The season is now almost a third over and so much has happened. Attendance is up at some tracks and way down at others. The new stages concept has given us better racing, but many are just staying away. Some of the gimmicks NASCAR has tried in order to generate interest have worked and some have not. It’s almost like a change a week. Tracks should hand out a new rule sheet for the fans. The casual fan, whose money is as good as the fanatical fan’s money, is the one who suffers, but I digress.
The sanctioning body announced recently that the Coca-Cola 600 would have an extra stage. It makes sense because there are an extra 100 miles on tap, but now there is talk of this happening at other tracks. You need that rule sheet. Add to that the yearly changes in the All-Star race and long-time fans as well as newcomers and casual fans shake their collective heads and look the other way. It’s almost as if NASCAR is trying to do something to bring back the glory days by using gimmicks. It’s either a sign of desperation or those at the top throwing mud at the wall in hopes that something sticks.
One example of this is the schedule changes for 2018. The first race of what is now known as the playoffs has always been at Chicagoland Speedway. Las Vegas Motor Speedway will now be the first playoff race. The track is another 1.5-mile oval many think we have too many of anyway. The Brickyard now is the final qualification race. Barnburner? Hardly. They made a good move by putting another short track in the final 10-race playoffs, but Richmond International Raceway rarely shows the competitive racing we see at the other two short tracks, Martinsville Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway.
The final big change to hop up fan interest was to run Charlotte Motor Speedway’s fall race on the road course in the infield of the track. The combination of a road course using a bit of the oval track, something they like to call a ROVAL, is like the course at Daytona International Speedway which opens Speed weeks early in the year. It’s a novel idea, and fans now love road racing for some reason, but will it work? It could be a rousing success or a colossal failure. That’s where we are these days. Grasping at straws or throwing mud at the wall. We will know more in about 16 months.
The fans who followed the sport in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, are rapidly looking the other way in large numbers these days. Movement away from traditional tracks like Darlington, Atlanta, Rockingham, and North Wilkesboro turned a lot of those fans off. The Chase, now known as the playoffs, sent more away, and aero push finished them off. No number of radical ideas will bring them back. It’s a grand old sport still loved by many, but I hear a death rattle in the distance. Going back to the way it used to be probably won’t help that much, but the sins of the past, so to speak, have put the sport where it is.
BRISTOL, Tenn. — One term I’ve heard used by those attending the Short Track Nationals at Bristol Motor Speedway this past weekend has been “Corporate NASCAR,” meaning NASCAR’s desires to grow the sport has made it lose touch with the interests and desires of its core fans. After watching yet another lackluster All-Star Race that was overhyped by both NASCAR and Charlotte Motor Speedway, I believe there’s truth to that “Corporate NASCAR” label.
I’ve spent the entire weekend at Thunder Valley milling about the garage “tents” of the late model and street stock classes as they prepared to race on the high banks of the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile.” The differences between the atmosphere of these lower level short track racing series and a typical NASCAR weekend are astronomical, even on a typical Bristol weekend.
Race action during a Super Late Model feature race for the Short Track U.S. Nationals at Bristol Motor Speedway. Photo: Tucker White/SpeedwayMedia.com
The atmosphere at Bristol this weekend has been far more relaxed and fan-friendly, allowing fans to be up close and mingle with drivers who actually were inside the track more often than not. On a typical NASCAR weekend, you’re lucky if your driver spends more than a few minutes outside of his/her motor coach prior to a practice/qualifying session or race. All the late model and street stock teams worked out of a tent where fans could walk by and chat with team members as they please. In the NASCAR world, I see teams rope off their war wagons, telling the public to piss off. Fans were able to stand near the wall inside the track, provided they didn’t do anything reckless. On a NASCAR weekend, you need to be a photographer or hard-carded to be near the walls when cars are on track.
Finally, the drivers meeting this weekend at the Short Track Nationals was actually a meeting where they went over race procedure and emphasized the different layout for Bristol (the turns were on the opposite sides of a NASCAR race and the front and backstretch were flipped). It was also open to anyone who purchased a pit pass for the day or weekend and was held out in the open.
The drivers meeting’s in NASCAR are a joke. It’s an overblown spectacle, and I’m using that term incredibly loosely, held in a secluded location that’s not open to the public, usually inside the track where a hot pass at minimum is needed to even get near, much less attend. And even a hot pass won’t always get you into the meeting, even if you’re media. What goes on when the meeting actually starts? It’s about eight to 10 minutes of naming off dignitaries and then two to three minutes at most dedicated to actually talking about race procedure.
