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  • Over the Wall with the RCR No. 8 Pit Crew

    Over the Wall with the RCR No. 8 Pit Crew

    This year the All-StarRace Pit Crew Challenge is presented by Mechanix Wear at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The team pit crews play a vital role in every race, but none more so than this weekend.

    The starting lineups for the two heat races on Saturday and the All-Star Open on Sunday will be determined by the Pit Crew Challenge on Friday and the fastest pit crew team will also earn a 100k bonus.

    This is how the pit crew challenge works:

    It will consist of only one driver at a time and no speeding penalties. When the driver reaches one stall away from their designated box, the time begins. Once the driver is in their pit stall, it’s a four-tire stop and no fuel. However, the fuel man will be there with an empty can. After the driver reaches the speed line, which is one pit stall past their box, the timing ends for the stop.

    If there’s any equipment out of the box, or if they go over the wall too soon, there will be a five-second infraction deducted from their time for each violation. If they have a loose wheel, then they’re disqualified. The results of the pit stop time only will determine the starting lineups for both the All-Star Heat Races and All-Star Open.

    I spoke with all five of the pit crewman for the No.8 team of Kyle Busch about today’s All-Star competition to determine how they approach this event.

    MW: As the jackman, you’re leveraging the car for your other teammates to complete the stop together. Do you feel any added pressure during the All-Star pit crew challenge?

    Josh Sobecki: (Jackman) I don’t feel any added pressure. I guess I never really have. It’s a little nerve-racking having everybody watch you during that stop but, it’s also really fun and a great experience. Just have to execute what you already know and you’ll be just fine.

    MW: Are there any advantages with the rules entering and exiting the box that are in your favor?

    Josh Sobecki: The best advantage, we have is Kyle Busch. The man is P1 on and off pit road all the time, so any help is the best. And he always hits his marks well which makes us do our job better as a team.

    MW: Once the jackman has the car up, as a tire changer,  briefly explain your position. 

    Bryan Backus: (Front Tire Changer) Before the car stops, I should be on the lug nut already. Once the jackman gets the car up, the lug should be off. Then I have to pull the tire and roll it back to the wall then switch my button and zip the lug nut back on after the jackman hangs the tire. 

    MW: While passing the tire off to the tire carrier, do you feel any added pressure since this isn’t a normal race pit stop, but a challenge of speed?

    Bryan Backus: I actually never hand the tire off to the carrier because I roll the tire back to the wall. It actually feels like less pressure because we are just going to try and do the fastest stop possible. 

    MW: Coming into today’s All-Star Pit Crew Challenge, how do you mentally prepare for it?

    Marcus Horton: (Rear Tire Changer)

    I mentally prepared for today just like any other race. Easy going. Relaxing. 

    MW: What if anything, do you feel will be the toughest challenge as the rear tire changer?

    Marcus Horton: Getting to the right rear is always my toughest challenge. Depending on where Kyle stops the car makes all the difference for me. 

    MW: On a normal fuel stop,  you feel the weight of the can plus the fuel. Explain how today’s challenge is different.

    Justin White: (Fuel Man)   First off, today will be a lot of fun because Fuelers will get to participate. In years past we had to watch the competition from behind the wall. Having an empty can will feel different from a normal pit stop, but it allows me to be there for my rear changer to help guide the left rear tire coming off back to pit wall as I’m fueling the car.

    MW: In the past, teams have had tires roll away on pit road. Coming into today’s challenge, how do you prepare for this and your role as the tire carrier? 

    Lamar Neal:(Tire Carrier) I always try and prepare myself mentally before any pit stop by doing that, I get to visualize executing each component of my job, setting the tire for the jackman, hanging the tire for the rear changer, and cleaning up anything that is left behind going into the left side. As a carrier, I am depended on to be the cleanup man and that’s what I pride myself in doing.

    The format is unique and to be eligible for the All-Star Race, a driver has to meet one of the following four criteria: They have to be a points race winner in the NASCAR Cup Series in either 2022 or 2023, a former All-Star Race winner, or a NASCAR Cup Series champion, top-two finisher in the All-Star Open, or win the NASCAR Fan Vote.

