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  • Busch grabs a thrilling win at Charlotte with a last-lap pass

    Busch grabs a thrilling win at Charlotte with a last-lap pass

    The third time was the lucky charm for Kyle Busch. After having victories slip away from him in his previous two NASCAR Xfinity Series starts this season, Busch rallied from a late pit road speeding penalty and survived a series of late restarts to overtake Austin Cindric on the final lap and win the Alsco 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    The victory was Busch’s ninth at Charlotte and his first win of this year’s Xfinity Series season as he also became the first Cup regular to win an Xfinity event in 2020. With 97 career wins in the series, Busch is three victories away from reaching 100.

    The lineup for Monday night’s event was based on a random draw, where Kaulig Racing’s Ross Chastain started on pole. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones joined Chastain on the front row.

    When the green flag waved, Chastain rocketed to the lead followed by teammate Justin Haley as the field settled in and raced single file. It did not take long for the first caution to come out on the fourth lap when Kody Vanderwal made contact with the wall.

    When the race restarted on the seventh lap, Chastain received another strong launch to pull away with the lead. Behind him, rookie Riley Herbst mounted a challenge on the outside lane for second against Haley. He nearly cleared him before Haley powered through and maintained the runner-up spot in Turn 3 the following lap. By then, Chase Briscoe, coming off his thrilling win at Darlington and who started eighth, was in fourth.

    Following the first 10 laps of the race, Busch, who started 18th and was sporting a black and gold scheme on his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota while honoring the 2020 Appalachian State University graduates, was running seventh. Four laps later, he made his first appearance in the top five after passing teammate Jones and former teammate Noah Gragson.

    The competition caution flew on Lap 20. Chastain was able to lead the first 20 laps and hold a two-tenths of a second lead over Haley followed by Briscoe, Busch and Gragson. When pit road opened, a majority of the leaders remained on track while Jones was the first of a handful to pit for adjustments.

    The following restart on Lap 26, Chastain used the high lane to maintain his advantage while Busch followed in pursuit. Herbst also moved to third and Haley dropped to fourth the following lap.

    The third caution flew two laps later involving Vanderwal again when his motor blew up in a cloud of smoke. Under caution, most of the leaders remained on track while Justin Allgaier, who had reported radio and gauge issues, was among a handful of competitors who pitted for adjustments. Following his lengthy stop, he was assessed with a penalty for having too many of his crew members over his pit wall during the service.

    The restart on Lap 32 featured a second round battle for the lead between Busch and Chastain as both drivers remained side-by-side before Busch slipped in Turn 1 the following lap and Chastain maintained the lead. Behind the leaders, competitive racing started to unfold around the track with drivers starting to race aggressively and battle one another for position.

    With 10 laps remaining in the first stage, Busch drew himself up to the rear bumper of Chastain’s No. 10 Chevrolet in an effort for the lead. Three laps later Busch was finally able to take the lead from Chastain in Turn 4. From there, he was gone and he cruised to the Stage 1 win by more than a second over Chastain. Haley finished third followed by Gragson while Jones, who pitted on Lap 22, managed to march his way back to fifth. Austin Cindric, Herbst, Briscoe, Daniel Hemric and Harrison Burton finished in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the leaders made pit stops. Busch was the first to exit pit road followed by Chastain. Briscoe was able to gain five spots up to third following a stellar stop by his pit crew. Haley and Gragson exited in the top five. Jeffrey Earnhardt was penalized for dragging the jack out of his pit stall and around the track for one lap. In addition, Ryan Sieg, who had finished no worse than 11th in the first five races of this season, turned his No. 39 Chevrolet into the garage due to a mechanical issue.

    The second stage commenced on Lap 51 as Chastain used the inside lane to retake the lead from Busch and lead Busch’s No. 54 Toyota by two-tenths of a second. By Lap 60, both were ahead of third-place Briscoe by two seconds. Meanwhile, Haley started to fall back to ninth while battling loose conditions and Allgaier, who was running inside the top 15, continued to report handling issues to his No. 7 Chevrolet.

    Seventy laps through the race, the battle for the lead intensified as Busch locked himself behind Chastain’s rear bumper. He then pulled to the bottom lane and tried to take the lead, but Chastain refused to surrender. A lap later, a three-way fight for the lead ensured as Briscoe made a move in Turn 2 to pass Busch for second and draw himself behind Chastain. While Briscoe and Busch battled hard for second, Chastain slowly pulled away by half a second as Austin Cindric started to creep towards the leaders.

    With nine laps remaining in the second stage, Busch, who took second back from Briscoe three laps earlier, used the lapped traffic in Turn 2 to take the lead back from Chastain entering Turns 3 and 4. Chastain remained glued to the rear bumper of Busch but by Turn 2 Busch powered away and was gone again. He remained uncontested in the final laps as he claimed the second stage win. Chastain finished second as he did in the first stage followed by Briscoe, Cindric and Gragson. Jones, Hemric, Herbst, Haley and Burton rounded out the top 10.

    Under the pit stops during the stage break, Busch barely exited first over Chastain followed by Cindric, Briscoe and Jones. Briscoe, however, was penalized and sent to the rear of the field for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    For the start of the final stage, on Lap 98, Chastain mounted a challenge on the inside lane with Busch remaining close on the outside lane. The next time the field circled back to the start/finish line, Chastain cleared Busch for the lead, but Busch used the bottom lane to lead the following lap by a nose. Chastain took the lead right back and led the next two laps before Busch cleared Chastain and reassumed the lead in Turn 2.

    Behind the leaders, Jones moved to third and Haley fought his way back into the top five while battling Cindric. Briscoe, who was penalized under the previous stage break on pit road, had moved back to 15th.

