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Tag: Kentucky Speedway

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kentucky

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kentucky

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Busch: Busch finished second at Kentucky to older brother Kurt after a dramatic and spirited two-lap battle for the win.

    “What a finish!” Busch said. “I think all the fans were on their feet, which is surprising because in most cases when you mention the Busch brothers, the words ‘can’t stand’ are used.”

    2. Joey Logano: Logano led with two laps remaining but was shuffled back on the final restart and finished seventh.

    “If not for that final caution,” Logano said, “I would have won easily. So thanks Bubba Wallace for ruining my night. It may be the first time the No. 43 STP car has actually impacted a race since Richard Petty retired.”

    3. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished 19th in the Quaker State 400, his night hindered by a late pit road speeding penalty.

    “Sure I’m disappointed,” Truex said, “but I got to witness one of the greatest finishes in NASCAR history. As duels go, I don’t think Kurt and Kyle Busch can top this unless they used real guns. If Kurt lost, he would finally be right about one thing–he knew an assassin.”

    4. Kurt Busch: Busch made a move from third on the final restart at Kentucky, and held off younger brother Kyle to win his first race of the season.

    “I don’t feel bad for my brother,” Kurt Busch said. “He’s already got four wins this year; he can spare a loss to his brother. I hope it humbles him to see me in Victory Lane. As they say, ‘Little brother is watching.’”

    5. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 20th at Kentucky, one lap down.

    “I’m disappointed,” Keselowski said, “but I was thrilled to see such an exciting race. The race had nearly everything, although it lacked a driver taking another driver’s hat off and tossing it to the ground. I hope Clint Bowyer’s paying attention because if you’re going to do something to another driver, you should remember to take their hat off first.”

    6. Chase Elliott: Elliott suffered an early flat tire and fell a lap down, but worked his way back through the field to salvage a 15th-place finish.

    “One week ago,” Elliott said, “the No. 77 car won at Daytona with Justin Haley behind the wheel. At Kentucky, some person named ‘Quin Houff’ drove the 77 and finished 34th, eight laps down. What’s my point? The closest Quin Houff will ever get to being Justin Haley is only by listening to Metallica’s ‘Ride The Lightning’ album.”

    7. Kevin Harvick: Harvick came home 22nd in the Quaker State 400. 

    “The No. 4 Ford sported the Hunt Brothers Pizza paint scheme,” Harvick said. “But my car just wasn’t up to par. If my car’s performance was pizza, it would be the kind of pizza served in convenience stores.” 

    8. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin stormed back from an uncontrolled tire penalty to post a fifth at Kentucky, as Joe Gibbs Racing placed three cars in the top five.

    “Erik Jones could have easily won that race,” Hamlin said. “He had a front-row seat for the Kurt Busch-Kyle Busch battle. If they wreck, Erik wins. So, no one wanted to see the Busch’s wreck more than Erik. But let me be clear: everyone wanted to see them wreck; just none more than Erik.”

    9. Alex Bowman: Alex Bowman finished 17th at Kentucky and is ninth in the Monster Energy Cup points standings, 192 out of first.

    “My Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron had a good shot at the win,” Bowman said, “but he jumped a restart and had to serve a stop-and-go penalty. Apparently, he got duped by Clint Bowyer. But really, does Bowyer actually know when or when not to ‘punch it?’”

    10. Kyle Larson: Larson finished fourth in the Quaker State 400.

    “Chris Buescher’s JTG Daugherty Chevrolet was sponsored by Planters Peanuts,” Larson said. “So you may have seen their mascot, Mr. Peanut, at Kentucky Speedway in the pits. That’s unusual because, at most NASCAR races, those without pants are usually in the infield.”

  • Busch’s win indicative of Chevrolet resurgence in the Cup Series

    Busch’s win indicative of Chevrolet resurgence in the Cup Series

    By winning in Kentucky on Saturday night, Kurt Busch and his Ganassi Racing team solidified the speculation that the Chevy teams in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series have returned to competitive form.