    Even though Alex Bowman qualified for the race, because of an injury that has him temporarily sidelined, Josh Berry will be piloting the No.48 in the All-Star Open. He will need to finish in first or second place to transfer to the main event. Drivers who are not eligible for the All-Star Race will compete in the All-Star Open, where the top two finishers will advance to the main event. The Fan Vote winner will complete the field. 

    I’d personally like to thank the entire Richard Childress Racing No.8 Cup Series Over the Wall Pit Crew of Kyle Busch as they head into today’s All-Star competition at North Wilkesboro.

    “This one’s for you old buddy !!!! Going to Give ’em hell tonight !!!” – Josh Sobecki 
    jongurley @nascar #allstarpitcrewchallenge @rcrracing

    In loving memory of Jon Gurley 

  • Weekend schedule for Texas

    Weekend schedule for Texas

    NASCAR heads to Texas Motor Speedway for a full weekend of racing culminating with the Cup Series All-Star Race Sunday evening.

    The Camping World Truck Series will headline the on-track action Friday night followed by the Xfinity Series race Saturday afternoon.

    There have been 37 previous All-Star races with 25 different winners. Kevin Harvick (2007, 2015) and Kyle Larson (2019, 2021) lead all active drivers with two wins each. Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano have won the exhibition race once.

    The Xfinity Series has produced seven different winners so far this season. Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, Josh Berry, Brandon Jones and Austin Hill have secured a spot in the Playoffs with 15 races left in the regular season. There are only five open spots remaining before the Playoffs begin.

    Camping World Truck Series drivers Zane Smith (three wins), Chandler Smith, Ben Rhodes and John Hunter Nemechek have locked themselves into the Playoffs. There are eight races remaining in the regular season and six open Playoff spots.

    All times are Eastern.

    All-Star Race Format

    Friday, May 20

    4 p.m.: Truck Series Practice (All Entries) – FS1

    4:30 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – FS1

    6 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – FS1

    6:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – FS1

    8:30 p.m.: Truck Series SpeedyCash.com 220
    Distance: 220.5 miles (147 Laps)
    Stages 35/70/147 Laps = 220.5 Miles
    FS1/MRN/ SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Saturday, May 21

    1:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series SRS Distribution 250 race
    Distance: 250.5 miles (167 Laps)
    Stages 40/80/167 Laps = 250.5 Miles)
    FS1/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    7 p.m.: Cup Series Practice (Combined Open and All-Star) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    7:35 p.m.: Qualifying (Open) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    7:55 p.m.: Qualifying (All-Star) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    8:25 p.m.:  Qualifying – Elimination bracket with mandatory pit stop (All-Star) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Sunday, May 22

    5:30 p.m.: All-Star Open (20/20/10 Laps) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    8 p.m.: All-Star Race (25/25/25/50 Laps) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

  • Schedule, Lineup, Rules for the NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol

    Schedule, Lineup, Rules for the NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol

    For the first time in NASCAR history, the All-Star Race will be held at Bristol Motor Speedway and the action begins Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET with the All-Star Open. Sixteen drivers are locked into the event with the Open providing an opportunity for three more drivers to race their way into the main event.

    The All-Star Open will take place before the All-Star Race and will include three segments. The first two segments are 35 laps each with a final segment of 15 laps.  The winner of each segment will transfer to the All-Star Race along with the driver who wins the fan vote, for a total of 20 drivers.

    After the Open, the fan vote winner will be announced with the All-Star Race set to begin at 8:30 p.m. ET. The All-Star Race will include four segments and 140 laps. Segment one will consist of 55 laps, segments two and three will be 35 laps each with a final segment of 15 laps. Both events will be televised on FS1 with radio coverage by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    In addition to a different venue for this year’s event, we will see some changes to the cars. The car numbers will be shifted backward and closer to the rear wheels to add more room to showcase the sponsors. All of the drivers who are locked into the All-Star Race will also feature underglow lights beneath their vehicles.

