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  • Kyle Busch Victorious in the Can-Am 500, Championship 4 Set

    Kyle Busch Victorious in the Can-Am 500, Championship 4 Set

    Kyle Busch won at ISM Raceway in the Can-Am 500 as the Championship 4 is set for the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series. It was his eighth victory of the season and the 51st of his Cup career.

    “I’d like to think it gives us a lot (of momentum), but I don’t know – talk is cheap,” said Busch in the newly designed Gatorade Victory Lane, a part of the $178 million renovation project at the 1-mile raceway. “We’ve got to be able to go out there and perform and just do what we need to do. Being able to do what we did here today was certainly beneficial. I didn’t think we were the best car, but we survived and we did what we needed to do today. It’s just about getting to next week and once we were locked in, it was ‘all bets are off and it’s time to go.’”

    Adam Stevens, crew chief for the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, and team owner Joe Gibbs addressed the media as they head into the final race of the 2018 season.

    “Well, I think it’s important to come into the last race firing on all cylinders,” Stevens said about today’s victory. “And it’s hard to do that when you’re just riding around trying to score points. It’s not like we were throwing caution to the wind by any means. The job that we set out to do is to win the championship, and to do that you’ve got to beat them all.”

    Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano will join Busch in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Logano crashed early in the race and did not join the others in the press conference.

    “We just got a little bit of luck, a little bit of ‘right place, right time’ kinda thing,” Truex shared when discussing the various wrecks that happened in front of him. “One last hurrah next week and we’re gonna go give ’em all we got.”

    “I think we have a chance every time we show up,” Harvick shared assessing his chances to win his second career Cup championship. “Our guys are doing a great job. Obviously, to accomplish everything we did this weekend was quite the feat without your crew chief and car chief, but Tony Gibson and Nick did a great job filling in. Everybody kept their head about them and we were competitive all weekend.”

    William Byron also locked up the Rookie of the Year standings with his ninth-place effort.

    “I take away my growth as a person and our growth as a team,” Byron told the media. “I think of road course races were really good. I feel like I’m in a good position for next year.”

    Harvick-Chase Battle Creates Early Drama in Stage 1

    The first two stages were split by 75 laps each. The remaining 162 laps would be scheduled for the final stage. As the green flag dropped, Harvick would show the way early, but throughout most of the run, Elliott was within a second of him. After the race last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, most of the bottom four drivers were in a must-win situation. But since Wednesday’s announcement of Harvick’s penalty, there was hope for some drivers to possibly sneak in on points.

    About 20 laps into the race, Elliott started inching his way closer to the rear bumper of Harvick, but as they started to approach lapped traffic, Harvick looked to claw his way through the field better and was able to put some distance between them. Elliott was completely silent on the radio, presumably happy with the handling of his Napa Chevrolet.

    With three laps to go, tragedy struck for Harvick as he had a flat tire and had to come to pit road. Elliott inherited the lead and won Stage 1. Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch also finished in the top-10 and gained valuable bonus points. Elliott won the battle off pit road. Paul Menard stayed on pit road as the team lifted the hood and appeared to begin examining the engine. Harvick ended up going one lap down, and since he pit after pit road was closed (two laps to go in the stage), he was not eligible for the free pass under yellow, or the wave-around. At this point, Harvick and Truex would be knocked out of the Championship 4; Truex and Kurt Busch were tied in points, but Busch wins the tie-breaker with a better finish because he was second at this time, despite Truex finishing third at Martinsville.

    Kurt Busch Shows Strength in Stage 2

    On the restart, Kurt Busch fought hard on the outside to take over the lead from Chase Elliott. Elliott then had to fight off Ryan Blaney for a couple of laps but eventually settled into the second position.

    With about 55 laps to go in the stage, Harvick made his way into the “Lucky Dog” position. One lap later, Joey Logano got a flat left-rear tire and crashed going into Turn 1. He is already locked in with his win at Martinsville, but this helped Harvick get himself back onto the lead lap. However, the carnage was just beginning.

    Clint Bowyer crashes at the entrance to Turn 3, then drives away. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.
    Clint Bowyer crashes at the entrance to Turn 3, then drives away. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.

