Tag: Pocono Raceway

Ty Majeski goes back to back after winning at Pocono

Majeski and the No. 22 Chad Bryant Racing team earned his second win of the 2019 ARCA Menards Series after passing Riley Herbst with 14 to go, beating Herbst on the final round of pit stops.

“Ah man, this is a dream come true,” Majeski excitedly told Fox Sports 1 in his post-race interview. “Like I said last week, from losing my ride last year to Chad Bryant (Team Owner) taking a chance on me, man this is so special! Coming into the season, the goal was to win one race, one pole, but I’ll take wins any day over a pole. So this is really cool. Huge thank you to Crestliner for coming on board. That was so special. Paul Andrews (Crew Chief) made great calls all day long. Man, this Chad Bryant team works so hard, day in and day out. This Crestliner Ford was fast all day. It was just a matter of beating the 18 (Riley Herbst) off pit road in those green flag stops. I feel like whoever came out with track position was going to win the race.”

The #AnywhereIsPossible 200 green flag flew shortly after 5:30 p.m. ET and it looked like Herbst was going to completely dominate the whole race.

There were only a couple of incidents that did not bring out the caution. Pole sitter Harrison Burton had a right front tire go down while Steve Glasson had a flat left front tire go down one lap later.

On lap 29, the first and only caution came out for Bobby Gerhart who stalled in the tunnel turn but was able to refire his car after the caution flag flew. After the caution, nothing really changed, other than the fact that Burton was back up to fifth after having a flat tire a couple of laps earlier.

On lap 43, points leader, Michael Self had issues that began when he had a right rear tire go flat and eventually fuel pressure problems on Lap 76, which would eventually take him out of contention for the win. Flat tires continued to cause problems as Burton would suffer another one on Lap 50.

The final round of pit stops began with 20 to go and Hailie Deegan was the first to pit. Christian Eckes who was running third, came to pit but overshot his pit with 17 to go.

With 13 to go, eventual race winner, Majeski, would pit, taking only two right side tires. One lap later, race leader Riley Herbst made his final pit stop.

After making his pit stop, Majeski was already crossing the start/finish line while Herbst was entering Turns 1 and 2. There’s an ARCA rule where you have to stay below the yellow line after pitting. Herbst tried all he could to be the leader after pit stops, but Majeski went by him on the backstretch.

Herbst would need a caution in order to have another shot at Majeski but that would not happen as Majeski and the No. 22 Chad Bryant Racing team would go on to win their second straight race.

“The dirty air is real tough,” Majeski said in his post-race interview when describing catching Riley Herbst. “I could get within a couple of car lengths of him before I would just die. The inside is so preferred here. It’s tough to get clean air on the nose and get the front end to turn. I did all I could there. Fortunately, I made that pass on pit road and didn’t make it on the race track. I was thinking about my green flag pit stop and my marks, and it paid off.”

After leading 68 of the scheduled 80 laps, the No. 18 Monster Energy Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Riley Herbst would have to finish a disappointing second after being so dominant earlier on.

“I think right there at the end, we took two tires, just really tightened us up too much and couldn’t get back to the 22 (Ty Majeski),” Herbst said. “It just sucks. Man, when you have a dominating car like that to come home second, I just drove hard there and couldn’t do anything about it.”

It was Majeski’s second consecutive ARCA win in his first ARCA outing at Pocono. Majeski started fifth and took the lead with 13 laps to go from Herbst.

There would be just one caution and only four cars finished on the lead lap.

Final Results

1. Ty Majeski
2. Riley Herbst
3. Christian Eckes
4. Raphael Lessard
5. Bret Holmes, One Lap Down
6. Harrison Burton, Two Laps Down
7. Hailie Deegan, Two Laps Down
8. Joe Graf Jr., Two Laps Down
9. Cole Glasson, Three Laps Down
10. Travis Braden, Three Laps Down
11. Michael Self, Four Laps Down
12. Ed Pompa, Seven Laps Down
13. Scott Melton, Eight Laps Down
14. Tim Richmond, 12 laps down
15. Brad Smith, 33 laps down
16. Bobby Gerhart, 61 laps down
17. Tommy Vigh Jr, 71 laps down
18. Dick Doheny, 77 laps down

Up Next: The ARCA Menards Series continues their summer stretch to Michigan International Speedway on Friday, June 7, live on Fox Sports 1.

