Tag: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series

Elliott name back in victory lane at Talladega

With four different crashes in the final seven laps, Chase Elliott emerged victorious in the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series.

“Obviously it could have gone both ways but fortunately everybody stayed together and stayed the course and had some help on that last lap with the caution,” Elliott said. “I just appreciate all the support. This is unbelievable. This is special. This is close to home for me. It feels a little bit like a home race.

“We’ll take it. Unbelievable feeling. The crowd was intense. We’re proud to get it done for them.”

Elliott is the first driver for the 2019 season to break the win streak by Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske. He edged his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman, who was disappointed to not have a chance at the win coming to the line despite scoring his career-best finish.

“I’m not just going to let him win, right?” Bowman asked rhetorically. “I’ve got to try. I knew I could get to his quarter panel. I was pretty confident I could get to his quarter panel through the tri-oval. Who knows who is going to get to the line first? At that point, I thought I could do it. Depends on the car behind you, where he goes.

“It would have been fun to try, but happy for Chase, Nationwide (Bowman’s sponsor), everybody that lets us keep doing this thing. I’m glad to kind of turn the season around. It’s been a rough start to the year. These guys deserve way better than the finishes they’ve had. To come home second, it’s not a win, but headed in the right direction.”

Ryan Preece also scored his best career Cup series finish with a third place run. Upon further video evidence, Joey Logano unofficially finishes in fourth just slightly ahead of Daniel Hemric, who also got his best career finish. The rest of the top 10 finishing positions were Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Brendan Gaughan, Aric Almirola and Kyle Busch. Busch now extends his top-10 finishing streak to 10 for the 2019 season.

Three Multi-Car Wrecks at Talladega

The race officially ended under caution on the final lap as William Byron tangled with David Ragan on the back stretch. The two drivers collected Kyle Larson and Jeffrey Earnhardt. Both Larson and Earnhardt spun toward the inside wall, with Larson beginning to flip moments before impact with the inside SAFER barrier. The No. 42 Chevrolet tumbled and began to flip multiple times before finally coming to rest on the wheels. However, with Stenhouse spinning on the front stretch as the field took the white flag, the combination of debris on the track a few hundred feet before the start-finish line and Larson’s flip on the back stretch, NASCAR had to throw the yellow. Erik Jones spun in Turns 3 and 4 with two laps to go, but was able to continue on right away.

“That was probably the longest flip I’ve ever had,” Larson said after he was checked out of the infield care center. “I didn’t know if it would ever stop. It was a little bit scary, but thankfully I’m all right.”

A separate incident occurred with just seven laps remaining, as Chris Buescher’s No. 37 Chevrolet got turned by Aric Almirola on the backstretch. For the majority of that previous lap, Almirola kept looking to the inside to make a three-wide pass, but tucked back in line. However, on the back stretch, Almirola made contact with Buescher as he fell back in line and started a five-car crash. Buescher’s car hit the outside wall, then was t-boned by Matt DiBenedetto’s No. 95 Toyota, lifting Buescher’s car in the air. Martin Truex Jr. made slight contact, but avoided most of the wreck and was able to continue in the race. Justin Haley, who was making his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut, was not so fortunate and had his great debut end after hitting DiBenedetto in the side.

“We just got turned,” Buescher told FOX. ”Good position there with just a handful of laps to go. Just got turned right, destroyed our race car.”

The red flag lasted for 8 minutes and 47 seconds.

Back in the first stage, another multi-car wreck took out a few other major contenders as well. Just 10 laps into the race, Bubba Wallace had a strong run on Ryan Blaney. While the two bump drafted around, Blaney’s car got sideways but he was able to correct it. Wallace was not, and spun toward the inside across traffic. Clint Bowyer’s car slid up and collected his Stewart-Haas teammate Kevin Harvick. Michael McDowell and Matt Tifft were also collected, and those four retired from the race immediately.

