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Tag: Goody’s Fast Relief 500

  • Johnson Books Championship Ticket with Victory at Martinsville

    Johnson Books Championship Ticket with Victory at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Jimmie Johnson will race for a seventh championship in three weeks time after taking the lead with less than 100 laps remaining and scoring the victory at NASCAR’s last track from its charter season.

    Martin Truex Jr. led the field to the green flag at 1:18 p.m. Caution flew for the first time on lap 22 for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wheel-hopping going into Turn 3, spinning and rear-ending the wall in Turn 3, ending his day.

    It went back to green on lap 28 and the caution flew again on lap 62 for David Ragan laying fluid on the track.

    The race settled into more of a follow the leader routine after the lap 68 restart, with the lead changing between Kyle Larson and Truex, and Kyle Busch and Truex (113 and 114). Debris in Turn 4 brought out the third caution on lap 132.

    Matt Kenseth and Truex swapped the lead back and forth on laps 152 and 153. Eventually, Kenseth took over the top spot on lap 183.

    Denny Hamlin and Johnson were battling for second during the run and it climaxed with Hamlin bumping Johnson out of the way and making contact with Brad Keselowski in the process.

    Debris on the backstretch, a torn banner according to NBC, brought out the fourth caution on lap 200.

    After restarting on lap 207, the race settled into its longest run of 151 laps. It was so long that the fifth caution, for Carl Edwards hitting the wall in Turn 3, came out during a cycle of green-flag stops (a rare occurrence at Martinsville) with 142 laps to go.

    Because it fell during a cycle of green-flag stops, it jumbled up the running order to the point that it caused a lengthy delay as race control sorted out the running order. The caution lasted a total of 29 laps.

    The race restarted, eventually, for the final time with 114 to go with Hamlin in the lead. Johnson got alongside him with 92 to go and finally took control of the lead with 91 to go. Keselowski worked his way around the Joe Gibbs Racing trio of Hamlin, Kenseth and Busch, but he ran out of time and Johnson drove on to score the victory.

    It’s his 79th career victory in 540 Sprint Cup Series starts, fourth of 2016 and ninth in 30 races at Martinsville Speedway.

    Keselowski settled for second in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford. Hamlin, leading 45 laps, overcame a speeding penalty to round out the podium in his No. 11 JGR Toyota.

    Kenseth led a race-high of 175 laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 20 JGR Toyota. Busch led three as he rounded out the top-five in his No. 18 JGR Toyota.

    Jeff Gordon finished sixth, Truex – leading 147 laps – finished seventh, Jamie McMurray finished eighth, Logano finished ninth and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top-10.

    Ten cars finished the race on the lead lap and 38 were running at the finish.

    The race lasted three hours, 20 minutes and 55 seconds at an average speed of 78.540 mph. There were 15 lead changes among nine different drivers and five cautions for 54 laps.

    Johnson leaves Martinsville with a five-point lead over Hamlin.

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  • Larson fastest in final practice

    Larson fastest in final practice

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Kyle Larson topped the chart in final Sprint Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 19.707 and a speed of 96.707 mph. Tony Stewart was second in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with a time of 19.721 and a speed of 96.020 mph. Paul Menard was third in his No. 27 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 19.770 and a speed of 95.782 mph. Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 19.777 and a speed of 95.748 mph.

    Brad Keselowski was sixth in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford. Martin Truex Jr. was seventh in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. Joey Logano was eighth in his No. 22 Penske Ford. Jamie McMurray was ninth in his No. 1 CGR Chevrolet. Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-10 in his No. 4 SHR Chevrolet.

    Kurt Busch was 12th, Matt Kenseth was 15th, Denny Hamlin was 16th, Jimmie Johnson was 16th and Carl Edwards was the lowest Chase driver in 27th.

    Larson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 95.462 mph. Kyle Busch was second at an average speed of 95.356 mph.

