Tag: ISM Raceway

Toyota MENCS ISM Raceway Post-Race Recap

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)

ISM Raceway

Race 35 of 36 – 312 miles, 312 laps

November 11, 2018

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS

1st, KYLE BUSCH

2nd, Brad Keselowski*

3rd, Kyle Larson*

4th, Aric Almirola*

5th, Kevin Harvick*

13th, DENNY HAMLIN

14th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.

17th, ERIK JONES

31st, TANNER BERRYHILL

36th, DANIEL SUÁREZ

39th, TIMMY HILL

*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA DRIVER POINT STANDINGS**

2nd, KYLE BUSCH                         5000 points

3rd, MARTIN TRUEX JR               5000 points

11th, DENNY HAMLIN                2252 points

15th, ERIK JONES                         2207 points

20th, DANIEL SUÁREZ                   667 points

**unofficial point standings

·
Camry driver Kyle Busch won Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) Playoffs race at ISM Raceway in Phoenix and automatically advanced to the Champion 4
at Homestead-Miami Speedway next week.

·
The win was Busch’s 51st MENCS win of his career and first win at the one-mile Arizona since 2005.

·
Busch would led a race-high 117 (of 312) laps in the MENCS Playoffs cutoff race in Phoenix.

·
The win marked Busch’s eighth this season – matching career-high wins in a season the Toyota driver set in 2008.

·
The win also secured a Toyota NASCAR race weekend sweep at ISM Raceway with Brett Moffit winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on Friday and Christopher
Bell winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday.

·
It was the sixth Toyota NASCAR race weekend sweep in 2018.

·
Toyota MENCS Playoffs driver Martin Truex Jr. advanced to the Championship 4 for the second-consecutive season after finishing 14th on Sunday.

TOYOTA QUOTES

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 1st

How special was this win and did you think you had a car capable of winning today?

“It’s an awesome team and awesome group of guys. Can’t say enough about everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing. All the men and women there that work so hard to prepare such great race cars that I get to drive. M&M’s and Toyota – and it’s Veteran’s
Day. I want to say thank you to all the veterans out there for everything that you all have sacrificed for us and done for our freedom in this country. Cool to race on Veteran’s Day. This is a sport that everybody loves to come out and participate in and be
a part of whether it’s the military, whether it’s the fans that support the military – it’s awesome to have all that here in NASCAR.”

How much momentum does this give you for Homestead?

“I’d like to think it gives us a lot, but I don’t know – talk is cheap. We’ve got to be able to go out there and perform and just do what we need to do. Being able to do what we did here today was certainly beneficial. I didn’t think we
were the best car, but we survived and we did what we needed to do today. It’s just about getting to next week and once we were locked in, it was ‘all bets are off and it’s time to go.’ That’s what our partners like to see and like to hear out of us – Interstate
Batteries, NOS Energy Drink, Cessna, Stanley, Rheem, DVX Eyewear, Black Clover and of course Rowdy Nation – all the fans, we have some right down here in front of victory lane and some over there, they’re everywhere and I see yellow all over the place. It’s
awesome to celebrate like this and we were the first ones in the Richmond victory lane and we’re the first ones in the Phoenix victory lane and I called my shot a few months ago because they had the 48 on the map showing everyone where things are at and I
said, ‘That ain’t right, that’s going to be us.’ I’m glad I could be a man of my word.”

Can you talk about the move that you made on the earlier restart?

“I don’t remember that far back – I guess I went to the bottom, that’s where I went. The restarts here are just crazy, they’re hectic. You just try to go where they’re not and the opportunity presented itself there being able to go to the
low side in three and four. Picked off a few guys there and I think they got mixed up in some of the speedy-dry that was down there and with guys running on top of each other, it’s close door-to-door and it kind of messes you up in that regard as well too.
Just a great day for us though. I can’t say enough about this whole team and everyone on this M&M’s Toyota – they did an awesome job for me. Each and every weekend they do that for me and it’s awesome to be able to come out here and perform and put ourselves
in victory lane. To do that in front of these fans on the west coast, love being able to come out here to Phoenix and love being able to have an opportunity to win here. This is my second and it’s been a long time since the first one here so it’s nice to be
back in victory lane at Phoenix.”

What adjustments did you have to make to the race car today?

“We just kept tuning on it and just kept working on it. These guys, they never give up, they never quit on me and I never quit on them. We had to keep scrounging and figure out some other things that could help the grip in this race car.
It was loose, it was tight and it was all over the place today – it was a handful, that’s for sure. There at the end it was just fast enough to hold off that 2 (Brad Keselowski) car and he was charging fast.”

How much weight do you put in momentum and the battle coming up at Homestead?

