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2020 Cup Playoff outlook after Kentucky

With nine races remaining until the 2020 NASCAR Cup Playoffs commences, a new name has been added to the postseason field.

After his thrilling, four-wide pass for the win on Sunday in the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, rookie Cole Custer has gone from being an Xfinity Series title contender to a Cup Series rookie and now, a Cup Series winner in a span of nine months. Of all the records he accomplished with his victory at Kentucky, the biggest one of all is guaranteeing himself and his No. 41 Haas Automation/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team a spot in the postseason with an opportunity to contend for a Cup Series championship. In addition, he is set to become the 37th competitor to make the Cup Series Playoffs since its inception in 2004 and the first rookie contender to make the Playoffs since Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher qualified in 2016.

Custer’s win at the Bluegrass State also stirred a major shakeup to the Playoff field with the Californian leaping from 25th to a spot within the top-16 postseason field. Through the first 17 Cup races of the 2020 season, nine competitors, including Custer, are guaranteed spots in the Playoffs by virtue of a win. That leaves seven spots vacant and many big names on the bubble or looking on the outside of the cutline with the postseason more than a month away from starting.

The first competitor on the bubble is Aric Almirola, Custer’s teammate. Almirola and his No. 10 Smithfield/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team had a race-winning setup at Kentucky after leading a race-high 128 laps and winning the first stage. An eighth-place result was a result that was not in mind for the Floridian, who has not won a Cup race since Talladega Superspeedway in October 2018. The good news for Almirola is he holds a 133-point cushion above the top-16 cutline and he recorded five consecutive top-five results prior to Kentucky, which indicates that his No. 10 team is hitting their strides late into the regular season while preparing for a title run.

Like Almirola, Kurt Busch had a strong run at Kentucky. Starting seventh, Busch was shuffled out of the top 10 at the start of the race, but he was able to work his way back towards the front as the run progressed. Restarting fifth with two laps remaining, the 2004 Cup champion also had an opportunity to repeat his magic from last year’s Kentucky race, where he won in a thrilling two-lap shootout against his brother, Kyle. This year, however, Busch could only work his way as high as fifth when the checkered flag flew. While he did not earn his first win of the 2020 season, he and his No. 1 Monster Energy/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team are 104 points above the cutline.

Unlike Kurt, Kyle Busch had a disappointing run at Kentucky. A two-time Cup winner at the Bluegrass State, he started on pole by virtue of a random draw. After leading the first nine laps, things fell apart for Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota team, where they struggled in keeping pace with the leaders as the driver also fought grip issues. With less than 100 laps remaining, Busch nearly wrecked in Turn 4, but he was able to straighten his car and continue at the expense of losing multiple spots on the track. A 21st-place result left the reigning two-time Cup Series champion winless for another week into the 2020 season, but he remains 89 points above the cutline.

If there was someone who had a great run at Kentucky on Sunday, it was Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang team. Starting 10th, DiBenedetto ran within the top five and top 10 throughout the race. On the final restart, he was able to charge his way from eighth to third when the checkered flag flew. DiBenedetto’s third-place result was his best since finishing in the runner-up spot at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in February. The podium spot was enough for DiBenedetto to stabilize himself above the cutline by 85 points.

For Clint Bowyer, the Kentucky race was a day where late restarts hindered Bowyer’s run for a top-10 result. Starting 15th, Bowyer was able to work his way up to ninth when the first stage concluded. He was also in position for a top-10 result in the second stage, but a caution during a round of pit stops under green cost Bowyer spots as he could work his way back as high as 13th. In the final laps, Bowyer was in position to notch a top-10 result, but he was shuffled back to 14th when he crossed the finish line under the checkered flag. Bowyer’s eighth top-15 result of the season kept him 64 points above the cutline.

For William Byron, it was a salvageable day for the Charlotte native and the No. 24 AXALTA/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team. Starting 21st, Byron made his way within the top 10 in the opening laps, but struggled on the bottom lane the ensuing restart. He worked his way up to 15th when the first stage concluded. The second stage was where Byron struggled the most with loose conditions as he settled outside the top 20 when the stage concluded. Making his way up towards the top 15 in the final stage, an opportunity presented itself for Byron during a cycle of pit stops under green and he was leading with 38 laps remaining. The caution allowed Byron to pit for four fresh tires and line up in sixth for the following restart. The bottom lane, however, hindered Byron’s progress to move towards the front. Despite starting seventh with two laps remaining, he was shuffled back to 11th when the checkered flag flew. With his 11th top-15 result of his junior season in the Cup level, he is 47 points above the cutline.

A week after COVID-19 symptoms prevented him from racing for the first time since his debut in the Cup Series, Jimmie Johnson came roaring into Kentucky with vengeance and with a grand opportunity to leap himself into the Playoffs in his swan song season in the series. For much of the race, it appeared that Johnson and his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team were growing closer and closer towards the front, working their way from starting 20th and running within the top 10. In the closing laps, Johnson was able to muscle his way into the top five and was lined up in third on a restart with 19 laps remaining with an opportunity to snatch the lead and his first win in over two years. Then, it came to a crushing blow when contact from Brad Keselowski sent Johnson sideways and out of contention. While Johnson was able to continue, the damage was done as he could only work his way back as high as 21st when the checkered flag flew. Even after missing last weekend’s race at Indianapolis followed by his result outside the top 20 at Kentucky, Johnson holds sole possession of the 16th and final spot to the Playoffs by 24 points as he is, already, setting his sights towards the upcoming regular-season races.

With a 13th-place result, Austin Dillon finds himself outside the top-16 cutline by 24 points. The same goes for his Richard Childress Racing teammate and rookie Tyler Reddick, who trails by 41 points and continues to pursue his first Cup career win. Erik Jones, who struggled all race long at Kentucky with handling issues, finished 22nd as he and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry team trail by 42 points. Like Jones, Bubba Wallace struggled with keeping up to pace with the leaders, and his 27th-place result, two laps behind, marked his seventh result outside the top 20. Wallace and the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team, however, remain in pursuit of the top-16 cutline by 84 points.

Other notables that trail the top-16 cutline include Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Christopher Bell, Michael McDowell, rookie John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Newman, Ty Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece and Daniel Suarez.

Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on July 15, which starts with the All-Star Open at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 before the All-Star Race commences at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1. The next Cup points race is scheduled at Texas Motor Speedway on July 19, which will air at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

July 13, 2020
Kurt Busch, Blaney post strong results at Kentucky

While rookie Cole Custer emerged on top in a four-wide sprint for the win in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, Kurt Busch and Ryan Blaney concluded their strong performances throughout the race with finishes inside the top 10 as Busch took fifth while Blaney ended up sixth after contending for the victory in two laps.

For Busch, who started seventh based on a random draw, the race at Kentucky provided the former Cup champion an opportunity for him and his No. 1 Monster Energy/Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team to snap a 36-race winless drought that spans back to July 2019 at, ironically, Kentucky. Through the first 25 laps, at the time the competition caution flew, Busch had fallen back to 11th while reporting loose conditions to his car. Following his first pit stop of the race, he restarted 12th and was able to work his way back into the top 10, running eighth on Lap 45. When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Busch would retain eighth place on track.

