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  • First Career Win for Chastain in the DC Solar 300 at Vegas

    First Career Win for Chastain in the DC Solar 300 at Vegas

    Ross Chastain wins the final race of the NASCAR XFINITY Series regular season and the first of his career at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the DC Solar 300.

    “We did it!” Chastain yelled on the frontstretch after celebrating with donuts over the race sponsor’s logo on the frontstretch grass, who also sponsored his car for that race.

    Chastain first made headline news in NASCAR media a few weeks ago after the run-in with Kevin Harvick at Darlington. Harvick pinched him into the outside wall, and Chastain immediately retaliated by spinning him out on the same straightaway. His main concern was quickly turned to car owner Chip Ganassi, as he wasn’t sure how his boss would take his reaction on track. A tweet and a phone call showed nothing but pride and confidence in his driver.

    “It was so scary when the call was made to take this deal,” Chastain shared in the media center. “[Johnny Davis] believed in me to drive the 4 car and to put me in that car years ago. That’s what my career needed. This [win] is bigger than the playoffs. I’m not trying to spin the story, but this is literally a kid from Florida, eighth generation farmer who started hobby racing when I was 13. It was never supposed to be this way, so that’s why it’s so much bigger.”

    Runner-up finisher, Justin Allgaier, was the regular series champion, and will take 15 additional points into the playoffs, but isn’t planning to relax going into the Playoffs.

    “Yes and no,” Allgaier said when asked if he felt comfortable with the extra point cushion. “I wanted those extra five bonus points. You gotta go for race wins, you gotta go for stage wins because it’s so challenging to keep the speed but also execute.”

    Cole Custer was the third driver that battled at the front all race long, but finished in the third position after what he called a race with insane restarts.

    “The restarts were insane,” Custer stated. “If you were fourth on back, you were fighting for your life to try to stay in front of guys because the track position was so important. So you’re trying to block and get as many runs as you can. I feel like every track we go to, we compete for a win but it’s about having it all fall into place.”

    Christopher Bell and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top five. Ryan Preece, Brandon Jones, Ryan Truex, Austin Cindric and Spencer Gallagher finished in the remaining top ten positions.

    Chastain wins both stages at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the DC Solar 300. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
    Chastain wins both stages at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the DC Solar 300. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.

    Chastain Leads Most Laps, Wins Stage 1

    Cole Custer started on pole and led the opening two laps, but Ross Chastain was able to get by him. Matt Tifft failed post-qualifying inspection four times, so had to serve a pass-through penalty on Lap 1, putting his car one lap down early on.

    On Lap 5, the No. 5 JR Motorsports Chevrolet of Michael Annett slid through the grass after contact with Ryan Preece. A three-wide pass was attempted on the exit of Turn 4 with Ryan Sieg to the far outside. Annett noticed this at the last second and tried to turn sharper. This caused the rear tires to lose grip, and as he caught the car, he made contact with Ryan Preece which sent his car into the grass. Annett tried to drive around onto pit road, but his car expired on the apron of Turn 1. He finished 40th with his fifth DNF.

    The track was slick all stage long, but Ross Chastain was able to lead the most laps and win the first stage. He lifted off the throttle to allow Ryan Preece to get a lap back. John Jackson, Jeff Green and Annett were the only three cars out of the race at this point.

    The Field Continued to Hunt Down Chastain in Stage 2

    Ryan Reed takes heavy damage after contact with Matt Tifft on the exit of Turn 4 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Both drivers were treated and released from the infield care center. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
    Ryan Reed takes heavy damage after contact with Matt Tifft on the exit of Turn 4 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Both drivers were treated and released from the infield care center. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.

    Chastain’s pit crew were able to keep their driver in the lead. Most of the front runners kept their positions, except for Christopher Bell who lost a couple spots on pit road.

    On Lap 65, Matt Tifft and Ryan Reed made heavy contact. In the middle of Turns 3 and 4, Tifft got loose and Reed had nowhere to go, as Reed drove into the left front of Tifft’s No. 2 car. That sent Tifft spinning in the opposite direction, and Reed with no right front panels and heavy damage to his right front wheel. His car rested along the frontstretch. Reed sat next to his car to catch his breath, but thankfully was able to walk away under his own power. Tifft took longer to get out of his car because his car rested with the driver’s side against the frontstretch wall. Both drivers were checked and released from the infield car center.

    On the restart, Daniel Hemric got a great push from Custer to lead a couple laps, but Chastain was able to quickly hunt him down and put his No. 42 Chevrolet in the lead. He led the rest of the laps to close out the stage. Three more cars were declared out of the race: Stan Mullis, Matt Tifft and Ryan Reed. Timmy Hill spent 24 laps behind the wall to make some repairs, but was able to rejoin the race.

    Everything Goes Wild in the Final Stage at Vegas

    Again, Chastain’s pit crew, who are the same members for Kyle Larson’s NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series team, puts their Xfinity driver out on top. Custer lost five spots on this pit stop, allowing everyone else to gain a spot. However, NASCAR issued two penalties: Ryan Preece for speeding on pit road, and Cole Custer for an uncontrolled tire during his pit stop.

    Daniel Hemric edges ahead of Ross Chastain on the restart. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
    Daniel Hemric edges ahead of Ross Chastain on the restart. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.

    On the restart, Chastain started to get pressure throughout the entire first run as Daniel Hemric started to side draft on the exit of Turns 2 and 4, getting to his rear bumper or side drafting along the straights. That didn’t last too long as Chastain was able to get back around and continue leading. As the run went longer, it appeared that Chastain’s car handled better as the run continued. Toward the beginning of the final stage, both Timmy Hill and Mike Harmon retired from the race.

    As the field was facing one of the longest green flag runs of the day so far, Ryan Preece spun on the exit of Turn 2, bringing out the yellow flag around Lap 125. The whole field came down for pit stops. Similar to the other pit stops in the day, the drivers at the front continued to keep most of their positions. Hemric lost a few spots and dropped to the fifth position. Brandon Jones received a penalty for an uncontrolled tire, and went to the back of the field for the restart from his sixth place position after his pit stops.

