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Kevin Harvick Earns Coors Light Pole at Texas

By Staff report | NASCAR.com

Kevin Harvick topped the leaderboard in all three rounds of Coors Light Pole qualifying, circling Texas Motor Speedway in the final round at 198.405 mph to earn his 19th career pole. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver is also the first repeat pole-sitter this season, having earned the top qualifying spot at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March.

Sophomore Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney was second-fastest, his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford clocking in at 198.020 mph. Blaney also topped opening practice in the Lone Star State earlier today.

Harvick’s SHR teammate Clint Bowyer will start third (198.020 mph), while Team Penske’s Joey Logano (197.759 mph) and Brad Keselowski (197.563 mph) rounded out the top five, respectively. This gave Ford all five of the top starting positions.

Nine cars were unable to make a qualifying lap in Friday’s three-round session after failing to get through pre-qualifying inspection: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Larson, Erik Jones, Chris Buescher, Derrike Cope and Timmy Hill. They will all start from the back of the field in Sunday’s 500-mile event. Busch is the reigning race winner.

Jimmie Johnson brought out the red in the middle of the 20-minute opening round, when he spun and flat-spotted the tires on his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Although he advanced to the second round, he was unable to continue qualifying and will start 24th.

“I think we used up all our luck in Homestead last year,” Johnson joked on pit road. “Glad the Lowe’s Chevy is still in one piece, we’ll fight back from here.”

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to the track Saturday for a pair of practices beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET (FS1).

O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Starting Lineup:

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April 7, 2017
Did Team Penske Snooker NASCAR?

NASCAR has always been a sport where teams push the envelope. Whether that’s a team trying to squeak something by inspection or a team trying to get the slightest advantage in the gray area of the rule book, innovation and outside the box thinking has always been something teams have tried.

Fast forward to the 2017 season and while pushing the envelope has become increasingly more difficult as the years go by, Team Penske found another way to try and gain an advantage even though the team was handed a bad situation.

Following March’s Camping World 500 at Phoenix International Raceway NASCAR handed down infractions to two teams stemming from rule infractions. As a result, they suspended two crew chiefs. One was Rodney Childers who was suspended for one race for a violation found at NASCAR’s R&D center on Wednesday. Childers’ employer, Stewart-Haas Racing, immediately filed an appeal of the penalty. Although the appeal was never heard the team dropped the appeal and Childers missed last Sunday’s race at Martinsville.

Also, penalized after the Phoenix race was Brad Keselowski’s crew chief Paul Wolfe. Wolfe’s penalty was a lot stiffer than Childers. A violation found after the race on Sunday resulted in a three-race suspension for Wolfe along with a fine and a major points penalty for the team and Keselowski. Team Penske initially decided not to appeal the penalty and Wolfe sat out the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway the following week. However, before Martinsville, the team had changed their mind and decided to appeal the penalty. This ensured that Wolfe would be on the pit box for Keselowski at Martinsville and the No. 2 team gave Team Penske their first win at the Virginia paperclip since 2004.

The decision to appeal the penalty a week after not appealing it was an interesting one. It’s something I’ve never seen before and I honestly thought there was a rule against doing that. Team Penske knew there wasn’t a rule against and took advantage of it.

It was puzzling why Team Penske decided to do that in the first place. Was it possible the team discovered something and they thought they could win the appeal? Maybe, but then I realized something. Martinsville is a very important track on the Cup schedule. Not only is it one of just three short tracks on the circuit but Martinsville’s second race is the first race of the third round in NASCAR’s playoffs, a crucial race if a team wants to win a championship. Having your regular crew chief on the pit box for a race that features an event in NASCAR’s playoffs is a big deal. Sure, Brian Wilson could relay the information to Paul Wolfe but it’s different than Wolfe being there.

This weekend’s race is at Texas Motor Speedway and the appeal filed by Team Penske will not be heard until after this Sunday’s race. Texas Motor Speedway has just undergone a reconfiguration and repaving project. This weekend’s race is the first time the cars will hit the track with the new pavement. It’s a crucial weekend for all teams. The notebook is very thin for teams and Team Penske can only benefit from having Wolfe there at the racetrack.

You have to wonder if Team Penske strategically planned their appeal so Wolfe could be at the racetrack for two tracks that are in the NASCAR playoffs. Even if they lose their appeal, the next two races following Texas are at Bristol and Richmond. Both of those tracks have second dates that are not in the NASCAR playoffs.

