Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Brandon Jones

  • Brandon Jones takes the win at Phoenix Raceway

    Brandon Jones takes the win at Phoenix Raceway

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series raced at sunny Phoenix Raceway in the LS Tractor 200. NASCAR Cup regulars Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski joined the Xfinity drivers for the race. With Busch’s record many assumed that he would lead the race and it would be boring. It was anything but, especially for Brandon Jones who passed Busch in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, with 20 laps to go for the lead and the win.

    This is Jones’s second career win and first for this season. It also is the 500th victory for Toyota in NASCAR’s top three national series.

    I can’t believe he (Busch) left the bottom open. We’re so strong on the top lane.” Jones said, “ Toyota is the manufacturer to be with, I love those guys so much, it’s like a family working with them.” He added, “Coach Gibbs is great, life is good. We’re going to work hard and we’re going to get big results because of it.”

    Stage 1 only saw one caution for a minor incident with Ray Black Jr. Busch and Cindric had a great battle for the lead swapping it back and forth but on the last lap Justin Allgaeir swept in and took the Stage 1 win.

    Stage 2 also only had one minor caution. Allgaier was strong and ran out front for several laps until Busch took the lead over on Lap 75. It looked like Busch was going to win this stage but on the last lap Noah Gragson snuck in there to take the stage win.

    Stage 3 is where all the action happened. There were three cautions, only one of which involved more than one car, none had serious damage. There was a lot of great side by side racing. On Lap 47 Busch was back on top again and looked like he would cruise to the finish, only Jones’ car was getting bigger in his mirror. On Lap 20 Busch left the bottom open and that was all Jones needed to take the lead and the checkered flags. Last weeks’ winner Harrison Burton was also able to get his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota past Busch for second place, while Busch finished third in his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Driver Dillon Bassett was upset with Brandon Brown and met him on pit road but before he could get out of the car Bassett reached in and a small fight ensued. Needless to say, both of them and their crew chiefs got called to meet with NASCAR.

    Keselowski and Haley rounded out the top five. Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, and Riley Herbst finished sixth through 10, respectively.

    Burton is in the points lead with 176 points over Briscoe who has 173 points.

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads next to Atlanta Motor Speedway.

  • Brandon Jones breaks through for first career Xfinity win at Kansas

    Brandon Jones breaks through for first career Xfinity win at Kansas

    Kansas City, KS – Brandon Jones scored his first career Xfinity Series win today after race leaders Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell took each other out late in the race. Jones took the lead on Lap 191, never looked back and went on to win at Kansas for the first time.

    “This is incredible,” Jones said. “I knew this was going to happen – that we were going to come here and have an amazing run like we did today. It’s only because of those guys here. They have fought with me for a long time and this feels way better because it has been tough to get to this point. Everyone that has been a part of my career to this point – Flow was on today, a new sponsor with us, we have had Menards in the past, iK9, Toyota, for all they do. I don’t think I could have done this without the manufacturer. I wish my parents were here. They have been through a bunch of wins with me. All in all, I cannot wait to celebrate with these guys.”

    Qualifying was held prior to the race and playoff driver Christopher Bell captured the pole. The stages were 45/45/110 laps to make up the 200-lap race that began the Round of 8 for the Xfinity Series Playoffs.

    Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 45

    It wasn’t all Brandon Jones when the race began. In fact, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Bell had the best car of anyone for Stage 1. However, playoff driver Austin Cindric had his troubles early. Cindric bounced off the wall a couple of times and had to come down pit road on Lap 36. Tyler Reddick also slightly scraped the wall just 10 laps before Cindric did. Ryan Truex who was making his final Xfinity start of the year blew up early and finished last.

    There were no cautions during the first stage and it remained green the whole way. Bell led all 47 laps to win Stage 1 followed by Cole Custer, Noah Gragson, Reddick, Justin Allgaier, Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe, Jones, John Hunter Nemechek and Michael Annett rounded out the top-10 finishers.

    Stage 2: Lap 51- Lap 90

    While Stage 1 did not see much action, the intensity picked up for Stage 2. Custer took the lead on Lap 64 after slight contact with Bell in Turn 1. The third caution flew on Lap 71 for the No. 18 of Harrison Burton after contact with Cindric in Turn 4. The contact was major enough that Burton had to go to the garage and wound up a disappointing 34th.

    Numerous drivers also had incidents in this stage. Cindric continued to have his own problems making slight contact with Nemechek and then having a flat tire, causing him to pit on Lap 79 to fix the damage. The Team Penske driver was back on pit road again on Lap 87 for another flat tire.

    Custer took the lead on Lap 62 and for the final time in Stage 2 on Lap 75. Then the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing driver went on to take the stage win that ended on Lap 90. Bell, Reddick, Allgaier, Briscoe, Gragson, Annett, Chastain, Jones and Justin Haley completed the top-10 finishers in Stage 2.

