Talladega Superspeedway has always had a reputation for being a total crapshoot. But with that said, it’s still been a venue reputed for giving drivers career runs and in some cases, giving them first wins as well.
Ryan Preece and Daniel Hemric were just short of becoming the first rookies to win since Joey Logano in 2009, but with Preece’s third-place finish and Hemric’s fifth-place finish, they did take advantage of Talladega’s unpredictable nature. Both rookies ran a conservative race and stayed out of trouble and in the draft, and in the end, they kept their cars in one piece.
Preece’s third-place run seems to be more than just luck; the 28-year-old was also a contender in the Daytona 500 this year before getting shuffled back to finish eighth in the final running order. His top-five solidified the fact that he’s an exceptional restrictor-plate racer.
“It was awesome,” said Preece. “I was only here one other time (2016 Xfinity Series) and I was running third with three to go and went for the hole and got flushed. So I wasn’t going to do that today.”
Something else helping Preece on the superspeedways is his own JTG-Daugherty Racing equipment. Preece’s predecessor A.J. Allmendinger managed to score several strong runs at Daytona and Talladega in the No. 47, finishing in the top-five at both speedways on multiple occasions.
Hemric was also quietly consistent at Talladega, his fifth-place run being a career-best so far in his rookie season.
“That was a day the No. 8 needed,” said Hemric. “First off, it’s great to see Chevrolet and all their drivers and teams put in the effort to communicate in the last few weeks to stay dedicated to each other. We’ve never had such unity on the track like we did today. That’s what led us to ultimately have our best finish as a group.”
A large factor for both rookies was the ability to pass with the new aero package. Instead of the freight-train finishes we’ve seen at Daytona and Talladega in recent years, there was plenty of passing and on-track action, with the product receiving positive reviews following the race.
Both Preece and Hemric have managed to keep low profiles this year, and although JTG-Daugherty hasn’t been an A-List team in 2019 they have kept Preece in a position where he can keep his car in one piece and at the same time keep it as a consistent finisher. With the exception of two crashes at Atlanta and Phoenix, he’s been a steady top-25 finisher in 2019.
Hemric hasn’t been as fortunate, with only three top-20 finishes preceding his Talladega finish. But if there’s any justice in the world he can use this run to build momentum as the season progresses. At the moment it looks like Preece is ahead in the rookie race, so Hemric could use any momentum he can get to catch up with the No. 47 crew.
With four different crashes in the final seven laps, Chase Elliott emerged victorious in the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series.
“Obviously it could have gone both ways but fortunately everybody stayed together and stayed the course and had some help on that last lap with the caution,” Elliott said. “I just appreciate all the support. This is unbelievable. This is special. This is close to home for me. It feels a little bit like a home race.
“We’ll take it. Unbelievable feeling. The crowd was intense. We’re proud to get it done for them.”
Elliott is the first driver for the 2019 season to break the win streak by Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske. He edged his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman, who was disappointed to not have a chance at the win coming to the line despite scoring his career-best finish.
“I’m not just going to let him win, right?” Bowman asked rhetorically. “I’ve got to try. I knew I could get to his quarter panel. I was pretty confident I could get to his quarter panel through the tri-oval. Who knows who is going to get to the line first? At that point, I thought I could do it. Depends on the car behind you, where he goes.
“It would have been fun to try, but happy for Chase, Nationwide (Bowman’s sponsor), everybody that lets us keep doing this thing. I’m glad to kind of turn the season around. It’s been a rough start to the year. These guys deserve way better than the finishes they’ve had. To come home second, it’s not a win, but headed in the right direction.”
Ryan Preece also scored his best career Cup series finish with a third place run. Upon further video evidence, Joey Logano unofficially finishes in fourth just slightly ahead of Daniel Hemric, who also got his best career finish. The rest of the top 10 finishing positions were Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Brendan Gaughan, Aric Almirola and Kyle Busch. Busch now extends his top-10 finishing streak to 10 for the 2019 season.
Three Multi-Car Wrecks at Talladega
The race officially ended under caution on the final lap as William Byron tangled with David Ragan on the back stretch. The two drivers collected Kyle Larson and Jeffrey Earnhardt. Both Larson and Earnhardt spun toward the inside wall, with Larson beginning to flip moments before impact with the inside SAFER barrier. The No. 42 Chevrolet tumbled and began to flip multiple times before finally coming to rest on the wheels. However, with Stenhouse spinning on the front stretch as the field took the white flag, the combination of debris on the track a few hundred feet before the start-finish line and Larson’s flip on the back stretch, NASCAR had to throw the yellow. Erik Jones spun in Turns 3 and 4 with two laps to go, but was able to continue on right away.