    As the laps dwindled, Busch extended his lead as high as four seconds over teammate Jones, who overtook Chastain for second. Chastain was left to battle with Cindric for third while fighting tight conditions on his race car. During this time, Allgaier and Briscoe rallied from their respective misfortunes to run inside the top 10.

    With 56 laps remaining, green flag stops began. During the pit stops, Chastain overshot his pit stall, causing him to reverse into his stall and lose valuable time during his stop. Then, Busch, Jones and Briscoe were all assessed pit road speeding penalties.

    Once most of the field pitted with 50 laps remaining, Michael Annett assumed the lead as one of a handful of cars that did not pit along with Brett Moffitt and Myatt Snider. The caution came out four laps later when Timmy Hill’s motor blew up in a deep cloud of smoke in Turn 3. Due to the smoke and the spilled oil from Hill’s machine, Briscoe and Chastain slipped and made contact with the outside wall, sustaining cosmetic damage to their respective rides.

    When the caution waved, only five cars were scored on the lead lap. It became six as Gragson received the free pass. Under caution, Annett, Moffitt and Snider pitted and seven cars took the wave around to return on the lead lap. Cindric assumed the lead followed by Haley. Annett came out third followed by Snider and Gragson. Kyle Busch, following the caution and when the field cycled through, was back in ninth. Following their damaged repairs, Chastain and Briscoe fell back inside the top 20 and were pinned one lap behind the leaders.

    The race restarted with 38 laps remaining and Cindric was able to maintain the lead on the outside lane. Gragson made his way into third a lap later as Snider slipped in Turn 4 and fell to fifth. Eight laps later, Gragson passed Haley and narrowed his deficit to Cindric to a second. Behind the leaders, Busch, who restarted 10th, was back in fifth.

    With 29 laps remaining, Chase Briscoe’s good night turned bad after he made contact with the outside wall in Turn 1 and took his No. 98 Ford back to his pit stall with a flat right-side tire and drew a caution.

    Under caution, Cindric, Gragson, Haley, Hemric and Snider remained on track while Busch pitted.

    When the race restarted with 25 laps remaining, the caution quickly returned when Jeremy Clements, who had received the free pass the previous caution, wrecked in Turn 1 along with Austin Hill. At the time of the caution, Cindric was able to maintain the lead over Gragson. Under caution, Hemric surrendered third to pit, which moved Busch to third followed by Haley and Snider.

    Following an extensive clean-up, the race restarted with 17 laps remaining. Cindric received a push from Busch to maintain the lead in Turn 2 but the caution returned again when Justin Allgaier and Snider collided on the backstretch with Snider, making contact with the outside wall and spinning below the apron. He was dodged by the oncoming field, but he limped to pit road with right-front fender damage.

    The following restart with 12 to go, Cindric maintained the lead as Busch and Gragson battle for second. Two laps later, Busch returned to the lead. Three laps later, the caution returned for a wreck entering Turn 4 involving Haley, Herbst and Jones.

    The night’s biggest chaos ensued on the following restart with three laps remaining. Just as Busch rocketed away from Cindric, Gragson slipped in Turn 1 while battling teammates Burton and Jones and spun in the middle of the field, making contact with Tommy Joe Martins, who spun and was hit by Haley’s No. 11 Chevrolet before making hard contact with the inside wall. The wreck sent the race into overtime. In the midst of the chaos, Hemric moved to third following his late pit stop, and Chastain, who was able to race his way back onto the lead lap with 25 to go, moved up to sixth.

    In overtime, Cindric drove his No. 22 Ford to the lead over Busch. On the final lap, Busch made a move on the inside lane to draw himself next to Cindric in Turn 2. On the following corner Busch drove his car as deep as he could and was able to clear Cindric as both leaders slipped into the high lane in Turn 3. With the lead, Busch was able to power through and claim the checkered flag for the win with a last-lap pass.

    “It was interesting, and it was crazy,” Busch said on MRN Network. “Earlier in the race, Ross Chastain gave me a hell of a run on a restart, and then right there, Austin gave me a hell of a run on that restart and I thought picking the outside lane would be the sure launch, and those guys would spin their tires down there and not get going. It might have been [Hemric] that helped [Cindric] stay alongside of me, and he was just able to clear me in [Turns] 1 and 2. Crazy how all that turned out.”

    Hemric finished second for the sixth time in his Xfinity Series career, his best result in his fifth start of the season, followed by Cindric, who earned his fourth top-five result of this season.

    “It just didn’t work out for us,” Cindric said. “I was on older tires, and everyone else on older tires ended up crashing. It’s hard to beat the best in the business on older tires. I got a great push from Daniel [on the final restart]. I’m shocked the restart zone went as well as it did. That was a big struggle for me all night. I knew I was going to have to defend in [Turns] 3 and 4 and took the top in [Turns] 1 and 2. I never lifted driving into [Turn] 3 on the final lap. I just gave up second, but didn’t really care at that point. I just wanted to win the race. Overall, it was a great night and I’m really proud of my team.”

    Chastain and Allgaier rallied from their share of misfortunes to finish fourth and fifth. Moffitt, Annett, Brandon Brown, Burton and Snider round out top 10.

    The race featured 20 lead changes with five different leaders. There were 11 cautions for 53 laps.

    Briscoe continues to lead the Xfinity Series regular-season standings by eight points over Cindric and 12 over Chastain.