Throughout the second stage, Busch raced just outside the top 10 and concluded the stage in 12th while his teammate Matt Kenseth, who had cut a tire and spun in the closing laps of the stage, was mired back in 26th, one lap behind the leaders. Throughout the final stage, Busch worked his way back into the top 10 and was lined up in fourth with 30 laps remaining. Through a series of late cautions and restarts, one of which involving teammate Kenseth spinning a second time, Busch was lined up in fifth with two laps remaining and was in contention of making a late charge and repeating his magic at Kentucky from last season. When the checkered flag waved, Busch crossed the line in fifth and fell four spots short of claiming his first Cup win of the season. Nonetheless, the fifth-place result marked Busch’s fourth top-five finish of the 2020 campaign and the result kept him in 10th in the regular-season standings, 104 points above the top-16 cutline to the Playoffs.

“It was a good battle,” Busch said on PRN Radio. “I thought we were better on the long run. All those restarts, at the end, made it tough, but all in all, we battled really well with our Monster Energy Chevy. Just ended up fifth. Just didn’t rekindle that magic that we had last year on a Saturday night, but we’ll take it.”

Unlike Busch, Blaney’s race was eventful. Starting 11th based on a random draw, Blaney worked his way from a slow start on the inside lane to 10th when the competition caution flew on Lap 25. When the race resumed under green, Blaney was able to muscle his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts/Team Penske Ford Mustang up to fourth. Then, an early scare occurred for Blaney when his car popped out of gear, which cost him two spots back to sixth. Despite the issue, Blaney was able to navigate the remainder of the first stage with one hand on the steering wheel with the other holding the gear as high as possible to keep the car running, ultimately finishing fifth.

Throughout the second stage, Blaney remained in contention for the lead and on Lap 138, he was able to lead for the first time after passing Aric Almirola. Following a caution that occurred when most of the leaders, including Blaney, completed pit stops under green, he restarted alongside teammate Brad Keselowski in a one-lap shootout for the second stage win. Though Blaney gained a run on the final corner, he was edged by his teammate for the stage win.

Restarting second for the final stage, Blaney kept his No. 12 Ford in contention for the win while battling Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson. Following another round of pit stops under green, late restarts and cautions, Blaney was able to squeak ahead of Truex with 19 laps remaining to reassume the lead. On the ensuing restart, Kevin Harvick joined the battle and a late three-wide battle dropped Blaney back to third. Following another late caution that set up a two-lap dash to the finish, Blaney received a final opportunity to take back the lead on the final lap, but he, along with Harvick and Truex, would be overtaken by rookie Cole Custer, for the lead on the final lap. Through the frontstretch, Blaney bounced off a small bump below the apron, which nearly turned Blaney sideways as he made contact with Harvick. Though Blaney was able to straighten his car and continue, his opportunity for the win disappeared as he, ultimately, crossed the line in sixth. The result marked Blaney’s eighth top-10 result of the season as he is third in the regular-season standings, trailing Harvick by 95 points. He is guaranteed a spot in this year’s Playoffs by virtue of his win at Talladega Superspeedway in June.

“We had a really fast car,” Blaney said on PRN Radio. “We were racing [Truex]. We lost the lead there just by sheer caution luck or unlucky with us at the end of that second stage. Then, we lost control of the race after that. I had to restart on the bottom, couldn’t really get back to the lead. You just let [Truex] get away. Finally, a quick caution came out, we were a nose ahead of [Truex]. I was like, ‘Alright, this is what we got to do.’ Restarting on the top and I felt pretty good about it, and he got put three wide. It put me a top of three and just, lost the lead, went to third. Then, we were a bottom of four for the lead there and I didn’t realize there was a jump. You’d think they repaved this place, it wouldn’t be like that. But, I’ve never really run down there. There was a massive jump and I can’t believe that me and [Harvick] didn’t wreck. I didn’t expect that, but overall, not a bad day for our Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang. We had winning speed, just couldn’t the breaks we need. The car was driving pretty good one handed.”

Busch and Blaney will return for the upcoming NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on July 15, which will air at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

July 12, 2020
Johnson returns to racing, finishes 18th at Kentucky

A week after COVID-19 symptoms kept him from competing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, his first absence from racing in the NASCAR Cup Series since November 2001, Jimmie Johnson came into Kentucky Speedway pursuing vengeance and momentum for the remainder of his final full-time season in the sport. In the late stages of Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at the Bluegrass State, it appeared that Johnson was en route to a strong finish or a potential win in over 100 races and at one of few race tracks the seven-time champion had yet to check off his bucket list. It all, however, came to a crushing end with less than 20 laps remaining after contact from former Cup champion Brad Keselowski sent Johnson sideways and out of contention.

Starting 20th based on a random draw, Johnson was able to gain four spots prior to the competition caution on Lap 25. Throughout the remainder of the first stage, which went green, Johnson and his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was able to work his way into the top 15 and was scored in 11th when the stage concluded.

In the second stage, Johnson restarted within the top 15 and was able to carve his way into the top 10 for the first time. Running as high as seventh and following a round of green flag pit stops, a late caution and a one-lap shootout to the stage’s conclusion, Johnson settled in eighth.

The final stage was where Johnson flexed his muscles as he moved into the top five, running as high as third before he settled in fourth. He made a pit stop under green with less than 60 laps remaining. Not long after, the field would pit under green, but the caution returned due to debris reported on the track. Once the field cycled through, Johnson, who had made another pit stop after making slight contact with the wall prior to the caution, was scored in ninth. On the ensuing restart with 30 laps remaining, he made a bold three-wide move in Turn 1 to move up to sixth. He would work his way up to third when the caution returned following a single-car wreck entering Turn 2.

Then, on the following restart with 19 laps remaining, Johnson was prepared to establish a late challenge for the lead when he and Keselowski made contact on the frontstretch that sent Johnson’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet spinning in the infield grass. He was, however, able to straighten his car without sustaining any further damage, but the damage was done as Johnson’s shot for a win evaporated. For the remaining laps, Johnson, who restarted towards the tail end of the lead lap, could work his way back to 18th, one spot ahead of teammate Alex Bowman, when the race concluded. Teammate William Byron finished 11th while Chase Elliott, who started the race strong, was shuffled all the way back to 23rd.

With his 18th-place result, Johnson holds sole possession of the 16th and final transfer spot to the 2020 Cup Playoffs by 24 points over Austin Dillon with nine races remaining until the Playoff field is determined.

Catch Johnson in the upcoming NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, an event won by Johnson a record-leading four times, but his first time racing the special annual event at Bristol, Tennessee. The race will air on July 15 at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

July 12, 2020
Custer storms to first Cup career win at Kentucky

In a two-lap sprint to the finish that produced an epic four-car battle for the win, rookie Cole Custer overtook Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney on the final lap to score his first NASCAR Cup Series career win in the 10th annual running of the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.

The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Kyle Busch drew the pole position and started on the front row alongside Joey Logano. Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr. started at the rear of the field after their respective cars failed pre-race inspection twice.

When the green flag waved and the 17th race of the 2020 Cup season started, Kyle Busch and Logano battled dead even through Turn 1 before Busch received a push from Aric Almirola in Turn 2 to retain the lead and lead the first lap. The following lap, Almirola and Keselowski each gained a spot while Logano fell back to fourth ahead of Alex Bowman. Behind, Kevin Harvick, who started third, had dropped to seventh.

After spending the previous three laps trying to pass Kyle Busch for the lead, Almirola passed Busch on the inside lane in Turn 3 to assume command on the 10th lap. Five laps later, Almirola was leading by above half a second over Kyle Busch. Behind, Logano was in third approximately a second followed by Bowman, Keselowski, Matt DiBenedetto and Chase Elliott. Harvick was in eighth followed by Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

When the field reached the competition caution on Lap 25, Almirola had maintained his advantage by more than a second over Kyle Busch and more than two seconds over Logano. Harvick was in eighth while Austin Dillon, who started 19th, was in 13th ahead of William Byron. Jimmie Johnson was in 16th after starting 20th, rookie Tyler Reddick was in 18th ahead of Cole Custer, Denny Hamlin was in 21st after starting 12th and Bubba Wallace was in 26th ahead of rookie Christopher Bell. Martin Truex Jr. and Matt Kenseth, both of whom started at the rear of the field, were in 20th and 28th.

