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 Larsonand 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.
Jeremy Clements finished 15th Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, earning his sixth consecutive top 15 finish this year. Even more encouraging, in his last eight races, his lowest result has been a 16th place finish at Pocono Raceway.
For the small family-owned team with only three full-time employees in the road crew and two at the shop, it’s a testament to what dedication and hard work can accomplish. But for Clements, it’s not enough. I spoke to him about his finish at Loudon and what has contributed to his increased consistency this season.
“For the race at Loudon, I would say we practiced good and thought we had a better car than what we raced. In the race, we just couldn’t get it balanced right. Would start off too loose and it would come in for a few laps and then get pretty tight. Could have been from the track changing with the PJ1 with the modified race before ours and all the Cup practice. But we ran with good cars,” he said, “just disappointed we weren’t better.”
While
the beginning of the year had its challenges with a couple of engine issues, the
team has experienced a resurgence in the second half of the season. Clements credits
their current consistency to the preparation that takes place before the No. 51
Chevrolet hits the track.
“I
would say the consistency is just getting the cars in the ballpark and not
trying crazy setup stuff,” Clements explained. “We have run 3 of the
same springs every week from short track to intermediate. It took us some races
to get a hold on these cars, as well.
“We have a new guy in the shop that is one of the main guys that puts them together as well as not having a full-time crew chief. We’ve had Andrew Abbott from Tyler Young’s Truck Series team come in on the weekends and crew chief so us working together has been good and fun but the more we do it the better we seem to get. There’s been a couple of races my dad had to do it as well since Andrew couldn’t be there.
“But
it’s just all about preparation at the shop and getting the cars tuned up
there. If you unload good off the truck it makes your weekend way smoother than
just throwing stuff at it to get it in the ballpark.”
The
NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Iowa Raceway Saturday, July 27. Clements, who
finished 12th at Iowa in June, will undoubtedly be looking for more.
Follow @angiecampbell_ for
the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.
In dominant fashion, Christopher Bell did what he has done for most of the season, ending the race in victory lane.
“I just had a really good race car,” Bell told NBCSN. “This track’s been really good to us and our team.”
Bell led 186 of the 200 laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway en route to his fifth victory of the season and the second at New Hampshire.
Cole Custer finished second, followed by Justin Allgaier, Tyler Reddick and Paul Menard rounding out the top five.
Stage 1:
Custer started on the pole but was quickly taken by Bell on Lap 2 into Turn 1. Bell led all the way until 10 to go in the stage when the No. 23 of John Hunter Nemechek lost his brakes and got into the wall. His day was quickly over, not the result that he was looking for at New Hampshire.
With under 10 to go in the stage during this caution, teams chose to select some different strategies. The leaders came in but Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones, among others, stayed out in the hope that either a caution would come out close to the stage ending or they could hold on for some stage points.
That hopefulness worked as Jones ended up winning the stage with Bell, Reddick, Sieg and Allgaier rounding out the top five.
Stage 2:
Stage two continued with Reddick and Bell side by side with the Oklahoma native getting the advantage. Allgaier was able to get up to second but was unable to get past Bell for the stage win.
Custer ended up in third with Reddick and Menard rounding out the top five. With the stage going green the entire way, only 20 cars remained on the lead lap.
Final Stage:
Bell and Allgaier came in one and two and came out of pit lane, one and two, as they restarted the third and final stage.
Bell started out with the lead and pulled away from the field fairly easily. Allgaier wasn’t so lucky as he battled Custer for second and eventually lost the spot to Custer. It stayed like that until Lap 141 when the yellow waved for what was a debris caution. The lap before, the No. 9 of Noah Gragson, tagged the wall and was quickly losing positions after battling for a top 10 spot.
They went back under green but for the first time this afternoon, the beating and banging was evident. It started when Gragson got into with Austin Cindric. Cindric continued battling, this time with the No. 8 of Ryan Truex.
While that was going the No. 18 of Harrison Burton was battling with Menard until Menard had enough and turned Burton heading into Turn 1 on Lap 153. Menard said on the radio that, “He needs to race me clean. He hit me twice.” Burton went on to finish 29th.
The race went back green once again with 42 laps to go and like most of the day, Bell started from the front and pulled away once the green was in the air. However, unlike the previous caution, it was Custer who was chasing down Bell and not Allgaier. Custer was making ground for a little bit but in the end, Bell was too much for him and ended up in victory lane.