Is it a coincidence that Team Penske just happened to have their crew chief back for two tracks that are in the playoffs? I don’t think so. These teams are too smart. This was methodical. This was intentional. Team Penske snookered NASCAR.

April 6, 2017
Texas Motor Speedway – Did You Know?

This weekend the Monster Energy NASCAR Truck Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. With his victory at Martinsville, Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski became the first driver to grab multiple wins this season. But did you know that Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing, the two most successful active teams in NASCAR, are winless after six races?

Texas may be the perfect track for these teams to rebound. HMS driver Jimmie Johnson has the best overall driver rating (107.1) at the 1.5-mile track but so far this year his best finish was ninth place at Phoenix. However, with a track-record six wins, history may be on his side.

Or maybe Chase Elliott will break through and capture his first win at Texas. He had two top-fives in his 2016 rookie season and is currently in second place in the standings, only four points behind leader, Kyle Larson.

JGR’s Kyle Busch is also hungry for a win especially after last week’s race at Martinsville where he led a race-high 274 laps only to see victory elude him. He has scored two checkered flags at Texas and is the defending race winner with 11 top fives, 12 top 10s and one pole at Texas.

But the bigger story may be the newly repaved track surface that was completed during the offseason. Did you know that the entire track was repaved and an extensive drainage system was added on the frontstretch and backstretch? Turns 1 and 2 were also reconfigured with the banking reduced from 24 to 20 degrees and the racing surface widened from 60 to 80 feet through Turns 1 and 2.

Some of the drivers have expressed concerns about the unpredictability of heading to Texas to compete on the new surface, especially since there will be no opportunity for pre-race testing.

“To head into Texas with no formal tire test, no official track mapping, let ’er rip, this is new territory for our sport,” Stewart-Hass Racing’s Kurt Busch said. “I think it shows how much we’re having to adapt on the fly. Is it a good thing? A bad thing? It doesn’t matter. It’s what it is, and it’s unique the way we’re headed in there to go 215 mph with no track time.”

JGR driver Matt Kenseth, who has the second-best driver rating of 104.7 at Texas, calls it “unprecedented,” adding, “I don’t think that we’ve ever gone to a newly paved race track without some sort of a test day, a tire test, or something along those lines.”

There’s no doubt that this weekend will likely test the skills of even the best driver but let’s look at some statistics to set the stage.

Did you know that four active drivers have multiple wins at Texas Motor Speedway? Johnson leads the way with six followed by JGR’s Denny Hamlin, Kenseth and Kyle Busch with two each. Roush Fenway Racing leads the Cup Series in victories with nine while Hendrick Motorsports has eight and Joe Gibbs Racing has six.

There have been 32 MENCS races at Texas, one each year from 1997-2004 and two per season since 2005, resulting in wins by 18 different drivers. But did you know that 78.1 percent (25 of 32) have been won from a top-10 starting position? And, to narrow it down more, starting in third place has produced more wins (six) than any other starting position.

Don’t miss the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Sunday, April 8 at 1:30 p.m. on FOX as the 2017 season continues at Texas Motor Speedway. While you’re waiting, check out the gallery below for a preview of the paint schemes we’ll see this weekend.

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

Texas paint schemes

April 6, 2017
NASCAR Racing Schedule for Texas

This weekend the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the XFINITY Series travel to Texas Motor Speedway. The drivers will practice on the newly repaved track for the first time Friday, April 7 in preparation for Saturday’s NXS My Bariatric Solutions 300 race and Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 event. Both races will be televised on FOX.

Kyle Busch is the defending MENCS race winner at Texas with two victories, 11 top fives, 12 top 10s and one pole at the 1.5-mile track with the third-best driver rating (102.4). Chase Elliott, who is still searching for his first win, enters the Cup Series race with the series-best average finish of 4.500. The struggling Jimmie Johnson has the potential to turn his season around with a much-needed victory based on his six wins, 14 top fives, 20 top 10s and one pole in the Lone Star State.

Please check below for the complete schedule of events. All times are Eastern.

Friday, April 7:

On Track:
Noon-2:25 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Practice – FS1
2:30-3:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Practice – FS1
5-5:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Final Practice – FS1
6:15 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1

Garage Cam: (Watch live)
11:30 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
4:30 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series

Press Conferences: (Watch live)
10:30 a.m.: Daniel Suarez
10:45 a.m.: Chris Buescher
11 a.m.: Clint Bowyer
11:15 a.m.: Jimmie Johnson
11:30 a.m.: Brendan Gaughan, Daniel Hemric and Brennan Poole
3 p.m.: Trevor Bayne
3:15 p.m.: Martin Truex Jr.
4:15 p.m.: Tony Stewart and Christopher Bell
6 p.m.: Texas Motor Speedway Announcement
7:30 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying (time approx.)