    With roughly 30 laps to go, Clint Bowyer crashed to bring out the yellow, ending his championship hopes. On pit road, lots of strategies took place, including a penalty. Roughly eight of the lead lap cars elected not to pit, but most of the other leaders came to pit road. Kurt Busch was caught passing the pace car and served a one-lap penalty.

    It was addressed in the driver’s meeting, and we’ve seen similar penalties throughout the year. When entering pit road, the leader usually accelerates to create a gap between their car and the cars behind, a slight advantage that can be huge in certain circumstances. However, the leader is not allowed to pass the pace car before entering pit road. In this case, the nose of the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford was just ahead of the pace car before the first yellow line signaling the start of pit road. Even though he was in the lead at the time of the yellow, and won the battle off pit road, he would be served a penalty that would put their team one lap down.

    Kyle Busch was one of the first cars out with fresh tires. He easily took over the top spot a couple of laps into the restart, winning Stage 2. Martin Truex Jr. finished third, and Kevin Harvick battled his way back up to the fourth position, making the “Big 3” the big discussion once again. Some of the leaders stayed out, preventing a “free pass” car and keeping Kurt Busch one lap down. Other drivers on older tires came to pit road for either two or four tires.

    Championship Contenders Go Wild in the Final Stage

    The field races through the new Turns 3 & 4 after one lap taking the green flag for a restart at ISM Raceway. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.
    The field races through the new Turns 3 & 4 after one lap taking the green flag for a restart at ISM Raceway. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.

    With 160 laps to go, Kyle Busch would keep the lead ahead of Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney. At this time, most of the championship contenders were running in the top-11, except for Logano and Bowyer, who was out of the race. Kurt Busch was still stuck one lap down in the “Lucky Dog” position.

    Green flag pit stops began as the race approached 85 laps to go. During some of the pit stops, including while Harvick was on pit road, Tanner Berryhill spun at the entrance of pit road. He did a great job of correcting the car to continue on, but not before NASCAR had to throw a yellow flag. The rest of the field came to pit road, but Elliott sped on pit road, forcing his No. 9 car to the rear of the field. Kurt Busch was the “Lucky Dog”, but most of the field elected for the wave-around.

    On the restart, the Playoffs started to come into play for every point possible. We saw the field go three, even four wide in the dogleg. Blaney slowed suddenly and came to pit road. Harvick continued to claw his way up along with teammate Kurt Busch. As the two were getting around the lapped car of David Ragan, he appeared to slip entering Turn 3. Harvick misjudged his speed and got into the rear of Ragan and spun him out to bring out the sixth caution flag. A couple of drivers were toward the end of the field, but Kyle Busch visited pit road so his crew could examine some minor damage as he was outside of Harvick during that contact.

    The field took the green again for a few laps, and just when the race seemed to mellow for a brief moment, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took a hard hit to the outside wall in Turn 1. The rear end of the car was completely destroyed and even a brief fire ensued while he was still spinning. NASCAR displayed the red flag for 10 minutes with so much fluid coming from the No. 17. At this time, Kurt Busch was one point ahead of Harvick for the fourth and final Championship spot. However, that would quickly change.

    As the field took the green, Erik Jones started to the inside of Kurt Busch but Jones got loose in the middle of Turns 1 & 2, forcing Busch up the track slightly. No harm was done, but Denny Hamlin made an aggressive move to get by both drivers. He couldn’t clear Busch in time and pinched him in the wall. However, with the championship on the line, Busch didn’t back out and stayed in the throttle. As he bounced off the wall, he continued to collide with Hamlin, eventually spinning him out and collecting Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott along the backstretch. That eventually ended the day for Busch as the damage clock expired, and his brother Kyle Busch officially locked himself into the Championship 4 on points. Elliott rejoined the track and was able to maintain minimum speed, but ran three laps down in the 24th position.

    The sun sets behind the grandstands as Kyle Busch pulls away to his 51st career NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series win. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.
    The sun sets behind the grandstands as Kyle Busch pulls away to his 51st career NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series win. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.