Next up for the Xfinity Series? Their second trip to Iowa where Christopher Bell won earlier this year.
Cole Custer continued his hot streak by winning the pole for Saturday afternoon’s Roxor 200 at a hot and steamy New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
“I didn’t know it was going to be a pole lap honestly,” Custer said after the qualifying. “I thought I could’ve hit it a little bit better. This Haas Automation Mustang has been the best car I have had in New Hampshire in a long time. I can’t thank Mike Shiplett and everybody enough. They brought a really fast car and hopefully we can stay up front today.”
Christopher Bell will start second, followed by Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney and Chase Briscoe rounding out the top five.
Brandon Jones will start sixth, followed by Harrison Burton, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Truex and Noah Gragson to round out the top 10.
Tyler Reddick will start 11th for this afternoon’s race.
After crashing in practice, Camden Murphy attempted to go out and qualify in his Mike Harmon Entry but during his pace lap, he felt something was wrong and went back down onto pit road and did not record a lap.
The ROXOR 200 will get underway at 4 p.m. ET and will be televised on NBCSN.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the Xfinity Series head to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend. The Truck Series is taking the week off with its next race scheduled for July 27 at Pocono.
Christopher Bell is the defending Xfinity race winner while Kevin Harvick will be back to defend his Cup Series victory. Denny Hamlin has the series-best driver rating of 102.7. He also has three Cup Series wins at the 1.058-mile oval speedway but he is not alone. Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman each have three victories at New Hampshire.
Please
see the complete schedule below.
All
times are Eastern.
Friday, July 19
12:05 p.m.–12:55 p.m.:
Cup Series first practice – NBCSN
1:05–1:55 p.m.: Xfinity
Series first practice – NBCSN
3:35 p.m.– 4:25 p.m. –
Xfinity Series final practice – NBCSN
4:35
p.m.: Cup Series qualifying (single vehicle/two laps/all positions) – NBCSN/PRN
Saturday, July 20
10:05 a.m.–10:55 a.m.
– Cup Series second practice – CNBC
11:15 a.m. – Xfinity
qualifying (single vehicle/two laps all positions) – NBCSN
12:35 p.m.–1:25 p.m.:
Cup Series final practice – NBCSN
4
p.m. – Roxor 200 Xfinity Series race (Stages 45/90/200 laps = 211.6 miles) -NBCSN/PRN/SiriusXM
NASCAR Radio
Sunday, July 21
3
p.m. – Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 Cup Series race (Stages 75/150/301 laps =
318.46 miles) – NBCSN/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.
Here are some thoughts I had of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Foxwoods Resort and Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
BREAKOUT RACE FOR ARIC ALMIROLA
Prior to today, Aric Almirola never led more than 78 laps in an entire season. While he didn’t lead the race-high (that was claimed by Kurt Busch), we’ll probably look back at today as the day he went from journeyman to a driver who can compete for wins.
LOUDON, N.H. – JULY 22: Aric Almirola, driver of the #10 Smithfield Ford, leads a pack of cars during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 22, 2018 in Loudon, New Hampshire. Photo: Robert Laberge/Getty Images
Almirola first took the lead after running down and overtaking teammate Kurt Busch, using lap traffic as a pick to drive by him on the inside line in Turn 1, with 89 laps to go. While teammate Kevin Harvick cycled out ahead of him for the lead during a cycle of green-flag stops with 74 to go, Almirola again used lapped cars as a pick to power by Harvick in Turn 3 and regain the lead with 69 to go.
After teammate Clint Bowyer tagged the wall in Turn 3 with 45 to go, forcing a caution, Almirola exited the pits in third. He fell to sixth on the final restart, before rallying back to a third-place finish.
“I laid back off of Harvick’s bumper a little bit, was trying to time the restart to roll up to him and Kyle,” he said. “Kyle went right at the beginning, maybe even slightly before. He went right at the beginning, if nothing else, of the restart zone. It caught me off guard. Earlier in the race they had been dragging the restart out further in the restart zone. I was kind of anticipating that. When Kyle fired, I was caught off guard. When I fired, I just spun the tires because I wasn’t prepared. That was totally my bad. Instead of giving myself a fighting chance to go up there and win, race those guys for the win, I fell back to sixth and had to battle back to third.”
