Beginning in the 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series campaign, the Playoff field will be expanding from eight contenders to 10 possible contenders for the series championship.
The postseason races will remain at seven, with two drivers being eliminated after the first three races and an additional four drivers being eliminated after the next three races. The remaining four drivers will race for the title in the championship round at Phoenix.
While expanding the championship field is nothing new since the inception of the NASCAR postseason in 2004, there comes a point in time where it becomes a pointless action. Granted, NASCAR is aiming to bring excitement to all three of its national touring divisions, and the postseason has seen some exciting moments over the years. However, what’s the point in expanding the championship field when only a select few are true contenders and the rest will do nothing more than be placeholders?
Take the initial Chase for the NEXTEL Cup in 2004. It was a 10-driver field race set following the Richmond race in September, where they had 10 races to race for a championship. Of those 10, only four of them were viewed as true title contenders from the start (Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin). Those same four happened to be the ones who ultimately raced for the title at Homestead, with Busch taking home the trophy.
Meanwhile, drivers like Elliott Sadler, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, and Jeremy Mayfield all won races in the regular season but did not make much of an impact in the Chase, as they faded from contention early with Newman finishing seventh, Kenseth eighth, Sadler ninth, and Mayfield 10th in the final standings.
For that matter, there’s the current Playoff system implemented in the top-three divisions, and for posterity’s sake, take a look at the 2019 Xfinity Series Playoffs. Of the 12 drivers, only three of them were absolute title contenders (Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer, and Christopher Bell). That left nine drivers, and while three of them were wild cards (Justin Allgaier went on to take the fourth slot at Miami, while Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe both hung around the top-five in points), six other drivers (Brandon Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, Noah Gragson, Ryan Sieg, Justin Haley, and Michael Annett) stuck around by managing consistent runs with the occasional solitary win.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but a champion shouldn’t be decided by chance. If a driver dominates or is more consistent than anyone else in the regular season, they shouldn’t be knocked out of title contention by one bad race. If they dominate all year long and continue to post results in the postseason, then by rights, that driver should be the champion.
The 2003 Winston Cup season was actually a great season by that standard. Kenseth may have only won one race but he was more consistent than anyone else over the course of the season with 11 top-fives and 25 top-10s. He was the best driver all year long and that championship was earned.
Going back to the Xfinity Series championship fight of a year ago, the best three drivers fought for the championship, and Reddick earned his championship without question. The other drivers who made Playoff appearances worked just as hard as he did undoubtedly, but in the end, they weren’t on the level of Reddick, Custer, and Bell.
One notable Playoff field was the 2015 bunch, which included Jamie McMurray and Paul Menard. Both have won races and McMurray has won some of the crown jewel events in NASCAR, but they were just along for the ride compared to drivers like Joey Logano and Kenseth. That’s not saying their efforts weren’t good enough, but they just weren’t on the level the other teams were and their elimination in the first round was expected.
So what’s the point? Why expand the field when all that’s going to happen is a couple of guys who were just good enough to earn the ninth and 10th spots in the Playoff field are almost immediately eliminated because they weren’t on par with the other drivers in the Playoff field? If the team isn’t performing on a championship-caliber level, then they shouldn’t contend for a championship.
Some of the drivers on the bottom end of the Playoff field undoubtedly are having seasons other drivers would kill for and they shouldn’t be ashamed of that. But there’s a difference between strong and consistent and being a winner, and if they’re not making that jump then they’re not posting a championship-caliber effort. Full-stop.
Likewise, leave the championship contenders, the actual championship threats, to fight for the title without having to bother with other placeholders who aren’t really much of a threat for the title. That makes all the difference between a winner and a champion. Shouldn’t that be what the championship battle is about and rewards?
The Gander Trucks playoff field in 2020 will expand from eight drivers/trucks to 10 drivers/trucks. The new structure will be as follows:
Round of 10: World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Bristol Motor Speedway
Round of 8: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Martinsville Speedway
Championship 4: Phoenix Raceway
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Managing Director, Brad Moran, explained the decision.
“Expanding the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series playoff field to 10 is a win-win for drivers, teams and, most importantly, the passionate fans who support our Gander Trucks. This will only increase the competitive intensity this series offers, as more drivers and teams vie for one of the most coveted championships in all of racing.”