    This, after a disastrous 2018 for the manufacturer that only saw two drivers win four races (Austin Dillon – 1, Chase Elliott – 3) and a long dry spell in 2019 broken up by Elliott’s win at Talladega before winning three straight (Alex Bowman – Chicagoland, Justin Haley – Daytona, Busch – Kentucky).

    Elliott’s win seemingly opened a stretch where it appeared that Chevrolets were finally on the verge of turning things around. At Talladega, six of the top-10 drivers were Chevrolet drivers, including runner-up Bowman and rookies Ryan Preece and Daniel Hemric, both of whom finished in the top-five. Bowman would score two more runner-up finishes in the next two races before scoring a seventh at Charlotte. He scored another top-10 at Michigan before scoring his big win at Chicagoland.

    Elliott has also had several stout runs since winning at Talladega, following it up with four straight top-fives. He’s since run into some issues, but the finishes aren’t indicative of his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team’s performance. Meanwhile, Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron is having a strong sophomore season, scoring three poles and six top-10s in 2019, including a runner-up finish at Daytona last weekend.

    Speaking of Daytona, five of the top-10 finishers were Chevrolet drivers including race winner Haley. As a matter of fact, the top-four finishers were Chevrolets (Haley, Byron, Jimmie Johnson, Ty Dillon). Although rain played a factor in calling the race, Chevrolets did seem to have the field in hand, leading 60 of the 127 laps run, including 46 by Austin Dillon.

    Although he sits 13th in points, Kurt Busch’s teammate Kyle Larson has also rattled off some strong runs, including a win in the non-points All-Star race at Charlotte. He’s scored a pole (Sonoma), three top-fives, and seven top-10s, but four DNFs have kept the No. 42 Ganassi Racing team from truly scoring the results the team deserves. Meanwhile, the No. 1 team has been a consistent force on a weekly basis, scoring four more top-fives and 10 more top-10s to go along with his Kentucky win.

    All of this is in contrast to some of the teams that were dominant one year ago, notably Stewart-Haas Racing. SHR Fords won 12 races in 2018, but are winless so far in 2019. Compared to the win total of teams like Hendrick, who was winless at this point a year ago, ditto Ganassi, and it’s safe to say the Chevrolet camp has caught up and are now actually competing with the Fords and the Toyotas.

    Granted, there are hurdles to cover, such as the 10 wins from Joe Gibbs Racing and the five wins from Team Penske. But Chevrolet has started a trend in 2019, and if it keeps up the momentum it has been building during the spring/summer stretch, names like Larson, Elliott, and Byron could find Victory Lane before season’s end. There may even be a glimpse of a certain seven-time Cup champion parking it in the Winner’s Circle. Time will tell for sure heading into Loudon next weekend.

  • Kurt Busch wins in thrilling fashion at Kentucky

    Kurt Busch wins in thrilling fashion at Kentucky

    Kurt Busch won the Quaker State 400 in overtime at Kentucky Speedway Saturday night after a thrilling overtime battle with younger brother, Kyle Busch, to earn his first victory of the 2019 season.

    It appeared that Joey Logano might run away with the race win in overtime but a late race caution changed everything. With six laps to go Bubba Wallace spun in Turn 1 and set up a late race overtime restart.

    Busch passed Logano on the restart and set his sight on his brother. During the last half lap, the two brothers dueled for the win. Kurt Busch was able to beat him to the finish line by inches after almost wrecking each other for the win. It was his first victory for Chip Ganassi Racing.

    “That was epic!” Kurt Busch said to PRN Radio in his post-race interview. “I was hoping we would get a shot, one more restart. I was just hoping that it would go our way and get that yellow. Then my little brother (Kyle Busch), the best guy in the world to go racing against. He’s been winning a ton, I couldn’t be happier for him and where he’s gone in his career.”

    “That duel in Turn 3 and 4, and who was going to lift first, what’s going to happen, he gave me just enough on the outside like a true racer would. We made it work and both could have clobbered each other, and third place (Erik Jones) could have won, but I’m glad I came out on top with my Monster Energy Chevrolet. To get this team (the win), there’s a ton of first-time winners in victory lane.”

    Daniel Suarez started on the pole, his first of the season and his first since Pocono of 2018.