May 31, 2019
Weekend schedule for Pocono Raceway

This weekend the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the Xfinity Series head to Pocono Raceway. Martin Truex Jr. grabbed his third victory of the season last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway and is also the defending race winner for the Pocono 400.

Kyle Busch won last year’s Xfinity Series Pocono Green 250 but will not compete in this week’s race. Instead, Jeffrey Earnhardt, who earned a career-best finish of third last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway, will pilot the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

All times are Eastern.

Friday, May 31
1:05 – 1:55 p.m. – Xfinity Series First Practice (MRN) – NASCAR.com/live
2:05 – 2:55 p.m. – Cup Series First Practice (MRN) – NASCAR.com/live
3:05 – 3:55 p.m. – Xfinity Series Final Practice (FS2)
4:05 – 4:55 p.m. – Cup Series Final Practice (FS2, MRN)

Saturday, June 1
10:05 a.m. – Xfinity Series Qualifying (Impound) Single vehicle/One lap – All positions (FS1)
11:35 a.m. – Cup Series Qualifying (Impound) Single vehicle/One lap – All positions (FS1, MRN)
1 p.m. – Xfinity Series Pocono Green 250 (Stages 25/50/100 = 100 laps/250 miles) (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Sunday, June 2
2 p.m. – Cup Series Pocono 400 (Stages 50/100/160 = 160 laps/400 miles) (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

May 30, 2019
ARCA Menards Series Preview-Pocono 1
The ARCA Menards Series continues their summer stretch by visiting Pocono Raceway located in Long Pond, Pennsylvania this Friday night after a short turnaround racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway last Thursday night.

Chad Bryant Racing driver Ty Majeski visited victory lane at Charlotte for the first time of his ARCA Series career and is once again entered in this week’s ARCA race at Pocono.

There are only 19 cars are entered in this week’s General Tire #AnywhereIsPossible 200.

Riley Herbst and Harrison Burton are the only repeat winners that are entered for Friday’s race. Herbst won in 2017, while Burton is the race winner of last year’s spring race at Pocono.

Raphael Lessard will be making his second ARCA start this year, his previous coming at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida where Lessard finished eighth after starting sixth driving for Mike Bursley. He will once again drive for Bursley, but this time he will be piloting the No. 28 KBR-Development Chevrolet.

It will be a stacked field of NASCAR’s future stars like Thad Moffitt, Christian Eckes, Riley Herbst, Harrison Burton, Joe Graf Jr, Raphael Lessard and Hailie Deegan.

Here are five drivers you should keep an eye on in this weeks #AnywhereIsPossible 200 at Pocono Raceway.
1. Harrison Burton – Burton is the previous race winner. He will also make his first Truck Series track debut at Pocono but will be preparing for that by driving in the ARCA race Friday night. This year, Burton has three ARCA starts winning at the season opener in Daytona. Since then, his best finish came last week at Charlotte by finishing fourth. In last year’s race at Pocono, he led 24 of the scheduled 80 laps to win. After pulling a different double duty last week, racing on Thursday night and graduating high school the next day, Burton can now focus on racing this summer.
  
  “This track is amazing,” said the recent high school graduate. “Pocono is a technical race track with every corner being completely different than the last so that’s a lot of fun for the drivers. It creates a lot of good racing opportunities, good passing zones, there’s drafting on the straightaways and I’m excited to be back to defend.”
2. Christian Eckes – Eckes will be visiting his home track this weekend, as he grew up not too far from Pocono being born in New York. He has just two starts at Pocono, both coming last year. The Tricky Triangle was tricky last year for Eckes and his No. 15 Venturini Motorsports team. Both finishes came outside the top-10 with a finish of 11th in his first outing and 13th in his second outing. He has had an up and down season so far, and bad luck has bitten him as of late. In last week’s race, Eckes had to deal with two flat tires and spent two laps down throughout the race before rebounding to finish seventh. However, the ARCA Series had an open test on Wednesday before being canceled early due to thunderstorms. Eckes topped the speed charts, completing 36 laps with a best time of 53.17 seconds. Whether this speed will transfer to the race is yet to be seen, but it is encouraging for the New Yorker who is ready to turn his season around this Friday.
  
