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  • Chicagoland Speedway – Did You Know?

    Chicagoland Speedway – Did You Know?

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Chicagoland Speedway this weekend for the first race of the 2017 Playoffs. Sixteen drivers will compete for the title and it all begins in Chicago.

    Win and automatically advance to the next round. There are four rounds, each consisting of three races. Four drivers will be eliminated at the end of each round leaving four contenders to battle for the championship crown at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.

    The first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event at Chicagoland Speedway was held on July 15, 2001, and was won by Kevin Harvick. There have been 16 Cup races at the 1.5-miles track with 12 different winners. Stewart leads the series with three victories at Chicago. Harvick and Keselowski lead all active drivers with two wins each. But did you know that Stewart, Harvick and Keselowski are the only drivers with multiple wins at Chicago?

    Chicagoland Speedway has hosted the opening race of the Playoffs since 2011. From 2004-2010 the first race of the Playoffs was held at New Hampshire. Five different drivers have won the Chicago Playoff race including Martin Truex Jr. (2016), Denny Hamlin (2015), Brad Keselowski 2014, 2012), Matt Kenseth (2013) and Tony Stewart (2011).

    But, did you know that three drivers who have won the opening playoff race have gone on to win the championship? In 2004 Kurt Busch won the opener at New Hampshire in the inaugural “Chase for the Championship” and also won the year-end title. Keselowski won the playoff race at Chicago in 2012 and continued on to win the championship crown.

    In 2011 Stewart won his first race of the season at the opening playoff race in Chicago and captured four more victories that year, setting the record for the most wins (five) in the postseason playoffs. Stewart capped off the season with his third championship title. But did you know that the opening race of the Cup Series Playoffs has never been won by a non-playoff driver?

    Truex, the regular season champion, is the defending race winner while Chase Elliott, who is searching for his first Cup Series victory, has the series-best driver rating of 129.1.

    When asked about the importance of winning during the playoffs, Elliott said, “I’d love to advance as far as we can, but I’d love a win. That’s what we’re here to do. We’ve had a year and a half to do it, and haven’t. I take a lot of pride in wanting to win. I also have these last 10 races still driving the 24 car, which it’s been a cool honor to have that. It would mean a lot to me to add to the win list that Jeff has created with that car over the years while I still have the chance. I think that’s an obligation of mine, to try to achieve that. That’s on my priority list. I’d love to win, but I’d love to advance through the Playoffs. I think if you do one, you’re going to have a shot to do the other.”

    Jimmie Johnson has the second-best rating (114.7) followed by Kyle Busch (106.0), Kenseth (102.3) and Keselowski (99.7), to round out the top-five.

    But did you know that out of the top-10 competitors at this track, Joey Logano is the only non-playoff driver? Logano’s win at Richmond Raceway on April 30 was deemed encumbered due to an issue with the rear suspension, costing him a spot in the playoffs. His last chance for another victory was, ironically, at Richmond Sept. 9, where he finished second.

    After the race, Logano said, “This is the test of our character, not only as a driver but as a team and the way we handle these next 10 races. We don’t want to roll over. We want to help our teammates try to win a championship, and ultimately we want to win 10 races. That’s what the goal is at this point. It may be the end of our championship run this year, but it’s not the end of our season.”

    As the Playoffs kick off this weekend, expect the intensity to build as the top 16 vie for a victory to propel them into the next round while non-playoff drivers like Logano, attempt to steal a victory.

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series on-track action begins Friday with the first practice at 12:30 p.m. ET and qualifying at 6:45 p.m. ET. The Tales of the Turtles 400 closes out the weekend Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

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

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Chicago

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Chicago

    NASCAR heads to Chicagoland Speedway this weekend as the Monster Energy Cup Series Playoffs begin with the Round of 16. For the XFINITY Series and the Camping World Truck Series, it’s the last race of the regular season. The Truck Series Chicagoland 225 kicks off the competition Friday evening on FSl. On Saturday afternoon the XFINITY Series hits the track for the Chicagoland 300 and the Cup Series Tales of the Turtles 400 closes out the activities at 3 p.m. Sunday on NBCSN.