His podium finish was also his ninth Top-10 of the season, the most of any season of his career. He’s also raised his performance to a point where a Top-five finish disappoints him.
“I’m disappointed. You think I’d be really excited to run top five and I’m not,” Almirola said. “We had the best car hands-down. There’s no doubt in my mind. We gave it away on pit road and then I gave it away again on the restart. I spun the tires on the restart and didn’t even give myself a fighting chance, so I’m just really frustrated. Chicago, we had a car capable of winning and we didn’t execute today again with another car capable of winning, and we didn’t get our Smithfield Ford Fusion in Victory Lane. It’s just frustrating.
“They say you’ve got to lose some before you win some and I feel like we’ve lost some now and it’s time to stop it and go to Victory Lane. I’m really proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. They’re giving me incredible race cars and we showed up with cars capable of running in the top five and challenging to win races these last seven weeks. I’m really proud of everybody back at the shop. I’m really proud of Johnny Klausmeier and all the guys on this 10 team. We’re gonna get Smithfield and Ford Motor Company and Mobil 1 and everybody that helps us out to Victory Lane really soon.”
PERFORMANCE TURN-AROUND AT HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS
The lackluster performance of the Chevrolet camp this season have been well documented, and no stable exemplified the growing pains more than Hendrick Motorsports. Yesterday at Loudon, however, they exhibited signs of improved performance.
LOUDON, N.H. – JULY 22: Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, leads a pack of cars during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 22, 2018 in Loudon, New Hampshire. Photo: Robert Laberge/Getty Images
Chase Elliott led a season-high of 23 laps, won a stage and finished fifth, at a track that’s not served him well.
“I was shocked, to be honest with you, that we ran even that good,” Elliott said. “Our whole NAPA group did a great job overnight. I really have no idea where that came from. I hope it wasn’t dumb luck. Hopefully, we can keep it rolling because it’s really nice to be able to go up there and lead some laps. I know it wasn’t the right part of the race, but still, leading laps for us is big compared to what we’ve been doing. I’m proud of the effort. I appreciate everybody’s effort back at Hendrick and the chassis shop and engine shop and Chevrolet and all the folks that are working hard to try to get better. We took a step in the right direction.”
Jimmie Johnson ran Top-10 for the majority of the race (average position was 9.6). He was realistic about his performance woes, as he thought Top-10 was where they need to be.
“Top five right now on sheer speed is something we are achieving and trying to get to,” he said. “We scored some great points in the stages, I think (I) finished third and seventh or something like that. All-in-all we had a good day, always could be better, but a nice solid step forward.”
Both ran a higher average position than their season to date average.
Alex Bowman and William Byron also ran higher than their season to date average and finished higher than their season to date average finish.
Now one race is by no means an indication of season performance, but if the performance of Bowman, Byron, Elliott and Johnson improves going forward, we’ll look back at this race as the day the USS Hendrick Motorsports dislodged itself from the shoal.
CASUALLY-DRESSED BROADCAST BOOTH
While NBC’s lap-by-lap announcer Rick Allen took to pit road, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte donned T-Shirt attire to call the race from the booth.
How was it? Well as Nick Bromberg of Yahoo Sports put it on Twitter…
This NBC broadcast so far feels like three guys just sitting at a bar discussing what’s happening on the TVs in front of them.
As someone who regularly watches episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000, I thought it was an interesting change of pace to see three personalities commentate on the race in a more casual fashion. While Allen did well on pit road, the booth was rough at times with the lack of lap-by-lap direction. But overall, it was serviceable.
While I think Allen is best suited for the booth, I’m fine with Earnhardt going T-Shirt casual the rest of the season. And I’m not the only one.
For those who've never seen/watched a race at @NHMS, passing here is a premium. You have to set up the pass for three or four laps, before making your move. #NASCAR
LOUDON, N.H. – JULY 22: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Busch Beer Ford, celebrates with a burnout after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 22, 2018 in Loudon, New Hampshire. Photo: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images
While New Hampshire isn’t high on my list of favorite tracks, and I even tweeted that we should only race once a year at Loudon, the PJ1/VHT/TrackBite/Sticky Stuff and its diminishing returns as the race ran on made for an intriguing race. Yeah, it dragged a few times, but passing wasn’t a Herculean task and the leader never pulled too far away from the second-place car that clean air was the be all end all.