  “Pocono has always been a place I’ve enjoyed going to,” said Eckes. “Being almost a ‘Home Race’ for me it’s pretty cool to have my whole family out to watch. The race track itself has been super fun. We haven’t gotten the results we deserved in our two attempts but we’re here to change that this week. Everybody on the JBL team has been working really hard, we’re ready to take the triangle head on.”
3. Riley Herbst – Aside from Burton, Herbst is the other winner entered for this weeks race at Pocono. He won the 2017 race after leading well over half the race (45 laps). To date, it’s Herbst’s only ARCA win of his career. Aside from not competing in one race that year, he has two full seasons under his belt in the ARCA Series. In last year’s spring race, Herbst finished fifth after leading 11 laps to continue his success at Pocono. Herbst is only doing a part-time schedule this year, sharing the ride with Ty Gibbs. He only competed in three races this season with a best finish of second at Talladega. Herbst and the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team was sixth fastest in the afternoon test session.
4. Ty Majeski – It’s hard to not to count out last week’s winner Majeski who is looking to carry momentum from his race win at Charlotte. He has just one start in an ARCA car coming in 2017 driving for the Cunningham Motorsports team finishing seventh. For those who don’t know, Chad Bryant Racing took over the reins from Briggs Cunningham last year. If Wednesday’s test means anything, Majeski was fourth fastest. Chad Bryant brought two other cars to the test with Corey Heim who was third fastest and Joe Graft Jr. who was 10th fastest.
5. Travis Braden – Braden only has two starts at Pocono in the ARCA Menards Series with a best finish of fourth in the spring race last year. In his other start later in the summer, he finished ninth, giving Braden one top five and one top-10 finish.
  
  “As a driver, you need to hit all three corners just right,” Braden said. “if you miss one corner it messes up all three of them. Everyone looks at the long straightaways and you think you want to reduce drag, but the corners are where the speed is at.”
  
  Who To Watch:
  
  Hailie Deegan will be making her second ARCA start this season, piloting the No. 55 iK9 Toyota for Bill Venturini.
  
  Cole Glasson returns to the ARCA Menards Series driving the No. 32 Win Tron Racing Chevrolet. Glasson has one ARCA start coming in last year’s season finale at Kansas, finishing 10th.
  
  Raphael Lessard makes his track debut at Pocono this Friday. Lessard was fifth quickest Wednesday in ARCA’s afternoon test.
  
  Michael Self will look to rebound after finishing a disappointing fifth when he led a dominating 91 laps.
  
  Wayne Peterson Racing will bring a new Toyota after their Chevy was destroyed last week in a crash.
  
  Venturini Motorsports looks to continue their qualifying streak by qualifying on the pole this Friday.
  
  The ARCA teams had a morning and afternoon open test session before the afternoon session was shortened by thunderstorms. Christian Eckes was the fastest in the afternoon session.
  
  2. Chandler Smith
  3. Corey Heim
  4. Ty Majeski
  5. Raphael Lessard
  6. Riley Herbst
  7. Michael Self
  8. Harrison Burton
  9. Cole Glasson
  10. Joe Graf Jr
  11. Hailie Deegan
  12. Bret Holmes
  13. Scott Melton
  14. Ed Pompa
  15. Bobby Gerhart
  16. Jonas Fors
  17. Tim Richmond
  
  The ARCA Menards Series has visited Pocono Raceway before it was known as The Tricky Triangle since 1987. Since then, the track has hosted 63 races with multiple race winners. The winners include Bob Schacht, Lee Raymond, Bob Keselowski, Jimmy Horton, Ben Hess, Tim Steele, Jeff Purvis, Mike Wallace, Frank Kimmel, Blaise Alexander, Kerry Earnhardt, Ryan Newman, Damon Lusk, Casey Atwood, Casey Mears, Scott Riggs, Ryan Hemphill, Chase Miller, Chad McCumbee, Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Justin Allgaier, Joey Logano, Justin Lofton, Craig Goess, Robb Brent, Tim George Jr, Ty Dillon, Brennan Poole, Chad Hackenbracht, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Justin Allison, Trevor Bayne, Cole Custer, Grant Enfinger, Chase Briscoe, Justin Haley and Zane Smith to name a few.
  
  After an open test session on Wednesday, the ARCA teams will have a one day show Friday with one practice session on Friday morning at 9 a.m. ET lasting an hour. Qualifying is slated for 12 p.m. ET and will be live on Arcaracing.com.
  
