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Tag: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

  • Sam Hornish Jr. Sets Track Record, Earns Coors Light Pole at Mid-Ohio

    Sam Hornish Jr. Sets Track Record, Earns Coors Light Pole at Mid-Ohio

    By Staff report | NASCAR.com

    Sam Hornish Jr. won the Coors Light Pole Award Friday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, setting a track speed record as well.

    Hornish Jr. wheeled his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet around the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course in Lexington, Ohio, at a track record-setting 96.755 mph in the opening session of qualifying. In the second and final session, with a fast lap of 96.374 mph, he sealed the first starting spot in the Mid-Ohio Challenge (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

    “The fact that we’re here. We’re as good as we have been, really, is hats off to RCR and all the people that work on the Rheem No. 2 car,” the polesitter said post-qualifying. “Right off the bat, this morning I was kind of worried about it being a little bit rusty. It’s been a little while since I’ve been on a road course.”

    This marks Hornish’s eighth career pole and first of 2016.

    Sharing the front row will be Owen Kelly, a road specialist who reached 95.877 mph in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

    Ryan Blaney, (95.739 mph in No. 22 Team Penske Ford), Elliott Sadler (95.675 mph, No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet) and Daniel Suarez (95.613 mph, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) completed the top five, respectively.

     

    Complete: Results

     

  • Regan Smith Pulls Last Lap Move For XFINITY Win At Mid-Ohio

    Regan Smith Pulls Last Lap Move For XFINITY Win At Mid-Ohio

    By Chris Knight
    NASCAR Wire Service

    LEXINGTON, Ohio—What a difference a week makes.

    After experiencing pure frustration last weekend at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Regan Smith answered his second road course race of the season with a bump-and-run on leader Alex Tagliani in the second-to-last corner on the last lap to score his first NASCAR XFINITY Series win of the season in Saturday’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

    The short-track-like move ended a 52-race winless streak for Smith driving the No. 7 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports.

    “These guys work their butts off all week,” said Smith after earning his fifth career win. “This car was destroyed door tops down, they rebuilt it in one day. The guys back at the shop phenomenal job, my road guys have stuck behind me for a while. We’ve had a lot of opportunities to win. I hate to do it in the last corner, but it’s been too long, a long time, I wasn’t going to pass the opportunity up.

    “I’ve been wrecked so many times on these road courses, I had to do what I had to do right there. I didn’t spin him, just got the spot. We’re going to celebrate hard tonight.”

    Tagliani, who was searching for his first XFINITY Series victory in seven races, had to settle for a disappointing second after taking the lead from Smith with 15 laps remaining.

    “If I knew that he was going to win like that probably instead of passing him fair and square early on in the race, I would have probably pushed him off a bit,” said Tagliani. “But, he knows I’m not going to be there next weekend to retaliate.”

    In his first XFINITY Series race of the season, Tagliani scored his third career Coors Light Pole in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford and jumped to the early lead, separating himself by more than 1.2 seconds over defending race winner Chris Buescher until the first caution of the day on Lap 6 for a stalled car on the backstretch.

    With pit strategy already on the minds of crew chiefs, many of the leaders elected to pit early, but Boris Said stayed out and inherited the lead for the restart. Said’s time at the front was short-lived, as he was immediately challenged on the restart by reigning XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott, who took the lead in Turn 1.

    Elliott led until Lap 12 when the second caution waved for Kenny Habul. Leaders Elliott and Said pitted, with Elliott Sadler assuming the top spot briefly before Buescher grabbed control from his Roush Fenway Racing teammate.

    Following the third caution of the race, Tagliani swiped the lead from Buescher in Turn 3, only to have his momentum stalled by a caution for fluid on the race track.

    Tagliani maintained the race lead through the halfway point.

    Under a Lap 41 yellow, the majority of the field made their final scheduled pit stop, with Smith claiming the lead after pit stops and the racing resuming with 30 laps remaining.

