Once again, all three national touring series will be back in action as the Gander Outdoor Truck Series, XFinity teams and the Cup guys will try to tame Miles the Monster at Dover International Speedway this weekend. This will be the first time in over a month that the Trucks will be getting back in action. Here is how you can watch all the drama unfold.
Note: All times are ET
Thursday, May 2nd 2:05 p.m. – 2:55 p.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series first practice (No TV) Results 4:05 p.m. – 4:55 p.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series final practice (No TV) Results
Friday, May 3rd 11:05 a.m. – 11:55 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series first practice, NASCAR.com/live 12:05 p.m. – 12:55 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice, NASCAR.com/live 1:10 p.m. Gander Outdoors Truck Series Pole Qualifying (Single Vehicle/Two Laps All Positions, NASCAR.com/live 2:30 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, NASCAR.com/live 3:40 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pole Qualifying (Single Vehicle/Two Laps All Positions), FS1 5:00 p.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series JEGS 200 (Stages 45/90/200 Laps = 200 MILES), FS1
Saturday, May 4th 9:05 a.m. – 9:55 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series second practice, FS1 10:10 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying, (Single Vehicle/Two Laps All Positions), FS1 12:00 p.m. – 12:50 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, FS1 1:30 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Allied Steel Buildings 200 (STAGES 45/90/200 laps, 200 miles), FS1, MRN
Sunday, May 5th 2:00 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Gander RV 400 (120/240/400 laps, 400 miles), FS1, MRN
THOMASVILLE, N.C. – On the heels of marketing partner JACOB Companies returning to Rick Ware Racing (RWR) for the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) season, the team announced today it has signed Tioga Trading Company as an associate marketing partner beginning with the season-opening Daytona 500 on Sun., Feb. 17.
The Warren, Pennsylvania-based company recognizable for its line of K2 Sauce products will build upon its local auto racing partnerships and enter the pinnacle of Motorsports – the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series for its inaugural national foray.
Currently available in multiple grocers across the tri-state area of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, K2 Sauce is looking to rapidly expand its footprint and bring “the only sauce you will ever need” to homes across the United States in time for this year’s barbequing season.
Available in both original formula and hot, all-natural K2 Sauce is gluten free, has no preservatives and is a great alternative to BBQ sauce, steak sauce, hot sauce, wing sauce and can even be used as a stir fry sauce.
“Rick Ware Racing is excited to add K2 Sauce to our growing list of marketing partners this season,” said team principal Rick Ware. “We pride ourselves with being able to provide various marketing programs to our partners including, but not limited to, being a part of our Motorsports program.
“Having their logo on our hauler, race cars, uniforms and equipment is exciting and looks great – but what’s most satisfying about our new relationship is that RWR offers a great business-to-business opportunity for companies like K2 to participate in.
“We are thrilled to have K2 Sauce join us for the greatest spectacle in racing, the Daytona 500, and of course the rest of the year too.”
The 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 is set for Sunday, Feb. 17 with coverage on FOX, the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM Satellite Radio Channel 90. Event coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. (ET).
Stay tuned to K2 Sauce’s official social platforms: K2Sauce.com, K2Sauce on Facebook, @k2sauce on Twitter and saucek2 on Instagram.
Following K2 Sauce’s social media channels, fans and consumers will have the chance to sample K2 Sauce, plus embrace the opportunity to win fabulous prizes, including a chance to attend an upcoming Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races as an honorary crew chief.
At the conclusion of the 2015 season Cup Series season, Chevrolet was celebrating their 13th consecutive manufacturers’ title.
Although Jimmie Johnson won his seventh championship in 2016, the other two manufacturers on the premier NASCAR circuit, Ford and Toyota, have made significant gains.
Toyota won back-to-back manufacturers’ titles in 2016 and 2017, while Ford, thanks to the incredible performance from Stewart-Haas Racing, won the 2018 championship. It was Ford’s first manufacturers’ title since 2002.
Chevy’s introduction of its Camaro ZL1 model into the Monster Energy Series got off to a hot start with Austin Dillon’s victory in the 60th running of the Daytona 500. However, Chevrolet accounted for just four wins in 2018, its worst performance in nearly four decades. The No. 9 of Chase Elliott accounted for three of the four victories. During the 1982 Cup season, Chevrolet won three races on the year. Hall of Famer Bobby Allison won two of them, and Dave Marcis won at Richmond, his fifth and final victory as a Cup Series driver.