ISM Raceway hosted the conclusion of the Round of 6 this past weekend for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. The Lucas Oil 150 from Phoenix was quite a different race than the one we saw two weeks ago at Martinsville Speedway. Only five cautions slowed the pace for 30 laps, but in reality, there were only two if you remove the stage cautions. Not much action, but that was more than likely a welcome sight for the playoff drivers who were fighting for a spot in the Championship 4.
While one playoff driver rebounded from an early penalty, a couple of drivers who were not in the playoffs continued to shine and made their names known.
With that in mind, here are this week’s Power Rankings following the Lucas Oil 150.
Brett Moffitt – When you look at the results and see that Moffitt finished 10th, it might not seem too impressive but the No. 24 GMS Racing team got the job done. That job was to lock themselves into the Champ 4 at Homestead. By having such a large points lead at one point in the race, the Grimes, Iowa native clinched a spot early in the race. Even if something catastrophic happened, Moffitt would still be in the championship race. The 10th place finish is what might have been for the GMS driver, but the focus is now on Homestead as Moffitt chases his second Truck Series title. Don’t be shocked if the team is able to pull off another championship when the season closes Friday night.
Previous Week Ranking – First
Stewart Friesen- In what looked liked was going to be a troubling race for Friesen and the No. 52 Halmar Racing team, the Canadian rebounded to his second win of the season. Like his GMS technical teammate Moffitt, Friesen was solidly locked in barring any circumstances. It took most of the race to do it, but on Lap 107, the Halmar driver took the lead and led the last 44 laps en route to a Championship 4 spot this week. He may slide under the radar going into the race but Friesen just may be the spoiler in the championship race.
Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
Chandler Smith – The Talking Rock, Georgia rookie Chandler Smith continues to impress in his short Truck Series stint this season. Smith qualified the No. 46 Kyle Busch Motorsports truck in the sixth position and remained consistent in the top-10 throughout the night. In fact, the Georgia native was close to winning the first stage by finishing second. Smith followed Stage 2 up with a third place finish. In the end, the KBM driver ultimately finished third after leading just one lap. With most of his racing season wrapped up in the ARCA and Truck Series, Smith most likely is focusing on the 2020 season where he will continue to make starts for Kyle Busch Motorsports. The future NASCAR star doesn’t turn 18 until June 26. In retrospect, he may very well challenge for the title next year, should NASCAR grant him a waiver if Smith ends up winning a race in the second part of the season.
Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
Ross Chastain – It was a valiant ninth-place effort for Chastain and his No. 45 Niece Motorsports team who now find themselves battling for their first ever championship. The Florida native didn’t have the best qualifying spot of 14th, but a stage finish of fourth in Stage 1 and avoiding trouble helped Chastain chase for the Truck Series title. Now the pressure is on Chastain to perform well in hopes of winning the championship before focusing on his Xfinity efforts in 2020 with Kaulig Racing.
Previous Week Ranking – Third
Grant Enfinger- It was a quiet fifth-place finish for Enfinger and the No. 98 ThorSport Racing team after starting eighth. The Alabama native didn’t lead any laps or win any stages but Enfinger notched his 10th top five of the season.
Previous Week Ranking – Fifth
Fell Out
Todd Gilliland – After breaking through for his first career Truck Series win a few weeks ago at Martinsville, Gilliland and the No. 4 team struggled to finish in the top-10 at Phoenix. While the North Carolina native had stage finishes of sixth and seventh in both stages, Gilliland wound up a disappointing 14th place finish. Not the night the KBM driver was looking for in hopes of following up Martinsville with a strong finish.
Previous Week Ranking – Second
Timmy Hill – Hill did not compete in the Truck race as rookie Carson Hocevar piloted the No. 56 Hill Motorsports Chevy to a 23rd place finish, one lap down.
Let’s face it. Erik Jones just never had a true shot in the 2019 Playoffs. This now makes it the second consecutive year in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series.
And what was a story of an uprising season now becomes a story of “what if” as the Round of 16 comes to a conclusion with Jones being one of the four drivers eliminated from the postseason brackets.