    Despite another yellow flag for fluid on the track, the leaders elected to stay out.

    Racing resumed with 20 laps to go with Smith easily escaping from the furry of furious side-by-side action behind him. Tagliani, though, quickly emerged from the pack and set his sights on Smith, setting up to reassume command on Lap 61 and set the tone for the thrilling finish.

    Buescher leads Ty Dillon by 24 points in the XFINITY Series standings.

    NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio
    Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
    Lexington, Ohio
    Saturday, August 15, 2015

                   1. (7) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 75, $54536.

                   2. (1) Alex Tagliani, Ford, 75, $53559.

                   3. (3) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 75, $36111.

                   4. (2) Chris Buescher, Ford, 75, $34901.

                   5. (6) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 75, $30734.

                   6. (10) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 75, $26756.

                   7. (5) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 75, $24890.

                   8. (11) Darrell Wallace Jr. #, Ford, 75, $25157.

                   9. (16) Dylan Lupton, Chevrolet, 75, $23878.

                   10. (8) Ben Rhodes, Chevrolet, 75, $24550.

                   11. (9) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, 75, $23523.

                   12. (12) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 75, $23448.

                   13. (4) Boris Said, Toyota, 75, $23347.

                   14. (21) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 75, $23220.

                   15. (13) Justin Marks, Chevrolet, 75, $23545.

                   16. (26) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 75, $23068.

                   17. (14) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 75, $22967.

                   18. (20) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 75, $23040.

                   19. (32) Ross Chastain #, Chevrolet, 75, $22765.

                   20. (24) Cale Conley #, Toyota, 75, $23213.

                   21. (22) Andy Lally, Chevrolet, 75, $22638.

                   22. (17) Ryan Reed, Ford, 75, $22592.

                   23. (23) Dakoda Armstrong, Ford, 75, $22557.

                   24. (30) Blake Koch, Toyota, 75, $22497.

                   25. (36) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 75, $16575.

                   26. (35) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 75, $22389.

                   27. (25) Michael Self, Chevrolet, 75, $16354.

                   28. (15) Kenny Habul, Toyota, 75, $22324.

                   29. (19) Brandon Jones(i), Chevrolet, 75, $22289.

                   30. (34) Tim Cowen, Ford, 72, $16543.

                   31. (28) David Starr, Toyota, 69, $22198.

                   32. (27) Tomy Drissi, Toyota, Accident, 68, $22152.

                   33. (37) Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, 68, $16121.

                   34. (18) Dylan Kwasniewski, Chevrolet, 66, $16101.

                   35. (31) Eric McClure, Toyota, 60, $22063.

                   36. (29) Carlos Contreras, Chevrolet, Suspension, 50, $14562.

                   37. (39) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 33, $13562.

                   38. (40) John Jackson, Chevrolet, Brakes, 18, $12562.

                   39. (38) Josh Reaume #, Dodge, Fuel Pump, 6, $11562.

                   40. (33) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 3, $10562.

     Average Speed of Race Winner:  67.493 mph.
    Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 30 Mins, 33 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.766 Seconds.
    Caution Flags:  8 for 25 laps.Lead Changes:  8 among 6 drivers.

    Lap Leaders:   A. Tagliani 1-7; B. Said 8-9; C. Elliott 10-13; E. Sadler 14-15; C. Buescher 16-25; A. Tagliani 26-42; R. Smith 43-60; A. Tagliani 61-74; R. Smith 75;.

    Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  A. Tagliani 3 times for 38 laps; R. Smith 2 times for 19 laps; C. Buescher 1 time for 10 laps; C. Elliott 1 time for 4 laps; E. Sadler 1 time for 2 laps; B. Said 1 time for 2 laps.

    Top 10 in Points: C. Buescher – 765; T. Dillon – 741; C. Elliott – 740; R. Smith – 714; E. Sadler – 705; D. Wallace Jr. # – 665; D. Suarez # – 658; B. Scott – 643; B. Gaughan – 642; R. Reed – 587.