    Results:

    1. Kyle Busch, 94 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Daniel Hemric

    3. Austin Cindric, 30 laps led

    4. Ross Chastain, 68 laps led

    5. Justin Allgaier

    6. Brett Moffitt

    7. Michael Annett, nine laps led

    8. Brandon Brown

    9. Harrison Burton

    10. Myatt Snider

    11. Noah Gragson, two laps led

    12. Riley Herbst – one lap down

    13. Dillon Bassett – two laps down

    14. Josh Williams – two laps down

    15. Jesse Little – two laps down

    16. Alex Labbe – two laps down

    17. B.J. McLeod – three laps down

    18. Bayley Currey – three laps down

    19. Joe Graf Jr. – three laps down

    20. Chase Briscoe – three laps down

    21. Mason Massey – three laps down

    22. Chad Finchum – three laps down

    23. Vinnie Miller – four laps down

    24. Tommy Joe Martins – OUT

    25. Jeffrey Earnhardt – five laps down

    26. Joe Nemechek – five laps down

    27. Brandon Jones – OUT

    28. Ryan Sieg – six laps down

    29. Justin Haley – OUT

    30. Matt Mills – seven laps down

    31. Garrett Smithley – 10 laps down

    32. Jeremy Clements – OUT

    33. Austin Hill – OUT

    34. Timmy Hill – OUT

    35. Kody Vanderwal – OUT

    36. Jeff Green – OUT

    37. Colby Howard – OUT

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Charlotte

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Charlotte

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished fifth in the Coca-Cola 600 and remains atop the points standings with a 23 point lead over Joey Logano.

    “Chase Elliott must be devastated,” Harvick said. “And it shows. Even with the specter of Coronavirus all around us, he still can’t ‘mask’ his disappointment.”

    2. Joey Logano: Logano won Stage 3 and finished 13th at Charlotte.

    “I turned 30 on Sunday,” Logano said. “NASCAR officials gave me a pit road speeding penalty for my birthday, apparently.”

    3. Alex Bowman: Bowman won Stages 1 and 2 at Charlotte, but faded late and finished 19th. He is third in the points standings, 25 behind Kevin Harvick.

    “Chase Elliott might be a little upset at crew chief Alan Gustafson for the decision to pit,” Bowman said. “I hear Gustafson came to Chase’s hauler to console him. Chase was having none of it. He told Alan to ‘Get out.’ And, most importantly, he told him to ‘Stay out!’”

    4. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski stayed out on a caution with two laps remaining and held off Jimmie Johnson to win the Coca-Cola 600.

    “I’d like to thank my team,” Keselowski said, “as well as the fans. I’d also like to thank the ‘man upstairs.’ That’s what I call the person sitting atop Chase Elliott’s pit box who made the decision to pit.”

    5. Chase Elliott: Elliott pitted with the lead when a caution flew with two laps remaining, a decision that ultimately cost him the win. A dejected Elliott finished second.

    “We blew that,” Elliott said. “It was such a bad decision, I gave myself the finger.

    “We thought pitting was definitely the right call, but it turned out to be one of the dumbest moves we’ve made. No matter how you look at it, it was a ‘no brainer.’”

    6. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 29th, seven laps down, after a disastrous start in Charlotte.

    “I had a rough start to my night,” Hamlin said. “I had to pit before the green flag because my ballast weights fell out. My response was, ‘Weight! What?’

    “On the bright side, I’ve already got two wins this season. So, mask or no mask, it’s easy to ‘put on a happy face.’”

    7. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished third at Charlotte, posting his second top-five of the season. He is seventh in the points standings, 79 out of first.

    “Charlotte’s race was called the ‘Coca-Cola 600,” Blaney said. “When I looked into the stands, however, I thought ‘Coke Zero.’”

    8. Aric Almirola: Almirola finished 15th at Charlotte.

    “Kyle Larson won the World Of Outlaws race on Saturday night in Missouri,” Almirola said. “Earlier this year, he lost big in the ‘Words Of Outlaws.’”

    9. Kyle Busch: Busch came home fourth in the Coca Cola 600

    “It was an eventful week for Chase Elliott and his right arm,” Busch said. “First, I wrecked him in Darlington and he gives me the finger. Then, in Charlotte, he loses the race by his own hand.”

    10. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished second at Charlotte, but was disqualified after failing post-race inspection and relegated to last place.

    “As Kyle Busch might say,” Johnson said, “you can’t fix this and have ice cream later. But if I were to have ice cream, it would definitely be from DQ.”

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: California

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: California

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Ryan Blaney: Blaney won Stage 2 and suffered a cut tire late in the final stage, which forced a pit stop and left him with a 19th-place finish.

    “Alex Bowman whipped the field by almost nine seconds,” Blaney said. “So mine wasn’t even the biggest ‘blowout’ of the race.”

    2. Joey Logano: Logano finished 12th in the Auto Club 400 at Fontana.

    “It was cool to see Jimmie Johnson honored with the ‘5-Wide Salute,’” Logano said. “Maybe one day, I can receive that same appreciation. I kind of do now. However, my ‘5-Wide Salute’ is five people standing side-by-side giving me the ‘One-Finger Salute.’”

    3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick came home ninth in a mostly uneventful Auto Club 400. He is fourth in the points standings, 12 out of first.

    “My ‘Kyle Busch Bounty’ really has people talking about the Gander Truck Series,” Harvick said. “And it has people talking more about Kyle Busch, which is actually what I was trying to avoid.”

    4. Alex Bowman: Bowman led 110 laps at Fontana and held off Kyle and Kurt Busch late to ease to victory in the Auto Club 400.

    “I promised a friend I’d get an ’88’ tattoo if I won,” Bowman said. “I’m sure people will have a lot of questions when they see my tattoo, like, ‘Cool, are you’re a Dale, Jr. fan”‘”

    5. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson started second and finished seventh at Fontana.

