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  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Camping World 500 at Phoenix

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Camping World 500 at Phoenix

    Ryan Newman ended his winless drought at Phoenix International Raceway. Newman stayed out while most of the front runners pitted for two tires after Joey Logano blew a right front tire that brought out the final caution flag of the day with six laps remaining. Newman held off Kyle Larson on the two-lap overtime restart to win his first race since 2013 on Sunday in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Camping World 500.

    Surprising

    Gambling on old tires, Newman and Richard Childress Racing (RCR) end their long winless streaks. Newman ended a 127-race winless streak and the victory is the first for the RCR in 112 events.

    “I’ve lost count; that’s how long it’s been,” Newman said. “I’ve got to thank Grainger, Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, Monster Energy for supporting our series, and Chevrolet. The list goes on and on. What a gutsy call by (crew chief) Luke (Lambert). I called for two tires and he called for none. I’ve won more races no tires than I have with four. I’m just proud of these guys. We had a good car all day. We kept it out of trouble and collected in the end.”

    Not Surprising

    Defending race winner Kevin Harvick finished sixth.

    “We just didn’t ever get it exactly how we wanted all weekend,” Harvick said after the race. “Luckily it is a good race track for us and we were able to battle and use all the tricks of the trade we know to get ourselves up in contention. We definitely need to do some work on this style race track with our Jimmy John’s Ford but it was a heck of a battle all day.”

    Surprising

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had a strong run and finished fourth.  Despite being on older tires, Stenhouse was able to capture a fourth-place finish, scoring his first top-five of the season.

    “That was a great run,” he said. “I think we made a lot of changes overnight that really helped us turn. It was really nice for us. Everything stayed together. This is a big test for Doug (Yates) and Roush Yates Engines. They did their job and did their research from our test here when we had some issues. I am really proud of the whole team.”

    Not Surprising

    Kyle Larson’s second-place finish for this third consecutive race gives him the series points lead.

    Larson was pleased with the finish, saying, “It’s really, really cool to be the point leader right now. That was a goal of mine going into today. So, thanks to everybody at Chip Ganassi Racing for all your hard work. We’ll hopefully continue to have this speed in our race cars and maybe close some of these races out.”

    Surprising

    Logano did not have to make contact with Kyle Busch this weekend to stop Busch from winning. Busch was in control of the race when Logano blew a tire, bringing out the overtime caution. Busch had to settle for third place while Logano finished 31st.

    “The brakes are fine, we just blew a right front. Probably just overheated the bead. I am sure that is what it was. There is not much you can do when the right front blows out,” a disappointed Logano said after the race.

    Not Surprising

    Brad Keselowski drove another competitive race, claiming points in each stage and scoring his third consecutive top five this season. He is currently second in the points standings, only six points behind Larson.

    “We were all real close there. Whoever got the track position was going to run away,” he explained. “The clean air was so important which was a bit frustrating. There was a lot of parity today and of course the crazy finish there at the end with the yellow coming out when it did and all the different strategies.”

  • Mixed-Bag Day for Dominant Drivers in Phoenix

    Mixed-Bag Day for Dominant Drivers in Phoenix

    The three drivers who combined to lead the most laps in the Valley of the Sun finished across the board on Sunday.

    Joey Logano’s weekend started strong with a pole run on Friday, leading 82 laps and winning the first stage of the Camping World 500. But he lost the lead on the restart following the stage break and was busted for speeding under the fifth caution on lap 120.

    To add insult to injury, he suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in Turn 1 with six laps to go. The blowout was due to a melted bead caused by excessive brake heat, not uncommon at tracks such as Phoenix.

    “The brakes are fine, we just blew a right front,” Logano said. “Probably just overheated the bead,” he said after the race. “I am sure that is what it was. There is not much you can do when the right front blows out. We had a good car in the beginning of the race and then just fell off and got a pit road speeding penalty and it was hard to get back up there. We were getting closer but out long run speed was off. We have to figure out how to get faster here on the long run.”