    The stages were broken up into 80/80/107 laps to make up the 267-lap race at Kentucky Speedway.

    There was action before the race started, as fuel was accidentally laid down before the start of the race. Therefore, speedy dry was put down on top of the PJ1 that was also applied again in the morning hours.

    The first half of the race was mainly clean and green, and what you would expect at a 1.5-mile track. There were some incidents, including one where Brad Keselowski reported “something is audibly off,” a possible tire vibration. The first caution of the race flew on Lap 47 for Chase Elliott’s car, as he blew a right front tire and left debris all over the track.

    Another yellow flew on Lap 55 for Corey Lajoie, who spun off Turn 4 but wound up not hitting the wall. Kurt Busch would lead for the first time right before the caution by taking the lead on Lap 53. Before Busch could go on to win Stage 1, the caution flew once more on Lap 64 for Landon Cassill and Bayley Currey who both spun in Turn 2. Both drivers would escape without any major damage.

    Despite the yellow, Kurt Busch would hang on to the lead and win the first stage after leading 30 laps.

    Suarez led the first 49 laps, before finishing 14th in Stage 1. Also during the stage, Keselowski had a possible valve spring issue.

    Stage 2 saw a lot of different strategies take place, with drivers taking only two tires or just fuel in order to get that much-needed track position.

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would take advantage of that track position by staying out and taking the lead at the beginning of Stage 2. Stenhouse led for 21 laps until Kyle Busch took the lead on Lap 104. Another strategy call was made by Suarez’s pit crew on Lap 108 by pitting. After pitting, Suarez was told he could make it to the end of the stage without stopping again.

    However, that was all thrown out the window as he would be caught speeding on pit road. Other pit stops would be made for those who stayed out. Logano pitted on Lap 120 for a possible vibration but looked as though it was all clear after the pit stop.

    Later in the stage, Austin Dillon learned he was going to have to change the battery at the end of Stage 2. Dillon did so and it cost him a good finish. He wound up 35th, 29 laps down.

    More issues appeared to rise for Elliott’s crew who pitted from 22nd. Elliott received an uncontrolled tire penalty, which was later overturned by NASCAR.

    The race leader Kyle Busch pitted on Lap 149 from the lead. Despite pitting, Busch would remain the leader. Other drivers were caught with penalties, however. Daniel Hemric had a penalty for removing a jack from his pit box.

    Kyle Busch would maintain the lead as pit stops cycled through and go on to win the second stage.

    The third and final stage went green with 101 laps to go and saw a lot of action.

    Kurt Busch would be back up front for the restart. There were some great battles going on which allowed Kyle Busch to close in once again.

    Although, as cautions breed cautions, another one was seen as the No. 48 car of Jimmie Johnson was loose and snapped around, hitting the wall off Turn 2 on Lap 179. It would be the sixth caution of the night.

    More interesting items developed on the next restart, as William Byron was cited by NASCAR for a restart violation. Byron would wind up serving a stop and go penalty.

    Pit stops began to take place shortly after with 54 to go. Once Clint Bowyer passed Kurt Busch for the lead, Busch pitted in hopes of being the race leader once stops cycled out. Bowyer then pitted as well, but Busch exited just ahead of him. Meaning, if the stops cycled out as they normally do, Busch would be the new race leader.

    However, other drivers were trying to outsmart each other during the final laps of the race. Kyle Busch would lead the next 13 laps before pitting. Hamlin then led five laps before pitting, Newman for 15 laps until he ran out of gas and Suarez led three laps until Lap 248.

    While all this was going on, Kyle Busch and Logano were battling each other for a potential race win as they would be the new leaders once stops cycled out. Both raced each other hard for the lead and nearly wrecked each other while doing it. Logano took the lead with just 18 laps to go.

    In what looked liked it was going to be the Joey Logano show, a late race yellow ended his hopes with six laps to go. This set up a NASCAR overtime finish with Logano and Kyle Busch on the front row. Older brother Kurt Busch would sit right lurking close behind.

    As the race restarted, Logano got shuffled back in the middle as Kurt Busch and Erik Jones went three wide on the leaders. Busch was on the high line and got around Logano and Kyle Busch.