That 24-word sentence that ended the previous paragraph is every drivers meeting ever. Once in a while, you’ll get a driver or crew chief to actually raise their hands when a series director asks everyone if there are any questions, but that’s usually a result of a fustercluck XFINITY/Truck Series race the day prior and/or NASCAR making a bizarre penalty call in a race the day prior.
But I’m not here to dwell on the atmosphere of the Short Track Nationals. I presented it to show the dichotomy between local level short track racing and NASCAR.
Now let’s discuss last night’s snoozer of a race that was the Monster Energy All-Star Race.
First off, take a look at the “over the top” infield logo for this year’s race. It’s so bland and generic for a race that’s emphasizes “no points, just old fashioned, run for the money,” high energy racing. This looks like a freaking teaser logo that’s used to keep people in the dark about what’s really coming.
But if you think the race logo is phoned in, feast your eyes on the infield logo, via this Tweet from Jim Utter of Motorsport.com.
Charlotte Motor Speedway couldn’t even take the time to paint that generic race logo on the grass? They just painted Monster Energy on the grass.
I know I’m nitpicking here, but I must if this is not to be repeated.
CONCORD, N.C. – MAY 20: Monster Energy performers entertain the crowd prior to the start of the Monster Energy NASCAR All Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 20, 2017 in Concord, North Carolina. Photo: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
Let’s now turn to the new sponsor of the Cup Series, Monster Energy.
Their idea of brining people to the track is MMA fights and motorcycle shows in a giant steel hamster ball that I’ve seen done with more at stake at a state carnival.
Now I understand perfectly that entertainment is not experienced in a vacuum and everyone has different tastes. But how is anything Monster Energy is doing leading to attracting a new crowd? Attendance at most tracks is still shaky and ratings are still plummeting, so it’s not working right now.
To make a long story short, everything Monster Energy is doing is all flash with no substance.
And now we come to the race itself.
It was yet another snooze-fest of a mile and a half race that had nothing of substance to it. Kyle Larson led from start to finish in the first two segments and Jimmie Johnson led all but two laps in the third segment before winning it.
On the final restart, Kyle Busch dove under Brad Keselowski only a few hundred yards past the start/finish line to take the lead and drove on to victory.
Clean air was key to victory.
We’ve seen this year after year where the driver who gets out front in the final segment is the driver who wins the race more often than not, last year being the exception where Joey Logano passed Larson in the closing laps of the final stage.
Yet for whatever reason, NASCAR continues to run this race at Charlotte, rather than moving it to a short track where aerodynamics aren’t so critical.
Year after year, the aero push effect has gotten worse at the intermediate tracks, especially at Charlotte, but NASCAR, International Speedway Corporation and Speedway Motorsports Inc. aren’t moving away from these types of tracks. Instead, they’ve gone to more of them. Hell, next season, we’re taking a race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and moving it to the intermediate track of Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
To put it simply, the biggest problem with NASCAR today is the disconnect between those in charge of the sport and those who sit in the seats, and it was on display at Charlotte more than any race this season. The disconnect encompasses everything I’ve mentioned in this piece and explains why people who take part in local level racing have such a negative opinion of NASCAR today.
Now I understand that a sport the size of NASCAR has many masters to serve. They have to please the drivers, teams, tracks, media and fans at the same time, and the interests of one entity listed isn’t always shared with another. In that respect, I understand NASCAR can’t please everybody. The best they can do is do what pleases the largest number of people and apologize to those it shafts in doing so.
But the most important entity of the bunch is the fans. If people aren’t buying tickets and/or watching the race on TV, the sport grinds to a halt.
Bottom line, take care of your customers and they’ll take care of you. And last night’s All-Star Race shows NASCAR still has work to do.
Kyle Busch captured his first ever NASCAR Cup Series win at Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday night, winning the Monster Energy All-Star race and the $1 million prize.
Busch was lined up in second beside Brad Keselowski to begin the final 10-lap shootout but quickly grabbed the lead and never looked back. He led all 10 laps on his drive to victory lane, becoming the 23rd different driver to win the event in its 33-race history.
