Tag: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR Schedule for Eldora and Watkins Glen

The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series heads to Eldora Speedway this week for the Eldora Dirt Derby. This will be the seventh race at the half-mile dirt track for the series. Chase Briscoe, coming off an Xfinity Series victory last weekend at Iowa Speedway, will return to Eldora with ThorSport Racing in his first start in the Truck Series this season to defend last year’s win.

The Monster Energy Cup Series and the Xfinity Series travel to Watkins Glen this weekend. Chase Elliott will return to defend his Cup Series win. Joey Logano won last year’s Zippo 200 at the Glen but will not be competing in this year’s Xfinity race.

All times are Eastern.

Wednesday, July 31 – Eldora Speedway

7:05 p.m.: Truck Series First Practice – No TV
9:05 p.m.: Truck Series Final Practice – No TV

Thursday, August 1 – Eldora Speedway

7 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – Five qualifying races, 10 laps each – Last Chance Race, 15 laps – FS1 (caution laps do not count)

The top five trucks in each heat race will transfer into the Dirt Derby. Those that did not advance to the feature will compete in the Last Chance Race to determine the remaining positions in the lineup.

9 p.m.: Eldora Dirt Derby Truck Series Race – Stages 40/90/150 Laps = 75 Miles – FS1/MRN/ SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Friday, August 2 – Watkins Glen

12:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series First Practice – No TV
2:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Final Practice – No TV

Saturday, August 3 – Watkins Glen

10:35 a.m.: Cup Series First Practice – NBCSN/MRN
11:40 A.M.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – Multi-Vehicle/Two Rounds – NBCSN
1:05 p.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN/MRN
3 p.m.: Xfinity Series Zippo 200 Race – NBC/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
6:40 P.M.: Cup Series Qualifying – Multi-Vehicle/Two Rounds – NBCSN/MRN

Sunday, August 4 – Watkins Glen

3 p.m.: Cup Series Go Bowling at the Glen Race – NBCSN/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

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

July 31, 2019
NASCAR Rookie Rundown following Pocono/Iowa

With NASCAR’s national touring divisions edging closer toward their respective Playoffs, the top rookies in each division are clamoring to stake their spots in their championship races. The rookie race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is contained among three drivers (Ryan Preece, Daniel Hemric, and Matt Tifft) who are racing more among themselves, while Xfinity Series rookies have finally broken into the win column following Chase Briscoe’s win at Iowa.

The same can be said for the Gander Outdoors Truck Series, as Tyler Ankrum scored his first win at Kentucky, highlighting what has been an up-and-down season for the 18-year-old Californian. The win definitely gives momentum over fellow Truck standouts Sheldon Creed and Harrison Burton.

MENCS – Richard Childress Racing driver Hemric has started to come around as the season has progressed, as evidenced by his Pocono finish on Sunday where he finished seventh. His second top-10 of 2019 comes ahead of some stout runs in recent weeks where, with the exception of Kentucky and Loudon, he’s been lingering in the top-20. This includes a streak from the June Pocono race to Daytona where he finished as high as 12th, but no lower than 19th.

The No. 8 Luke Lambert-led team has had speed on the mile-and-a-half speedways, as Hemric qualified third at Chicago, but now it’s a matter of connecting the dots for Hemric as the team is still in its building phase.

Meanwhile, performance in Preece’s JTG-Daugherty Racing camp has remained a constant, running in the top-25 unless sidetracked with issues both on-track and mechanical. He’s shown that his primary strength lies in superspeedways, although his third-best finish of 2019 was a 16th at Martinsville. Other than that, it’s that consistency that might keep him from a Rookie of the Year victory. Still, being a rookie is about learning and growing, and given time Preece may become a contender. But there’s a ceiling at JTG-Daugherty, and he may be hitting it right now with Tristan Smith.

Meanwhile, at Front Row Motorsports, there is definite improvement for Tifft. He’s made it easy on his team, only being slowed by two DNFs in 21 starts, and as a result, he was able to boost his career-best finish from a 20th at Phoenix to a ninth-place run at Daytona. A recent Crew Chief swap with teammate David Ragan sent season-long CC Mike Kelley to the 34 while Seth Barbour helped lead Tifft’s No. 36 to one of its better outings of the season as they finished 23rd at Pocono, a week after the team finished 24th at Loudon.

The No. 36 Mustang has been finishing in the top-30 every race since Michigan, and although that isn’t saying much when compared to the other rookies on this, for a completely new team that was formed before the season began it’s definitely a step forward. At this rate, it isn’t unreasonable to expect regular top-25s out of that camp in the near future.

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 98 Ford Performance Ford, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway on July 27, 2019 in Newton, Iowa. Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images.

Xfinity – The Xfinity Series rookie race has now yielded a race winner, as Briscoe joined his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Cole Custer as a winner this season when he won at Iowa. Briscoe is not only a weekly contender; he’s also a championship favorite now as he’s scored a win, eight top-fives, and 14 top-10s in 19 starts. He isn’t just consistent; he’s strong. He’s been in or among the leaders weekly, and there’s little doubt that Iowa will be his only win this season.

Meanwhile, the best result JR Motorsports rookie Noah Gragson has been able to put together was a second at Michigan, but considering JRM has gone from division powerhouse to not breaking into the win column yet this season isn’t Gragson’s fault. Still, four top-fives and 11 top-10s in 19 starts is nothing to frown at as a rookie. He’s only finished off of the lead lap in four races, but one of those was a sixth at Kentucky, so it isn’t for lack of effort. He’s been consistent, but the JRM strength isn’t there.