Under the competition caution, the entire field pitted and Almirola retained the lead followed by Logano, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Bowman and Harvick. Following the pit stops, Ty Dillon was assessed a commitment line violation and was sent to the rear of the field for the restart.

The green-flag racing resumed on Lap 30, and Logano, who received a push from Kyle Busch on the inside lane, challenged Almirola for the lead through the Turn 2 backstretch before Almirola cleared the field to retain the lead. Behind, Elliott moved into second and Harvick moved into fourth while Blaney and DiBenedetto battled for fifth. Kyle Busch had fallen back to 10th, Keselowski was back to 12th ahead of Truex and Johnson, and Hamlin drifted back to 24th ahead of Wallace.

By Lap 35, the majority of the field towards the front settled into racing in a single file line with Almirola still ahead by nearly a second over Elliott. Behind the leader Almirola, Blaney challenged and made a pass for fourth over Harvick while Truex made his first appearance in the top 10 after passing teammate Kyle Busch. Far behind the leaders, Hamlin continued to drop towards the rear of the field as he was scored in 26th after being overtaken by Wallace, Ty Dillon, Bell and Michael McDowell. His teammate, Erik Jones, was in 19th after running in the top 10 early in the race.

Through the first 50 laps, Almirola stabilized his lead by more than seconds over Elliott and nearly four seconds over Logano. DiBenedetto moved up to fourth ahead of Harvick while Blaney fell back to sixth ahead of Bowman after his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts/Team Penske Ford Mustang popped out of gear. Truex was in 10th ahead of teammate Kyle Busch, Johnson and Austin Dillon while Keselowski was in 14th ahead of Byron. Custer was the highest-running rookie in 16th while Reddick and Bell were in 19th and 23rd. Kenseth and Ryan Newman were in 21st and 24th, Wallace was in 26th and Hamlin was in 28th.

Nearly ten laps later, Almirola caught a bevy of competitors trying to remain ahead of Almirola and on the lead lap, starting with rookie John Hunter Nemechek. A handful of laps later, Almirola lapped Nemechek, Corey LaJoie and Wallace with McDowell, Newman and Hamlin ahead of him. Despite encountering the lapped traffic, Almirola maintained a steady lead over Elliott while DiBenedetto moved into third over Logano and Blaney, who continued to battle with shifter issues to his car.

For the final laps, Almirola was able to cruise to the first stage win for his second stage victory of the season on Lap 80. By then, he lapped 25th-place Newman, but was unable to lap 24th-place Hamlin, who remained on the lead lap. In addition, Stenhouse sustained a flat tire as the stage concluded and he lost a lap in the process. Elliott was in second, four seconds behind, followed by Logano, DiBenedetto and Blaney while Harvick, Bowman, Kurt Busch, Bowyer and Truex were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Almirola exited first followed by Logano, DiBenedetto, Elliott and Blaney. Following the pit stops, Ty Dillon was penalized again, this time for speeding on pit road. In addition, Keselowski made another pit stop to have his lug nuts tightened.

The second stage commenced on Lap 87, and both Almirola and Logano, again, battled dead even for the lead through Turns 1 and 2 before Almirola benefitted on the outside lane in Turn 3 to retain the lead. Logano settled in second, but was being pursued by DiBenedetto while teammates Elliott and Bowman were settled in the top five. Blaney was in sixth ahead of Truex and Bowyer. On Lap 92, Blaney moved into the top five after passing Bowman. Behind, Johnson moved into the top 10 in ninth after passing Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch. Harvick had fallen back in 14th behind teammate Custer while Hamlin was able to work his way up to 15th ahead of Reddick.

When the raced reached its 100-lap mark, Almirola was still ahead by over a second over teammate Logano and two seconds over DiBenedetto. Blaney was in fourth ahead of Bowman while Truex overtook Elliott for sixth. Johnson was in ninth behind Bowyer, Kyle Busch was in 13th behind Reddick and teammate Hamlin was in 15th. Meanwhile, Harvick continued to lose positions as he was back in 19th ahead of Keselowski. Soon after, Harvick dropped out of the top 20, just behind Byron and Kenseth.

Twenty laps later, Almirola and his No. 10 Smithfield Vote for Bacon/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang stabilized a lead of more than two seconds over Logano and nearly four seconds over Blaney, who had overtaken DiBenedetto for position. Truex was in sixth in between Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates Bowman and Elliott while Johnson was in 10th behind Bowyer and Austin Dillon. Joe Gibbs Racing’s teammates Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Jones were in 13th, 15th and 17th, rookies Reddick and Custer were in 12th and 14th, and Byron and Harvick were back in 19th and 22nd. By then, 25 of the 38-car field were on the lead lap.

With the race reaching its halfway mark of the 267-lap feature, Blaney, who had overtaken teammate Logano for the runner-up spot earlier and had trimmed a chunk of Almirola’s lead, caught and challenged Almirola for the lead. On Lap 138, Blaney, who encountered shifter issues early in the race, benefited from the lapped car of Nemechek to overtake Almirola for the lead in Turn 3. A lap later, Blaney extended his lead to above a second over Almirola. Another five laps later, Logano moved into the runner-up spot while teammate Blaney was ahead by more than three seconds. At the same time, green-flag pit stops started to occur as Reddick pitted.

With most of the leaders pitting under green, a handful of cars were on track led by Keselowski in the closing laps of the second stage. Just after Keselowski was making his green-flag stop, the caution flew on Lap 154 when Kenseth blew a left-rear tire and spun below the apron and back across the middle of Turns 3 and 4. Under caution, Kenseth pitted along with Harvick, Elliott and Byron. When the field cycled through, Keselowski emerged with the lead after beating Blaney to the start/finish line at the moment of caution from Kenseth’s spin.

In a one-lap shootout to the conclusion of the second stage, Keselowski was able to edge teammate Blaney by 0.058 seconds to win the second stage and secure his fourth stage victory of the 2020 season. Custer settled in third followed by Logano and Truex while Bowman, Austin Dillon, Johnson, DiBenedetto and Jones settled in the top 10. During this time, Preece took his No. 37 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the garage due to a transmission issue.

Under the stage break, the majority of the leaders remained on track while some like Custer, Austin Dillon, Jones, Reddick, Harvick and Byron pitted. Also pitting was Kyle Busch, who was reporting shock issues to his No. 18 M&M’s Fudge Brownie/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry.

The final stage started with 100 laps remaining, and teammates Keselowski and Blaney battled against one another through Turn 1 before Keselowski cleared the field through the Turn 2 backstretch and retain the lead the following lap. Behind, Truex moved into second followed by Johnson as Blaney fell back to fourth. Meanwhile, Logano had fallen back to ninth. Three laps later, Kyle Busch, who was running in sixth, got super loose entering Turn 4, but was able to straighten his car and prevent it from spinning, though he fell back to 15th.

Eight laps later, Truex started challenging Keselowski for the lead, trailing by approximately a tenth of a second, while Blaney overtook Johnson and moved back into fourth. With 86 laps remaining, Truex was able to overtake Keselowski for the lead. By then, his teammate, Kyle Busch, was in 24th, the last car on the lead lap while dealing with shock issues to his car. In addition, Almirola, who dominated throughout the race, was stuck in 10th.