    He finished 31st.

    Chase Elliott took over the lead from Logano on the restart after the stage break, dominated the second stage and won it.

    He said the move that got him the lead early in the race was “momentum. Just had momentum and basically knew that if you fall back in line second you are probably not going to pass them. You have to be night and day better than somebody to get by them under green or they have to have a problem or something. That was the biggest thing was just realizing that hey you’ve got a lap, so you either get the lead then or you don’t. Fortunately, we got it then, but didn’t keep it when it counted.”

    He held the lead until Matt Kenseth brought out the caution with 120 to go, for slamming the wall after suffering a tire blowout, Busch beat him off pit road.

    “Even the really good cars had a really hard time getting to somebody, so track position was big as it always is every week, everywhere we go and that will continue to be the case throughout the year,” Elliott said. “So, if you don’t have it at the end of the race it is going to be an uphill battle I feel like throughout this season. That is going to be a big trend.”

    While not suffering the same fate as Logano, he faded from the conversation and came home 12th, having led 106 laps.

    Finally, Busch took command of the race with 120 to go and led a race-high of 114 laps. The race was his to lose until Logano’s wreck with six to go brought out the final caution and brought all but Ryan Newman to pit road. Kyle Larson exited ahead of him.

    He came home third.

  • Newman Ends Winless Drought in Arizona

    Newman Ends Winless Drought in Arizona

    Ryan Newman’s winless drought that stretched over 100 races came to an end at Phoenix International Raceway, thanks to an overtime restart involving Kyle Larson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Newman took the lead by electing not to pit under the final caution of the race with six laps to go. On the restart in overtime, he got out in front of Larson going into Turn 1. Larson came down across the nose of Stenhouse and got loose. This allowed Newman to drive away and win the Camping World 500.

    “What a gutsy call by (crew chief) Luke (Lambert),” he said in victory lane. “I called for two tires and he called for none. I’ve won more races with no tires than I have with four. I’m just proud of these guys. We had a good car all day. We kept it out of trouble and collected in the end.”

    It’s Newman’s 18th career victory and ends a 127-race winless streak.

    “I’ve lost count; that’s how long it’s been,” he said when asked how good it felt being back in victory lane.

    Larson finished runner-up for the third week in a row. Kyle Busch rounded out the podium after leading a race high of 114 laps. Stenhouse and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five.

    Kevin Harvick, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin round out the top-10.

    Chase Elliott finished 12th after leading 106 laps. Joey Logano finished 31st, out for an accident, after leading 82 laps.

    Logano led the race from the start to the end of the first stage, of which he won. It was only interrupted by Corey LaJoie slamming the wall in the dogleg on lap 26.

    He lost the lead on the restart to Elliott, who himself kept it all the way through the second stage. It too was only interrupted by a LaJoie wreck in Turn 1 on lap 118.

    Matt Kenseth suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in Turn 4, bringing out the fifth caution with 120 to go. Busch exited pit road with the race lead. He maintained the lead all the way through the next 114 laps.

    Aside from a two-car wreck in Turn 1 involving David Ragan and Gray Gaulding with 108 to go, and Cole Whitt slamming the wall in Turn 2 with 55 to go, it was smooth sailing from the time Busch took the lead to the closing laps.

    With six to go, however, Logano suffered a tire blowout and slammed the wall in Turn 1, bringing out the final caution and setting up the overtime restart.

    “The brakes are fine, we just blew a right front. Probably just overheated the bead,” he said. “I am sure that is what it was. There is not much you can do when the right front blows out. We had a good car in the beginning of the race and then just fell off and got a pit road speeding penalty and it was hard to get back up there. We were getting closer but out long run speed was off. We have to figure out how to get faster here on the long run.”

    The race lasted three hours and 41 seconds at an average speed of 104.271 mph. There were 15 lead changes among eight different drivers and eight cautions for 45 laps.

    Larson leaves Phoenix with a six-point lead over Keselowski.