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  • McMurray fastest in second practice

    McMurray fastest in second practice

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Jamie McMurray topped the chart in second Sprint Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 19.566 and a speed of 96.780 mph. Joey Logano was second in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 19.575 and a speed of 96.736 mph. David Ragan was third in his No. 23 BK Racing Toyota with a time of 19.588 and a speed of 96.671 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was fourth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 19.592 and a speed of 96.652 mph. AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top-five in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet with a time of 19.598 and a speed of 95.622 mph.

    Matt Kenseth was sixth in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Carl Edwards was seventh in his No. 19 JGR Toyota. Ryan Newman was eighth in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Tony Stewart was ninth in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-10 in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

    Denny Hamlin was 11th, Kurt Busch was 12th, Kevin Harvick was 13th and Kyle Busch was the lowest Chase driver in 16th.

    Truex posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 96.198 mph.

    Final Sprint Cup Series practice starts at noon.

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  • Hamlin says his teammates were smart to run in the back at Talladega

    Hamlin says his teammates were smart to run in the back at Talladega

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Denny Hamlin responded to those who took issue with his teammate running in the back at Talladega the week by saying he “thought it was smart.”

    Speaking to the media prior to the first practice session at Martinsville Speedway yesterday, the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was asked what he thought of his teammates running in the back of the field during last week’s Hellmann’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    “I thought it was smart,” Hamlin said. “From my standpoint I knew we had an uphill battle because we weren’t going to have any teammates all day, I knew that we weren’t going to have any teammates all day because we all knew what they were going to do before the race started. Just everyone else saw it when it actually happened. There’s no way, they would be the dumbest group in history if they had run in the middle of the pack and got wrecked at some point when they didn’t have to be. It’s about winning championships, it’s not about winning Talladega by any means.”

    Teammates Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth, who all entered Talladega well ahead of the danger of elimination, went the conservative route and ran at the tail end of the field the whole race to avoid getting collected in any major wrecks (The Big One) and advance on. Hamlin on the other hand, entering with a blown engine run at Charlotte and a mediocre run at Kansas, had to have a good run to advance into the Round of 8.

    The split strategy worked out for the best for the Huntersville, North Carolina based organization as all four drivers moved on into the Round of 8.

    Despite it working out and other drivers having done it to their advantage in the past, a number of fans took to Twitter and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio to express outrage, saying JGR “manipulated” the outcome of the race by not abiding by the 100 percent rule.

    Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice-president and chief racing development officer, said in his weekly appearance on “The Morning Drive” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that the strategy used by JGR didn’t violate the 100 percent rule.

    “I would say that they do not fall into that,” O’Donnell said. “The spirit of that (100 percent) rule is really to prevent somebody from intentionally allowing another teammate to do something that would not be really within the spirit of the rules of the race.

    “In this case, we look at the strategy decision that the team made, and they executed it. … In this case, that wouldn’t be something that we look at that violated that rule.”

    Hamlin also emphasized that the Gibbs organization had every right to do what they did by how they performed in the first two races in the Round of 12.

    “All those guys earned the right to do that by having a good first two races and I think next year with the races being switched around, you’ll see less of that because people won’t know where they stand,” he added. “I think it kind of fixes itself next year most likely, but there’s more chances of a big wreck there than any other race track so you have to play the odds there. There’s no way that those guys should have been up there helping me and then risk putting themselves in danger of making the Chase and instead of Gibbs having three cars in the Chase, they could have had two or maybe one if there had been helping me and we got in a wreck. Luckily it all worked out where we have all four and they played the strategy they had to play to get in and I did the strategy I had to do to get in. Nobody from any other team would have done anything different, that’s for sure and if they tell you different, that’s a lie.”

  • Truex Nabs the Pole at Martinsville

    Truex Nabs the Pole at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Martin Truex Jr. will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday afternoon after posting the fastest time in the final round of qualifying.

    The driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota scored the pole for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 after posting a time of 19.282 and a speed of 98.206 mph.