“We’ve never won at Charlotte in a Cup car and we finally achieved that goal tonight,” an ecstatic Busch said after the race. “I won the All-Star Race. I won a million bucks. There’s reason to celebrate and reason to celebrate big.
“I can’t say enough about this team. I can’t say enough about (crew chief) Adam Stevens and these guys on the pit box. You can rely on them all day long. I had to do that tonight. We weren’t quite the fastest car, but we made the right changes when it mattered most. We made the right moves when it mattered most. We got the most out of our night tonight and got here to Victory Lane; just so relieved, elated, proud and excited, all at the same time.”
Kyle Larson won the first two stages of the All-Star race and led all of the 40-combined laps, but finished in second place after losing three positions during the final pit stop.
“My pit crew has been awesome all year, and I don’t want to take anything away from them,” Larson said after the race. “We came down pit road the leader, and three people passed us. That was pretty much the difference there. But in 10 laps, track position is huge. We just didn’t have it there at the end. We had the best car out there, for sure. In traffic, I thought it was really good. I thought we had it most of the race but that’s how racing goes. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. But I think we had a really fast car today. We’ll go onto the 600, that’s a long race, and try it again.”
Jimmie Johnson, the third stage winner, had to settle for third place.
“I was really hopeful of old tires and being on the bottom,” Johnson said. “They’d be able to hold that lane back, especially Kyle (Busch) and how good he is on restarts. And it just didn’t happen. He got in there. I had a decent start. The 11 (Denny Hamlin) spun his tires behind me, and he wasn’t able to push me and get me going.
“I had a couple of shots at him (Busch). He wasn’t handling too well at the start of the run, but I just drove too hard. I could see a million dollars out the windshield, and I just drove this Lowe’s Chevy way too hard in the corner a couple of times and gave up some ground. We learned a little bit tonight and we’ll come back next week (for the Coca-Cola 600) and have some more fun.”
Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top five finishers. Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Keselowski and Denny Hamlin finished in sixth through 10th, respectively.
All of the participating teams had the option of using one set of softer tires at some point during the race but it proved to be a non-factor, outweighed by the advantage of clean air which made passing the leader next to impossible.
Matt Kenseth’s race ended early with an oil leak after Stage 1 and finished in last place (20th). Ryan Newman made contact with Hamlin in Stage 3 and was unable to continue, finishing 19th. Dale Earnhardt Jr. struggled with the handling of his car all night, resulting in an 18th place finish.
The All-Star Open that preceded the All-Star race gave three drivers the opportunity to transfer into the main event. Clint Bowyer won the first stage, Ryan Blaney took the second stage and Daniel Suarez won The Open. Chase Elliott was voted into the All-Star race by winning the fan vote and was the only one of the four to finish in the top 10, placing seventh.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series headed back home this past Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was the fifth race of the 2017 season.
Kyle Busch scored back to back wins and earned his 48th career truck series win, his seventh at Charlotte. Busch led three times for 90 laps. After the race, Busch spoke about the back to back wins.
“It means a lot,” he said. “These guys, they pour their hearts and souls into our trucks and what we do with our Toyota Tundras. It’s awesome to get Cessna back to back wins here and back to victory lane again and of course just a true testament to Rowdy Manufacturing, everybody in the chassis shop doing a fantastic job and Kyle Busch Motorsports, all the guys going home. Everyone on this 51 team, they’ve done a great job.
“I can’t say enough about Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) and everybody on the 4 (Christopher Bell) as well as Marcus (Richmond, crew chief) on the 18 (Noah Gragson). We’re all really working as a cohesive group and guys are doing a great job. For us to be out front most of the laps tonight, it was fun. It was challenging there that middle section of the race. That was kind of chaotic. I didn’t know what was going on half the time. We made it through there and got to the front and was able to win this thing. Just real proud of the whole team effort.”
Johnny Sauter earned his fourth top-five of the season. Sauter led twice for 22 laps before finishing second behind Kyle Busch.
“This was a good night for us,” Sauter said. “It’s typically a place I struggle at. Our Allegiant Travel Chevy was phenomenal in that second stage. We restarted around 13th and we were in the lead after 10-12 laps. I felt like this race track was going to go free late but it didn’t. I needed more front grip. Obviously where you restart is important and I wanted to be on the top. We’ve got a little bit of work to do to make our stuff a little bit better but I’m really proud of our effort tonight.”
After finishing third, Christopher Bell now has four top fives this season.