    On the restart, Chastain continued to hold the lead. However, about ten laps into the run, Allgaier moved himself into the second position. After a few side by side battles and pass attempts, he was able to eventually move his No. 7 Chevrolet into the lead and become the first driver besides Chastain to lead more than five laps.

    Later in the run on Lap 149, Allgaier radioed to his crew that the car was getting tight. He was passed by Chastain and Custer, but was able to keep pace with them. At the same time, David Starr went behind wall. Ten laps later, Chastain was able to battle through lap traffic faster and grow his lead to over two seconds.

    The next yellow flag came out right as green flag stops began. Vinnie Miller spun on the track to bring out that yellow flag.

    As for the green flag pit stops, Daniel Hemric, Shane Lee and Cole Custer were all on pit road. Hemric got full service, Lee elected to drive down all of pit lane by skipping his pit box, but Custer’s crew called an audible. They went from a four tire stop to a two tire stop, and with all the chaos over their radio, Custer started to leave his pit box before his jackman was able to clear his path. The crew member climbed over the hood of the car all while holding onto the jack, preventing a penalty of pit equipment leaving the pit box.

    As the field came down pit road under yellow, Custer stalled the car and was in position to be in the top three, but lost a spot from that. Hemric was able to get back on the lead lap from all the pit cycles, but had to take the ‘wave around’ before the restart.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. calling the race from Turns 3 and 4 with NBC Sports. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
    Dale Earnhardt Jr. calling the race from Turns 3 and 4 with NBC Sports. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.

    Green flag waved for the restart with 20 laps to go. Allgaier was to the outside of Chastain as both drivers slightly spun their tires but got great pushes from Custer and Reddick. As the leaders continued to battle side by side, the field had three-wide battles behind them. They started to go four-wide on the front stretch, but Custer put a block to keep it three-wide. That allowed Christopher Bell to clear him and hold the outside line in the middle of Turns 1 and 2. Contact from the driver on his inside made him loose on the exit of Turn 2. Since the field was already so close to each other, everyone stacked up quickly, and the worse of the accordion effect was Chase Briscoe. He was sent spinning to the inside wall. His No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford made heavy contact with the curvature of the safety crew’s track access. All four tires came off the ground from the impact and the car caught fire, but Briscoe was able to get out of his car under his own power.

    The next restart was similar on the front row with Chastain on the inside and Allgaier to the outside, but the second row had a new set of pushers: Bell on the outside and Gallagher to the inside. Bell was able to push Allgaier, but Chastain got a stronger restart and pulled away from Gallagher. Going into Turn 1, Chastain slammed the door on Allgaier to clear him and secure the top spot.

    On the second lap of the restart, Tyler Reddick hit the outside wall along the frontstretch while trying to block Brandon Jones, and came down in front of the second half of the field. As Reddick came down across the field, he clipped the right rear of Shane Lee, which sent him up into the field and collected his Richard Childress teammate, Daniel Hemric. Jones was the only one able to continue in the race.

    With six laps to go, the field took the final restart. Chastain seemed to be flawless everywhere with his team: setup, pit stops and restarts. This was no different. Going into Turn 1, Chastain was able to clear Allgaier once again and never looked back. He led the most laps, as well as the one that counted to take the checkered flag.

    “With two laps to go, I had a tear come down my face and I told myself, ‘Don’t cry,’” the Florida watermelon farmer told himself as he completed the closing laps.

    The NASCAR XFINITY Series holds their Playoff opener at Richmond Raceway on September 21.

    NASCAR Xfinity Series Race
    Unofficial Race Results for the Inaugural Dc Solar 300 – Saturday, September 15, 2018
    Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, NV

    Pos St Car Driver Team Make
    1 5 42 Ross Chastain DC Solar Chevrolet
    2 8 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet
    3 1 00 Cole Custer Code 3 Associates Ford
    4 4 20 Christopher Bell # GameStop Tomb Raider Toyota
    5 3 1 Elliott Sadler OneMain Financial Chevrolet
    6 34 18 Ryan Preece Rheem Toyota
    7 36 19 Brandon Jones Menards Mastercraft Doors Toyota
    8 38 11 Ryan Truex LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet
    9 2 22 Austin Cindric # MoneyLion Ford
    10 14 23 Spencer Gallagher Allegiant Chevrolet
    11 18 38 JJ Yeley RSS Racing Chevrolet
    12 10 39 Ryan Sieg Big Valley Towing Chevrolet
    13 12 51 Jeremy Clements RepairableVehicales.com Chevrolet
    14 16 4 Landon Cassill Chevrolet
    15 17 35 Joey Gase Sparks Chevrolet
    16 15 36 Alex Labbe # Sticky-stuff.com/James Carter Attorney Chevrolet
    17 21 8 Ray Black II Chevrolet
    18 39 0 Garrett Smithley FAME-USA.com Chevrolet
    19 23 15 BJ McLeod teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet
    20 31 90 Josh Williams Sleep Well/Star Tron Chevrolet
    21 22 78 Cole Rouse Chevrolet
    22 27 76 Spencer Boyd # Grunt Style Chevrolet
    23 20 26 Max Tullman Yurpal.com Ford
    24 19 55 Bayley Currey(i) Prevagen Toyota
    25 29 40 Chad Finchum # Smithbilt Homes Chevrolet
    26 33 01 Vinnie Miller # JAS Expedited Trucking Chevrolet
    27 26 45 Josh Bilicki # Prevagen Toyota
    28 7 9 Tyler Reddick # Nationwide Children’s Chevrolet
    29 35 21 Daniel Hemric South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet
    30 6 3 Shane Lee Childress Vineyards Chevrolet
    31 13 60 Chase Briscoe Ford
    32 24 52 David Starr Chevrolet
    33 28 74 Mike Harmon Shadow Warriors Project Chevrolet
    34 25 66 Timmy Hill CrashClaimsR.Us Dodge
    35 11 16 Ryan Reed Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes Ford
    36 37 2 Matt Tifft KCMG Chevrolet
    37 40 13 Stan Mullis OCR Gaz Bar Dodge
    38 32 72 John Jackson CrashClaimsR.Us/James Carter Attorney Toyota
    39 30 93 Jeff Green RSS Racing Chevrolet
    40 9 5 Michael Annett Allstate Parts & Service Group Chevrolet
  • Cole Custer Sweeps All Rounds of Xfinity Qualifying for DC Solar 300

    Cole Custer Sweeps All Rounds of Xfinity Qualifying for DC Solar 300

    In the last race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season, Cole Custer sets the pace for the pole position at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the inaugural DC Solar 300 with a speed of 179.295 mph at 30.118 seconds.

