to be champions.

“A year ago at this time, we had nothing. Everything just came together with NAPA and JRM,” Bill Elliott said. “To have anything, it was a miracle. Then to come into this year and have the year that he has had, it is just unbelievable. I just hope that he keeps his head on straight. He is really good behind the wheel, and knows what he needs from the car. That’s 90 percent of the battle. If he keeps that, he’s going to be great.”

“Unbelievable. I don’t know what to say,” Chase’s mom Cindy commented. “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts –everyone out there. I asked Bill this morning when we got up, I asked him if he imagined that we’d be going to the race track and see our son with a NASCAR championship. Its so great to see his dreams come true.”

The young man is already signed to a developmental contract with Hendrick Motorsports that will see him one day drive in the Sprint Cup Series for Rick Hendrick.

“At this time a year ago, we were trying to figure out what to do – thankfully NAPA came along,” Hendrick said. “Man, what a great young man and a racer that he is.”

Hendrick was asked whether the championship would change plans for Elliott in staying in Nationwide for another year or moving up to Sprint Cup next year. “I think we got another year here so we’ll see,” Hendrick commented.

November 8, 2014
Brad Keselowski Steals Win in Final Restart of DAV 200 Honoring America’s Veterans

Kyle Busch looked to have the race won as he had dominated in leading numerous laps throughout the whole day. He even saw the white flag out of his windshield. Though before he could reach the white flag, the caution would fly due to Alex Bowman running out of fuel. As a result, there would be a green-white-checkered.

The restart would bring forth a battle between Busch and Brad Keselowski, with Keselowski grabbing the lead with a pass to Busch’s inside through turn one. Keselowski would then lead the rest of the way en route to scoring the victory in the DAV 200 Honoring American’s Veterans at Phoenix International Raceway. It marks Keselowski’s 32nd career victory and his fifth win of the 2014 season.

“That was kind of a shame. He had the race won before the yellow came out so I can understand him being upset about it,” Keselowski commented. “We never gave up and the yellow came out and we were able to get to victory lane. I’m really proud of everyone at Team Penske. Way to finish it out for the year! I had a lot of fun driving this car, humbled over the last few years of driving this car. Hopefully we can pull this off tomorrow.”

Kyle Busch would finish second, not scoring his fourth straight victory in a row at Phoenix. For Busch, it’d be another disappointing day with his 24th top 10 of the season. Busch would tell MRN Radio post-race that it’s “pretty pathetic that NASCAR throws these Kyle Busch cautions. It’s old & aggravating.”

After having to get out of the car early last week due to sickness, Elliott Sadler would be feeling much better this weekend en route to finishing third, followed by Ty Dillon and Chase Elliott. As a result of holding a 52 point lead heading into next weekend’s final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Elliott clinched the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series Championship.

“Just honestly disbelief,” Elliott commented. “I’ve never been apart of anything like this, and just to have the opportunity to work these guys has been a blessing to just be here. I don’t know what to think. I don’t even know how to feel right now. I didn’t know if I was allowed to do a burnout, but I did one anyone. This is pretty cool. I really appreciate Regan and the way he raced me all year.”

Elliott becomes the first rookie to a win championship, as well as the youngest champion at the age of 18 years, 11 months and 18 days. With his father Bill already having won a championship, the Elliott family becomes the fifth father-son duo to be champions.

Erik Jones would finish sixth after winning last night’s truck race, followed by Brian Scott, Brendan Guaghan, Trevor Bayne and Regan Smith.

At the beginning of the race, the focus was right front tires as both Brennan Newberry and Landon Cassill suffered a flat tire, resulting in heavy contact with the outside wall.

“I’m fine – I think I am used to it now,” Newberry commented. “I think it’s part of the race track there, it’s real slick in the center. Right off the get go, I think we overused the tire, put too much brake into it and the tire blew. This is my favourite track and unfortunately we’re out of it early, but thankful for the opportunity.”

November 8, 2014
NASCAR Racing Schedule for Phoenix International Raceway

This week NASCAR travels to Phoenix International Raceway. The Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix is the last chance to advance to the Championship Round next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Only four drivers will make it through to compete for the Sprint Cup Championship title.

The Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series will also be on track at Phoenix.