“It’s frustrating; it’s frustrating not to even have a chance,” Jones remarked about the early incident in the must-win situation at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Jones won earlier this year in the iconic Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway to secure his spot in the Playoffs, setting himself up for a great run into the postseason. The seasoned Joe Gibbs Racing driver had his eyes set on making it deep into the Playoffs to get his No. 20 Craftsman Toyota team a chance at a golden ticket to the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway by winning one of the final races. By winning one of the races in the Round of 8 (Martinsville, Texas or Phoenix), it wouldn’t matter where he was in the points battle as he would automatically earn a spot to race for a championship in the last race of the year.
However, if there were a list of racing deals that are out of the hand of the driver, Jones has checked all of those in the opening three races of the Playoffs. At Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Richmond Raceway and this past weekend on the Roval, the on-track incidents were no fault of his own.
Vegas: On the Stage 2 opening restart, Jones had fought his way into the top 10 when the transmission stuck in second gear, bringing his car behind the wall for repairs and finished in the 36th position.
Richmond: Jones finished fourth in what would be a 1-2-3-4 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing, but NASCAR officials discovered that the car failed post race inspection for a rear-wheel alignment infraction. This disqualified Jones to a last-place finish.
Charlotte: A chain reaction crash caused Jones to get hit from behind entering Turn 1. The spin and light contact with the wall was no concern to the team, but a punctured radiator brought fatal overheating issues, ending their race early.
“The damage wasn’t bad at all, we had that fixed completely,” Jones shared after his fourth DNF at the Roval, and his second consecutive last-place finish. “Kind of a freak deal. Usually a wreck like that wouldn’t end your day by any means.”
Just like his untimely exit of the Playoffs last year, Jones is now in the same position this year: again, to no fault of his own.
“It’s frustrating; it’s frustrating not to even have a chance to run the whole race,” said the dejected 2017 Rookie of the Year driver. “We didn’t make it to the first stage and it wasn’t our fault, and that’s probably the most frustrating part, to get taken out and there was nothing you can do about it.”
Earlier in the month, Jones announced he signed a contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing. With silly season rumors arising between Matt DiBenedetto, driver of the affiliated Leavine Family Racing team, and Christopher Bell, current NASCAR Xfinity Series points leader and Toyota Racing Development driver, there was uncertainty for Jones’ future stakes. Now, he can say for certainty that he has another shot with his team in 2020.
“I put my heart and soul into this and this race team.,” he said in a team release. “I’ve been racing with JGR since 2014 and it’s really cool to be able to continue with the foundation we’ve built over the years and hopefully win more races and contend for championships together.”
He still has seven more races in 2019 to put circumstances behind him and keep on pace with where he was before. In the last four races, Jones’ best finish was 36th at Vegas. Before that, Jones scored five top four finishes in the previous seven races, including the Darlington victory. That hot streak at the end of the regular season was abruptly met by misfortune in the Round of 16. He has a lot of talent he wants to prove: to his team, to his fans, to his competition and to himself. He’s just trying to hold his head high in some dark days of his young racing career.
“[We] have to keep going all year, win some more races, and come back and start over again in next year’s Playoffs.”
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continues their Round of 6 playoff run in the Lone Star State in Fort Worth, Texas for the annual running of the Jags Metals 350. Three spots are still up for grabs in the Championship 4 and five drivers have just two more chances. There is a great chance of another driver locking himself into the Championship 4 race at Homestead Miami.
Here’s a look at who could punch their way into victory lane Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway.
Currently, there are 35 trucks entered on the preliminary entry list. There are also some familiar faces in different rides.
These include Reed Sorenson in the 49, Baley Currey in the 83, Bo LeMastus in the 54, Parker Kligerman in the 35, Timmy Hill in the 87, David Gilliland in the 17, Corey Roper in the 04, Mike Harmon in the 15, Reid Wilson in the 7, Codie Rohrbaugh in the 9, Tyler Young in the 12, Camden Murphy in the 0, and Ross Chastain in the 38.