    “Yeah, that was one of the craziest qualifying sessions I’ve had,” Custer shared on pit road after winning his fifth career pole in the XFINITY Series.

    Custer was over two-tenths faster than Austin Cindric, who edged out Elliott Sadler and Christopher Bell by thousands of a second between those three drivers. Ross Chastain fought his way to a fifth place effort.

    Shane Lee in his first 1.5 mile oval attempt stayed in the top ten of qualifying all day, and will start in sixth. JR Motorsports teammates Tyler Reddick, Justin Allgaier and Michael Annett will start seventh through ninth respectively. The last two drivers to attempt a qualifying time in the final round were Ryan Sieg and Ryan Reed.

    Jeremy Clements was the only driver in the final round that did not make an attempt to qualify, so his No. 51 Chevrolet will start in the 12th spot in today’s race.

    Last Second Lap gives Custer the Pole in the First Round of Qualifying

    The No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford set the pace early in qualifying with a speed of 177.032 mph in the first round of qualifying. After struggling to get through the inspection line, Custer was able to finally pass inspection, finish their final preparations and cross the start/finish line to begin their qualifying attempt with 40 seconds left on the clock. JR Motorsports teammates Justin Allgaier and Tyler Reddick were close in the top three. Christopher Bell and Elliott Sadler completed the top five, but Shane Lee was the one who held the top spot the longest for his first 1.5 mile race.

    During the first stage of qualifying, many cars failed inspection, mostly in the rear end. A few teams even failed the second time, putting the car chiefs in jeopardy. According to NASCAR’s rulebook, if a team fails inspection three times, the car chief is ejected from the race and facility for the rest of the weekend. Because of this, some teams elected to not to go through inspection. Matt Tifft was one driver that failed inspection for a third time, so his car chief was ejected for the remainder of the weekend.

    David Starr qualified 24th in the first round to be the last driver to move into the second round. He will start in that spot for Saturday's DC Solar 300. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
    David Starr qualified 24th in the first round to be the last driver to move into the second round. He will start in that spot for Saturday’s DC Solar 300. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.

    Qualifying was halted for a red flag incident with Garrett Smithley, who collided with the outside wall. In qualifying, any incidents that would usually be a yellow flag in race conditions is a red flag. This halts the timer, but inspections continued to give teams a little extra time. Smithley would have to start at the rear of the field in a backup car.

    David Starr held the last transferable spot going into the second round, as he beat Timmy Hill.

    The drivers that either elected to not attempt a qualifying run or were held up with tech inspection included Daniel Hemric, Stan Mullis, Matt Tifft, Brandon Jones, Ryan Preece and Ryan Truex.

    Custer Sweeps Both Stages of Qualifying

    Cole Custer kept his top spot in the second round of qualifying with a speed of 178.406 mph. Ross Chastain found himself in the top 10 of qualifying for the first time with a runner-up effort. Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell completed the top five of the second round.

    Roughly four drivers made some last run attempts to get into the final round of qualifying but fell short of the top 12. The closest of these was Chase Briscoe, but as he took the green flag, the car got loose and was close to hitting the outside wall at the exit of Turn 4. He pulled out onto the track earlier in the session, but after he took the green flag, the car bobbled in the bumps of Turns 1 and 2, so he wisely backed out to get a better attempt later in the session.

    Four drivers in the second stage did not set a qualifying time: Ray Black II, Cole Rouse, BJ McLeod and David Starr.

    Starting Lineup
    Las Vegas Motor Speedway
    Inaugural DC Solar 300

    Pos Car Driver Team Make
    1 00 Cole Custer Code 3 Associates Ford
    2 22 Austin Cindric # MoneyLion Ford
    3 1 Elliott Sadler OneMain Financial Chevrolet
    4 20 Christopher Bell # GameStop Tomb Raider Toyota
    5 42 Ross Chastain DC Solar Chevrolet
    6 3 Shane Lee Childress Vineyards Chevrolet
    7 9 Tyler Reddick # Nationwide Children’s Chevrolet
    8 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet
    9 5 Michael Annett Allstate Parts & Service Group Chevrolet
    10 39 Ryan Sieg Big Valley Towing Chevrolet
    11 16 Ryan Reed Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes Ford
    12 51 Jeremy Clements RepairableVehicales.com Chevrolet
    13 60 Chase Briscoe Ford
    14 23 Spencer Gallagher Allegiant Chevrolet
    15 36 Alex Labbe # Sticky-stuff.com/JamesCarterAtty Chevrolet
    16 4 Landon Cassill Chevrolet
    17 35 Joey Gase Sparks Chevrolet
    18 38 JJ Yeley RSS Racing Chevrolet
    19 55 Bayley Currey(i) Prevagen Toyota
    20 26 Max Tullman Yurpal.com Ford
    21 8 Ray Black II Chevrolet
    22 78 Cole Rouse Chevrolet
    23 15 BJ McLeod teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet
    24 52 David Starr Chevrolet
    25 66 Timmy Hill CrashClaimsR.Us Dodge
    26 45 Josh Bilicki # Prevagen Toyota
    27 76 Spencer Boyd # Grunt Style Chevrolet
    28 74 Mike Harmon Shadow Warriors Project Chevrolet
    29 40 Chad Finchum # Smithbilt Homes Chevrolet
    30 93 Jeff Green RSS Racing Chevrolet
    31 90 Josh Williams Sleep Well/Star Tron Chevrolet
    32 72 John Jackson CrashClaimsR.Us/JamesCarterAtt Toyota
    33 01 Vinnie Miller # JAS Expedited Trucking Chevrolet
    34 18 Ryan Preece Rheem Toyota
    35 21 Daniel Hemric South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet
    36 19 Brandon Jones Menards Mastercraft Doors Toyota
    37 2 Matt Tifft KCMG Chevrolet
    38 11 Ryan Truex LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet
    39 0 Garrett Smithley FAME-USA.com Chevrolet
    40 13 Stan Mullis OCR Gaz Bar Dodge