  The #AnywhereIsPossible 200 is scheduled to get underway shortly after 5:30 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 2 and is scheduled for 80 laps. There will be a same-day replay on Fox Sports 1 later that night.
May 29, 2019
NASCAR announces 2020 schedule

Heresay started 24 hours ago that the 2020 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule would be released sometime this week. Then it came out that it would be released on Tuesday. NASCAR built up the anticipation with the announcement earlier today that the official schedule release would happen at 4 p.m.

The time came, and the changes were announced.

NASCAR announced on Tuesday the 2020 schedule for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. It’s the biggest schedule realignment the Cup Series has undergone in over a decade.

The major changes were as follows:

The championship race will move from Homestead-Miami Speedway to ISM (Phoenix) Raceway. It will move to Veterans Day weekend, rather than the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day, which the championship race has been held on.

The reasoning, according to NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell, was to prevent one driver from gaining a competitive advantage by running at the same track year after year.

“Obviously a ton of investment has gone into ISM Raceway,” O’Donnell said. “We thought it was natural for us to make that rotation this year and see how it plays out, also put Miami in a date that works for them, as well.”

He added that this probably isn’t a one year thing.

“I can’t say how long,” he said. “I think with any venue, you want to see it have a chance and grow a little bit, see how that works. We’ll certainly take a look at it as we look at 2021 and beyond, see what’s on the table in terms of venues.”

“But this wasn’t a decision we said, ‘Hey, let’s go there for a year and rotate it.’ Our intent is to stay for a few years and see how we net out.”

Daytona International Speedway’s second race moves from Independence Day weekend to the regular season finale, which will now be in August.

Given the attendance and weather issues that have plagued Daytona in July, NASCAR talked to drivers and teams on the matter, and they said, according to NASCAR, that Daytona at the end of the regular season was the best way to end it.

“Everyone felt Daytona belonged there and that track deserved to potentially be in that date,” O’Donnell said.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway moves from September to Independence Day weekend.

Bristol Motor Speedway’s night race moves from its August date to the Cup Series Playoffs on Sep. 19.

“If NASCAR fans thought they’ve seen tempers flare and sparks fly under the lights at the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, just wait until they experience a real pressure-packed NASCAR playoff elimination race at Bristol Motor Speedway,” said Jerry Caldwell, executive vice president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway.

Pocono Raceway’s two dates will move to one date, as part of a double-header for the Cup Series.

Martinsville Speedway’s first weekend moves from late March/early April to Mother’s Day weekend, and will be run on a Saturday night on May 9.

Darlington Raceway remains in its Labor Day weekend slot, but will now open the Playoffs.

There’s some other date shuffling.