    “I was honored with a ‘Five-Wide Salute’ during the warmup laps,” Johnson said. I’m really digging this farewell tour. I mean really digging it. It’s quite a turn-on actually. You could say I now have a ‘fete fetish.’”

    6. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished fifth at Fontana, scoring his first top-five result of the season.

    “Good news,” Keselowski said. “NASCAR is transitioning to single lug nut wheels in 2021. In hockey, that would be a ‘one-timer.’ In baseball, it’s a ‘single.’ In basketball, it’s a ‘one-and-done.’”

    7. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin started at the back of the field and forged his way forward to finish sixth at Fontana, posting his second top-10 of the season.

    “We started at the back because we pitted to change a shock absorber on the warmup laps,” Hamlin said. “Little did we know that the real shock ‘absorber’ would be Kyle Larson’s rear bumper.”

    8. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished fourth at California, recording his first top-five of the season. He is sixth in the points standings, 17 out of first.

    “I was just named brand ambassador for Hooters Spirits,” Elliott said. “In case you’re wondering, Hooters Spirits is not a haunted Hooter’s restaurant, where the waitresses might say ‘Boo(b)!’ It’s a line of Hooter’s alcoholic beverages. Look for them on shelves. Or better yet, look for them on racks.”

    9. Matt DiBenedetto: DiBenedetto continued his strong start to the season, posting a 13th at Fontana, and is eighth in the points standings.

    “You could say I’m ‘running with the big dogs,’” DiBenedetto said. “And as they say, ‘If you can’t run with the big dogs, stay off the porch.’ Well, I’m a big dog, and I’m gonna stay on that porch, and probably ‘leave my mark.’”

    10. Kyle Busch: Busch finished second in the Auto Club 400, scoring his first top-five result after two lackluster efforts to begin the season.

    “Alex Bowman beat me by almost nine seconds,” Busch said. “In racing, that’s an eternity. So, if you ask how badly I was beaten, I’ll tell you ‘from there to eternity.’

    “As for bounties on me, I say ‘Bring ’em on.’ I don’t mind being the hunted, just as I don’t mind being the bad guy. I’m not here to be liked. You’ve heard of Formula 1, right? Well, for me, it’s not ‘F1,’ it’s ‘F everyone.’”

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Joey Logano: Logano took the win in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas, staying on the track during a late caution to secure the win.

    “My crew chief Paul Wolfe said to pit,” Logano said, “but I didn’t hear him, so I stayed out. Now, a lot of people are telling me I should have my ears checked, most notably Kurt Busch’s cosmetic surgeon.”

    2. Ryan Blaney: Blaney seemed headed to victory at Las Vegas before Ross Chastain’s spin brought out the caution with six laps to go. Blaney hit the pits, but Joey Logano stayed out to steal the win. Blaney finished 11th and leads the points standings.

    “I guess we should have stayed out,” Blaney said. “It was a regrettable decision, but we can always learn from our mistakes. As a team, we usually meet and discuss the big mistakes we’ve made. We call it the ‘craps!’ table.”

    3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished eighth at Las Vegas and is third in the Cup series points standings.

    “Compared to Daytona,” Harvick said, “this race was pretty boring. There were no huge crashes, no photo finish, and no President taking a lap. So apparently, what happens in Daytona stays in Daytona.”

    4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Stenhouse finished third in the Pennzoil 400 and is fifth in the Cup points standings.

    “It’s early in the season,” Stenhouse said. “I know because I’m fifth in the points standings.

    “But I believe I can keep it going, because I believe in myself, and unlike Aaron Rodgers, I believe in God. I don’t think Danica Patrick shared my faith. Clearly, she was less in tune with the ‘heavenly father,’ and more in tune with ‘Go Daddy.’”

    5. Kyle Larson: Larson finished ninth in the Pennzoil 400.

    “The members of the 1980 Olympics gold medal-winning hockey team served as grand marshals,” Larson said. “The last time this sport experienced a ‘Miracle On Ice,’ was when Jeremy Mayfield was able to drive while high on meth.”

    6. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 17th at Las Vegas.

    “It was a tough day for Joe Gibbs Racing,” Hamlin said. “No one finished better than 15th. So, you could say, here in Las Vegas, JGR went ‘bust.’ In other words, it was a case of ‘Toyota-ta‘s.’”

    7. Chase Elliott: Elliott won the first 2 stages at Las Vegas, but suffered a flat tire with 50 laps remaining, which ruined any chance for the win. Elliott eventually finished 26th, one lap down, and is seventh in the points standings.

    “I was dominating the race,” Elliott said. “My chances of winning the race were high, then, ‘Poof!,’ it all came crashing to a halt. It was the epitome of the phrase ‘Odds and ends.’”

    8. Austin Dillon: Dillon finished fourth at Las Vegas after posting a 12th in the Daytona 500. He is sixth in the points standings.

    “Did you see Michael Waltrip in the ‘Between Two Buschs’ segment on Fox’s pre-race coverage?” Dillon said. “Michael looked stoned. If his brother Darrell did the ‘Ickey Shuffle,’ then Michael must be doing the ‘Sticky Ickey Shuffle.’”

    9. Matt DiBenedetto: DiBenedetto took the runner-up spot in Las Vegas in just his second race with Wood Brothers Racing.

    “Obviously,” DiBenedetto said, “staying on the track during that late caution was the right call. And Ryan Blaney and William Byron learned a hard lesson about taking new tires. So, to all those who believe you should always take fresh rubber during a caution, well, they just need to ‘get a grip.’”

    10. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 14th on a tough day for Joe Gibbs Racing, who failed to place a driver in the top 10.