     

  • Brad Keselowski finally tames ‘The Lady in Black’

    Brad Keselowski finally tames ‘The Lady in Black’

    The Xfinity Series took the Darlington Speedway by storm today for the VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200. It was a sunny warm day for the drivers and for some the heat was on. It looked as if Ross Chastain was going to take the win easily however one driver had his car in the right place at the right time.

    Brad Keselowski in his No. 22 Penske Racing Ford took the lead after an exciting incident between race leader Chastain and Kevin Harvick took them both out of contention. Keselowski captured his first win at Darlington Speedway and the 39th of his career.

    “Yeah, we had a really great Snap-On Ford Mustang and I could keep up with Ross (Chastain), but I couldn’t pass him. I tried to make the move to get by him and I just brushed the wall and him and Kevin got back by me and then they had their issue off of two and were just so strong that we pounced on it and took advantage of the opportunity. That’s a testament to this team. I drove five races this year and we’ve won three of them. That’s pretty darn good and I’m really proud of that,” Keselowski said.

    Stage 1 had one incident on Lap 2 when Austin Cindric wrecked after contact with Ryan Truex. Cindric sustained heavy damage to his race car and was unable to continue in the race. Chastin, who started from the pole position, led every lap of the first stage.

    During Stage 2 Harvick took the lead on the restart and led several laps of the stage. Fan favorite, Christopher Bell brought out the caution when he hit the wall with a cut tire and got a piece of Daniel Hemric’s car. The only other incident of the stage was for Brandon Jones who spun his car around. Chastain came out of the pits in the lead for the restart and won Stage 2 of the race.

    The final stage of the race brought out excitement, tempers, and a few tears. With 33 laps to go in the race, Harvick saw his opening for the lead when he and Chastain came up on a lapped car. Harvick and Chastain went for the same space and Chastain ended up into the wall, then came down and spun Harvick. Harvick showed his displeasure with the incident by stopping in Chastain’s pit stall. Harvick in his post-incident interview referred to Chastain as an “inexperienced driver” putting the blame on Chastain for the incident. However, Chastain in his post-race interview saw the incident a little differently.

    “I’m just trying to race and I’ll have to see the film, you know, and if I made a mistake it’s on me. Being the leader there I felt like I’m just trying to race, man, and we’ve been giving each other room all day.” With tears of frustration in his eyes, he added, “It’s unfortunate.”

    Cole Custer stayed in the top of the field all day and came home second in his No.00 Stewart Haas Racing Ford.

    “We just had a great Haas Automation Mustang. I can’t thank everybody in the shop enough,” he said, “Everybody at Ford Performance, they’ve given us great tools all year so I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.”

    Tyler Reddick had a great run today in his No.9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet and crossed the finish line third. Denny Hamlin and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top five. Justin Allgaier, Matt Tifft, Ty Dillon, and Michael Annett finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

    Allgaier leads the Xfinity Series point standings with 888 points, Sadler is in second with 872 points, Custer is in third with 871 points, Bell is in fourth with 852 points and Hemric rounds out the top five with 844 points.

    The Xfinity Series heads next to Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 8.

  • Christopher Bell Starts in Front for Roseanne 300

    Christopher Bell Starts in Front for Roseanne 300

    Although Joey Logano was fastest in the first round, Christopher Bell starts on pole for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Roseanne 300 at Auto Club Speedway. This is Bell’s third pole in the last four races.

    “Qualifying’s about speed, and this No. 20 team has had speed,” Bell said. “When we unloaded yesterday, we were really good. I was just little bit loose, and anytime we’d tighten it up and make it more comfortable for me to drive, we’d slow down. We learned something there, and I’m going to have to man up and drive this thing in the race.”

    Bell (181.059 mph) was the only driver in the 181 mph bracket. Joey Logano (180.923 mph) will start second, as the two drivers were the only ones to break into a 39 second lap time. John Hunter Nemechek, Cole Custer and Daniel Hemric round out the top five positions. Christopher Bell was fastest in first practice, but was only able to clock a 40.299 second lap time, roughly half a second slower than his qualifying time.

    Qualifying was split into two rounds. During the first round, all 40 teams made an attempt but Dylan Lupton spun and crashed into the wall right after he took the green flag for his lap. While drivers have been splitting the seam in the corners to gain maximum grip, Lupton couldn’t get into the right position entering the corner, which resulted in the car stepping out from underneath him. He spun in Turn 1 and crashed in Turn 2, settling into the infield grass. The team had to pull out a backup car and will only have three hours to prepare the backup car.

    Cole Custer held the top spot in the first round, but was also the last car to qualify with cloud cover. The remainder of the first round and all of the second round of qualifying had clear skies with sun all around the track.

    Justin Allgaier, Ryan Reed, Ryan Preece, Brandon Jones, Ryan Truex, Elliott Sadler and Kaz Grala finished out the qualifying results for positions 6-12 from the second round. All three manufacturers are represented across the top three starting positions (only one Dodge qualified, Timmy Hill, and will start in the 35th position). NASCAR’s top three touring series are also represented with the top three starters: Christopher Bell on pole running the NASCAR Xfinity Series primarily, Joey Logano starting second from the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series, and John Hunter Nemechek who runs primarily in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will start in the third position.

    The green flag for the Roseanne 300 will wave later today at 2:18 p.m. local time.

  • Kyle Larson Dominates to Win Boyd Gaming 300

    Kyle Larson Dominates to Win Boyd Gaming 300

    Kyle Larson paced the field for 142 laps to earn his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Boyd Gaming 300.