Saturday, April 8:

On Track:
9:30-10:25 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Practice – FS1
10:35 a.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
Noon-12:50 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Final Practice – FS2
1:30 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series My Bariatric Solutions 300 (200 laps, 300 miles) – FOX – Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Press Conference: (Watch live)
4 p.m.: Post-NASCAR XFINITY Series Race (time approx.)

Sunday, April 9:

On Track:
1:30 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 (334 laps, 501 miles) – FOX – Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Press Conferences: (Watch live)
10:30 a.m.: JTG Daugherty Racing Announcement
5:30 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race (time approx.)

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

Complete NASCAR TV Schedule

My Bariatric Solutions 200 Entry List

O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Entry List:

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April 6, 2017
Hot 20 – If you like Texas Bobbleheads, just nod yes…over…and…over…again.

Texas is next on the dance card this weekend, an apropos venue to hear about Bellator and Monster Energy getting together to present some pre-race smackdowns, some good ole fashioned ass whippin’s, some unscripted mayhem. In their desire to make NASCAR cool and hip again, or whatever is considered trendy in today’s vernacular, Monster Energy plans on presenting some MMA matches prior to some selected events. Sounds like they are just going to try and recreate a Berkley peace march.

Maybe you could have Kyle Busch get together with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for a little pre-race activity. After Stenhouse bumped Kyle to get back on the lead lap at the end of Stage 2 at Martinsville, accomplishing the task while allowing Chase Elliott to slip ahead for the Stage win, once again we seem to have a burning Busch on our hands.

Ricky’s pal, Danica Patrick, along with Tony Stewart have had their likenesses enshrined in Milwaukee’s Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum. Just nod your head repeatedly in agreement.

In 2014, Hall of Famer (baseball version) Tony La Russa saw bobbleheads produced showing him in both the colors of the Athletics and the White Sox. At Phoenix, he was decked out in those of Shell/Pennzoil when the 72-year old dropped by the Team Penske garage to visit with Joey Logano. Come to think of it, didn’t Kyle Busch want to turn Logano into a bobblehead a couple of weeks ago?

Sunday is Texas…with not 38 or 39 on the entry list, but a full 40! Well, they do like things bigger there, including the race field it seems. As for these boys listed below, they will indeed be our Hot 20. Temps for Dallas are forecast for the mid-80s F come race day.

1. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 2 WINS – 234 PTS
The King of his Kesel (owski)?

2. KYLE LARSON – 1 WIN – 268 PTS
Visited the rocket center in Huntsville, but even Smoky could not have put a Saturn V in his car.

3. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 1 WIN – 236 PTS
Best damn driver at Martinsville…for the opening stage.

4. RYAN NEWMAN – 1 WIN – 152 PTS
This just in. Newman plans to play in Texas, yet has not a single fiddler in the band.

5. KURT BUSCH – 1 WIN – 119 PTS
That Daytona win is looming larger and larger with each subpar performance since.

6. CHASE ELLIOTT – 264 PTS
Over his past ten, an average finish of 8.3 with six Top Tens. That will do for now.

7. JOEY LOGANO – 207 PTS
With MMA fights coming to some NASCAR events, are you ready to rumble, Joey?

8. KYLE BUSCH – 188 PTS
Pre-race? Hell, shouldn’t they be having the fights after the race?

9. RYAN BLANEY – 179 PTS
His dad was a North Carolina Cup driver. The boy is the same…just better..as dad had hoped.

10. CLINT BOWYER – 174 PTS
Top Tens in three of his past four…nothing worse than 13th in last five.

11. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 163 PTS
Must have thought he had Flintstone tires at Martinsville…but it eroded away just the same.

12. KEVIN HARVICK – 154 PTS
This Sunday, they will feature Danica. In November, Texas will hand out Harvick bobbleheads.

13. KASEY KAHNE – 146 PTS
Junior was fine, but his Chevy McChevy face got all steamed up with Kahne.

14. ERIK JONES – 144 PTS
While everyone is talking about Larson, another young gun is quietly working his way up.

15. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 141 PTS
Oh, my God, what’s wrong with Jimmie? Well, if this is running bad, imagine him running good.