“That was probably the longest flip I’ve ever had,” Larson said after he was checked out of the infield care center. “I didn’t know if it would ever stop. It was a little bit scary, but thankfully I’m all right.”
A separate incident occurred with just seven laps remaining, as Chris Buescher’s No. 37 Chevrolet got turned by Aric Almirola on the backstretch. For the majority of that previous lap, Almirola kept looking to the inside to make a three-wide pass, but tucked back in line. However, on the back stretch, Almirola made contact with Buescher as he fell back in line and started a five-car crash. Buescher’s car hit the outside wall, then was t-boned by Matt DiBenedetto’s No. 95 Toyota, lifting Buescher’s car in the air. Martin Truex Jr. made slight contact, but avoided most of the wreck and was able to continue in the race. Justin Haley, who was making his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut, was not so fortunate and had his great debut end after hitting DiBenedetto in the side.
“We just got turned,” Buescher told FOX. ”Good position there with just a handful of laps to go. Just got turned right, destroyed our race car.”
The red flag lasted for 8 minutes and 47 seconds.
Back in the first stage, another multi-car wreck took out a few other major contenders as well. Just 10 laps into the race, Bubba Wallace had a strong run on Ryan Blaney. While the two bump drafted around, Blaney’s car got sideways but he was able to correct it. Wallace was not, and spun toward the inside across traffic. Clint Bowyer’s car slid up and collected his Stewart-Haas teammate Kevin Harvick. Michael McDowell and Matt Tifft were also collected, and those four retired from the race immediately.
“The No. 22 (Joey Logano) pulled up and he checked up a little bit,” Wallace said of the crash. “I went to go to the bottom, where I was safe. I don’t know if I crossed (Blaney’s) bumper or whatever. But it got him wiggled down and shoved me even farther down than I wanted to go.
“So I went back up just to stay off the apron and it just unloaded. It’s just unfortunate, but I tried not to wreck my buddy, Ryan, and it cost our day and some others’.”
Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota also received damage, and went a few laps down early. After hitting the wall on Lap 83, Hamlin took his car to the garage with mechanical failures and would not return to the race. Jimmie Johnson received damage after running over debris from McDowell’s car. On Lap 25, Johnson hit the wall in Turn 3. He was able to get his Chevrolet to pit road, but was out of contention after finishing nine laps down.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competes next at Dover International Speedway on May 5.
Monster Energy Cup Series Race Number 10 Race Results for the 50th Annual GEICO 500 – Sunday, April 28, 2019 Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, AL – 2.66 – Mile Paved Total Race Length – 188 Laps – 500.08 Miles
Although the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year race will see such talents as Ryan Preece and Daniel Hemric lead a charge that also includes Matt Tifft and Tanner Berryhill, it doesn’t look like it will be much of a race.
At first, it may look like Preece has the upper hand in terms of statistics. Unlike Hemric, Preece has won in the Xfinity Series not once, but twice, both times in Joe Gibbs Racing equipment. Stacked against Hemric’s Xfinity record, where he was consistently recording top-fives and top-10s in stellar Richard Childress Racing equipment but didn’t record a win (mirroring his NASCAR Truck Series record where he was a consistent front-runner but never a winner), it looks like Preece may have an edge, and maybe he does when the numbers are taken into consideration: In 15 starts in 2018 he recorded a win, seven top-fives, and 10 top-10s. In 33 starts in the 2018 Xfinity Series Hemric was winless, but he did record four poles, 16 top-fives, and 23 top-10s.
Preece has the upper hand in this case because he was able to get more out of the car in the limited run that he had. It may help a bit that the JGR Toyota program is a dominant force in the Xfinity Series despite the best efforts of the competition. But while Hemric is being promoted in the RCR organization to Cup level in an otherwise quietly consistent midpack entry, Preece is headed for the JTG-Daugherty camp in their No. 47 Camaro.
TThe fact that the Camaro struggled throughout the 2018 season was more of a manufacturer fault than a team fault despite getting four wins (by two drivers – Austin Dillon won the Daytona 500 while Chase Elliott won three times in the second half of the season). But the No. 47 Chevrolet does not have a stellar record. With one win (AJ Allmendiner in 2014 at Watkins Glen) in 432 total Cup starts as well as two poles, 15 top-fives, and 50 top-10s among four drivers (Allmendinger, Chris Buescher, Bobby Labonte, and Marcos Ambrose), Preece finds himself in an optimistic situation where the team can finally form itself around a true rising star. But often times that can lead to disastrous results, something that the JTG-Daugherty camp is all too familiar with.