Screenshot from NASCAR.com

Screenshot from NASCAR.com

Screenshot from NASCAR.com

March 26, 2019
Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Pocono
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visited the 2.5-mile racetrack located in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, Pocono Raceway. It was the 14th race of the season and there are now only two races left until the Playoffs begin at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Here are four takeaways from the Gander Outdoors 150.
1. Kyle Ties Hornaday On All-Time Wins List – Kyle Busch was finally able to tie Ron Hornaday on the all-time wins list this past weekend. Both now have 51 wins in the series, but Busch reached 51 wins in just 145 starts, quicker than Hornaday. Busch dominated most of the race by winning the pole and leading 43 of the scheduled 60 laps. By not being able to gain any stage points due to him being a Cup Series driver, Busch was able to play strategy by pitting late in the stage in order to gain track position for the restarts. He almost got passed for the lead late in the race but held on to win in his final Truck Series start of the year. When Busch returns next year and the years beyond, the sky will be the limit on how many more wins he’ll get before wrapping up his career.
2. Stages are too short, at least for Pocono – In Saturday’s race, the stages were broken up into 15/30/60. For a track that doesn’t produce much passing, there wasn’t a whole lot of activity during the stages as they were very short. The first stage went its maximum distance, but the second stage was 10 laps with the final stage going green with 25 to go. The drivers agreed in Friday’s media availability that the race was too short in order to produce more passing or make it a more exciting race. The race featured only nine lead changes, but that all came when the stage was winding down as drivers pitted early for track position. Other than that, the field was spread out. Busch and Erik Jones finished with a margin of victory of 1.4 seconds back. However, anyone after that was five, six, seven seconds back and so on. Perhaps Pocono is a track the Truck Series shouldn’t race on or possibly it’s the number of laps in the race, but something should be done in order to see a more competitive race.
3. Noah Gragson Misses Race – Friday night on Gragson’s Twitter page, he reported that he was feeling sick but was going to race regardless of how he was feeling. However, on Saturday morning prior to qualifying, Noah was too sick to qualify the truck and eventually, too sick to compete in the race. With him missing a race, NASCAR granted him a medical waiver so that he will be able to compete in the Playoffs. Erik Jones, the 2015 Truck Series Champion, filled in for the ill Gragson. Jones placed second.
4. Playoff Points Race Gets Tighter – With just two races left before the Playoffs began, the fight for the final three positions gets even tighter following Pocono. Enfinger, Friesen, and Crafton continue to be winless this year and will more than likely have to point there way in, if there aren’t any new winners. Enfinger has two playoff points while Friesen has four. Crafton has none. Myatt Snider is also on the outside looking in. With a much deserved off week this week, these four drivers, among others, are working hard to contend for the 2018 Truck Series championship. When the Truck Series returns to Michigan after an off week, drivers will be on their game and make more daring moves to get into the Playoffs. Nonetheless, the run for the championship continues to be exciting and no one really knows yet who the final four drivers will be at Homestead-Miami in November.
July 31, 2018
Kyle Busch Drives to Sixth Win of 2018 at Pocono

Despite starting 28th due to failing post-qualifying inspection, Kyle Busch was a man on a mission in today’s Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono.

Finishing fourth in Stage 1, Busch and his crew parlayed some pit strategy at the end of Stage 2 for track position in Stage 3.

All told, Busch’s path to the front was not without some hardy challenges from his Joe Gibbs Racing stablemates.

“(Daniel) Suarez, man, I can’t say enough about my teammates,” Busch excitedly said. “What an awesome race! He was probably the third best car. He gave us a run for our money on the restarts. Last one, I spun my tires a bit too much and he got a good run. That gave (Erik) Jones a good opportunity.”

Certainly, as Busch took the field to green on lap 163, Suarez equaled the 2015 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion’s restart effort.

Running side-by-side heading into turn one, Jones saw a possible chance at victory as he ran inside of Suarez to make it three wide between the JGR clan.

However, Busch’s experience and powerful No. 18 Caramel M&M’s Toyota Camry was just too much on this race day. Drawing daylight between himself and Suarez, the 33-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native drove his way to his sixth win of the 2018 MENCS season.

“Can’t say enough about Adam Stevens and all my guys,” Busch acknowledged. “Man, we fought it all weekend.”

Remarkably, Busch continued the winning ways of the MENCS triple threat. By all means, this season has turned into a regular season heavyweight match among NASCAR’s most aggressive veterans.

“What’s crazy is how this year keeps going,” Busch observed. “Harvick gets one, we get one, Truex gets one. We’re back and forth. We answered the fight this weekend without the fastest car.”

Meanwhile, Suarez made earnest challenges to prevent Busch from repeating his Pocono victory from last year. In the end, the Monterrey, Mexico native recognized how close he was to his first MENCS win.

“We lost the balance a little bit (in the beginning) and made some adjustments,” Suarez said. “We made the car better. I thought we were a solid top-five car. In a short run, I felt like we were the best car. It hurts to be close.”

Perhaps the biggest scare of the race was Bubba Wallace’s lap 155 crash. The rookie racer reportedly lost his brakes heading into Turn 1, resulting in a savage hit that destroyed both ends of his No. 43 Mile 22 Chevy Camaro.

Fortunately, the mild-mannered Wallace expressed gratitude and his trademark sense of humor following his horrifying accident.

“I’m OK,” Wallace said. “That was a huge hit. Everyone, back at home, I’m okay. Hardest one of my career. I was just telling them here, ‘There’s no feeling like being helpless in that situation going off into Turn 1.’ It scared the hell out of me.

We’re good. Bit my cheek, banged my foot off the pedal. I’m okay though. I’ll wake up tomorrow and I’ll be a little sore. The safety has come a long ways. It’s good to be able to climb out of the car. They gave me an ultrasound. No twins or anything.”