    We will also see a new “Choose Rule” for restarts implemented during the Open and the All-Star Race. The rule allows the drivers to choose which lane they want to restart in before the green flag. There will be a designated spot on the track and the driver will have to commit to a lane before that spot. Changing lanes after they pass the designated spot will result in a penalty, sending them to the back of the field.

    Starting Lineup:

    1 Martin Truex Jr.
    2 Alex Bowman
    3 Ryan Blaney
    4 Justin Haley
    5 Kevin Harvick
    6 Matt Kenseth
    7 Kurt Busch
    8 Cole Custer
    9 Brad Keselowski
    10 Kyle Busch
    11 Ryan Newman
    12 Joey Logano
    13 Chase Elliott
    14 Jimmie Johnson
    15 Denny Hamlin
    16 Erik Jones
    17 Winner of Open Stage 1
    18 Winner of Open Stage 2
    19 Winner of Open Stage 3
    20 Fan Vote Winner

  • Larson shines brightest in Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race

    Larson shines brightest in Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race

    By: Charlotte Motor Speedway

    In a race full of stars, Kyle Larson shined brightest in Saturday’s Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    After a stirring drive to the front from the rear of the field, Larson held off Kevin Harvick over the final laps to become the first driver to win the Monster Energy Open and the All-Star Race on the same night. The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet made moves high, low and in the middle to assume the point in the final 15-lap dash for $1 million.

    Harvick reeled in Larson over the final circuits but wasn’t able to make a pass to capture his second consecutive All-Star Race triumph, finishing a scant 0.322 seconds in arrears of Larson – who won in a Monster Energy Cup Series car for the first time since 2017.

    Larson had to sweat out advancing into the All-Star Race, taking a car he believed was the event’s best and having to fight out a win in the final stage of the Monster Energy Open to advance to the big show. From there, Larson quickly asserted himself – moving into seventh before the first stage ended.

    Harvick appeared to be the man to beat for much of the night. His pink, Millennial-themed machine had the measure of the field in the early going before a loose wheel robbed Harvick of track position.

    Amid three- and four-wide battles through the pack and exciting, wheel-to-wheel racing previously reserved for tracks larger than 1.5 miles, the 35th running of the biggest all-star event in sports delivered in spectacular style – particularly for the race winner, whose Victory Lane drought came to an end in lucrative fashion.

    Following Larson and Harvick, who led a race-high 33 laps, Kyle Busch finished third after hitting the wall late in the race. Joey Logano, the 2016 race winner and defending series champion, was fourth. Bubba Wallace – in his first All-Star Race after winning Stage 2 of the Open-ended up fifth in Richard Petty Motorsports’ first All-Star Race since 2015.

    KYLE LARSON, No. 42 Advent Health Chevrolet (Race Winner): “Gosh, after the year we’ve had, I wouldn’t have guessed that we would get our first win at the All-Star Race. But the way the format is and how crazy the race is, it kinda helps us out. We always seem to run good on this weekend, so it just feels like a big relief to finally get a win. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to victory lane in a stock car. After being close to winning this race a couple years ago and then allowing Joey (Logano) to get by, it feels really good to get some redemption. … What makes this race so exciting is the short runs, people are going crazy. Even though it’s a 20-lap run, there’s still a caution or two in each segment because everybody is just going nuts. The restarts were wild.”

    CHAD JOHNSTON, No. 42 Advent Health Chevrolet (Winning Crew Chief): “It was a good time for us. We’ve had a rough year. We’ve had a lot more speed than we’ve shown in points, obviously. We haven’t been able to string together any finishes until as of late. We come off a third-place finish in Dover and a seventh-place finish at Kansas, and with the exception of Phoenix, those are the only races we haven’t had issues. To come here to the All-Star Race and to be able to take home a million dollars is huge for us and hopefully a stake in the ground for a turning point for us.”

    KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Busch Beer Millennial Car Ford (Runner-Up): “That’s how you take the fastest car and don’t win the race with it. We had an incredible Busch Beer Ford. (Crew chief) Rodney (Childers) and the guys on the team did an incredible job. It was unfortunate. The guys did a great job preparing a race car, and we weren’t ready to make a pit stop on pit road tonight. We just need to be ready to race; we’ve done it all year. We just need to show up (and not) have it be a disaster. They’ve been great all year and tonight wasn’t great, that’s for sure. We spotted the whole field and started tail-back with 15 laps to go. Once they get single-file, as soon as they drive in your lane, they’d push up a groove, so you’ve got to go where they aren’t. (Larson) was fast enough to run the bottom, and that’s where I needed to run to really make time.”

    KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Hazelnut Spread Toyota (Third-Place Finisher): “We had a really fast M&Ms Camry. Probably was the only guy to pass for the lead after a given set of laps. On restarts, we couldn’t go anywhere. We just weren’t fast enough, but we had long-run speed. That’s all there is to it.”

  • Clint Bowyer wins pole for All-Star Race at Charlotte

    Clint Bowyer wins pole for All-Star Race at Charlotte

    Clint Bowyer captured the pole for Saturday’s Monster Energy All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was his first pole in the event which features a $1 million prize.

    Qualifying required each participant to complete three qualifying laps with one four-tire pit stop with no pit road speed limit. Bowyer’s best lap time of 136.371 mph and his 14.8-second pit stop in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was enough to earn the top starting position. It will be his 10th All-Star Race.

    “Our Fords are extremely fast, frustrated that we haven’t been able to break into victory lane. We’re poised to do that. I’m telling you, the Stewart-Haas cars have been extremely fast,” Bowyer said. “Kevin (Harvick)  showed his muscle last week in Kansas, had a mishap and didn’t get his win. We’ve been knocking on the door at Richmond and Bristol and Martinsville.

    “With our 14 car, I’m very proud of the job that Buga (Mike Bugarewicz, crew chief) and everybody has been doing. That was the difference tonight. Tonight was all about going fast and getting the most out of three laps and I do love the aspect that you add that pit crew. It gives them a time to shine. My pit crew has been doing a jam-up job all season long and they were a big part of that. I call that a win. That is a victory. That’s something that’s not just a qualifying lap. It’s a total team effort.”

    Kyle Busch, who fell short of the pole in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota by .177 seconds, said, “I thought everything about the lap actually was pretty good. I’m not sure how fast the lap itself was — how fast our car was on the lap.

    “I felt like my progressiveness onto pit road and pit road speed was relatively good, and then the braking point and being able to just chatter the tires all the way into the box was really close. Really on the money there. I thought we got all we could get out of it.”

    Kevin Harvick, Bowyer’s teammate, will start third with his fastest lap time of 136.068 mph as Austin Dillon and Martin Truex Jr. round out the top five.

    Harvick seemed pleased that his qualifying run went smoothly, saying, “I think I could have got a little better in the braking onto pit road was okay, a little better time in the braking and I spun the tires a little bit too much leaving the stall, but in the end you don’t want to make any big mistakes and I think we accomplished that.”

    Of the remaining drivers who have already qualified for the All-Star Race, Ryan Newman will start sixth followed by Erik Jones, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Aric Almirola, Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch.

    Qualifying for the Open was held prior to All-Star qualifying and Richard Childress Racing’s Daniel Hemric won the pole.

    “I said on the radio this is the first box checked for the weekend,” Hemric said. “You’ve got to bring the fastest race car you can, and we’ve done that. Hopefully, we can do our jobs tomorrow and do what we need to do to get in the All-Star race and really have some fun.”

    Fifteen drivers have qualified for the race and another three will join the lineup after the Monster Energy Open which will precede the All-Star Race Saturday night at 6 p.m. ET. The Open will consist of three stages and each stage winner will earn a spot in the All-Star Race. One final driver will be chosen from the Fan Vote, making a total of 19 competitors for the All-Star event.

    This year’s All-Star race is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET Saturday on FS1 and will include four stages of 30, 20 and 20 laps with a final 15-lap shootout.

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

  • The Final Word – The Stars were out at Charlotte, including one Super Nova

    The Final Word – The Stars were out at Charlotte, including one Super Nova

    It was a nice prelude to the All-Star Race in Charlotte on Saturday. First, we had a down and out established team show some life by taking the front row. The pole went to a former champion just a week after he ran his first race of the season. Then we had the Open, with a pair from the new generation advancing, along with a former Open Wheel racer who has spent much of this NASCAR career just sitting on the periphery of those considered to be the true stars of the sport.