    Both brothers would duel it out all the way to the finish line, even touching each other, leaving Kurt Busch with some tire smoke from a fender rub. In the end, it was older brother Kurt Busch barely beating his younger brother at the line by .076 seconds.

    With this win, he has won with every car owner he has driven for in the series.

    “I felt the connection with Chip (Ganassi, Team Owner) was perfect right away,” Busch added in his interview with PRN. “I mean, it was a 30-minute conversation, we knocked out a contract and then we went racing. And then, it’s a matter of making all the right steps to make this No. 1 car a winner. Tonight, we had luck on our side, positioned ourselves with speed and handling was there.”

    With the future a little uncertain for Busch by having just a one year contract, he is still not sure what next season holds for him, but indicated that he’s not retiring anytime soon.

    “It’s a matter of getting going now,” the 2004 champion said. “We got that win and now the second half is in front of us, and it’s a matter of everything coming together, you know? The manufacture, the sponsor, the team owner and the driver. I thought this year might be the last, but we’re having so much fun, we’ll see how things go.”

    With this win, Kurt Busch is now locked into the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Busch is currently seeded seventh in the Playoff standings.

    It was Busch’s first win of the season, his first since the Bristol night race last August and the 31st of his career. He led four times for 41 laps and won Stage 1.

    There were seven cautions for 35 laps with 10 leaders among 15 lead changes.

    Playoff Watch

    1. Kyle Busch, Four wins
    2. Martin Truex Jr, Four wins
    3. Brad Keselowski, Three wins
    4. Joey Logano, Two wins, Current regular standings points leader
    5. Denny Hamlin, Two wins
    6. Chase Elliott, One win
    7. Kurt Busch, One win
    8. Alex Bowman, One win
    9. Kevin Harvick -101
    10. Aric Almirola, -204
    11. Ryan Blaney, -211
    12. William Byron, -229
    13. Kyle Larson, -235, +40 points in
    14. Clint Bowyer, -265, +10 points in
    15. Jimmie Johnson, -265, +10 points in
    16. Erik Jones, -273, +2 points in
    Outside looking in
    17. Ryan Newman, Two points out
    18. Daniel Suarez, Two points out
    19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr, 46 points out

    Up Next: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series continues their summer stretch of races by heading to the Northeast for race No. 20 of the 2019 season. There are only seven races left until the Playoffs began.

  • Custer takes Kentucky for fifth Xfinity win of 2019

    Custer takes Kentucky for fifth Xfinity win of 2019

    Cole Custer took the Alsco 300 at Kentucky Speedway Friday night, leading 88 of the 200 scheduled laps to take his fifth NASCAR Xfinity Series win of 2019. The win gives him the most wins of anyone this season, breaking the tie with Christopher Bell, who has four so far in 2019.

    Bell finished second in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, while Tyler Reddick took home third, Michael Annett finished fourth, and Chase Briscoe finished fifth. Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Truex, Ryan Sieg, and Justin Haley rounded out the top-10. The race was slowed by five cautions for 24 laps, with 14 lead changes among eight drivers.

    “It’s been unbelievable,” said Custer. “This one just goes to my team. That car was just unbelievable, and they knew exactly what to do with it when the track changed, and I was just lucky to drive it there at the end.”

    When asked if he could have gotten by Bell late in the going, Custer was clear that it would have been a challenge.

    “It is hard to say,” said Custer. “At that point, I thought I would. He was close enough to us in lap time that I thought if he got the lead at that point it would have been really hard to get back by him. Dirty air is always a little bit of a factor here. I don’t know if the PJ1 really made it better or worse tonight. It may have made it a little better. Clean air is always key.”

    Mike Shiplett, Crew Chief for the No. 00, was clear that he could sense Custer’s growing maturity and confidence.

    “I think every time he gets in the race car he just gets a little bit better just in the way he communicates with us and the way he keeps focusing forward and driving,” said Shiplett. “He is doing a great job. I am proud of him.”