Loudon has been described as “Martinsville on steroids.” Well, that was the case yesterday, as lap traffic negated the clean air advantage. It allowed Harvick to reel in Kyle Busch and bump him out of the groove with four laps to go and steal the victory.
“…your goal is to not wreck him (Busch). Your goal is to move him out of the groove, get away from him far enough because you know they’re going to be mad. Today that was the situation. I knew his car was going to get wide. He was going to be tough to pass. Kyle Busch is one of the toughest to pass when he has control of the race. For me, that was the moment that I needed to make it happen, drive away, he finished second, right?”
The Foxwoods Resort and Casino 301 was the cap to a fantastic weekend of racing: From Chase Briscoe edging out Grant Enfinger to win the Camping World Truck Series race at Eldora, to Christopher Bell out-racing Brad Keselowski in the run to the finish of the XFINITY Grand National Series race at Loudon, all three races delivered.
Sitting center at the podium in the deadline room at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a disappointed Aric Almirola put on a forced smile as he elaborated on his third-place finish.
“You’d think I’d be happy (smiling). We had an incredible Smithfield Ford Fusion today, felt like it was the car to beat, for sure. We got out front there and felt really good about it, felt comfortable. That last caution there, we came down pit road leading, went out third, lost control of the race. Then I spun my tires on the restart and didn’t even give myself a fighting chance to go race for the win.
“Just frustrated on all parts that we didn’t execute the way we needed to to try and win. Chicago we had a car capable of winning, and didn’t get it done. Here again, had a car capable of winning, didn’t get it done.”
After usurping the lead from teammate Kevin Harvick with 69 laps to go and with a car that gained speed over long runs, Almirola had the race in check. That long-run advantage evaporated, however, when teammate Clint Bowyer hit the Turn 3 wall with 45 to go. A pit miscue on the left-front tire cost him the lead.
On the ensuing restart with 39 to go, he spun his tires and fell back to sixth in the running order. While Harvick nudged Kyle Busch out of the groove in the closing laps to win, Almirola rallied to a third-place finish.
“I laid back off of Harvick’s bumper a little bit, was trying to time the restart to roll up to him and Kyle (Busch),” Almirola said. “Kyle went right at the beginning, maybe even slightly before. He went right at the beginning, if nothing else, of the restart zone. It caught me off guard. Earlier in the race they had been dragging the restart out further in the restart zone. I was kind of anticipating that. When Kyle fired, I was caught off guard. When I fired, I just spun the tires because I wasn’t prepared.”
While his runs in the first two stages weren’t notable, he finished 10th in the first stage and fifth in the second, Almirola first took the lead with 89 to go when he used lap traffic as a pick to overtake teammate Kurt Busch for the lead. He surrendered the lead to pit 15 laps later and cycled back to second, right behind Harvick. With 69 to go, he used lap traffic as a pick again to pass Harvick for the lead in Turn 3, which he maintained until the aforementioned caution with 45 to go.
“It’s frustrating. But everybody keeps telling me, ‘You got to lose some before you win some.’ So we’ve lost some. Time to stop it, time to go to Victory Lane. We’re capable. We have a race team capable of doing it. Our cars are really fast. Just ready to go get to Victory Lane next week. Where we going next week? Pocono, perfect. Let’s go.”
Almirola led 42 laps (his highest since Kansas in 2012), earned his first Top-five of the season and leaves Loudon 11th in points.
In a race that appeared to be in Aric Almirola’s hands in the final 45 laps, a late caution in the Foxwoods 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway essentially set up a finish between two of the top three title favorites.
Aggression prevailed on a day where rain seemingly encompassed the 1.058-mile speedway. Finally getting the green flag around 4:25 p.m. ET, pole-sitter Kurt Busch appeared to be the early race favorite.
Leading 94 of 301 laps, Busch’s bid for the win was derailed by a near crash on pit road with fellow Ford racer Ryan Blaney.
Meanwhile, Almirola’s car came to life during a long green flag run, taking the top spot within the final 50 laps before Clint Bowyer crashed into the wall between Turns 3 and 4. Consequently, the final pit stop proved costly for Almirola.