But Chevrolet’s vice president of performance vehicles and motorsports, Jim Campbell, is looking forward, not backward.
“Obviously (we) don’t have anybody in the Championship 4 for the Cup, so that’s disappointing, but I would say that as I take a look at a year in which we introduced a new car, the Camaro ZL1, and we have begun this transition that we all go through at different points,” said Jim Campbell, the Chevrolet U.S. vice president of performance vehicles and motorsports.
“Many veteran drivers have started to retire, and we’re bringing in a young crew of drivers. We had our young group that got a year of experience. You see Chase Elliott really accelerated his season through the back half with three wins in the last 14 races, and then (Kyle) Larson was very consistent all year long, didn’t make the final four, but proud of those guys.”
Elliott finished the season as the top Chevy driver in sixth, while the only other Chevy driver to finish in the Top 10 was 2014 rookie of the year Kyle Larson, who finished ninth.
The aforementioned Johnson snapped a 16-year streak of winning at least one race. Two of his teammates at Hendrick Motorsports also went winless — Alex Bowman and William Byron. Byron, though, who won the Xfinity Series championship in 2017, won rookie of the year.
“Overall, the trajectory of the season, not exactly what we wanted, but definitely heading in a better direction than in the front half of the season,” Campbell said. “When you bring a new car in, and you have change over in drivers, those are big moments for manufacturers.
“More work to do. But I’m really excited about what that means for us for next year.”
Kyle Busch won at ISM Raceway in the Can-Am 500 as the Championship 4 is set for the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series. It was his eighth victory of the season and the 51st of his Cup career.
“I’d like to think it gives us a lot (of momentum), but I don’t know – talk is cheap,” said Busch in the newly designed Gatorade Victory Lane, a part of the $178 million renovation project at the 1-mile raceway. “We’ve got to be able to go out there and perform and just do what we need to do. Being able to do what we did here today was certainly beneficial. I didn’t think we were the best car, but we survived and we did what we needed to do today. It’s just about getting to next week and once we were locked in, it was ‘all bets are off and it’s time to go.’”
Adam Stevens, crew chief for the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota, and team owner Joe Gibbs addressed the media as they head into the final race of the 2018 season.
“Well, I think it’s important to come into the last race firing on all cylinders,” Stevens said about today’s victory. “And it’s hard to do that when you’re just riding around trying to score points. It’s not like we were throwing caution to the wind by any means. The job that we set out to do is to win the championship, and to do that you’ve got to beat them all.”
Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano will join Busch in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Logano crashed early in the race and did not join the others in the press conference.
“We just got a little bit of luck, a little bit of ‘right place, right time’ kinda thing,” Truex shared when discussing the various wrecks that happened in front of him. “One last hurrah next week and we’re gonna go give ’em all we got.”
“I think we have a chance every time we show up,” Harvick shared assessing his chances to win his second career Cup championship. “Our guys are doing a great job. Obviously, to accomplish everything we did this weekend was quite the feat without your crew chief and car chief, but Tony Gibson and Nick did a great job filling in. Everybody kept their head about them and we were competitive all weekend.”
William Byron also locked up the Rookie of the Year standings with his ninth-place effort.
“I take away my growth as a person and our growth as a team,” Byron told the media. “I think of road course races were really good. I feel like I’m in a good position for next year.”
Harvick-Chase Battle Creates Early Drama in Stage 1
The first two stages were split by 75 laps each. The remaining 162 laps would be scheduled for the final stage. As the green flag dropped, Harvick would show the way early, but throughout most of the run, Elliott was within a second of him. After the race last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, most of the bottom four drivers were in a must-win situation. But since Wednesday’s announcement of Harvick’s penalty, there was hope for some drivers to possibly sneak in on points.
About 20 laps into the race, Elliott started inching his way closer to the rear bumper of Harvick, but as they started to approach lapped traffic, Harvick looked to claw his way through the field better and was able to put some distance between them. Elliott was completely silent on the radio, presumably happy with the handling of his Napa Chevrolet.
With three laps to go, tragedy struck for Harvick as he had a flat tire and had to come to pit road. Elliott inherited the lead and won Stage 1. Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch also finished in the top-10 and gained valuable bonus points. Elliott won the battle off pit road. Paul Menard stayed on pit road as the team lifted the hood and appeared to begin examining the engine. Harvick ended up going one lap down, and since he pit after pit road was closed (two laps to go in the stage), he was not eligible for the free pass under yellow, or the wave-around. At this point, Harvick and Truex would be knocked out of the Championship 4; Truex and Kurt Busch were tied in points, but Busch wins the tie-breaker with a better finish because he was second at this time, despite Truex finishing third at Martinsville.