    Stage 3: Lap 96- Lap 200

    The lead was swapped between Bell and Custer once more before Custer went on to lead from Lap 102 to Lap 151. Then Chase Briscoe came into the mix and took the lead on Lap 152. At this point in the race, Briscoe was the dominant car. Even two cautions for Michael Annett on Lap 146 wouldn’t slow him down.

    Under that caution, the race leaders came down pit road but Annett stayed out to assume the lead. However, the strategy didn’t quite work out for the JR Motorsports driver as he would fall back quickly and Briscoe took the lead once again.

    A major turning point in the race happened for the leaders on Lap 185. Briscoe and Bell came up on a lap car off Turn 4 and made contact with each other. Both Bell and Briscoe had heavy damage with Bell spinning in the grass. Another caution was also seen with just a few laps left between Noah Gragson and Joey Gase in Turn 1.

    Then enter Jones who had never won a NASCAR Xfinity Series race in his career. But, the caution set up a late-race restart that saw Jones on the front row. He took the lead with just 10 laps left and scored his first career Xfinity Series victory in his 134th career start.

    “I had a conversation with my dad before this weekend. Dover was a big hit to the head, not even making a lap at that track,” Jones added. “I said to myself, you watch, we’re going to come to this race or even Texas, I know it’s a great track for me as well. We’re going to win one of these races and have a shot to go to Homestead. It doesn’t matter though. This is what we’re trying to do every single week is win these races and run consistent, not have bad things happen to us. It’s unfortunate, but it still shows if we go back and look, we could have made it there. I know the ability is there and the drive is there.”

    Jones led one time for 10 laps en route to his first career Xfinity Series victory. There were eight cautions for 41 laps and 12 lead changes among five different drivers.

    Points Standings

    1. Christopher Bell
    2. Cole Custer, -11
    3. Tyler Reddick, -12
    4. Justin Allgaier, -47
    5. Chase Briscoe, -49
    6. Michael Annett, -59
    7. Noah Gragson, -64
    8. Austin Cindric, -77

    Official Results

    1. Brandon Jones, led 10 laps
    2. Tyler Reddick
    3. Chase Briscoe, led 33 laps
    4. Michael Annett
    5. Justin Allgaier
    6. Jeremy Clements
    7. Justin Haley
    8. John Hunter Nemechek
    9. Ryan Sieg
    10. Ross Chastain
    11. Cole Custer
    12. Christopher Bell, won Stage 1 led 69 laps
    13. Noah Gragson
    14. Ray Black Jr.
    15. Alex Labbe, one lap down
    16. Dillon Bassett, one lap down
    17. Gray Gaulding, one lap down
    18. Brandon Brown, three laps down
    19. B.J. McLeod, three laps down
    20. Matt Mills, three laps down
    21. Josh Williams, three laps down
    22. Kyle Weatherman, four laps down
    23. David Starr, four laps down
    24. C.J. McLaughlin, five laps down
    25. Austin Cindric, six laps down
    26. Chad Finchum, six laps down
    27. Stephen Leicht, six laps down
    28. Tyler Matthews, six laps down
    29. Josh Bilicki, six laps down
    30. Vinnie Miller, six laps down
    31. Bobby Earnhardt, eight laps down
    32. Joey Gase, 16 laps down
    33. Garrett Smithley, OUT, Accident
    34. Harrison Burton, OUT, Accident
    35. Bayley Currey, OUT, Suspension
    36. Landon Cassill, OUT, Vibration
    37. J.J. Yeley, OUT, Electrical
    38. Ryan Truex, OUT, Engine

    Up Next: The NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers take one week off before continuing their Round of 8 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, November 2.

  • Brandon Jones rebounds to top-10 finish at Indy

    Brandon Jones rebounds to top-10 finish at Indy

    It was a whirlwind of a day for Brandon Jones and his No. 19 IK9 Toyota. Jones qualified on the outside pole on Saturday to give him great starting track position.

    The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was able to take the lead early, leading eight laps and winning the first stage. This would be the only the time Jones led the race. However he would remain consistent in the second stage and finished fifth.

    A big moment came for Jones on Lap 89 of 100, as the No. 22 of Austin Cindric would make contact with him sending Jones up the track in Turn 3. Jones had some damage to his No. 19 but the team was able to get back on track.

    “These guys at First Foundation and IK9 volunteers for their fight dogs, so I may have one for them after this race,” Jones said to PRN Radio. “It was just a racing deal, I held him (Cindric) fairly tight going into (Turn) 3 but also his job to control his car as well, so I’m putting it on him a little bit. All in all, Toyotas were really fast this afternoon and yesterday in practice, even qualifying we were 1-2-3.”

