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  • ARCA Menards Series Preview-Chicago

    ARCA Menards Series Preview-Chicago

    Last week gave us an exciting ending to the race at Gateway as Ty Gibbs, grandson of Joe Gibbs, took the checkered flag in the last corner of the race. This week the ARCA Menards Series stays in the Illinois state as it heads north to Chicagoland Speedway.

    It’s been an electrifying ARCA season so far and we are one race past of the halfway point. Believe it or not, Chicago will mark eight races left until the season finale at Kansas Speedway in October.

    Chicagoland Speedway is somewhat of a home game for the Venturini’s who originate from the city and look to be successful every time they visit the 1.5-mile racetrack located in Chicago, Illinois.

    The same can be said for Michael Self, the previous race winner who won last year’s race. Self visited victory lane two races ago at Michigan (another 1.5-mile track). Since then, his up and down season has continued. At Madison, he followed his win at Michigan to finish second the week after, then finished a disappointing 13th last week at Gateway.

    Despite the finish outside the top-10 last week, Self is looking forward to getting to Chicago, as he lists it as one of his favorite tracks and hopes to relive last years special victory for the Venturini team.

    “Chicagoland is definitely one of my most favorite tracks on the schedule,” says Self. “It’s such a unique track with so much character. I’ve been fortunate to race there a handful of times now, and every time has been a lot of fun, and last year was definitely cool to bring home a win. It’s a special place for Venturini Motorsports with Chicago being their home town, that definitely adds some excitement and emotion to race day.”

    After being out of the car for the last couple of races, as upcoming racer Corey Heim took over, Ty Majeski climbs back into the No. 22 Chad Bryant Racing machine Thursday night for what will be his final ARCA start until his final start in the season finale at Kansas in October.

    “I feel really good about heading into Chicago,” said Majeski. “I feel like it is my best 1.5-mile track. It has a ton of character and you’re able to move around and find speed. We went for it in my last ARCA race at Michigan International Speedway and were just a corner short of our third win of the year. I think we can go to Chicago this weekend and look to finish what we started there.”

    Majeski has won two races this year and almost has a possible third at Michigan but ran out of gas coming out of Turn 4 and got passed by eventual race winner Michael Self. Heim has piloted the machine the last two races, finishing 10th at Madison and fourth at Gateway. Majeski has two starts at Chicago, both coming in the top-10. His last start came two years ago, driving the Cunningham Motorsports machine where he finished seventh after starting second and leading 50 laps.

    The Seymour, Wisconsin driver has one other ARCA start, competing in the Roulo Brothers No. 17 Ford, in 2016 where Majeski finished eighth after leading three laps.

    Like Majeski, his teammate Joe Graf Jr. is looking for a top-10 this week after finishing 11th at Gateway last Saturday. Graf Jr. has one start, which came in a Chad Bryant Racing car last year where he finished 13th.

    “I’ve learned a lot since last year,” added Graf. “Just about how to handle these cars, move them around the air by myself or around other cars. You are always learning. We’ve shown that our Chad Bryant Racing cars have speed on the bigger tracks this year, I’m hoping to earn our second top-five of the year on Thursday night.”

    Another driver who has experience is Bret Holmes, who drives the family owned No. 23 Chevrolet. Holmes has one start, that came in 2017 where he earned a top-10 finish.

    This weekend, Holmes will have an exciting sponsorship with Techworks Trailer Sales, a company located in Elkhart, Indiana. Holmes is excited about having the company aboard his No. 23 machine and hopes to celebrate with them in victory lane Thursday night.

    “I’m honored to have Techworks Trailer Sales on our Chevrolet this week for Chicagoland Speedway,” said Holmes. They’re a great group of people and are loyal to their Elkhart, Indiana base. It’s really cool to be able to bring them into the sport, and I hope our fans will show them as much support as they show us. I know we’re going to unload a fast Techworks Trailer Sales Chevrolet this week. Our intermediate track program is strong this year. What better way to welcome Mr. Barnes and Techworks Trailer Sales to the BHR family than with a win.”  