    The Cup drivers went racing again with about 30 laps to go. However, with all the nose damage on Bowman’s No. 88 Chevrolet, he went up in a ball of fire and smoke at the end of the frontstretch, causing him to crash in Turn 2 alongside pit entrance. NASCAR had to throw another red flag to clean up the incident. At this point, Harvick was back in the good on points. Aric Almirola was the only other driver left that could steal a spot in the Championship 4 if he won at ISM Raceway. Almirola was running fourth at the time when the field went back under yellow. Some of the leaders elected for a pit stop, including Kyle Larson, who took four tires and would restart in the eighth position.

    This restart would be the first time for the Cup Series facing speedy dry in Turns 1 and 2. On Friday night, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race had a restart with speedy dry in the first set of turns that prevented Grant Enfinger from getting a strong restart against Noah Gragson and Brett Moffitt. However, this wouldn’t faze Kyle Busch as he pulled away from a hard-charging Almirola but he got a second chance as Berryhill crashed to bring out another caution flag on the track.

    With about 15 laps to go, the field took the green flag but Almirola appeared to just not have the right setup to run with Kyle Busch on the outside. Brad Keselowski tried to push him through to the front, but that caused Almirola to go wide through Turns 1 and 2. Keselowski was able to get by both him and Harvick to put a late race charge toward the lead, but there just wasn’t enough time to catch Busch.

    “It certainly feels really good,” Busch said in the media center after celebrating his win with the fans. “It feels good to go off into next week with a win under our belt and hopefully do it again.”

    Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race
    Unofficial Race Results for the 31St Annual Can-Am 500 – Sunday, November 11, 2018
    ISM Raceway – Avondale, AZ – 1 Mile Paved

    Pos St Car Driver Team Make
    1 6 18 Kyle Busch (P) M&M’s Toyota
    2 12 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Holiday Knitwear Ford
    3 8 42 Kyle Larson DC Solar Chevrolet
    4 18 10 Aric Almirola (P) Smithfield Ford
    5 1 4 Kevin Harvick (P) Busch Light Ford
    6 21 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet
    7 17 6 Matt Kenseth Wyndham Rewards Ford
    8 15 3 Austin Dillon American Ethanol e15 Chevrolet
    9 19 24 William Byron # Hertz Chevrolet
    10 30 43 Bubba Wallace # U.S. Air Force Chevrolet
    11 22 31 Ryan Newman Cat Global Mining Chevrolet
    12 24 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger ClickList Chevrolet
    13 10 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota
    14 13 78 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota
    15 20 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Power of Pride Chevrolet
    16 23 34 Michael McDowell Love’s/Luber Finer Ford
    17 7 20 Erik Jones Sirius XM Toyota
    18 25 37 Chris Buescher Gain Chevrolet
    19 28 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Military Chevrolet
    20 31 38 David Ragan Trident Seafoods Wild Alaska Pollock Ford
    21 27 32 Matt DiBenedetto Can-Am/Wholey Ford
    22 29 95 Regan Smith Procore Chevrolet
    23 2 9 Chase Elliott (P) NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet
    24 33 15 Ross Chastain(i) Ternio Chevrolet
    25 34 72 Cole Whitt Standard Plumbing Supply Chevrolet
    26 32 00 Landon Cassill(i) StarCom Fiber Chevrolet
    27 38 7 * DJ Kennington(i) APC/Northern Provincial Pipelines Chevrolet
    28 39 51 Cody Ware JacobCo/BanyanCayGolfClub&Resort Chevrolet
    29 11 21 Paul Menard Menards/Cardell Ford
    30 5 88 Alex Bowman Axalta Chevrolet
    31 36 97 * Tanner Berryhill Toyota
    32 14 41 Kurt Busch (P) Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford
    33 3 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford Ford
    34 4 12 Ryan Blaney PPG Ford
    35 16 14 Clint Bowyer (P) ITsavvy Ford
    36 26 19 Daniel Suarez STANLEY Toyota
    37 9 22 Joey Logano (P) Shell Pennzoil Ford
    38 35 23 JJ Yeley(i) She Beverage Company Toyota
    39 37 66 * Timmy Hill(i) Rewards.com Toyota
  • Kevin Harvick on Pole for Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway

    Kevin Harvick on Pole for Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway

    Kevin Harvick sneaks past Chase Elliott to take the pole in the penultimate race of the 2018 NASCAR Monster Energy Series season at ISM Raceway for the Can-Am 500 with a time of 25.836 seconds at 139.340 mph.