Kurt Busch Shows Strength in Stage 2
On the restart, Kurt Busch fought hard on the outside to take over the lead from Chase Elliott. Elliott then had to fight off Ryan Blaney for a couple of laps but eventually settled into the second position.
With about 55 laps to go in the stage, Harvick made his way into the “Lucky Dog” position. One lap later, Joey Logano got a flat left-rear tire and crashed going into Turn 1. He is already locked in with his win at Martinsville, but this helped Harvick get himself back onto the lead lap. However, the carnage was just beginning.
Clint Bowyer crashes at the entrance to Turn 3, then drives away. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.
With roughly 30 laps to go, Clint Bowyer crashed to bring out the yellow, ending his championship hopes. On pit road, lots of strategies took place, including a penalty. Roughly eight of the lead lap cars elected not to pit, but most of the other leaders came to pit road. Kurt Busch was caught passing the pace car and served a one-lap penalty.
It was addressed in the driver’s meeting, and we’ve seen similar penalties throughout the year. When entering pit road, the leader usually accelerates to create a gap between their car and the cars behind, a slight advantage that can be huge in certain circumstances. However, the leader is not allowed to pass the pace car before entering pit road. In this case, the nose of the No. 41 Haas Automation Ford was just ahead of the pace car before the first yellow line signaling the start of pit road. Even though he was in the lead at the time of the yellow, and won the battle off pit road, he would be served a penalty that would put their team one lap down.
Kyle Busch was one of the first cars out with fresh tires. He easily took over the top spot a couple of laps into the restart, winning Stage 2. Martin Truex Jr. finished third, and Kevin Harvick battled his way back up to the fourth position, making the “Big 3” the big discussion once again. Some of the leaders stayed out, preventing a “free pass” car and keeping Kurt Busch one lap down. Other drivers on older tires came to pit road for either two or four tires.
Championship Contenders Go Wild in the Final Stage
The field races through the new Turns 3 & 4 after one lap taking the green flag for a restart at ISM Raceway. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.
With 160 laps to go, Kyle Busch would keep the lead ahead of Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney. At this time, most of the championship contenders were running in the top-11, except for Logano and Bowyer, who was out of the race. Kurt Busch was still stuck one lap down in the “Lucky Dog” position.
Green flag pit stops began as the race approached 85 laps to go. During some of the pit stops, including while Harvick was on pit road, Tanner Berryhill spun at the entrance of pit road. He did a great job of correcting the car to continue on, but not before NASCAR had to throw a yellow flag. The rest of the field came to pit road, but Elliott sped on pit road, forcing his No. 9 car to the rear of the field. Kurt Busch was the “Lucky Dog”, but most of the field elected for the wave-around.
On the restart, the Playoffs started to come into play for every point possible. We saw the field go three, even four wide in the dogleg. Blaney slowed suddenly and came to pit road. Harvick continued to claw his way up along with teammate Kurt Busch. As the two were getting around the lapped car of David Ragan, he appeared to slip entering Turn 3. Harvick misjudged his speed and got into the rear of Ragan and spun him out to bring out the sixth caution flag. A couple of drivers were toward the end of the field, but Kyle Busch visited pit road so his crew could examine some minor damage as he was outside of Harvick during that contact.
The field took the green again for a few laps, and just when the race seemed to mellow for a brief moment, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took a hard hit to the outside wall in Turn 1. The rear end of the car was completely destroyed and even a brief fire ensued while he was still spinning. NASCAR displayed the red flag for 10 minutes with so much fluid coming from the No. 17. At this time, Kurt Busch was one point ahead of Harvick for the fourth and final Championship spot. However, that would quickly change.
As the field took the green, Erik Jones started to the inside of Kurt Busch but Jones got loose in the middle of Turns 1 & 2, forcing Busch up the track slightly. No harm was done, but Denny Hamlin made an aggressive move to get by both drivers. He couldn’t clear Busch in time and pinched him in the wall. However, with the championship on the line, Busch didn’t back out and stayed in the throttle. As he bounced off the wall, he continued to collide with Hamlin, eventually spinning him out and collecting Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott along the backstretch. That eventually ended the day for Busch as the damage clock expired, and his brother Kyle Busch officially locked himself into the Championship 4 on points. Elliott rejoined the track and was able to maintain minimum speed, but ran three laps down in the 24th position.