With 70 laps remaining, Truex was ahead by half a second over Keselowski while Blaney, who was still racing with one hand on the steering wheel while the other was holding the broken shifter, was behind by above a second. Johnson trailed by nearly three seconds while Kurt Busch was in fifth, trailing by more than four seconds. DiBenedetto, Elliott, Logano, Bowyer and Almirola were in the top 10. Ten laps later, Truex extended his advantage by more than two seconds over Keselowski followed by Blaney, Johnson and Kurt Busch.

A lap later, the race’s second round of green-flag pit stops commenced as Johnson pitted. With 44 laps remaining, while most of the leaders have pitted, Keselowski returned to the lead along with a handful of cars. Behind the leaders, rookie Brennan Poole’s was smoking due to a left-rear tire hub, a lot through the turns, but he continued under green. A lap later, Keselowski pitted while Custer inherited the lead, but was among eight competitors who had yet to pit.

Then, with 38 laps remaining and just as Byron moved into the lead when Custer made his green-flag pit stop, the caution returned due to debris. At the same time, Austin Dillon, who was also about to pit but opted to remain on track under caution, spun and made minimal contact with the Turn 4 outside wall while returning to the track. Under caution, some drivers like Byron, Harvick, McDowell, Bell, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon pitted. Johnson also pitted after making slight contact with the wall. When the field cycled through, Truex was back in the lead followed by Blaney, Kurt Busch, Keselowski and Byron. Harvick, McDowell, Bell, Austin Dillon and Johnson were in the top 10 with 23 cars on the lead lap.

With the clouds hovering above the track and covering the bright sun, the race restarted with 30 laps remaining as Truex and Blaney battled against one another through Turns 1 and 2. In Turn 3, Truex cleared Blaney to retain the lead. Behind, Johnson, who made a three-wide move on the restart, was up to sixth as he would also return into the top five. At the front, Truex was ahead by two-tenths of a second over Blaney while Johnson was trailing by above a second. Behind, Harvick and Keselowski battled for fourth.

While Blaney continued to pressure Truex for the lead, the caution returned with 24 laps remaining when Nemechek made contact with the outside wall entering Turn 2. Under caution, the majority of the leaders remained on track while some like Kyle Busch, Jones, Bowman, Almirola and Nemechek pitted. Nemechek would, ultimately, retire following his late incident.

On the ensuing restart with 19 laps remaining, Johnson was pushing Blaney on the inside lane and attempted to move in front of Keselowski, who was peaking to Johnson’s left-hand quarter panel, when the two made contact on the frontstretch and Johnson spun his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE below the infield grass, where he was able to straighten his car despite losing all of his track positions. At the time of caution, Blaney emerged with the lead ahead of Truex.

When the race restarted with 13 laps remaining, Harvick made his move on the inside lane in Turn 1 and went three wide with Truex and Blaney to emerge with the lead. Behind, Keselowski went three wide with Truex and Blaney before Truex moved into the runner-up spot. With the field behind scrambling for positions, Harvick was ahead by less than four-tenths of a second over Truex with Blaney in third, Keselowski in fourth and Austin Dillon in fifth. With 10 laps remaining, Harvick was ahead by around two-tenths of a second over Truex, who continued to pressure Harvick for the lead. Two laps later, the caution returned when Kenseth spun in Turn 4.

The race restarted with two laps remaining as Harvick and Truex battled against one another through Turns 1 and 2. Behind, Blaney settled in third while Custer, racing on the outside lane, received a push from DiBenedetto to move into fourth ahead of Keselowski and Kurt Busch. In Turn 2, Truex got Harvick loose and nearly turned on the straightaway as they swapped lanes entering Turn 3. Truex gained a big run on the outside lane to squeak ahead, but Harvick stalled Truex towards his quarter panel as Blaney went three wide for the lead. On the fronstretch, Custer made it a four-wide battle on the outside lane before he came out on top in Turn 1 at the start of the final lap. Past the start/finish line, Blaney ran over a bump on the apron and came back into the side of Harvick, who bumped Truex as Harvick developed a massive left-rear tire rub to his No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang. At the front, Custer was able to hold off Truex for one final lap and cross the finish line above two-tenths of a second to claim his first Cup triumph in his 20th series start.

With his thrilling victory, Custer became the 194th driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, the 33rd competitor to win across NASCAR’s three major national division series, the seventh alumnus from the NASCAR Next initiative to win a Cup race, the sixth Cup competitor to win at Kentucky and the first full-time Cup rookie to win a race since Chris Buescher won a rain-shortened race at Pocono in August 2016. In addition to becoming the seventh driver to win a Cup race for Stewart-Haas Racing, he recorded the 60th Cup victory for SHR and the first series win for veteran crew chief Mike Shiplett.

With the victory, Custer, who came into Kentucky in 25th place in the regular-season standings and trailing the top-16 cutline by 87 points, became the ninth different competitor to be guaranteed a spot in this year’s Cup Playoffs. As another bonus, the Californian became the 16th competitor to secure a spot for this year’s All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on July 15.

“Man, we were so good all day,” Custer said on FS1. “Our car was so good. Obviously, it wasn’t the easiest track to pass on. That was the best car I’ve ever driven in my life. Everybody at SHR brought an unbelievable car. [Team owner] Gene [Haas], I can’t stress enough how thankful I am of him taking a shot at me. It, definitely, was not the start of the year that we wanted. We were way off at some places, but this was, by far, an unbelievable car. We put it all together and I can’t thank everybody enough.”

In the first 15 Cup races of his rookie season, Custer’s best finish was a ninth-place result at Phoenix in March and his average result was 21.7 with two DNFs. Last weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he recorded his first top-five result in the Cup level, which hinted a sign of improvement for Custer, Shiplett and the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang team in adapting towards NASCAR’s weekly approach of experiencing the driving and handling conditions of a track on race day without practicing nor qualifying.

“It’s not easy,” Custer added. “You got to adapt as much as you can and I think we’ve gotten better and better at that. It’s just unbelievable. I didn’t think that we were, coming here, coming to win. Now, we’re gonna be in the All-Star Race. I don’t have to run the Open. Hopefully, I can make it to Bristol.”

Truex emerged as the highest-running Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota competitor in the runner-up spot followed by DiBenedetto, who claimed his second top-five result of the season. Harvick, who rallied from his early share of struggles and was in position to claim his first Kentucky triumph, ended his race in fourth and Kurt Busch, last year’s Kentucky winner, finished fifth.

“It was fun,” Truex said on FS1. “[I] Can’t say enough about the guys on the Auto-Owners Camry, everybody back at [Joe Gibbs Racing] went to work this week and tried to get back to what we used to do here. Just hats off to the guys, [crew chief] James [Small], everybody that made this unbelievable racecar. At the end there, we were a bit unlucky, losing the lead to Blaney on that first restart by a couple thousandths and then, again to [Harvick] when the caution came out. We were side by side. That’s, kind of, the way these things go, sometimes. Really proud of the effort, super fast racecar and [I] feel like we’re back in the game now.”

“Our Ford Mustang was not very good today, but we got a good break with the caution [with 38 laps remaining],” Harvick said on PRN Radio. “[I] Had a couple of good restarts there and got the car better. Still just not where we needed to be, but the restarts worked out in our favor. We were able to get the lead and Martin just misjudged there on the backstretch and got me sideways. I got out of the gas and that just brought everybody into the picture. Then, we were four wide on the front straightaway and [Blaney] hit the drain and came up and hit the side of the car. Then, I couldn’t see. Yeah, it got wild, but hey, that’s what you’re supposed to do. Just really happy for Cole Custer and everybody on the Haas Automation Ford Mustang. That’s pretty cool to get your first win. As much as I would’ve loved to win, I’m glad that we kept it in the company.”