“You just have to have things kind of fall into place and kind of go your way. Not everything has to, but just a little bit. We’ve had an awesome year and the way that we’ve been able to perform and how we’ve been able to do things in this
Playoff, it hasn’t quite been pretty all the time, but we did what we needed to do in key moments. Last week was a tough week for us, but we’ve got this week now and if momentum is anything, obviously we’re ready to go. We’ll rock and roll into Homestead
and it feels pretty good.”

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 13th

What happened between yourself and Kurt Busch?

“We had an opportunity there and I think the 20 (Erik Jones) got together there and going into the corner I got underneath and it looked like I got loose, I thought I got hit, but nobody was near me. I got loose and I chased it up the race
track and he (Kurt Busch) was right there. Then it looked like he hit the wall and I was up there and kind of pinched him and then hit the wall again. It was not going to be good. He kind of turned us then, but I can’t blame him, Kurt’s been fair to me in
so many years of racing. I’ve never had one incident with him, he’s been as fair to me as anyone out there and I hate it for him because trust me, I was rooting for him – all of today I was rooting for the 41 to be the guy that got in there. Ultimately we
have to go out there to try to race to win and we were battling hard off the corner. Just ran out of real estate for sure.”

Are you saying Kurt put you into the wall?

“Nothing was his fault. Maybe the very tailend of it while we crashed, but understandably he was probably frustrated. I can’t blame him for anything to be honest with you. He was on the outside there it looked like and literally right even
with me just enough and you could see my car bobbling and I got sideways there. I just chased it up the track and he was there and to me, it’s just a racing thing, obviously nothing intentional as a huge Kurt Busch fan.”

Were you aware that Chase Elliott was also taken out of contention in the accident?

“It’s the unfortunate part about it, you have these races that have been may lays for eight weeks at the end of them. Just unfortunate. We had a race-winning car, we passed the 18 (Kyle Busch) today. Just kind of the synopsis of our year
to be honest with you, we’ve run well and kind of got off a little bit there and we just try to battle back and we saw an opportunity right there to try to get the lead and it was a good opportunity, but obviously some beating and banging there racing for
the lead.”

Were you loose due to having older tires?

“Maybe a little bit with older tires, but I only had 18 laps on mine and they had just a little less or more laps actually on theirs. Obviously, I knew I had guys with fresh tires right behind me so I had to make hay while I could. Crappy
deal for all involved and the difference is that everyone is out there still racing for their own particular race and obviously that was the last person I wanted to get into.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR, No. 78 Bass Pro Shops / 5-hour ENERGY Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing

Finishing Position: 14th

How challenging was this race today?

“It was a tough one. We didn’t have the greatest car, but we battled hard and we had a little bit of good fortune. Made good calls, good strategy and good adjustments on the car. We got it to where it was pretty decent. The short runs just
really killed us today. It would take 40 or 50 laps for the car to come in and then a caution would come out. All in all, I’m just really proud of everybody, everybody back in Denver at the shop for continuing to bring good race cars and stay focused. We had
1300 names on the hood today from Auto Owner’s with people that go together to help raise money for our foundation. It’s Veteran’s Day and so many cool things today that were really special. We’re going to Miami. Just happy and thankful for our team and everybody
that supports this Toyota, TRD, Bass Pro Shops, 5-hour ENERGY and everybody that makes this possible. Cole (Pearn, crew chief) and all the guys, it’s an unbelievable group. One last hoorah next week and we’ll go give them all we’ve got.”

What does it mean to give Barney Visser and this team one more shot at a defending the championship next weekend?

“It gives me chills honestly. I’m really happy for him (Barney Visser, owner) and we had a good conversation this morning before the race. I told him that I’m glad he’s here and I’m glad he’s going to Homestead and he’s done so much for
all of us and so much for all of our careers – so many people in Denver that moved out there 12 years ago to come to work. It’s been an unbelievable place to work and he’s been a great boss, a great friend to all of us and we’re going to try to do all we can
to get him to go out on top.”

How do you feel heading into Homestead next weekend?

“Homestead is a tough track, it’s a long race and anything can happen. We saw last year that we were really good on short runs and the 18 (Kyle Busch) was good on long runs and at the end it came down to a short run and we were able to
hold him off. You have to have a little bit of luck on your side, you have to have a good race car and you have to have things play out the way you need them to suit your setup and suit what you’re doing. For us, we’ve got a lot of confidence and we really
don’t have a lot of pressure on us. We’re going to go down there and all you can do is give it your best. We haven’t been the fastest car this year by any means, but when we hit it right we can beat anybody. If we can go down there and hit it right, we’re
going to have some fun.”