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  • Logano Fastest in Final Phoenix Practice

    Logano Fastest in Final Phoenix Practice

    Joey Logano topped the chart in the final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Phoenix International Raceway.

    The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford was the fastest with a time of 26.719 and a speed of 134.736 mph. Matt Kenseth was second in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 26.762 and a speed of 134.519 mph. Kyle Busch was third in his No. 18 JGR Toyota with a time of 26.786 and a speed of 134.399 mph. Brad Keselowski was fourth in his No. 2 Penske Ford with a time of 26.789 and a speed of 134.384 mph. Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-five in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 26.792 and a speed of 134.368 mph.

    Busch posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 134.094 mph.

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  • Elliott Fastest in Second Cup Practice at Phoenix

    Elliott Fastest in Second Cup Practice at Phoenix

    Chase Elliott topped the chart in second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Phoenix International Raceway.

    The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 26.475 and a speed of 135.977 mph. Joey Logano was second in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 26.575 and a speed of 135.466 mph. Kyle Larson was third in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 26.603 and a speed of 135.323 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was fourth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 26.626 and a speed of 135.206 mph. Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 26.633 and a speed of 135.171 mph.

    Truex posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 134.525 mph.

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hit the wall in Turn 1 due to what he described as a “brake problem.” The damage wasn’t significant enough to force switching to a backup car.

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  • Busch and Logano Speak Following Meeting with NASCAR

    Busch and Logano Speak Following Meeting with NASCAR

    After their altercation both on track on the final lap and on pit road after the race in Las Vegas, NASCAR summoned Kyle Busch and Joey Logano to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series hauler for a meeting with series officials the following week in Phoenix.

    Following the 15-minute session, each driver emerged from the hauler separately.

    First was Busch. His response was straight out of the Marshawn Lynch playbook from Super Bowl XLIX.

    “Everything is great,” Busch said to every question he was asked. “Really looking forward to getting in my car and being here in Phoenix.”

    But after qualifying, he spoke to Jeff Gluck of JeffGluck.com and told him why he punched Logano.

    He veered down in front of Logano to avoid slamming into Brad Keselowski and made contact with Logano in the process. He believes Logano took him out as revenge.

    “It was instantaneous,” Busch said. “I made a move down the backstretch that cut Joey off — and I had to; I wasn’t just going to roll out of the gas and fall in behind Brad and probably lose spots to more guys behind me. So I made a bold move — I was two-thirds of my way past Logano, and I figured I can wedge my way through there a little bit.

    “And I did, and it was instantaneous retaliation. That’s what I thought and that’s kind of what I still think.”

    Logano spoke to the media, saying he tried explaining to Busch that he “made a mistake underneath him.”

    “He asked for some data. I was able to show him that it was pretty clear, in my opinion, what happened,” Logano said. “So that’s that, and we’ll move.”

    Busch said he wasn’t convinced by the data.

    Asked if he and Busch are “good moving forward,” Logano said “time will tell.”

    “The only thing I can do at this point was to plead my case and say, ‘Hey, it was an honest mistake, it was hard racing at the end,’” he said. “We’re going to try to move on and all I can do now is focus on our Shell Pennzoil Ford and try to win Phoenix.”

  • Truex on his Win Being buried by Vegas Fight

    Truex on his Win Being buried by Vegas Fight

    Most race weekends, a driver winning the race is the top story. But on some weekends, the race win gets buried under other events.

    Last weekend in Sin City fell into the latter category.

    Martin Truex Jr., who led 150 of 267 laps, passed Brad Keselowski with two laps to go — thanks to a broken part on his car — and scored the victory in the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    It was his fourth victory in the last 15 races, half of his career victories, which is significant considering he went 218 races between his first career win in 2007 and second win in 2013, and another 69 before winning his third two years later.

    Putting aside the well-documented perseverance of his career, he also swept all three stages in the race.

    Any other weekend, his performance would’ve been the top story.