1. Johnny Sauter – It’s hard to beat a man who is just on a roll this year in the Truck Series. That person just happens to be six-time winner and 2016 champion, Johnny Sauter. In the last five fall races, he has won twice, finished 13th in 2015, 16th in 2014, and second in 2013. The 2016 race saw him advance to the Championship 4, and he ultimately won the championship that year. Last fall Sauter finished second and ninth respectively and led 21 laps. He finished fifth here in the spring race. Sauter has won at Texas overall five times giving him 20 starts, 10 top five and 16 top 10 finishes, with 360 laps led, an average start of 8.0 and an average finish of 6.0. He’ll be tough to beat as he a man on a mission looking to collect his second championship.
2. Matt Crafton – It’s hard to believe that the two-time champ does not have a win this year and he could go winless. However, much more is on the line than just a win – a spot in the Championship 4. Crafton is currently 10 points below the cutline, but this weekend could be the site for his first win of the season. He has a best finish of second that came in the fall of 2016. In the previous fall race, Crafton finished ninth after finishing sixth and eighth, respectively, in both stages. Overall, he has 35 starts with two wins, 429 laps led, 14 top fives and 24 top 10 finishes, giving him three DNF’s and an average start of 12.5 with an average finish of 9.1. In the spring race, Crafton finished fifth after placing second and 10th in both stages. This weekend could be the site where Crafton once again locks himself into the Championship 4 at Homestead and looks to be a three-time champion.
3. Stewart Friesen – Friesen only has one start in the fall race which came last year where he finished 14th. In the spring race, Friesen finished third after winning Stage 1 and finishing second in Stage 2 but came up short of winning. Overall in his career, he has just three starts with 13 laps led, one top five and one top 10 finish, giving him an average start of 11.7 and an average finish of 12.7. He might be out of the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean it stops Friesen from winning. Look for Friesen to be a strong contender Friday night.
4. Grant Enfinger – Like Crafton, Enfinger is on the bubble with just two points to the good. He’ll need two more good runs if he wants a shot at the championship. He has three overall starts with eight laps led, two top fives and three top 10 finishes. This gives Enfinger an average start of 10.7 and an average finish of 4.7. He has just one fall start that came last year where he finished seventh and led one lap. In the spring race, Enfinger finished fourth after he won Stage 2.
5. Justin Haley – Haley could be the next GMS truck driver that makes the Championship 4. He has three overall starts that gave him 28 laps led, two top fives and three top 10 finishes. This gives Haley an average start of 7.0 and an average finish of 4.7. He won the pole last fall and wound up fifth. The spring race saw Haley third on the scoring pylon.
Other notables and stats – Johnny Sauter has won five times at Texas. If he wins this weekend, Sauter will tie Todd Bodine who has six wins at the 1.5-mile track in Fort Worth. Brendan Gaughan is the only one to have won four in a row. Ron Hornaday is a three-time winner.
Since 1997, the Truck Series has competed at Texas Motor Speedway 41 times with just 19 fall races. Jay Sauter won the first fall race in October 1999. Five drivers have won from the pole with the last time in 2007 by Todd Bodine. The lowest a race winner has come from to win was 22nd in 2004, also set by Bodine.
The truckers get on track Thursday afternoon with the first practice slated for 4:05 p.m. ET and the final practice scheduled for 6:05 p.m. ET. Qualifying takes place Friday afternoon at 4:10 p.m. ET and will be televised on Fox Sports 2.
The JAGS Metal 350 race coverage begins at 8:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio with stages of 35/70/147 laps.
Aric Almirola won the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 1000 Bulbs 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday afternoon securing his spot in the Round of 8. This is his second career Cup Series win.
“I felt like I kept giving it away and I was so disappointed for all these guys behind me because they’re awesome. They’re the best. I’m with the best team in the garage and I felt like I kept letting them down not winning a race. Today, the Good Lord was shining on us and we went to Victory Lane. We did it, finally,” said Almirola in victory lane.
Kurt Busch led the field to the start of the race backed up by his three Stewart-Haas Racing teammates. It only took three laps for someone to have a problem as David Ragan’s car lost power on Lap three.
There was a point in the race where the Stewart-Haas cars and the Hendrick Motorsports’ cars controlled the first eight spots. The first caution came out on Lap 11 due to a spin by Jeffrey Earnhardt. The leaders went down to pit road but there was no major change in position.
Paul Menard ran into problems on Lap 15 expressing to his crew that something had broken in his car. Luckily no contact was made with any other cars.