    Third-place finisher Reddick scored his first top-five finish since winning at Michigan, which capped a 10-race stretch where he finished no worse than fourth. He won three times during that stretch (Talladega, Charlotte, Michigan), but in the three races prior to Kentucky, his best finish was ninth at Chicago.

    “After the last couple of weeks, we needed a solid race like tonight to get back into our groove,” said Reddick. “The balance was tricky to get figured out tonight. Firing off to start the race, I was just way too loose and would fall back on any restarts. We’d build tight the longer we went in a run, but it was just a little too late to contend for the lead at the end of the stages.”

    Austin Cindric, who currently sits fourth in points, had an up-and-down day as well. Despite starting on the pole and leading a lap late in the going, a lap 56 spin ended with him gently backing into the wall. He would go on to finish 14th, two laps down.

    Another front-runner who faced adversity was JGR driver Brandon Jones. Jones led 12 laps early in the going after starting sixth. However, an engine failure on lap 106 netted him a 30th-place finish and his second-straight DNF. His sixth DNF of 2019 leaves him on the Playoff bubble in 12th.

    The series heads into Loudon on July 20, as the ROXOR 200 will air at 4 p.m. EST on NBCSN.

  • Daniel Suarez wins pole for Quaker State 400 at Kentucky

    Daniel Suarez wins pole for Quaker State 400 at Kentucky

    Daniel Suarez will lead the field to green for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 Saturday night after running the fastest qualifying lap at Kentucky Speedway and claiming the pole.

    The driver of the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was the last to qualify Friday evening and his 184.590 mph lap knocked his teammate, Aric Almirola, off the pole,  besting his speed by .126 seconds. It was his first Busch Pole Award this year and the second of his career.  

    “The car’s been very fast the entire day,” Suarez said. “We had probably the fastest car in last practice and the fastest car in qualifying, so I’m very proud of my guys, Ford Performance, Haas Automation and everyone who makes this program possible.”

    In his third year of competition in the Cup Series, Suarez is impatiently anticipating his first series win.   

    “I really want to win so bad,” he explained. “I haven’t been in Victory Lane for a while. The last time I was in Victory Lane was in Brazil, and it was in a go-kart race. I have been looking forward to bring a trophy home for a while.

    “We have very fast cars. Now it’s up to me to make it happen tomorrow (Saturday) night.”

    Almirola hasn’t been to victory lane since last year at Talladega Superspeedway but has one top five and 10 top-10 finishes this season. He sees starting up front as an opportunity for more.

    “It is a great day for us,” he said. “Everybody has been doing a good job of trying to figure out how to bring more speed and more driveability in our cars. I feel like this weekend so far we are off to a good start and the cars are fast and driving good. We have part one done, we have qualified up front and got ourselves good track position and pit stall selection and good clean air. Now we just have to go put a race together.”

    Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski qualified third with a speed of 183.443 as Ford claimed the top three spots. Kurt Busch broke up the Ford dominance and will start fourth in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with Kevin Harvick rounding out the top five in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.

    “That wasn’t bad. That was our best qualifying effort on a mile and a half this year I think,” Keselowski said. “That is something to be proud of. I didn’t quite have the speed to get the pole. I would have liked a later draw. I think there would have been some speed there. Daniel was a tenth-and-a-half ahead. All in all a decent run for our Discount Tire Ford Mustang and I am happy for Doug Yates and all of the Ford guys to have all three of our cars up front with the Fords. We will see what we have tomorrow.”

    Daniel Hemric, Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr., Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch round out the top 10 starting positions.  

    The Quaker State 400 is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and will be televised on NBCSN with radio coverage by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

    Starting Lineup for the Quaker State 400:

    1. Daniel Suarez

    2. Aric Almirola

    3. Brad Keselowski

    4. Kurt Busch

    5. Kevin Harvick

    6. Daniel Hemric

    7. Clint Bowyer

    8. Martin Truex Jr.

    9. Austin Dillon

    10. Kyle Busch

    11. Joey Logano

    12. William Byron

    13. Jimmie Johnson

    14. Paul Menard

    15. Ryan Blaney

    16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    17. Michael McDowell

    18. Denny Hamlin

    19. Kyle Larson

    20. Chase Elliott

    21. Erik Jones

    22. Alex Bowman

    *23. Ryan Newman – Failed pre-race inspection once, will start 35th

    24. Matt DiBenedetto

    25. David Ragan

    26. Chris Buescher

    27. Ty Dillon

    28. Bubba Wallace

    29. Corey LaJoie

    30. Ryan Preece

    31. Matt Tifft

    32. Bayley Currey

    33. Ross Chastain

    34. Landon Cassill

    35. BJ McLeod

    *36. Quin Houff – Failed pre-race inspection once, will start 36th

  • Brett Moffitt so close yet so far away

    Brett Moffitt so close yet so far away

    Brett Moffitt was just inches away from going back-to-back this year but he ran out of gas on the backstretch with just a half lap to go Thursday night at Kentucky Speedway.

    Moffitt tried to play the fuel mileage game, but fell short and finished in the seventh position.

    “It’s a heartbreak for sure,” Moffitt said to MRN Radio. “Jerry (Baxter, Crew Chief) and everyone on this 24 did a great job tonight. I’ve never ran strong at Kentucky, so had one of the best trucks out here tonight. At the end of the race, we probably had the most speed which was great. But it’s definitely a heartbreak to lose them like that, unfortunately, we handed away another playoff spot to another manufacturer which is a Chevy team. It’s not great, but I thank them for their support and the Gallagher family, and everyone involved in this team. We were just one lap short, you gotta push it and we just pushed it a little too hard.”

    Moffitt and his GMS No. 24 team qualified seventh and finished seventh in Stage 1. Moffitt did not record a top-10 finish in Stage 2, as he finished one spot short in 11th. He led twice for 35 laps.

    It was Moffitt’s ninth top-10 of the year. He continues to lead the playoff points standings over Ross Chastain.

  • Ross Chastain clinches playoff spot with third place finish

    Ross Chastain clinches playoff spot with third place finish

    Niece Motorsports driver and recent Xfinity Series winner, Ross Chastain came into Thursday night’s race just 10 points out of the top 20. Chastain needed to earn at least 10 more points in order to be playoff eligible and compete for the championship.

    With a strong qualifying effort of fifth, Chastain was solid all night long. He never took the lead but had finishes of fifth and second in both stages.

    Despite running in an unsponsored truck, Chastain put on a show for the fans. He ran as low as 10th in the final laps of the race. But thanks to pit strategy and a few drivers running out of fuel, Chastain found himself in the top five. Eventually, the Niece Motorsports driver would finish there with a fourth-place outing.

    The strong stage efforts and the top five finish was just enough for Chastain and his crew to clinch a spot in the 2019 Truck Series Playoffs. However, even with the great news, the Florida native was somewhat disappointed with the outcome.

    “It’s pretty cool to be upset with fourth,” Chastain said to MRN Radio. “Really, really loose all night, just behind from the beginning this weekend. We unloaded really tight and just never been here as a group. So just learning as we go and building a notebook for further down the road, but at the end of the day, it’s really cool to be disappointed with fourth with an unsponsored race truck.”

    The fourth place finish earned him his fifth top five of the season and he currently sits second in the playoff standings.

  • Tyler Ankrum scores first career win at Kentucky

    Tyler Ankrum scores first career win at Kentucky

    Former NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Series champion Tyler Ankrum earned his first career Gander Outdoors Truck Series win at Kentucky Speedway after passing Brett Moffitt with two laps to go.

    “I can’t even describe it,” Ankrum explained to MRN Radio in his post-race interview about the last laps. “I don’t know if anything was going through my head honestly, I was just trying to drive as hard as I could. This DGR-Crosley Railblaza/Academy Toyota, it was on fire. I just can’t believe that we did this!

    Coming into the Buckle Up in Your Truck 225, Grant Enfinger won the pole earlier in the day, his second of the season. Stages were broken up into 35/35/80 laps to make up the 150-lap race.

    It was clean and green without any major incidents in the first stage. As a matter of fact, the stage would remain caution free. There were some notable incidents, however, as Austin Hill came down pit road on Lap 28 with possible engine issues. Just a few laps later on Lap 33, he went behind the wall for the rest of the night and wound up with a disappointing 31st place finish.