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Michigan and Mid-Ohio

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Michigan and Mid-Ohio

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series will compete this week at Michigan International Speedway while the NASCAR XFINITY Series travels to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. All Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series practices, qualifying sessions and races can be seen on NBC Sports Live Extra. The Camping World Truck Series events will be televised on FOX Sports 1. The full schedule is listed below.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, August 14:

    On Track – Michigan:

    11 a.m.-1:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Practice – NBCSN/Live Extra
    1:30-2:25 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Practice – FOX Sports 1
    3-4:25 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice (Will be shown on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET)
    5:05 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – NBCSN/Live Extra

    On Track – Mid-Ohio:

    1:30-2:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – NBCSN/Live Extra
    3-4:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – RSN/Live Extra

    Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

    9:45 a.m.: Greg Biffle
    10 a.m.: Matt Kenseth
    10:15 a.m.: Tyler Reddick
    10:30 a.m.: Erik Jones
    3:15 p.m.: Jeff Gordon
    6 p.m. (approx.): Post-NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying

    Saturday, August 15:

    On Track – Michigan:

    8:30-9:25 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series Practice – CNBC/Live Extra
    9:40 a.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FOX Sports 1
    11:30 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice – CNBC/Live Extra
    12:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Setup – FOX Sports 1
    1 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Careers for Veterans 200 presented by Cooper Standard and Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation – (100 laps, 200 miles) – FOX Sports 1

    On Track – Mid-Ohio:

    11:15 a.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – Live Extra
    3 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Countdown to Green – NBCSN
    3:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio (75 laps, 169.35 miles) – NBCSN/Live Extra

    Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

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

    Sunday, August 16:

    On Track – Michigan:

    11:30 a.m.: NASCAR RaceDay: Michigan – FOX Sports 1
    1:30 p.m.: NASCAR America Sunday – NBCSN
    2 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Countdown to Green – NBCSN
    2:30 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 (200 laps, 400 miles) – NBCSN/Live Extra
    5:30 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Post-Race Show – NBCSN
    11 p.m.: NASCAR Victory Lap – NBCSN
    Midnight: NASCAR Victory Lane – FOX Sports 1

    Press Conferences (Watch live at NASCAR.com)

    11 a.m.: MIS President Roger Curtis and Consumers Energy VP and Chief Customer Officer Garrick J. Rochow
    11:30 a.m.: Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, Michigan Economic Development Corporation CEO Steve Arwood, Travel Michigan Vice President Dave Lorenz and grand marshal Michael Harris
    5:15 p.m. (approx.): Post-Sprint Cup Series race

  • Crunching The Numbers: Michigan

    Crunching The Numbers: Michigan

    After a wild weekend of turning left and right at the fast road course at Watkins Glen, the three national NASCAR series head their separate ways this weekend with the Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series heading to Michigan to take on the 2 mile Michigan International Speedway and the Nationwide Series heading to their second road course race in a row for their inaugural race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

    NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway

    With only four races left until the cutoff for the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins at Chicago, the battle between those fighting for a spot in the 12 driver playoff keeps ratcheting up with only 31 points separating the drivers between 10th and 17th in the standings. From this point on every race, every position, and every point matters that much more. Drivers at Michigan will have a balancing act between playing it safe for points or gambling for a win and putting themselves in position for a Wild Card Chase berth.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Carl Edwards 18 2 9 14 1 291 19.9 8.2
    Matt Kenseth 28 2 12 18 0 284 17.9 9.4
    Greg Biffle 21 4 10 13 1 565 13.5 11.3
    Jeff Gordon 41 2 18 25 5 954 11.5 12.4
    Danica Patrick 1 0 0 0 0 0 37.0 13.0
    Mark Martin 55 5 18 31 1 965 11.9 14.2
    Kevin Harvick 25 1 4 9 0 149 18.2 14.3
    Denny Hamlin 15 2 5 7 0 149 14.3 14.7
    Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 28 2 6 10 2 327 14.9 15.6
    Kyle Busch 17 1 4 6 0 169 14.6 15.6

    Who To Watch: Coming off of an eighth place finish in the first race at Michigan in June, Carl Edwards boasts the best statistics in the Sprint Cup Series at the track with two wins, nine top fives, 14 top tens, one pole, 291 laps led, and an average finish of 8.2 in 18 races.