    “I’ve won seven consecutive Truck Series races,” Busch said. “And Kevin Harvick has offered a $50,000 bounty to any full-time Cup driver who beats me in the next four races. Harvick can take that money and shove it, right back into his bank account because no one’s going to claim it.”

  • Kyle Busch earns dominant Truck Series win at Las Vegas

    Kyle Busch earns dominant Truck Series win at Las Vegas

    Kyle Busch, the all-time wins list leader in the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series, was able to pick up his first victory of the 2020 Truck Series season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday night. He had the best truck all night long and while Busch didn’t start on the pole, it didn’t take him long to get out front and pull away from the field. He had to fight off some contenders including Sheldon Creed and Johnny Sauter, but Busch held on for his 57th career Truck Series victory.

    “The restarts were crazy, you know,” Busch said to MRN Radio. “I don’t know why we couldn’t fire. We couldn’t take off there the last couple (restarts). That was not what I wanted to have in store for us, you can kind of get yourself in a bad spot sometimes. This Cessna Tundra was awesome tonight. I want to thank TRD, everyone at KBM, Rowdy Manufacturing, Rowdy Energy, Credible Bank, Black Leaf Clover, and Gander RV and Outdoors for supporting our series and the fans. Being able to win out here (in Las Vegas). Big thanks to Big Machine Vodka, I appreciate their support last couple of years.

    “It’s fun, you know? Being able to win the last couple of years. Anytime you can win it’s great, but anytime you can in your own stuff with all these KBM boys, it means a lot to get Danny Stockman (Crew Chief) his first win.”

    Qualifying was held earlier in the day for the Strat 200 and veteran Johnny Sauter qualified on the pole with Sheldon Creed on the outside pole. Race winner Busch was third. Prior to the race, several trucks went to the back due to infractions. Those were Matt Crafton, Angela Ruch, and Stefan Parsons who went to the back for unapproved adjustments while Cory Roper went to the back for an engine change.

    Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 30

    It didn’t take long for the first caution to fly, as the caution came out on the second lap of the race. The No. 19 of Derek Kraus went for a spin in Turn 3. Surprisingly, that was the only caution in the first stage. Johnny Sauter led the first seven laps of the race, before Busch took the lead and the Stage 1 win.

    Busch, Christian Eckes, Sauter, Tyler Ankrum, Austin Hill, Raphael Lessard, Ross Chastain, Brett Moffitt, Ben Rhodes and Sheldon Creed completed the top-10 finishers for Stage 1.

    After the pit stops, there were some penalties handed down to several drivers. Natalie Decker was penalized for fueling twice which caused her to get a one-lap penalty. Zane Smith and Spencer Davis were caught with an equipment violation. Stewart Friesen, Spencer Boyd, and Josh Reaume were penalized for improper fueling, while Austin Hill and Tate Fogleman had an uncontrolled tire.

    Stage 2: Lap 38- Lap 60

    For a short while, Busch’s teammate, Eckes, took the lead after Stage 2 was underway. But it didn’t take long for the Las Vegas native to take the lead away on Lap 45. There were no incidents during this stage, other than the No. 83 of Stefan Parsons who was on pit road late in the stage for a throttle issue.

    The second stage was another flawless stage for Busch, as he picked up the stage win once more. Eckes, Chastain, Grant Enfinger, Matt Crafton, Rhodes, Moffitt, Lessard, Todd Gilliland, and Sauter rounded out the top-10 for the second stage.

    Late in the stage, Busch reported a vibration with his truck but it appeared to get better as the run went on. Tyler Ankrum was also penalized for pitting outside the box and received a one-lap penalty.

    Stage 3: Lap 67- Lap 134

    The third stage featured a little more action and it wasn’t all that easy for Busch to pull away. With 61 to go, teammate Eckes cut a right-front tire down which sent him plowing into the wall. This brought out the caution to slow the pace. After the restart with 56 to go, Creed challenged Busch for the lead for multiple laps before Busch got the better of Creed.

    The final caution of the night took place with 39 to go. Daytona winner Enfinger and Canadian Lessard were both involved in an incident on the backstretch. Both drivers would be out of the race early and wound up 30th and 31st respectively.

    A final restart occurred with 35 to go and there were some intense moments for race leader Busch. Sheldon Creed got really loose off Turn 4 and almost took out Busch in the process. However, both drivers were able to save their trucks from major incidents.

    From there, Busch had no issues and took home his sixth consecutive Truck Series victory dating back to 2018. But this win was extra special to Busch, as he was able to obtain Danny Stockman during the off-season.

    “Yeah, I wasn’t sure if I was going to get him,” Busch added to MRN Radio. “I had to do a hell of a sell job on him and fortunately it all worked out. He knows he’s got a great organization here with Rudy (Fugle, Crew Chief) and myself, and (Mike) Hillman Jr being there as well. That adds to the portfolio with the strength of Stockman and hopefully being able to have some really good results. I know the other two (Christian Eckes and Raphael Lessard) got caught up in some other stuff tonight. We got to straightened them boys out and kick them into shape and show them they should be right here, finishing one-two-three with us.”

    Busch led 108 laps of the 134 en route to victory. There were five cautions for 25 laps and 15 lead changes among five different leaders.