Thursday – November 6:

3-3:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series practice
5:30-7 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series final practice

Friday, November 7:

Noon-1:20 p.m.: Nationwide Series practice – FOX Sports 1
1:30-3 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series practice – FOX Sports 1
3:10-4:20 p.m.: Nationwide Series final practice – FOX Sports 1
4:45 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FOX Sports 1
6:45 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – ESPN2
8:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Lucas Oil 150 (150 laps, 150 miles) FOX Sports 1

Saturday, November 8:

11:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series practice – FOX Sports 2
12:45 p.m.: Nationwide Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FOX Sports 2
2:30-3:20 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series final practice – FOX Sports 2
4 p.m.: Nationwide Series DAV 200-Honoring America’s Veterans (200 laps, 200 miles) – ESPN

Sunday, November 9:

3 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 (312 laps, 312 miles) – ESPN

Press Conference Schedule: (Watch live) on Nascar.com (Post race times approx.)

Thursday – November 6:

4:30 p.m.: Erik Jones and Kyle Busch Motorsports announcement

Friday – November 7:

11:15 a.m.: Kyle Larson
11:30 a.m.: Aric Almirola
Noon: Joey Logano
12:15 p.m.: Ryan Newman
12:30 p.m.: Matt Kenseth
12:45 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson
1:00 p.m.: Kevin Harvick
3:15 p.m.: Carl Edwards
4:30 p.m.: Jeff Gordon
7:45 p.m.: NSCS Post Qualifying Press Conference, plus Brad Keselowski (if not in top three)
10:45 p.m.: NCWTS Post Race Press Conference

Saturday – November 8:

6:15 p.m.: NNS Post Race Press Conference

Sunday – November 9:

6:15 p.m.: NSCS Post Race Press Conference

November 6, 2014
Kyle Busch Scores 100th Career Nationwide Series Victory for Joe Gibbs Racing at Texas

After swapping the lead back and forth with Joey Logano throughout the day, Kyle Busch would lead the final 13 laps en route to scoring the victory in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway. It marks the 70th victory of Busch’s career and his seventh victory of the season. More importantly, though, it marks the 100th career victory for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Nationwide Series.

“It’s obviously a special moment for all the guys at Joe Gibbs Racing. They have worked hard to get this many wins and get these wins,” Busch commented in victory lane. “I’m just glad to be a small part of the effort. It’s a blast to drive these cars.”

For Gibbs, Busch’s victory gives him his ninth victory of the 2014 season as Elliott Sadler and Sam Hornish Jr. also scored a win apiece this season.

“Just proud of Kyle, all these guys and their pit stops,” Coach Joe Gibbs said. “We love this series and love being in it. We took us five years to get one, so we really appreciate this. The Lord has blessed us with a great group of guys to do this.”

Joey Logano would finish second to extend the gap between the No. 22 Penske Ford and the No. 54 Gibbs Toyota in the Nationwide Series Owner’s Standings despite sliding through his pit stall mid-race. It marks his ninth top-10 finish of the 2014 season.

“I was going for pit stall one, but Nationwide pit stall one is actually pit stall two so I just missed it there,” Logano commented. “At least I redeemed myself there. We were fast on the long run, good enough to pass him – but then I got loose and along he came. He was able to gap us a little bit, and made that green flag pit stop able to keep the advantage.”

Ryan Blaney would finish third as he looks toward the full schedule in 2014, followed by Chase Elliott and Matt Kenseth. Elliott now holds a 48-point lead over Regan Smith in the driver’s championship standings with two races remaining. If the 18-year-old can finish in front of Smith at Phoenix International Speedway, he will clinch the championship in his rookie season.

“Just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing over the past couple of weeks,” Elliott said. “When we started out today, we really, really struggled. From the start to the finish, this is probably the best performance that we have had together working as a race team. So big thanks to NAPA, the Nationwide Series and Chevrolet; everyone that makes this possible. We want to get another win before the end of the year so hopefully we can do that at Phoenix.”

Brian Scott finished sixth, followed by Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick, Elliott Sadler and Dakoda Armstrong. Sadler was credited with a ninth place finish, but did not run the full event as he got out of the car under the first caution at lap eight when J.J. Yeley got in the wall due to feeling nauseous and feeling stomach pains. Bowyer qualified the No. 11 car, and would climb behind the wheel under the first caution.

“You never want to get in, especially for someone like Elliott; hate to see him sick like this,” Bowyer said. “The OneMain Financial Toyota was really fast out there. Just got loose out there late in the race.”