Meanwhile, the RCR organization is still trying to re-establish itself as a weekly contender. Streamlining their Cup efforts to focus on Dillon in the No. 3 and Hemric in the No. 8, RCR looks to lighten their excess load in order to put the cars in Victory Lane more frequently, having not won since the 2018 Daytona 500. In his two Cup starts in 2018, Hemric didn’t make much noise, having his best run at the Charlotte Roval where he finished on the lead lap in 23rd after starting 11th. He does have experience, having been to most of the tracks on the schedule at least twice in the past two seasons, so he knows what to expect. Better still is that since he was promoted within the organization the team has a clear understanding of how Hemric performs and how to get the best out of him as a driver, while Preece back at JTG-Daugherty is in the middle of a learning curve with a new team.
In this case, the odds look to be in Hemric’s favor, but that’s not to discredit either of the two rookie front-runners let alone Tifft and Berryhill. Hemric’s stability in the RCR camp only serves to boost his confidence going into 2019. He’s in a familiar territory, and as a result he may very well post some great numbers. Nevermind that he has yet to score a NASCAR Trucks or Xfinity win; Jimmie Johnson still only has one Xfinity win before his rookie Cup season of 2002 and he’s now a seven-time champion. Therefore, Xfinity results (or lack thereof) don’t always translate to Cup performance. But in terms of the 2019 rookie race where Berryhill (driving for the brand-new Obaikia Cup entry) and Tifft (driving for the reincarnated Front Row Motorsports third entry) will both be driving as unheralded rookies for under-funded teams while Preece will be in an adjustment period with his team, Hemric and RCR may be the best bet for top rookie honors come Homestead.
Another season has come and gone, along with a few more drivers and fans, to be honest. However, there are some things I have noticed that are on the positive side, though not all would agree.
I like stage racing. I was not sure to start with, but I like it now. It helps chronicle who mattered early and it informs us as to who mattered throughout. It even tells us who won, and it rewards that winner is a meaningful way.
As a traditionalist, I was dead set against the playoffs. I have changed my mind. Logically, it makes no sense to have the pretenders still on the same competitive field as the contenders. Yet, it has not much affected the action, other than for one understandably upset Matt Kenseth. In this snowflake influenced world of ours, sometimes vengeance can still be had.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was not missed on the track due to his excellence in the NBC broadcast booth alongside Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte, Rick Allen and a very stout track-side team. They were entertaining, informative, and sounded like they were excited being there. That is all it takes, but it took a long, long time for some to figure that out. I am not sure FOX has yet.
NASCAR boss man Brian France left the scene in August after being tagged with charges of aggravated driving while intoxicated and criminal possession of a controlled substance. Replaced by his uncle, I think most think that was a positive step. At least Jim France bothers to show up at the track every week.
The France family is looking to fold its 13 track International Speedway Corp., which includes Darlington, Daytona, Martinsville and Talladega, into a merger with NASCAR itself. One can speculate as to the reasons, be it to lay out “a more unified strategic approach”, as Jim France says, or to package it all up for sale. Time will tell.
Sometime over the past decade, the “How bad have you got it” mantra went out the window, along with the fans they were asking. Most of the races this season had a dip in ratings, with at least 26 being seen as having their worst of the past decade, if not of all time. Most of the celebrities are gone, we produce fewer gear heads these days, and the good ole boys and girls like Bo, Luke, and Daisy have been replaced in society by those who know more about tissues than issues.
It appears Jamie McMurray is leaving the driver’s seat, at least on a full-time basis. Kurt Busch could be his replacement with Chip Ganassi. Kenseth is set to step back from even doing that after spelling off Trevor Bayne. Ryan Newman will take their place at Roush-Fenway, with newcomer Daniel Hemric taking his former ride with Richard Childress. Furniture Row is now gone, as Martin Truex Jr. heads over to Joe Gibbs, bumping Daniel Suarez possibly over to replace the elder Busch at Stewart-Haas. A.J. Allmendinger will be without a ride, giving up his seat to rookie Ryan Preece. Kasey Kahne has called it a career, and the 17-year combination of Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus comes to an end.
Changes. Some we like, some we will not, at least to start with. Will fans come back in droves? Nope. Why should they? Give them a reason, give them entertainment, give them a reason to care.
All they have to do is figure out what that is. Over the course of the past decade, they have not.
1. JOEY LOGANO – 5040 POINTS (3 Wins)
This is not “fake news.” Logano is a deserving, even if not an overly popular, champion.
2. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 5035 POINTS (4 Wins)
If we could ignore the facts for our own biases…but we can not. Now he is off to join the Coach.