The sun sets behind the grandstands as Kyle Busch pulls away to his 51st career NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series win. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.
The Cup drivers went racing again with about 30 laps to go. However, with all the nose damage on Bowman’s No. 88 Chevrolet, he went up in a ball of fire and smoke at the end of the frontstretch, causing him to crash in Turn 2 alongside pit entrance. NASCAR had to throw another red flag to clean up the incident. At this point, Harvick was back in the good on points. Aric Almirola was the only other driver left that could steal a spot in the Championship 4 if he won at ISM Raceway. Almirola was running fourth at the time when the field went back under yellow. Some of the leaders elected for a pit stop, including Kyle Larson, who took four tires and would restart in the eighth position.
This restart would be the first time for the Cup Series facing speedy dry in Turns 1 and 2. On Friday night, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race had a restart with speedy dry in the first set of turns that prevented Grant Enfinger from getting a strong restart against Noah Gragson and Brett Moffitt. However, this wouldn’t faze Kyle Busch as he pulled away from a hard-charging Almirola but he got a second chance as Berryhill crashed to bring out another caution flag on the track.
With about 15 laps to go, the field took the green flag but Almirola appeared to just not have the right setup to run with Kyle Busch on the outside. Brad Keselowski tried to push him through to the front, but that caused Almirola to go wide through Turns 1 and 2. Keselowski was able to get by both him and Harvick to put a late race charge toward the lead, but there just wasn’t enough time to catch Busch.
“It certainly feels really good,” Busch said in the media center after celebrating his win with the fans. “It feels good to go off into next week with a win under our belt and hopefully do it again.”
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race Unofficial Race Results for the 31St Annual Can-Am 500 – Sunday, November 11, 2018 ISM Raceway – Avondale, AZ – 1 Mile Paved
Jeffrey Earnhardt, fourth generation NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series driver, sets forth a partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing and Xtreme Concepts Inc. for nine races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2019.
Earnhardt will drive the No. 18 at the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in February, and Earnhardt understands completely the opportunity with the winning organization.
“I’ve worked incredibly hard for this opportunity and I’ve got to thank Xtreme Concepts for making it happen,” Earnhardt shared with the media. “You see the level of expertise Joe Gibbs Racing has and the caliber of equipment they bring to the racetrack every week. As a driver, it’s exactly where you want to be. It’s the best opportunity I’ve had in my career and I plan to make the most of it.”
Xtreme Concepts has already sponsored the No. 96 Cup car with Gaunt Brothers Racing in ten races, along with one of its own brands, iK9, a provider of canine detection and service dogs, along with professional handler education and services. Nine of these races were with Earnhardt behind the wheel.
“We believe motorsports is an incredibly strong platform to highlight the many services Xtreme Concepts can provide, and we also believe in Jeffrey Earnhardt,” said Landon Ash, founder, Xtreme Concepts. “I know firsthand how just having the opportunity to show what you can do is all you need to find success. It’s how we’ve grown Xtreme Concepts since our founding in 2008 to a worldwide leader in security concepts and solutions. Jeffrey has been an excellent representative for Xtreme Concepts and our brands like iK9, and through this endeavor with Joe Gibbs Racing we plan to grow together.”
Earnhardt has made over 150 starts across the top three touring series in NASCAR, but this will be his first with a championship-winning organization. Ryan Preece had a similar experience, resulting in two victories over the last two years. Earlier this year, Ross Chastain took the opportunity for three races with Chip Ganassi Racing and earned his first career win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Matt DiBenedetto is taking a leap of faith as well in the Cup Series with Levine Family Racing in 2019 and their new affiliation with Joe Gibbs Racing, essentially replacing the defending championship team of Furniture Row Racing.
“From the time we first came to NASCAR in 1992, we’ve always put forth maximum effort to have the best possible results on the racetrack,” said Coy Gibbs, Vice Chairman and COO of JGR. “Our Xfinity Series program is the perfect example of what happens when preparation meets execution. We’ve had both up-and-coming and veteran drivers achieve success in our racecars, and that success has translated to the partners they’ve represented. We think Jeffrey Earnhardt has the talent to win races and deliver strong results for Xtreme Concepts.”
Joe Gibbs Racing plans to announce the other eight races for Earnhardt during the off-season.