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

    Thursday, September 14

    On Track:
    3:30-4:25 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Practice (Follow live)
    6:30-7:25 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice (Follow live)

    Friday, September 15

    On Track:
    12:30-1:55 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – NBCSN (Canada: TSN 2)
    2-2:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – NBCSN (Canada: TSN GO)
    4-4:50 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN GO)
    5:05 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
    6:45 p.m.: Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN (Canada: TSN GO)
    8:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Chicagoland 225 (150 laps, 225 miles) – FS1

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

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    11:30 a.m.: Jennifer Jo Cobb, Matt DiBenedetto, Jeffrey Earnhardt, John Hunter Nemechek, Matt Tifft and Darrell Wallace Jr.
    12 p.m.: Michael Annett, Dakoda Armstrong and Brendan Gaughan
    6 p.m.: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
    7:30 p.m.: Post-Cup Series Qualifying
    11 p.m.: Post-Camping World Truck Series Race

    Saturday, September 16

    On Track:
    11:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – CNBC (Canada: TSN GO)
    12:35 p.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN (Canada: TSN GO)
    2-2:50 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN (Canada: TSN 5)
    3:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series Chicagoland 300 (200 laps, 300 miles) – NBCSN (Canada: TSN 5)

    Press Conference: (Watch live)
    6 p.m.: Post-XFINITY Series race

    Sunday, September 17

    On Track:
    3 p.m.: Cup Series Tales of the Turtles 400 (267 laps, 400.5 miles) – NBCSN (Canada: TSN 4)

    Press Conference: (Watch live)
    6 p.m. Post-Cup Series Race

    Complete TV Schedule

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

    Race Details:

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 
    Race: TheHouse.com 225 
    Rlace: Chicagoland Speedway
    Date: Friday, Sept. 15
    Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
    TV: FS1, 8 p.m. ET
    Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    Distance: 225 miles (150 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 35), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 70), Final Stage (Ends on lap 150)

    NASCAR XFINITY Series
    Race: TheHouse.com 300
    Place: Chicagoland Speedway
    Date: Saturday, Sept. 16
    Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
    TV: NBCSN, 3 p.m. ET
    Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
    Distance: 300 miles (200 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 45), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on lap 200)

    Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
    Race: Tales of the Turtles 400
    Place: Chicagoland Speedway
    Date: Sunday, Sept. 17
    Time: 3 p.m. ET
    TV: NBCSN, 2:30 p.m. ET
    Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio                   
    Distance: 400.5 miles (267 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on lap 80), Stage 2 (Ends on lap 160), Final Stage (Ends on lap 267)

     

  • Will Using Gimmmicks Save NASCAR?

    Will Using Gimmmicks Save NASCAR?

    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.

  • The White Zone: The current penalty structure inadvertently incentivizes cheating

    The White Zone: The current penalty structure inadvertently incentivizes cheating

    “The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading…” and I need to unload on the deterrent system NASCAR has for the penalty structure and how it inadvertently incentivizes cheating.

    This past Wednesday, NASCAR made changes to the penalty structure to give it more teeth and discourage attempts of cheating.

    Among the changes included adding a stiffer penalty for cars that fail LIS inspection and are deemed “encumbered.”

    “The changes are made to assure that we have a level playing field and make sure that there’s not a carrot out there for the team to have excessive violations when it comes to lug nuts and the LIS post-race measurements,” Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, told NASCAR.com. “As we worked with those penalties during the season we realized we probably needed to have a little bit more in place as Chase time rolled around.

    “The Chase obviously changes a lot of scenarios for both NASCAR and the teams; it’s ramped up the intensity and there is a lot of scrutiny, as there is every week on everything (involving) technical infractions. This is really just a matter of us putting something in place so that should something happen, we have a means to effectively deal with it.”