3. KEVIN HARVICK – 5034 POINTS (8 Wins)
If he could win all those he dominated for a period of time, he would have gone double figures.
4. KYLE BUSCH – 5033 POINTS (8 Wins)
Great seasons can be spoiled by the uncertainty of a playoff. Case in point…
5. ARIC ALMIROLA – 2354 POINTS (1 Win)
Not everyone is moving on. Then again, he was one of those movers not so long ago.
6. CHASE ELLIOTT – 2350 POINTS (3 Wins)
The future of Hendrick has already arrived.
7. KURT BUSCH – 2350 POINTS (1 Win)
If he wants to race Indy, his rumored new boss might have a few options open to him.
8. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 2343 POINTS (3 Wins)
“I’m going to say it again. I did not intentionally spin out that driver, Mr. Suarez.”
9. KYLE LARSON – 2299 POINTS
If your business is named “Hi-Line”, I have a marketing opportunity for you.
10. RYAN BLANEY – 2298 POINTS (1 Win)
Like Chase, he is one of the positives NASCAR can showcase for the future.
11. DENNY HAMLIN – 2285 POINTS
As with Johnson, a years-long streak of wins in a season comes to an end.
12. CLINT BOWYER – 2272 POINTS (2 Wins)
Light-hearted and funny. Plus, if you ever find yourself in a ditch, he has connections.
13. AUSTIN DILLON – 2245 POINTS (1 Win)
That win was nice, but the iconic number was not so iconic after Daytona.
14. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 2242 POINTS
The marriage with Chad lasted longer than a vast majority of Hollywood relationships.
15. ERIK JONES – 2220 POINTS (1 Win)
At 22, That Jones Boy is making Joe Gibbs feel pretty good about the future.
16. ALEX BOWMAN – 2204 POINTS
Driving a car once driven by an Earnhardt is not an easy act to follow.
17. RYAN NEWMAN – 769 POINTS
Off to become one of the guys over at the House that Jack built. Maybe even his bodyguard.
18. RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – 701 POINTS
After five years, the storyline changed in 2018, along with a downturn in performance
19. PAUL MENARD – 692 POINTS
Will be around as long as a certain home improvement company markets its wares on a stock car.
20. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 683 POINTS
If this marks the end of the line, he finishes it up among those who mattered.
Christopher Bell fought his way into the Championship 4 finale, winning the Whelen Trusted to Perform 200 at ISM Raceway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Cole Custer, Tyler Reddick and Daniel Hemric will join him for the 2018 Xfinity Championship at Homestead Miami Speedway.
“We’re going to Homestead baby!” Bell exclaimed over the radio in celebration with his team.
Bell started the day by failing inspection three times during qualifying. According to the NASCAR rule book, the No. 20 Gamestop Toyota would lose their car chief and be forced to start in the rear. They did not get a qualifying time set, and started 38th for the race. However, they did not give up and took the lead just past halfway through the race, easily becoming the car to beat. It was Bell’s seventh win in his rookie season, a new Xfinity Series record.
“Man, that’s never sounded sweeter before in my life,” Bell said with a feeling of relief on the frontstretch in front of all the fans. “I’ll be honest, after Kansas and Texas, I accepted that we weren’t going to be able to get there [to the Championship 4]. I knew this thing was fast. It feels good to give Gamestop a win.”
The early parts of the race saw Justin Allgaier winning both stages, but a late-race collision with John Hunter Nemechek forced his team to make repairs, blocking the brake ducts. Later in the final run, Allgaier’s right front caught fire and he lost a lap, and eventually, his spot in the Championship 4.
”Disappointment,” Allgaier shared. “At the end of the day we did everything right this year. We had a great season. Today we did everything right at the beginning part of the race. That was probably the most frustrating part. We led a lot of laps. We won both stages. All things considered, it was going to be a great day. Ultimately at the end, getting ourselves in that bad position, getting caught up in that little of a crash and losing brakes. At that point it was survival, gain as many points as we can gain.”
Elliott Sadler, Austin Cindric and Matt Tifft were the others eliminated from the Playoffs for the Xfinity Series.
Field Fights for Every Spot in Stage 1
John Hunter Nemechek and Cole Custer battle for position in the Whelen Trusted to Perform 200 at ISM Raceway. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.
As the field took the green flag, they were put under yellow for the third race in a row. Akinori Ogata in the No. 66 Toyota lost a deck lid and spun before the field could complete a lap. The team for the Japanese rookie was able to make repairs and continue in the race.
On the restart, Justin Allgaier and Ryan Preece were able to get by the outside rows and put themselves into the second and third positions respectively. Further along in the run, Preece’s car fell off pace with the leaders, but Allgaier was able to get by about 30 laps into the race.