    But it played second-fiddle to the post-race brawl between Kyle Busch and Joey Logano following the conclusion of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas.

    Truex was a little disappointed that his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota team didn’t get the spotlight, but his team “got the trophy and the points” and that’s all that matters “at the end of the day.”

    “Hate it a little bit for my team for maybe not getting the recognition they deserve, but all in all, we got what we wanted out of Vegas, and looking forward to making positive highlights,” he said.

  • Elliott Fastest in First Practice at Phoenix

    Elliott Fastest in First Practice at Phoenix

    Chase Elliott topped the chart in the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Phoenix International Raceway.

    The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 26.258 and a speed of 137.101 mph. Kyle Larson was second in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 26.379 and a speed of 136.472 mph. Joey Logano was third in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 26.385 and a speed of 136.441 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was fourth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 26.438 and a speed of 136.168 mph. Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-five in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 26.440 and a speed of 136.157 mph.

    Jamie McMurray, who ran the 10th-fastest single lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 132.623 mph.

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  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Phoenix

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Phoenix

    NASCAR heads to Phoenix Raceway this weekend as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and XFINITY Series compete at the one-mile oval. Saturday’s XFINITY Series DC Solar 200 will be broadcast at 4 p.m. on FOX. The Cup Series Camping World 500 will be televised on FOX at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

    The Camping World 500 will be comprised of three stages. Stages 1 and 2 will consist of 75 laps each with a final stage of 162 laps. Saturday’s XFINITY Series DC Solar 200 will also have three stages. Stages 1 and 2 will consist of 60 laps each with a final stage of 80 laps.

    Kevin Harvick is the defending race winner and has the second-best driver rating (110.7) at Phoenix with eight wins, 13 top fives, 17 top 10s and one pole. Jimmie Johnson has the best driver rating (111.2) at the track and has earned four wins, 15 top fives, 19 top 10s and three poles. Chase Elliott, still looking for his first Cup win, has the third-best driver rating of 103.9. 

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

    Friday, March 17:

    On Track:
    1-1:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – FS1
    2-3:25 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – FS1
    4-4:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – FS1
    6-6:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – FS1
    7:45 p.m.: Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1

    Garage Cam: (Watch live)
    1:30 p.m.: Cup Series
    3:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    12 p.m.: Daniel Suarez
    12:15 p.m.: XFINITY Series Dash 4 Cash: Justin Allgaier, Brennan Poole, Matt Tifft
    3:40 p.m.: Kyle Larson
    5:15 p.m.: Ryan Blaney
    5:30 p.m.: Martin Truex Jr.
    5:45 p.m.: Joey Logano
    Approx. 8:45 p.m.: Post-qualifying press conferences

    Saturday, March 18:

    On Track:
    Noon-12:55 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – FS2
    1:05 p.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS2
    2:30-3:20 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – FS2
    4 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series DC Solar 200 (200 laps, 200 miles) – FOX

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    6:30 p.m.: Post-Race Press Conference (time approx.)

    Sunday, March 19:

    On Track:
    3:30 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Camping World 500 (312 laps, 312 miles) – FOX

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    7 p.m.: Post-Race Press Conference (time approx.)

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

    Complete NASCAR TV  ScheduleOdds To Win NASCAR Camping World 500

    Kevin Harvick +270
    Joey Logano +750
    Chase Elliott +905
    Brad Keselowski +950
    Kyle Busch +1100
    Jimmie Johnson +1100
    Matt Kenseth +1130
    Martin Truex Jr +1210
    Denny Hamlin +1310
    Kyle Larson +1410
    Dale Earnhardt Jr +1885
    Kurt Busch +3045
    Clint Bowyer +3045
    Erik Jones +3045
    Daniel Suarez +3465
    Ryan Blaney +3820
    Austin Dillon +4000
    Ryan Newman +4000
    Kasey Kahne +4020
    Jamie McMurray +4200
    Field (Any Other Driver) +3235