    Jones was able to rebound for a sixth-place finish in what would be his 12th top-10 finish of the season.

    “So that’s something to be proud of, I think our car was definitely the one to win the race. To fight back to sixth like that, I think that’s pretty impressive, so I was really proud of my guys all day today. They always stay behind me every race no matter what happens, so I wouldn’t want to be with any other team than I am right now.”

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Kentucky

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Kentucky

    After a week off for the Fourth of July holiday, the real fireworks get back on track Thursday night for the Buckle Up in Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway.

    The Truck Series was at Chicagoland Speedway two weeks ago where we saw last year’s champion take home the trophy. It was Moffitt’s second win of the 2019 season, which occurred on the 1.5-mile speedway, the same as Kentucky.

    The Playoffs continue to be on the horizon and with five races left, there are some drivers who continue to be winless in the series. Believe it or not, only four series regulars have taken home a trophy. Other than Moffitt, Austin Hill won at Daytona and Johnny Sauter won at Dover. Ross Chastain had victories at Kansas and Gateway but sits 10 points out of the top-20. Chastain should easily make it into the Playoffs, but we’ve seen crazier things happen.

    Despite only having four series regulars winning this year, there are other big names who have not won yet. Those include series points leader Grant Enfinger, Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes, Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland and Sheldon Creed, who are all on the outside looking in. With that said, however, those names could break through at Kentucky this Thursday night.

    There are currently 34 Trucks entered on the preliminary entry list for 32 spots.

    Here are five drivers to keep an eye on in Thursday night’s Buckle Up in Your Truck 225.

    1. Matt Crafton – Kentucky could be the place where Crafton breaks his long two-year winless streak. He is the most experienced driver with the most active starts at 20, ever since the first race here in 2001. The No. 88 ThorSport Racing driver has just one win here that occurred in 2015 when he started on the pole and led 43 laps that night. Otherwise, he has six top fives and 15 top-10 finishes with one DNF. Crafton’s average finish is 9.9 with 79 laps led overall. The Tulare, California driver has finishes of third in 2018, eighth in 2017 and 2016, a win in 2015 and sixth in 2014. He doesn’t have any stage wins, but Crafton finished sixth in Stage 1 and ninth in Stage 2 in the 2018 race. Keep an eye on the No. 88 Menards driver who hopes to snap his winless streak Thursday night.

    2. Ben Rhodes – The ThorSport train continues with Ben Rhodes. Rhodes is the previous race winner at Kentucky after leading 38 laps last year. It was a hometown win for Rhodes, as he resides in Louisville, Kentucky just 57 minutes away from Kentucky Speedway. However, prior to his win, Kentucky Speedway had not been too kind to Rhodes. He crashed out of the race in 2017, finishing 27th, and finished 13th in his first race in 2016. The Kentucky native has an average finish of 13.7 with an average start of 5.7. It will mark one year since Rhodes has not won a race in the Truck Series. He currently sits somewhat comfortable in the standings, in fifth, 98 points behind first. He’ll need a win or a finish in the top 10, or top five, to contend in the Playoffs.

    3. Stewart Friesen – Speaking of being close to winning, Friesen has a decent chance of getting his first win Thursday night. He finished second to Rhodes in last year’s race after leading 37 laps. He has Stage finishes of seventh and fourth in the 2018 race, but no stage top-10 finishes in 2017. The Canadian finished 12th in his first outing two years ago. Look for Friesen and his No. 52 Halmar Racing team to be a contender in Thursday night’s race at Kentucky.

    4. Brandon Jones – The Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series regular returns to the famed No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports truck this week. The Atlanta, Georgia native has four starts at Kentucky Speedway and has finished in the top-10 in every start since 2015. Jones has had great results with a best finish of second in 2017. His other finishes include fourth in 2018, seventh in 2016 and 10th in 2015, which equal an average finish of 5.8. The No. 51 truck has not seen victory lane since Texas last month when Greg Biffle earned a popular victory. At Kentucky, the truck has not been to victory lane since 2014 when team owner Kyle Busch brought it to victory lane. Jones will try to put that No. 51 truck back in the winner circle this weekend.

    5. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland has just one start which came in last year’s race. The No. 4 KBM driver finished seventh after starting second and led just one lap. Gilliland has a stage finish of third and sixth in both stages that came in the 2018 race.

    Other drivers on the entry list include Codie Rohrbaugh in the No. 9, Spencer Davis in the No. 11, Dylan Lupton in the No. 15, Tyler Ankrum in the No. 17 and Brennan Poole returns with his No. 30 machine. Josh Bilicki will compete in the No. 34, Chad Finley returns to the track in the No. 42, Jeb Burton in the No. 44, Ray Ciccarelli in the No. 49, Tyler Hill in the No. 56 and Clay Greenfield in the No. 68.