With about five laps to go, Elliott Sadler made slight contact with the No. 40 Toyota of Chad Finchum. There was no visible tire smoke or rub, but Sadler did lose a few spots. While his teammate Allgaier would go on to win the stage, Sadler would be the only Playoff driver to finish outside of the top-10 and not collect any stage points.
Sadler would spend a lot of time on pit road as his team made repairs. He would stay on the lead lap. Austin Cindric beat Allgaier and Nemechek off pit road to claim the lead starting the second stage. Matt Tifft was caught speeding on pit road, and Brandon Jones was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Both drivers had to restart at the rear.
Allgaier Makes a Statement, Sweeps Both Stages
On the restart, Cindric chose the outside. As we saw in most cases during yesterday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck series, the inside was the preferred line with the extra room of the dogleg and the least risk going into Turn 1 fighting a 3-wide move. Allgaier was able to get by easily and reclaim the lead. He would lead all the laps and take the win in the second stage in a yellow-free stage.
However, it was not uneventful. With a handful of laps left, Bell was attempting to pass Cindric when the two made slight contact multiple times. The last bit of contact was coming out of Turn 2. Bell was not happy, shaking his fist out the window net at Cindric, and said over the radio to his team, “I so wanted to wreck him!”
During pit stops, Allgaier lost four positions as Nemechek reclaimed the lead.
Championship Hopes Flip in Final Stage
Bell clawed his way to the front and with 100 laps to go, claimed the top spot. Allgaier made a few adjustments on pit road to make his car a little faster, but lost track position and ran in the fourth position at this time.
During the run before their potential last pit stop, Cindric drove hard into Turn 1 but slid up in Turn 2, colliding into Allgaier. It was the second time Cindric collided into a Playoff drive. Allgaier held his hand out the window net, palm up, but was able to stay focused and drive forward to get around Nemechek for the third position. Cindric lost his fifth position to Matt Tifft, fighting his way back to the front after a pit road speeding penalty after Stage 1. By this time, the bottom four drivers were now in a must-win situation, so nerves and aggression were starting to get the best of some of those drivers.
With about 65 laps to go, Tyler Hill in the No. 13 spun right in front of a few championship drivers, but no other cars were collected. The yellow flag was displayed, and everyone came down pit road for what may be the final time. Bell won the battle off pit road and all Playoff contenders were in the top 11 at this point.
Tifft fought his way up into the second position on the restart, but a few laps into the run, there were two separate incidents. Ty Majeski spun in Turn 3 to officially bring out the yellow, but Nemechek got loose on the exit of Turn 4. Tyler Reddick inadvertently helped spin out Nemechek with slight contact, but the heaviest contact actually corrected his car when he dove to the inside and hit Allgaier, causing massive damage to the right front fenders. During the yellow, Allgaier came to pit road and his crew made repairs, and surprisingly, it did not affect the handling.
The field took the restart, and Allgaier was able to climb back up into the top-10. Tifft and Bell were both in must-win scenarios, and with both drivers running up front for the potential win, that forced Allgaier to start considering a must-win situation to ensure a chance for the championship at Homestead. With about 48 laps to go, the No. 8 Chevrolet of Tommy Joe Martins went up in smoke to bring out the yellow. He would retire from the race, as no front runners elected to visit pit road.
The Xfinity Series drivers would see yet another restart where most of the field panned out through the dogleg to fight for as many positions as possible. With some contact and beating and banging, Bell emerged as the leader with a hungry and hard-chargin Tifft.
With about 25 laps remaining, Allgaier had a fire in the right-front corner as he lost brakes, making his championship hopes go up in smoke. There was no damage to the tire, so he was able to continue without visiting pit road, but was much slower having no brakes in the right front. No other incidents occurred in the closing laps, as Bell secured his spot for the Championship 4 at Homestead.
The final championship race will be held at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Coverage for the Ford EcoBoost 300 begins at 3:30pm ET on Saturday, November 17.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Unofficial Race Results for the 20Th Annual Whelen Trusted To Perform 200 – Saturday, November 10, 2018 ISM Raceway – Avondale, AZ – 1 Mile Paved
John Hunter Nemechek claims his first career pole in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at ISM Raceway, setting a time of 26.970 seconds at 133.482 mph.
Nemechek edged Cole Custer by 17-thousandths of a second, as both drivers were the only two to run in the 26-second bracket. Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier and Ryan Preece completed the top-five.
“It feels good,” Nemechek told NBCSN. “We came here with the mindset to try and qualify on the pole. We unloaded not really good yesterday so we only got to do one mock (qualifying) run and it wasn’t that great.”