    The final restart resembled closely that of the first start, as Larson pulled away from pole-sitter Christopher Bell after a late race caution for the final seven laps with a margin of victory of 0.881 seconds. The victory was Larson’s first of the season, ninth of his career and first at the speedway.

    “It was an awesome day,” Larson mentioned during his Victory Lane interview. “This car was so fast. It was really fast last year, but you really never know, and this was my first time racing with this new (composite) body, and it performed well.”

    The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet overcame a pit road issue that dropped him to eighth for a restart on Lap 139, but it didn’t take long to find his way to the front, pushing the issue three-wide to fight his way through the field quickly.

    “Normally my guys are some of the best on pit road,” Larson said. “They said the left-rear (tire) just wouldn’t come out (of the wheel well). I had been fighting a tight issue all day and then finally we got our car to turn better.

    “It allowed me to get to the lead fairly easily, and then I was saving fuel in case the race stayed green.”

    Larson and Bell have found themselves in this position before. They frequently battle each other on dirt tracks. During the off-season, Bell was the driver in Victory Lane in last November’s Turkey Night Classic and January’s Chili Bowl, one of the biggest midget races of the season. Bell was excited to see the friendly face extend their close competition into the stock car series.

    “That was really cool, and there will be a lot more of that,” Bell hinted, who beat Larson earlier in the event at the end of Stage 1. “We were close, running second to Kyle – if I’m going to run second to anyone, I guess I would rather it be him.

    “Special day, we were able to win a stage and get a Playoff point. We need to keep racking those up and get some race wins here.”

    As Bell mentioned, he did win a playoff point and becomes only the second Xfinity driver to earn any playoff points. As for Larson, his feelings about the competition with Bell were mutual.

    “It’s always fun to get to race Bell,” Larson said. “He seems to beat me all the time in the dirt stuff, and he edged me out there in qualifying. That first stage kind of felt like we were dirt-track racing there, swapping lanes and stuff. I was trying to take the air off him, and he got by, and yeah, it was fun.”

    As for the rest of the field, JR Motorsports had a strong showing with three of their four drivers finishing in the top eight with Justin Allgaier (third), Elliott Sadler (fifth) and Daytona 500 winner, Tyler Reddick (eighth). Kyle Busch, yesterday’s Camping World Truck Series winner, struggled all day with an ill-handling race car and faced a pit road penalty on his final stop when his gasman grabbed a tire. This year, the new rule states that they are only allowed to ‘kick’ a tire and fuel the car, and no other service is allowed to be done on the car or in the pit box. His No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota finished in a disappointing 14th position.

    Ryan Blaney, who will start on the pole for tomorrow’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, led 33 laps and finished in fourth. Cole Custer, who makes his Monster Energy Cup series debut tomorrow, finished in the ninth position. Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, and Spencer Gallagher also finished the weekend with top-10 results.

    Tyler Reddick and Elliott Sadler are tied at the top of the Xfinity Series points after three races. The Xfinity series will continue their west coast swing at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona next weekend on March 10. Tickets are still available for purchase on the track’s website at http://www.ismraceway.com/Buy-Tickets/NASCAR-Ticket-Prices.aspx.

  • Cole Custer to Make Monster Energy Series Debut in Vegas

    Cole Custer to Make Monster Energy Series Debut in Vegas

    Cole Custer will make his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He will run double duty for the weekend, driving the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford Fusion in the Cup series and competing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race for Stewart-Haas Racing in the No. 00 Ford Mustang.

    “This is a dream come true to compete in the Cup Series,” said Custer. “I can’t thank Rick Ware Racing and Haas Automation enough for the opportunity to race at Las Vegas.”

    Some of Custer’s NASCAR resume includes becoming the youngest Truck Series pole winner ever at Gateway Motorsports Park in 2014. Later that season, he became the youngest winner in the history of NASCAR’s national touring series at 16 years, 7 months and 28 days when he won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. His first career Xfinity Series win came in the 2017 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, leading 182 of 200 laps.

    Rick Ware Racing has an honorable reputation for bringing new talent into the sport. Just this year, the team has given debut rides to Harrison Rhodes and Justin Marks, finishing 33rd and 12th respectively. Ware has been involved in motorsports competition for 27 years. He talked about scouting Custer and what led him to the decision to hire the up and coming driver to pilot the Cup series Ford car.

    “I’ve been watching Cole a long time and he’s a fine young man,” Ware said. “I’ve been friends with the Custer family for a while now and they are truly are amazing people. Over the last couple years, Cole has grown into a stout race car driver with a fine finesse for speed and rhythm.

    “The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is home of some of the greatest race car drivers in the world, and Cole definitely fits into that category. I think our expectations as a team are realistic and achievable. Getting Cole to the checkered flag is our top priority as a race team.”

    Custer has some experience at Las Vegas in NASCAR’s top three touring series. He finished third in the 2016 Truck Series race, 11th in the 2017 Xfinity Series race and ninth in Saturday’s race.

    “It’s going to be a new experience for me,” Custer responded, “but I feel that we can have a productive day by completing all the laps and seeing the checkered flag.”

    This will be Rick Ware’s 33rd race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series as an owner.

  • Kyle Larson Hits the Jackpot and Wins the Xfinity Race at Las Vegas

    Kyle Larson Hits the Jackpot and Wins the Xfinity Race at Las Vegas

    Kyle Larson, driving his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Chevy, brought home the prize in the Xfinity Series Boyd Gaming 300 Saturday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He dominated the field and would lead the most laps, 142-of-200, before finally capturing the checkered flag.

    This is his first win at the track after his runner-up finish last year. It’s also his ninth career victory at eight different tracks.

    After the race, Larson commented, “It was an awesome day for DC Solar. I think this is their first win so I’m glad to get them their first win here in the Xfinity series.” Larson would go on to say, “This race car is so fast, it was really fast last year, but you never really know. This is my first time with this body and it performed well. I’m happy about that, it’s a great day.”