It’ll be interesting to see where the No. 11 of Justin Haley goes from this point on this season. He’s been as strong as the top rookies in the division this season, but following the death of Crew Chief Nick Harrison, the team will no doubt be faced with a firmer resolve to succeed in his honor. He’s currently ninth in points with two top-fives and 14 top-10s in 19 starts this season, including an eighth at Iowa with Interim CC Alex Yontz (who also led the team to a 10th at Michigan).

Haley came close to victory at Daytona, proving the No. 11 Kaulig Racing team has the strength and resolve to contend for wins, and as good as Haley is with his equipment (zero DNFs in 2019), it’ll be no surprise when he does score a win.

John Hunter Nemechek has had a roller coaster rookie campaign in 2019. He has three top-fives (including a second at Las Vegas) and 11 top-10s in 19 starts but sits in 10th in the standings as he’s been sidelined with three crash DNFs. He placed third at Iowa, and considering he knows what it takes to win in the series and run near the front, he’ll post more strong finishes this season.

However there’s a catch: GMS Racing’s Xfinity effort isn’t as strong as Ganassi Racing’s 2018 Xfinity effort was, as Nemechek was a Ganassi development driver when he won at Kansas last year. He can get a win, and GMS has an Xfinity Series win, and he’s come close this season to Victory Lane, but it’ll take a little more luck than it did last season to seal the deal.

Harrison Burton goes inside of GMS Racing driver Brett Moffitt at Pocono. Photo by Kirk Schroll

NGOTS – Harrison Burton still continues to lead the Truck Series rookie class with seven top-fives and nine top-10s in 14 starts, which currently leaves him fifth in points with his No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports team. Despite the strong showings, though, he can’t seem to finish any higher than third-place, a feat he’s accomplished four times this season.

It’s granted that Burton feels a bit of pressure in his role as a full-time rookie; he’s with a championship-winning organization that has yielded some of the hottest names in NASCAR in recent memory. There’s also pressure considering that the No. 18 is the flagship entry in an organization that has put it in Victory Lane countless times. But unlike his snake-bitten teammate Todd Gilliland, Burton stands a higher chance of placing strongly in the Playoffs and even scoring a win.

Sheldon Creed, however, is not too far behind Burton; with four top-10s he’s currently ninth in points. There’s still pressure on him as he is with a championship-winning organization as well, not to mention his teammate, defending champion Brett Moffitt, has already won twice this year. But Creed needs to exercise a modicum of balance. He’s aggressive behind the wheel, and although it’s nice that there’s a driver who is up on the wheel and ready to get the job done, he’s put himself in situations that have left him with a wrecked truck.

He’s been up front a lot in 2019 and led a lot of laps, so it’s not entirely impossible he parks it in Victory Lane by the end of the season.

Tyler Dippel has definitely been on the underdog side of things, as he’s managed to put himself in the top-15 more often than not. His season highlight so far was when he finished eighth in the first Texas race of 2019, but aside from that his No. 02 Young’s Motorsports entry has only finished outside the top-25 once this season (a crash at Daytona left him in 29th). He’s quietly consistent, and although his equipment may not be top-notch, he’s posting good, solid results that could land him a ride with a solid team down the road.

Tyler Ankrum, on the other hand, got a late start on the season driving for DGR-Crosley Racing, and he’s making up for it in spades. Despite losing a sponsor and being relegated to a couple of appearances in Joe Nemechek’s No. 87, he’s scored a win at Kentucky as well as three top-fives and five top-10s. At Pocono on Saturday he put his No. 17 Toyota in the runner-up spot to Ross Chastain, scoring his second-straight top-two finish, thus showing that the young Californian means business.

Ankrum keeps his equipment together and stays out of wrecks (his save at Texas in June was nothing short of legendary), and considering the No. 17 has momentum he could very well win again this season. If their sponsorship issues can get squared up soon, he could post some more strong results when the Playoffs come around.

July 30, 2019
Jones and Truex Round Out Top Three Finishers

Erik Jones and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team were facing the possibility of not making the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs as they headed into the weekend at Pocono Raceway.

But Jones was able to improve his chances with a much needed strong run Sunday afternoon after using various pit strategy throughout the Gander RV 400. The Michigan native qualified fourth giving him great track position for Sunday’s race and was able to capture a second-place finish.

However, it was almost a disastrous day for the No. 20 JGR driver. It all started in the first stage during the pit stops when Jones pitted from the top five in order to gain track position for Stage 2 and the wrench broke during the stop. In what could have been a prominent problem for Jones, he caught a lucky break when the wrench did not become an issue. Jones went on to finish seventh in Stage 1.

For Stage 2, Jones would wind up restarting back in the pack and would have to work his way back up through the field once more. With a few lucky cautions and pitting again during the second stage, he would once again finish seventh in the second stage.

Things got a bit more interesting in the final stage when fuel became a concern among the drivers, including Jones, who was in the top three. He was told by his crew that he was two laps short with 33 to go. From there, Jones was trying all he could do to save what he needed in case the race went green the rest of the way.

Jones, who was leading the race, was passed by eventual race winner and teammate Denny Hamlin with 17 to go, then he was passed by Truex a couple of laps later. The No. 20 team caught a timely caution with eight to go, allowing Jones to save fuel under the caution period.

Despite having one more shot at the win, the JGR driver had to settle for a second-place finish, finishing .341 seconds behind his teammate and race winner Denny Hamlin.

“It was hard racing at the end,” Jones exclaimed to MRN Radio. “This package, the late restarts make for an exciting finish and today was no exception. I wish we could have gotten up there to challenge Denny (Hamlin). Martin (Truex) gave us a good push on the restart. The bottom doesn’t have what the top has on a restart. So we did all we could.”

“We overcame a lot in this Reser’s Camry. We were pretty far off at the start of the race and we got way better. Had a chance to win and had things worked out a little better, things would have been a bit different. Can’t ask for a lot more for doing burnouts, but we’re getting close every week. It’s going to turn our way one of these times.”