Most of the other Playoff drivers will start in the top-10. Elliott Sadler qualified in sixth, Daniel Hemric in eighth and Matt Tifft in 10th. Tyler Reddick had a slip in the second round, preventing him from putting down a fast enough lap to get into the final round. He will start 14th. The biggest news with those in the championship hunt was Christopher Bell failing inspection three times. He will start 38th.
Round one had about half of the Playoff contenders waiting until the last few minutes before turning a lap. Austin Cindric was fastest and most Playoff contenders held top-15 lap times. All but one made it through to the second round. Christopher Bell and Ty Majeski failed inspection three times, so they will start at the rear of the field. Neither was able to turn a lap, along with Josh Bilicki.
“Well the good thing is (Miami) doesn’t decide on where we start, it decides on where we finish,” Bell told NBCSN. “We got 200 laps, which is an eternity, especially from what I grew up doing in sprint car racing. Got a bunch of pit stops in there and a fast car to make it up. We’ll be fine.”
Bell also shared that this was the same car that won both times at Richmond Raceway.
“This is probably the fastest car we’ve brought to the race track all year-long compared to the field,” Bell said.
In round two, one more Playoff contender was eliminated. Tyler Reddick car got loose in Turn 4, which hurt his first and second attempts at improving his qualifying time. He will start 14th in the afternoon’s event. John Hunter Nemechek was fastest over Cole Custer, as the two were the only drivers to run just one lap in qualifying.
For the final round, the remaining Playoff drivers hold top-10 starts, and despite some last second laps by Cindric, Nemecheck was the one holding the top starting position, ahead of Custer, Cindric, Allgaier and Preece. Coverage for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at ISM Raceway will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon on NBC.
Starting Line Up
ISM Raceway
20th Annual Whelen Trusted To Perform 200
The Charlotte Roval promised to be chaotic, a fantasy design straight out of the old video games that was going to tear cars up and dash hopes. Well, that narrative did not pan out, at least in the early going on Sunday. As for the ending, well, that was another story.
It was different, but it was racing. Going in, we knew Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones needed to do very, very well to keep their championship hopes alive. They did not. We knew Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer needed to do better than the likes of Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, and Ryan Blaney to make themselves happy and upset those they were chasing. As we neared the midway of the contest, things remained close enough that we still did not know how things were going to play out
Aric Almirola looked safe, coming in 23 points to the good, but when William Byron blew a tire late in the middle frame and bobbled he caused the then 11th placed Almirola to flinch. That saw him pound the fence on the way by. They came in for repairs and then got tagged with a tire violation. That was all it took for him to find himself on the outside trying to get back to the table with the cool kids.
However, when it came to actual points in the bank, he was still nine up after the two stages. Among the five battling for the final three berths into the next round of the Playoffs, only five points now separated second stage winner Blaney, Dillon, Bowyer, Johnson, and Bowman, in that order. Their fate at the finish was going to decide things between them unless someone else had their luck run out on them.
Dillon’s fortunes dipped a tad when he tried to avoid a slow Chris Buescher. In doing so, he went high into the marbles and battered the passenger side of his beast along the wall. That required some repair, even more than what it received. A short time later the tire blew, he hit the barrier yet again and Dillon was done, leaving a vacancy at the inn.
Meanwhile, Almirola was doing his best to provide another. He went for another spin and went bowling for dollars with the infield advertising signs. At the same time, Buescher did him one better and actually hooked up a sign for Echo Park Automotive and had it waving behind him for part of a lap before the pit crew detached it. Best advertisement moment of the entire weekend. Echo Park Automotive, a used-car dealer based in Charlotte, a subsidiary of Sonic Automotive. Echo Park, for all your automotive needs.
With seven to go, more than a few automobiles had some needs emerge. On a re-start, Brad Keselowski charged into turn one. Literally. He hit. Kyle Busch got caught up in it but, like Keselowski, he already had his pass to the next round of the dance. Kyle Larson, a contender all day, saw his auto all bent and busted. Almirola got caught in a rapidly stopping traffic jam. Those two had looked good to advance, but now it depended on how many points they might drop, who might be able to take advantage, with little time left. Meanwhile, Bowman and Bowyer were still fighting for one spot, or would there be more room at the hostelry opening up for them both?
As it turned out, yes there was. Blaney advanced with a win, as third place became first place in the final chicane. Johnson went for the win, taking himself and Martin Truex Jr. out of the running when they collided.