    With the penalties from last weekend’s encumbered win at Texas Motor Speedway, Harvick’s usual crew chief, Rodney Childers, is serving a two-race suspension. Interim crew chief Tony Gibson is calling the shots for the No. 4 Stewart Haas Racing team. That didn’t faze Harvick one bit.

    “It’s pretty awesome to see a group of people come together — old man Tony Gibson and Nick (DeFazio, interim car chief) — coming out to fill the gaps for the suspensions,” Harvick told NBCSN. “Like I told the radio a second ago, everybody on our Busch Light Ford has been there before and we know what we need to do. This is a great race track for us. I really wasn’t expecting that. Our cars are usually a lot better in race trim than in qualifying trim, and just got fortunate to hit a good lap right there and it came at a good time.”

    Throughout the three stages, Harvick wasn’t always up toward the front. In fact, all eight of the Playoff drivers were spread out across the top 21 positions, but still advancing to the second round of qualifying. Matt Kenseth quietly ran fastest and was the only driver in the 138 mph speed bracket. Austin Dillon was second fastest, with Harvick as the first Playoff contender in third.

    In Round 2, half of the Playoff drivers were eliminated, including the other three Stewart Haas drivers: Kurt Busch (14th), Clint Bowyer (16th) and Aric Almirola (18th). Martin Truex Jr. missed the final round of qualifying by only three-thousandths of a second. To put it in even further perspective, positions eight through sixteen were only separated by one-tenth of a second, as the fight for the final transfer spots were a tight battle as Elliott ran fastest in the second round.

    “It was a battle,” said Truex, who was 20th-fastest in Friday’s practice. “Kind of par for the course for us here lately, so I say 13th is a pretty good starting spot for the day we’ve had. I really didn’t get a good crack at anything in practice and we didn’t end up having much time and we were pretty far off. Made some good gains for sure. I wish we could’ve ran again. I definitely feel like I could pick up some more. Car was just pretty tight, so we’ll start 13th and get to work tomorrow.”

    In the final round, Harvick claimed his 25th career pole by holding off Elliott, who will be clawing for every point possible in Sunday’s race and try to steal a spot in the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five.

    “That’s not bad,” Blaney said with a shrug as he glanced at the speed charts. “We got better each round, which is good, so that was nice, but we just didn’t quite have the speed and obviously not pole speed, but it was good.”

    Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Paul Menard and Brad Keselowski completed the top 12 in the final round of qualifying.

    Cody Ware, who crashed during Friday’s lone practice for the series, did not make a qualifying attempt in the Rick Ware Racing No. 51 Ford.

  • Elliott Winds up out of Title Picture with Runner-up Finish

    Elliott Winds up out of Title Picture with Runner-up Finish

    Chase Elliott posted a solid afternoon in the Can-Am 500 at Phoenix Raceway and knocked Denny Hamlin out of contention for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship, but got passed in the closing laps and failed to clinch a spot in the Championship 4 title race next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    Starting the afternoon from fourth, Elliott took the lead on Lap 13 when he passed pole-sitter Ryan Blaney in the dogleg.

    He got loose in Turn 3 on Lap 26, which allowed Hamlin to pass him exiting Turn 4 and take the lead. Entering Turn 1 moments later, Elliott put the chrome bumper to Hamlin and took back the lead, only to lose it again the following lap when Hamlin powered by him on the outside exiting Turn 2.

    Elliott ended the first stage with a third-place finish.

    The second stage for him was uneventful, as he finished ninth.

    With 44 laps to go, Elliott and Hamlin were making contact with each other. Elliott tapped Hamlin in Turn 3 to pass him. Then they made contact past the exit of Turn 4, with Hamlin scrapping the outside wall and slamming the Turn 3 wall six laps later.