16. TREVOR BAYNE – 140 PTS
His 14th Texas start? Damn, time does fly by.

17. DENNY HAMLIN – 139 PTS
Made contact with Danica at Martinsville, and wound up in a wall of hurt…and a garage of tears.

18. ARIC ALMIROLA – 127 PTS
Best showing since Daytona? 14th.

19. AUSTIN DILLON – 126 PTS
Coming off his best win of the season, he is taking the big hat to Texas. Seems about right.

20. RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – 113 PTS
The most relevant 27 remain in the Top 27…or at least that is what he keeps trying to tell her.

April 5, 2017
Martinsville Cup race filled with spins and carnage

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Short track racing is known for being chocked full of race cars with sheet metal beaten senseless by the battles on track, and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway was no exception.

The mayhem started early in the day when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun in Turn 3 on lap 69, after contact from Paul Menard.

It continued on lap 106 when Jamie McMurray, dealing with a left-rear tire rub, suffered a tire blowout and spun out into the wall in Turn 3.

“I think the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) got into my left-rear and it got the body on the tire,” McMurray said when asked what happened. “We elected to stay out because if you pit here and you lose two or three laps, I really don’t think you can make those up. In hindsight, I guess I wish we were talking that chance now instead of sitting here, but had a good car and just cut a tire down.”

He finished last for the third time in his career (LASTCAR.info).

On lap 123, Dale Earnhardt Jr. got loose exiting Turn 2 and spun out on the backstretch, with some help from Ryan Blaney.

The first of two multi-car wrecks occurred on lap 288. Exiting Turn 4, Erik Jones bounced off the frontstretch wall. He came down in front of Austin Dillon who nudged him out of the groove in Turn 1, but was himself turned by Denny Hamlin. The domino effect led to massive damage on Kurt Busch’s car and Daniel Suarez’s car.

“Somebody checked up in front of us in the outside lane and jammed it up. No place to go,” Busch said.

A few laps later, Busch blew a left-front tire and slammed the wall in Turn 3 with 205 laps to go.

With 192 to go, Gray Gaulding spun out in Turn 3, as did Reed Sorenson with 167 to go.

With 109 to go, Jeffrey Earnhardt blew a right-front tire and slammed the wall exiting Turn 2.

Matt DiBenedetto spun out in Turn 3 with 94 to go.

The second multi-car wreck flew with 69 to go. Hamlin was driving under Danica Patrick for the pass going into Turn 3 when he got loose on her inside and spun Patrick into the wall. The domino effect resulted in Trevor Bayne pushing Hamlin into the wall and Earnhardt slamming into the back of teammate Kasey Kahne, puncturing the radiator.

“It just ain’t got much of a front bumper on it to begin with,” Earnhardt said, “So, when you get in the back of somebody that hard it’s going to knock the top of the radiator off. It knocked the fitting off the top of the radiator and we are out.”

The final spin of the race came from Truex going around in Turn 4 with 69 to go.

April 3, 2017
Kyle Busch finishes runner-up after leading most laps

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Leading more than half of the 500 laps didn’t translate into a second grandfather clock for Kyle Busch in the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

He took the lead for the first time under the first stage caution break and, other than seven laps in which Chase Elliott led, dominated most of the second stage. In the closing laps of the stage, he found trouble with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He drove to Stenhouse’s outside in Turn 3 with three laps to go in the stage, but Stenhouse made slight contact with him trying to stay on the lead lap. On the final lap of the stage, Stenhouse bumped Busch and sent his car up the track. This allowed Elliott to pass him for the lead and win the stage.

“I actually was rolling into Turn 3 and was kind of going higher out of my way in order to let the 17 back by and give him the lap. That was my intent, and then he just drove through me,” Busch said. “It cost me my spot to the 24, so I was hoping that I could run off the corner side by side with the 17 and keep the 24 at bay and just keep my nose in front of his and be able to score the segment, and I was trying to be a nice guy, but nice guys don’t finish first.”

He regained the lead on the ensuing restart and held it, minus three laps led by teammate Denny Hamlin during a caution period, until Brad Keselowski made it to the front with 94 laps to go.

For the next 60 laps, he and Keselowski swapped the lead back and forth five times. The most intense battle came when Busch took the lead with 56 to go. For the next 14 laps, Keselowski kept within inches of his bumper.

Going into Turn 1 with 42 to go, Keselowski drove to Busch’s inside to take the lead for the final time and scored the victory, while Busch settled for second.