    With the Roush-Fenway duo of Matt Kenseth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ready to rumble, joined by Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez, and A.J. Allmendinger, it was time for the spring classic. Even the fans got to determine the field, with 22-year-old Chase Elliott getting their nod for inclusion.

    While the Roush-Fenway lads led at the start, Kevin Harvick did what he has done much of this season thus far. He dominated the opening segment and walked off with it. Did it matter? Not after they had a slow pit stop it did not. That allowed the second best on the season, Kyle Busch, to waltz away with the second segment. Did that matter? Nope, again.

    Things got shook up a tad in the third frame. Stenhouse was squeezed down low when he nudged Martin Truex Jr., who clipped Clint Bowyer, who got into Austin Dillon. Behind them, Truex went sideways and hit the trifecta in claiming the Busch boys, with Kyle on the inside, Kurt on the outside, and Brad Keselowski in the middle.

    No single car dominated that portion of the event until the end. Kyle Larson and Suarez were battling at the front on the final lap, but Harvick was off on his own road trip on the outside. He coasted by Larson. Ditto when it came to Suarez, to claim the top spot in preparation for the 10 green lap dash for the million in cash.

    It was all Harvick, and with two to go, he was gone barring a mishap. The bar came down when Larson squeezed Joey Logano into the fence, while Logano demonstrated a perfect P.I.T. maneuver to send Larson through the grass.

    Two laps left. Harvick in front. Not surprising that the boy was still there when they crossed the line. Suarez and Logano were next, but there was only one check for a million smackers handed out, and that made that one driver a truly Happy man. It marked another reason to celebrate to go with the All-Star suds shaker he had back in his Daytona 500 winning season of 2007.

    They get to come back next week, same track, different format, on a Sunday, and with points on the line. It is the best race day on the planet that opens with the Grand Prix of Monaco, followed by the Indianapolis 500, before they return to Charlotte and the World 600.

    Thank God for the PVR.

  • Kevin Harvick Grabs the $1 Million in All-Star Race Thriller

    Kevin Harvick Grabs the $1 Million in All-Star Race Thriller

    Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service

    CONCORD, N.C. – Kevin Harvick’s answer to NASCAR’s new competition package was the same old song—another victory in a season that already has produced a surfeit of success.

    This time it was Saturday night’s Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with a restrictor-plate limiting the horsepower and a large blade on the rear of the cars providing downforce and maneuverability.

    Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was still the strongest car in the field, and the driver who already has five points wins this season added another in the marquee exhibition race, taking control of the event with an overtime surge at the end of the 20-lap third stage and sealing the victory by outrunning Daniel Suarez in the final two-lap drag race to the finish.

    With lane choice on the final restart, Harvick picked the top lane in front of eventual third-place finisher Joey Logano. The choice paid off, as Logano gave the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford a strong push off the second corner, allowing Harvick to clear the No. 19 Toyota on the backstretch.

    “I thought on that last restart that my best opportunity was Logano,” Harvick acknowledged. “He’s one of the best on the restarts. I knew he would work with me as good as possible because that’s just the way that most of us do it from Ford. We were able to just stay even through (Turns) 1 and 2, and I really thought once we got to the backstretch we could clear him.

    I didn’t want to be on the bottom. I didn’t feel my car was stable enough to be under someone when they were on my right side. I had to take my lumps through 1 and 2 and hope that the guy behind me was still with me when we got to the exit of 2, and we were able to win.”

    The third-stage victory also proved critical. In the second attempt at overtime, Harvick passed Kyle Larson for the top spot and held on to win the stage. That gave him lane choice for the final stage, and he never relinquished the lead.

    “We needed to be in control of the race to have a chance at winning,” Harvick said. “If we were third or fourth, we would have been in big trouble. We needed to be on the front row with clean air, because that was the only chance our car would handle good enough. It was so fast.”

    Harvick picked up his second victory in the All-Star Race, the first won coming in 2007. The winner of the previous two points races, at Dover and Kansas, Harvick didn’t earn championship points for his victory at Charlotte, but he did claim the $1-million prize that goes to the winner. 