    Stage 1 would only have one caution caused by a spinning Dylan Lupton. The rest of the stage we saw a great battle from the drivers, especially between Larson and Christopher Bell. Bell and Larson would swap the lead so often they were putting on a great race for the fans. However, it would be Bell who would become the winner of Stage 1.

    Stage 2 would go caution free but there was still plenty of action. After a bad pit stop, Bell would fall back a little giving Ryan Blaney the chance to vie for the lead with Larson. Another great battle would ensue between the two but this time Larson would take the Stage 2 win.

    The final stage of the race saw Bell back up front once again battling with Larson for the lead. It started to look like it was going to be a fuel mileage race. This had teams scrambling to see if they could make it to the finish without pitting and it seemed that Larson was going to be a little short. You could almost hear the sigh of relief when a caution with 16 laps to go came out. Once the race got back underway Larson would get the lead and not look back until he took the checkers.

    Bell would bring his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota home in second place. He battled with Larson hard but it just wasn’t enough today.

    Bell who had given Larson a shove to the lead told reporters, “It would have been nice to get up to the lead but I knew if I could put Kyle out there we’d be able to race it out. It was a lot of fun racing and I hope it was a lot of fun watching.”

    Justin Allgaier finished his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in third place. He will be celebrating his 12-year Anniversary with wife Ashley, tomorrow.

    Allgaier commented, “At the end of the race we got ourselves good track position, led laps, and there I probably burnt up the right front a little bit too much on that long run and started fading. I was glad to see that caution at the end, but you’re never really sure how those are gonna go.”

    Ryan Blaney and Elliott Sadler would round out the top five. Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer, and Spencer Gallagher finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

    Reddick leads the Xfinity Series standings with 123 points, by virtue of a win, over Sadler, who also has 123 points. Bell is in third, 23 points behind, with Allgaier in fourth and Gallagher rounding out the top five.

    The Xfinity Series heads next to ISM Raceway (formerly Phoenix International Raceway) on March 10.

     

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://www.speedwaymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Las-Vegas-Xfinity-Series-Unofficial-Results-3-3-18.pdf” title=”Las Vegas Xfinity Series Unofficial Results 3-3-18″]

  • Ryan Reed and Cole Custer–Two XFINITY Drivers Looking Forward to the New Season

    Ryan Reed and Cole Custer–Two XFINITY Drivers Looking Forward to the New Season

    CHARLOTTE, NC – Ryan Reed and Cole Custer are promising young drivers in the XFINITY Series. They’ve both had success with Reed winning races for a couple of years and Custer making the playoffs and winning the final race of the 2017 season. Both have a goal of driving in the Monster Energy Cup Series at some point, but neither is in a hurry. They are looking forward to Daytona and the rest of the season

    RYAN REED – No. 16 Ford Mustang – DO YOU LIKE PLATE RACING? “I certainly don’t hate it just because you’ve had good results. I think it’s easy to kind of get in slumps at superspeedways that aren’t even your fault. We just don’t seem to get in those. I think nowadays especially it takes having really strong race cars, especially at plate races, you have to make a lot happen. You have to be able to make moves and be aggressive. If you don’t, if your race cars aren’t as good, you just can’t make it happen. Fortunately, we don’t have that problem at Roush. I don’t know if I love them or hate them because so much is out of your control, but certainly having some success there helps you smile when you think of them rather than frown.”

    IT’S THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OR ROUSH. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO DRIVE FOR HIM? “First of all, just driving for Jack is obviously really special. He’s such a big part of NASCAR’s history and he’s kind of one who has laid the groundwork for where NASCAR is today, so when you look at Jack Roush you have a lot of respect for him and to be able to drive for him is really cool. You pull from a lot of that knowledge and then I think for me what really makes it special is having won for him. Jack’s not a guy who is satisfied until you have success, so you can have top fives or top 10s and he’ll come up to you and pat you on the back, but when you see Jack smiling in Victory Lane you know, ‘OK, I actually made him proud today.’”

    IS THERE A PLAN FOR YOU TO MOVE UP TO CUP? “Yeah, there has been talk. Obviously, we all know there is a lot that has to happen to go from XFINITY to Cup – sponsorship, the team being ready, the driver being read – and so I think something that I certainly want to do. I got in this sport to be a Cup driver one day, so I’m working really hard at it. I give Jack a hard time and push for it, so I think it’s something that’s on all of our minds and just when is the right time and how do we get there. Those are the questions we have to answer, so hopefully sooner than later we get that figured out.”

    HOW DO YOU FEEL THE CAMAROS AND MUSTANGS MATCH UP? “That’s a question we all ask ourselves a lot and compare ourselves to our competition. I think they are. I think there are differences and I think each one has their advantages over the other. It’s a little bit different now for us with the composite body. That changes it a little bit, but I think they are competitive and I think it’s a lot on us to try and figure out how to use our strengths with our Ford body to our advantage.”

    HOW WILL IT BE HAVING FOUR DIFFERENT DRIVERS IN THE OTHER TEAM CAR? “We ended the year last year without teammates or at least the vast majority of the second half of the year we didn’t have a teammate, so just having a second car is helpful. It can be done. You’ve seen it with organizations that have one-car programs and they have success, but for the most part, I think, it’s gonna be helpful just to have the second car. Mike Kelley is a really good crew chief, so I think he’s gonna be able to help the program. The whole XFINITY program, having him involved in that again, and I think having three fairly inexperienced drivers – at least in XFINITY cars – that will be different, but I also think it will be good because Ty has had some NASCAR experience with Roush, but Chase and Austin come from different organizations, so it will be cool to see their mindset and be able to pull from their previous experience, and also Austin is going to be splitting time with Penske as well, so that will be really good information and a really good comparison as we go.”

    HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THE OTHER GUYS? “I know Ty pretty well. I know Ty and I really have spent time with all three of them. We’ve all been in the Ford camp. Ty, I’ve run races with him last year, so I have a little bit of experience working with him, but we’ve all been in the Ford camp for a number of years, so I have a little bit of experience with them. I think that transition will be easy. The communication, we’re all comfortable with each other, so I don’t think that will be too much of an introduction phase.”