With the second-place finish, Jones earned his seventh top five of the season.

Despite finishing third after having a shot at the win and not leading any laps, Truex was fairly happy with the outcome.

“It was a good day overall for our Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Camry,” Truex told MRN Radio in his post-race interview. “We were trying to save fuel there on that long run. We ran second to the 20 (Jones) and thought we were in better shape than him on fuel, he started to save more, and I did as well.”

“I started thinking, man. I probably should try to pass him here and we got into lap traffic, then the 11 (Hamlin) got by me. Then I got by the 20 and it’s like the 11 had control of the race after that. When the caution came out, he got to lead the restart and I got on the bottom. You just can’t do anything on the front row on the bottom. We got in a sucker hole there and were lucky to come back third.”

Truex qualified his No. 19 machine eighth in Saturday’s qualifying session. And while he did not lead any laps, the New Jersey native finished fifth and fourth in both stages, respectively. Truex was only able to run as high as second in the race before earning his eighth top-five of the season.

The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team sits second in the playoff points standings with four wins.

July 29, 2019
Kyle Larson rebounds to top-five finish after tough start

What a weekend it was for the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team. It all started during the Saturday morning practice session when Kyle Larson wrecked his primary car and had to go to a backup car for the race.

Despite qualifying 23rd, he had to go the back for the start of the race. However, it didn’t take Larson long to get the front with pit stops taking place. By the time Stage 1 ended, the California native finished sixth in the first stage. In Stage 2, Larson fell back just a little bit to finish 10th, only earning one playoff point.

It was a quiet day for Larson and his No. 42 team until the last stage when he became a factor. More so on the final restart, when he was trying to make things happen behind the leaders. However, Larson fell short, but still finished fifth after what could have been a weekend gone bad.

“I was pretty surprised on how fast our car was,” Larson explained to MRN Radio. “The last run there, I didn’t get into the wall but it was close. I kind of bailed out of the throttle and lost the momentum, so fell back to seventh. I was able to get to fifth there, happy about our finish, good points day. It was nice to have a good run with a fast back up car there. That’s two weeks in a row, we’ve been really fast in a backup car.”

“Just shows what we would really be capable of in our primary car if I just would stop crashing in practice. Got to work on that, but happy where our team has been lately. It’s a good time of the season to start running well. We definitely have the speed, I just have to clean up my mistakes.”

With the fifth-place finish, Larson scored his fourth top-five of the season and he currently sits 14th in the playoff standings, +37 above the cut line.

July 29, 2019

Hamlin saves enough fuel to earn fifth career win at Pocono

Coming off last week’s loss at New Hampshire Denny Hamlin had hopes of winning at Pocono Raceway, a track where he has been so successful over the years. Despite fuel concerns and one NASCAR Overtime, Hamlin was able to hold off his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Erik Jones and Martin Truex Jr. for his third win of the 2019 season and his first since Texas back in March.

“He (Chris Gabehart, Crew Chief) said we were good to the checkers, but not the green-white-checkered,” Hamlin said in his post-race interview with MRN Radio. “He said, we were going to have to have a different conversation if it went into overtime, but I knew with all of those caution laps with about six or seven to go, I knew we were good to go. It helped us out, honestly, I did everything I could to save fuel there when I got out front. If it was going to be not enough, it was going to be not enough.”

“Proud of the whole team putting me on great strategy there. This is a perfect team effort this weekend. We really identified our weakness from the first race and we went to work, as a driver and a team, therefore we’re better for it.”

Kevin Harvick sat on the pole after Saturday afternoon qualifying with Joey Logano on the outside pole. Several cars failed prerace inspection on Sunday morning. Those included Austin Dillon who failed twice for a rear toe issue, Jimmie Johnson, William Byron, Michael McDowell, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Corey Lajoie, Ross Chastain and Reed Sorenson. Everyone who failed the pre-race inspection had to go to the back when the race started.

Also going to the back were Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, who wrecked during Saturday morning practice sessions and had to go a backup car.

Stages were broken up into 50/50/60 laps to make up the 160-lap race.

Stage 1: Lap 1-Lap 50

The green flag for the Monster Energy NASCAR Gander RV 400 was moved to 3:08 p.m. ET Sunday due to the potential threat of rain showers. The PJ1 traction compound was also reapplied to the track on Sunday morning.

It was all Kevin Harvick from the get-go but there were a few minor incidents. Brad Keselowski who had been struggling all weekend hit the wall on the front stretch and had a right rear tire go down on Lap 5.

Just a few laps later, pit strategy came into play with Alex Bowman pitting on Lap 14 in hopes of splitting the stage up. More drivers started to come down between Laps 21-39. Kyle Busch and Jones pitted from the top five at the beginning of the green-flag pit stops. During the pit stop, Jones had an issue with the wrench breaking off which was a potential concern, but it never really became a problem for the No. 20 team.

On Lap 39, Harvick finally pitted from the lead along with Hamlin, from the top two spots. Both would have to stop two more times during the race. On the same lap, we would see Kyle Busch cycle out of the pit stops as the race leader. Busch would hang on to for the rest of the stage and win Stage 1.

Joey Logano, Harvick, Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Jones, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-10 finishers of Stage 1.

Stage 2: Lap 54-Lap 100

Harvick would recycle as the leader after staying out under the stage break. On Lap 61, Blaney made contact with the wall and had to pit for extensive damage. Four laps later, Kyle Busch made his pit stop. Jimmie Johnson also had issues under his pit stop, catching a jack.