Smith would bounce back to finish 11th despite having to make an unscheduled pit stop mid-race due to a loose wheel. Kyle Larson finished 12th despite having to start at the rear of the field due to missing qualifying as a result of failing to get through technical inspection due to rear camber issues. Chris Buescher finished 13th, followed by Dylan Kwasniewski and Ty Dillon.

Championship contender Trevor Bayne did not have the day that he was looking for as he finished 36th after blowing a right front tire and hitting the wall, causing the car to catch fire.

“I’m guessing a tire went down,” Bayne said afterwards. “I haven’t seen anything to know. I don’t know what to do as this was the best Nationwide Series car that we had. it was hauling the mail today, had a lot of speed. We definitely had the car to win but it wasn’t our day today, unfortunately.

“There was no warning. I just wonder why it caught fire, whether due to contact with the wall or blown oil line before. It felt like a tire the whole time. It never happens when you’re running 20th and struggling along; it always happens when you’re running well. I can’t thank my guys for working hard and giving me a good car.”

Team owner Jack Roush said that based on looking over the tire after the wreck, it looked as though the tire “lost its air due to something being run over on the track.” Roush also added that they were “still inconclusive” though as they “haven’t figured out what damage on the tire is from the wreck versus the tire blowing out.”

November 1, 2014
NASCAR Racing Schedule for Texas Motor Speedway

This week NASCAR travels to Texas Motor Speedway for a tripleheader action packed weekend.

All times ET.

Thursday – October 30:

2:00 – 3:00 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice
3:30 – 5:00 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice

Friday – October 31:

Noon-12:50 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series practice – FOX Sports 1
1-2:30 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice – FOX Sports 1
3:15 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FOX Sports 1
4:30-6 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series final practice – ESPN2
6:45 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – ESPN2
8:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series WinStar World Casino and Resort 350 (147 laps – 220.5 miles) – FOX Sports 1

Saturday – November 1:

11-11:50 a.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice – FOX Sports 1
12:15 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FOX Sports 2
2-2:50 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice – FOX Sports 2
3:30 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge (200 laps – 300 miles) – ESPN2

Sunday – November 2:

3 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 (334 laps – 501 miles) – ESPN

PRESS CONFERENCE Schedule: (Watch live) on Nascar.com (Post race times approx.)

Friday – October 31

11:00 a.m.: Joey Logano
11:30 a.m.: Elliott Sadler
Noon: Ryan Newman
12:15 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson
2:45 p.m.: Chase Elliott
3:00 p.m.: Denny Hamlin
7:45 p.m.: NSCS Post Qualifying
10:45 p.m.: NCWTS Post Race

Saturday – November 1

10:30 a.m.: James Buescher
5:45 p.m.: NNS Post Race

Sunday – November 2

1:45 p.m.: Harlem Globetrotters (Grand Marshals) and Texas Rangers pitcher Derek Holland (Honorary Pace Car Driver)
6:45 p.m.: NSCS Post Race

October 30, 2014
Brad Keselowski Earns Nationwide Win at Charlotte

The Drive for the Cure 300 could have had many winners but Brad Keselowski persevered to bring home the trophy. He avoided multiple crashes, aggressive driving and determinedly made his way to the front, passing teammate Ryan Blaney on lap 187 and holding off Kyle Busch to claim his fourth Nationwide win of the season. It was his third win at Charlotte and his 31st career win in the series.

The first caution of the race occurred on the first lap and involved 11 cars. There were seven more cautions before the end of the race. Tire strategy also came into play as Keselowski got four fresh tires for the restart on lap 182 and eventually passed Blaney who had opted for only two tires to gain track position on lap 169.

“Under the yellow (that preceded the final restart), I was confident,” Keselowski stated. “Then he (Blaney) took off in those first five laps, and I went, ‘Uh, oh.’ I wasn’t holding back, and he was driving away, and then the pendulum swung.

“His car seemed to fall off—whether it was the two tires or just the nature of his car, I don’t know—but it came back to us. Yeah, when the yellow was out, I would have definitely said I was very confident, but after those first five laps, it swung back to us.”

When Keselowski was asked ‘What makes this group so special,’ he replied, “It’s the people, whenever you have a successful team, it’s always the people, right? It’s no different here.”

Second place went to Kyle Busch who was coming on aggressively but ran out of laps. Busch already has six wins in the Nationwide Series this year.