    Official Results

    1. Kyle Busch, led 108 laps, won both stages
    2. Johnny Sauter, led seven laps
    3. Austin Hill
    4. Matt Crafton
    5. Ben Rhodes
    6. Zane Smith
    7. Todd Gilliland
    8. Tanner Gray
    9. Stewart Friesen
    10. Sheldon Creed
    11. Tyler Ankrum
    12. Spencer Davis
    13. Ty Majeski
    14. Ross Chastain
    15. Brennan Poole
    16. Brett Moffitt
    17. Austin Wayne Self
    18. Codie Rohrbaugh
    19. Tate Fogleman, one lap down
    20. Jordan Anderson, two laps down
    21. Natalie Decker, two laps down
    22. Derek Kraus, three laps down
    23. Christian Eckes, four laps down
    24. Angela Ruch, four laps down
    25. Spencer Boyd, five laps down
    26. Cory Roper, six laps down
    27. Josh Reaume, eight laps down
    28. Timmy Hill, OUT, Overheating
    29. Stefan Parsons, 22 laps down
    30. Raphael Lessard, OUT, Crash
    31. Grant Enfinger, OUT, Crash
    32. Josh Bilicki, OUT, Handling

    Up Next: The next time the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series will be back on-track is Saturday March 14 at 1:30 p.m./ET live on Fox Sports 1.

  • Busch set for five-race schedule in the Truck Series

    Busch set for five-race schedule in the Truck Series

    Kyle Busch Motorsports announced today that the all-time winningest driver in the Truck Series, Kyle Busch, will once again be back in the Truck Series field for 2020. The Las Vegas, Nevada native is set to do a five-race stint in his famed No. 51 Toyota Tundra. That’s the most Busch can do due to the five-race rule limit set by NASCAR.

    Busch is scheduled to compete at the following races. His first race will be February 21 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, March 14 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Homestead Miami Speedway on March 20, Texas Motor Speedway March 27 and his final Truck Series race will be at Kansas Speedway on Saturday night May 30.

    Last season, Busch was able to go five for five, winning in all five of his starts including three tracks that are on his schedule this year as well, Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Texas. However, you’ll have to go back to 2014 almost six years ago when Busch last competed at Homestead. In that race, he started fifth and finished fourth after six laps led. As for Kansas Speedway, it will be the first time in over two years since Busch last raced in the Truck Series there. He came up just shy of winning the race that night, finishing second to then KBM teammate, Noah Gragson.

  • Kyle Busch takes home second championship after winning season finale at Homestead

    Kyle Busch takes home second championship after winning season finale at Homestead

    In the past few years of the Championship 4 event, the drivers competing for the championship have needed to win the race. The Ford Ecoboost 400 certainly came down to that once again Sunday night in Southern Florida at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    Kyle Busch brought home his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship and the fifth title for Joe Gibbs Racing after taking the lead from Kevin Harvick with 45 to go. Busch held on to the lead and without a late-race caution, wound up winning his fifth race of the 2019 season.

    “We have a great race team, a great owner and the best sponsors in sports,” Busch said. “I just can’t say enough and thank everyone enough for this opportunity. I may be the one that’s able to hoist the trophy or to have a championship, but it wouldn’t be possible without Adam Stevens (crew chief) and Joe Gibbs, J.D. Gibbs, Coy Gibbs and the whole family. M&M’s of course and Interstate Batteries and Norm Miller. And, Toyota – this TRD engine was awesome tonight. It’s been awesome all year. We had one issue, but man it’s so much fun to work with these guys and this group. Everybody that puts it all together for me. There’s always your doubters. There’s always your haters, but you know what, this one is for Rowdy nation because you guys are the best. Thank you so much.“

    With practices being canceled due to weather on Friday, NASCAR elected to cancel qualifying and replace it with a practice session on Saturday afternoon. With that in mind, the starting grid was set by Owner Points, which saw Championship 4 driver Denny Hamlin inherit the pole. Kevin Harvick was second, Martin Truex Jr. started third and Kyle Busch fourth. Stages of 80/80/107 laps made up the 267-lap race at Homestead-Miami.

    Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 80

    The Ford Ecoboost 400 got off to a clean start with no issues. In fact, the whole stage went without a caution, however, there were some hairy moments. Championship 4 driver Kyle Busch reported that he potentially ran over something on Lap 28, but he carried on the rest of the stage without a problem. The first round of green-flag pit stops took place on Lap 36 with Busch and Harvick being the first to pit of the Championship 4. Hamlin and Truex followed one lap later. After the stops, Truex cycled back out to the lead on Lap 40.

    By cycling out to the lead, Truex led for the final 40 laps in the first stage and took the stage win. Kyle Busch was third, Harvick fourth and Hamlin fifth among the championship contenders, though none of them were able to receive points. Truex’s car was so fast that he lapped cars all the way to 14th place before the completion of Stage 1.

    Stage 2: Lap 80- Lap 160

    When Stage 2 got underway, there was an intense battle between the top runners. Kyle Larson, Harvick and Busch were all challenging for the lead at once. However, it was Truex who once again got the best of them and led for 33 laps before the next round of pit stops, and this is where a mistake occurred for the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team.

    During the second round of green-flag pit stops, the team accidentally got the tires mixed around by putting the left tire on the right front and the right tire on the left front. This made Truex come back down pit road to fix the issue and lose a lap. In this case, Busch cycled out as the leader and it was his time to shine until a caution came in Truex’s favor on Lap 138. The No. 19 driver was in the free pass position and got his lap back courtesy of the yellow from a spin by John Hunter Nemechek.

    After the restart on Lap 142, the lead changed hands multiple times between Harvick and Busch, before Busch got the upper hand and earned his 12th stage win of the year. Harvick came in second, Truex fourth and Hamlin finished once again in the fifth position.

    Stage 3: Lap 166- Lap 267

    The final stage had a 101 lap run to the finish and featured some exciting moments. For instance, Denny Hamlin’s car came to life and was starting to make some noise for the first time of the night. In fact, the Championship 4 drivers were 1-2-3-4 with 91 to go. As the race wore long, so did the equipment and the tires, which meant the final round of green-flag pit stops.