    One driver, Christian Eckes, however, does not have any starts at Chicago and will be making his first one on Thursday night with Venturini Motorsports. Eckes is looking forward to visiting the city, but also realizes his job comes first and that’s to win.

    “I wish we had more time to go out and spend some more time in the city,” he said. “For the most part it’s hard to go see the scenes of whatever city we are in. At the very least we’ll go have a good time with the team and go out to dinner but sometimes that’s it. I’d like to go into town and see some of the buildings, go see the lake, go to Navy Pier and all of that. But at the same time we need to stay focused on why we’re here.”

    While he knows winning is always a possibility and the expectation going into races like this, Eckes is focused on winning the ARCA championship at the end of the season.

    “The biggest thing for the next half of the season is to start putting races together. We have had the speed, we have just lacked in execution. Whether it’s mechanical failures or me dialing out the car, we need to execute better.”

    There are 20 drivers entered on the entry list for the annual Bounty 150.

    Other drivers entered in the race include Eric Caudell, Jason Miles, Con Nicolopoulos, Tim Richmond, Scott Melton, Tanner Gray, Brad Smith, Thad Moffitt, Austin Wayne Self, Travis Braden, Harrison Burton, Riley Herbst, Morgen Baird and Tommy Vigh Jr.

    Chicagoland Speedway has seen 18 ARCA Series races since the track opened up in 2001.

    The list of winners include Ed Berrier, Chad Blount, Frank Kimmel, Kyle Krisiloff, Dawayne Bryan, Steve Wallace, Michael McDowell, Scott Lagasse Jr, Justin Lofton, Patrick Sheltra, Ty Dillon, Kevin Swindell, Mason Mitchell, Ryan Reed, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell and the defending race winner, Michael Self.

    Qualifying is important at Chicago, where only three times, the winner has come from the back. Berrier won this race in 2001 after starting 34th, Krisiloff won after starting 11th in 2004 and Reed in 2015 after starting 28th.

    Surprisingly, there has been no repeat winners since the track opened in 2001.

    Race day activities will get underway with the only practice session at 1 p.m. ET. General Tire Pole Qualifying is scheduled for 5:35 p.m. ET. Practice and qualifying will air live on arcaracing.com.

    The Bounty 150 race will be televised live on Fox Sports 1 with a scheduled start time shortly after 8 p.m. ET.


  • Weekend schedule for Chicagoland

    Weekend schedule for Chicagoland

    This weekend NASCAR heads to Chicagoland Speedway. The Gander Outdoors Truck Series starts off the tripleheader on Friday night with the Camping World 225 followed by the Xfinity Series Camping World 300 Saturday afternoon.

    The Monster Energy Cup Series Camping World 400 will close out the weekend activities with the Camping World 400, Sunday at 3 p.m. Kyle Busch is the defending race winner.

    Busch, along with Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. lead all active drivers with two wins each at the 1.5-mile track. Tony Stewart leads all drivers with three victories, in 2004, 2007 and 2011.

    All times are Eastern.

    Thursday, June 27

    2:35 p.m.: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series First Practice – No TV

    4:35 p.m.: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Second Practice – No TV

    6:35 p.m.: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Final Practice – No TV

    Friday, June 28

    4:05 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series First Practice – NBCSN

    5:05 p.m.: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Qualifying – FS2

    7:05 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Final Practice – NBCSN

    9 p.m.: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Camping World 225 (Stages 35/70/150 Laps = 225 Miles ) – FS1/MRN

    Saturday, June 29

    11:05 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series First Practice – NBCSN/MRN

    12:05 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying – NBCSN

    2 P.M.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN/MRN

    3:30 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Camping World 300 (Stages 45/90/200 Laps = 300 Miles) – NBCSN/MRN

    6:35 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – NBCSN/MRN

    Sunday, June 30

    3 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Camping World 400 – (Stages 80/160/267 Laps = 400.5 Miles) – NBCSN/MRN

    Defending race winners:

    Gander Outdoors Truck Series – Brett Moffitt

    Xfinity Series – Kyle Larson

    Monster Energy Cup Series – Kyle Busch

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

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

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

    Friday night’s Overton’s 225 at Chicagoland Speedway marked the 11th race of the season. It also marked the halfway point of the season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

    Here are four takeaways from the Overton’s 225 race.