“They were faster than us tonight,” Busch said concerning Keselowski’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford. “Just knew that with about 60 (laps) to go that we had a tire advantage over them, and that was going to be the way for us to win the race.”

Third place went to Matt Kenseth who had led the race on and off but not at the right time, Kenseth has no wins as of yet in the Nationwide Series. Blaney took home a respectable fourth place finish, while fifth place went to Kyle Larson, who drove his car every which way except upside down tonight.

Sixth place went to Chris Buescher and seventh place went to Trevor Bayne. Eighth, ninth, and 10^th went consecutively to Chase Elliott (making it his 24th top-10 finish this year), Elliott Sadler and Brian Scott.

The Nationwide Series will head next to Texas Motor Speedway on November 1 for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge.

The top five in points are:

1) Chase Elliott 1106
2) Regan Smith 1064 -42
3) Brian Scott 1045 -61
4) Elliott Sadler 1043 -63
5) Ty Dillon 1045 -64

Complete Finishing Order:

1. Brad Keselowski
2. Kyle Busch
3. Matt Kenseth
4. Ryan Blaney
5. Kyle Larson
6. Chris Buescher
7. Trevor Bayne
8. Chase Elliott
9. Elliott Sadler.
10. Brian Scott
11. Regan Smith
12. Alex Bowman
13. Ryan Sieg
14. Dylan Kwasniewski
15. Ryan Reed.
16. Brendan Gaughan
17. Landon Cassill
18. Mike Bliss
19. Dakoda Armstrong
20. David Starr
21. Ross Chastain
22. Jeremy Clements
23. Kevin Swindell
24. Corey LaJoie
25. Derrike Cope
26. Joey Gase
27. Jamie Dick
28. Chad Boat
29. Carlos Contreras
30. Ty Dillon
31. James Buescher
32. Eric McClure
33. Cale Conley
34. Timmy Hill
35. Jeff Green
36. Matt DiBenedetto
37. Tanner Berryhill
38. Will Kimmel III
39. JJ Yeley
40. Jeffrey Earnhardt

October 10, 2014
NASCAR Racing Schedule for Charlotte Motor Speedway

This weekend the action continues at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Nationwide Series Drive for the Cure 300 Friday evening and the Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500 Saturday night. This is the second event of the three-race Contender Round for the Sprint Cup drivers as the top 12 battle for a win to guarantee their spot in the upcoming Eliminator Round.

All times are ET.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9:

1:30-3 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice
3:30-4:30 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series practice
5:30-6:50 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series final practice – ESPN2
7:20 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – ESPN2

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10:

3-3:50 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice – ESPN2
4:10 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying
5:30-6:50 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice – ESPN2
7:30 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series Drive for the Cure 300 race (200 laps, 300 miles) – ESPN2

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11:

7:30 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500 race (334 laps, 501 miles) – ABC

*Special Events:

Thursday night will feature the ladies of NASCAR in the fourth annual Better Half Dash at 5 p.m. followed later in the evening by the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour Southern Slam 150 race at 8:40 p.m.

Saturday pre-race festivities include a Dale Jr. Pit Party in celebration of his 40^th birthday.

*Thursday, October 9

11:15 a.m. – Noon NWSMT practice
12:30 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.: NWSMT final practice
4:35 p.m.: NWSMT Qualifying (Two Laps) All Positions
5:00 p.m.Approx.: Ladies Race (25 Laps) Timed Event – Better Half Dash
8:40 p.m.Approx.: NWSMT Southern Slam 150 race (150 Laps, 37.5 Miles)

*SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11 – Dale Jr. Pit Party

2:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.: Pit Party coincides with Country Jam on pit road by turn
2:00 p.m. – 3:15: Industry appearances including Richard Childress & Austin Dillon on pit road
3:15 p.m.: Country Jam’s Jimmy Wayne concert
3:45 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.: Appearances including Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray and Jimmie Johnson on pit road

4:15 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.: Country Jam’s Parmalee concert
5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.: Dale Earnhardt Jr. appearance
5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.: Country Jam’s The Band Perry concert

October 9, 2014

Kyle Busch Captures Lady In Blue at Kansas Lottery 300

Kyle Busch took the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway after starting sixth and leading only 34 laps. The turning point came in the closing laps when Busch took command, passing Harvick with 20 laps to go. It was his sixth Nationwide series victory of the year. Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney crossed the line in the follow up spots.