    Hamlin was the first to pit with 58 to go hoping to get out in front of the rest of the Championship 4 drivers. However, troubles arose for the Virginia native, as too much tape was put on which caused the car to overheat with an extraordinary amount of water coming out of the car. This made Hamlin come to the pits again and ultimately ended up costing him a chance at the championship.

    A few other drivers had problems as well late in the race. Larson, after being so strong early, had his hood up on pit road. Eventually, the No. 42 pushed the car back behind the wall and ended his season with a disappointing 40th place finish. William Byron also had no oil pressure with 49 to go and his night was done early as well.

    With that all in mind, Harvick stayed out to assume the lead and hoped for a caution to help his case. He pitted with 44 to go as he could not stay out much longer without the rest of the field eating him up on fresher tires. He came back out 17th, one lap down.

    This meant Kyle Busch was the lucky one to assume the lead after pit stops. He took the lead with just 45 laps remaining and held on to win the second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship of his career and the fifth title for Joe Gibbs Racing. Joe Gibbs Racing also became the winningest team by having 19 wins in a season, surpassing Hendrick Motorsports with 18.

    Busch led five times for 120 laps en route to his fifth win of the season. The Las Vegas native talked about his dominant run to cap off a perfect season.

    “Everybody always says you never give up and we’re no different and we just do what we can do each and every week and sometimes we may not be the best and sometimes we may not have the right track position. Today we had a really good car and I could race around and move around. That’s what’s so special about Homestead-Miami Speedway is the ability to put on a show. Kind of like we did there racing those guys. It was exciting from my seat. It was a lot of fun to cap off such an amazing year.”

    There were three cautions for 15 laps and 14 lead changes among five different drivers.

    Official Results

    1. Kyle Busch, led 120 laps, won Stage 2, 2019 Cup Series Champion
    2. Martin Truex Jr., led 103 laps, won Stage 1
    3. Erik Jones
    4. Kevin Harvick, led 41 laps
    5. Joey Logano
    6. Clint Bowyer
    7. Ryan Newman
    8. Austin Dillon
    9. Alex Bowman
    10. Denny Hamlin, led two laps
    11. Ryan Blaney, one lap down
    12. Daniel Hemric, 2019 Cup Series Rookie of The Year, one lap down
    13. Jimmie Johnson, one lap down
    14. Daniel Suarez, one lap down
    15. Chase Elliott, one lap down
    16. Chris Buescher, one lap down
    17. Paul Menard, one lap down
    18. Brad Keselowski, two laps down
    19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr, two laps down
    20. Matt DiBenedetto, two laps down
    21. Kurt Busch, two laps down
    22. Aric Almirola, three laps down
    23. John Hunter Nemechek, three laps down
    24. Ty Dillon, three laps down
    25. Ryan Preece, four laps down
    26. Michael McDowell, four laps down
    27. David Ragan, four laps down
    28. Landon Cassill, five laps down
    29. Drew Herring, five laps down
    30. J.J. Yeley, five laps down
    31. Corey LaJoie, six laps down
    32. B.J. McLeod, 11 laps down
    33. Timmy Hill, 19 laps down
    34. Bubba Wallace, 24 laps down
    35. Ross Chastain, 25 laps down
    36. Josh Bilicki, OUT, Brakes
    37. Reed Sorenson, OUT, Brakes
    38. Joe Nemechek, OUT, Steering
    39. William Byron, OUT, Engine
    40. Kyle Larson, OUT, Engine

    Up Next: It is now the off-season for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The next on-track action for the Cup Series drivers will be in 2020 with The Clash and Daytona 500 Qualifying on Sunday, Feb. 9. However, the playoff drivers will take a trip to Nashville, Tennessee for the Banquet Awards Ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 5, live on NBCSN.

  • Hamlin finds redemption to win at Phoenix in bid for Championship

    Hamlin finds redemption to win at Phoenix in bid for Championship

    AVONDALE, Ariz. — Denny Hamlin finds redemption from last week’s mistake to secure his spot into the Championship 4 by winning the Bluegreen Vacations 500 at ISM Raceway.

    “I can’t believe it,” Hamlin said post-race.

    Hamlin was below the cutoff race and lost 44 points in a single race. Today’s win negates that mistake as the driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota will go for his first career NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series championship.

    “This race team worked so hard this whole year. They deserve to be there. I put them in a bad hole last week. I told them today in the meeting, I said, I’m going to give everything I’ve got to make up for the mistake I made last week. That’s all I got.”

    Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. will join Hamlin and go for their second championship. If one of them wins next weekend, they will become the second active driver in the field with multiple championships (Jimmie Johnson holds seven titles).

    “Guys did a great job, this M&M Camry was good,” Busch shared. “Thanks to everybody at JGR, Stanley, Toyota, TRD. It’s cool to have a chance to go race for a championship.”

    Truex was the first driver to lock in after winning at Martinsville.

    “I know we’re ready for Homestead,” stated a confident Truex. “To put three (JGR) cars in the Championship 4 is pretty incredible, so thanks to TRD and Toyota and all those guys. Bass Pro, Auto-Owners, everybody that helps us on the 19, and we’ll see what we can do next week.”

    Harvick will be the second seed with his 49th career victory last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

    “The one thing about this particular year, it seems like you’ve had great weeks, you’ve had mediocre weeks so that momentum thing is kind of hit-or-miss as you go through it,” Harvick explained the various parts of his season as being a momentum factor. “Just really proud of everybody on our Mobil 1 Ford.”

    Joey Logano pit stop ISM Raceway 2019
    Joey Logano comes to pit road for full service, four tires and fuel. The adjustments the crew made would hurt the car instead of help, as the No. 22 team fell one lap down. Photo courtesy of Rachel Schuoler with Speedway Media.