    A few hours after the checkered flag flew on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, it was announced that the winning No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota of Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson had failed post-race LIS inspection.

    However, and this is where we get to my biggest problem with the penalty structure, the 78 car was not considered “encumbered” so he therefor gets to keep the win and the benefits of said win.

    If you don’t understand all that technical babble, it basically translates to, “The 78 car was illegal, but not too illegal. So Truex gets to keep the benefits of his win.”

    These teams have inadvertently been given license to cheat, but not too much that it’ll really bite them. Sure a 10 or 15-point penalty might bite Johnson in the ass when the checkered flag flies at Dover, but a points penalty means nothing in the case of Truex. It doesn’t matter if you take away all his points. His win means he’s locked into the next round.

    In essence, NASCAR has inadvertently incentivized cheating.

    Think about it. With the current wording of the rulebook, especially in regards to LIS failure, a team is essentially rewarded for finding ways to make a car illegal enough to fail inspection, but not enough to have the benefits of the win taken away.

    If you don’t believe me, here’s a tweet from producer Tyler Burnett of the Motor Racing Network.

    I’m not accusing the 78 team of cheating and I have no proof that they are. I only presented the above tweet to show how their LIS failure could be interpreted as “cheating.” However, they don’t help their case of not being perceived as “cheating” when Truex was explicitly told to swerve and this is the second straight week the 78 car has failed post-race inspection.

    It was bound to happen one of these years. NASCAR has always been hesitant to take away wins because they want the at track audience to know who won when they saw it.

    Maybe that made sense when newspapers were the main source of news, but the date this piece was published is September 18th, 2016. We now live in the internet age where communication with other people is almost instantaneous. And while I do still value the work of newspapers, news can be broken within seconds of an event happening via Twitter.

    I’ll be very damn interested in what Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice-president and chief racing development officer, has to say about this tomorrow in his appearance on “The Morning Drive” because I’d love to know how “encumbered” could be interpreted as anything other than “his car wasn’t illegal enough.”

    My plane is about to take off, so I must wrap this up.

    THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS PIECE ARE SOLELY THOSE OF TUCKER WHITE. THEY MAY OR MAY NOT REPRESENT THE VIEWS OF SPEEDWAYMEDIA.COM.

  • Good Day Goes Sour for Jimmie Johnson

    Good Day Goes Sour for Jimmie Johnson

    Jimmie Johnson showed the world that he was ready to fight for his seventh championship this season with a dominant drive in the Windy City, and then it turned sour.

    The driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was on pit road when the caution flew for the first time on lap 49. He beat race leader Martin Truex Jr. to the start/finish line to stay on the lead lap. As an added bonus, he opted not to pit under the caution and assumed the race lead.

    For the next 130 laps, Johnson had the field in check. He led a race-high of 118 laps and only lost the lead when he pitted during cycles of green flag pit stops. A caution in between didn’t throw him off his game and he just kept on trucking.

    It was nearing the final quarter of the race, however, when he lost control of the race to teammate Chase Elliott on lap 182.

    He remained near the front running in the top-five coming to the final round of green flag stops with around 30 to go. After he made his pit stop, he was black-flagged for speeding on pit road and assessed a pass-through penalty.

    He rejoined the race down a lap.

    A caution with five laps to go put him back on the lead lap and he came home 12th.

    “Yeah, very proud of this Lowe’s team, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports,” Johnson said. “We are digging. I’m just… I just can’t believe I got in trouble down there leaving the pits. I feel terrible for these guys. It should have been a top-five day, but I will back down on pit road even more and try not to make that mistake. Hats off to the team for our fast Lowe’s Chevrolet, I just screwed up.”

    The 118 laps he led were the most he led in a race this season.

    To add insult to injury, Johnson’s car failed post-race LIS inspection. Any penalty resulting from this will be announced on Wednesday.

    Johnson tentatively leaves Chicagoland eighth in points trailing Truex by 13 points.