    Ben Rhodes and Noah Gragson are the only stage winners since 2017.

    Kentucky Speedway has seen 21 races and counting since their first race back in 2000. A list of winners include Greg Biffle who won the first race 19 years ago, Scott Riggs, Mike Bliss, Carl Edwards, Bobby Hamilton, Dennis Setzer, Ron Hornaday Jr (2006, 2009, 2011), Mike Skinner, Johnny Benson Jr, Todd Bodine, James Buescher (2012 and 2013), Ty Dillon, Kyle Busch, William Byron and Christopher Bell.

    The race winner has come from the pole three times set by Matt Crafton in 2015, Kyle Busch in 2014 and Ron Hornaday Jr in 2009. The lowest a race winner has ever come from was 22nd by Ty Dillon in 2013 and Hornaday Jr in 2006.

    It will be an all-day show for the Truck Series with first practice at 9:35 a.m. ET and final practice at 11:05 a.m. ET with no TV coverage. Qualifying is scheduled to take place at 4:05 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1.

    The Buckle Up in Your Truck 225 can be seen live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio with the green flag flying shortly after 7:30 p.m. ET. Stages will be broken up into 35/70/150 laps to make up the 225-mile race.

  • Four Takeaways: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series-Chicago

    Four Takeaways: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series-Chicago

    Chicagoland Speedway hosted the 12th race of the 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series season Friday night and saw a familiar winner back in victory lane.

    The Camping World 225 was a relatively quick, and for the most part, a caution free race. The race lasted about one hour and 49 minutes with five cautions for 27 laps. There were three incidents during the race; Jordan Anderson spun off Turn 4, Natalie Decker was nudged by Todd Gilliland off Turn 4 and Austin Wayne Self, Spencer Davis and Grant Enfinger were involved in an accident off Turn 4 as well.

    The percentage under caution and green flag were about equal, with 18 percent run under caution, as race fans saw 20.5 laps under the green flag. There were seven leaders that made 12 lead changes among Austin Hill, Grant Enfinger, Brandon Jones, Camden Murphy, Brett Moffitt, Sheldon Creed and Spencer Boyd.

    Despite those lead changes, Moffitt was able to pick up his second win of the 2019 Truck Series season and the ninth win of his career.

    With that said, here are this week’s Four Takeaways from the Camping World 225.

    1. Moffitt Wins In Unsponsored Truck – Quite possibly one of the more newsworthy items following the race was Moffitt winning in an unsponsored truck at Chicago. It’s the first time this season that Moffitt was not sponsored. While there may or may not be concerns in the GMS Racing camp about sponsorship, Spencer Gallagher noted on Friday night, “the statement is that the winning race truck is available for sponsorship to those organizations that want to be a member of a winning team and a future championship team, I believe.” Hopefully, it’s the only time Moffitt is not sponsored in a race and the team picks up more sponsors for the rest of the season. Nonetheless, it will be an interesting story to follow throughout the season.

    2. Kyle Busch Motorsports Has Solid Outing – KBM was able to place all their trucks in the top-10 in Friday night’s race. Brandon Jones was the highest finisher placing second, Harrison Burton was fourth and Todd Gilliland rounded out the KBM team finishing order in sixth. Jones and Burton were able to place themselves in the top-10 during the stages, while Gilliland did not. However, it was just what Burton and Gilliland needed after facing some criticism this season. Although, both will need a win soon as the Playoffs are on the horizon as Burton sits sixth in the standings while Gilliland is eighth and neither have any wins. They could race their way in on points. However, as it stands right now, Sauter, Hill and Moffitt all have wins, while Enfinger, Friesen, Crafton and Rhodes do not. When the points reset for the Playoffs, Sauter, Hill and Moffitt will be on top of the points standings and everyone else will move down a spot. This will more than likely leave someone that is highly competitive out of the Playoffs.

    3. ThorSport Racing Struggles – While one team enjoyed success, another team struggled to place their trucks in the top-10. After having such a solid season early on and leading up to Chicago’s race Friday night, it was a forgettable night for the Sandusky, Ohio based team. The night went from bad to worse when Ben Rhodes, who qualified 17th, blew up on the first lap of the race before getting into the turn. Due to the engine issue, Rhodes wound up with a last-place finish. It was the first last-place finish of his career for the Louisville, Kentucky native. More issues arose for his teammate Johnny Sauter. Sauter began experiencing the same thing in both of the stages. The No. 13 team believed it was a spark plug wire issue but never could figure out the exact cause. This left Sauter with a disappointing 18th place finish after qualifying second. For Enfinger, it looked like he was going to earn his first race win of the season. He qualified fifth, finished second in Stage 1 after getting passed on the last lap and won the second stage. The Alabama native led 49 laps only to finish 16th. Matt Crafton was the only ThorSport driver in the top-10 finishing eighth. It was a forgettable night for ThorSport Racing who will probably use the off week to reset and start fresh again.