“The No. 22 (Joey Logano) pulled up and he checked up a little bit,” Wallace said of the crash. “I went to go to the bottom, where I was safe. I don’t know if I crossed (Blaney’s) bumper or whatever. But it got him wiggled down and shoved me even farther down than I wanted to go.

“So I went back up just to stay off the apron and it just unloaded. It’s just unfortunate, but I tried not to wreck my buddy, Ryan, and it cost our day and some others’.”

Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota also received damage, and went a few laps down early. After hitting the wall on Lap 83, Hamlin took his car to the garage with mechanical failures and would not return to the race. Jimmie Johnson received damage after running over debris from McDowell’s car. On Lap 25, Johnson hit the wall in Turn 3. He was able to get his Chevrolet to pit road, but was out of contention after finishing nine laps down.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competes next at Dover International Speedway on May 5.

Monster Energy Cup Series Race Number 10
Race Results for the 50th Annual GEICO 500 – Sunday, April 28, 2019
Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, AL – 2.66 – Mile Paved
Total Race Length – 188 Laps – 500.08 Miles

Fin	Str	No	Driver	Team	Laps	S1Pos	S2Pos	Pts	Status
1	11	9	Chase Elliott	Mountain Dew/Little Caesar’s Chevrolet	188	4	1	57	Running
2	9	88	Alex Bowman	Nationwide Chevrolet	188	2	2	53	Running
3	30	47	Ryan Preece #	Kroger Chevrolet	188	0	0	34	Running
4	8	22	Joey Logano	MoneyLion Ford	188	0	9	35	Running
5	5	8	Daniel Hemric #	Caterpillar Chevrolet	188	0	8	35	Running
6	14	1	Kurt Busch	Monster Energy Chevrolet	188	0	6	36	Running
7	24	6	Ryan Newman	Acorns Ford	188	6	0	35	Running
8	29	62	* Brendan Gaughan(i)	BeardOilDstrbtng/SthPntHtl&Casino Chevrolet	188	0	0	0	Running
9	2	10	Aric Almirola	Smithfield Ford	188	0	0	28	Running
10	22	18	Kyle Busch	M&M’s Chocolate Bar Toyota	188	9	10	30	Running
11	36	32	Corey LaJoie	Schuler Systems Ford	188	0	0	26	Running
12	16	41	Daniel Suarez	Coca-Cola Orange Vanilla Ford	188	5	0	31	Running
13	4	2	Brad Keselowski	Snap On Ford	188	0	0	24	Running
14	1	3	Austin Dillon	Dow Chevrolet	188	3	5	37	Running
15	7	12	Ryan Blaney	Menards/Knauf Ford	188	0	4	29	Running
16	17	21	Paul Menard	Quick Land Tire & Auto Center Ford	188	0	0	21	Running
17	13	13	Ty Dillon	GEICO Chevrolet	188	1	0	30	Running
18	37	27	* Reed Sorenson	Low-T Centers Chevrolet	188	0	0	19	Running
19	27	20	Erik Jones	STANLEY Toyota	188	0	0	18	Running
20	20	19	Martin Truex Jr	Bass Pro Shops Toyota	188	0	0	17	Running
21	25	24	William Byron	Hertz Chevrolet	188	7	3	28	Running
22	33	81	* Jeffrey Earnhardt(i)	Xtreme Concepts Toyota	187	0	0	0	Accident
23	15	38	David Ragan	Shriners Hospital for Children Ford	187	0	0	14	Accident
24	10	42	Kyle Larson	Clover Chevrolet	187	0	7	17	Accident
25	6	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Fifth Third Bank Ford	187	8	0	15	Accident
26	34	15	Ross Chastain(i)	Chevrolet	187	0	0	0	Running
27	35	96	* Parker Kligerman(i)	TRD 40th Anniversary Toyota	186	0	0	0	Running
28	40	51	Cody Ware(i)	JACOB Companies Ford	184	0	0	9	Running
29	3	14	Clint Bowyer	Toco Warranty Ford	182	0	0	8	Running
30	31	37	Chris Buescher	Tide Pods Chevrolet	181	0	0	7	Accident
31	26	95	Matt DiBenedetto	Procore Toyota	181	10	0	7	Accident
32	38	77	Justin Haley(i)	Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet	180	0	0	0	Accident
33	21	48	Jimmie Johnson	Ally Chevrolet	178	0	0	4	Running
34	32	0	Landon Cassill(i)	Home Town Lenders Chevrolet	154	0	0	0	Running
35	39	52	Stanton Barrett	HUSKI CHOCOLATE Chevrolet	132	0	0	2	Suspension
36	23	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Express Toyota	80	0	0	1	Accident
37	18	36	Matt Tifft #	Surface Suncreen/Tunity Ford	11	0	0	1	Accident
38	19	4	Kevin Harvick	Busch Beer Flannel Ford	11	0	0	1	Accident
39	28	43	Bubba Wallace	World Wide Technology Chevrolet	10	0	0	1	Accident
40	12	34	Michael McDowell	Love’s Travel Stops Ford	10	0	0	1	Accident