Ultimately, Busch prevailed with Suarez, Alex Bowman, Kevin Harvick, Jones, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, and Denny Hamlin taking top-10 finishes from the “Tricky Triangle.”

From scenic Long Pond, Pennsylvania to the Finger Lakes region of New York State, the MENCS tour prepares for next Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and MRN Radio.

July 29, 2018
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Power Rankings-Pocono
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continued their mid-season run this past weekend by visiting the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

In what was the 14th scheduled race of the season, a few new drivers shined and one almost collected their first win, while familiar foes posted a top-10 finish continuing their race to the playoffs. With an off-weekend coming up, there will be two races left until the Playoffs begin.

Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.
1. Justin Haley – Haley continues his strong 2018 Truck Series season by posting another top-five finish at the 2.5-mile racetrack. He started third and finished second in the first stage after almost pulling off a last lap pass to win. But he fell out of the top-10 in the second stage due to some late-race pit stops. Haley eventually fought his way back into the top-five, finishing fifth and posting his fifth top-five of the year. He continues to be a quiet contender in the run to the Playoffs and ultimately could end up being a contender in the final four as they race for the championship at Homestead-Miami. Previous Week Ranking: 5th
2. Stewart Friesen- Friesen is oh so close to getting that first win of the season. He continues to post strong finishes inside the top-five throughout the season and continues to be a bubble driver of potentially making/not making the Playoffs in 2018. However, Friesen could breathe a little easier, but not by much, with just two races to go. On Saturday afternoon, he ran a quiet race and didn’t make too much noise. In Stage 1, he finished eighth, while he won the second stage after leading four laps to the end of the second stage, earning one playoff point. After having to pit at the end of stage two and getting shuffled back, as other leaders pit for strategy, Friesen fought his way to a fourth-place finish. Previous Week Ranking: 2nd
3. Dalton Sargeant – If anyone could challenge the race leaders for the win, it was GMS Racing driver, Dalton Sargeant who had the best career finish of his career so far. After a qualifying effort of fourth, Sargeant stayed there for much of the race. In Stage 1, he finished third not too far behind Todd Gilliland and Haley. However, like other race leaders, he pitted near the end of Stage 2 to have track position for the end of the final stage. As soon as Stage 3 started, Sargeant took the lead from Friesen and led for four laps until getting passed by eventual race winner Kyle Busch. Ultimately, he finished third for his first top-five of the year. If the team continues to run like they did at Pocono, they could surprise the field and be in the Playoffs. Previous Week Ranking: Not Ranked
4. Grant Enfinger – After coming close to a win at Eldora last week, Enfinger is hungry for a win as he too sits on the cut line for the Playoffs. He placed fifth in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2, respectively. However, on a track where it is tough to pass and with the field getting so spread out, Enfinger had a hard time challenging for the win. He would have to settle for a sixth-place finish, earning him his fourth top-five of the year. He’ll need to continue to have days like Saturday in order to point his way into the Playoffs. Previous Week Ranking: 1st
5. Todd Gilliland – Gilliland made his first ever career track start at Pocono this past weekend. He had a lot of track time by racing in the shortened ARCA race on Friday where he finished sixth after pitting early on. He had two practice sessions as well to keep him busy in trying to figure out The Tricky Triangle. With the added seat time, it looked liked it helped as Gilliland started on the outside pole with his teammate Kyle Busch. Gilliland led one lap before getting passed by Busch. But toward the end of the stage, Busch, along with others, pitted to have track position for the second stage. Gilliland stayed out and won the first stage after leading seven laps. In the final stage, the No. 4 KBM driver stayed out and restarted in the 11th position. As the checkered flag fell at the end of 60 laps, Gilliland and the No. 4 KBM team found themselves finishing seventh. Previous Week Ranking: Not RankedFell Out
  1. Brett Moffitt – Moffit had right front suspension problems at the end of Stage 1 and finished 26th.
  2. Matt Crafton – Crafton continues to have his most challenging season to date since 2012. Starting 20th, Crafton didn’t place inside the top-10 at all during either stage but fought his way to ninth place. He continues to be winless in 2018.
July 29, 2018
Inspection alters Pocono lineup, moves Harvick, Kyle Busch to rear

Staff Report | NASCAR.com

Post-qualifying tech dealt a Saturday shake-up to the starting lineup for Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 after the cars driven by the five of the top six qualifiers — including the initial front row of Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch — failed inspection at Pocono Raceway.