    4. Off Week – After completing 12 races of the 2019 Truck Series season, the regulars will be taking a week off. Many drivers will probably be celebrating the Fourth of July holiday, while others will use it as a reset before heading to Kentucky next week. Believe it or not, there are only five races left until the Playoffs. Those five tracks are Kentucky, Pocono, Eldora, Michigan and Bristol (the cutoff race before the Playoffs begin). There are some drivers that could sneak into the playoffs like Sheldon Creed, Tyler Dippel and possibly Spencer Boyd, who could surprise the field. Nonetheless, there are some other drivers like Enfinger and Friesen, among others, who have not won yet. The 2019 Truck Series season will only heat up from here in what has been one of the most exciting seasons to date.
  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Kansas

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Kansas

    After visiting the Monster Mile this past weekend, the Truck Series heads to the Midwest and Kansas Speedway. Some drivers may follow “the yellow brick road” to victory lane in the heartland and others will leave grateful they are “not in Kansas anymore.”

    The sponsor of the race is a Lenexa, Kansas based company Digital Ally, and the Truck Series race will be called the Digital Ally 250.

    Currently, there are 27 Trucks entered on the preliminary entry list for Friday night’s race at Kansas Speedway.

    While Johnny Sauter won his first race of the season last weekend at Dover, is he ready to set the world on fire or will someone else take over this weekend?

    Here’s a look at who might just win Friday nights Truck race at Kansas.

    1. Matt Crafton – This weekend could be the weekend that snaps Crafton’s year and a half winless streak since Eldora of 2017. He has the most starts of any active drivers with 18 starts and has competed in every race since the Trucks debuted at Kansas in 2001. Crafton has two wins at Kansas (2013, 2015). Overall, he has completed 97.7 percent of the laps and has led 110 laps. The No. 88 driver also has five top fives and nine top-10 finishes but does have three DNFs with the last coming in 2005. Since then, he’s had inconsistent finishes. In 2018, Crafton finished sixth, 16th in 2017, second in 2016 and 2014, and 12th in 2012. Nonetheless, Crafton could be following the “Yellow Brickroad” to victory lane on Friday night and snapping his long winless streak.

    2. Brandon Jones – Brandon Jones will once again pilot the famed No. 51. Jones returned to the Truck Series last weekend at Dover where he finished 13th. He’ll have some pressure to perform well as Kyle Busch Motorsports drivers Noah Gragson and Kyle Busch swept the top two spots last season at Kansas. Jones will also have veteran crew chief Rudy Fugle who has two career wins at the track located in Kansas City, Kansas. The first in 2016 was with William Byron and last year with Gragson. Jones has two starts overall at Kansas with a best finish of ninth coming in last year’s race. He’ll be using chassis number KBM-055 as this chassis has had three outings with two wins, both this season with owner-driver Kyle Busch behind the wheel, at Atlanta and Texas. Jones finished seventh and fourth in both stages in 2018. He also has a couple of ARCA starts as well.

    3. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger has been on a roll recently in the Truck Series by taking over the points lead after Dover and he just might continue that momentum this weekend at Kansas. In just two starts, his first coming in 2017, he has a best finish of eighth at the 1.5-mile track. In the first race, Enfinger started 15th and finished eleventh, and led 14 laps led. In 2017, he finished ninth and sixth in both stages, while in 2018 Enfinger finished fifth and eight in both stages, respectively. Enfinger finished inside the top-10 last year on 1.5-mile tracks including winning the Las Vegas race in September. Look for the No. 98 team to continue their momentum this weekend for the Digital Ally 250.

    4. Stewart Friesen – Friesen and the No. 52 team will be looking forward to getting back on track this weekend at Kansas, and he might do just that. While his first outing didn’t go well finishing 32nd in 2017, Friesen upped his finish in last year’s race where he finished third after starting eighth and leading six laps. He also finished 10th and fifth in both stages last year. Friesen will be hungry for a win.

    5. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt only has two starts at Kansas with a best finish of seventh in his first start in 2017. Last year didn’t fare so well for the defending Truck Series champion, where he finished 16th, four laps down. However, Moffitt has had four top fives and four top-10 finishes this season and he finished second last weekend at Dover after leading 81 laps.


      Of note, Angela Ruch will drive the No. 44 for Niece Motorsports, Norm Benning will be in the No. 6, Joe Nemechek will drive the No. 8, Josh Bilicki will be piloting the No. 34 Reaume Brothers Racing Truck and Riley Herbst will be in the No. 46. Natalie Decker originally wasn’t supposed to race at Kansas but added six races to her schedule and will be competing this weekend in the No. 54.