    “I’m feeling good, it’s definitely a good day,” Truex said on getting the pole. “It’s fun to be back at the race track with some positive things happening. First pole here at Martinsville so it feels good, it’s a cool accomplishment and this track is so difficult and so tough. The history here and it’s just a place that everybody wants to be good at. Really proud of my guys after the week we had last week. Obviously to come here, perform and get it done – I’m excited to see what we can do the rest of the weekend.”

    It’s his 12th pole in 402 career Sprint Cup Series starts, his fifth of the season and first in 22 starts at Martinsville Speedway.

    Joey Logano will start second in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford after posting a time of 19.290 and a speed of 98.165 mph. Jimmie Johnson will start third in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet after posting a time of 19.354 and a speed of 97.840 mph. AJ Allmendinger will start fourth in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 19.376 and a speed of 97.729 mph. Chase Elliott will round out the top-five in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet after posting a time of 19.382 and a speed of 97.699 mph.

    Tony Stewart will start sixth in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Carl Edwards will start seventh in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Denny Hamlin will start eighth in his No. 11 JGR Toyota. Kyle Busch will start ninth in his No. 18 JGR Toyota. Jeff Gordon will round out the top-10 in his No. 88 HMS Chevrolet.

    His 10th place qualifying effort snaps a 23-year streak with at least one pole in a season.

    Kyle Larson will start 11th and David Ragan will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

    Matt Kenseth will start 17th, Kevin Harvick will start 20th and Kurt Busch is the lowest starting Chase driver in 23rd.

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wheel-hopped going into turn 1, spun around and hit the wall with his left-rear corner. The damage prompted the team to roll out their backup car. As a result, he’ll start from the rear of the field on Sunday.

    “I had a lot of wheel-hop,” Stenhouse said on what happened. “It was definitely not ideal in qualifying, but you’re always pressing the issue to try to qualify better and trying to get everything out of the car that you can and it just started wheel-hopping. As a lot of us drivers know, once it starts wheel-hopping it’s hard to save. I down-shifted to try and keep it out of the wall as best I could, but we weren’t able to do that. We’ll get this Fastenal back-up out and get to work on it tonight and make sure that we have it ready to go for practice tomorrow.”

    With 40 cars entered, none were sent home.

    In total, 21 Chevrolet’s, 11 Ford’s and eight Toyota’s will comprise the 40-car field in Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500.

  • Logano on New Rule Limiting Number of Starts for Cup Drivers in XFINITY and Truck

    Logano on New Rule Limiting Number of Starts for Cup Drivers in XFINITY and Truck

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Joey Logano gave his take on the new rule limiting Cup participation in the lower tier national touring series in the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing while speaking to the media at Martinsville.

    During his media availability this morning prior to first Sprint Cup Series practice, the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford talked about NASCAR implementing a new policy starting in 2017 curtailing the number of starts a Cup driver can make in the XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series, and how it would affect his organization’s operations in the XFINITY Series.

    “It affects them a lot. It affects the sport a lot,” Logano said. “As a race car driver, I want to race all the time, so if I put my race car driver hat on I think, ‘Man, this kind of stinks,’ because I want to drive. But I think when you kind of take that hat off and look at it from more of a global view I understand it.”

    NASCAR instituted a new policy on Wednesday that starting in 2017, limits Sprint Cup Series drivers with five or more years of experience at the highest level to 10 races a season in the XFINITY Series and seven in the Camping World Truck Series. Those Cup drivers won’t be allowed to take part in the four XFINITY Dash 4 Cash races next season or in the last eight races of either the XFINITY or Truck Series.

    The rule doesn’t apply to drivers with less than five years experience in Cup, such as Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson, or drivers with five or more years experience in Cup who are declared to run for points in either the XFINITY Series or Truck Series, such as Elliott Sadler.

    While this has largely been positively received by fans, it’s been a mixed bag amongst drivers.

    “I get why we’re doing that. I think it’s important to have Cup racers out there because I think growing up as a young race car driver I learned that you only get better when you’re racing against people that are better than you, and I think this has the ability to give young drivers that and young crew chiefs coming up through the XFINITY Series,” he said giving one of the common arguments by proponents for allowing Cup drivers in XFINITY and Truck competition.