  • Close, but No Cigar for Chase Elliott in Chicago

    Close, but No Cigar for Chase Elliott in Chicago

    After an ill-timed caution in the closing laps, Chase Elliott went from leading the race to out of position and lost another potential victory.

    The driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet took control of the race from teammate Jimmie Johnson on lap 182. From that point on, he thoroughly commanded the race, only losing the lead during the final cycle of green flag pit stops.

    Martin Truex Jr. was hot on his tail in the closing laps but wasn’t gaining the ground needed to catch him. Even Truex admitted this in his post-race media availability.

    “I feel for Chase,” Truex said. “I know what he’s going through. He did a great job. I wasn’t going to catch him. I was catching him, but I was not catching him enough to pass him in five more laps. So I know what he’s going through. But obviously he did a good job and they were really fast today. We had to come from behind.

    “No, to answer your question straight up, I don’t think we were going to be able to pass him unless he got loose or made a mistake. We weren’t catching him quick enough. That last run, I got pretty loose for some reason, having trouble getting off the corner. I was really struggling to run him down.

    Then a shredded right rear tire from Michael McDowell’s car brought out the caution with five laps to go and changed the entire race.

    When asked what went through his mind when the caution flew just as he had the race locked up, he said “nothing is yours until it’s over. I mean that is part of life man. You are not dumb, we have all watched this stuff long enough we know these races don’t go green that long. We see more cautions come out at the end of these races than we do not. That is just part of it, you’ve got to expect it and be able to embrace it and move forward. I feel like we did a good job controlling the things that we could control today.”

    Elliott and all but three cars elected to pit, and Truex exited pit road first.

    “Well if one less guy had stayed out then we would have been fourth,” Elliott said. “You never know how things are going to play out. Obviously, you hate to lose a spot on pit road, but our guys did a good job all day. They were solid and those are the kind of days we have to have on pit road. We will take it as motivation and move forward.”

    Elliott was unable to make it past Joey Logano in the final two laps and had to settle for third.

    During his post-race media availability, he was asked if the outcome was easier to accept than it was at Michigan.

    “No, there is no easy outcome,” he said. “You know, it’s unfortunate. You hate to have it happen. As you get faced with these situations more than once, I think you learn. You learn from situation to situation. But like I said, I felt like we did a good job as a team today trying to control the things that we could control. And you can’t control when a caution is going to come out. Granted, you can expect one a lot of the time, but you can’t control when it’s going to happen, and you certainly can’t control how many guys are going to stay out on tires and try to make something happen at the end of a race. That’s just a part of life, part of racing.”

    Despite the missed opportunity, Elliott added to his eight top fives and 14 top-10 finishes on the 2016 season. He also leaves sixth in the standings just 11 points out of first-place.

  • It’s ‘Sweet Home Chicago’ for Truex

    It’s ‘Sweet Home Chicago’ for Truex

    Despite a flat right-rear tire early in the race, Martin Truex Jr. fought back to score the victory in the Windy City.

    Under clear blue skies, Kyle Busch led the field to the green flag at 2:49 p.m. He held the lead for the first 21 laps before Truex powered by to take it on lap 23. A round of green flag stops started on lap 48, but was cut short by a rogue tire that came from the stall of Aric Almirola and brought out the first caution of the race on lap 49. This was a major point in the race as Jimmie Johnson was on pit road when the caution flew, crossed the start/finish line before Truex and remained on the lead lap. Kevin Harvick, who worked his way from 38th to eighth, did not and was trapped a lap down.

    The race restarted on lap 56 with Johnson in the lead. Truex made an unscheduled stop for a flat right-rear tire on lap 70. He was running second at the time and rejoined the race in 21st.

    Green flag pit stops were the game play of the day as the next round of stops commenced on lap 103. Johnson pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Brad Keselowski. He pitted the next lap and the lead cycled back to Johnson.

    The second caution of the race flew on lap 119 for Brian Scott getting loose and spinning out in turn 4 as he was trying to get down onto pit road.