It was a seven-car breakaway until the Penske cars were able to reach the lead pack and make an impact on the lead. Kyle Busch got pushed off the lead pack as it seemed that his car was handling poorly. Brad Keselowski pitted after he reported that he had a vibration putting him a lap down. The vibration was caused by a left-rear loose wheel.
Kurt Busch won Stage 1 followed by his Stewart-Haas teammates.
Ryan Blaney gained five spots during the pit stops. That put him in the lead for the beginning of Stage 2. Chase Elliott went down pit road before everyone else causing him to restart at the rear of the field.
Jimmie Johnson spun out by himself hitting the wall on Lap 63 giving him damage on the left-front part of the car. This brought out a caution. The leaders pit during the caution and Kevin Harvick took the first spot from Ryan Blaney. Blaney had a bad stop and came out eighth. Most of the drivers took fuel only.
It was a good battle following the restart for the lead by Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. Harvick was able to get the best help by his teammates.
Michael McDowell had an early exit to the race when he had a hub failure forcing him to the garage on Lap 81. Keselowski was able to fight back to the lead lap breaking into the top 10 near the end of Stage 2.
A playoff driver with a potential issue was Martin Truex Jr. He wasn’t running the best of races and was reporting that he was a hearing something in the rear-end of the car. More problems for playoff drivers came on Lap 103 when Kyle Larson blew a tire causing him to spin and giving him damage to the right-front fender. Most of the leaders stayed out during the caution.
Kevin Harvick continued to lead following the restart giving him the Stage 2 win. His three teammates backed him up in the running order.
Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Jamie McMurray and Bubba Wallace stayed out during the stage caution. Pit road penalties were given to Eric Jones, David Ragan and Jimmie Johnson.
Things started to heat up in the final stage with cars racing side by side and battling for positions. William Byron took the lead on Lap 123 from Keselowski.
On Lap 127 Keselowski was able to retake the lead after making a strong move on Byron. A caution came out on Lap 136 after Jamie McMurray spun in the tri-oval hitting the wall.
The leaders pit with Kurt Busch taking the lead. It was the four Stewart-Haas cars on the inside lane with the Penske cars on the outside lane. Busch was able to hold the lead following a 12 car breakaway on Lap 151.
A caution came out on Lap 160 after a tire was rolling in the infield grass. A lot of the cars further in the field elected to pit during the caution. Kurt Busch led the field on the restart with his teammates slowly getting lined up behind him. With 20 to go the Stewart-Haas cars controlled the first four spots.
It was Stewart-Haas Racing against the rest of the field. There was plenty of hard racing after the four-car breakaway but the field was not able to catch them.
On Lap 186, Alex Bowman, William Byron and JJ Yeley were involved in a crash at the back of the pack. This gave the field some life to contend for the win.
Overtime came into effect at the end and fuel became a problem for some drivers. Harvick and Blaney were forced to pit right before they went green which counted them out of contention for the win.
It was Kurt Busch with Aric Almirola side by side for the final restart with wrecks going on behind them. They stayed green going into the final turn when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had a great run and pushed that energy to Almirola. When Busch ran out of fuel on the final lap, Almirola was clear and secured the victory.
Busch, who finished 14th, was disappointed but praised the competitiveness of the Stewart-Haas Racing team.
“It was a very different Talladega for me. I really enjoyed leading the race, working with my teammates,” Busch said. “I’m really happy a Stewart-Haas car won, but the four of us, I’ve never seen so much synergy. We knew we were gonna have to race when we got to Kansas. It would have been nice to have the win. We’re here to win. That’s what Monster Energy wants. Thanks to them. That’s what Team Haas wants. Thanks to Gene, Tony Stewart, everybody. But there were two human element calls there at the end. I don’t know why we ran an extra lap under yellow and why there wasn’t the yellow for a dispatch of an ambulance.”
Clint Bowyer, who finished second, said “I was happy for Aric. He had that race won last week (at Dover), and it was me that brought out the caution. I feel like he got a little redemption there.
“Was happy that we finished second. I think it was second, second and second (in all three stages). As far as our day went, we needed to be a little bit better.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano rounded out the top five.