    COLE CUSTER – No. 00 Ford Mustang – WHAT IS YOUR TIMEFRAME IN TERMS OF GETTING TO CUP? “There isn’t really a timeframe, honestly. We’re just trying to get some experience and also trying to win this XFINITY championship, so however, it plays out it plays out. I think you just have to focus on what you’re doing and do the best you can.”

    CUP IS THE GOAL? “Yeah. Everybody wants to get to the Cup level, but however, it plays out it plays out.”

    WHAT HAS SHR DONE FOR YOUR CAR THIS YEAR? “In the XFINITY Series they’re doing the flange fit bodies, so it takes a lot of the creativity that we had with the steel bodies out of it, so we’re still trying to find ways to make those better and trying to just get the scans right on them because NASCAR put a new scanning system in place. There is a lot of stuff and new rules out that we need to figure out and try to make our cars the best we can within the rules.”

    DIDN’T YOU RUN A COUPLE RACES WITH THE FLANGE FIT BODY? “Yeah, we ran a couple races. We have some experience, but they also didn’t have that Hawkeye system, which is keeping us within lower tolerances and those races that we ran were short tracks, so the aero side wasn’t quite as important.”

    THINGS SEEM CALM AT SHR THIS YEAR. HOW MUCH EMPHASIS HAS BEEN PUT ON CUP AND XFINITY WITH NO CHANGEOVER? “I’ll tell you right now there is no calm offseason, ever. It’s always a struggle, so there’s always stuff to learn with the Hawkeye system. That’s the biggest thing, honestly. We’re just trying to figure out how to get our cars to fit the scan. That’s the biggest thing. Everybody is working really hard right now to figure that out and it’s definitely gonna help us this year because we’re in way better shape than we were last year, so to be able to fluff and buff on our speedway cars and to focus more on the tracks that we need to work on, that’s gonna help us a lot.”

    HAVE YOU SEEN ANY ADVANCEMENT IN THE ENGINE PROGRAM? “Doug Yates and all those guys are always working on stuff. I don’t know if there is any better engine program out there. There were times last year where I knew we were as fast as we were just because of the motor and I’ve never felt that before. It was crazy and I know that they’re working hard to get it even better, so I think we’re gonna be in good shape no matter what this year and I’m looking forward to it.”

    WHAT ARE FIVE RACES YOU WOULD LIKE TO WIN OR COMPETE? “I would say I’d like to go back and race more midget stuff at some point, and then I’d like to run Turkey Night more than the Chili Bowl. Another race would be some type of V8 SuperCar. I think that would be kind of cool to run something over there. The Indy 500 is cool. Rolex 24 would be cool to run. I don’t know. It’s hard to run through. I’d have to really think about it, but those are the ones that come to mind.”

    ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT THE ROVAL AT CHARLOTTE? “It’s gonna be interesting, that’s for sure. It’s a really tight track, I guess. It’s gonna be interesting. We’re gonna see when we go there. We’re gonna be the first cars to find out, so nobody really knows what to expect. It could be good, it could be not what we need, but it’ll be interesting for sure.”

    WHICH DO YOU PREFER, OVAL RACING OR ROAD COURSES? “Oval racing is where I’m from and probably what I more specialize in, but I really do like road racing. It’s a lot of fun. It’s something I feel like we need more of. I wish we went to more road courses like Road Atlanta and just different kinds of actual road courses because we have some really great ones in North America. Hopefully, we can keep running more. You’re just doing a lot more. Even though oval racing is really hard and you have to be real precise and you’re always on the edge, road course racing is fun because you’re banging gears, you’re driving it sideways, you’re spinning the tires, you’re hard on the brakes. It’s just a lot of stuff going on and it’s really fun.”

    TONY SAID HE MIGHT LIKE TO RUN THE ROVAL. HOW WOULD IT BE TO HAVE HIM AS A TEAMMATE FOR THAT EVENT? “It would be awesome if Tony ran an XFINITY race with us. It would be really cool to have him as a teammate and get to bounce ideas off him. He’s obviously one of the best all-time, so it would be a dream come true to be his teammate.”

  • Custer Puts on Clinic in XFINITY Season Finale at Homestead

    Custer Puts on Clinic in XFINITY Season Finale at Homestead

    Cole Custer led all but 18 laps on his way to dominating and winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    He first took the lead from Tyler Reddick going into Turn 1 on the fifth lap, and aside from the one time Reddick exited ahead of him under the first stage break caution, he never lost it. Custer won both stages, led 182 laps and put all but eight cars a lap down on his way to scoring his first career victory in 38 XFINITY Series starts.

    “We definitely had something to prove this weekend. We were so close to making it last weekend and (we) really wanted to end strong.  We were really good this weekend. Our Haas Automation Mustangs are unreal. We wanted to really have a good showing on Ford Championship Weekend. Even though we weren’t in it, we wanted to win. Hopefully, we can sweep it tomorrow. Obvious we have some good cars in the hunt tomorrow.”

    Sam Hornish Jr. finished second and William Byron finished third, clinching for him the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series championship.

    “I don’t know that I took a breath the last 20 laps,” said Byron. “That was incredible. I just have to thank this team. This is awesome. Elliott (Sadler, teammate) raced me clean and we just raced hard for it. I just can’t believe this. I’ve just got to thank God for giving me this platform to perform. I can’t believe this. I’m tired, whew. Thanks to all the fans here this evening, this is an unbelievable crowd, I just can’t believe it.”

    Reddick and Ryan Preece rounded out the top-five.

    Brennan Poole, Matt Tiftt, Elliott Sadler, Michael Annett and Ty Majeski rounded out the top-10.

    NOTES OF INTEREST

    Caution flew only three times: Two for stage breaks and one for a spin in Turn 2 on Lap 20 by JJ Yeley. Only six cars retired from the race.

    Daniel Hemric’s chances at the title came to an end when he made an unscheduled stop on Lap 62 for battery issues. He rejoined the race 12 laps down.