      Update – Announced Wednesday, May 9, the No. 30 On Point Motorsports team of Brennan Poole has withdrawn from Friday night’s race due to lack of sponsorship. The team will return to Charlotte next week.

      The list of winners at the speedway include Ricky Hendrick winning the first race in 2001, Mike Bliss, Jon Wood, Carl Edwards, Todd Bodine, Terry Cook, Erik Darnell, Ron Hornaday, Jr., Mike Skinner, Johnny Sauter, hometown favorite Clint Bowyer, James Buescher, Matt Crafton who won twice, Kyle Busch who also won twice, William Byron in 2016, and recently, Noah Gragson in 2018.

      Qualifying will be critical here at Kansas, as the lowest a race winner has ever started was 10th set by Todd Bodine in 2005, Erik Darnell in 2007 and Kyle Busch in 2017. The highest a race winner has come from was first place three times, the first in 2008 by Ron Hornaday Jr., Kyle Busch in 2014 and Noah Gragson in 2018.

      The Truck Series gets on track early Friday morning with the first practice at 9:35 a.m. ET and final practice at 11:35 a.m. ET. Qualifying for the Digital Ally 250 is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1.

      The Digital Ally 250 will take place Friday night a little after 8:30 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio for 167 laps.



  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Kentucky

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-Kentucky

    It will be the 12th race of the scheduled 22 race season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series once the trucks hit the track Thursday night for the annual Buckle Up in Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway.

    Currently, there are 33 trucks entered on the preliminary entry list this week.

    Here’s a look at who might be competing for the win in Thursday night’s truck race.

    1. Matt Crafton – Crafton has competed in 19 races at Kentucky, earning one win, five top fives and 14 top-10 finishes, along with an average start of 9.9 and an average finish of 10.3 and he has also led 79 laps in his career. He’ll need a win here soon before the Playoffs start at Bristol and Kentucky just might be the place where Crafton will break out and earn his first win of the year. If he doesn’t win this week, the next race at Eldora will mark one year since he has won. In the past five races, he finished eighth twice, won in 2015, sixth, and 10th, respectively. When the stages were implemented last year, Crafton finished third but fell out of the top-10 in the second stage after getting involved in an accident early on. Despite the finishes this year, he could sneak his way into victory lane Thursday night in the Bluegrass state.
    2. Parker Kligerman – While Kligerman might not end up in victory lane, he is certainly the one to watch when it comes to the Trucks Series when running a part-time schedule. At Kentucky, he has made six starts with the best finish of second coming in his first race in 2011 driving for Brad Keselowski. However, times have changed since then, and he now drives the No. 75 Henderson Motorsports entry. In last year’s race, Kligerman started 30th and finished seventh after running as high as sixth. In the 2018 season, he only has four starts coming at Daytona, Atlanta, Dover and Charlotte, with the best finish coming at Charlotte placing seventh. It’s easy to overlook drivers like Kligerman, but he could finish inside the top-10 once more, or possibly earn a top-five finish.
    3. Johnny Sauter – Kentucky hasn’t really been Sauter’s cup of tea, as he’s had mixed results at the 1.5-mile racetrack in Sparta. In the previous five races, he has finishes of ninth, fifth, 12th, ninth, and 12th. His best finish at the track came in 2010, finishing second and his worst finish was 24th in 2011 after having transmission issues. In the past two years, however, Sauter led a combined 40 laps. But with the way his 2018 season has been going so far, it’s hard to stop someone who has been dominant and having his career best season to date. Sauter just might cross Kentucky off the tracks he hasn’t won at yet. If he doesn’t do it this year, Sauter will definitely win here before his career is over.
    4. Brandon Jones – Jones could continue with the Jones name to victory lane this weekend after Erik Jones won at Daytona last Saturday night. He has three starts here earning one top five and three top-10 finishes, with his best finish of second coming in last year’s race. His average finish at Kentucky is 6.3. In the 2018 season, however, Jones has made three starts with two top fives and three top-10 finishes for Kyle Busch Motorsports. His best finish is third at Charlotte. He’ll pilot the famed the No.51 KBM entry with sponsor SoleusAir/Menards.
    5. Noah Gragson – Another driver who has been close to victory lane multiple times this year, has been the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Noah Gragson. Gragson competed in this race last year as a rookie. He started 11th and finished fifth after leading 32 laps. Gragson ran as high as first and as low as 20th. This earned him a driver rating of 95.5 and he has made 22 quality passes. Kyle Busch Motorsports has won the last two races at Kentucky.

    The Truck Series has competed here since 2001 and has a list of who-who when it comes to visiting victory lane. The list of winners includes Greg Biffle, Scott Riggs, Mike Bliss, Carl Edwards, Bobby Hamilton, Dennis Setzer, Ron Hornaday Jr, Mike Skinner, Johnny Benson, Todd Bodine, Kyle Busch, James Buescher, Ty Dillon, Matt Crafton, William Byron, and Christopher Bell.