April 28, 2019

Austin Dillon claims Busch Pole award at Talladega

Austin Dillon earned the Busch Pole Award at Talladega Superspeedway and will lead the field to green for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500.

Dillon drove his No. 3 Chevrolet at a lap speed of 192.544 mph winning his first pole at Talladega. It was his second pole this season and the fifth of his Cup Series career.

But it was particularly significant for a number of other reasons. Dillon turned 29-years-old Friday and his team, Richard Childress Racing, is celebrating their 50th anniversary in the sport as Talladega commemorates their 50th year as a NASCAR track.

It was also Richard Childress Racing’s first pole at Talladega in 25 years, since Dale Earnhardt earned the pole for the team in 1994.

“I’m a numbers kind of guy,” Dillon said, “and you correlate all those numbers together – it’s the 50th anniversary for RCR, 50th for Talladega. Talladega is where RCR kind of started in 1969. I’m pumped to be here in the No. 3 car. Danny Stockman (crew chief) and the boys did a great job building a fast car and you want to go out there and make some noise and they did that. I give all the credit to those guys. Tomorrow it’s up to us to keep that car up front and hopefully make a real iconic win for RCR and everyone here at Talladega.”

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola will start second in Sunday’s race after a 192.131 mph lap.

“I think we got pretty close to backing up what we ran in the first round there but I felt like the wind picked up a little bit more. I don’t know if that was it or what the case was. All in all, it was a great run for us,” Almirola said. “I am happy about starting on the front row with good track position to start the race and a good pit stall. All those things matter.”

Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski and Daniel Hemric round out the top five starting positions.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will start sixth, followed by Ryan Blaney, last year’s winner Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, rounding out the top 10.

Tune into the GEICO 500 Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on FOX with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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

April 27, 2019
Weekend Schedule for Talladega

After a week off for the Easter break, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series go back to the track as Talladega Superspeedway is the home for this weekend’s races. Here is how you can watch all of the action from Talladega.

All times are Eastern.

Friday, April 26th:
12:35-1:25 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice, NASCAR.com/Live
1:35-2:25 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series first practice, NASCAR.com/Live
2:35-3:25 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, NASCAR.com/Live
4:35-5:25 p.m.: NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series final practice, FS1

Saturday, April 27th:
10:10 a.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (SINGLE-VEHICLE / TWO ROUNDS), FS1
1:00 p.m.: Xfinity Series MoneyLion 300 (STAGES 25/50/113 LAPS = 300.58 MILES),
TV: FS1 – Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)
4:40 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying (SINGLE-VEHICLE/ TWO ROUNDS), FOX

Sunday, April 28th:
2 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Geico 500 (Stages 55/110/188 LAPS = 500.08 Miles)
TV: FOX – Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)

April 25, 2019
The White Zone: Let’s retire the All-Star Race

Wednesday, on NASCAR Race Hub, NASCAR announced the format for this year’s Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race.