“It’s just frustrating when you come down pit road and you don’t make any changes and you bolt a set of tires on it and it goes to junk,” Busch said. “I hate that that happened. We still haven’t finished where we should have this year. We haven’t gotten any finishes that are indicative of where this team’s been running or where we’re capable of running or finishing and that’s just frustrating. So we’ll continue on.”

April 3, 2017
Keselowski out-duels Kyle Busch to win at Martinsville

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Brad Keselowski passed Kyle Busch for the race lead in the closing stages to win at Martinsville Speedway.

Busch led the field to the final restart with 64 to go, but Keselowski took the lead the following lap. Busch regained it with 56 to go, and the battle was on. From that lap until 42 to go, Keselowski kept the pressure on the rear bumper of the 18 car, barely leaving room to breathe. He finally got under Busch going into Turn 1, took the lead with 42 to go and drove on to score the victory.

“This is awesome,” Keselowski said in victory lane. “We’ve ran so good here with the Miller Lite Ford, but something always happens and we haven’t been able to bring it home. Martinsville is just one of those champion’s tracks. The guys that run well everywhere run well here, and it’s really just an honor to win here and get to compete here. This track is 70 years old and a lot of legends have won here. It feels great to be able to join them and bring home a clock.”

It’s his 23rd career victory in 275 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts.

Busch finished second after leading 274 laps.

“I was just grasping for straws,” Busch said in his post-race media availability. “(Keselowski) was way better than we were at that time. Just wasn’t the same. Our car definitely changed there for the last run of the race, and we just didn’t have what we needed in order to have the speed that we had all the rest of the day. We were able to drive away from the field. We led a lot of laps. We really had no contention there from a lot of people, just passed halfway the rest of the way to the end, and then you put a set of tires on and you lose three‑tenths. That was pretty shameful, but we come home P2. So that’s all we had.”

Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Austin Dillon round out the top-five finishers.

Kyle Larson led the first 24 laps before Keselowski passed him on the backstretch to take the lead on lap 25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun out in Turn 3 and brought out the first caution of the race on lap 69. Keselowski, and teammate Logano, restarted from the tail end of the field for speeding on pit road, giving the lead to Martin Truex Jr.

He lost the lead to Denny Hamlin on lap 89, regained it on pit road — following a caution that stemmed from Jamie McMurray blowing a heavily-rubbing left-rear tire and spinning into the wall in Turn 3 — and won the first stage.

Busch exited pit road the race leader.

After the restart on lap 141, he lost the lead four laps later to Chase Elliott, then regained it seven laps later (lap 152) passing Elliott in Turn 2.

Unlike the first stage, the second stage was mostly tame and orderly. It changed at the end of the stage when race leader Busch came up on the lapped car of Stenhouse. He made contact with the 17 with three to go in the stage and Stenhouse put his bumper to Busch’s rear in Turn 3. As a result of getting loose, Busch lost the lead to Elliott and Elliott won the second stage.

During the third stage was when the race turned caution-heavy, with 10 of the 14 cautions coming in the final stage. One flew for debris and nine flew for cars spinning and/or wrecking.

Eight of the race’s 18 lead changes took place in the final stage.

The race lasted three hours, 44 minutes and 59 seconds at an average speed of 70.142 mph.

Larson leaves Martinsville with a four-point lead over Elliott.

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April 2, 2017
Bowyer Fastest in Final Martinsville Practice

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Clint Bowyer topped the chart in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.

The driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 20.174 and a speed of 93.863 mph. Kyle Busch was second in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 20.238 and a speed of 93.567 mph. Jamie McMurray was third in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 20.246 and a speed of 93.530 mph. Brad Keselowski was fourth in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 20.247 and a speed of 93.525 mph. Ryan Newman rounded out the top-five in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 20.250 and a speed of 93.511 mph.

Nobody drove a run of 10 or more consecutive laps.

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April 1, 2017
Keselowski Fastest in Second Martinsville Practice

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Brad Keselowski topped the chart in second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.

The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford was the fastest with a time of 20.058 and a speed of 94.406 mph. Ryan Newman was second in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 20.144 and a speed of 94.002 mph. Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano finished tied for third with a time of 20.180 and a speed of 93.835 mph.

AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top-five in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota with a time of 20.203 and a speed of 93.729 mph.

Ryan Blaney, who ran the 13th-fastest single lap, posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 92.533 mph.

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April 1, 2017