“It was crazy,” DiBenedetto said on PRN Radio. “We had a really good car. We could’ve contended for the win. It was really fast. But, yeah, [I] lost track position when things shuffled around. We had to do the wave around and me and my spotter, I got to give him a lot of credit, Doug Campbell. I told him, ‘I think we should win some sort of restart award.’ We were 18th because the track position had cycled out with seven [laps] to go or whatever. [I] Had two monstrous restarts and then pushed Cole there to the win, which, kind of, felt cool, but good for him. Congrats, but this was a big race for us having the Menards, Quaker State Ford Mustang in the Quaker State 400. So, I wished we could’ve won it, but circumstances didn’t work out. We’ll take the strong finish and a really fast car.”

Blaney, Bell, Almirola, Keselowski and Reddick rounded out the top 10 while Johnson finished 18th in his 10th and final start at Kentucky.

There were 13 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 42 laps.

With his top-five result, Harvick continues to lead the Cup Series regular-season standings by 88 points over Keselowski, 95 over Blaney and 100 over Elliott.

Results.

1. Cole Custer, five laps led

2. Martin Truex Jr., 57 laps led

3. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap led

4. Kevin Harvick, 11 laps led

5. Kurt Busch

6. Ryan Blaney, 18 laps led

7. Christopher Bell

8. Aric Almirola, 128 laps led, Stage 1 winner

9. Brad Keselowski, 34 laps led, Stage 2 winner

10. Tyler Reddick

11. William Byron, four laps led

12. Denny Hamlin

13. Austin Dillon

14. Clint Bowyer

15. Joey Logano

16. Ty Dillon

17. Ryan Newman

18. Jimmie Johnson

19. Alex Bowman

20. Chris Buescher

21. Kyle Busch, nine laps led

22. Erik Jones

23. Chase Elliott

24. Michael McDowell

25. Matt Kenseth

26. Daniel Suarez

27. Bubba Wallace, two laps down

28. Corey LaJoie, three laps down

29. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., three laps down

30. J.J. Yeley, seven laps down

31. Brennan Poole, eight laps down

32. Josh Bilicki, 10 laps down

33. Garrett Smithley, 10 laps down

34. Joey Gase, 10 laps down

35. Quin Houff, 12 laps down

36. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

37. Timmy Hill – OUT, Electrical

38. Ryan Preece – OUT, Transmission

Next on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the 36th annual running of the All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The NASCAR All-Star Open will occur first at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 followed by the All-Star Race at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, both on July 15.

July 12, 2020
Ty Gibbs earns Kentucky ARCA win
The ARCA Menards Series returned to Kentucky Speedway Saturday afternoon for the first time in over three years as Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs grabbed the General Tire 150 checkered flag after a fierce battle with Michael Self and Bret Holmes. Gibbs picked up his second ARCA Menards Series victory of the season.

Last week’s winner Chandler Smith did not compete as he was focused on the Truck Series, which left the field wide open. Three segments broke up the 150-mile race. The segment breaks were at Lap 30, Lap 60 and Lap 100.

As the green flag flew, Self was able to lead Lap 1. A short green flag run was seen until Lap 17 when the first caution came out when Scott Melton in the No. 69 hit the wall to bring out the yellow.

After the restart on Lap 22, Gibbs took the lead from Self and led until the first segment break on Lap 30. Bret Holmes, Self, Hailie Deegan, Ryan Repko, Sam Mayer, Drew Dollar, Thad Moffitt, Tanner Gray, and Derek Griffith were the top 10 at the time of the break.

From Laps 35-60, the General Tire 150 was mainly caution-free. Self fell back on the initial restart for the second segment, but found his rhythm and continued to make a charge toward Ty Gibbs before the segment ended. However, Gibbs was able to fend off Self when the second break pursued.

Things started to look a little hairy for Gibbs and his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team. As the restart flew, he and Michael Self got together and almost saw their day go up in smoke in Turn 4. A few moments later, Gibbs retaliated with payback to Self, causing Self to go up the track. With the contact, Gibbs fell back to seventh and allowed Mayer to take the lead. However, Mayer’s lead was short-lived, as Holmes wrestled the lead away on Lap 68.

Two cautions flew before the checkered flag. Thad Moffitt wound up hitting the wall hard in Turn 2 after getting loose. Moments later after a restart with 24 to go, Moffitt’s teammate Hailie Deegan, wrecked off the front nose of Dollar’s car on the backstretch causing the final caution of the event. Before the incident, Mayer was penalized for jumping the restart and had to serve a pass through penalty and start at the tail end of the field on the next restart with 18 to go.

On the final restart, Gibbs restarted in the second position and grabbed the lead aggressively from Holmes. After taking the lead, Gibbs checked out and took home the checkered flag by 1.247 seconds.

There were five cautions for 22 laps and four leaders among four different lead changes.

Official Results
1. Ty Gibbs, led 59 laps
2. Bret Holmes, led 17 laps
3. Michael Self, led 23 laps
4. Sam Mayer, led 1 lap
5. Drew Dollar
6. Ryan Repko
7. Derek Griffith
8. Ryan Huff
9. Tanner Gray
10. Jason Kitzmiller
11. Willie Mullins, 2 laps down
12. Brad Smith, 9 laps down
13. Dick Doheny, 19 laps down
14. Hailie Deegan, OUT, Accident
15. Thad Moffitt, OUT, Accident
16. Don Thompson, OUT
17. Scott Melton, OUT, Crash
Up Next: The ARCA Menards Series heads to Iowa Speedway on Saturday, July 18 live on MAVTV.
July 11, 2020
Cindric sweeps at Kentucky Speedway

The Xfinity Series held their second race of Kentucky Speedway’s doubleheader tonight for the Alsco 300 and Austin Cindric swept the races. Last night saw him win his first-ever race on at an oval track and tonight he won the second in his No. 22 Penske Racing Ford. It was also the first time he led so many laps in a race.

“I hope I laid enough rubber down to make up for Watkins Glen last year, that was pathetic.” Cindric said, “I’m just so excited this is a credit to my team. What we did tonight was really impressive because we ran one setup last night and won the race.” He added, “We came with another setup for tonight and won the race again.” He explained, “ I trust my man, it’s difficult but he made the right call and that’s why he is on the pit box and I’m in the car.”

The runner-up spot went to Chase Briscoe in his No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. Following Briscoe in third spot was Justin Haley in his No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevy.

Stage 1 started with Myatt Snider on the pole position. There were only two cautions in this stage, one for Ryan Sieg who went around and tapped the wall and the other was a scheduled competition caution. Harrison Burton and Noah Gragson were the front runners in the stage with Gragson taking the stage win.

Stage 2 started with Gragson and Harrison Burton battling for the top spot. Around Lap 63 Cindric took over the lead and didn’t look back. There weren’t any cautions in this stage and Cindric took the easy stage win.

The final stage had Cindric still at the front while Riley Herbst and Gragson tried to catch him. Fan-favorite Justin Allgaier who lost a lap early in the race due to a tire going down finally got his lap back. The epic save of the night went to Jesse Little whose car was sideways but he managed somehow not to spin. With laps winding down Brandon Jones hit the wall hard setting up for a short shootout. Cindric won the race easily, but the fireworks happened while he was celebrating. Burton and Gragson had made slight contact towards the end of the race and were having a discussion about it and then fists started flying between the two until they could be separated.