Harvick was fastest in the first and final round of Busch Pole Qualifying, but his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford did not pass the body scan portion post-qualifying inspection. The same fate occurred with the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of second-fastest qualifier Kyle Busch, but his car failed at the chassis station of the inspection process.

The ruling elevated Daniel Suarez, third on the original unofficial speed chart, to a first-time pole winner in the Monster Energy Series. His speed of 176.988 mph in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota stands as the pole-winning lap of record.

A total of 13 cars failed the inspection process the first time through. Scott Miller, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition, explained the process in a media gathering as inspection was nearing its conclusion.

“It’s pretty obvious what’s happened here. There was 13 cars that didn’t pass the post-qualifying inspection,” Miller said. “Most of the problems were centered around the body scan, but not all. Some were mechanical measurements with the rear toe. But quite heavy on the body scans, 13 cars. We’re disappointed in this, but we’re certainly confident in our process and the teams didn’t do a real good job here today.”

In addition to Harvick and Busch, the qualifying speeds for Kyle Larson (initially the fourth-fastest qualifier), Joey Logano (fifth) and rookie William Byron (sixth) were disallowed. Others further back in the field with qualifying speeds thrown out: Clint Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford, Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Ford, Aric Almirola’s No. 10 Ford, Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet, Paul Menard’s No. 21 Ford, Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet, Bubba Wallace’s No. 43 Chevrolet, Kasey Kahne’s No. 95 Chevrolet.

All 13 will start from the rear of the 40-car field in Sunday’s 400-miler (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM), ranked in order of their rank in the Monster Energy Series standings.

Both Harvick and Kahne’s car failed three times and the penalty for that is the loss of their car chiefs — Robert Smith (No. 4 team) and Ben Leslie (No. 95 team) — and a 10-point penalty in the driver and owner championship standings. Logano and Menard’s cars failed twice and both of their respective car chiefs — Raymond Fox (No. 22 team) and William Curwood (No. 21 team) were ejected as well.

It’s the first season for the new inspection process and NASCAR’s Optical Scanning Station, which maps and checks vehicle bodies for conformance to the rules. It’s also the second time this season that the Monster Energy Series has been subject to inspection immediately after qualifying under the enhanced weekend schedule. The other occurrence was at Chicagoland Speedway, where only four cars lost their starting spots.

“This is only the second time we’ve done this and I don’t think the teams want to be sitting here in this situation, either,” Miller said when asked if the severity of the penalties might change after Saturday’s issues. “But I think they tested the waters and it didn’t work out too good for them today. So, hopefully, the next time we have one of these inspections, they’ll be able to get closer to right and we won’t have this.”

RELATED: Starting lineup

Contributing: Jessica Ruffin from Pocono

July 28, 2018

Kyle Busch drives to flawless win at Pocono

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 51 Cessna Toyota in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Gander Outdoors 150 at Pocono Raceway on July 28, 2018 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Photo by Kirk Schroll for SpeedwayMedia.com.

In what was a wild start for the day, before the race started, Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 18 Safelite Tundra, had to sit out the race due to being sick. He was granted a medical waiver, which means he’ll still have a Playoff spot. Erik Jones, the 2015 NASCAR Truck Series champion, filled in for the ill Gragson.

“We kept working on it (truck) all weekend long and just never quit, got it to where we wanted it,” Busch said. “All these (KBM) guys, (Mike) Hillman and on this No. 51 Cessna Beachcraft Toyota did an awesome job. I mean, we worked it, worked it, worked it, and came up with a couple of ideas of mine own and that slowed us down, but overall Rudy and those guys on the 18 truck were stupid fast. I knew they were going to be tough to beat.”

“I got a good restart and got out front there, and as Erik (Jones) was able to kind of run me down it seemed like he could cool his tires off by doing so,” he said. “I figured if I could at least pinch him one time and then get him behind me for a couple of laps, or a couple of corners, then I might be able to equalize his tires to mine when I was out front because I was just pushing for everything I had and I was just tight. I knew that would be my only shot to be able to hold him off, just to get his momentum broken and when I did that with a lap truck in Turn 2, it kind of seemed like that changed the race.”

The first stage was 15 laps, Stage 2 ended on Lap 30 and the checkered flag flew on Lap 60.