    “I think it gives them the ability to work with Cup drivers and things like that, so I think that’s good that they have that mix in there, but at the same time you also want to have the opportunity for young drivers to get into the seat and drive it at some point. I get that. If you look at it from the business end, it’s no secret that a lot of sponsors want to have the big-name drivers in there. They want to have Sprint Cup racers that can go out there and are proven winners, so that’s definitely gonna change the game quite a bit from the business side of our sport.”

  • Larson Fastest in First Practice at Martinsville

    Larson Fastest in First Practice at Martinsville

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Kyle Larson topped the chart in first Sprint Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 19.289 and a speed of 98.170 mph. Denny Hamlin was second in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 19.311 and a speed of 98.058 mph. Joey Logano was third in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 19.312 and a speed of 98.053 mph. Chase Elliott was fourth in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 19.321 and a speed of 98.007 mph. Danica Patrick rounded out the top-five in her No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with a time of 19.328 and a speed of 97.972 mph.

    Martin Truex Jr. was sixth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. Kyle Busch was seventh in his No. 18 JGR Toyota. AJ Allmendinger was eighth in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota. Jeff Gordon was ninth in his No. 88 HMS Chevrolet. Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-10 in his No. 48 HMS Chevrolet.

    Kurt Busch was 11th, Matt Kenseth was 15th, Carl Edwards was 18th and Kevin Harvick was the lowest Chase driver in 19th.

    Larson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 95.242 mph.

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  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Martinsville Speedway

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Martinsville Speedway

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the Camping World Truck Series head to Martinsville Speedway this weekend while the XFINITY Series is off. Please check below for the complete schedule of events.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, Oct. 28:

    On Track:
    11 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series First Practice – NBCSN/NBC Sports App
    12:30-1:25 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series First Practice – FS1
    2:30-3:50 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice – FS1
    4:40 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN/NBC Sports App

    Garage Cam: (Watch live)
    10:30 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series
    Noon: Camping World Truck Series

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    9:30 a.m.: Brian Scott
    9:45 a.m.: Joey Logano
    10 a.m.: William Byron, Matt Crafton and Timothy Peters
    10:15 a.m.: Jimmie Johnson
    1 p.m.: Denny Hamlin
    1:30 p.m.: Jeff Gordon
    6 p.m.: Post-Sprint Cup Series Qualifying (time approx.)

    Saturday, Oct. 29:

    On Track:
    9-9:55 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series Practice – CNBC
    10:15 a.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
    Noon-12:50 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN/NBC Sports App
    1:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Texas Roadhouse 200 presented by Alpha Energy Solutions (200 laps, 105.2 miles) – FS1

    Press Conference: (Watch live)
    2:30 p.m. approx: Post-Camping World Truck Series Race

    Sunday, Oct. 30:

    On Track:
    1 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Goody’s Fast Relief 500 (500 laps, 263 miles) – NBCSN/NBC Sports App

    Press Conference: (Watch live)
    5 p.m.: Post-Sprint Cup Series Race (time approx.)

     

     

    Find NBCSN in your area | Watch live online at NBCSports.com

     

    Complete NASCAR TV Schedule

     

  • Goody’s Fast Relief 500 Review: How It All Changes In An Instant

    Goody’s Fast Relief 500 Review: How It All Changes In An Instant

    When the green flag dropped at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, Kevin Harvick stole the lead from Kasey Kahne and looked to continue his domination. Harvick, who won the Camping World Truck Series race the day before, held the lead for 22 laps before Jeff Gordon passed him for the lead – much to the fans delight. From that point forward, it was a Hendrick battle between teammates Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Jr who ran in the Top-10 for most of the race. It looked as if Hendrick Motorsports would finally get the 200th win they have been searching for. But when at Martinsville, everything can change in an instant.

    Kahne’s Disappointing Season Continues

    Kahne’s weekend at Martinsville started on a positive note, with qualifying on the pole position in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500. When I asked him on Friday what he was looking to improve on for Martinsville, he said “Every time you go to Martinsville you try to improve on the last time you were here. We were pretty good here last year in both races. We didn’t have good finishes because we got caught in other people’s wrecks, but we actually had really fast cars”. This round of Martinsville wasn’t a factor of other driver’s wrecks, but engine issues.