Over its 35-year history, it’s had 15 different formats. Three of them have come in the last five years.

Does the All-Star Race excite anyone, anymore?

What’s even the most notable thing that’s happened in this event in the last 10 years? Probably 2012, when NASCAR incentivized the segment winners to sandbag, until the final pit stop (to their credit, however, they changed that the following year to best segment average finish).

This isn’t your father’s All-Star Race, where Rusty Wallace turned Darrell Waltrip to win the event or Davey Allison got turned, as he crossed the finish line. This is an event that’s become a victim of the aerodynamic-centrism that’s made races at 1.5-mile tracks so maligned. This is a race where the guy who exits pit road first on the final stop wins it nine times out of 10.

It’s yet another race in a season that’s already too long.

And unlike other All-Star Games in the stick and ball world, you’re not seeing players that, if you follow Major League Baseball, you’d only see three or four times a year (or 20 times, if you’re a fan of a division rival) in a 162-game season. You’re seeing the drivers that already race 36 times a year.

So what made it stand out? It was the gimmicks.

It made sense until 2004, when this was a race with gimmicks, during a season when the championship was decided in a season-long points format. But with all the gimmicks that permeate NASCAR now (and yes, stage racing and playoff points are gimmicks), what makes this race any different from a race during the season?

Is it the million-dollar prize? Aside from it not being the only race with a purse that large, what about that is supposed to appeal to the blue-collar worker that earns $31,900 a year? For context, the median household income in the United States (and this number can vary by source) in 2017 was $61,372.

It’s time to accept that the All-Star Race has run its course. The event, every year, is so over-hyped and enrages fans when it disappoints.

What if instead of the All-Star Race, we use it as an actual off weekend for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. And while it’s off, let’s run the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) and the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (NGOTS) at a short track, like — say — Hickory Motor Speedway or Myrtle Beach Speedway.

Then the next weekend (if we must run the NGOTS and NXS at Charlotte), run the NGOTS race on Thursday, NXS on Saturday and the Coca-Cola World 600 on Sunday evening.

Right now, as it is, the All-Star Race is just another race weekend taking up space in an already crowded schedule.

That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

April 17, 2019
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Richmond

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kyle Busch: Busch led 101 laps at Richmond and posted an eighth-place finish, his ninth top 10 of the season.

“It’s good to see Martin Truex Jr. get the win,” Busch said. “That’s three of four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers with at least one win this season. Now, if Erik Jones could get a win, it would further extend JGR dominance. All our rival teams know they need to keep up with the Joneses, but let’s face it, the Jones needs to keep up with the Busch’s, Hamlin’s, and Truex’s.”

2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin failed pre-race inspection twice and was relegated to the rear of the field at the start. Despite that, he finished fifth, his sixth top five of the season.

“I was one of eight drivers whose cars failed inspection,” Hamlin said. “For NASCAR viewers who decry the lack of passing, it doesn’t get any better in qualifying either.”

3. Joey Logano: Logano stalked Martin Truex Jr. over the closing laps at Richmond, but didn’t have enough for the pass and settled for second.

“It didn’t help that my Penske teammate Brad Keselowski held me up earlier,” Logano said. “It was a case of ‘(Get out of) my way or the highway.’”

4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex held off Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano down the stretch to win at Richmond, capturing his first short track win.

“That’s six wins for Joe Gibbs Racing already this year,” Truex said. “And six for Toyotas. The race was called the ‘Toyota Owners 400,’ and Joe Gibbs can verify that it’s good to own Toyotas.”

5. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished fourth in the Toyota Owners 400, joining Stewart-Haas Racing teammate and third place finisher Clint Bowyer in the top five.

“SHR has yet to visit Victory Lane,” Harvick said. “And we’re spoiling for a win. Which is surprising, because I’ve always heard that ‘to the victor go the spoils.’ As to the reasons we haven’t been able to win, well, I’m lost.”

6. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished seventh at Richmond and is now fifth in the Monster Energy Cup points standings, 87 out of first.

“We have a week off for the Easter holiday,” Keselowski said. “And it’s the best time of year for drivers to thank the man upstairs. For me, that would be my spotter, Coleman Pressley.”

7. Kurt Busch: Busch finished 11th in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond.

“On Twitter, NASCAR described the Richmond race as a ‘classic,’” Busch said. “It was most certainly not. Sure, the race will ‘go down in history.’ And when I say ‘down,’ I mean way down on the list of memorable races.”

8. Chase Elliott: Elliott started at the rear of the field after failing pre-race inspection, but battled back to post a solid 15th at Richmond.

“My teammate Jimmie Johnson raced in the Boston Marathon on Monday,” Elliott said. “Jimmie may never win that elusive eighth Cup championship, but he accomplished a feat that I’m sure no other driver has—he lost to a Kenyan.”

9. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer chased race leader Martin Truex Jr. over the final 40 laps at Richmond, but wasn’t able to make the pass. Bowyer settled for third, his fourth consecutive top-10 finish.

“I was hoping to force Martin into an unintentional mistake at Richmond,” Bowyer said, “or better yet, an intentional mistake, like a spin. After all, he doesowe me.”

10. Ryan Blaney: Blaney struggled with handling issues at Richmond and settled for a 25th-place finish.

“I didn’t even feel like I was driving the car,” Blaney said. “I felt like it was driving me. And it drove me places I care not to go, like ‘crazy,’ ‘insane,’ and ‘up a wall.’”

April 15, 2019
Truex finally gets his short track win at Richmond

After a three way battle in the closing laps, Martin Truex Jr. was able to out run Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer to the checkered flag in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway.

“You just had to hold ’em off,” Truex told FOX on the front stretch regarding the battle between Logano, Bowyer and himself. “Tonight we didn’t have the best car, but we’ve lost some here with the best car. We’ve kept chipping away at it and hopefully we get better from here on out.”

Truex claimed the lead from Brad Keselowski with just under 80 laps to go, and led to the finish with a race-high of 186 laps. Truex also improved his stage positions throughout the night, third in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2. Kyle Busch led 101 laps, but a speeding penalty paired with the caution for Kyle Larson’s crash knocked Busch off cycle. He wasn’t able to get back to the front, but continues his top 10 streak for the 2019 season among the opening nine races.

Logano won Stage 2 after passing Truex with a handful of laps remaining, but was not able to repeat at the end of the race.

“I figured something out there toward the end with about 10 laps to go to make up some speed,” Logano said. “Fun race, but, gosh, two weeks in a row I felt like we had a car that could win the race, and we haven’t won.”

At this point last year, Clint Bowyer already had a short track victory at Martinsville. He was looking to break the Team Penske/Joe Gibbs Racing duo by putting a Stewart-Haas Racing car in victory lane. He came up a couple of spots short, but not without a few side by side battles with Truex with around 20 laps to go.

“It’s frustrating,” said Bowyer. “I was faster on a long run than him, but by the time you get to (Truex), your stuff is pretty wore out. And with this aero package, you are so aero dependent behind those cars that you get terrible tight.”

Pole sitter Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin finished in the top five. Austin Dillon was the first and only Chevrolet driver in the top 10, finishing in sixth. Brad Keselowski, Stage 1 winner Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Paul Menard rounded out the top 10.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series takes Easter weekend off. They will race again at Talladega Superspeedway in the Geico 500 on April 28.

April 14, 2019
Harvick Gets to Keep His Pole Position at Richmond

Kevin Harvick earned the pole for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 in Friday night’s Busch Pole Qualifying at Richmond Raceway, and he gets to keep it.

Why’s that?