November 11, 2018

Bell Wins at ISM Raceway, Xfinity Championship 4 Field Set

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

Pos	St	Car	Driver	Team	Make
1	38	20	Christopher Bell # (P)	GameStop Just Cause 4	Toyota
2	8	21	Daniel Hemric (P)	South Point Hotel & Casino	Chevrolet
3	10	2	Matt Tifft (P)	Go Green	Chevrolet
4	3	22	Austin Cindric # (P)	Discount Tire	Ford
5	5	18	Ryan Preece	Rheem/Smurfit Kappa	Toyota
6	14	9	Tyler Reddick # (P)	BurgerFi	Chevrolet
7	7	19	Brandon Jones	Toyota Service Centers/Mobil 1	Toyota
8	2	00	Cole Custer (P)	Haas Automation	Ford
9	1	42	John Hunter	Nemechek Fire Alarm Services Inc.	Chevrolet
10	11	23	Spencer Gallagher	ISM Connect	Chevrolet
11	6	1	Elliott Sadler (P)	Hunt Brothers Pizza	Chevrolet
12	12	16	Ryan Reed	Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes	Ford
13	15	11	Ryan Truex	LeafFilter Gutter Protection	Chevrolet
14	9	3	Shane Lee	CIPT/Race to Give	Chevrolet
15	23	4	Ross Chastain	Flex Seal	Chevrolet
16	13	5	Michael Annett	Pilot Flying J	Chevrolet
17	18	51	Jeremy Clements	RepairableVehicles.com	Chevrolet
18	39	60	Ty Majeski	Ford	Ford
19	16	39	Ryan Sieg	Lombard Brothers	Chevrolet
20	17	36	Alex Labbe #	Can-Am/Wholey/Cyclops Gear	Chevrolet
21	19	38	JJ Yeley	Iron Mountain Data Centers	Chevrolet
22	21	35	Joey Gase	Donate Life Arizona/Sparks	Chevrolet
23	28	01	BJ McLeod	Flex Glue	Chevrolet
24	4	7	Justin Allgaier (P)	BRANDT Professional Agriculture	Chevrolet
25	26	90	Donald Theetge	Mercedes-Benz St. Nicolas/Circuit Acura	Chevrolet
26	27	0	Garrett Smithley	Flex Tape	Chevrolet
27	24	52	David Starr	Whataburger	Chevrolet
28	32	76	Spencer Boyd #	Grunt Style	Chevrolet
29	29	15	Quin Houff	teamjdmotorsports.com	Chevrolet
30	34	55	Bayley Currey(i)	Rollin Smoke Barbeque/Touched by Pros	Toyota
31	31	13	Tyler Hill	OCR Gaz Bar	Dodge
32	36	74	Mike Harmon	Veterans 4 Child Rescue	Chevrolet
33	33	66	Akinori Ogata		Toyota
34	40	45	Josh Bilicki #	Prevagen	Toyota
35	20	8	Tommy Joe	Martins	Chevrolet
36	37	78	Vinnie Miller #	CorvetteParts.net/JW Transport LLC	Chevrolet
37	22	40	Chad Finchum #	Smithbilt Homes	Toyota
38	30	99	Stephen Leicht		Chevrolet
39	35	89	Morgan Shepherd	Visone RV	Chevrolet
40	25	93	Jeff Green	RSS Racing	Chevrolet

November 10, 2018

John Hunter Nemechek Earns First Career Pole in NASCAR Xfinity Series

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

Pos	Car	Driver	Team	Make
1	42	John Hunter	Nemechek Fire Alarm Services Inc.	Chevrolet
2	00	Cole Custer (P)	Haas Automation	Ford
3	22	Austin Cindric # (P)	Discount Tire	Ford
4	7	Justin Allgaier (P)	BRANDT Professional Agriculture	Chevrolet
5	18	Ryan Preece	Rheem/Smurfit Kappa	Toyota
6	1	Elliott Sadler (P)	Hunt Brothers Pizza	Chevrolet
7	19	Brandon Jones	Toyota Service Centers/Mobil 1	Toyota
8	21	Daniel Hemric (P)	South Point Hotel & Casino	Chevrolet
9	3	Shane Lee	CIPT/Race to Give	Chevrolet
10	2	Matt Tifft (P)	Go Green	Chevrolet
11	23	Spencer Gallagher	ISM Connect	Chevrolet
12	16	Ryan Reed	Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes	Ford
13	5	Michael Annett	Pilot Flying J	Chevrolet
14	9	Tyler Reddick # (P)	BurgerFi	Chevrolet
15	11	Ryan Truex	LeafFilter Gutter Protection	Chevrolet
16	39	Ryan Sieg	Lombard Brothers	Chevrolet
17	36	Alex Labbe #	Can-Am/Wholey/Cyclops Gear	Chevrolet
18	51	Jeremy Clements	RepairableVehicles.com	Chevrolet
19	38	JJ Yeley	Iron Mountain Data Centers	Chevrolet
20	8	Tommy Joe	Martins	Chevrolet
21	35	Joey Gase	Donate Life Arizona/Sparks	Chevrolet
22	40	Chad Finchum #	Smithbilt Homes	Toyota
23	4	Ross Chastain	Flex Seal	Chevrolet
24	52	David Starr	Whataburger	Chevrolet
25	93	Jeff Green	RSS Racing	Chevrolet
26	90	Donald Theetge	MercedesBenzStNicolas/CircuitAcura	FALSE
27	0	Garrett Smithley	Flex Tape	Chevrolet
28	01	BJ McLeod	Flex Glue	Chevrolet
29	15	Quin Houff	teamjdmotorsports.com	Chevrolet
30	99	Stephen Leicht		Chevrolet
31	13	Tyler Hill	OCR Gaz Bar	Toyota
32	76	Spencer Boyd #	Grunt Style	Chevrolet
33	66	Akinori Ogata		Toyota
34	55	Bayley Currey(i)	RollinSmokeBBQ/TouchedbyPros	Toyota
35	89	Morgan Shepherd	Visone RV	Chevrolet
36	74	Mike Harmon	Veterans 4 Child Rescue	Chevrolet
37	78	Vinnie Miller #	CorvetteParts.net/JWTransport	FALSE
38	20	Christopher Bell # (P)	GameStop Just Cause 4	Toyota
39	60	Ty Majeski	Ford	Ford
40	45	Josh Bilicki #	Prevagen	Toyota