Ross Chastain and Allgaier would round out the top five finishers. Anthony Alfredo, Gragson, Michael Annett, Daniel Hemric and Riley Herbst finished sixth through 10, respectively.

Briscoe leads the Xfinity Series Standings with 643 points, Gragson is second with 624 points, Cindric is in third with 610 points, Chastain is in fourth with 583 points, and Haley rounds out the top five with 521 points.

The Xfinity Series will head next to Texas Motor Speedway on July 18.

Complete Results:

1. Austin Cindric
  2. Chase Briscoe
  3. Justin Haley
  4. Ross Chastain
  5. Justin Allgaier
  6. Anthony Alfredo
  7. Noah Gragson
  8. Michael Annett
9. Daniel Hemric
10. Riley Herbst
11. Jeremy Clements
12. Harrison Burton
13. Brandon Brown
14. Jesse Little
15. Josh Williams
16. Garrett Smithley
17. Brett Moffitt
18. Jeffrey Earnhardt
19. Matt Mills
20. BJ McLeod
21. Colby Howard
22. Joe Graf Jr
23. Mason Massey
24. Alex Labbe
25. Bayley Currey
26. Timmy Hill
27. Tommy Joe Martins
28. Vinnie Miller
29. Kody Vanderwal
30. Brandon Jones
31. Myatt Snider
32. Ronnie Bassett Jr
33. Chad Finchum
34. Stephen Leicht
35. Ryan Sieg
36. Kyle Weatherman

July 10, 2020
Hamlin to reach 700 starts across NASCAR’s major series at Kentucky

When the green flag waves on Sunday, July 12, for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway, Denny Hamlin will reach a significant milestone of his racing career. By starting this Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at the Bluegrass State, Hamlin will reach 700 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series.

A native of Chesterfield, Virginia, who started his career by racing go-karts and Late Model Stock Cars, Hamlin made his first NASCAR division series start at the Indianapolis Raceway Park in August 2004. Racing as a development driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, Hamlin drove the No. 03 Decoma/Gibbs Performance Chevrolet for EJP Racing to a 10th-place result in his NASCAR Truck Series debut. He competed in four more Truck races with the team and made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Darlington Raceway in November 2004, where he drove JGR’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Performance Racing Oil Chevrolet to a 33rd-place result.

The following season, Hamlin graduated to a full-time driving role in the No. 20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series. Through the 35-race schedule, Hamlin went winless, but he recorded 11 top-10 results, a best finish of third at New Hampshire International Speedway in July and finished fifth in the final standings. In October, he made his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Kansas Speedway in JGR’s No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet, replacing Jason Leffler. He finished 32nd in his Cup debut, but he competed in the final six Cup races of the season. In those six races, he recorded three top-10 results and notched his first career pole at Phoenix International Raceway in November. His strong performances late in the season were enough for him to earn a full-time ride for the 2006 Cup Series season and in the No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet as one of three Cup competitors representing team owner Joe Gibbs.

Based on his pole at Phoenix, Hamlin made his first start of the 2006 season in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway in February. In his first superspeedway race in the Cup level, Hamlin won the 70-lap feature race and became the first rookie candidate to win the annual exhibition event at Daytona after beating icons like teammate Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson in a two-lap shootout. At Pocono Raceway in June, Hamlin started on pole and rallied from a spin due to a cut left-rear tire around the one-quarter mark of the race to claim his first Cup win in his 21st start. When the series returned at Pocono in July, Hamlin notched his second Cup career win as he swept both Pocono races and became the first rookie competitor to sweep two wins at the same track since Johnson made the last accomplishment at Dover in 2002.

Hamlin’s two wins along with earning 13 top-10 results throughout the 26 regular-season races were enough for him to qualify for the Chase, thus becoming the first Cup rookie candidate to make the premier series’ postseason battle for the title. He achieved six more top-10 results in the final 10 races before settling in third in the final standings, 68 points shy of the title. When the season concluded, Hamlin was named the 2006 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year recipient as he became the highest-finishing rookie candidate in the standings since the late James Hylton finished second in the 1966 standings.

Throughout the 2006 season, Hamlin also raced as a full-time competitor in the Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet. He achieved his first two career wins in the series at Mexico City in March and at Darlington Raceway in May. He also competed in one Truck race for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports at Martinsville Speedway in October, where he finished eighth. At the conclusion of the 2006 season, Hamlin also surpassed 100 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series.

Following the 2009 season, Hamlin had competed in 280 races across the three division series and had tallied 17 victories, nine in Xfinity and eight in Cup. By then, Hamlin was still in JGR’s No. 11 FedEx car, but sporting the Toyota nameplate, a move made by JGR in 2008 across NASCAR. The 2010 season was among Hamlin’s strongest seasons to date, where he won a season-high eight races, including one win in the XFINITY Series at Darlington, and was in contention to achieve his first Cup title until late misfortunes in the final two races left him 39 points shy of the title to Johnson. Prior to the season’s conclusion, Hamlin reached 300 starts across the sport’s division series.

The following season, Hamlin also recorded a single victory across NASCAR’s three series. This included his first Truck Series triumph at Martinsville Speedway in October while driving for team owner/Cup teammate Kyle Busch. Through July 2020, Hamlin is one of 32 competitors to win a race across NASCAR’s three major division series.

Hamlin went on to surpass 400 starts following the 2012 season, 500 at the conclusion of the 2015 season and 600 when the 2017 season concluded. By then, he had tallied his Cup career wins to 31, his Xfinity career wins to 26 and his Truck career wins to two. Among his accomplishments included winning five races in 2012 with veteran Darian Grubb, recording the 100th Cup win for Joe Gibbs Racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September 2012, winning in his 300th Cup career start at Talladega Superspeedway in May 2014, recording the 100th Xfinity victory for Toyota at Richmond International Raceway in April 2015, notching Joe Gibbs Racing’s first All-Star win at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May 2015, achieving his first Daytona 500 win in a photo finish with Martin Truex Jr. in February 2016 and winning his second Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in September 2017. His best points result from 2011 to 2017 was third in 2014, where he utilized consistency to make it all the way to the Championship Round, only to fall short of the title to Kevin Harvick.

After going winless in 2018, which marked the first time he concluded a Cup Series season without a victory, Hamlin rebounded in 2019 by winning six races, including the 61st running of the Daytona 500 in February and the penultimate event at Phoenix in November to clinch his spot to the Championship Round, all while working with new/current crew chief Chris Gabehart. In the finale at Homestead, Hamlin had a potential-winning car in the closing laps and was prepared to make a late charge for the championship, but his title hopes were dashed due to overheating issues that forced Hamlin to make an unscheduled pit stop. He finished 10th in Miami and fourth in the final standings, watching from a distance as teammate Kyle Busch won his second Cup title.

This season, through the first 16 Cup races, Hamlin has won four races, including the 62nd running of the Daytona 500. He has also recorded three stage wins, nine top-five results and 10 top-10 results in 2020. He is ranked fifth in the regular season standings and trails points leader Kevin Harvick by 109 points, though he is also guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs by virtue of his four regular-season victories.

Sunday’s race at Kentucky will mark Hamlin’s 10th Cup start in the Bluegrass State, where he is set to start in 12th based on a random draw. In his previous nine starts at the track, Hamlin has logged four top-five results with a best result of third place in 2012 and in 2015. He holds an average result of 14.89 at Kentucky.