    After the race restarted on lap 126, it settled into “ride around until the next round of stops.” The next round of stops came at lap 172. Johnson pitted from the lead that lap, Keselowski pitted from the lead two laps later and the lead cycled back to Johnson.

    Chase Elliott took the race lead for the first time on lap 182 about 11 laps before debris on the backstretch brought out the third caution of the race on lap 193.

    Not much happened after the race went green on lap 199 until the final round of green flag stops began with 33 laps to go. The lead went as follows: Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman and back to Elliott.

    A shredded right-front tire on the No. 95 of Michael McDowell brought out the fourth caution of the race with five laps to go and forced overtime. Everyone except Blaney, Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards pitted under the caution. Truex exited ahead of Elliott on pit road.

    The race restarted with two laps to go. Blaney was no match on older tires for Truex on newer tires. Truex made easy work of passing him on the backstretch and drove on to score the victory in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400.

    “Oh my goodness, I guess the racing gods don’t want us to lead too much,” Truex said. “What can I say about everyone at Furniture Row Racing, Toyota, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), Bass Pro Shops, Denver Mattresses – just everybody that makes this possible – Sprint, the fans have given us a ton of support, not only over the years but the last two has definitely helped us. This feels good.”

    It’s Truex’s sixth career victory in 396 Sprint Cup Series starts, third of 2016, first at Chicagoland Speedway, 13th top-10 finish of the season and third top-10 finish in 11 races at Chicagoland.

    “It’s just unbelievable,” he added. “Proud of the effort by my guys – that’s why you never give up and you fight until the end no matter what. We had just an unbelievable race car today and led a bunch in the beginning. We had that tire issue and I knew it wasn’t over and there was a long way to go. Guys kept their heads in it and kept it up at the end when it counted. It was a total team effort. I am more proud of these guys – more proud to drive their race cars. It’s just unbelievable to start the Chase this way. We have been so good all year long with winning a few weeks ago at Darlington and I felt like that gave us some momentum to just continue that this weekend.”

    Truex’s car failed post-race LIS inspection and any penalty resulting from this will be announced Wednesday.

    Joey Logano came home runner-up in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

    “It was awesome execution by the 22 team,” Logano said of his race. “From every angle. We had a very fast race car and were awesome on pit road. You want to talk about pressure, not just Chase pressure, but coming down at the end of the race to try to win, they executed and had an awesome pit stop and beat the 11 out and ultimately gives us a second place finish. I couldn’t be more proud of the team and the way we executed and attacked today. We will take this momentum and run with it the next nine weeks.”

    It’s his 19th top-10 finish in 2016 and fourth in eight races at Chicagoland.

    Elliott led 75 laps on his way to rounding out the podium in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

    Asked what was going through his mind when the caution came out when it appeared the race was his, he said “nothing is yours until it’s over. I mean that is part of life man. You are not dumb, we have all watched this stuff long enough we know these races don’t go green that long. We see more cautions come out at the end of these races than we do not. That is just part of it, you’ve got to expect it and be able to embrace it and move forward. I feel like we did a good job controlling the things that we could control today.

    “Like I said, there are some things you just can’t control with the amount of guys that stay out and where you line up on a restart,” he added. “We played the cards we were dealt and came up short.”

    Blaney led eight laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford.

    “It was a long day for us for sure,” Blaney said. “We passed a lot of cars. We didn’t start good. We started 22nd and worked on the car all It paid off since we finished a little bit better than we were going to. That’s a true testament to this team. We didn’t start off great but worked on the car all day. Taking a risk like that. Sometimes they don’t pay off. This one did. It was a good run for us. Hopefully we can do something like that in the next 10 weeks.”

    Asked how difficult it was to stay out on old tires, Blaney said it “wasn’t difficult at all. We kind of made that decision before everyone else came and we had nothing to lose as far as points. I wish a couple more cars stayed out. You never know. Those guys were on me so fast. We had a really good car all day. We started way back in the field and made it up there pretty quickly. We got our car decent at the end. We gambled and I prefer to do that. I prefer to take a gamble to stay out and try to hold those guys off.”