    1. Close, but no cigar for Nemechek – John Hunter Nemechek was on pace for his second win of the season. However, a miscalculated pit stop early in the race, cost Nemechek a chance at the win as he ran out of gas on the backstretch on the last lap. This misfortune set him back to a disappointing seventh-place finish.  All was not lost though, as Nemechek led 64 laps and finished first and third, respectively, in Stages 1 and 2. Unfortunately, this does not mean anything, as he selected to earn NASCAR Xfinity Series points for this season.
    2. Brett Moffitt There To Capitalize – When someone has a misfortune, normally someone is there to capitalize on it. This certain someone just happened to be Iowa and Atlanta winner, Brett Moffitt. Moffitt and Nemechek swapped the lead with each other eight times in the last remaining laps. It was Moffitt who came out on top and earned his third win of the season. However, sponsorship still remains uncertain for the team in the remaining races of 2018.
    3. Can anyone stop Johnny Sauter? Sauter has been the most dominant driver in 2018. He has amassed four wins, an average start of 5.5 and an average finish of 4.0, along with 324 laps led. Can anyone stop him? If sponsorship continues for the Hattori Racing team, they could certainly be in the Championship 4 spot at Homestead. Noah Gragson, who has been strong this year, won at Kansas and has been close many times to multiple victories. It’s just a matter of a time before he breaks through and wins more. Stewart Friesen is another driver to keep an eye on for the remaining half of the season. 2018 has been a strong season for Friesen, who has three top fives and six top-10 finishes, along with 105 laps led. His best finish of the season was second at Fort Worth, a track in the Playoffs. One last driver who could surprise and quietly make his way to the Championship 4 is Sauter’s teammate, Justin Haley. Haley fended off Sauter on a late race restart at Gateway to earn his first Truck Series career win. Other stats include four top fives and seven top-10 finishes.
    4. Will Crafton Win? The 2018 Truck Series season has been so-so for the two-time champion Matt Crafton. There’s no question that Crafton has the talent and skills to win. But this is a sport that focuses on, what have you done for me lately? Crafton has only earned three top fives and four top-10 finishes, along with 35 laps led and an average start of 6.2 and an average finish of 13.5. His best finish of the season was at Dover finishing second, but only after Noah Gragson had a late race incident with Johnny Sauter. Crafton’s top fives and top-10 finishes are the lowest of his career since 2007 when he earned one top five and 10 top-10 finishes. Eldora will mark one year since the No. 88 ThorSport driver has won a race in the series, uncharacteristic-like to say the least. He sits seventh in the points currently but will have to win soon and start winning stages if they want to advance further in the Playoffs. If anyone can do it, it’s the experienced veteran and two-time champion. It is interesting to note that if Crafton doesn’t win this season, it will be the first time since 2012 that he hasn’t won a race in a season.
  • NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Chicago

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Chicago

    Friday nights Overton’s 225 at Chicagoland Speedway marked the halfway point of the season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It was the 11th race of the scheduled 22 race season.

    Once more, the Truck Series put on a thrilling battle for the race win and continued to show that it’s the best of the three national touring series right now. Little did anyone know, it would also set the stage for what would be an exciting weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.

    Here’s a look at who topped this week’s power rankings.