    Since the skirmish came two weeks after their highly publicized run-in at Martinsville Speedway, Elliott was asked if the run-in in this race stemmed from that.

    “A wise man once told me that he’ll race guys how they race him with a smile on his face, so that’s what I did today,” he said. “I raced him how he raced me, and that’s the way I saw it. That’s about all I have to say.”

    With 28 to go, Elliott short-cut the dogleg and passed Matt Kenseth entering Turn 3 to retake the lead. Unfortunately for Elliott, Kenseth ran him down, powered around his outside through Turn 3 with nine to go and took the checkered flag.

    “Yeah, our car was really good on the short run after those cautions and the rubber got picked up. As I went, I just got tighter and tighter and couldn’t keep it turning and couldn’t roll the middle like I needed to. I felt like I might have had enough to keep him back there if I hit all my marks and got really tight off (Turn) 2 and made it one lap and basically gave away all my gap and once he got there it was obviously hard to hold him off.”

    Elliott finished runner-up for the seventh-time, losing out on the final Playoff spot to Brad Keselowski.

    “Man, it’s such a bummer to be so freaking close again. Had a shot to go race for a championship next week, so we fought as hard as we could today. I told my guys a minute ago, at some point we will figure out how to close or I will figure out how to close and we can have some great opportunities down the road, I hope.”

    Elliott leaves Phoenix fifth in points.

  • Kenseth Plays Playoff Spoiler at Phoenix

    Kenseth Plays Playoff Spoiler at Phoenix

    If Matt Kenseth doesn’t race in NASCAR again after next Sunday, he went out in a blaze of glory by denying Chase Elliott his golden ticket to the championship round and ending year and a half winless drought in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Can-Am 500 at Phoenix Raceway.

    Following a clustered restart with 32 laps to go, Elliott passed Kenseth through the dog leg and entering Turn 3 to take the lead with 28 to go.

    Kenseth wouldn’t be denied, however, as he ran down, gave him a tap in Turn 4 with 12 to go, finally passed him entering Turn 3 to take the lead with nine to go and drove on to score his 39th career victory in 650 career starts.

    On the cool down lap, a number of drivers drove up alongside — and in the case of Elliott and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., tapped him from behind — to congratulate him.

    When he got out of his car at the start/finish line, the stoic Kenseth climbed onto the roof and started tearing up as the fans cheered him on.

    Elliott finished second and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the podium.

    Erik Jones and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-five.

    Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Aric Almirola and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Ryan Blaney led the field to the green flag at 2:39 p.m. Elliott short-cut the dog leg to pass Blaney entering Turn 3 and take the lead on Lap 13. He got loose in Turn 3, allowing Hamlin to pass him exiting Turn 4 and take the lead on Lap 26, only to lose it a lap later when Elliott put the chrome bumper to him going into Turn 1. Hamlin responded on Lap 28 when he powered by Elliott on the outside exiting Turn 2 to take it back. Kyle Larson took the lead from out of nowhere on Lap 68 and drove on to win the first stage.

    When Hamlin took it back under the first stage break, he held it past the second stage break, the points for which he won, and lost under the third caution — due to Trevor Bayne blowing a tire in Turn 4 — when his car stalled briefly on pit road, handing the lead to Matt Kenseth.

    Hamlin’s wreck in Turn 3 with 38 to go setup the run to the finish.

    CAUTION SUMMATION

    The first caution flew on Lap 75 for the end of the first stage. Jimmie Johnson’s wreck in Turn 4, due to a tire blowout, brought out the second caution on Lap 149. Bayne brought out the third caution on Lap 229 when he suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the outside wall in Turn 4. A brake hose in Turn 1 brought out the fourth caution with 74 laps to go. Chris Buescher brought out the fifth caution with 59 to go, as well as a red flag for a fire in the SAFER barrier that his brake rotor caused. Cole Whitt’s wreck in Turn 4 brought out the sixth caution with 50 to go. Hamlin’s wreck in Turn 3 brought out the final caution with 38 to go.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours, 57 minutes and 23 seconds, at an average speed of 105.534 mph.