    Leading every lap of the final 10-lap segment of the scheduled 80-lap event, Harvick crossed the finish line .325 seconds ahead of Suarez, who came close to clearing Harvick off the second corner after the final restart but didn’t have enough room to slide up in front of the No. 4.

    Denny Hamlin was fourth, followed by Chase Elliott, who earned the last spot in the 21-car main event via the Fan Vote. Jimmy Johnson, Kyle Larson, AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne completed the top 10. Kahne rallied from four laps down after contact with the frontstretch wall on Lap 56.

    Suarez got a push from Hamlin on the final restart, but the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates didn’t stay connected as long as Harvick and Logano did.

    “The 11 (Hamlin) was doing a very good job as much as he could to push me,” Suarez said. “For whatever reason, he just disconnected a little bit, and I couldn’t keep the run with the 4 (Harvick) and the 22 (Logano).

    “They stayed connected for the entire corner, and after that I knew it was going to be tough. After that, I started just playing defense. I tried to slow them down, and I just didn’t do a good job or I just couldn’t do it enough.”

    A six-car wreck that started near the apex of Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 75—during the first attempt at overtime at the end of Stage 3—eliminated the strong cars of Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski, both of whom led laps in the event.

    Truex entered the corner four-wide with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. below him, Clint Bowyer to his outside at Kurt Busch at the top of the track. Contact with Stenhouse’s Ford sent Truex’s Toyota up the track into Bowyer’s Ford, trapping Busch against the outside wall. Kyle Busch’s Camry also sustained damage in the wreck.

    “We had a really strong race car and felt like we maybe had a shot to win it,” Truex said. “Just four-wide going into (Turn) 3 there, and we all just ran out of room. The 17 (Stenhouse), I had him squeezed down so low, I just don’t know that he could hold it down there.

    “I was trying to keep the 14 (Bowyer) to my outside and just one those deals at the end of the race. I knew we had to get through that green-white-checkered to have a shot to win, but I also knew if I lifted there, I would have been the only one that lifted, and the others would have went on and passed me, and we wouldn’t have won this thing.”

    Fans got their first look at the new competition package in the Monster Energy Open, which produced scintillating racing and multiple lead changes in each of the three stages. Race winner Allmendinger advanced to the main event, along with Stage 1 winner Alex Bowman and Stage 2 winner Suarez, who fell one spot short of the rare feat of winning the All-Star Race after transferring from the Open.

    Notes: Harvick led the final 25 laps of the first stage. All told, he led 36 of the 93 laps (with the race extended 13 laps by the Stage 3 overtimes)… Kyle Busch led the final 19 laps of Stage 2 as the only driver other than Harvick to take a checkered flag on Saturday… Harvick’s pit crew climbed the frontstretch catch fence en masse after the victory… Truex led three times for 17 laps before being wiped out in the Lap 75 wreck.

    Full race results

  • Hot 20 – If Dover is such a boring track to watch a race, why is Jimmie Johnson so excited?

    Hot 20 – If Dover is such a boring track to watch a race, why is Jimmie Johnson so excited?

    Some things are just not like the others. May featured the World 600 and the All-Star race at Charlotte, the spring derby at Talladega, events a fellow can get excited about. This week. Dover.

    Maybe Jimmie Johnson will stall on the re-start like he did last spring. That caused one hell of a mess. No, it was not racing, but it sure was not boring. It was not boring when Carl Edwards bounced off the infield wall. At the end, Kyle Larson kept Matt Kenseth honest right to the stripe, as the veteran claimed the victory. That was not a boring finish.

    Miles the Monster is not boring. He is big, and the trophy is cool as it holds a model of the winning car in its big mitt. The Monster Mile was once known as White Lightning, but I am thinking that Miles is a bit of a Teetotaler. Come to think of it, so are Donald Trump and Kathy Griffin. Why that fun fact amuses me as much as it does, I do not know.

    They have raced 94 times at Dover since the first Cup event in 1969. Richard Petty won the first two, three of the first four, and is tied with Bobby Allison with seven victories. That is good enough for second best.