    1. Brett Moffitt – After falling out of the power rankings last week due to a late-race incident at Gateway, none of his doing, Moffitt and the No. 16 Hattori Racing team was able to secure sponsorship from Fr8 Auctions and was able to continue at Chicagoland this past Friday night. Moffitt started sixth and slipped back in Stage 1, finishing fifth. In the second stage, he improved his finishing position after finishing second and led for one lap. As soon as the third and final stage began, Moffitt was up front battling and contending for the race win with John Hunter Nemechek. It all started on lap 74, where Nemechek took the lead and since then, the two swapped the lead seven times in the last remaining laps. It was quite an epic battle for the race win with two drivers not backing down. On the last lap of the race, Moffitt made a move to the inside in Turn 1 to pass Nemechek for the win after only, Nemechek’s truck ran out of gas coming off of Turn 2 and thus Moffitt drove away with the race win. It was his third win of the year. The team noted in the post-race media availability, that they do have some races secured later on in the season, but still need full-time funding in order to compete for the championship. Previous Week Ranking: Fell Out
    2. Johnny Sauter – Sauter once again continues to prove that consistency is key if you want to win the championship in any of NASCAR’s top three series. He continues to be one of the best trucks on racetrack week in and week out. Despite finishing seventh and fifth in both stages, respectively. Sauter and his No. 21 GMS Racing team fought hard with a tight-handling race truck which wasn’t great in the dirty air, but with a late race caution on lap 122, the team was able to make adjustments only to have the jack fall during the pit stop which sent him to the back. With years of racing experience and knowledge, Sauter fought his way to a third-place finish earning his tenth top-10 of the season. He continues to lead the point standings over second place Noah Gragson by 65 points. Previous Week Ranking: 1st
    3. Noah Gragson – Gragson stays in this week’s power rankings after finishing fourth. It was a quiet but strong night for the No. 18 Safelite Kyle Busch Motorsports Tundra. After earning his third pole of the season, he consistently stayed inside the top-10 for most of the night. Early on in the first stage, Gragson led two times before being passed by John Hunter Nemechek on the last lap in Stage 1 and had to settle for second. The second stage, however, provided a much better opportunity for Gragson to earn stage points. When Korbin Forrister decided not to come in for tires, he restarted on the front row alongside Gragson. As soon as the restart happened, the No. 18 with four fresher tires passed Forrister for the lead and ultimately for the stage win. The third and final stage started to become a challenge for the 19-year-old youngster. It seemed as though his handling had started to go away just a tad before the last caution came out on Lap 122 when he came in for an adjustment like everyone. At the end of the day, the scoring pylon showed Gragson and his No. 18 Safelite Tundra in the fourth position. A decent Chicago outing for the KBM driver. Previous Week Ranking: 3rd
    4. Ben Rhodes – Rhodes finally gets a well deserved second place finish this past weekend. After not having the best of finishes and bad luck throughout the season, the cards and opportunity finally fell in his favor Friday night. He started ninth and finished sixth and 11th, respectively, in both stages. With the help of adjustments late in the going, Rhodes was there to capitalize on Nemechek’s misfortune on the last lap and earned his best finish of the season. This is exactly what the No. 41 ThorSport driver needs and it could be a chance to open the floodgates, where they could possibly begin to finish consistently inside the top-10 and peak at the right time of the season. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
    5. Justin Haley – Last week’s winner, Justin Haley, came home in the top-10 after starting 10th. It was a relatively quiet night for the No. 24 GMS Racing driver. It wasn’t the best night for him and his team, but he was able to secure finishes of ninth and seventh, respectively.  Haley is locked into the Playoffs with his win at Gateway and currently sits sixth in the standings. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
  • Harvick finishes third with strong run at Chicagoland

    Harvick finishes third with strong run at Chicagoland

    Sitting on the pit wall in front of his team’s pit box after the race concluded, an exhausted Kevin Harvick was asked to run through the final lap of the second stage, considering teammate Kurt Busch wasn’t thrilled with how he went about it.

    “I don’t know why we’d have a conversation (about it). Maybe you can tell me that,” Harvick said to Dave Burns of NBC. “I thought it was a good race there, and (we) got a stage point.”

    In the closing laps of the second stage, Harvick ran down Busch and squeezed his way through, almost touching the wall exiting Turn 4 in the process, to collect the playoff point that went with winning the stage. Busch didn’t take kindly to Harvick risking both their runs to collect a single point.

    “Championship. What the…I mean really?! That’s a teammate right there, everybody. Tune it into NBC live. That’s what a teammate does. Never expected that from a teammate. Never expected it, wow!”