Bell was disappointed, saying, “I struggled on restarts. I don’t know why. One time I’d spin the tires, the next time I wouldn’t. I just had trouble getting going. I’m pretty bummed I finished third with a second-place truck but (crew chief) Rudy (Fugle) did a great job with everything. We had a really fast truck. We really should’ve finished second but I’m glad the boss was able to win.”
Ryan Truex had a solid run and earned his third top 10 of the season with a fourth-place finish, followed by Timothy Peters in fifth place.
Matt Crafton finished sixth, giving him one top five and three top 10’s for the 2017 season. Grant Enfinger (seventh) has two top 10’s and Ben Rhodes finished eighth after his disappointment at Kansas the week before.
Noah Gragson earned his second top 10 of the season by coming home in the ninth position while Parker Kligerman rounded out the top 10.
Other notables – Chase Briscoe- 11th, Austin Cindric- 13th, T.J. Bell- 14th, J.J. Yeley-15th, Justin Haley-17th, John Hunter Nemechek-22nd, Regan Smith-29th, Kaz Grala-30th and Brandon Jones-31st.
There were nine cautions for 38 laps and 10 lead change among eight drivers.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes this weekend off, before heading to Dover International Speedway for the running of the Bar Harbor 200 on June 2.
Richard Petty Motorsports announced Wednesday that Regan Smith will drive the No. 43 Smithfield Ford in this weekend’s Monster Energy Open Race, replacing the injured Aric Almirola. The Open event offers three transfer spots into the Monster Energy All-Star race Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Smith is a former Cup driver with one win and 13 top 10s in 211 Cup Series starts and six wins in the XFINITY Series. He currently competes in the Camping World Truck Series for Ricky Benton Racing. It is not known if Smith will fill in beyond this weekend but he has proven to be a preferred substitute in the past for several drivers including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson.
RPM will hold a press conference Friday at 11 a.m. at Charlotte Motor Speedway with Almirola to provide an update on his injury and a recovery outlook. It will be streamed live on NASCAR.com.
Almirola was injured during the Go Bowling 400 at Kansas Speedway, Saturday, May 13, suffering a compression fracture of the T5 vertebra after a collision with the cars of Joey Logano and Danica Patrick. The accident began with a parts failure on Logano’s Team Penske car which caused him to swerve and make contact with Patrick’s Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. Almirola was unable to avoid the wreck and slid into them, lifting the rear wheels of his car before it slammed back onto the racing surface. Emergency workers had to cut away the roof of his car to safely extract Almirola.
If Almirola is unable to compete in every regular season race, he will need a waiver from NASCAR to be eligible for the playoffs this season. He would also need to win a race as well as finish in the top 30 by the end of the regular season. Almirola is presently 23rd in the Cup Series standings.
Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.
NASCAR travels to Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend for the Monster Energy All-Star race Saturday evening.
The All-Star race lineup will feature 20 of NASCAR’S best. Those eligible for the event are drivers who won a points race in 2016 or 2017, past all-star race winners and series champions who compete full-time.
There are currently 16 drivers locked into the race. They include Chris Buescher, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Martin Truex Jr. and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Three drivers will earn a spot by competing in the Monster Energy Open which is comprised of three stages. The winner of each stage will move on to the All-Star race. The final 20th spot will be determined by the fan vote.
Joey Logano is the defending All-Star race winner and has the sixth-best driver rating (85.3) with an average finish of 7.3. Last year’s win was his first victory in this event where he also has three top fives and five top 10s. Logano is one of 22 different drivers who has won an All-Star race. But did you know that only two drivers, Davey Allison (1991, 1992) and Jimmie Johnson (2012, 2013) have won consecutive All-Star races?
Kyle Busch heads to the All-Star race in Charlotte with the series-best driver rating of 101.9 with three top fives and six top 10s. He leads all active drivers with three poles (2008, 2011, 2012) and has the best average starting position of 5.818 but is still looking for his first All-Star win.
There have been 32 All-Star races but did you know that only 31 have been held at Charlotte Motor Speedway? In 1986 it was held at Atlanta Motor Speedway and was won by Bill Elliott.
Elliott leads the series in All-Star poles with four (1987, 1997, 1998 and 2000) and he is one of only four drivers who has won consecutive poles. Davey Allison won back-to-back poles in 1991 and 1992, Kyle Busch won the 2011 and 2012 poles and Carl Edwards was the most recent, capturing the pole in both 2013 and 2014.