Four of the top 10 qualifiers will have to start from the rear of the field after failing pre-race inspection Saturday afternoon — Erik Jones (qualified second), Chase Elliott (seventh), Daniel Suarez (ninth) and Jimmie Johnson (10th). They all will have to start from the rear of the field for Saturday’s race.

“Eyes forward and let’s get to work,” said Johnson on Twitter after being asked his thoughts on starting from the rear.

But the drama of failed inspections didn’t stop there. Aric Almirola (qualified 15th), Denny Hamlin (18th), Matt Tifft (20th), and Joey Gase (36th) all failed inspection and will have their cars moved to the back of the pack when the green flag waves later tonight.

Additionally, Elliott, Hamlin and Tifft all failed a second time, resulting in a crew member ejected from each team. All eight drivers that failed inspection will start between 30th and 37th positions.

Since Richmond is a night race, NASCAR impounds all the Monster Energy Cup Series cars until the garage is opened again on Saturday for inspection. Single failures result in disallowed qualifying times, and the team is set to start at the end of the field for the race. Multiple failures result in increased penalties against the team.

So the updated results from qualifying are as follows. Harvick is still on pole with a time of 21.722 seconds. Kurt Busch is now the new face on the front row and will start second, 0.075 seconds off the pace. Joey Logano, last weekend’s short track winner, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. with his best start of the season, round out the top five. Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard and Kyle Larson complete the updated top 10 qualifying results.

The green flag is set to wave shortly after 7:30 p.m ET tonight.

April 13, 2019
Kevin Harvick wins unofficial Busch Pole at Richmond Raceway

Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service

RICHMOND, Va. – Where the short tracks are concerned, Kevin Harvick and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team appeared to have turned a corner.

And on Friday afternoon at Richmond Raceway, Harvick got through the corners better than everyone else in winning the unofficial pole position for Saturday’s Toyota Owners 400 at the .75-mile track (7:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The unofficial Busch Pole Award was Harvick’s third at Richmond, his second of the season and the 27th of his career, setting up a showdown with the Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske cars that have monopolized Victory Lane in the first eight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series events of the season.

RELATED: Unofficial qualifying results

Harvick posted a lap at 124.298 mph (21.722 seconds) to edge Erik Jones (124.081 mph) for the top starting spot by .038 seconds. The front-row start will be Jones’ first of the season.

Kurt Busch qualified third at 123.870 mph, a dramatic improvement over his 2019 average starting position of 20.1. Joey Logano and Kyle Busch completed the top five.

“The cars definitely had a little fall-off,” Harvick said. “I was just really just managing the fall-off and just trying to be consistent with the laps, but stickers (new tires) were definitely faster in the first round than they were in the second and third round.”

Harvick was sixth in the first round, second to Kyle Busch in the second round and first with the pole at stake. Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez and Jimmie Johnson earned positions six through 10 on the grid, respectively.

For the first time, NASCAR limited each round to five minutes, with seven minutes between, condensing the entire qualifying session to 29 minutes. For Jones, who had a pit stall near the exit from pit road, the time limits weren’t an issue.

“Short tracks, I think it’s fine,” Jones said. “It’s a little hectic in the first round and even in the second round, but it’s easy for me to say. We had a great pit stall being first out. I could just roll out, and here it doesn’t benefit you to wait so you just roll out and get your lap in.”

RHarvick was fast last week at Bristol, only to have his prospects crushed by a pre-race penalty for multiple inspection failures and an early loose wheel that forced an unplanned pit stop. But at Richmond on Saturday, he’ll be leading the field to green.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of unknowns, including a new Goodyear tire combination.

“As you look at this place, this is really one of those places where you kind of have to go off of what happened last time,” Harvick said. “New tire, so you don’t really know exactly what the cars are going to do deep into runs as far as how bad they will push, will the get looser.

“What conditions will you be fighting? We wind up guessing a number of times when they change the tires like this, because you don’t know what to anticipate.”