November 10, 2018

Brett Moffitt Wins the Lucas Oil 150 at ISM Raceway

In a wild set of final restarts, Brett Moffitt sneaks around Noah Gragson and Harrison Burton to grab the win at ISM Raceway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Lucas Oil 150.

On the final restart, Noah Gragson chose the outside, but collisions with Enfinger prevented him from getting a strong exit as Moffitt squeezed by to lead the final laps and secure the victory.

“We just had a badass Toyota Tundra,” said Moffitt. “We were focused (on Homestead) already and knew we just had to have a smooth night (tonight) but when the No. 98 (Enfinger) got up there we started worrying and knew we had to win.

“I can’t say enough about this group and all of our partners and HRE team.”

Gragson had to settle for second but dodged a bullet as the right driver won the race to allow him to secure the final Playoff spot for Homestead.

“Down there on that restart I spun the tires just a little bit in the restart zone and then in one and two I just got run up the race track,” said Gragson. “I guess I was top of three wide. We were beating and banging. I don’t know, that’s what you’ve got to do. I dish it, so I sure as hell have got to take it.

“I respect the 98 for what he did. He’s going for the win, I’m going for the win, but most importantly we’re going to be racing for a championship next weekend at Homestead.”

Harrison Burton, who won Stage 2 earlier in the night, finished third to match his best finish of the season. Grant Enfinger was in a must-win situation, but despite his valiant effort finished fourth. Stewart Friesen completed the top-five.

The other Playoff drivers were scattered across the field. Johnny Sauter finished seventh but had already secured a spot in the Championship 4 with his win at Martinsville. Matt Crafton finished 11th, but fell short on points and will not advance. Justin Haley had engine troubles late in the race and retired from the event. He finished 28th but with his win last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway will also participate for the 2018 Championship at Homestead.

Stage 1 Battles Between Gragson and Moffitt

Todd Gilliland visits pit road to get full service, including four tires and fuel, from his pit crew. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.

As the green flag flew, Gragson wasted no time securing the lead and took off, gaining an extra few seconds on second place. Slightly past halfway through the first stage, yellow came out when Todd Gilliland was hit by Tyler Ankrum, who misjudged his middle line as the two were passing the lapped truck of Jason White. The two went spinning and made slight contact with the outside wall, but both trucks were able to continue in the race.

On the restart, Brett Moffitt was able to get around Gragson on the outside and lead the final laps of the stage. Gragson stayed within a few tenths of Moffitt all of these laps but wasn’t able to get a pass on Moffitt as he took the Stage 1 win.

However, pit stops would get the best of the front two. Gragson slid into his pit box and actually clipped the inside pit wall. The team would have to push the truck back to get started on the right side, and then have to move the truck again to get to the left side for a full-service pit stop. Moffitt was caught speeding, so both ended up toward the back of the field. While they had a somewhat comfortable gap with points, this put them at risk of losing the points they would gain if they couldn’t get into the top-10 for those stage points.

Penalties & Mistakes Shake Up Front for Stage 2

At the restart, many drivers got much more comfortable with the layout, giving them the confidence to run more aggressively. The middle of the pack went 3 and 4-wide with some trucks using the apron of the new Turns 1 and 2. However, most of the laps after were uneventful until the end, as the No. 13 Tenda Ford driven by Myatt Snider started to stall. As the stage ended with Harrison Burton winning over a hard-charging Matt Crafton, some gambling happened with pit road.

John Hunter Nemechek decided to take two tires on the stage ending pit stop. Matt Crafton lost about six positions on pit road. And the Playoff picture continued to shuffle as Gragson and Moffitt both cracked into the top-10 in the final laps of the second stage.