A battle for the lead started began to heat up between Busch and Harvick as the weather started to threaten the area. Busch was able to take the top spot on Lap 72, with Harvick pitting on Lap 78. A caution flew on Lap 83 for Chase Elliott, who blew a right-front tire and came to a stop on the frontstretch. Elliott wound up with a disappointing last-place finish.

Kyle Busch stayed out, while a few others like Larson, Logano, Truex, Keselowski, Bowyer, Daniel Hemric, Bubba Wallace, Jones, Austin Dillon and Almirola, pitted.

As the restart came on Lap 87, rain hit the racetrack bringing out the caution again on Lap 91. However, it was a short-lived rain shower and the race resumed with five to go in Stage 2.

Race leader Busch pitted with three to go, as he had fuel concerns. However, an unlucky caution occurred one lap later when Daniel Suarez and Blaney made contact with each other with two to go in the second stage, and sent Blaney spinning, bringing out another yellow.

The Stage would end under caution with Johnson winning the stage, his first stage win since 2017. Harvick followed in second as Logano, Truex, Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Jones, Keselowski, Bowman and Larson all finished inside the top-10. Busch finished a disappointing 25th after leading at one point.

Stage 3: Lap 103-Lap 163

In what would be an exciting third and final stage, Hamlin took the lead after the restart. Busch was back inside the top-10 on Lap 113. Another caution flag was flown, however, on Lap 115, for Ryan Preece who slammed into the Turn 1 wall. Preece wound up 37th after the incident.

From there, it became a fuel mileage race to the finish. Jones reported that he was two laps short with 33 to go. Many other drivers also had concerns about saving fuel, including Hamlin. Anticipating that the leaders could run out of fuel, Busch pitted with 26 to go. Hamlin would wind up passing Jones for the lead with 17 to go and Truex moved up to second a few laps later.

Pole sitter Kevin Harvick also started to close in on the race leaders and was told that he was good to go on fuel to the checkers, barring any yellows. While it looked as though Hamlin would run away with the win, a caution came out with eight laps to go for the No. 53 of Josh Bilicki who stalled on the backstretch.

There was a broad range of different strategies with Bowman, Kurt Busch, Logano, DiBenedetto, Stenhouse and Blaney, among others, pitting, while the top leaders including Harvick, Hamlin and Jones, among others, opting to stay out.

A restart came with four to go, but another caution occurred almost immediately as Kurt Busch accidentally came up and made contact with Stenhouse, causing him to hit the wall off Turn 1. Stenhouse retaliated by wrecking Busch, which also collected Michael McDowell. Also, Suarez was penalized for laying back on the restart.

The incident set up a NASCAR Overtime finish with two laps to go. Despite having some fuel concerns for potential multiple overtimes, Hamlin was able to hang on to tie NASCAR legend Fireball Roberts on the all-time wins list with 34 career wins.

“The lap traffic was a benefit for me,” Hamlin added. “It kind of slowed down the 20 (Jones) and I saw he was letting off early on entry and that allowed me to dive-bomb on the outside into the PJ1 in Turn 1. With the 19 (Truex) he had to go low to pass a lap car. I just decided to take the middle lane in Turns (3 and 4). Once again, I had an extra lane that wasn’t there in the past and I was able to get around him. Just once you get behind, it’s so hard to pass but we were able to get it done.”

Hamlin led twice for 53 laps to earn his third win of the 2019 season. There were seven cautions for 24 laps along with nine lead changes among five drivers.

Playoff Watch

Kyle Busch
Martin Truex Jr
Denny Hamlin
Brad Keselowski
Joey Logano
Kevin Harvick
Kurt Busch
Chase Elliott
Alex Bowman
Aric Almirola, +94
Ryan Blaney, +79
William Byron, +62
Erik Jones, +39
Kyle Larson, +37
Clint Bowyer, +12
Ryan Newman, +12

Below The Cut Line
Jimmie Johnson, -12
Daniel Suarez, -31
Paul Menard, -68
Ricky Stenhouse Jr, -88

Monster Energy Cup Series Race Number 21
Race Results for the 46th Annual Gander RV 400 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
Pocono Raceway – Long Pond, PA – 2.5 – Mile Paved
Total Race Length – 163 Laps – 407.5 Miles