Larson, sitting now in a pile of junk, was out of it, we thought. His car was bouncing off the wall on the right side after blowing a tire, but he kept the bucket of bolts running forward, but not quickly. He needed to pass somebody to advance. Sitting just shy of the line, after being spun out, was the idle solitary car of Jeffrey Earnhardt. It sat 100 yards short of the finish. It did not move until Larson passed him. It took an eternity, but Larson went by Earnhardt, got the point, and that left us with a three-way tie in the standings. Only two would advance. Larson was given the nod, followed by Almirola, leaving Johnson, despite finishing eighth, the guy left on the outside.
Johnson was in, but in trying for the win, he got knocked out by the smallest of margins. As for Larson, he needs to thank the guy who spun Earnhardt out just shy of the line, that left him available to pass, the guy who made Larson’s continued hopes possible.
Ty Dillon and Daniel Hemric finished 22nd and 23rd respectively, but not before taking Earnhardt out in the final chicane. Definitely Daniel, and possibly Ty as well, deserve much thanks from Larson for the deed. He owes them big time.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series held their first race of the championship Playoffs at Richmond International Raceway Saturday night for the Go Bowling 250, and one driver got one step closer to the championship trophy.
Christopher Bell, piloting his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, captured the win and earned that first Playoff spot moving him on to the second round. Bell took the lead from fellow championship contender Matt Tifft late in the race on what was the final restart of the night.
“It’s not very often you get to win with a car that’s not a winning car, so we’ll take it,” Bell commented. “Just thank you to my pit crew for the awesome pit stops tonight. I’m just pumped. I couldn’t be happier.”
Last week’s winner, Ross Chastain, had another great run in his final race driving the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. He finished the night in the runner-up spot.
“I just wanted to come in and do my job, I hope I did enough. That’s the scariest thing not knowing where this leads, but I know I’ve got a great group of people behind me in Florida,” Chastain stated. “I’ll let them keep guiding me through this crazy NASCAR world.”
Coming in third place was fan favorite driver Daniel Hemric in his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
“I’m proud of how I executed here in the first race, first round Playoffs,” Hemric said, “We had a ton of speed from the time we unloaded it. We knew this was a really good opportunity race track for us, it’s one of my favorite race tracks if not the favorite race track I get to come to.”
Making the night of racing even more exciting was the return of Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the track. Earnhardt Jr. came out of retirement to run tonight and dominated much of the race, even capturing his first Xfinity stage win in Stage 2 of the event. He brought his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet home in fourth.
“It got my expectations all messed up,” Earnhardt said after the race. “Man, I’m like, ‘Dang, I’ve got to win now.’ But we didn’t have the car at the end. We started on the outside (on the final restart), which was kind of tough. Just didn’t have what we needed at the end. But I’m glad that we got to lead a lot of laps. We ran really good for all the people that came down to watch us.”
Rounding out the top five was Tifft as Elliott Sadler, Tyler Reddick, Brandon Jones, Shane Lee, and Reed finished sixth through 10th, respectively.
Stage 1 ran flag to flag without any cautions. Regular season champion Justin Allgaier proved strong as he, Hemric, and Bell all battled for the lead. Bell would come out on top and win the stage.
Stage 2 slowed the pace for one caution period when Ryan Reed got into the bumper of teammate Ty Majeski sending him hard into the wall. Bell and Hemric fought each other for the lead, however, late in the stage, Earnhardt Jr. took the lead from Bell to score the stage win. The driver on the move was Chastain after his pit crew told him that it was time to go.
The final stage had a few caution periods, most of which were minor. However, the race end came a little early for Allgaier after Cole Custer got into the back of him and spun him around. Earnhardt Jr. saw his win slip away when he lost the lead on the final pit stop of the night. Bell took the lead with 13 laps to go and didn’t look back until he took the checkered flag.
The Playoff leaderboard has Bell in first place with 2090 points, and moving on to round two with his win. Hemric is in second with 2062 points, Allgaier is third (2056) and Chastain is fourth with 2053 points. Elliott Sadler (2051), Tifft (2047), Tyler Reddick (2046) and Brandon Jones (2035) round out the top eight Playoff contenders.
The Xfinity Series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway next week on Saturday, Sept. 29.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Unofficial Race Results for the 38Th Annual Gobowling 250 – Friday, September 21, 2018 Richmond Raceway – Richmond, VA – .75 Mile Paved
Joey Logano led 139 of 150 laps in a dominating win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in the Roseanne 300 at Auto Club Speedway. This is Logano’s 29th career victory in the Xfinity series, and third at Auto Club Speedway. He has never finished outside the top-10 and will start sixth for tomorrow’s NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series race.
“Anytime you have new tires and everyone else doesn’t, it’s fun. It’s when you have the old tires and everyone else has got the new tires, that’s not fun,” Logano laughed when asked about the late race pit cycles.