With one race to go in the Round of 12, these are the four drivers in elimination positions going into Kansas next week: Brad Keselowski (-18), Ryan Blaney (-22), Kyle Larson (-26) and Alex Bowman (-68).
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race
Unofficial Race Results for the 50Th Annual 1000Bulbs.Com 500 – Sunday, October 14, 2018
Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, AL – 2.66 Mile Paved
Total Race Length – 193 Laps – 513.38 Miles
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
It’s been a while since I’ve appeared in these pages. My trip to Martinsville was a disaster (snowmageddon), so next on my schedule was Bristol, which despite gloomy skies, tremendous races happened. The crowd was good, but many wanted to make fun of the crowd. No, the track wasn’t full, but a good 100,000 was there and Kurt Busch outlasted and outran one of NASCAR’s darling young drivers, Kyle Larson to claim victory and qualify for the Playoffs.
Darlington is my second favorite track, but I couldn’t get there this year, much to my chagrin. It was a big crowd, and the race was good. Brad Keselowski won the race, teammate Joey Logano was second, all to the glory of Team Penske, and though Larson finished up front, he didn’t’ win, he led the most laps, and then, the atomic bomb hit.
It was a shock to everyone when Barney Visser announced that he was closing the doors of Furniture Row Racing, home to Martin Truex Jr., the reigning Cup Champion, at the season’s end. Apparently, this had been planned between FRR and Joe Gibbs Racing all along and probably Toyota Racing Development. Within a day, though there was no formal announcement, it was learned that Truex was moving to a JGR car, the No. 19 previously driven by Daniel Suarez, who had replaced the departing Carl Edwards only a short time ago. Where Suarez will end up, is rumored to be at a satellite team to JGR, but this seems to be a too familiar scenario. Sorry to say, but I imagine Suarez’s star will not move at the rate it was before. So much for diversity.
Anyway, the only questions that remain involved Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray, and probably more changes. I expect Busch and McMurray to stay put, and A.J. Allmendinger to move on from the 47 car. His replacement could be anyone, or someone I don’t know. By the way, Kasey Kahne retired. No one seems to care. I think it’s a great loss, but, it will all work out. I hope.
So, we head to Indianapolis, a place the drivers love, but the fans do not. Boring races are the rule, and I imagine the place will look empty, and after two triumphant weekends, this will be a downer, and I hope that’s not the case. It will bring the haters out, but the truth is the field will be set for the Playoffs like it or not. I can’t wait to see what happens.
Bristol Motor Speedway was the home for the 16th race of the season and marked the final event of the regular season before the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs begin this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Here are four takeaways from the UNOH 200.
GMS Racing Continue To Be Dominate 2018 – The GMS Racing team, including one ally, continued to dominate last Thursday at Bristol. GMS placed three of their trucks in the top-10 if you include the GMS Racing ally, Stewart Friesen. Johnny Sauter clinched the regular season championship by starting the race. He didn’t stop there as he led 58 laps and finished second in both stages. GMS Racing ally, Stewart Friesen, finished second and Sauter’s teammate, and Gateway winner, Justin Haley, finished sixth. Regardless, they continue to be the team to dominate the 2018 season and the team to beat for the championship.
John Hunter Nemechek Gets A For Effort – After starting third, Nemechek looked to be the guy to beat. He won both stages and led twice for 104 laps. Nemechek had a shot to win his first ever race since Martinsville. However, his truck began to experience problems with less than 10 to go and fell back to third, after dominating much of the race.
Too Much Emphasis On The Big Three – In the Cup Series this year, there have been three drivers that have visited victory lane the most, including Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr, and Kevin Harvick. However, here lately, the Truck Series has their own big three with those being Johnny Sauter, Brett Moffitt, and Noah Gragson. My opinion is that we should stop with the big three analysis and placing too much emphasis and hype on just three drivers. The Big Three should stay in the Cup Series. There have been multiple different race winners this year in the Truck Series. Those including Moffitt, Sauter, Ben Rhodes, Gragson, Haley, among others, who have visited victory lane. Yes, it seems like there are three drivers who regularly run up front, but that’s not the case for every race. Keep the big three special to one series and let the other series have their own brand identity, and stick out more.