    Of those winners, only three drivers have been able to repeat. Those include Kyle Busch, James Buescher, and Ron Hornaday Jr.

    Qualifying will be important here as the past five races, the winners have come from second, third, first (twice), and 22nd. The highest a race winner has come was first with those coming in 2015, 2014, and 2009. The lowest a race winner has ever come from was 22nd in 2006 and 2013.

    Thursday’s event will be an all-day show with a busy day on tap. Two practice sessions are scheduled for 9:05-9:55 a.m. ET with the final practice at 11:05-11:55 a.m. ET with no live coverage.

    Qualifying is slated for Thursday afternoon at 5:10 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

    Race coverage is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET with an approximate green flag at 7:49 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 and MRN Radio. Stages will be broken up into 35/70/150.

  • Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Kansas

    Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Kansas

    Kansas Speedway was the home for the sixth race of the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It was dominated by a young 19-year old.

    Here are four takeaways from the 37 Kind Days 250.

    1. Kyle Busch Motorsports Strong In The Heartland – It’s no doubt that if it’s not Johnny Sauter or Matt Crafton dominating the races, then it’s the Kyle Busch Motorsports stable. This weekend it was the No. 18 of Noah Gragson and the No. 4 of Kyle Busch. Gragson started on the pole and led most of the race, while his boss, Busch, followed closely behind in second. Gragson cut into the points lead and is now 35 behind Sauter. It will be interesting to see if Gragson can get on a roll after winning at Kansas this weekend.
    2. GMS Racing Has Strong Showing – GMS Racing drivers had a strong showing at Kansas Friday night. Last week’s winner Johnny Sauter finished fifth, Justin Haley 10th and Dalton Sargeant 11th. The team continues to be strong week in and week out.
    3. John Hunter Nemechek Posts Top Five Finish – In just his fourth race of the season, Nemechek posted his second top five by finishing fourth. Currently, he has three more races for the 2018 season while he is competing part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
    4. Brandon Jones Back In The Truck Series – Brandon Jones returned back to the Truck Series this past weekend driving the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports entry. It was Jones’s first race back since Bristol of last summer where he finished 10th. He started 13th and finished seventh and fifth, respectively, in both stages. When the 37 Kind Days 250 was all done and finished, the Atlanta Georgia native finished eighth.
  • Jones Loses on Money Stop Gamble at Bristol

    Jones Loses on Money Stop Gamble at Bristol

    *THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED TO NOTE THAT BRANDON JONES WON’T BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE DASH 4 CASH NEXT WEEK AT RICHMOND RACEWAY, DUE TO NASCAR’S ANNOUNCEMENT THAT DANIEL HEMRIC’S POST-RACE INSPECTION FAILURE DIDN’T RISE TO THE LEVEL WORTHY OF A PENALTY.

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Brandon Jones maintained a smile as he spoke to Regan Smith of FOX Sports 1, but the disappointment of such a strong run resulting in a sixth-place finish seeped through as the interview progressed.

    “That caution on right there on that long run just killed me and I just put my head down when I saw it ‘cause I knew we were so much better than the 18 (Ryan Preece) up off the corner, but all in all such a phenomenal day for Toyota, for Menards and for everybody at (Joe Gibbs Racing) JGR right now. Also, Turtle Wax is on board with us this weekend as well. Can’t say enough about the guys that support us the most and we are just so close right now. It breaks my heart just to see that, but we had a gamble right there at the end. We had to take the two tires to try to see what we could do. Just too much wheel-spinning on the restart to make anything of it.”

    During a nearly 100-lap stretch of green flag racing, from Lap 184 to 27 laps to go (Lap 273), Jones had the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 in check. While Ryan Preece got within a car length of him around 40 to go, he couldn’t work his way around Jones.

    But when Shane Lee hit the wall in Turn 2, everybody ducked onto pit road for fresh tires. Jones opted for strategy and took only left-side tires, while Preece took four.

    The end result was rather predictable. When Preece’s tires came up to temperature, he passed Jones going into Turn 1 with 12 laps to go and scored the victory. Jones, meanwhile, sank through the field. But the short amount of laps combined with the field clicking them off in 15-second intervals prevented him from falling further than sixth.

    “Well, you have to gamble when you’re leading like that,” Jones said. “Sometimes you have to play a mind game with some of the other guys that are behind you. Our game just didn’t work out too well for us. It was just way too loose on the restart there to make anything of it, but enjoyed racing (Ryan) Preece there at the end. That was pretty cool. I did everything but try to wreck him, so I think that I raced pretty good as a teammate there with him. I just wish that caution wouldn’t have come out. I kind of put my head down when I saw it and was just like man, if this thing would’ve kept going, we’re in the catbird seat really really good. I can’t say enough about the day though. All weekend we were top three in practice throughout the whole day yesterday. Qualified really really well and was getting ready to possibly go to Victory Lane.”