Busch stated, “Great effort by (crew chief) Adam (Stevens) and all the guys on this 54 car. It was really awesome again today and should have won at Chicago just like we did here today. Missed out there, but we just keep doing things right, and you end up in Victory Lane, so you have to have it all match up for you.”

Kevin Harvick finished second and said, “They gave us a good opportunity with strategy there, (but) the 54 was quite a bit better as we got going into the run,” Harvick said. “We could hold him off for a short run, but in the end his car would maintain speed, and ours would slow down. We just got beat there today, but that happens.”

Ryan Blaney who finished third commented on his finish in the Penske Ford, “We started off really good and in the middle of the race we were really good. We had green flag stops and Kevin stayed out because he pitted a little before everybody on that previous caution. That caught everybody a lap down and that put us behind a little bit. Kevin had a fast car. We were just too loose the last run and we didn’t tighten it up enough and the track cooled off a little too much, more than we were prepared for. I couldn’t get in the corner. Not a bad day for us, we just need to adjust a little better.”

Chase Elliott holds on to the points lead despite a 10th place finish and leads Regan Smith by 38 points. Regan Smith crashed in qualifying and had to go to a back up car and struggled all day after being penalized to the rear of the field. He finished in 22nd place.

Ty Dillion had a strong day qualifying on the pole and finishing fifth and is currently third (-40) in the championship points standings, followed by Brian Scott (-57) in fourth and Elliott Sadler in fifth (-60).

The next event for the Nationwide Series will be in Charlotte, on October 10, 2014.

Finishing order of the Kansas Lottery 300:

1	54	Kyle Busch
2	5	Kevin Harvick
3	22	Ryan Blaney
4	33	Paul Menard
5	3	Ty Dillon
6	20	Matt Kenseth
7	11	Elliott Sadler
8	6	Trevor Bayne
9	2	Brian Scott
10	9	Chase Elliott
11	31	Dylan Kwasniewski
12	16	Ryan Reed
13	62	Brendan Gaughan
14	19	Mike Bliss
15	44	David Starr
16	40	Matt DiBenedetto
17	51	Jeremy Clements
18	28	J.J. Yeley
19	14	Eric McClure
20	39	Ryan Sieg
21	99	James Buescher
22	7	Regan Smith
23	70	Derrike Cope
24	87	Jennifer Jo Cobb
25	43	Dakoda Armstrong
26	98	Corey Lajoie
27	55	Jamie Dick
28	60	Chris Buescher
29	4	Jeffrey Earnhardt
30	42	Kyle Larson
31	25	John Wes Townley
32	52	Joey Gase
33	90	Martin Roy
34	01	Landon Cassill
35	72	Carl Long
36	10	Blake Koch
37	93	Kevin Swindell
38	74	Mike Harmon
39	23	Timmy Hill
40	29	Milka Duno

Updated Points Standings as of Kansas:

1	Chase Elliott
2	Regan Smith
3	Ty Dillon
4	Brian Scott
5	Elliott Sadler
6	Trevor Bayne
7	Chris Buescher
8	Brendan Gaughan
9	Ryan Reed
10	James Buescher
11	Dylan Kwasniewski
12	Landon Cassill
13	Dakoda Armstrong
14	Mike Bliss
15	Jeremy Clements
16	Ryan Sieg
17	J.J. Yeley
18	Jeffrey Earnhardt
19	Eric McClure
20	Joey Gase
21	Derrike Cope
22	Matt DiBenedetto
23	Tanner Berryhill
24	Jamie Dick
25	Blake Koch

October 4, 2014

Kyle Busch Scores a Nationwide Fiver at the Monster Mile
Kyle Busch behind the wheel of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, scored his fifth Nationwide season win to take the 29^th Annual Dover 200 at the Monster Mile. And with that fiver, he also broke a tie with Joey Logano to become the all-time win leader at Dover.

“Our day was really good,” Busch said. “We were a little skeptical of it yesterday but the guys did a good job of making adjustments for today.”

“From the start of the green flag, we had a good race,” Busch continued. “I was biding my time early and we missed that first wreck. We were able to pit, get out front and set sail from there.”

“It was nice to put together a good run and hopefully carry that into tomorrow.”