Fin	Str	No	Driver	Team	Laps	S1Pos	S2Pos	S3Pos	Pts	Status
1	9	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Ground Toyota	163	4	5	0	53	Running
2	4	20	Erik Jones	Reser’s Main St Bistro Toyota	163	7	7	0	43	Running
3	8	19	Martin Truex Jr	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Toyota	163	5	4	0	47	Running
4	31	24	William Byron	Liberty University Chevrolet	163	0	0	0	33	Running
5	23	42	Kyle Larson	Credit One Bank Chevrolet	163	6	10	0	38	Running
6	1	4	Kevin Harvick	Busch Beer Gen X Ford	163	3	2	0	48	Running
7	17	8	Daniel Hemric #	Caterpillar Chevrolet	163	0	0	0	30	Running
8	11	2	Brad Keselowski	Alliance Truck Parts Ford	163	0	8	0	32	Running
9	5	18	Kyle Busch	Skittles Toyota	163	1	0	0	38	Running
10	30	12	Ryan Blaney	MoneyLion Ford	163	0	0	0	27	Running
11	13	14	Clint Bowyer	Toco Warranty/Haas Automation Ford	163	10	0	0	27	Running
12	3	10	Aric Almirola	Smithfield Ford	163	8	0	0	28	Running
13	2	22	Joey Logano	Shell Pennzoil Ford	163	2	3	0	41	Running
14	19	6	Ryan Newman	Performance Plus Ford	163	0	0	0	23	Running
15	32	48	Jimmie Johnson	Ally Chevrolet	163	0	1	0	32	Running
16	33	37	Chris Buescher	Kroger Fast Start Chevrolet	163	0	0	0	21	Running
17	10	95	Matt DiBenedetto	Toyota Express Maintenance Toyota	163	0	0	0	20	Running
18	16	21	Paul Menard	Menards/Duracel Optimum Ford	163	0	0	0	19	Running
19	34	3	Austin Dillon	Freightliner Chevrolet	163	0	6	0	23	Running
20	12	88	Alex Bowman	Nationwide Chevrolet	163	0	9	0	19	Running
21	14	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Roush Performance Ford	163	0	0	0	16	Running
22	21	43	Bubba Wallace	Victory Junction Chevrolet	163	0	0	0	15	Running
23	22	36	Matt Tifft #	Surface Sunscreen Ford	163	0	0	0	14	Running
24	7	41	Daniel Suarez	Haas Automation Ford	163	0	0	0	13	Running
25	35	34	Michael McDowell	Long John Silver’s Ford	163	0	0	0	12	Running
26	36	32	Corey LaJoie	Adirondack Tree Surgeons Ford	162	0	0	0	11	Running
27	6	1	Kurt Busch	Monster Energy Chevrolet	162	9	0	0	12	Running
28	24	0	Landon Cassill(i)	Mane N Tail Chevrolet	159	0	0	0	0	Running
29	25	13	Ty Dillon	GEICO Military Chevrolet	159	0	0	0	8	Running
30	37	15	Ross Chastain(i)	Chevrolet	159	0	0	0	0	Running
31	28	77	Quin Houff	Rapid City Rush Chevrolet	158	0	0	0	6	Running
32	38	27	* Reed Sorenson	Lehigh Valley Phantoms Chevrolet	158	0	0	0	5	Running
33	27	51	BJ McLeod(i)	JACOB COMPANIES/Pocono Organics Ford	158	0	0	0	0	Running
34	29	52	Austin Theriault	Trick Shot/Bangor Savings Bank Ford	157	0	0	0	3	Running
35	26	53	* Josh Bilicki(i)	Token 4 Token Chevrolet	146	0	0	0	0	Driveshaft
36	15	38	David Ragan	MDS Transport Ford	123	0	0	0	1	Accident
37	20	47	Ryan Preece #	Kroger Chevrolet	114	0	0	0	1	Accident
38	18	9	Chase Elliott	NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet	83	0	0	0	1	Accident

July 28, 2019

Kevin Harvick scores his first Busch Pole Award at Pocono

Kevin Harvick claimed the Busch Pole Award at Pocono Raceway Saturday afternoon, leading the way in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a 174.058 mph lap in 51.707 seconds.

It was his fourth pole of the season and his first at the 2-5-mile track. Harvick has 12 top fives and 17 top 10s at the “Tricky Triangle” but is still searching for that elusive Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win at Pocono.

The qualifying order is unofficial until the final inspection which will take place Sunday morning before the Gander RV 400.

Harvick is hoping to carry the momentum from his victory last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and capture his first Pocono checkered flag.

“It has been a really good track for me and my guys and really the whole company knows that we’d love to cross this one off – one of the last two of tracks that we haven’t won at,” Harvick said.

“it’s been a successful race track and the first race this year we had a great car and the right strategy and jacked it up and the steering box broke. It’s just kind of been one thing after another like that and tomorrow it’s gonna take a fast car, but it’s also gonna take everything falling your way so that you can get the strategy right. It’s restarts and pit strategy and all the normal Pocono things that you have to battle are still going to be the things you have to overcome.”

Current points leader Joey Logano will start on the outside pole after a qualifying lap at 173.377 mph followed by Aric Almirola in third (173.164 mph).

Almirola was happy with his lap but thought he could have done more.

“I might have left a little bit on the table, but I felt good about our lap,” he explained. “We made a lot of changes to our race car after practice. We weren’t really happy with our race car in final practice, so we made a lot of changes going into qualifying for the impound race procedure, so I wasn’t really sure what we were gonna have there and it kind of surprised me. I’m really happy with that. Our Smithfield Ford Mustang has got a lot of speed and now we’ve got to go race for 400 miles. Track position is really, really important here.”

Erik Jones (173.110 mph) will start fourth as Austin Dillon (172.659 mph) rounds out the top five.

“We have had good speed,” Jones said. “I thought with that lap we would have it. That’s kind of frustrating. We have a fast car and I thought we had a shot at the pole. It’s kind of frustrating, but we are starting up front, either way, so we will make a good day of it.”

Jimmie Johnson qualified sixth while defending race winner, Kyle Busch, will start sixth. William Byron, Kurt Busch and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top 10 qualifiers.

The Gander RV 400 is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday and will be broadcast live on NBCSN with radio coverage by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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

July 27, 2019
Bubble Drivers Running for a 2019 Playoff Spot – Who Will Make It?
With just six more races left in the regular season for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, six drivers in 13th through 18th place are within 31 points of each other. It’s a tight race for those last few spots, and a win could spoil the party even further.

But who has the best shot with six tracks nowhere near related to each other?

I’m talking about Pocono Raceway first, then the high speed Watkins Glen International Raceway. After that, we go to our last 2-mile oval of the year at Michigan International Speedway, with Bristol Motor Speedway as the last race in August. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series holds their Labor Day tradition at the track “Too Tough To Tame”, Darlington Raceway, and then the legendary Brickyard 400 to close out the regular season.

Maybe Pocono has some relation to a couple of these tracks with its three differing corners, but as a whole, these six circuits are incomparable to each other.

So let’s first look at the drivers in that tight battle for those last four points positions and who I feel will make the Playoffs.