Final Stage Desperation Among Playoff Contenders

Most of the final stage was a strong battle between John Hunter Nemechek and Grant Enfinger. Nemechek was fighting hard to prove his two-tire stop would pay off, and Grant Enfinger, over 20 points below the cutoff line for the Playoffs, was in a must-win position. As both drivers were starting to feel the pressure, Nemechek’s tires eventually gave way with about 20 laps to go in the race. He spun coming out of Turn 4, right in front of Nemechek and Gragson, who had inched his way up into the third position.

During the yellow flag, Justin Haley suddenly started to drop fluid around the track. His lucky win last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway after Todd Gilliland ran out of fuel on the last lap already secures his position at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the championship race. His truck came down pit road, and as crew members surrounded the truck, many gave the nods that appeared to be terminal.

Riley Herbst spins and crashes to bring out the final caution of the Lucas Oil 150. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.

The red flag came out while the ISM Raceway safety crew cleaned up fluid from Haley’s truck all around the raceway. The red flag was out for just over 10 minutes.

On the restart, it was a tricky decision for Enfinger. The inside line was shorter, especially with the dogleg right after the start-finish line, but it was now filled with speedy dry from the red flag incident, so he would run the risk of low grip going into the first turn. If he chose the outside, he would be clear of the speedy dry but would run the risk of Gragson slipping in the speedy dry and hitting him. The final verdict was choosing the bottom lane, forcing Gragson to restart on the outside. However, it was no contest on the restart. Gragson got a strong start and was able to clear Enfinger going into Turn 1, who was battling three-wide with trucks from the second row.

Gragson pulled out to a good lead and was on cruise control for the win, as the battle for second also calmed down. However, with a few laps to go, Riley Herbst lost control of his truck and spun to bring out the final yellow, setting up for one last restart. Gragson chose the outside once again, but as he and Enfinger were battling for the lead, Moffitt was able to make a three-wide move to get around both drivers and claim the top spot. He would hold onto that lead and take the win over Gragson.

The Camping World Trucks hold their championship race at Homestead Miami Speedway next Friday on November 16, as Johnny Sauter, Justin Haley, Brett Moffitt and Noah Gragson will battle in the Ford EcoBoost 200 to see who will claim the 2018 Championship.

November 9, 2018
Ford Performance NASCAR: Harvick Captures Phoenix Cup Pole

Ford Notes and Quotes

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)

Can-Am 500 Qualifying (ISM Raceway,
Avondale, AZ.)

Friday, November 9, 2018

Ford Qualifying Results:

1st
– Kevin Harvick

3rd
– Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

4th
– Ryan Blaney

9th
– Joey Logano

11th
– Paul Menard

12th
– Brad Keselowski

14th
– Kurt Busch

16th
– Clint Bowyer

17th
– Matt Kenseth

18th
– Aric Almirola

23rd
– Michael McDowell

27th
– Matt DiBenedetto

31st
– David Ragan

39th
– Cody Ware

POLE-WINNING PRESS CONFERENCE

KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Busch Light Ford Fusion –

“It’s been a good day for us. All we concentrated on was qualifying and obviously, we had some good adjustments to the car right there at the end and I was actually able to drive the car without screwing it up. It was definitely a good lap for us and came at a good time.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT WHAT ADJUSTMENTS YOU MADE?

“No.”

HOW DIFFERENT WAS IT WORKING WITH TONY GIBSON TODAY?

“Everything went smooth. I think as you guys are quickly figuring out it’s more about people than it is about cars, so we’ve got a lot of good people and obviously a lot of experience with Tony and those guys did a great job filling the roles. You can’t drive a slow car fast and you can’t beat good people.”

DO YOU TAKE SOLACE KNOWING YOU’RE AT ISM THIS WEEKEND WHERE YOU’VE HAD SO MUCH SUCCESS?
“No, I just deal with the facts. I know where we are. I know what our plan is and we don’t look
back.”

WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN YOU FOUND OUT ABOUT THE PENALTY THIS WEEK? “I just drive. That’s my job.”

DO YOU PERFORM BETTER WHEN YOUR BACK IS AGAINST THE WALL? DO YOU RISE TO THE OCCASION?

“I try to, but it’s been good for us to have challenges, so it’s fun.”

DO YOU REALLY MEAN IT’S FUN? WHAT MAKES YOU STEP UP IN TIMES LIKE THIS?

“Fast cars and good people.”

RODNEY STATED THE ISSUE AND FELT IT WAS AN INSIGNIFICANT TYPE OF ADVANTAGE. PEOPLE STILL SUGGEST THAT WAS A GREAT THING THAT HELPED YOU. IS IT FRUSTRATING OR BOTHERSOME THAT IF IT’S SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BE INSIGNIFICANT OR A MINOR THING THAT PEOPLE ARE NOT GIVING YOU GUYS AS MUCH CREDIT OR PEOPLE ARE LOOKING DOWN UPON YOU GUYS?