The first All-Star race was held in 1985 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. But did you know that it was won by Hall of Famer, Darrell Waltrip? He went on to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship the same year. Waltrip, however, was not the only one to win the All-Star race and the championship in the same year. Dale Earnhardt (1987, 1990, 1993), Rusty Wallace (1989), Jeff Gordon (1995, 1997, 2001) and Jimmie Johnson (2006, 2013) followed in his footsteps.
Although the All-Star race is a relatively short, exhibition race, winning it has proven to be a unique indicator of which drivers have mastered the 1.5-mile track. Did you know that seven times, seven different drivers, have gone on to win the Coca-Cola 600 the following weekend? Those drivers include Darrell Waltrip (1985), Davey Allison (1991), Dale Earnhardt (1993), Jeff Gordon (1997), Jimmie Johnson (2003), Kasey Kahne (2008) and Kurt Busch (2010).
One of the most memorable All-Star races occurred in 1992 when Davey Allison and Kyle Petty were contending for the win along with Dale Earnhardt who was in the lead. During the closing laps, Petty made contact with Earnhardt, who spun, setting up a battle between Allison and Petty. Allison won the race but the two drivers collided as they crossed the finish line. Allison was knocked unconscious and airlifted to the local hospital but, thankfully, was not seriously injured.
But did you know that Davey Allison is also one of only six drivers with multiple wins in this event? Allison (1991, 1992) Terry Labonte (1988, 1999) and Mark Martin (1998, 2005) have two victories each. Dale Earnhardt (1987, 1990 and 1993) and Jeff Gordon (1995, 1997 and 2001) have three wins while Jimmie Johnson leads the series with four All-Star wins (2003, 2006, 2012, 2013).
Be sure to tune in at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 20, for the 33rd running of the Monster Energy All-Star race to find out which driver will win bragging rights and the $1 million prize.
Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.
NASCAR heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway this week for the Camping World Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Friday night and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series All-Star race Saturday evening. Both events will be televised on FS1.
Please check below for the complete schedule of events. All times are Eastern.
Thursday, May 18:
On Track:
5-5:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Practice
7-7:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice
Friday, May 19:
On Track: 1-2:10 p.m.: Cup Series Practice (Monster Energy All-Star Race) – FS1
2:10-2:25 p.m.: Cup Series Pit Road Speed Practice (Monster Energy All-Star Race) – FS1
3-4:25 p.m.: Cup Series Practice (Monster Energy Open) – FS1
4:45 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
6:05 p.m.: Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying Round 1 (All-Star Race) – FS1
7:30 p.m. (approx): Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying Round 2 (All-Star Race) – FS1
8:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 (134 laps, 201 miles) – FS1
Saturday, May 20:
On Track: 4:35 p.m.: Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying (Open; Multi-Vehicle, Two Rounds) – FS1
6 p.m.: Cup Series Monster Energy Open (20 laps, 20 laps, 10 laps) – FS1
8 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race (20 laps, 20 laps, 20 laps, 10 laps) – FS1 (time approx.)
The All-Star Drivers:
The All-Star race will be made up of 20 drivers. There are currently 16 drivers who are locked into the race. They include Chris Buescher, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Martin Truex Jr. and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Three drivers will earn a spot by competing in the Monster Energy Open which is comprised of three stages. The winner of each stage will move on to the All-Star race. The final 20th spot will be determined by the fan vote.
Format:
The All-Star race will feature four stages (20 laps, 20 laps, 20 laps, 10 laps) for a total of 70 laps. The final stage of 10 laps will feature 10 drivers.
The winner of each of the first three stages will earn a spot in the final stage, as long as they are running on the lead lap after the third stage.
The cars with the best average finish in the first three stages will make up the remaining seven spots for the 10-car final stage.
The 10 cars will be lined up by the average finish of the first three stages and will be given the option to pit. Exit off pit road will determine the starting order for the final stage.
The winner will receive $1,000,000.
Strategy:
Each team will have one set of softer tires which will provide better grip and speed. The teams can use these tires at their discretion any time during the 70 lap event. But, if a team chooses to use the softer tires to begin the final stage, they will have to start behind the teams who are on regular tires.