Kyle Larson (+14, 13th in points)

Surprisingly, Larson is at the top of the bubble gap, sitting 13th in points. Even though the current package does not showcase his talent, he has finished in the top-10 in half of the races this season and currently sits higher than most would have anticipated. However, 14 points aren’t much of an advantage for Larson considering a few missed top-10 stage finishes could eliminate that cushion.

“I feel okay about it (his Playoff position) but thankful the rest of the bubble guys had issues this last race (at New Hampshire) because I DNFed and only lost nine points to the cutoff,” Larson said. “I was surprised by that.

“I do feel like our cars are definitely fast enough and capable and should be in the playoffs. As far as speed goes, I feel good about it. But obviously, I’ve got to just not make mistakes to give up a lot of points, like I could have this last weekend.”

He is 31 points ahead of both Jimmie Johnson and Daniel Suarez, who are tied in points but below the cutoff. However, Larson doesn’t take that for granted, knowing how quickly he can lose points, can’t rely on other drivers having bad days and understanding that a win from a driver below him can quickly shake things up.

Larson has a lot of strong tracks coming up, including Pocono where he won two stages and led 35 laps in the race this June, and Michigan where he has won before. If the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team can hold their own and put together a couple good runs, they could either win their way in or squeeze in on points. My prediction is that he’ll make the Playoffs.

Erik Jones (+11, 14th in points)

“That Jones Boy” holds 14th in the points standings, despite having some strong runs and holds the most top fives and top 10’s in the year compared to these other drivers. Out of the entire Joe Gibbs Racing camp, Jones is the only one lacking a win and risking a Playoff spot.

Jones believes that if his team can clean up a few mishaps and have a little luck on their side, he could get his second career victory to lock himself into the Playoffs.

“Some of it has been our own fault. Phoenix, we had a loose wheel to start the race, blow a tire, get in the wall, ruins our day,” Jones shared earlier this summer at Daytona International Speedway. “Charlotte, we blow a right front; whether that is our fault or not, I don’t know.

“There is Bristol, loose wheel, go three laps down. There have been so many races where you take yourself out of it. That’s what you can’t do in this sport and try to make the playoffs. We have had fast cars; Sonoma, we had another good car, but we had to start in the back. Chicago, we had an okay car, but we made a good day out of it. We’ve got good cars; we just need to have things go our way. We need to execute better on our end on all fronts. Make sure we are doing all we can to get the best finish that we can.”

While he does have four top 10 finishes in the last five races, he also does have three finishes of 30th or worse, including a last-place finish after crashing out of the Coca-Cola 600 after 22 laps. That inconsistency and this tight points race could hurt him, so my vote is that Jones will miss the Playoffs after a few bad runs at places he could have gained ground.

Ryan Newman (+4, 15th in points)

The veteran knows how to close the deal in tight situations. While he may not have winning equipment at this time, Newman does know how to put together good enough runs to be exactly that: “good enough”.

I don’t mean that in a negative sense at all. In fact, of all the drivers in this list, I’d say he’s the best at this exact type of war, know when and where to pick his battles.

Take a look back in 2014. When driving for Richard Childress Racing, he was just one position shy of making the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He overcame this by punting Larson through Turns 3 and 4 to gain the extra position he needed to change his outcome. Putting Larson into the wall coming to the checkered flag gave Newman the position and point he needed to get into the final spot for the championship run in the season finale, knocking out Jeff Gordon from contention for his potential fifth championship.

It doesn’t matter the job, the obstacles, or the track. Newman knows how to get it done. He will make the 2019 Playoffs when you put that challenge in front of him. Mark my word that he’ll be in the first round of the Playoffs as a contender.

Clint Bowyer (+0, 16th in points)

When looking back to last year, Clint Bowyer was in a much different position than he is now. At this point in 2018, Bowyer had two wins at Martinsville Speedway and Michigan (June, rain-shortened), so the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team was already locked into the Playoffs. He had 10 top-10 finishes and was on pace for a good run in the postseason.

This season has been a different story though. He is already one DNF shy of matching last year’s totals, and has no wins to lock himself in.

However, with the tracks coming up, Bowyer has potential.
- Pocono (June): Fifth
- Sonoma (road course): 11th
- Bristol: 7th, with top-10 finishes at Richmond and Martinsville
Bowyer doesn’t want to go another six years without a victory, so look for him to challenge for a win and a few other strong finishes to solidify himself into the regular season. I’m going to lean more toward Bowyer making the Playoffs this year.

Jimmie Johnson (-17, 17th in points)

Jimmie Johnson is now over two years since his last Cup series victory, Dover in June 2017. And while Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet have started to find their groove, 7-Time has struggled to find consistency.

For the past four races, he’s had two top-five finishes, and two 30th place finishes. While his average start and finishing positions have improved compared to the last two years, his inconsistent results could put him into jeopardy for a Playoff position. This has put him in the first spot below the cutoff line.

With the tracks coming up and who he would have to beat on track for those spots, this could be Johnson’s first year where he will not be a part of the 16 drivers running for a championship in 2019. My vote says that this will stand.

Daniel Suarez (-17, 18th in points)

Daniel Suarez has had a roller coaster of a season. A couple of top five runs, two crashes at both Daytona races and everywhere else in between has ended him up here, 17 points below the last Playoff spot.

He had a fantastic run at Kentucky. He won the pole, led 52 laps and finished eighth. However, he only collected 29 points in total.

These last few races have been the worst in collecting stage points when compared to the other five drivers. Suarez started out strong by collecting a lot of stage points, salvaging a few where he crashed out, was caught a lap down or struggled to find speed later in the race.
- Daytona (February): finished 33rd, but collected 14 points, almost double his finishing position’s worth to salvage his season-opener DNF.
- Texas: finished third and collected 11 more points than the second-place finisher (Bowyer).
- Richmond: finished 18th but collected seven more points than 19th.
But since the June Pocono race when Suarez was 13th in points, he has only collected six stage points over six races, five at Daytona’s first stage and just one point from a 10th place running in the first stage at Loudon. He will need to pick up the pace on the stage points like he was at the beginning of the year if he’s going to secure his spot.