Catch Hamlin’s milestone start in the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky on July 12 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

July 10, 2020
NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Kentucky
The NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series will get back on track this weekend at Kentucky Speedway, located in Sparta, Kentucky. It will be Round No. 7 of the 2020 Truck Series season, just four races from the halfway point of the season, should all 23 races run.

Last time out when the Trucks raced, the series was at Pocono Raceway for what was a ho-hum race, which featured numerous cautions. However, part-time Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Brandon Jones finally earned his first Truck Series race after 46 starts in the series. Meanwhile, Truck Series regulars, other than Grant Enfinger, have yet to earn themselves a win through the first seven races of the season.

As the Truck Series heads to the Blue Grass state, there’s a high chance that a series regular could very well wind up in victory lane, as no Xfinity or Cup Series drivers are scheduled to compete.

With that said, here are five drivers who could take the checkered flag Saturday night in the Buckle Up Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway.
1. Matt Crafton – Crafton is a former winner at this race track, winning the 2015 event. Since then, he’s finished inside the top 10 with the exception of last year’s race, when the California native finished 13th, two laps down. Overall, Crafton has the most starts of any active drivers and the most experience with 21 starts dating back to 2001. His finishes have been up and down over time but statistically, he’s completed 94.8 percent of the laps, led 90 laps, and earned 15 top 10 finishes. Crafton is also consistent at finishing races at Kentucky, as he only has one DNF to his name at the 1.5-mile speedway. The ThorSport Racing driver may not win Saturday, but he can be a good value pick for your fantasy lineup.
2. Parker Kligerman – While Kligerman may be an unusual pick, he could earn the Henderson Motorsports team a top 10 finish Saturday night. In seven starts, he has two runner up finishes (2011 and 2012). Granted, those finishes came with the now-defunct Brad Keselowski and Red Horse Racing teams. However, Kligerman did earn a seventh-place finishing position in the 2017 race for his current team and led 12 laps in 2018 (the last time Kligerman competed in a Truck race at Kentucky), before a late accident ended his night early.
3. Stewart Friesen – Potentially, a driver who has been overlooked but who has done well at Kentucky, is Stewart Friesen. The Canadian has three starts going back to his first race in 2017. While his first outing didn’t go particularly well, Friesen has improved finishes the last two races as he’s finished second twice and in the 2018 event, Friesen led 37 laps before falling short. Also in the 2018 race, Friesen finished seventh in Stage 1 and fourth in the second stage. Friesen managed to place sixth in Stage 2 last year.
4. Sheldon Creed – Creed is looking for redemption after last year’s forgettable race. The GMS Racing driver started second and led 36 laps, but finished 19 laps down in the 21st position after pit strategy ruined his chance for a strong finish. Creed, though, was able to win Stage 1 before the incident. This year, the GMS team will be using chassis No. 324, which has given Creed two top 10 finishes so far in the 2020 season.
5. Grant Enfinger – Overall, Enfinger’s Kentucky races have not fared too well for him, having a best finish of sixth coming in 2018. However, the Alabaman scored some stage points over the last three years since stages were implemented in 2017. In the 2017 race, Enfinger placed the No. 98 machine fourth in Stage 1, fifth in both stages in 2018, and second in the first stage last year. Unfortunately, after qualifying on the pole, and leading 22 laps, a crash on Lap 64 (86 to go) relegated Enfinger to a 24th place finish. If Enfinger and the No. 98 team can have a solid race this year, don’t be surprised if they end up in victory lane Saturday night.
Overall, there are 40 Trucks on the preliminary entry list for Saturday’s event and there are some notable names in the field.

Angela Ruch is back in the No. 00 Reaume Brothers Racing Truck after missing the Pocono race due to sponsorship woes. Also back in the field is Natalie Decker. Decker missed the Pocono outing after she was hospitalized due to bile duct surgery. Trey Hutchens and his No. 14 team will make their debut as a team for 2020. Ryan Truex is entered in the No. 40 Niece Motorsports machine for his second start of the 2020 season. Truex’s previous outing was Atlanta, where he finished 13th. And finally, Chandler Smith makes his anticipated 2020 season debut for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Smith competed in four Truck Series races last year, where he earned a best finish of second at Bristol.

Since 2000, Kentucky Speedway has seen 22 Truck Series races. In that 22 race span, there has been a whos-who list of race winners. These include Greg Biffle, Scott Riggs, Mike Bliss, Carl Edwards, Bobby Hamilton, Dennis Setzer, Ron Hornaday Jr, Mike Skinner, Johnny Benson Jr, Todd Bodine, Kyle Busch, James Buescher, Ty Dillon, Matt Crafton, Christopher Bell, Ben Rhodes and Tyler Ankrum.

Hornaday has the most wins with three victories (2006, 2009, 2011). Kyle Busch and James Buescher have two wins each. Busch won in 2011 and 2014 and Buescher’s wins came in both of the 2012 events. Buescher is the only Truck Series driver to win back to back events.

Since 2013, there have been seven different winners. Only Crafton, Rhodes, and Ankrum are previous race winners of the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 of those entered in the field.

As far as stages are concerned, Ben Rhodes, Noah Gragson, Sheldon Creed, and Matt Crafton are all stage winners.

On the manufacturer side, Toyota has nine wins, Chevrolet has eight, Ford has three and Dodge has one win. Ford won the first race back in 2000 with Greg Biffle. Chevrolet’s first win came with Mike Bliss in 2002, Dodge’s in 2002 by Bobby Hamilton while Toyota’s first win came in 2007 with driver Mike Skinner.

Despite there being no qualifying this weekend, track position is key if you want to win at Kentucky. The race winner has came from the pole three times (2009, 2014, 2015). The lowest the race winner has ever started was 22nd, which occurred twice (2006 and 2013).

The most cautions seen in this event was nine cautions for 40 laps, which occurred in 2000. The fewest amount of cautions was three yellows for 12 laps in 2002. There were also 18 lead changes (the most in the event history) for the Truck Series in 2011 with 18.

The Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 is scheduled for Saturday night, July 11 at 6 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio.
July 10, 2020
Alfredo notches top-10 result in first Kentucky race of 2020

It was an eventful run for newcomer Anthony Alfredo in the Shady Rays 200 at Kentucky Speedway. Making his eighth NASCAR Xfinity Series start of his career and of this season, Alfredo rallied from early steering issues to notch a sixth-place result under the lights at the Bluegrass State following an eventful race highlighted with late chaos.

By virtue of a random draw, Alfredo was set to start in 11th. When the field fired the engines and rolled off pit road, Alfredo radioed steering issues to his No. 21 Alsco/Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro. Alfredo’s crew was able to repair the issue and as he hit the track, he was allowed to retain his 11th-starting spot since it was a safety issue that was being addressed prior to the race.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Alfredo dodged an opening lap crash and kept his car intact to run inside the top 10 through the competition caution on Lap 15. When the first stage concluded on Lap 30, Alfredo had worked his way into the top five. Throughout the second stage, Alfredo struggled in keeping pace with the leaders as he fell out of the top 10 early, but he was able to work his way back to finish in 10th. Over the second half of the race and the final stage, Alfredo, again, kept his No. 21 Chevrolet intact through a number of restarts and cautions as he was running in the top 10. Following an overtime restart, Alfredo was scored in sixth and battling Chase Briscoe and Michael Annett when a caution for a final lap multi-car wreck froze the field and concluded the race. With his sixth-place result, Alfredo has finished in the top 10 five times in his eighth series race of the season and of his career, all while driving Richard Childress Racing’s No. 21 car.