    It was the highlight of a strong run in the Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway for Harvick, who finished fifth in the first stage while dealing with a tight handling car early in it, and first in the second.

    While he reeled in race leader Kyle Busch with roughly 40 laps to go, the handling of his car went back towards the tight side and couldn’t make the pass on Busch. A few laps later, Kyle Larson usurped him for second and he brought his car home to a third-place finish.

    SEE ALSO: Busch out-duels Larson on final lap at Chicagoland

    “Our car was just off all weekend. We had a tough time making the front end turn, and then we would wind up way too tight all the way through the corner or way too loose all the way through the corner. The guys did a good job and kept us in the game all day. We had a chance, we just wound up at the wrong side of it at the end.”

    He led 39 of the 267 laps and earned 50 points.

    Harvick leaves Chicagoland Speedway second in points, 61 behind Kyle Busch.

  • Chicago Finish is the Boost the 2018 Cup Season Needs

    Chicago Finish is the Boost the 2018 Cup Season Needs

    There’s no argument that the 2018 Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway was the greatest finish of the season so far. So what if Kyle Busch won? So what if Kyle Larson didn’t win? It doesn’t change the overlying fact that the fender-smashing, side-by-sideways last-lap run to the checkered flag was the most exciting thing anyone has seen all season. Once again, to bring the topic around, there is no argument here. This was the best finish of 2018.

    Still, the chorus of boos was heard at full volume while Busch was interviewed at the finish line following the win. Reminiscent of the Fall 1999 race at Bristol when Dale Earnhardt Sr. turned Terry Labonte, the boos were hard to ignore; Busch even returned the favor by mocking the detractors on national television. Meanwhile, despite finishing second, Larson was all smiles and made sure to congratulate Busch following the race. It was evident that the two had fun, which is more than what could be said for some of the fans.

    It’s expected at this point in time that any Kyle Busch victory will be met with a chorus of boos, unless it’s a clean race then yeah, sure; let’s applaud the guy. But considering he ran into the back of Larson in what was a fair play move, fans looking for a reason to gripe found a reason to lob their regularly scheduled boos at the guy. Never mind that he’s one of the best of our time. Never mind that he’s 10 wins shy of 200 NASCAR National Touring wins. Never mind that Sunday’s finish left everyone standing in their seats. Somehow, it feels awkward not to boo Kyle Busch.

    To be honest, a prevalent fan issue is that they can be a touch disingenuous. It’d be nice to see new faces in Victory Lane this season; only six drivers have won in the Cup Series so far. But then again, history is being made. Not since the 90s has there been such a small but dominant group of drivers. A lot of fans talking about “missing the old days,” but with three drivers alone (Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr.) winning 13 of this season’s races, it’s a nod to racing 20 years ago when Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, and Jeff Gordon were winning everything.

    Sure, there’s been some good, close finishes in ’18, such as the Daytona 500 or the race at Texas. But nothing with this sense of urgency, nor with the level of talent, has gone down this season. Two natural wheelmen went toe-to-toe for the win at Chicago, with the better of the two coming out on top. This is the kind of racing that makes NASCAR so fun to be a part of and this is the kind of racing that makes lasting memories for the fans. If anything, there should be more cheers because when all is said and done, Sunday’s finish was the type that defines NASCAR.

     

  • Busch out-duels Larson on final lap at Chicagoland

    Busch out-duels Larson on final lap at Chicagoland

    Kyle Busch parked his damaged car at the start/finish line, climbed out and retrieved the checkered flag, to a chorus of boos from the fans in attendance. In response, he turned to the NBC cameraman and gave a “boo-hoo” gesture.

    “I don’t know what y’all are whining about,” Busch said, as he gestured towards the grandstands. “If you don’t even like that kind of racing, don’t even watch.”