Vegas wasn’t so lucky for half of the Playoff contenders as Brad Keselowski claimed the jackpot in the Playoff opener in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series at the inaugural South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, securing his spot in the second round of the Playoffs.
“I didn’t think it was ever gonna end,” Brad commented about the multiple yellow flag conditions toward the end of the race, which included one red flag for over 10 minutes. “I was worried about running out of gas there at the end. I know the fans can hear on this microphone and I want to say thank you to everyone who braved 100-degree heat all day. You guys are the real heroes. I get paid to do this. You guys pay to watch and thank you for doing that. Thank you for coming out today and tolerating the heat. We’re so glad to be able to win and get in Victory Lane again with the Autotrader Ford. What a special day for 500 wins for Penske, three in a row here, first win in the Playoffs. There are too many storylines for me to get it all right, but we’re very thankful and very proud for all of them.”
Kyle Larson led multiple times throughout the final stage but finished second in his DC Solar Vegas Strong Chevrolet with Chip Ganassi Racing.
“The restarts, a couple of them worked out for me and a couple of them didn’t,” Larson stated about the end of the race. “But, was happy to end up second there. Didn’t really expect to get to second there on that final restart, but it was pretty hectic. Just glad we had a good day after the tire issue we had early in the race. So, yeah, good points day.”
Martin Truex Jr. was the only driver of the “Big 3” that didn’t have major issues in the race and was able to put his No. 78 5-hour Energy Toyota in the third position.
“It took the race from us, no question,” Truex said with frustration about the multiple short runs toward the end of the race. “With 15 laps or so we could take the lead and drive away. We were actually a little too good on the long run, I wish maybe we could have gone the other direction a little bit and still been able to get the lead. If we were the leader, we could do okay, I could maintain, but when I was second or third or fourth, it just made me tight enough that I had to wait for the thing to come to me or wait for other guys to start getting off the bottom in front of me.
“All in all it was a great day for everybody on the Bass Pro/5-hour ENERGY Camry and all the guys did a phenomenal job this weekend. Thanks to all the guys back in Denver at the shop, it’s pretty cool to see the effort going into these last 10 – we’re going to get after them. We had a winning car, just didn’t work out for us today. Really proud of the effort.”
Alex Bowman surprised the crowd and ran as high as third in the race until a late race crash put him laps down. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Aric Almirola and Kyle Busch completed the first seven positions and were all Playoff drivers. Daniel Suarez, Ryan Newman and Paul Menard completed the top 10. Other Playoff drivers finished as follows.
Austin Dillon (11th)
Alex Bowman (19th)
Kurt Busch (21st)
Jimmie Johnson (22nd)
Clint Bowyer (23rd)
Denny Hamlin (32nd)
Chase Elliott (36th)
Kevin Harvick (39th)
Erik Jones (40th)
Ross Chastain, who won yesterday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race, was knocking on the door of a top 10 finish, but a late race incident resulted in a 20th place finish with his No. 15 Xchange of America Chevrolet with Premium Motorsports.
Martin Truex Jr. Keeps the “Big 3” Strong, Wins Stage 1
While Eric Jones started on pole, he was not able to lead a lap as Joey Logano who started alongside him was able to get the advantage on the exit of Turn 4 and lead the opening 33 laps. Kevin Harvick began to hunt him down and lead a small number of laps, but the field started to take green flag pit stops. Toward the beginning of the first stage, Kyle Larson had tire issues and had to pit out of sequence, so his uphill battle started early in the race.
Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin both led one lap each during the cycles, but Regan Smith elected to stay out and lead the next 10 laps. Harvick reclaimed the lead for another 10 laps, but Martin Truex Jr. had a car that was strong on the long runs. He would get by on Lap 60 and secure the win in Stage 1. No cautions came out, and AJ Allmendinger was the beneficiary of the stage caution.
Keselowski Hunts for Three in a Row, Claims Stage 2
Ryan Blaney gets full service on his No. 12 PPG Ford at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
While stage one was caution-free, Stage 2 was a new race with three yellow flag incidents. The first was for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in Turn 3 as he smacked the outside wall. He was able to come down pit road and service his No. 17 SunnyD Ford and continue in the South Point 400.
The second yellow was thrown as Ty Dillon crashed along the frontstretch. He was able to continue around the track, but as he drove along the apron of the backstretch, the tread on his front tire fell off as he received more damage to his car.