    One day after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship, Christopher Bell retired from the race with engine issues on Lap 79.

    With his runner-up finish, Hornish clinched the 2017 XFINITY Series owners championship for Roger Penske’s No. 22 team.

    NUTS & BOLTS

    The race lasted two hours, 12 minutes and 13 seconds, at an average speed of 136.140 mph. There were five lead changes among two different drivers and three cautions for 14 laps.

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  • Hot 20 – If dreams do come true, why not a Dale Earnhardt 500 at Talladega?

    Hot 20 – If dreams do come true, why not a Dale Earnhardt 500 at Talladega?

    With more than a month left in the old year, talk about the new is already starting to dominate. Tony Stewart is now retired, with Clint Bowyer no doubt thrilled at the chance to get back into quality equipment as his replacement. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is getting ready to return to racing, though that message from fiance Amy Reimann seems to indicate he never really left. Greg Biffle has left Jack Roush after all these years, with his old ride apparently being put on blocks for next season.

    Dear NASCAR: Please start branding your races so they might one day become stand alone marquee events. Along with the Daytona 500, the Southern 500, and the Brickyard 400, change it back to the World 600 at Charlotte and summertime should mark the Firecracker 400 at Daytona. While we are at it, who would not want to win at Talladega, taking the Hellmann’s Dale Earnhardt 500, or STP’s Richard Petty 500 at Martinsville? A Ridgeway grandfather clock with the King’s face on the face. Hey, it is not our circus, but we have grown fond of some of the monkeys.

    Jimmie Johnson has another trinket to keep polished. NASCAR, in its stupidity, has few iconic events, we know, but Johnson has won them all. Daytona 500? Twice. Southern 500? Twice. World 600? Four times. Brickyard 400? Four more. Ten-time winner at Dover. Nine at Martinsville. Did anyone mention seven Cup championships? Is it too early to wonder about an eighth? Jimmie Johnson is a living, breathing active iconic legend of the sport. Enjoy him while we can.

    Most athletes are done by the time they hit 40. NASCAR is lucky in that way, but even at that age folks start asking the drivers “how much longer?” once they hit the milestone. Johnson, Junior, Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick have already reached the peak of that mountain. The good news is that young gents such as Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, and Austin Dillon have already arrived, with Ty Dillon coming soon, along with the likes of Erik Jones and Darrell Wallace Jr. Those are just the ones with decent rides, either at this level or the one just below. Like XFINITY champ Daniel Suarez, for instance.

    Elliott, Cup’s top rookie, turns 21 within the week. There are 50 drivers younger than him with some experience in the Cup, XFINITY, Camping World, or ARCA series. Harrison Burton finished 22nd in a truck race, third in an ARCA event. Jeff Burton’s boy turned 16 in October. Cole Custer does not turn 19 until January, yet was 10th best in the trucks this season, with a pair of XFINITY Top Tens to his credit in just five attempts. Tomorrow’s stars are coming.

    Let us not rush things, though. 2016 gave us a nice mix of seasoned veterans and fuzzy-cheeked talent, as our Hot 20 bears out.

    1. JIMMIE JOHNSON (5 WINS – 11 T5 – 16 T10) 5040 PTS
    Gunning for eight in 2017. What, too soon?

    2. JOEY LOGANO (3-16-26) 5037 PTS
    I will never forget what he and Brittany did to honor the family of Jake Leatherman.

    3. KYLE BUSCH (4-17-25) 5035 PTS
    If NASCAR was Canadian, would Kyle be sponsored by Smarties?

    4. CARL EDWARDS (3-9-18) 5007 PTS
    Not at the front of the field in the end, but left as the class of the field.

    5. MATT KENSETH (2-8-19) 2330 PTS
    With the Biff leaving, that ole Roush gang have now all departed for greener pastures.

    6. DENNY HAMLIN (3-12-22) 2320 PTS
    Average finish over the final 21 races was 8.5. Thirtieth at Charlotte ruined everything.

    7. KURT BUSCH (1-9-21) 2296 PTS
    Was better in the first half than the second. The good news is that 2017 begins with the first half.

    8. KEVIN HARVICK (4-17-27) 2289 PTS
    Best damn driver in NASCAR this season is a champion…just not for this year.

    9. KYLE LARSON (1-10-15) 2288 PTS
    Second-best 20-something driver this season, and seems to have designs on #1 in the next.

    10. CHASE ELLIOTT (0-10-17) 2285 PTS
    Not all Rookies of the Year are stellar choices, but this one most definitely is.

    11. MARTIN TRUEX JR. (4-8-17) 2271 PTS
    Next year, Erik Jones becomes his new teammate. If the boy wins, soda pop for everyone.

    12. BRAD KESELOWSKI (4-16-22) 2267 PTS
    Brad does not think the format led to great racing last week. Brad did not have my television.

    13. JAMIE MCMURRAY (0-2-12) 2231 PTS
    Joined by Larson, McMurray gave boss Chip Ganassi a pair in the Top Five last Sunday.

    14. AUSTIN DILLON (0-4-13) 2223 PTS
    Some wags figure if Woody from Toy Story drove in NASCAR, he would look a lot like Austin.

    15. TONY STEWART (1-5-8) 2211 PTS
    As iconic as Johnson, Petty, Earnhardt, Gordon, L. Petty, Pearson, Yarborough and Waltrip

    16. CHRIS BUESCHER (1-2-2) 2169 PTS
    Proof that one race can make a season.

    17. KASEY KAHNE (0-3-13) 898 PTS
    2004’s top rookie teams with a seven-time champ, a 13-time most popular, and 2016’s top rookie.

    18. RYAN NEWMAN (0-2-10) 895 PTS
    If he had actually been driving a Caterpillar, the car would have looked better after last Sunday.

    19. A.J. ALLMENDINGER (0-2-9) 830 PTS
    If getting the wave around works good enough to claim eighth at Homestead, why not?

    20. RYAN BLANEY (0-3-9) 812 PTS
    Turns 23 on New Year’s Eve. Talk about welcoming in a new year twice at the same party.