    Keselowski led seven laps on his way to rounding out the top-five in his No. 2 Penske Ford.

    Denny Hamlin led two laps on his way to a sixth-place finish in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Kahne finished seventh in his No. 5 HMS Chevrolet. Busch led 21 laps on his way to an eighth-place finish in his No. 18 JGR Toyota. Matt Kenseth finished ninth in his No. 20 JGR Toyota. Bowman led six laps on his way to rounding out the top-10 in his No. 88 HMS Chevrolet.

    Jamie McMurray finished 11th, Jimmie Johnson led a race high of 118 laps on his way to a 12th place finish, Kurt Busch finished 13th, Austin Dillon finished 14th, Carl Edwards finished 15th, Tony Stewart finished 16th, Kyle Larson finished 18th, Harvick finished 20th and Chris Buescher rounded out the Chase drivers in 28th.

    Johnson’s car also failed post-race LIS inspection. Any penalty resulting from this will be announced on Wednesday.

    The race lasted two hours, 47 minutes and 24 seconds at an average speed of 145.161 mph. There were 17 lead changes among nine different drivers and four cautions for 22 laps.

    Truex leaves with a one point lead over Keselowski in the points standings.

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/C1627_UNOFFRES.pdf” title=”c1627_unoffres”]

  • Erik Jones Wins at Chicagoland, Enters NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase as Top Seed

    Erik Jones Wins at Chicagoland, Enters NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase as Top Seed

    By Reid Spencer/NASCAR Wire Service

    JOLIET, Ill. – Kyle Busch opened the door, and that was all the invitation Erik Jones needed.

    When Busch, the polesitter for Saturday’s The Drive for Safety 300 at Chicagoland Speedway, spun with a tire down while leading on Lap 182 of 200, Jones took full advantage of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate’s misfortune.

    The driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota restarted sixth on Lap 187 after Busch brought out the eighth caution of the afternoon and quickly closed the gap on Elliott Sadler, who restarted second and grabbed the lead from JR Motorsports teammate Clint Bowyer, who had stayed out on old tires.

    Jones caught and passed Sadler on Lap 192. Race runner-up Kyle Larson followed four laps later but couldn’t catch Jones before the finish. In the final four laps, Jones moved up the track to take Larson’s preferred racing line and crossed the finish line .392 seconds ahead of Larson, who brushed the outside wall on the final lap while trying to close in on the race winner.

    “It was tough,” said Jones, who won for the second time at the 1.5-mile track and the fourth time in his rookie year. “I knew we were in a good spot on tires, but we pretty far back – think we restarted sixth there.

    “I didn’t know if my Hisense Camry was going to have enough time to get back up to the front, but we had a really good restart and got clear to third and then just had to go chase Elliott down. It was a matter of time before we got around him. What an awesome day!”

    With four victories this season, Jones enters the inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase as the No. 1 seed heading to the Chase opener next Saturday at Kentucky Speedway.

    “It’s a lot of momentum,” Jones said. “I wish this was our first round right here. We’ll go into Kentucky definitely with a full head of steam and are due for another win there. Our mile-and-a-half program is great – it’s been great all year.

    “To finally get a first mile-and-a-half win of the year – just looking forward to getting to Kentucky next weekend and try to chase down another one.”

    Saturday’s event finalized the 12-driver Chase field, as Blake Koch and Ryan Sieg clinched the final two spots with finishes of 15th and 12th, respectively.

    The full Chase field, in order of seeding, consists of Erik Jones, Sadler, Daniel Suarez, Ty Dillon, Justin Allgaier, Darrell Wallace Jr., Brendan Gaughan, Brennan Poole, Ryan Sieg, Ryan Reed, Brandon Jones, Blake Koch.

    Sadler finished third on Saturday, followed by Suarez and Allgaier.

    Larson recovered from a pit road speeding penalty to record his eighth top-five finish in 12 starts this year.