“Look I don’t need credit. I don’t care about credit. I don’t care what people think. I don’t build the cars. I couldn’t tell you what’s on the car. What’s good. What’s bad. That’s their job and I drive it. I show up and do the best that I can and obviously you’ve seen the statements and the things from Stewart-Haas Racing and the best thing that shows up are results on the race track. I drive and try to do the best that I can and we go from there.”

ONE OTHER THING IS JOEY LOGANO SAID HE’S THE FAVORITE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP. WHAT’S YOUR FEELING ON THAT?

“I’m just worried about Phoenix.”

ARIC ALMIROLA, No. 10 Smithfield Ford Fusion –

DESCRIBE YOUR LAP ON THE TRACK.

“We were just off. The car had speed in practice, but the balance was just not quite right. I was definitely looking for a little more and then right there we were just still off in the balance. The times are so close and so tight that you’ve got to be so precise and my car just struggling to get the grip I need out of it to go make lap time there, so we’ll get ready for tomorrow. This is an interesting race. A lot can happen and we can still win coming from 18th.”

DID YOU GET INTO THE WALL ON YOUR LAP?

“I took a little bit of the decal off, that’s all.”

RACE TRIM TOMORROW WILL SET THE STAGE FOR SUNDAY, SO WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE REST OF THE WEEKEND?

“Today is important. You want to qualify up front and give yourself a good pit selection and good opportunity to control the race and start up front and do all the things you need to do to get track position and all those things, but we missed it. We just weren’t as good as we needed to be there, so we’ll have to drive from 18th and try and pass a lot of cars.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 PPG Ford Fusion –

“That’s not bad. We got better each round, which is good, so that was nice, but we just didn’t quite have the speed and obviously not pole speed, but it was good. We got faster each round and played around with a lot of stuff, so hopefully our car is better in race trim tomorrow. We’ll see.”

PAUL MENARD, No. 21 Menards/Cardell Ford Fusion –

“We just have been struggling on entry. It seems like as the grip comes up and you try to charge the corner a little bit harder I just got looser in, so the last round wasn’t our friend. I’m proud of our guys though. We have a decent starting spot and good pit selection and we’ll make a day out of it.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion –

“It was OK. I think we were like 15th in practice and we qualified ninth, so we got our car a little bit better. I was pretty good down in the one and two area, but in three and four I think I lost it all down there. This hasn’t been our strongest track the last couple of years, so I guess that’s a little progress. We’ll see how it is tomorrow in race trim.”

November 9, 2018
Toyota MENCS ISM Raceway Post-Qualifying Recap

Toyota Racing Post-Qualifying Quotes

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS)

ISM Raceway – November 9, 2018

TOYOTA STARTING POSITIONS

1st, Kevin Harvick*

2nd, Chase Elliott*

3rd, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.*

4th, Ryan Blaney*

5th, Alex Bowman*

6th, KYLE BUSCH

7th, ERIK JONES

10th, DENNY HAMLIN

13th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.

26th, DANIEL SUÁREZ

35th, JJ YELEY

36th, TANNER BERRYHILL

37th, TIMMY HILL

*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

MARTIN TRUEX JR, No. 78 Auto Owner’s Insurance Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing

Qualifying Position: 13th

After the issues in practice and inspection today, how do you feel about your starting position?

“This seems to be kind of par for the course for us lately. I’d say 13th is a pretty good starting spot for the day we’ve had. We really didn’t get a crack at anything in practice and we didn’t have much time to get ready for
qualifying and we were pretty far off. Made some good gains for sure. I wish we could have ran again. I definitely feel like I could pick up some more, we were pretty tight. We’ll start 13th and get to work tomorrow.”

November 9, 2018
Kevin Harvick on Pole for Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway

Kevin Harvick sneaks past Chase Elliott to take the pole in the penultimate race of the 2018 NASCAR Monster Energy Series season at ISM Raceway for the Can-Am 500 with a time of 25.836 seconds at 139.340 mph.

With the penalties from last weekend’s encumbered win at Texas Motor Speedway, Harvick’s usual crew chief, Rodney Childers, is serving a two-race suspension. Interim crew chief Tony Gibson is calling the shots for the No. 4 Stewart Haas Racing team. That didn’t faze Harvick one bit.

“It’s pretty awesome to see a group of people come together — old man Tony Gibson and Nick (DeFazio, interim car chief) — coming out to fill the gaps for the suspensions,” Harvick told NBCSN. “Like I told the radio a second ago, everybody on our Busch Light Ford has been there before and we know what we need to do. This is a great race track for us. I really wasn’t expecting that. Our cars are usually a lot better in race trim than in qualifying trim, and just got fortunate to hit a good lap right there and it came at a good time.”