When Stage 1 began, Todd Gilliland took the lead for one lap, but pole sitter Busch took the lead one lap later and held it until four to go when he made a pit stop. Brett Moffitt also had issues which later turned out to be right front suspension problems. Gilliland went on to win the first stage by fending off Gateway winner Justin Haley.

During the pit stops, four-time winner Johnny Sauter received a pit road penalty for being too fast on pit road.

Busch restarted Stage 2 as the leader and held on until Lap 26, when substitute driver Jones took the lead. However, just like the first stage, Busch and Jones pit along with the other race leaders with three to go. Bubble driver, Stewart Friesen, stayed out and won the second stage.

The third and final stage began with 25 to go.

Dalton Sargeant took the lead for four laps, but Busch retook it on Lap 37. Jones came back to battle for the lead with eight to go, with lap traffic being an issue. Busch prevailed and held on to score his second Truck Series win of the season.

Busch gave his thoughts on tying NASCAR Hall of Fame driver, Ron Hornaday, on the all-time wins list in the Truck Series.

“It’s awesome,” Busch said on tying Hornaday’s record. “It’s certainly a true testament to all the people I worked with over time. I’ve raced races with Morgan-Dollar. I don’t know if I ever won races with them and then with Billy Ballew. I ran with them a lot and of course, with my own company Kyle Busch Motorsports team. A bunch of different crew chiefs, five or six crew chiefs I’ve won with here in my place. So, you know, it’s certainly been a lot of fun, a lot of dedication, a lot of hard work and perseverance for my guys and everybody at Kyle Busch Motorsports.”

There were two cautions for eight laps, with six leaders among nine lead changes. Busch led three times for 43 laps.

Complete Race Results

1st – Kyle Busch

2nd – Erik Jones

3rd – Dalton Sargeant

4th – Stewart Friesen

5th – Justin Haley

6th – Grant Enfinger

7th – Todd Gilliland

8th – Johnny Sauter

9th – Matt Crafton

10th – Joe Nemechek

11th – Ben Rhodes

12th – Myatt Snider

13th – Austin Hill

14th – Cody Coughlin

15th – Tanner Thorson

16th – Jordan Anderson

17th – Justin Fontaine

18th – Austin Self

19th – Josh Reaume

20th – Bo LeMastus

21st – Wendell Chavous

22nd – Jennifer Jo Cobb

23rd – Todd Peck

24th – B.J. McLeod

25th – Norm Benning

26th – Brett Moffitt

27th – Ray Ciccarelli

28th – Timmy Hill

29th – Camden Murphy

30th – Reed Sorenson

31st – J.J. Yeley

32nd – Bayley Currey

July 28, 2018

Erik Jones places second for ill Gragson at Pocono

Noah Gragson was unable to participate in Truck Series qualifying Saturday morning at Pocono Raceway after being sick this weekend with what his team called a stomach virus. During a pre-race visit to the infield care center, he was not medically cleared to compete in the race.

Erik Jones was chosen to replace Gragson in the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 18 Toyota. With the driver change, Jones had to start at the back of the pack in 31st. It didn’t take long, however, for the 2015 Truck Series champion to move up to the front as he finished fourth in the first stage.

Jones time to shine came in the second stage when he took the lead on Lap 27 but multiple battles occurred when he pitted from the lead with teammate Busch. As a result, he did not finish in the top-10 at all during the second stage.

He continued to fight his way through traffic in the remaining laps, as did race leader Busch. At one point with eight laps to go, Jones caught Busch and was side-by-side with him for a short moment. However, race leader Busch prevailed and held on to win while Jones went on to finished second.

“We had a really good truck, number one all day,” Jones said. “The Safelite Tundra was really fast and we just needed to get out front. I thought we were snugged on the last run. I had to use the right front up a little bit to get to him. We had a good opportunity with some lap trucks, that lap trucks gave us the opportunity and there was one more lap truck that we needed to get around that I had to check up in the tunnel which let Kyle stay on my corner and get back by.”

“If we would’ve got out front, I think it would’ve been pretty tough on Kyle to get back around us,” he said. “A fun race, nonetheless. Not expecting to do one is a pretty solid run.”

This was Jones first Truck Series race since 2016 at Gateway where he finished fifth.

July 28, 2018