As the second stage began to close, Kevin Harvick suddenly popped his right-front tire in Turn 2 and collected the pole winner, Erik Jones. Both would be the first of many Playoff contenders to fall victim to the afternoon’s race. Harvick’s car caught fire along the outside wall of the backstretch but he was able to climb out under his own power. Jones’s car was unable to continue as he rested on the apron of Turn 3.
“I am not happy about anything right now,” Harvick proclaimed with extreme frustration since he had a 50 point Playoff cushion coming into today’s race but saw it evaporate before his eyes.
“We have to run well at Richmond and the Roval now,” Jones said as he is now on the outside looking in.
At the final restart of the second stage, Keselowski was able to hold off a hard charging field to win Stage 2. Darrell “Bubba” Wallace was the beneficiary of the Stage 2 caution.
Mayhem Unfolds in the Final Stage of the South Point 400
In the final stage of the first Playoff race of 2018, Las Vegas Motor Speedway began to claim more Playoff drivers. At the start, Jamie McMurray won the race off pit road and led the first five laps. Kyle Larson moved his Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet past his teammate to lead for the first time of the day. He soon battled with Keselowski for the top spot. As they battled, William Byron crashed in Turn 3, which was the first of seven yellow flags of the final stage.
The field took the green and the two main drivers talked about were Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. Keselowski seemed to have the strong short-run car, but Truex was able to find a new gear with a long-run setup and start hunting down the top spot around 10 laps into a run.
While completing Lap 212, Jamie McMurray appeared to lose a right rear tire as he entered Turn 3. Committed to the low line, his car slid all the way up the track with hard impact into the outside SAFER barrier wall. Playoff contender Chase Elliott was already set for the high line and was collected in the crash. Neither driver was able to continue in the race.
Kyle Busch drove through the speedy dry where Chase Elliott’s car rested and lost control, spinning into the infield grass. Although the right-front tire went flat during his spin, his car received minimal damage. His crew went to work on his Toyota to put their Playoff driver back out onto the track in competition.
NASCAR Officials pull the pit crew of Kurt Busch away from the car as the red flag is displayed. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
With 30 laps to go, the field took the green for the restart. Brad Keselowski’s crew put his No. 2 Ford in front alongside Martin Truex Jr. However going into Turn 1, Kyle Larson made a three-wide pass on the outside and after another circuit around, claimed the top spot. Truex dropped back to fourth as Logano was able to also get by for the third position.
On Lap 246, Denny Hamlin lost control of his Toyota in the same spot as teammate Kyle Busch just earlier. However, as he slid through the grass, his car took severe front-end damage, ending his day.
“Should’ve just finished 10th, 15th, or wherever we were running,” Hamlin said after a disappointing run at Vegas, sharing that he was trying to get “too much out of the car.”
As the field took the green for the restart, Keselowski had a strong restart and was able to claim the lead in the middle of Turns 1 and 2. There was a three-wide battle for third, but the yellow came out as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got loose on the exit of Turn 2. He slid to the inside of the track and hit the inside wall, similar to Chase Briscoe’s crash in yesterday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race. Stenhouse was able to climb out of his race car under his own power and was checked and released from the infield care center.
On a late restart, Jimmie Johnson got loose and pinched Clint Bowyer into the outside wall. Alex Bowman also hit the wall after a flat left front tire. The track stayed green for a few laps, but NASCAR eventually did throw another yellow flag on Lap 263 after debris was found on the track.
Brad Keselowski does his traditional victory celebration with the American flag. He also celebrated Team Penske’s 500th career victory. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
With yet another restart underway, Joey Logano made his way up into the second spot, but as Keselowski started to check out on the rest of the field, multiple cars crashed in Turn 4, including two more Playoff contenders, Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer. Michael McDowell, Ross Chastain, Matt DiBenedetto and David Ragan were also involved. With so much debris on the track, NASCAR put out the red flag for just over 10 minutes to clean up the track and set up the race for overtime.
On the first overtime attempt, Team Penske held three of the top four positions. Logano was caught sleeping on the restart, which gave Keselowski all the room he needed to give Roger Penske his 500th victory.
“That’s quite a number,” Keselowski exclaimed as his team celebrated Team Penske’s 500th victory, as well as their second-round pass into the Playoffs. “It’s really great to be a part of that and to get the last four to get us there, that’s one special time.”
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race Unofficial Race Results for the Inaugural South Point 400 – Sunday, September 16, 2018 Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, NV