Qualifying Notes:
Qualifying for the All-Star Race will include the “no speed limit” four-tire pit stop. Each team will have three timed laps and must include a mandatory four-tire pit stop with no enforced pit-road speed limits. The five quickest teams will advance to the final round of qualifying which will determine starting positions one through five. The team that completes the fastest stop will also earn the Pit Crew Competition Award.
BRISTOL, Tenn. — For three days in mid-May, hundreds of race cars will take to the high banks of Thunder Valley.
May 19 through May 21, Bristol Motor Speedway will host the first annual Short Track U.S. Nationals in which over 500 races cars of various short track racing classes will compete on the .533-mile short track that’s known as “The Last Great Coliseum.”
But it’s also running on the same weekend as the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. To facilitate those who can’t make it to the event, Bristol and Speed51.com partnered together to announce that they’ll carry the Short Track Nationals on the latter’s website as a PPV event.
“With the NASCAR All-Star weekend taking place at Charlotte Motor Speedway, we’ve looked for ways to give those who can’t attend the Short Track U.S. Nationals an opportunity to still enjoy the world’s largest short track race and glad we were able to partner with a leader like Speed51.com,” said Jerry Caldwell, executive vice president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway.
Fans are also encouraged to attend both the All-Star Race and the Short Track Nationals since the All-Star Race is on May 20 and the main races for the Short Track Nationals don’t start until the next day.
CONCORD, N.C. — Being sent to the rear of the field prior to the start of the race and an early pit road penalty didn’t stop Matt Kenseth from flying under the radar to a runner-up finish in the Queen City.
The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was forced to start at the tail end of the field of the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway due to unapproved adjustments. He quickly worked his way through half the field prior to the first caution on lap 25.
However, he was among four drivers penalized for their crews being over the wall too soon, was sent right back to the tail end of the field and had to climb his way up all over again.
He remained under the radar the rest of the day until the final caution flew with 26 laps to go when teammate Denny Hamlin lost an engine on the fronstretch. He beat Jimmie Johnson off pit road to assume the race lead.
On the restart with 18 to go, however, he couldn’t hold back the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, lost the lead and settled for a runner-up finish.
“Yeah, it was a great second,” Kenseth said of his day. “I think this is one of the toughest tracks there is on the circuit to pass at. It was better during the day than it is at night and that’s a good thing, because we had to go to the back twice, so we were able to make up some ground and finish okay.”
On what fighting from the back to the front twice said about his team, Kenseth said after the race that his team “did a great job. Honestly, last two years in a row pretty much Charlotte has kind of taken us out of the Chase – mostly my doing, different things happening the last couple years here – so had a lot of problems last year, this year we had a lot of problems again, but we were able to kind of rebound from them and just kind of take our time. We knew it was a long day and they had good pit stops, good strategy and got us back where we needed to be there at the end.”
Kenseth leaves Charlotte second in the points standings five back of Johnson.
CONCORD, N.C. — A great qualifying effort for Alex Bowman turned bad early in the going in the Queen City.
The driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, substituting for the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr., posted the fastest lap in the second round of qualifying before posting a time fast enough to start second. He was also running either second or third for the first 60 laps.
On the 62nd circuit, however, Bowman suffered a right-front tire blowout going into turn 3 and slammed into the outside wall. He also collected Casey Mears in the process and brought out the second caution of the race.
After being released from the infield care center, he was asked what happened.
“Blew a tire I guess,” Bowman said. It’s really unfortunate. I hate it for these Axalta guys. Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports worked so hard. They brought a great race car here, brand new and destroyed it. Really unfortunate, but it’s not anybody’s fault. We didn’t hit anything we just must have run over something.
He was told that his tire looked like it was going down. When asked why, he said he “didn’t hit anything and it’s nobody’s fault. We just must have run something over. It’s unfortunate and I hate it for all the guys. Everyone at Hendrick Motorsports brought a great car to the race track. Again, it’s unfortunate and we are going to try and get back out there and salvage some spots.”
When asked what he saw, Mears said he didn’t know what happened to the 88.
“I just was going into the corner and I saw him come up all of a sudden,” he said. “I don’t know. It’s too bad he didn’t put us out of our misery there. We were having a rough start of it. We were just kind of hanging on and actually those guys were going by us. They either blew a right-front (tire) or had something come loose or something and came up into us.”
Both drivers left Charlotte. occupying the bottom two spots in the finishing order, with Mears taking the 40th spot.