    Stage 2 winner and Playoff contender Joey Logano was competing up front in the first half of the race. After the conclusion of Stage 2, Logano’s crew made an adjustment on the car that appeared to not agree with the track conditions. When the field returned to green flag racing, Logano dropped through the field and even fell a lap down. He could never recover, finished ninth, and was the first driver eliminated from the Playoffs after being above the cutoff line to start the day.

    “I went from a car that could lead and win a stage and run really well, and from what they told me, it was an air pressure adjustment made it go from a winning car to can’t stay on the lead lap, and one of the tightest things I’ve ever driven. I don’t really understand it. It doesn’t make any sense. You change tires and change a half pint of air, that sounds ridiculous. It is what it is. Just wasn’t our year to make it, I guess. But we’ll fight for fifth, I guess, in points for this year, and we’ll move on.”

    “It stinks. It hurts a little bit, but we’ll live,” Logano said. “Everything is going to be OK. Life is a lot worse in other ways for some. We’re still fortunate to be here and get to do what we love. It’s a bummer for sure. It doesn’t take anything away from that, but it’s just part of the game sometimes.”

    Three other drivers in must-win situations were also eliminated from the Playoffs: Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott. For Elliott, he battled for the lead throughout the first half of the race, but a blown tire in Turn 1 caused race-ending damage on his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet.

    “Yeah, it’s just a continuation of our first two weeks, unfortunately, ” Elliott said. “I feel like we were in a good position to run solid. I’m not sure why we had a tire go down. I think that’s what happened, at least; it seemed like it. It’s unfortunate. Like I said, these last three weeks have been pretty rough. So, hopefully, Homestead goes better and we can get prepared good for next season and get a good notebook for next year.”

    “All in all, a great season for our team,” Larson shared after the race. “A little rocky at the start, but we kept our heads down and kept working hard and got our stuff a lot better and more consistent throughout this season. We’ll try to go to Homestead next week and get a win.”

    Busch, Blaney, Larson, Harvick and Truex finished in the top six respectively. Erik Jones was the highest non-Playoff driver who finished in seventh. Clint Bowyer, Logano and Brad Keselowski completed the top 10 positions. Elliott, the final Playoff driver, finished 39th after crashing out on Lap 166.

    The champion for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be crowned next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

  • Kyle Busch earns first 2019 pole at ISM

    Kyle Busch earns first 2019 pole at ISM

    AVONDALE, Ariz. — Saturday’s qualifying session proved why the eight remaining Playoff drivers are fighting for the last remaining transfer positions for next weekend’s championship race. Kyle Busch earned his first Busch Pole Award of the season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at ISM Raceway.

    He set a pole-running pace on his first lap, then ran even faster on his second lap around the one-mile circuit at 140.116 mph (25.693 seconds). He edged fellow Playoff driver and defending Cup champion Joey Logano (139.752 mph) by .067 seconds, as only two points separate the two drivers that currently hold the last two transfer positions.

    “I think this is actually the first race all year we made a mock (qualifying) run in practice,” said Busch. “Maybe there’s something to that. The guys did a great job. We fight hard every week trying to figure out what we need to do to continue to improve and get better, and a lot of others guys have certainly done that over the year.”

    Denny Hamlin, the first driver below the cutoff line in the championship, qualified third ahead of Martin Truex Jr., the first driver to lock himself into the Championship 4 after winning at Martinsville Speedway. Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott will make up the third row of Sunday’s starting grid.

    Last week’s winner, Kevin Harvick, will start seventh. The first non-Playoff driver was Kurt Busch who will start alongside Harvick. Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney round out the top 10, as all Playoff drivers will start in the top 10.

    With points being tight and a big potential shuffle if a driver below the cutoff line wins, Busch understands the importance of getting the pole and starting strong with valuable track position.

    “Hopefully today bodes well for tomorrow,” he said. “Overall, proud to start out front in this very important race and very important with track position and such.”

    Sunday’s Bluegreen Vacations 500 will be the penultimate race of the 2019 season. Four drivers will be eliminated as the others will head to Miami to race for the Cup championship. Coverage for tomorrow’s race will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

  • Kyle Busch to compete in 2020 Rolex 24

    Kyle Busch to compete in 2020 Rolex 24

    Staff Report | NASCAR.com

    Joe Gibbs Racing driver and 2019 Monster Energy Series championship hopeful Kyle Busch will compete in the 2020 Rolex 24 endurance race at Daytona International Speedway.

    The 2015 Cup Series champion will make his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut for AIM Vasser Sullivan, driving a Lexus RC F GT3 car in the Jan. 25-26 race.

    “I’d like to thank everyone at Lexus Motorsports and AIM Vasser Sullivan and Toyota for this opportunity,” Busch said Monday at a Toyota plant in Texas, according to NBC. “To have the chance to run in such an iconic race as the Rolex 24 is certainly something I’ve thought about and wanted to do. My partnership with Toyota and the history we’ve had together has been incredible. I would love to continue that history and maybe get my Daytona Rolex to add to my trophy collection.”

    Busch is the latest NASCAR driver to compete in the prestigious event, joining the likes of Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr., AJ Allmendinger, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and more. Gordon is the most recent driver with NASCAR ties to win the event, teaming with Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor and Max Angelelli in 2017.

    IMSA indicated that Busch will prepare for the event in the Roar Before the Rolex 24 on Jan. 3-5, 2020.

    Busch has a sport-car start at Daytona to his credit, pairing with Scott Speed to finish 10th in a Lexus Daytona Prototype owned by Chip Ganassi.