    SEE ALSO: Chicago Finish is the Boost the 2018 Cup Season Needs

    He was cruising unchallenged to victory until Kyle Larson passed Kevin Harvick with less than 30 to go. Larson reeled him in but lost ground after making contact with the wall in Turn 2 with eight laps remaining. A group of lap traffic with four to go allowed Larson to pull back up to him. On the final lap, Larson pulled a slide move into Turn 1, came back up the track and put Busch into the wall. He quickly passed Busch down the backstretch, but Busch responded in part by bumping Larson in Turn 3. While he veered into the wall, Larson slid long enough for him to drive by and score his 48th career victory.

    “I got really boxed in behind lapped cars and got really slowed, and I was just trying to get all I could there the last couple of laps. Larson tried to pull a slider, didn’t quite complete it. Slid up into me, used me. I kind of used him as a little bit of a brake going into (Turn) 3, and was able to come back for the victory.”

    Busch wasn’t threatening for the lead most of the day, nor was he running Top-five for most of it, but his pit crew gained him track position on his final two stops to put him in position to win for the second time in his career at Chicagoland Speedway.

    JOLIET, Ill. – JULY 01: Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, races during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 1, 2018, in Joliet, Illinois. Photo: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

    “Great thing for this Skittles Camry and all these guys. We were horrible today, absolutely horrendous. We just never gave up. We just always kept working on it, kept making the most of it. Got to where we needed it right there in the end and I was able to lead all those laps. If it wasn’t for lap traffic, it wouldn’t even have been a race.”

    Larson recovered from his spin to finish second.

    “Oh man, I’m not upset,” Larson said. “I had an opportunity there to slide in front of him and I figured I wouldn’t clear him or I would allow him to drive back underneath me. So I tried to get to his door and you know I opened the door for him to retaliate into (Turn) 3. I thought it was free game. I ran into him first, he got me after that, maybe a little bit worse than I got him, but that is alright. I love racing Kyle (Busch). I know all these fans are probably mad at him, but hey we put on a hell of a show for you guys and that was a blast. I had the top rolling there. I ran the right front off of it a little bit trying to run those guys down and (seeing the replay) yeah, that has got to be one of the best NASCAR finishes of all time. I know I’m on the short end of the stick again, but you know it was fun. Our Credit One Bank Chevy was amazing. Not great on the short runs, but man, on the long runs I could really get the top going and was able to get the top of (Turns) 3 and 4 figured out and really made up some time there. Just a lot of fun. My team did a great job, the pit crew was on it again, so thanks to them. Thanks to all you fans for coming out, it was a hot weekend, really hot, but we put on a good show for you.”

    Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer rounded out the Top-five.

    Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Alex Bowman rounded out the Top-10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    JOLIET, Ill. – JULY 01: Paul Menard, driver of the #21 Menards/Sylvania Ford, and Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 PPG Ford, lead the field to the green flag to start the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 1, 2018, in Joliet, Illinois. Photo: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

    Paul Menard led the field to green at 2:34 p.m., but Ryan Blaney cleared him exiting Turn 2 to lead the first lap. Clint Bowyer reeled in Blaney and powered by his inside to take the lead, going into Turn 1, on Lap 19. He pitted from the lead on Lap 40, handing the lead to Brad Keselowski, who too pitted from the lead on Lap 47. Austin Dillon inherited the lead but pitted on Lap 61 and the lead cycled to Aric Almirola, who drove on to win the first stage.

    Back to green on Lap 87, Kevin Harvick edged out teammate Almirola at the line to lead the lap, but Almirola cleared him exiting Turn 2 to take back the lead on Lap 89. Almirola pitted from the lead on Lap 122, but thanks to pitting a lap earlier, Harvick usurped him and cycled to the top spot.

    The caution flew for the second time on Lap 128 for debris. Blaney exited the pits with the lead and led the field back to green on Lap 132. Almirola’s four new tires ran down Blaney’s two and edged him out at the line to retake the lead on Lap 136. Six laps later, however, he made an unscheduled stop for a possible loose wheel. Kurt Busch assumed the race lead. While he fended off most of Harvick’s advances, his teammate powered by his outside, and all but touches the outside wall exiting Turn 4, to win the second stage.