“When something like [the power steering issues] happens, you get your game face on, you get strapped in, you’re ready to go,” Alfredo said. “That, kind of, throws you for a loop a little bit, but my RCR guys did a great job helping get [the steering issues] fixed so we didn’t go a lap down and we were able to keep our starting position there, which was huge for us. We got into the top five. I think we finished first stage in the top five. All the guys at Richard Childress Racing back at the shop, here on the road, the pit crew did a great job all night. [They] Brought me a really fast Alsco Chevrolet Camaro. I think we’ll be able to make it even better for tomorrow, but I was pretty happy with it tonight. We got it a little bit behind there. We ended up going the wrong way on one adjustment in the second stage. I just had to hang on, it was super loose. We got it fixed, got back up there and at the end there, made the most of those two last restarts and got a top five.”

Alfredo will make his ninth Xfinity Series start, second of the week, in RCR’s No. 21 car at Kentucky Speedway on July 10, which will air at 8 p.m. on FS1.

July 10, 2020
Herbst, Chastain, Briscoe score top-five results in first Kentucky race

It was a banner night for Austin Cindric, who was able to claim his first elusive NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season in Thursday night’s Shady Rays 200 at Kentucky Speedway. It was also a banner night for rookie Riley Herbst, Ross Chastain and Chase Briscoe, all of whom emerged with strong top-five results following an eventful race as part of a series doubleheader week at the Bluegrass State.

For Riley Herbst, who came into Kentucky following an up-and-down stretch in his rookie Xfinity season, he started in 23rd based on a random draw. After avoiding a wreck at the start of the race that eliminated his teammate Brandon Jones, Herbst was able to work his way to 12th by the competition caution on Lap 15. While his other teammate/rookie Harrison Burton ran towards the front, Herbst kept his No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota Supra towards the top 10 as he finished the first stage in 11th despite struggling with grip. Throughout the second stage, Herbst moved into the top five and was able to finish fifth and collect valuable stage points towards the Playoffs. For the majority of the final stage and the second half of the race, Herbst remained inside the top 10 while keeping his car intact. Following a series of late cautions and late restarts, including an overtime restart following teammate Burton’s spin, Herbst moved into the runner-up spot after Chase Briscoe got loose while battling Cindric for the lead and the win. Ultimately, a caution for a multi-car wreck on the final lap ended Herbst’s shot for a late charge as he crossed the line in the runner-up spot. The runner-up spot, however, tied Herbst’s career-best finish in the series and it marked his seventh top-10 result of the season and his first top-five result since he finished second at Auto Club Speedway in February. With the result, Herbst remained in 11th in the regular-season standings, but is 42 points above the top-12 cutline to the Playoffs.

“We did a good job all day,” Herbst said. “We, probably, ran fourth all day, over-adjusted the car there at the end, got a little bit too tight, but all in all, we’ve had speed all year. We just haven’t been able to capitalize, probably mostly on my part in the final stages of these races, so once we start capitalizing, we’ll start getting good finishes like this. So, it was good.”

For Ross Chastain, Thursday’s Xfinity race presented one of two opportunities for the Floridian to record his first series win of the season. Starting in the runner-up spot by virtue of a random draw, he avoided a two-car wreck at the start of the race and made a brief challenge for the lead on Noah Gragson on the outside lane, only to loose grip on the outside lane. By the competition caution, he was back in fifth and was able to record a fourth-place result in the first stage. Throughout the second stage, Chastain kept his No. 10 Chevy Accessories/Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro inside the top five as he finished in fourth again. After running well inside the top 10 for the start of the final stage, Chastain was hit with a pit road speeding penalty following a pit stop and was sent to the rear of the field when the race restarted with less than 40 laps remaining. At the front, teammate Justin Haley assumed command after opting for a two-tire pit stop. Nearly ten laps later, Chastain was involved in an incident with Brett Moffitt in Turn 4, which drew another caution. Through two additional cautions and three restarts, including an overtime attempt, Chastain was able to rally to settle in third on the final lap when the caution flew. When the checkered flag was displayed, Chastain raced across the finish line in third, four spots ahead of teammate Haley. With his career-high 12th top-10 result, Chastain is fourth in the regular-season standings and is 252 points above the top-12 cutline.

“The record book will show a good night, starting up front, fourth in both stages and a third-place finish,” Chastain said. “Me speeding on pit road to start the final stage is not how you win races in NASCAR and overdriving the entry to Turn 3 and taking out Brett [Moffitt] there. I hate that [for] the No. 02 group. I’ve raced with Brett quite a bit. We’ve had our fair share of run-ins and I hate that I gave him another reason not to like me. So, I’ll take some time to try and make that better. But, I just overdrove it and got loose and took him out. [I] Can’t thank everybody on Kaulig Racing, Chevy Accessories, everybody at Team Chevy for giving us this opportunity, [team owner] Matt Kaulig, Nutrien Ag Solutions. It, definitely, was tough. We fired off in the race and I thought we had like the wrong tires on the car. We were not very good and [crew chief] Bruce Schlicker kept telling me that he was gonna make it better, and he did. By the end, now, I think that we have a car to go race tomorrow for the win, race [Briscoe], [Cindric], [Allgaier], those guys, [Haley]. But, we didn’t have it to start tonight and we’re gonna make some small changes unlike Homestead and be better tomorrow night.”

If there was an Xfinity Series competitor who came into Kentucky seeking more momentum following recent victories at Pocono and Indianapolis, it was Chase Briscoe, who reunited with regular crew chief Richard Boswell following a four-race stretch with interim crew chief/veteran Greg Zipadelli. Starting seventh on a random draw, Briscoe worked his way to fifth by the competition caution, but brought his No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang to pit road for four fresh tires, fuel and a big chassis adjustment. Restarting near the end of the lead lap field, Briscoe made his way up to 16th when the first stage concluded. Under the stage’s break, Briscoe remained on track to inherit the lead. The following restart, however, Briscoe was overtaken by Noah Gragson for the lead, but he remained within a tight three-car battle for the lead that included Austin Cindric. When the second stage concluded, Briscoe settled in third. For the remainder of the final stage, Briscoe kept himself battling towards the front and challenging Cindric for the lead. Following a series of late restarts and cautions, including an overtime attempt, Briscoe was lined up on the front row and on the inside lane beneath Cindric. Entering Turn 1, however, Briscoe got loose and lost his momentum to Cindric as he was also overtaken by two more competitors. When the caution flew on the final lap and the race concluded, Briscoe was scored in fourth while Cindric emerged victorious. Though he came short in claiming his sixth series win of the season, he collected his eighth top-five result and continues to lead the regular-season standings by 16 points over Gragson.

“Yeah, I just got loose,” Briscoe said. “The restart before that, I almost cleared Austin and then, he got back around me. There at the end, that last restart, I went down there and same thing. I thought I was gonna be able to clear him. I just got too loose and about wrecked the thing. I don’t know if I just made the right rear [tire] mad or what. I was just, literally, wrecking on both ends after that. So, I felt like this was our worst car of the year as far as balance and speed goes. We were still able to, at least, be in the hunt. We’ll go onto tomorrow. I felt like Kentucky and Texas are our two worst mile and a halfs, and those are the next two [scheduled races]. So, we’ll try to build on it, just try to learn a little bit and get better.”

Herbst, Chastain and Briscoe along with their fellow NASCAR Xfinity Series competitors will return for the second series race of the week at Kentucky Speedway on July 10, which will air at 8 p.m. on FS1.

July 10, 2020