Suarez is hungry for his first win though. He’s not running for stage points. He’s working to put himself into a position to win. While that’s an extremely valuable experience, it will cost him those critical stage points. It depends on what he values more, but if he’s willing to sacrifice a win for six more races, my guess is that he’ll fight his way back into the Playoffs.

Drivers for the Win

With those six drivers, it’s truly anybody’s spot, just a matter of who wants it more, and maybe who might get a little luckier than others.

It doesn’t stop there. I feel there are two other drivers that could spoil the party with either a late-season surge or sneak in a potential win.

Austin Dillon (-124, 22nd in points)

Although his best finish this season is sixth, Austin Dillon has been well-known to get surprise wins at big races. His two career victories were a last lap ‘crash’ of Aric Almirola in last year’s Daytona 500, and a fuel gamble win at the 2017 Coca-Cola 600. He also earned three poles, and has led the most laps of his career in a single season already here in 2019 (69 laps).

But despite these numbers, Richard Childress Racing hasn’t really competed much up front for a win. When Dillon has led, it’s mostly due to his pole run and getting some front running time before getting caught up in traffic after green flag pit stops or losing the lead after catching lap traffic.

Don’t put it behind the No. 3 team to sneak in another big win, though. They’ve done it two years in a row, so the Brickyard 400 or the Southern 500 could be his third iconic victory at NASCAR’s top level.

Matt DiBenedetto (-176, 24th in points)

It looks like bad luck is finally behind the Hickory, NC driver. After leading the most laps of his career in a single race to kick of the season at the Daytona 500, the No. 95 team had speed, but little to no luck on their side. From mechanical failures to pit stop mishaps, ‘Guido’ has the potential to gather more strong runs than what the numbers show at this time. However, with his top five run at Sonoma Raceway, a top 10 at Daytona, then another top five at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the Leavine Family Racing team has found their stride and the chemistry to run more consistent.

Even more so, Matt DiBenedetto feels confident at the “driver’s” tracks. Sonoma, a very technical and slow road course, was a perfect example of that as he drove through the field in the closing laps to finish fourth.

“I’ve had this one circled,” DiBenedetto shared after his finish at Sonoma. “Places like Bristol, Phoenix, here. I’ll be honest, this year has been tough because the rules are so different where it makes it a little tougher for the driver to make a difference at some of these bigger race tracks. It’s a lot of car speed and track position, so it’s been tough and mentally challenging.

“So these places where you can just get on the wheel and show the strength of your team and how we can execute, those are the ones we circled off. I was so glad, I knew we could get a good run here.”

There are a couple of these types of tracks coming up. Watkins Glen is another road course on the schedule for DiBenedetto to showcase his right-hand turns. Bristol is where he finished sixth in 2016 back with BK Racing. Then Darlington is a race where some drivers can show their strength of being able to wheel a car at high speeds on a very unforgiving race track. Don’t put it past the No. 95 team to sneak in a potential victory and spoil the party for those higher in the standings.

Six completely different tracks mean we’re going to see two different races each weekend. My hope is that NBC, MRN and PRN can highlight this race within the race to let fans see exactly what I’m talking about. We may even see some desperate moves made by some drivers to get that extra point securing their spot and knocking out another. The Tricky Triangle is up first.
July 26, 2019
Weekend schedule for Pocono-2 and Iowa-2

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the Gander Outdoors Truck Series travel to Pocono Raceway this weekend while the Xfinity Series heads to Iowa Speedway.

Kyle Busch is the defending Cup Series race winner and has won three of the last four races at the 2.5-mile triangular track, including this season’s June race. Another victory would put him in an elite group that includes Hall of Famer Bobby Allison (1982-83) and Tim Richmond (1986-87), the only drivers to win three consecutive races at Pocono.

Christopher Bell returns to defend his Xfinity win. Busch also won the 2018 Truck Series event.

All times are Eastern.

Friday, July 26th

Pocono:
10:35 a.m.–11:25 a.m.: Truck Series First Practice – No TV
12:35 p.m.–1:25 p.m.: Truck Series Final Practice – No TV
6:05 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – Impound/Single Vehicle/One Lap All Positions – FS1

Iowa:
5:05 p.m.-5:55 p.m.: Xfinity Series First Practice – NBCSN
7 p.m.-7:50 p.m.: Xfinity Series Final Practice – NBC Sports App

Saturday, July 27th

Pocono:
9:05 a.m.–9:55 a.m.: Cup Series First Practice – NBCSN/MRN
11:05 a.m.–11:55 a.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – NBCSN/MRN
1 p.m.: Truck Series Gander RV 150 – Stages 15/30/60 Laps – FOX/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
4:05 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – Impound/Single Vehicle/One Lap All Positions -NBCSN/MRN

Iowa:
12:05 p.m.: Xfinity Qualifying – Impound/Single Vehicle/One Lap All Positions -NBCSN
5 p.m.: Xfinity Series US Cellular 250 – Stages 60/120/250 – NBCSN/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Sunday, July 28th

Pocono:
3 p.m.: Cup Series Gander RV 400 – Stages 50/100/160 Laps – NBCSN/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

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

July 25, 2019
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: New Hampshire

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kyle Busch: Busch started second in the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 and finished eighth, despite a brush with the wall in the final stage.

“I’ve had lots of experience with walls,” Busch said. “So have people who tried to interview me when I was a young punk.”

2. Joey Logano: Logano finished ninth at New Hampshire and leads the Monster Energy Cup points standings by three over Kyle Busch.