    “I knew I could get the top (lane) going, but I knew when I got the top going, Erik would move up just when I got to him,” Larson said. “He did, and I tried to carry a lot of throttle off of (Turn) 2 and maybe get a run on him, but I got into the wall.”

    Busch led 154 laps and recovered from his spin to finish 13th. All told, 11 different drivers led at least one lap, including the top eight drivers in the finishing order.

    NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Drive for Safety 300
    Chicagoland Speedway
    Joliet, Illinois
    Saturday, September 17, 2016

    1. (5) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 200.
    2. (8) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 200.
    3. (4) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 200.
    4. (2) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 200.
    5. (3) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200.
    6. (7) Clint Bowyer(i), Chevrolet, 200.
    7. (9) Joey Logano(i), Ford, 200.
    8. (12) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 200.
    9. (6) Paul Menard(i), Chevrolet, 200.
    10. (40) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 200.
    11. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 200.
    12. (17) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 200.
    13. (1) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 200.
    14. (19) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 200.
    15. (13) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 200.
    16. (18) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 200.
    17. (20) Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 200.
    18. (23) David Starr, Chevrolet, 199.
    19. (26) Garrett Smithley #, Chevrolet, 199.
    20. (15) Darrell Wallace Jr, Ford, 198.
    21. (11) Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, 198.
    22. (21) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 198.
    23. (29) Martin Roy, Chevrolet, 198.
    24. (25) BJ McLeod #, Ford, 197.
    25. (22) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 196.
    26. (31) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 196.
    27. (33) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 194.
    28. (32) Ray Black Jr #, Chevrolet, 184.
    29. (34) Jordan Anderson(i), Chevrolet, Transmission, 151.
    30. (36) Mike Harmon, Dodge, Fuel Pump, 126.
    31. (28) Jeff Green, Toyota, Wheel Bearing, 110.
    32. (14) Ryan Reed, Ford, Accident, 101.
    33. (27) Travis Kvapil(i), Ford, Engine, 82.
    34. (35) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Handling, 49.
    35. (39) Spencer Boyd(i), Chevrolet, Too Slow, 43.
    36. (38) Dexter Bean, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 36.
    37. (30) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, Accident, 27.
    38. (37) Carl Long, Dodge, Wheel Bearing, 16.
    39. (16) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 9.
    40. (24) Matt DiBenedetto(i), Toyota, Electrical, 3.

    Average Speed of Race Winner:  120.576 mph.
    Time of Race:  02 Hrs, 29 Mins, 17 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.392 Seconds.
    Caution Flags:  8 for 38 laps.
    Lead Changes:  22 among 11 drivers.

    Lap Leaders:   K. Busch(i) 1; D. Suarez 2-5; K. Busch(i) 6-10; D. Suarez 11; K. Busch(i) 12-27; T. Kvapil(i) 28-29; K. Busch(i) 30-31; K. Larson(i) 32-40; K. Busch(i) 41-79; E. Sadler 80; J. Allgaier 81; K. Busch(i) 82-103; J. Logano(i) 104-108; K. Busch(i) 109-154; B. Gaughan 155; R. Preece # 156-157; K. Busch(i) 158-164; E. Jones # 165; K. Busch(i) 166-181; J. Allgaier 182-183; C. Bowyer(i) 184-186; E. Sadler 187-191; E. Jones # 192-200.

    Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  K. Busch(i) 9 times for 154 laps; E. Jones # 2 times for 10 laps; K. Larson(i) 1 time for 9 laps; E. Sadler 2 times for 6 laps; D. Suarez 2 times for 5 laps; J. Logano(i) 1 time for 5 laps; J. Allgaier 2 times for 3 laps; C. Bowyer(i) 1 time for 3 laps; R. Preece # 1 time for 2 laps; T. Kvapil(i) 1 time for 2 laps; B. Gaughan 1 time for 1 lap.