    Matt Kenseth comes up next with two wins, 12 top fives, 18 top tens, 284 laps led, and an average finish of 9.4 in 28 starts. Kenseth finished in sixth in June in his first race at Michigan for new car owner Joe Gibbs.

    Others who run well at the track include: Greg Biffle, who won in June and has a total of four wins at the track, along with 10 top fives, 13 top tens, one pole, 565 laps led, and an average finish of 11.3 in 21 starts; Jeff Gordon, with two wins, 18 top fives, 25 top tens, five poles, 954 laps led, and an average finish of 12.4 in 41 starts; and Danica Patrick, who finished in 13th in her first start at the track in June.

    The remainder of the top ten statistically (Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Kyle Busch) also run well at Michigan and have a total of 11 wins between them.

    NASCAR Nationwide Series – Inaugural Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio

    Since there have been no Nationwide Series races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, there are obviously no statistics to pull from to see who will run well at the track. So, the best bet for Saturday’s race will be to go with drivers who run well on road courses. Drivers such as Ron Fellows in the JR Motorsports No. 5, Marcos Ambrose in the No. 9 for Richard Petty Motorsports, A.J. Allmendinger in the No. 22 for Penske Racing, and Max Papis in the No. 33 for Richard Childress Racing should find themselves up front along with Nationwide regulars Sam Hornish Jr. and Justin Allgaier.

    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – Michigan National Guard 200 at Michigan

    After a few weeks off since last racing at Pocono, the Camping World Truck Series makes their return at Michigan with points leader Matt Crafton holding onto a commanding 52 point lead over rookie Jeb Burton in the standings. The race also marks the return of the Truck Series for consecutive weekends and the debut of Fox Sports 1 for the broadcast of the Truck Series race on Saturday.

    Driver Races Win Top 5 Top 10 Pole Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
    Ty Dillon 1 0 0 1 0 3 5.0 6.0
    Miguel Paludo 2 0 1 2 0 3 6.0 6.5
    Kyle Busch 6 0 4 5 1 149 5.8 6.8
    Brendan Gaughan 7 1 3 4 0 48 18.4 8.9
    Joey Coulter 2 0 0 1 1 7 10.5 12.5
    Ron Hornaday, Jr. 9 0 1 6 0 15 10.3 12.7
    Dakoda Armstrong 2 0 1 1 0 0 20.5 13.5
    Johnny Sauter 4 0 0 0 0 1 8.0 13.5
    James Buescher 4 0 2 2 0 5 7.8 14.5
    Timothy Peters 6 0 1 3 0 0 16.7 14.8

    Who To Watch: Championship contender Ty Dillon leads all active drivers at Michigan with three laps led and a sixth place finish in his lone start at the track last season.

    A driver who has been running strong as of late is Miguel Paludo and he falls in second statistically at Michigan. Paludo has two starts at the track and in the two starts has one top five, two top tens, 3 laps led and an average finish of 6.5.

    Others who could find their way to Victory Lane include: Kyle Busch, who has six starts at the track, and in those six starts has four top fives, five top tens, one pole, 149 laps led and an average finish of 6.8; Brendan Gaughan, who has one win, three top fives, four top tens, 48 laps led and an average finish of 8.9 in seven starts; and Joey Coulter, who has one top ten, one pole, seven laps led and an average finish of 12.5 in two starts.

    Last, but certainly not least would be the promising crop of rookies in the series this year (Jeb Burton, Ryan Blaney, Darrell Wallace, Jr.), who are giving the veterans a run for their money. It certainly would not be a surprise to see one of those drivers win either.