    Truex, Kyle Busch, Harvick and Brad Keselowski advance to the Championship 4 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

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  • Hamlin’s Dominant Run Ends in the Wall

    Hamlin’s Dominant Run Ends in the Wall

    Denny Hamlin’s day was dominant, but contact with Chase Elliott late in the Can-Am 500 at Phoenix Raceway knocked him out of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

    Starting the afternoon in second, Hamlin first took the lead on Lap 26 when passed Elliott exiting Turn 4, after he got loose, only to lose it a lap later when Elliott put the chrome bumper to him in Turn 1. On Lap 28, Hamlin powered around his outside in Turn 2 to take the lead.

    He was challenged late in the stage by Kyle Larson, who took it from him on Lap 68 and Hamlin settled for second in the first stage.

    After beating Larson off pit road, Hamlin commanded the lead for the next 151 laps. During which, he took the green and checkered flag to win the second stage.

    When Trevor Bayne brought out the third caution, Hamlin lost the lead on pit road when his car stalled briefly and exited behind teammate Matt Kenseth.

    With 42 laps to go, Elliott again put the bumper to Hamlin through Turn 4. But past the exit, they made contact again and Hamlin brushed the wall. Over the next few laps, smoke started billowing from the right-front tire, the tell-tale sign of a tire rub. With 38 to go, the tire gave way as he entered Turn 3, he veered up the track and slammed the outside wall, ending his day and Playoff run.

    “Well we had a fast car all day. We did essentially our job all day long. We put ourselves in good position. Things just didn’t work out there, in the end.”

    All of this comes in the wake of the much-publicized incident two weeks ago at Martinsville Speedway, in which Hamlin dumped Elliott in Turn 3 with three laps to go to try, but failed, to win the race himself.

    Hamlin was asked if he thought that his apology following the incident would prevent something along the lines of what took him out.

    “Each person has their own opinion of how they do things, and it just proves to the people that thought I was the bad guy that he would do the exact same thing under the same circumstances. It’s part of racing. I got into him, and he chose to retaliate and, so, I’m in the garage and that’s the way it is.

    “We did a great job all day. This is the best car I’ve had in a very long time. We just got behind on a pit stop, and that just gave those guys an opportunity to get close.”

    Hamlin ended the day in 37th and sixth in points, trailing Elliott by 17 for fifth.

  • Harvick Fastest in Final Practice at Phoenix

    Harvick Fastest in Final Practice at Phoenix

    Kevin Harvick topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Phoenix Raceway.

    The driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was the fastest with a time of 26.672 and a speed of 134.973 mph. Kyle Busch was second in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 26.799 and a speed of 134.333 mph. Kasey Kahne was third in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 28.800 and a speed of 134.328 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was fourth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 26.803 and a speed of 134.313 mph. Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five in his No. 14 SHR Ford with a time of 26.813 and a speed of 134.263 mph.

    Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-10.

    Chase Elliott rounded out the Playoff drivers in 17th.

    Johnson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 133.549 mph.

    Second Practice Results

    First Practice Results

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  • Harvick Fastest at Phoenix in Second Practice

    Harvick Fastest at Phoenix in Second Practice

    Kevin Harvick topped the chart in second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Phoenix Raceway.

    The driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was the fastest with a time of 26.800 and a speed of 134.328 mph. Chase Elliott was second in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 26.833 and a speed of 134.163 mph. Kasey Kahne was third in his No. 5 Hendrick Chevrolet with a time of 26.849 and a speed of 134.083 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was fourth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 26.854 and a speed of 134.058 mph. Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 26.879 and a speed of 133.934 mph.

    Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five.

    Jimmie Johnson was 14th, Ryan Blaney was 20th and Brad Keselowski rounded out the Playoff drivers in 21st.

    Erik Jones, who posted the 13th-fastest single-lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 133.060 mph.

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  • Blaney Takes Pole Position at Phoenix

    Blaney Takes Pole Position at Phoenix

    Ryan Blaney will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday after winning the pole for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Can-Am 500 at Phoenix Raceway.

    The driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford posted the fastest time in the final round of qualifying with a time of 26.098 and a speed of 137.942 mph.