    On Lap 231 Kahne came over the radio saying “We may be broke”, referring to the engine. When he left pit road smoke began to sputter from the back of the car. On Lap 234, he took his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet to the garage area and the No. 5 team began to work viciously to try and revive the engine. 84 laps after Kahne made the team aware of the engine issues, Kahne’s motor expired after attempting to return to the race.

    Although Kahne’s finish was yet again a difficult thing to digest, he tried to look on the upside after the race. “I mean, it is and it isn’t(an upsetting finish). I am upset that we haven’t run great this year, but we are great on Friday and Saturday. We were fast again today and we have the speed so when it’s our time we will be ready to take advantage of it.” This finish dropped Kahne four positions in Cup standings to 31st position. He is now hovering in the bottom of the Top-35 in owner’s point’s, in 32nd position. Kahne is hoping to change his 2012 statistics at a track where he has one win at and four top-10 finishes: Texas Motor Speedway.

    Kahne tried a new spotter for this race and will continue to have Shannon McGlamery spot for him at TMS on a two week basis. After Texas, he will decide if he would like to keep McGlamery as his spotter or allow his cousin Kole Kahne to remain his spotter. “I was a little unpleased after California. We are just looking at something for a couple of weeks. We are going to see after Texas. We are going to sit down and decide if that is the direction I want to go or if I feel comfortable with Kole doing it again or what”.

    Earnhardt Top Finishing Hendrick Car After Late Race Crash

    Dale Earnhardt Jr started the race in 14th position, at a track where he has yet to take home a grandfather clock at. By Lap 8, Earnhardt moved himself into the Top 10 and was eyeing the Top 5. He gained three positions to move to seventh position by Lap 50, giving Junior Nation something to be excited about. When at Martinsville, rubbing is racing, and Earnhardt couldn’t have gone through this race without being shoved around a little. On Lap 106 Aric Almirola was on Earnhard’ts inside attempting to pass him. His race car then became loose, shoving Earnhardt up the track. Earnhardt wasn’t too happy about this move and retaliated two laps later, getting the position back.

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]After flying through the field for the entire race, Dale Jr finally took the lead from his teammate Gordon on Lap 229 and stayed in the lead until caution was thrown two laps later. With 20 laps to go the Hendrick teammates of Gordon, Johnson, and Earnhardt were running 1-2-3 and it looked as if HMS would finally get that 200th win they have been searching for.

    On the last restart of the day it was Gordon and Johnson on the front with Earnhardt and Clint Bowyer following in the second row. In Turn 1 Bowyer threw his car below Gordon and Johnson and spun both himself and Johnson out, and removing Gordon from the lead. Earnhardt was untouched and was able to finish the race in third position behind race winner Ryan Newman and AJ Allmendinger. Earnhardt is now second in Cup standings, six points behind leader Greg Biffle.

    Newman Wins After Controversial Caution

    Ryan Newman, who has been running under the radar for quite some time, picked up his first win for 2012 at Martinsville on Sunday. Newman was able to get into the Top 5 after a caution was thrown with seven laps to go after David Reutiman stopped on track in Turn 1. Reutiman had a left front tire that was loose and was limping around the track for 3 laps in an attempt to maintain top 35 in owner points. The No. 10 car is normally driven by Danica Patrick and the team wanted Danica’s car to remain in the top 35 in owner point’s so Danica doesn’t have to qualify on time in the future.

    “Whether – no matter what happened, it’s not eh first time somebody stopped on ta straightaway with a few laps to go and forced us into a green-white-checkered restart at the end of the race. We’ll take what we can get. Like I said, we’re lost them that way hands down several times here and it’s nice to be able to win one”, Newman said when asked about Reutiman stopping on the track.

    Newman is eighth in points standings, gaining two positions with his win at Martinsville.