“I was just happy to get through the race without suffering from heat exhaustion,” Logano said. “Who’s not at risk of suffering from ‘heat’ exhaustion? NASCAR fans, that’s who. There is not ‘heat,’ also known as ‘rivalries,’ between drivers. And don’t tell me Clint Bowyer vs. Ryan Newman is a feud. It’s not. Newman has a notoriously hard head, and he was wearing a helmet, so he still doesn’t believe that Bowyer actually punched him.”

3. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished sixth in the Foxwoods Resorts Casino 301.

“It was the hottest race ever in New Hampshire,” Truex said. “And it sucked. Some of the younger drivers said it was ‘hot AF.’ I’m not exactly sure what that means, but I’m fairly sure it’s the exact opposite of ‘Cold AC.’”

4. Kevin Harvick: Harvick held off Denny Hamlin on the final turn to win at New Hampshire, his second consecutive win at the ‘Magic Mile’ and first victory since Texas in November.

“Finally!” Harvick said. “I’ve got a win. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off me. This freedom must feel like what mini-Kevin Harvick feels like when he strips down to his boxers and a T-shirt.”

5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin wrecked in Friday practice and almost took the victory at New Hampshire in a backup car, finishing second to Kevin Harvick.

“Wrecks in practice are a sure-fire way to ruin a weekend,” Hamlin said. “Just ask my crew.

“But what about that weather? It was hot. It hovered around 100 degrees, and inside the car, it was even worse. I think Fed Ex should take advantage of this in a promotional sense and offer a new delivery package called the hot box’ for discreet deliveries.”

6. Kurt Busch: Busch finished 18th at New Hampshire.

“The Kevin Harvick-Denny Hamlin duel at the end had a lot in common with me and my brother Kyle’s battle at Kentucky,” Busch said. “The biggest similarity is that in both cases, the drivers involved really do not like each other.”

7. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski started on the pole and finished 10th.

“It’s good that Stewart-Haas Racing finally has a win,” Keselowski said. “With one word, Kevin Harvick silenced his critics and gave a shout out to one of his sponsors. He said, ‘Bu-schhhhhhhhhhhhhh.’”

8. Chase Elliott: Elliott suffered from mechanical issues and finished 29th at New Hampshire.

“It was a tough day for Hendrick Motorsports,” Elliot said. “We didn’t even have a car finish in the top 10. Plus we went through way too many cars. But I trust this organization’s resiliency. So, trust me when I say we’ll be ‘back up‘ next week.”

9. Ryan Blaney: Blaney posted his sixth top five of the year with a fourth at New Hampshire.

“Some guy named Andy Suess made his Cup debut in the No. 51 car for Rick Ware Racing,” Larson said. “And no, he does not drive for ‘The Cat In The Hat’ Jack Roush.”

10. Aric Almirola: Almirola finished 11th at New Hampshire and is ninth in the points standings.

“What a drive by Kevin Harvick,” Almirola said. “He faced a huge amount of pressure from Denny Hamlin, yet Harvick remained calm and held him off. Considering the weather, Kevin picked the perfect day to have ‘ice water in his veins.’”

July 22, 2019
Kevin Harvick wins at New Hampshire

With a 22 race winless streak, Kevin Harvick was not going to be denied a second lobster at New Hampshire.

Harvick had to hold off Denny Hamlin to win his first race of the season, and the first win for his team, Stewart-Haas Racing.

“(Hamlin) got to me, he tried to move me out of the way down there, and I knew that was coming as close as he was,” Harvick told NBCSN at the start/finish line. “So I just stood on the brakes and I’m like half throttle down the back straightaway. I’m like, ‘You’re not getting under me again.’ And he drove to the outside of me and I just waited till he got near me and I just put a wheel on him.”

Hamlin finished second after leading 113 laps, all of them in the final stage. He took the lead after his teammate, Kyle Busch, had trouble and cut a tire and slammed into the wall in Turn 1. He went on to finish ninth but for Hamlin, it was more dejection that anything.

“I kind of shoved (Harvick) up a little higher and tried to get him out of the groove,” Hamlin told NBCSN after the race. “I wanted to just tap him there, but I didn’t want to completely screw him. I at least wanted to give him a fair shot there. Down the backstretch, I kind of let off, and I’m like, all right, well, I’ll just pass him on the outside and kind of do this thing the right way, and once I had that big run, he just turned right. But I would do the same thing. It was a fun race, and congratulations to him and his team. They made a great call there at the end.”

Erik Jones finished third, followed by Ryan Blaney and Matt Dibenedetto rounding out the top five.

Kyle Busch dominated the first stage and half of the second stage and finished ninth.

We had a good car all day,” Busch said after the race. “Just got into it on a restart I guess with Larson and that got us damage and that got us behind the eight ball. We would have been on strategy with where (Denny Hamlin) was the whole rest of the day, but we had to fix damage.”

Jimmie Johnson was having a decent run when his power steering began having issues and the seven-time champ had to come in and fell multiple laps down and out of contention.

Well, it was certainly a letdown, to say the least,” Johnson said after the race on NBCSN. “We had some issue with the power steering and the water pump pulleys. I thought it might have been from some contact on a restart. I got in the back of the car in front of me. They told me that wasn’t the case. So, I assume some debris got in the pulley system and took out my power steering and the water pump as well. So, it’s just unlucky on that front. Certainly, the wrong time of the year to have some bad luck. It looked like the guys I’m worried about in the points didn’t have the best day either, so maybe I got a pass on this one. I’m just disappointed, to say the least.”

The Cup Series heads to Pocono for the second race of the season at the Tricky Triangle where Kyle Busch will try and sweep the series in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

July 21, 2019