“I felt sure that we had a car quick enough. The worry more than anything was a crash happening in front of us.”
Logano was only one of two Cup drivers starting this race, with Austin Dillon who finished fourth. It was asked during the press conference about carrying over any notes or on-track experience into tomorrow’s race.
“You know there are some things that you can learn from this race, and you only come out here once a year. The cars are very different, Cup cars and Xfinity cars. There were a couple things to carry over, you know, running against the wall, which will help you for the first couple of laps. You have an advantage for the first five laps. You know where the track is a little better. The cars that were fast earlier in practice today are gonna be very fast tomorrow, and I don’t think the advantage you get from running this race is so large that you’re going to smoke everyone tomorrow because you had more laps, but it does allow you to feel more comfortable and feel the race track sooner.”
JR Motorsports finish second and third with Justin Allgaier and Elliott Sadler, respectively. Elliott extends his point lead to four points over teammate Tyler Reddick.
“We worked really hard today,” Allgaier joyfully stated after feeling a successful weekend. “Yesterday in practice, we had a really strong Hellman’s Chevrolet and unfortunately when the race started, not that it was bad by any means, but some of the balance things that we felt like we were good with practice, today with the conditions being a little different, we needed to work on it a little. Jason (Burdett) made a great call there to pit towards the end, put tires on and catch the 22 off sequence, which we were kinda hoping it would take a little longer to get up front to battle him.
“The 22 was the class of the field today, I think they had everybody. Our west coast swing has been great, two seconds and a third. We’ve been chopping away at it. I wish we had a win, but all in all, whenever you get up to the front like that, it’s a good day.”
Despite hitting the wall, Daniel Hemric fought throughout the day and finished in the fifth position.
“I’m proud of our effort, not just today but over the past three or four weeks,” Hemric shared during a post-race conference session. “We kinda raced around the fifth to ninth place all day, and the racing to get by there is more intense. It seems like whenever you try to side draft somebody or someone side drafts you, here come three more with runs. Just proud to get to our best running position of the day there, and maintain and come home with the top five. And I hit the wall!”
Most of the first stage was eventless until Matt Mills in the No. 15 spun in Turn 2. There weren’t enough laps to clean up the incident to go back green, so the end of the first stage finished under yellow.
During the second stage, the No. 42 Chevrolet of John Hunter Nemechek blew his right front tire on the frontstretch in the closing laps. He didn’t collide with the wall, but the rubber caused substantial damage to the sheet metal. He would finish three laps down in the 29th position after starting in a hopeful third position.
Christopher Bell, who started on the pole, took FOX’s Helmet Cam for a wild ride over the weekend, being involved in two separate incidents during the final stage. The first was a spin coming out of Turn 4 and sliding through the front stretch grass. Only a few laps later, Michael Annett pinched him coming out of Turn 4 as they ground against the outside wall along the front stretch.
A few late-race cautions built some unique strategies into the closing laps of the race. Dylan Lupton, who went to a backup car after crashing in qualifying earlier in the day, lost a motor, which ended a long day for his No. 28 team. A few laps later, another caution was put out for debris found in Turn 2. At this time, Logano was one of only a few takers to come to pit road for fresh tires. He restarted in 16th, charged to the front, and took the lead within five laps. However, the final caution came out with around 10 laps remaining for more debris on the front stretch. At this time, almost everyone came to pit road, shuffling all the strategies, except for Ryan Sieg who inherited the lead for the final restart. Sieg was no competition against the fresh tires, as the field charged past him on the opening lap, allowing Logano to cruise to his third career win at the 2-mile oval.
Positions 6-10 were Cole Custer, Tyler Reddick (highest finishing rookie), Matt Tifft, Ryan Preece and Ross Chastain. Kaz Grala crashed coming to the checkered flag and finished in the 14th position, but was checked and released from the infield care center shortly after the press conference was completed.
Ironically, Logano is a big fan of the television show Roseanne.
“I feel like I watched Roseanne a long time ago on like Nic at Nite,” Logano shared, as Brian Wilson, Logano’s crew chief, added, “He was watching the re-runs. I was watching the originals.”
Joey continued talking about the trophy and winning the race.
“You know, I was kinda hoping when we pulled in here and I saw the Roseanne 300 banner over the walkway, I was thinking of what the trophy was going to look like, so I hoped it would be a big picture of her face. It’s still cool.”
Elliott Sadler leads the series points over teammates Tyler Reddick and Justin Allgaier. The NASCAR Xfinity Series races next in Texas on Saturday, April 7, and tickets can be purchased through the speedway website.
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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.