    Among active drivers, Kenseth and Ryan Newman have won three apiece but they are a long ways away from the top gun. Remember that guy who jammed things up last year? Johnson has won 10 in 30 attempts. That is a pretty good average. I wonder who the favorite might be?

    It would seem our seven-time Cup champion just likes collecting the more unusual trophies. Ten Monsters to go with his nine Martinsville grandfather clocks. Say what you might about the one-mile track in Delaware or the driver who dominates it, but I think we can agree that there is a trophy room out there that is anything but boring.

    Like Austin Dillon, Johnson is among our Hot 20 with a Chase in his future.

    1. MARTIN TRUEX JR – 2 WINS – 491 PTS
    First in points, tied for first in wins. What do you think of Furniture Row now?

    2. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 2 WINS – 409 PTS
    Dreams of lasting a tad longer this Sunday than he did in the race last week.

    3. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 2 WINS – 359 PTS
    The gatekeeper of the room with Monsters and Grandfather Clocks.

    4. KYLE LARSON – 1 WIN – 486 PTS
    Monaco is too far away to attempt a Triple but has dreams of a Memorial Day Weekend Double.

    5. RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – 1 WIN – 298 PTS
    Like Happy and Rowdy, he has an attractive better half, but he also has something they do not.

    6. KURT BUSCH – 1 WIN – 290 PTS
    With his Daytona 500 win and three of the past four a Top Ten, it is good to be Kurt.

    7. RYAN NEWMAN – 1 WIN – 266 PTS
    When a veteran looks you in the eye and says you are who they fight for, that has an impact.

    8. AUSTIN DILLON – 1 WIN – 238 PTS
    Points? Who needs stinkin’ points when you get a win at Charlotte?

    9. KEVIN HARVICK – 388 PTS
    The buck stops with the crew chief, as Childers loses $10,000 for Charlotte’s loose lug nut.

    10. KYLE BUSCH – 386 PTS
    Hates to lose, be it 38th at Daytona or 2nd at Charlotte. He won’t be a happy camper.

    11. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 385 PTS
    All of his wins have come on just four marquee tracks, and this is not one of them.

    12. CHASE ELLIOTT – 362 PTS
    Keselowski saved mechanics a ton of time last week, removing any thought of making repairs.

    13. CLINT BOWYER – 343 PTS
    Solution to a front end that just would not turn last weekend. Clydesdales. Just a thought.

    14. JOEY LOGANO – 336 PTS (1 WIN*)
    Win at Kansas was encumbered, meaning it means nothing when it comes to Chase eligibility.

    15. DENNY HAMLIN – 332 PTS
    One very bad day away from being in danger of losing his contender status.

    16. RYAN BLANEY – 308 PTS
    One very good day away from potentially putting Hamlin in that position.

    17. MATT KENSETH – 288 PTS
    A repeat of last year’s spring edition would be just fine with him.

    18. TREVOR BAYNE – 271 PTS
    Doing enough to stay on this list, but not enough to challenge for a title.

    19. ERIK JONES – 256 PTS
    Just turned 21 this week. I turned 21 in 1977. I win!

    20. DANIEL SUAREZ – 246 PTS
    Five straight in the Top 20, three of the last four in the top dozen. There is still time.

  • Kyle Busch Wins All-Star $1 Million Prize at Charlotte

    Kyle Busch Wins All-Star $1 Million Prize at Charlotte

    Kyle Busch captured his first ever NASCAR Cup Series win at Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday night, winning the Monster Energy All-Star race and the $1 million prize.

    Busch was lined up in second beside Brad Keselowski to begin the final 10-lap shootout but quickly grabbed the lead and never looked back. He led all 10 laps on his drive to victory lane, becoming the 23rd different driver to win the event in its 33-race history.

    “We’ve never won at Charlotte in a Cup car and we finally achieved that goal tonight,” an ecstatic Busch said after the race. “I won the All-Star Race. I won a million bucks. There’s reason to celebrate and reason to celebrate big.