    While Jones didn’t earn any stage points, his Top-10 finish moved him up to ninth in points. He also admitted that leading the most laps (106) was a confidence-boost.

    “Texas was big for me even though we kind of crashed out early there, we still were really really fast there. I think that’s kind of what led to this,” Jones said. “Myself and Chris (Gabehart, crew chief) have had a lot of conversation of you know, don’t think about it, just do it. That’s kind of the momentum I’m on right now. I’m going to stick to that and it’s going to work out for us eventually.”

    The day ended on a bright note for Jones. An hour after the XFINITY Grand National Series race concluded, NASCAR announced that Daniel Hemric failed post-race inspection. As a result, Jones was Dash 4 Cash eligible next weekend at Richmond Raceway. But less than 24 hours later, NASCAR announced that Hemric’s penalty, one side of the rear wheel-toe alignment was off, didn’t rise to the level of a penalty. Because in the XFINITY Grand National Series, both sides of the rear wheel-toe must be off to constitute a violation. As a result, Hemric was put back into the Dash 4 Cash hunt at Richmond.

  • Kyle Larson Dominates to Win Boyd Gaming 300

    Kyle Larson Dominates to Win Boyd Gaming 300

    Kyle Larson paced the field for 142 laps to earn his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Boyd Gaming 300.

    The final restart resembled closely that of the first start, as Larson pulled away from pole-sitter Christopher Bell after a late race caution for the final seven laps with a margin of victory of 0.881 seconds. The victory was Larson’s first of the season, ninth of his career and first at the speedway.

    “It was an awesome day,” Larson mentioned during his Victory Lane interview. “This car was so fast. It was really fast last year, but you really never know, and this was my first time racing with this new (composite) body, and it performed well.”

    The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet overcame a pit road issue that dropped him to eighth for a restart on Lap 139, but it didn’t take long to find his way to the front, pushing the issue three-wide to fight his way through the field quickly.

    “Normally my guys are some of the best on pit road,” Larson said. “They said the left-rear (tire) just wouldn’t come out (of the wheel well). I had been fighting a tight issue all day and then finally we got our car to turn better.

    “It allowed me to get to the lead fairly easily, and then I was saving fuel in case the race stayed green.”

    Larson and Bell have found themselves in this position before. They frequently battle each other on dirt tracks. During the off-season, Bell was the driver in Victory Lane in last November’s Turkey Night Classic and January’s Chili Bowl, one of the biggest midget races of the season. Bell was excited to see the friendly face extend their close competition into the stock car series.

    “That was really cool, and there will be a lot more of that,” Bell hinted, who beat Larson earlier in the event at the end of Stage 1. “We were close, running second to Kyle – if I’m going to run second to anyone, I guess I would rather it be him.

    “Special day, we were able to win a stage and get a Playoff point. We need to keep racking those up and get some race wins here.”

    As Bell mentioned, he did win a playoff point and becomes only the second Xfinity driver to earn any playoff points. As for Larson, his feelings about the competition with Bell were mutual.

    “It’s always fun to get to race Bell,” Larson said. “He seems to beat me all the time in the dirt stuff, and he edged me out there in qualifying. That first stage kind of felt like we were dirt-track racing there, swapping lanes and stuff. I was trying to take the air off him, and he got by, and yeah, it was fun.”

    As for the rest of the field, JR Motorsports had a strong showing with three of their four drivers finishing in the top eight with Justin Allgaier (third), Elliott Sadler (fifth) and Daytona 500 winner, Tyler Reddick (eighth). Kyle Busch, yesterday’s Camping World Truck Series winner, struggled all day with an ill-handling race car and faced a pit road penalty on his final stop when his gasman grabbed a tire. This year, the new rule states that they are only allowed to ‘kick’ a tire and fuel the car, and no other service is allowed to be done on the car or in the pit box. His No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota finished in a disappointing 14th position.

    Ryan Blaney, who will start on the pole for tomorrow’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, led 33 laps and finished in fourth. Cole Custer, who makes his Monster Energy Cup series debut tomorrow, finished in the ninth position. Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, and Spencer Gallagher also finished the weekend with top-10 results.

    Tyler Reddick and Elliott Sadler are tied at the top of the Xfinity Series points after three races. The Xfinity series will continue their west coast swing at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona next weekend on March 10. Tickets are still available for purchase on the track’s website at http://www.ismraceway.com/Buy-Tickets/NASCAR-Ticket-Prices.aspx.