April 12, 2019
Weekend schedule for Richmond

From one short track to another, the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series and Xfinity Series take to the 3/4-mile track, Richmond Raceway, in Richmond, Virginia. Here is how you can watch all of the action, below.

All times are Eastern.

Friday, April 12:
8:05-9:55 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice, NASCAR.com/Live
11:05-11:55 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series first practice, NASCAR.com/Live
1:05-1:55 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, NASCAR.com/Live
3:40 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (MULTI-VEHICLE / THREE ROUNDS), FS1
5:40 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying (MULTI-VEHICLE / THREE ROUNDS), FS1
7 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250 (STAGES 75/150/250 LAPS = 187.5 miles)
TV: FS1 – Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)

Saturday, April 13:
7:30 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 (Stages 100/200/400 LAPS = 300 Miles)
TV: FOX – Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90)

April 11, 2019
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Bristol

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kyle Busch: Busch outpaced big brother Kurt on the final restart at Bristol and took the win in the Food City 500.

“We both gambled by staying out on the final caution,” Busch said. “We’re from Las Vegas, so gambling is in our blood. By the way, I’m their ‘favorite son.’ And when I say ‘their,’ I’m referring to Las Vegas, and our parents.”

2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished fifth at Bristol as Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch won for the third time this season.

“Between Kyle and me,” Hamlin said, “we’ve got five wins this year. So, for JGR, Kyle and I are carrying our weight. Our teammates, Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez, they’re carrying our jock straps.”

3. Joey Logano: Logano and Penske teammate Brad Keselowski were set to battle for the win at Bristol until a late caution changed their fortunes. Both opted to pit for tires, while Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch stayed out. Kyle Busch won the race; Logano finished third.

“It sucks to lose,” Logano. “And trust me, I hate losing to the Busch brothers, but not nearly as much as I hate being outsmarted by them.”

4. Kevin Harvick: Harvick had to start at the back of the field after failing inspection three times, but salvaged a 13th at Bristol. He is third in the Monster Energy Cup points standings, 33 out of first.

“I finished 13th in qualifying,” Harvick said. “And three failed inspections say I finished first in ‘dis-qualifying.’”

5. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski was penalized late at Bristol for failing to line up properly on a restart, and finished 18th, spoiling what easily could have been a top five finish.

“That’s what NASCAR calls ‘putting me in my place,’” Keselowski said.

6. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished 17th at Bristol, one lap down, and is now seventh in the Monster Energy Cup points standings.

“We didn’t have a car capable of winning,” Truex said. “Of course, I wasn’t too pleased with the car and its setup. At the ‘Bull Ring,’ it was a case of ‘running of the b.s.‘”

7. Kurt Busch: Busch finished second to younger brother Kyle at Bristol after Kyle nailed the final restart.

“I should have wrecked Kyle and taken the win,” Busch said. “But Kyle got a great jump on the restart and I couldn’t catch him. In other words, he beat me to the punch, as opposed to some other drivers, who have beaten me with a punch.”

8. Chase Elliott: Elliott started on the pole at Bristol and posted an 11th-place finish.

“I received a free pass midway through the race,” Elliott said, “despite the fact that I was involved in the spin that caused the caution. That clearly goes against what’s written in the NASCAR rule book. At this point, who knowswhat’s written in the NASCAR rule book? What is known is that it’s written in pencil.”

9. Ryan Blaney: Blaney led a race-high 158 laps at Bristol and finished fourth, his fourth top five of the season.

“I had a spirited battle with Ryan Newman late in the race,” Blaney said. “There was a lot of contact. Luckily, we were able to laugh about it afterwards. Which is amazing in itself, because Newman is hardly ever in ‘good humor.’”

10. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer finished seventh in the Food City 500.

“Darrell Waltrip is retiring from the FOX broadcast booth at the end of the season,” Bowyer said. “It’s gonna be sad to see DW go, and we all plan to send him off with a show of respect. So, Boogity! Boogity! Let’s go embracing boys!”

April 8, 2019