Joey Logano, who led laps early in the race, finished second in his No. 22 Hertz Ford. This was his ninth top-10 finish at Dover and his eighth top-10 finish for the season.

“The first half of the race went perfect and we were able to go out there and lead a lot of laps and be very, very fast,” Logano said. “But as the race went, we put four tires on and lost the lead. Our car was really tight from there on out. I’m not really sure what happened but we will try to figure it out.”

“We just stayed tight there the last run,” Logano continued. “Overall, it’s second but we come here and expect to win. We began the race well but we lost the handle.”

Chase Elliott, in the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, finished third and also was the highest finishing rookie. Elliott did, however have his share of adversity, getting into a wreck early and suffering some damage that hindered his progress forward.

“I’m proud and frustrated at the same time,” Elliott said. “We had a super-fast car from the get-go.”

“We were just biding our time that first run,” Elliott continued. “I made a mistake following those guys way too closely and that was completely my fault. I drove ourselves into a wreck and then we couldn’t get back up to the front.”

“We had a really good car from the drop of the green and the guys did a fantastic job getting it taped back up in a way that the fender wasn’t going to fly apart on us.”

“We tried to battle as hard as we could but it just wasn’t enough.”

Chris Buescher, driving the No. 60 Roush Performance Parts Ford, finished fourth as the second highest finishing rookie.

“That was a lot of fun,” Buescher said. “We were really good on pit road and nice and consistent. Every week you have to get better and our consistency has been there. This is our best finish since Mid-Ohio.”

Elliott Sadler, behind the wheel of the No. 11 SportClips Toyota, rounded out the top five, a position that he had not been in for quite some time.

“It’s been too long for this race team,” Sadler said. “We made a lot of adjustments today. Top five at Dover is the best we’ve ran here.”

Kyle Larson overcame two penalties, one for leaving the pit box with equipment and the other for speeding, came back to finish sixth in his No. 42 Cartwheel by Target Chevrolet.

Another driver that had a world of trouble was Brendan Gaughan. The driver of the No. 62 South Point Chevrolet had a rear suspension issue, sending him to the garage and putting him nine laps down to finish 28th.

With his third place finish, Chase Elliott maintained his lead in the championship point standings, now 26 points ahead of teammate Regan Smith.

The full Nationwide Series results for the Dover 200 are as follows:
1. Kyle Busch
2. Joey Logano
3. Chase Elliott
4. Chris Buescher
5. Elliott Sadler
6. Kyle Larson
7. Brian Scott
8. Regan Smith
9. Trevor Bayne
10. Ty Dillon
11. Cale Conley
12. Justin Boston
13. Aric Almirola
14. Ryan Sieg
15. James Buescher
16. Landon Cassill
17. Dakoda Armstrong
18. Jeremy Clements
19. Alex Bowman
20. Jeffrey Earnhardt
21. Dylan Kwasniewski
22. JJ Yeley
23. Blake Koch
24. Ryan Reed
25. Timmy Hill
26. Jeff Green
27. Joey Gase
28. Brendan Gaughan
29. Mike Bliss
30. Matt DiBenedetto
31. Kevin Lepage
32. Carl Long
33. Kevin Swindell
34. Tanner Berryhill
35. Morgan Shepherd
36. Harrison Rhodes
37. Derrike Cope
38. Jamie Dick
39. Mike Harmon
40. Ryan Ellis
September 27, 2014
NASCAR Racing Schedule for Dover and Las Vegas

Your guide to all the NASCAR on-track activities for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Dover International Speedway this weekend plus the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. All times are ET.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26:
10:00 -10:50 a.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series practice – FOX Sports 1
11:00 a.m.- 12:20 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice – FOX Sports 1
2:00 – 3:20 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series final practice – ESPN2
3:40 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – ESPN2

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27:

11:00 – 11:50 a.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice – FOX Sports 1
Noon – 1:15 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice
12:15 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FOX Sports 2
1:45 – 3:00 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice
2:00 – 2:50 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice – FOX Sports 2
3:30 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series Dover 200 Race (200 laps-200 miles) – ESPN2
6:40 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying
10 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rhino Linings 350 Race (146 laps-219 miles) – FOX Sports 1

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28:

Noon: NASCAR RaceDay – FOX Sports 1
1:00: p.m.: NSCS Countdown – ESPN
2:00 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 Race (400 laps-400 miles) – ESPN

September 26, 2014