    Top 10 in Points: E. Sadler – 891; D. Suarez – 832; J. Allgaier – 823; T. Dillon – 807; E. Jones # – 797; B. Gaughan – 789; B. Poole # – 756; B. Jones # – 733; D. Wallace Jr – 680; R. Reed – 635.

  • Kyle Busch Puts on Clinic in Trucks in the Windy City

    Kyle Busch Puts on Clinic in Trucks in the Windy City

    Kyle Busch put on a dominant show in the Windy City as he scored the victory in the Truck Series regular season finale.

    Spencer Gallagher led the field to the green flag at 8:45 p.m. It only took until the third lap for William Byron to slam the wall and bring out the first caution of the race.

    After the race restarted on the ninth lap, Kyle Busch and Daniel Suarez spent time in the lead before the caution clock expired and brought out the second caution on lap 46.

    After this, the caution started coming out more frequently without the aid of the caution clock. The third caution flew on lap 67 for William Byron slamming the wall a second time in Turn 3 and the fourth flew with 45 laps to go for Josh Berry going for a spin through the frontstretch grass.

    Ben Kennedy led the field to the restart with 41 laps to go but immediately lost the lead to Suarez. Busch took the lead with 39 laps to go before a multi-truck wreck brought out the fifth caution and a red flag. Kennedy got loose in Turn 2, came down the track, hit Ben Rhodes, bounced off Matt Crafton, turned back up the track and slammed the wall.

    The race restarted with 33 laps to go with Suarez retaking the lead as Grant Enfinger was sent spinning through the frontstretch grass.

    Busch controlled the rest of the race through Rhodes slamming the wall in Turn 2 with 26 to go, Tommy Joe Martins hitting the wall with 14 to go and John Wes Townley getting turned into the wall with six to go, to score the victory in Chicago.

    Busch, however, failed post-race inspection after measurements showed his No. 18 Toyota was too low in the rear. Any penalties will be announced next week.

    Daniel Hemric finished second in his No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford. Cameron Hayley overcame being penalized for removing equipment from his pit box near the beginning of the race to round out the podium in his No. 13 ThorSport Racing Toyota.

    Christopher Bell finished fourth in his No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota. Johnny Sauter rounded out the top-five in his No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet.

    Enfinger overcame spinning out with just over 30 laps remaining to finish sixth in his No. 24 GMSR Chevrolet. Gallagher led eight laps on his way to a seventh-place finish in his No. 23 GMSR Chevrolet. Timothy Peters finished eighth in his No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota. Cole Custer overcame an early speeding penalty to finish ninth in his No. 00 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Tyler Reddick rounded out the top-10 in his No. 29 BKR Ford.

    The race lasted two hours, five minutes and five seconds at an average speed of 108.648 mph. There were 10 lead changes among five different drivers and 10 cautions for 41 laps.

    With the points reset, Byron will start the Truck Series Chase next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway as the points leader.

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  • Johnson Fastest in First Practice at Chicagoland

    Johnson Fastest in First Practice at Chicagoland

    Jimmie Johnson posted the fastest time in the first Sprint Cup Series practice at Chicagoland Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 29.383 and a speed of 183.780 mph. Carl Edwards was second in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 29.460 and a speed of 183.299 mph. Denny Hamlin was third in his No. 11 JGR Toyota with a time of 29.520 and a speed of 182.927 mph. Brad Keselowski was fourth in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 29.564 and a speed of 182.655 mph. Chase Elliott rounded out the top-five in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet with a time of 29.578 and a speed of 182.568 mph.

    Alex Bowman was sixth in his No. 88 HMS Chevrolet. Martin Truex Jr. was seventh in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. Kyle Larson was eighth in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Ryan Blaney was ninth in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford. Kyle Busch rounded out the top-10 in his No. 18 JGR Toyota.

    Austin Dillon was 11th, Kevin Harvick was 12th, Matt Kenseth was 13th, Kurt Busch was 15th, Joey Logano was 17th, Tony Stewart was 20th, Jamie McMurray was 21st and Chris Buescher rounded out the Chase drivers in 33rd.

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