Throughout the three stages, Harvick wasn’t always up toward the front. In fact, all eight of the Playoff drivers were spread out across the top 21 positions, but still advancing to the second round of qualifying. Matt Kenseth quietly ran fastest and was the only driver in the 138 mph speed bracket. Austin Dillon was second fastest, with Harvick as the first Playoff contender in third.

In Round 2, half of the Playoff drivers were eliminated, including the other three Stewart Haas drivers: Kurt Busch (14th), Clint Bowyer (16th) and Aric Almirola (18th). Martin Truex Jr. missed the final round of qualifying by only three-thousandths of a second. To put it in even further perspective, positions eight through sixteen were only separated by one-tenth of a second, as the fight for the final transfer spots were a tight battle as Elliott ran fastest in the second round.

“It was a battle,” said Truex, who was 20th-fastest in Friday’s practice. “Kind of par for the course for us here lately, so I say 13th is a pretty good starting spot for the day we’ve had. I really didn’t get a good crack at anything in practice and we didn’t end up having much time and we were pretty far off. Made some good gains for sure. I wish we could’ve ran again. I definitely feel like I could pick up some more. Car was just pretty tight, so we’ll start 13th and get to work tomorrow.”

In the final round, Harvick claimed his 25th career pole by holding off Elliott, who will be clawing for every point possible in Sunday’s race and try to steal a spot in the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five.

“That’s not bad,” Blaney said with a shrug as he glanced at the speed charts. “We got better each round, which is good, so that was nice, but we just didn’t quite have the speed and obviously not pole speed, but it was good.”

Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Paul Menard and Brad Keselowski completed the top 12 in the final round of qualifying.

Cody Ware, who crashed during Friday’s lone practice for the series, did not make a qualifying attempt in the Rick Ware Racing No. 51 Ford.

November 9, 2018
Gragson Starting Out Front in Lucas Oil 150

Noah Gragson claimed his sixth pole of 2018 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and will start in front for tonight’s Lucas Oil 150 at ISM Raceway.

Being only 18 points above the cutoff line for the final round of the 2018 Playoffs, Gragson was determined to take the best step forward, setting a pace of 26.456 seconds at 136.075 mph.

“I’m going full offense mode,” Gragson said earlier today before qualifying. “I’m going to Phoenix to win the race. We ran really good there last year with Marcus Richmond and the team at Kyle Busch Motorsports. Myself and Christopher Bell, two teammates, we led I think all but 10 laps of that race, so I feel really confident in the way that I’ll be able to work with my Toyota Tundra out in Phoenix. It’s going to be a really good race track for my team and I feel really comfortable about it.”

Gragson beat Justin Haley, Harrison Burton, Stewart Friesen and Brett Moffitt, rounding out the top five.

While Gragson has started strong and raced well at Phoenix, he hasn’t finished better than 15th. Last year, a late-race crash with Justin Haley prevented him from getting a potential victory in the series. He has one DNF at the raceway, and during the 2018 Playoffs has only finished a best of seventh.

When asked about the new layout, Gragson gave his thoughts on moving the start-finish line.

“I guess it is kind of the same track with a different configuration — with the start-finish line. I don’t know if you’re going to be able to change your lap time — in theory, you shouldn’t. Coming off the corner you might be able to change it up a little in the old turn one –new turns three and four. It’ll be a little bit different — that’s for sure. Restarts are going to be sketchy — that’s for sure, but I feel like if we can stay up front in my Safelite AutoGlass Tundra it’ll be no problem. Just feel really confident going into this weekend and hopefully, we can pick up that win and move on to Homestead. Then it’s all hammer down from there.”

The rest of the Playoff contenders will start in the top 15 positions: Matt Crafton (ninth), Grant Enfinger (12th) and Johnny Sauter (14th). The green flag will wave at 8:40 ET later this evening.

November 9, 2018
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Preview-ISM Raceway

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads west to the desert this weekend in Phoenix Arizona to ISM Raceway, formally known as Phoenix International Raceway. Two drivers are locked into the Playoffs, while four drivers are fighting for two spots.

Brett Moffitt and Noah Gragson sit comfortably in right now, but two drivers sit below the cut line, Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton, and are more than likely in a must-win situation. Anything can happen, but Enfinger and Crafton will need a lot of help from the other two if they both want to make it in. Something catastrophic will have to happen to Gragson and Moffitt in order to make it in. Moving the start-finish line to the backstretch will make it a little more interesting as well. That could see one driver make a desperation move.

Currently, there are 32 trucks on the preliminary entry list. Here’s a look at who might wind up in victory lane at ISM Raceway. Some drivers will be back in their seats, while others will be making a debut.

John Hunter Nemechek is back in the No. 8 Stefan, Parsons returns to the No. 15 and Tyler Akrum will be in the No. 17. Derek Kraus will be making his debut in the No. 19 Bill Macanally entry, Jason White in the No. 33, Landon Huffman in the No. 38, D.J. Kennington in the No. 49, Riley Herbst in the No. 54, Jesse Iwuji in the No. 63, and Chase Purdy in the No. 99.