    SEE ALSO: Harvick finishes third with strong run at Chicagoland

    Back to green on Lap 168, Martin Truex Jr. shoved Busch past Harvick exiting Turn 2 to retake the lead. Two laps later, Kyle Larson edged him out at the line to take the lead. Harvick powered around him entering Turn 3 to retake the lead on Lap 177.

    JOLIET, Ill. – JULY 01: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Skittles Red White & Blue Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 1, 2018 in Joliet, Illinois. Photo: Dylan Buell/Getty Images

    The caution flew for the fourth time on Lap 178 when Denny Hamlin got loose and spun down the track, exiting Turn 2. Keselowski exited the pits first, after taking just right-side tires, and led the field back to green on Lap 182. Harvick powered by him on the outside exiting Turn 2 to retake the lead on Lap 187.

    A caution flew for the fifth time with 59 laps to go, when Corey LaJoie hit the wall in Turn 2. Kyle Busch exited pit road with the race lead.

    Back to green with 55 to go, Busch maintained a half-second gap over Harvick for roughly 15 laps. But with 40 to go, right about the time the cloud cover disappeared, Harvick started to reel him in. After a few laps, Harvick radioed to his team that his car was “just too tight.” Larson usurped Harvick for second and quickly ran down Busch. He made contact with the wall in Turn 2 with eight to go and lost time to Busch. Larson made the ground back up when Busch ran into a group of lapped cars, setting up the final lap finish.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours, 50 minutes and 52 seconds, at an average speed of 140.636 mph. There were 24 lead changes among 10 different drivers, and five cautions for 23 laps.

    Busch leaves with a 62-point lead over Harvick.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/C1817_UNOFFRES.pdf”]

  • Kyle Larson rebounds from early setback to win Xfinity Series race at Chicago

    Kyle Larson rebounds from early setback to win Xfinity Series race at Chicago

    Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service

    JOLIET, Ill. – When Kyle Larson crossed the finish line at Chicagoland Speedway 8.030 seconds ahead of runner-up Kevin Harvick, there were no screams of elation from the winner of Saturday’s Overton’s 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

    Instead, Larson placed an order.

    “Water, ice and towel at the start/finish line,” Larson radioed to his team, after winning a race in mind-numbing heat that approached 150 degrees in the greenhouse of his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro.

    Larson had won the pole earlier in the day but had to start from the rear of the field because of a flat right front tire that required changing before the race. That proved only a temporary deterrent.

    By the end of the first 45-lap stage, Larson had driven up to sixth place, and on Lap 72, he made a three-wide pass of Harvick and Christopher Bell to take the lead for the first time.

    The 25-year-old Californian went on to lead a race-high 80 laps and took advantage of an 80-lap green-flag run to the finish to win for the first time at Chicagoland, the second time this season and the 10th time in his career.

    “Yeah, it was pretty hot,” Larson said in the understatement of the week. “But the adrenaline was kicking in. I can’t say enough about this race car. We were really bad (Friday in practice), so it’s cool we could win.

    “We were able to get our car better for today. These guys (the No. 42 team) never quit. The pit crew was amazing. That was really a key there, I thought, to get some track position after falling back to fourth (after the restart following the end of Stage 2).”

    In fact, Larson gained two positions on pit road under a caution for debris in Turn 4 on Lap 114 and restarted third on the bottom on Lap 121. He cleared the fourth-place car of Christopher Bell on the restart and took off in pursuit of Harvick, who had assumed the lead.

    “I was able to stay pretty close to Harvick on the bottom,” Larson said. “I felt like, if the race stayed green, I would eat him up.”

    Indeed, after the tires began to wear, Larson moved to the top of the track, where he was unstoppable. On Lap 142 he surged past Harvick into the lead and extended his advantage to more than four seconds before a cycle of green-flag pit stops that started on Lap 166.

    When the cycle ended with Brandon Jones’ stop on Lap 180, Larson was up by 9.490 seconds. From that point on, it was a cruise to the finish—in a steam bath.

    “I needed a short run there, for sure,” said Harvick, who led 38 laps. “The Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford was really good there for about 25 laps, and Kyle would struggle for 25 laps. I just didn’t need it to go green.