    Sheldon Creed and the No.2 GMS Racing team took home the first stage after leading all 35 laps.

    The action picked up, especially on pit road when Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton were each caught with a commitment line violation and had to serve a penalty.

    Stage 2 began on Lap 41 and saw a lot of incidents ramp up. The first incident took place right after the restart when Spencer Boyd and Natalie Decker made contact with each other and were sent viciously into the wall, destroying both trucks. The incident also collected Jordan Anderson and a little bit of Sauter’s truck as well.

    On Lap 56, the third caution was brought out for the No. 42 of Chad Finley, when his truck just snapped loose and wound up hitting the wall off Turn 4. Finley would wind up 26th after starting 12th.

    More action occurred under caution when the No. 4 of Todd Gilliland come down pit road with the hood up. It appeared there were engine issues, possibly a plug wire or it was down a cylinder. But there was no confirmation from the team on the issues for the No. 4 truck.

    The next caution flew on Lap 60 when Harrison Burton got loose in Turns 1 and 2, eventually going sideways. Burton brought two other trucks with him in the incident, Gus Dean and Josh Bilicki. Sauter once again barely escaped the wreck without any major damage.

    Five laps later, the No. 98 of Grant Enfinger hit a bump in Turn 4 with Brandon Jones to his outside. The two would make hard contact with each other, slamming Jones in the wall with his truck eventually catching on fire. Both Jones and Enfinger would be done for the night.

    With the wreck taking place so close to the end of Stage 2, the second stage ended under caution and with the No. 88 of Matt Crafton taking the stage win and earning 10 Playoff points.

    The third and final stage began on Lap 76 and saw a long green flag run toward the finish line.

    A few notable incidents occurred in the stage as well. Stage 1 winner, Sheldon Creed, wound up having a flat right front tire shortly after the stage restarted.

    Later on, as the stage began to wind down, Tyler Ankrum took the lead on Lap 73. Despite a hard-charge from Ben Rhodes, he could not take the lead from Ankrum and Chicago winner Brett Moffitt took second place.

    Pit stops began to take place shortly after lap 100. Even with the pit stops, it appeared most drivers did not have enough to make it on fuel to the end, which saw the race become a fuel mileage game.

    Moffitt tried outsmarting Ankrum on his pit stop, while Ankrum had a somewhat longer stop. Moffitt would still be the leader after his final round of pit stops.

    With about 20 to go, Rhodes and Brennan Poole made contact with each other. This left Rhodes with a left rear tire to go down, while Pool had a right front tire go down late in the going.

    Just 10 laps later with 10 to go, the race leaders, including Moffitt, were told to start saving a little bit of fuel in case of caution. During that run, other drivers like Matt Crafton and Todd Gilliland fell short and ran out of gas. Moffitt continued running thinking he had enough to make it on fuel. Unfortunately, he ran out of gas just half a lap away from taking the white flag. Ankrum, who just turned 18-years-old, went on by to take the lead and eventually his first ever career win.

    “I accidentally put a ice bag down my chest, ripped my right side ear mold out,” Ankrum told MRN Radio. “So half the time, all I could understand was inside or outside. I honestly did not hear a whole lot, so I’m so proud. Man, that’s all I got, I don’t know. This goes to show that youngsters and underdogs can still win. You know, I don’t think DGR has been viewed as a GMS, KBM, or ThorSport team but they will be now. I’m honestly so proud of that, that’s what I’ve been wanting to do. I’m all about improvement, improving every single week trying to get better and that’s what we did, we finished it!”

    It was Ankrum’s first Truck Series win in just 12 starts. His previous best finish was third at Texas in June. Ankrum led three times for 40 laps and has currently earned a spot in the Playoffs.

    There were five cautions for 33 laps, with 10 lead changes among seven drivers.