1. Johnny Sauter – It’s no surprise that the 2016 champion makes the top of the list once again. It’s hard to beat a man who is on a tear this year with six wins. There are tons of young drivers this weekend, but experience beats inexperience and his stats show that. He has nine starts and is the defending winner at this track. Sauter does have one DNF that occurred in 2015, along with five top fives and seven top 10 finishes with 16 laps led. He has an average start of 9.0 and an average finish of 9.1. Sauter sat on the pole in his first at track start in 2009.

2. John Hunter Nemechek – Nemechek is back piloting the No. 8 truck. He has five starts with a best finish of second, twice in 2015 and 2017. Nemechek also has two top fives and four top 10 finishes. He has an average start of 10.0 and an average finish of 7.6. During the 2017 race, Nemechek finished fifth and seventh in both stages.

3. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland will be looking for redemption this weekend after his truck fell short of winning. This week could be the week where he might just get it done. Gilliland only has one start in 2017, where he started fifth and finished seventh. The No. 4 truck previously driven by Christopher Bell won both stages last year. Gilliland won the 2015 K&N Pro Series West race. The Kyle Busch Motorsports team is using a chassis that finished 10th at Dover, crashed at Iowa (29th), and Las Vegas in September (27th). He’ll be a man on a mission this weekend at Phoenix.

4. Matt Crafton – Crafton is still searching for a victory this season and is in a must-win situation. He could just do it on Friday night and lock himself into the Championship 4 at Homestead. In 17 starts, he has zero wins, but 15 laps led, six top fives and 11 top 10 finishes. Crafton has an average start of 8.0 and an average finish of 9.9. He has a best finish of second in 2014. In 2017, Crafton finished third in both stages.

5. Justin Haley – Haley is coming off a win last weekend at Texas and he could just do it again this weekend. In two starts in 2015 and 2017, his best finish was seventh in 2015 and he finished 14th in last year’s race due to a crash. Haley has an average start of 9.5 and an average finish of 10.5.

Playoff drivers –

Brett Moffitt – Making track debut
Noah Gragson – Two starts (16th and 15th), did not finish last year after starting second and led 55 laps.
Grant Enfinger – One start (2017), finished 24th due to a crash.

There have been 27 races since 1995 with a list of who’s who for winners –

Jack Sprague won three in a row from 1996-1997. Kevin Harvick won four times (2002, 2003, 2008, 2009).
Mike Skinner, Joe Ruttman, Ron Hornaday, Kyle Busch and Erik Jones have all won twice.

The lowest a race winner has ever come from to win was 16th, set by Skinner in 1995. The race winner has come from the pole six times. The track went to fall races only since 2012. There have been four different winners in the past five races.

The on-track action starts with the first practice at 10:30 a.m. ET on FOX Sports 2. Final practice takes place at 12:05 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2. Qualifying will begin at 5:35 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

Race coverage begins at 8:30 p.m. ET with the approximate green flag at 8:40 p.m. ET live on FOX Sports 1 and MRN Radio.

November 8, 2018
Weekend schedule for Phoenix

Staff Report | NASCAR.com

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series will be in action at ISM Raceway in Phoenix. All three series enter their final elimination races that will set up the Championship 4. Check out the full schedule below, which is subject to change.

Note: All times are ET

Friday, November 9
10:30-11:20 a.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series first practice, FS2 (Results)
12:05-12:55 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice, FS2 (Results)
1:35-2:25 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series first practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Results)
2:35-3:25 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Results)
4:35-5:25 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Results)
5:35 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying, FS1 (Results)
7 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Follow live)
8:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Lucas Oil 150 (150 laps, 150 miles), FS1 (Follow live)

PRESS PASS (Watch live)
12:15 p.m.: Chip Ganassi Racing
12:45 p.m.: Kurt Busch
1 p.m.: Justin Allgaier, Christopher Bell and Matt Tifft
3 p.m.: Chase Elliott
3:15 p.m.: Martin Truex Jr.
3:30 p.m.: Kyle Busch
4 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson and Fernando Alonso (via Skype)
4:30 p.m.: USAA Hats Off to Heroes Program
7:45 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying
10:15 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race

SATURDAY, November 10
11:30-12:20 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series second practice, CNBC/NBC Sports App (Follow live)
12:35 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Follow live)
2-2:50 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Follow live)
3:30 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Whelen Trusted To Perform 200 (200 laps, 200 miles), NBC/NBC Sports App (Follow live)

PRESS PASS (Watch live)
5:30 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Xfinity Series race

SUNDAY, November 11
2:30 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Can-Am 500 (312 laps, 312 miles), NBC/NBC Sports App (Follow live)

PRESS PASS (Watch live)
5:30 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race

November 8, 2018