    “I just couldn’t run the top. I would slide the front tires, and I didn’t have enough rear grip to throttle through the center of the corners. My car wouldn’t turn but on the bottom.”

    And the bottom lane wasn’t the fast way around the 1.5-mile track when the tires began to wear.

    Cole Custer ran third and took the series lead from sixth-place Elliott Sadler, who fell to third in the standings behind Custer and fifth-place finisher Daniel Hemric. Daniel Suarez came home fourth in his second Xfinity start of the season.

    Justin Allgaier ran seventh, followed by Paul Menard and Chase Briscoe, who scored his first career top-10 in the series. Chase Elliott was 10th and paid a quick visit to the infield care center before Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying for some IV fluids.

    “I feel a lot better now,” Elliott said on his way out of the care center. “Those IVs make you feel like a million bucks.”

    The Xfinity Series returns Friday, July 6 from Daytona International Speedway for the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

    RELATED: Full race results | Xfinity Series standings

     

  • Johnny Sauter earns a quiet third at Chicago

    Johnny Sauter earns a quiet third at Chicago

    After starting seventh in the Overton’s 225 Friday night, Johnny Sauter was looking for his fifth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win of the year and his second at Chicagoland Speedway.

    In the first stage, Sauter and his No. 21 GMS Racing team fought handling conditions and slipped back to seventh due to fighting dirty air while being caught in the back. During the stage caution, he and his team took four tires and made an adjustment.

    In Stage 2, Sauter restarted 11th and once more, he fought tight conditions as he reported, “Can’t get anywhere,” during the team radio communications. As Stage 2 came to a close on Lap 70, Sauter finished fifth.

    When the laps started to wind down, the No. 21 Chevy once again was battling a tight-handling truck and had also lost grip. Sauter and his team fought these ill handling conditions all night long. Their struggles continued when, on the last pit stop, a jack dropped and he had to come back and tighten lug nuts that were loose.

    After the night was over and all was said and done, Sauter and the No. 21 ISM Connect Chevy wound up third.

    “Track position is just everywhere anymore,” Sauter said. “You can be a lot of faster than a guy in front of you, but you just can’t do nothing about it. I’m not a high line runner there. So on the end of that long run there before the last pit stop, I just can’t do it. I just got too tight and on the last pit stop, the jack broke. So we lost a lot of track position there and had to come back down pit road to put a lug nut on.”

    “All in all, a great night with our ISM Connect Chevy. The guys did a good job. Everybody at GMS, just had a couple of mishaps in the pit tonight, that’s all. We had really good short-run speed, just needed a little more for the long run.”

  • Noah Gragson places fourth at Chicagoland Speedway

    Noah Gragson places fourth at Chicagoland Speedway

    In what would seem like a repeat of Kansas, Noah Gragson, unfortunately, came up three spots short of the race win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Chicagoland Speedway Friday night.

    After starting on the pole, he led the first lap until taking the lead again on Lap 26. As the stage began to wind down, it looked as though he would score a stage win, however, John Hunter Nemechek passed him on the final lap in Turns 3 and 4 and Gragson finished second.

    That didn’t stop Gragson though, as he continued to stay in the hunt and was in charge once again on Lap 41. He got passed for the lead by eventual race winner, Brett Moffitt on Lap 64, but he regained the lead one lap later and scored his sixth stage win of the season.

    During the pit stop, the No. 18 Safelite Tundra took no tires and restarted in the second position after a close call on pit road with Nemechek leaving the pits. But, after a late race caution on Lap 122, he was able to pit for four fresh tires.

    At the end of the night, the scoring pylon showed Gragson fourth after leading 42 laps.

    “Struggled for grip there at the end,” Gragson said. “I made some adjustments and didn’t feel like they really helped after the sun went down. Just thankful to be out here and all the fans for coming out. A lot of fun to race at Chicago, just came up a bit short. Gained some points, stage points, playoff points throughout the race. Just got to work harder and keep on going.”

    Gragson is 65 points back behind points leader Johnny Sauter.