    Playoff Watch
    1. Brett Moffitt, Two wins
    2. Ross Chastain, One win, Clinched playoff spot
    3. Johnny Sauter, One win
    4. Austin Hill, One win
    5. Tyler Ankrum, One win
    6. Grant Enfinger, +73
    7. Stewart Friesen, +61
    8. Matt Crafton, +40
    Below the cut line
    9. Harrison Burton, -40
    10. Ben Rhodes, -60
    11. Todd Gilliland, -110

    Up Next: The Truck Series will take another week off before heading to “The Tricky Triangle” of Pocono Raceway on Saturday, July 27.

  • Stewart Friesen takes second at Kentucky after wild day

    Stewart Friesen takes second at Kentucky after wild day

    You could say that Stewart Friesen had one of the wildest days as a Truck Series regular aside from Ross Chastain’s disqualification at Iowa.

    When Friesen’s No. 52 Halmar Racing team unloaded his primary truck this morning for the two practice sessions, he was unable to use it. NASCAR confiscated his truck due to a firewall issue and the team was forced to bring out the backup truck.

    Despite the issue, Friesen was able to get out in the first practice to make some laps and participated in the second practice as well. With the backup truck being pulled out, no matter where Friesen qualified, he had to start in the back of the field.

    Friesen started last but when the race began, he was a man on a mission. In the first stage, he went from 32nd to finish 17th. In the second stage, Friesen placed the No. 52 Halmar Racing truck in the sixth position.

    A long green flag run broke out in the third and final stage, that saw some fuel mileage strategy take place. Friesen, among other drivers, pitted to make their final round of green flag pit stops. After the stops, drivers were told to save fuel with a 74 lap run to the finish shaping up.

    With fuel, a concern, drivers like Matt Crafton, Todd Gilliland and race leader Brett Moffitt ran out of gas. This saw Friesen move up to second with his eyes set on Tyler Ankrum who was the leader at the time. Hoping for a late race caution, Friesen never caught the break he needed, but still wound up second after the long day since practice.

    “It’s been a whirl day,” Friesen said to MRN Radio in his post-race interview. “It’s racing man, the crew never gave up on me all day. It was sketchy at the beginning, we worked on it, got me track position and it was just weird. The PJ1 had grip then it didn’t, guys were sketchy and sliding, I know Ross (Chastain) was struggling just as bad as I was.”

    “The restarts I couldn’t do anything. Thanks to Chevrolet for all they do for us, really appreciate those guys, they’re a great group and it’s awesome to represent them.”

    With the second place finish, it was Friesen’s eighth top five of the year. He currently sits seventh in the playoff standings, 61 points above the cut line.

  • Weekend Schedule for Kentucky Speedway

    Weekend Schedule for Kentucky Speedway

    NASCAR heads to Kentucky Speedway this weekend as all three national series compete on the 1.5-mile track. The Monster Energy Cup Series will close out the activities Saturday evening with the Quaker State 400.

    Ben Rhodes is the defending Truck Series winner, Christopher Bell won last year’s  Xfinity Series race and Martin Truex Jr. returns to defend his Cup Series victory.

    Please see the complete weekend schedule below.

    All times are Eastern

    Thursday, July 11

    9:35 a.m.-10:25 a.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series First Practice – No TV

    11:05 a.m.-11:55 a.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series Final Practice – No TV

    3:05 p.m.-3:55 p.m.: Xfinity Series First Practice – NBC Sports App

    4:05 p.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series Qualifying (Impound-Single Vehicle/One Lap-All Positions) – FS1

    6:00 p.m.-6:50 p.m.: Xfinity Series Final Practice – – NBC Sports App

    7:30 p.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 – (Stages 35/70/150 Laps = 225 Miles) FS1/MRN

    Friday, July 12

    11:35 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Monster Energy Cup Series First Practice – NBCSN

    1:35 p.m.-2:25 p.m.: Monster Energy Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN

    4:15 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – NBCSN

    6:05 p.m.: Monster Energy Cup Series Qualifying – NBCSN

    7:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Alsco 300 – (Stages 45/90/200 Laps = 300 Miles) – NBCSN/PRN

    Saturday, July 13

    7:30 p.m.: Monster Energy Cup Series Quaker State 400 – (Stages 80/160/267 Laps = 400.5 Miles) – NBCSN/PRN

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