    “It was a good run for us. We got better each round. Honestly, I didn’t think it was going to be enough. I didn’t think I got the best lap out there. I tried to get more the second lap and I messed up. Really cool, we started second here in the spring race. It’s nice to be on the pole here. This is cool. Sitting on the pole at a short track. I never would’ve thought I’d be doing that. Can’t thank SKF and Quicklane enough. Motorcraft for what they do. A good start to the weekend. Hopefully, we can just keep it going.”

    It’s his second pole in 89-career starts.

    Denny Hamlin will start second with a time of 26.099 and a speed of 137.936 mph. Kyle Larson will start third with a time of 26.101 and a speed of 137.926 mph. Chase Elliott will start fourth with a time of 26.155 and a speed of 137.641 mph. Martin Truex Jr. will round out the top-five starters with a time of 26.166 and a speed of 137.583 mph.

    Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Daniel Suarez will round out the top-10 starters.

    Erik Jones and Jimmie Johnson will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    With 40 drivers entered, none failed to make the race.

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  • Phoenix is Do or Die for Johnson

    Phoenix is Do or Die for Johnson

    While Jimmie Johnson can mathematically point his way into the championship round, this weekend’s Can-Am 500 at Phoenix Raceway is realistically a must-win scenario.

    He currently sits 49-points behind Brad Keselowski for the final spot in the Championship 4 round in next week’s Ford Ecoboost 400. He books his ticket with a win or if Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. or a non-Playoff driver wins, and gets help.

    “It’s a pretty easy approach for us. We’re in a must-win-situation,” he said. “We wish we were in a better points scenario, but that’s not the case. This team thrives on pressure and adversity and we’re certainly in the position right now.”

    Johnson, who’s famously made the Playoffs his sandbox over the last 14 years, has been mediocre through the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

    He started out with two top-10 finishes in the Round of 16, and posted his first top-five since his win at Dover International Speedway back in June. But in the five races since, he’s scored only one top-10 finish.

    “At the end of the day chasing speed is really the culprit,” he said. “And I feel that next year we’ll be in a much better position with the Camaro body on the race car. So, you start making decisions late spring and early summer, trying to extract speed out of the cars. And that doesn’t always make them comfortable to drive. So, it’s hard to say it’s just one thing, but the start of the process is just trying to make our cars faster. And, at times we’ve not made the best decisions and have made them very hard to drive. I think Texas was an example of that and also Kansas. We spun twice there. So, it’s just trying to make the cars faster.”

    Johnson’s run through the Round of 8 has been a microcosm of his season. To quote Motor Racing Network turn announcer Dave Moody, “I can’t remember a time at Martinsville when Jimmie Johnson had absolutely no problems whatsoever, and still ran around 18th.”

    He was an absolute non-factor, despite no problems all day. The following week at Texas, he made an unscheduled stop for a vibration and they never recovered, finishing 27th.

    So what does Johnson and his team do now, throw out the notebook and try something new?

    “Everything has been tried at this point,” he said. “I think we have to make decisions once we get on track this morning and see where that set-up leads us and if we’re ahead on speed, then we stay tight to that set-up. If we’re not where we need to be, we throw it all out. We can’t leave any questions on the table going into Saturday night. We need to try all variations of set-ups and try anything and everything we can today and tomorrow to get that car right.”

    With the Sun setting on the 2017 season, the championship hopes of Mr. Seven-Time might see an early curtain call.

  • Elliott Fastest in First Practice at Phoenix

    Elliott Fastest in First Practice at Phoenix

    Chase Elliott posted the fastest time in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Phoenix Raceway.

    The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 26.207 and a speed of 137.368 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was second in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 26.231 and a speed of 137.242 mph. Denny Hamlin was third in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 26.288 and a speed of 136.945 mph. Kyle Busch was fourth in his No. 18 Gibbs Toyota with a time of 26.301 and a speed of 136.877 mph. Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-five in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 26.303 and a speed of 136.867 mph.

    Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-10.

    Kevin Harvick was 11th and Brad Keselowski rounded out the Playoff drivers in 17th.

    Hamlin posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 132.831 mph.

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