On the other hand, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick suddenly found themselves with a chance to score the win. During the final 10 laps, Kyle Busch’s advantage over a hard-charging Harvick evaporated like the rain at Loudon. Both past Cup champions navigated the high line at Loudon, not wanting to give an inch to each other.
With five laps to go, Harvick decided to use the chrome horn on Busch, rooting the Las Vegas native from the top spot in turn two. While Busch saved his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota from the wall, Harvick piloted his No. 4 Busch Beer Ford to his sixth win of the 2018 season.
To say the least, the Bakersfield, California native relished his late race move at “The Magic Mile,” living up to his moniker as “The Closer.”
“I just didn’t know if I was going to get there again,” Harvick said. “It felt like that was my best opportunity to do what I had to do to win. I didn’t want to wreck him but I didn’t want to waste a bunch of time behind him.”
Despite scoring wins at Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dover, and Kansas, Harvick’s focus on a second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title has been precise. On the other hand, the grizzled veteran noted how Loudon, Pocono, and Watkins Glen were tracks he hoped to improve on given his dominant regular season.
“Winning is important,” Harvick remarked. “You’ve got to take every opportunity you can. My car was better in the lane I needed to be in and as you get to the end there, you need to be aggressive.”
While Harvick, Busch, and Almirola earned podium finishes, Martin Truex Jr, Chase Elliott, Ryan Newman, Ryan Blaney, Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-10.
Following a weekend in the Granite State, the premier division treks down to Pocono Raceway for the Gander Outdoor 400, where Kyle Busch looks to repeat his victory from last year. Round 21 of the season goes green shortly after 2:50 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
Christopher Bell held off Brad Keselowski and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ryan Preece to win Saturday’s Lakes Region 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, scoring his third XFINITY Series win for 2018 and fourth career win overall. Bell, who started second, led 93 of the 200 scheduled laps and crossed the line .416 seconds ahead of Keselowski’s Team Penske Ford.
John Hunter Nemechek finished fourth and Matt Tifft took fifth to round out the top-five. Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier, Elliott Sadler, Cole Custer, and Austin Dillon rounded out the sixth through 10th positions.
“You hope to race those guys at one point, so I’m thankful that I get the opportunity here in the Xfinity Series to race with them and proud that I’m able to compete with them, let alone beat them,” Bell said.
The win is Bell’s second straight, both wins coming ahead of Cup champions as Bell also defeated series regular Daniel Hemric and a dominant Kyle Busch at Kentucky a week ago.
The win makes Bell the winningest XFINITY Series regular in 2018 after 18 events, with Allgaier (two wins), Tyler Reddick (one win), and Spencer Gallagher (one win) being the only other regulars to win this season. Preece, despite having one win this season (Bristol) is only competing part-time this season. Bell still remains second in points to Hemric, who despite remaining winless in 2018 leads the standings by six points over Bell by virtue of finishing 11th Saturday.
Bell’s win over Keselowski also reignited the discussion of whether or not Cup regulars should race in the XFINITY Series. His victory was seen as a win for the up-and-comers of the sport with Bell saying that he believes that Cup drivers should be allowed in the division so he could race against the best drivers in NASCAR.
Bell also spoke highly of his Joe Gibbs Racing equipment, pointing out the expectation to win with the team.
“Whenever you come to here, you step in this equipment at Joe Gibbs Racing, you’re expected to win,” he said. “Pressure’s on for you to deliver and thankfully I’ve been able to deliver, at least some of the time. They’ve won before me, they’re going to win after me. It’s my job to make sure they win with me.”
The XFINITY Series stops next at Iowa Speedway, where Allgaier won back in June, leading 182 laps on the way to victory. Preece scored his first career win in the event a year ago for JGR, whose Toyotas have won three times at the speedway.
The U.S. Cellular 250 airs Saturday, July 28, at 4 p.m. on NBCSN.
UPDATE: Green flag set for 4:15 p.m. ET after delay at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
NASCAR and track officials have moved up the start time for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to 1 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) because of the potential of wet weather.
The Monster Energy Series race was originally set for 2 p.m. ET. That start time — and all pre-race ceremonies — have been moved up to one hour earlier.
Officials reached that decision Saturday morning, faced with a chance of precipitation in the race-day forecast at the 1.058-mile track.
Kurt Busch will start on the pole for the race while Martin Truex Jr. rolls off second. Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney round out the top five starters.