    “I can’t say enough about this team. I can’t say enough about (crew chief) Adam Stevens and these guys on the pit box. You can rely on them all day long. I had to do that tonight. We weren’t quite the fastest car, but we made the right changes when it mattered most. We made the right moves when it mattered most. We got the most out of our night tonight and got here to Victory Lane; just so relieved, elated, proud and excited, all at the same time.”

    Kyle Larson won the first two stages of the All-Star race and led all of the 40-combined laps, but finished in second place after losing three positions during the final pit stop.

    “My pit crew has been awesome all year, and I don’t want to take anything away from them,” Larson said after the race. “We came down pit road the leader, and three people passed us. That was pretty much the difference there. But in 10 laps, track position is huge. We just didn’t have it there at the end. We had the best car out there, for sure. In traffic, I thought it was really good. I thought we had it most of the race but that’s how racing goes. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. But I think we had a really fast car today. We’ll go onto the 600, that’s a long race, and try it again.”

    Jimmie Johnson, the third stage winner, had to settle for third place.

    “I was really hopeful of old tires and being on the bottom,” Johnson said. “They’d be able to hold that lane back, especially Kyle (Busch) and how good he is on restarts. And it just didn’t happen. He got in there. I had a decent start. The 11 (Denny Hamlin) spun his tires behind me, and he wasn’t able to push me and get me going.

    “I had a couple of shots at him (Busch). He wasn’t handling too well at the start of the run, but I just drove too hard. I could see a million dollars out the windshield, and I just drove this Lowe’s Chevy way too hard in the corner a couple of times and gave up some ground. We learned a little bit tonight and we’ll come back next week (for the Coca-Cola 600) and have some more fun.”

    Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top five finishers. Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Keselowski and Denny Hamlin finished in sixth through 10th, respectively.

    All of the participating teams had the option of using one set of softer tires at some point during the race but it proved to be a non-factor, outweighed by the advantage of clean air which made passing the leader next to impossible.

    Matt Kenseth’s race ended early with an oil leak after Stage 1 and finished in last place (20th). Ryan Newman made contact with Hamlin in Stage 3 and was unable to continue, finishing 19th.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. struggled with the handling of his car all night, resulting in an 18th place finish.

    The All-Star Open that preceded the All-Star race gave three drivers the opportunity to transfer into the main event. Clint Bowyer won the first stage, Ryan Blaney took the second stage and Daniel Suarez won The Open. Chase Elliott was voted into the All-Star race by winning the fan vote and was the only one of the four to finish in the top 10, placing seventh.

    Complete Race Results

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  • Regan Smith Will Sub for Aric Almirola in Monster Energy Open in Charlotte

    Regan Smith Will Sub for Aric Almirola in Monster Energy Open in Charlotte

    Richard Petty Motorsports announced Wednesday that Regan Smith will drive the No. 43 Smithfield Ford in this weekend’s Monster Energy Open Race, replacing the injured Aric Almirola. The Open event offers three transfer spots into the Monster Energy All-Star race Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    Smith is a former Cup driver with one win and 13 top 10s in 211 Cup Series starts and six wins in the XFINITY Series. He currently competes in the Camping World Truck Series for Ricky Benton Racing. It is not known if Smith will fill in beyond this weekend but he has proven to be a preferred substitute in the past for several drivers including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson.

    RPM will hold a press conference Friday at 11 a.m. at Charlotte Motor Speedway with Almirola to provide an update on his injury and a recovery outlook. It will be streamed live on NASCAR.com.

    Almirola was injured during the Go Bowling 400 at Kansas Speedway, Saturday, May 13, suffering a compression fracture of the T5 vertebra after a collision with the cars of Joey Logano and Danica Patrick. The accident began with a parts failure on Logano’s Team Penske car which caused him to swerve and make contact with Patrick’s Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. Almirola was unable to avoid the wreck and slid into them, lifting the rear wheels of his car before it slammed back onto the racing surface. Emergency workers had to cut away the roof of his car to safely extract Almirola.

    If Almirola is unable to compete in every regular season race, he will need a waiver from NASCAR to be eligible for the playoffs this season. He would also need to win a race as well as finish in the top 30 by the end of the regular season. Almirola is presently 23rd in the Cup Series standings.

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