Playoff Begin At Canada – After all the hype and with the regular season coming to an end, it’s now time for the 2018 NASCAR Truck Series playoffs that begin this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Eight drivers will go after the gold and the championship at the end of the year in Homestead-Miami. It will be interesting to see how these eight drivers will fare throughout the rest of the season. Will Sauter be able to keep his dominance and punch his ticket into the Championship 4 for another year? Or perhaps there could be a surprise driver that winds up in the final four such as Haley. Either way, it’ll be an exciting seven race run to the championship finale that takes place in Southern Florida.
It’s easy to be negative about everything in NASCAR. If that statement is ever doubted, just take a look at the stands on any given race day. It’s become so difficult to have a sellout race that some tracks like Atlanta and Charlotte are removing entire seating sections, and Loudon has even lost a race date.
However, it’s not all drudge and depression; there are many things to be excited about in regards to the upcoming NASCAR season.
Stage Racing
The outcry when NASCAR announced that the races in the main touring divisions (Monster Energy Cup, XFINITY, Camping World Truck) would be broken into stages in 2017 was met with a mostly negative reaction. Several fans pointed out that this was another gimmick in a line of foolish, pointless, ill-defined gimmicks that NASCAR was throwing at a deeper issue.
Instead, we were faced with some of the best, wildest racing product we never expected. The season started off with a wild Daytona Speedweeks, where the victors (CWTS – Kaz Grala, XFINITY – Ryan Reed, Monster Energy Cup – Kurt Busch) were not only unexpected but were won with racers that looked ready for the scrap heap (Maybe not Grala, as he kept a pretty clean nose throughout 2017). Other spectacular races included the Fall Martinsville event, which to sum up in a word was wild, and the Fall nailbiter at Phoenix, where Matt Kenseth scored a farewell win in his final full-time season.
With a season of Stage Racing come and gone, we’re now left with the hope that NASCAR can find a way to transcend the excellence of 2017’s racing product and top it with another year of great racing.
New Faces
It’s an old topic revisited: Young Guns. Once upon a time, guys like Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were labeled as some of NASCAR’s youngest, most marketable drivers. But at the end of 2017, there were five Daytona 500 wins and eight championships among those three alone. Other drivers such as Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, and Matt Kenseth have all been to Victory Lane at Daytona, Indy, Charlotte, Darlington, and even in the Champion’s Circle at Homestead. This means that a changing of the guard is imminent, considering that yesterday’s Young Guns are now today’s Old Guys; they are beginning to retire en masse, with Earnhardt and Kenseth joining former champions Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon on the retired list.
Ryan Blaney celebrates victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Axalta Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway. Photo: Kirk Schroll/SpeedwayMedia.com
Of course, there’s now William Byron, Bubba Wallace, and Ray Black Jr. to look forward to, joining the ranks of superstars like Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, and Kyle Larson. Alex Bowman can’t be forgotten; he’s gone from nobody to somebody in the sport as he has taken over the No. 88 This front is the future of NASCAR, and it promises to be good.
The Playoffs
Okay, so things may be a touch too gimmicky. But that didn’t make the 2017 Playoffs any less enjoyable. Granted, there were far too many moving pieces in the points, and as a result, we only got a basic, rudimentary sense of what was going on. Still, once the Playoffs started it was rife with drama as we watched, waited, and saw who was in and who was out. As a result, did anyone expect Kyle Larson to be eliminated after the second round? Or Kevin Harvick, who had a somewhat mellow first season with Ford Racing, to make it to Homestead?
Granted, from the start we knew Martin Truex Jr. was going to be tough to beat, and given the Toyota Racing power his Furniture Row Racing team has, he’ll be tough to beat again in 2018. But it’ll be fun to watch the Playoff roulette wheel spin for the season’s final 10 races.
Camaro Joins Cup Series
This promises to be awesome. After years of Luminas, Monte Carlos, Impalas, and the SS, Chevrolet will now be fielding Camaros in the Cup Series after several years in the XFINITY Series. Whereas the XFINITY Series has been the scene for the age-old rivalry of Camaro vs. Mustang, it’ll be nice to see the transition begin in the Cup Series as the wicked-looking Camaro takes to the high-banks of Daytona.
