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  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Food City 500 at Bristol

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Food City 500 at Bristol

    It was Bristol, baby. The half-mile track in “Thunder Valley,” exciting or not, is always eventful. Sunday was no different. Here was what was surprising and not surprising from the 56th annual Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Surprising: After a long day on Sunday, Carl Edwards decisively won the Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol.

    The driver they call “Concrete Carl” won his fourth race at Bristol and his third overall victory for owner Joe Gibbs. It’s his 26th career win and first of the season, practically locking him into the Chase. It was also Edwards’ first win from the pole in six years.

    “So it was a really great race for us,” Edwards said post race. “It started on Friday –well, started this winter building these cars. But the car was really fast in qualifying, got the first pit stall, and that meant a lot to the guys. They were ready to put last week immediately behind them, and they did.

    “They were just flawless on pit road. The car was really fast, and [crew chief] Dave [Rogers] did a good job of managing everything. We didn’t have any trouble, and really it’s just a testament to everybody at the shop and our whole team. Really awesome to have a win so now we can really have some fun and focus on this championship.”

    It wasn’t all fun for the other drivers for Joe Gibbs Racing. Matt Kenseth dominated early but an accident for a blown tire left him 40 laps down in 36th at the finish. Denny Hamlin slammed into the wall late due to a blown tire but was able to nurse the car home 20th and on the lead lap.

    But the worse day among the Gibbs drivers was reserved for Kyle Busch. Busch, who entered this weekend having swept the last two, had two blown tires causing accidents, a pit road speeding penalty and topped it off by bumping into a fan on his way to the garage. The fan, for the record, has said it was her fault for being in the way.

    Busch blamed the 2012 reconfiguration of the track for his recent woes. Busch hasn’t won in five years at the Tennessee half-mile, after winning five times on the older configuration.

    “This track has sucked for me ever since the grinding,” The driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota said. “I’m about sick and tired of coming here since it sucks to race.”

    Not surprising: On the opposite end of the spectrum was Kyle’s older brother, Kurt Busch, who hasn’t won at Bristol in 10 years but still had a great day in third. Busch had to still rally back from misfortune, however.

    “We just battled through it,” Busch said. “(Dale Earnhardt) Junior had trouble at the start and I was 40th when we started the race. One car at a time. One set of tires at a time. And then we were in great position around lap 350. We got the lead from (Carl) Edwards for a little bit. And we just kept working on it. And there’s nothing more that I could have gotten out of the car. I’m really happy with the way that everybody worked together. I shouldn’t be happy about finishing third, but I’ll take it.”

    Surprising: So, what happened to Earnhardt at the start? An electronic problem on the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet bottled up the outside lane at the very start of the race and “Junebug” found himself two laps down at one point.

    Still, Earnhardt was able to rally back and found himself second when the checkered flag fell 500 laps after it seemed his day was over before it began.

    “Yeah, we got the Roush system on our cars for the stuck-throttle issue, and just warming the brakes up, I engaged that system to kill the throttle.  I was warming the brakes up like I always do, and apparently I applied too much pressure and it killed the motor.

    “We’ll work on that and maybe raise that threshold a little bit because I wasn’t really using the brake that much. So I just needed to cycle the ECU, reset that, came to pit road and did that. I probably could’ve done it on the track and saved ourselves a lot of trouble, but you don’t know what’s going on at that particular point, and you listen to the first thing anybody tells you when it comes to direction, and the first thing that my spotter said was that if I need to pit, I need to come on now.  We got on pit road, cycled it, lost a couple laps.  Greg did a good job getting the wave-arounds and knowing when to take them and stuff, and we got back on the lead lap.  We had about a 10th-place car. We weren’t really that good all day. We tried a setup that we’ve never really ran here before, just trying to learn a little something going forward, and we’ll go home and science it out a little bit.

    “We got real lucky the last three restarts to be on the outside line. We restarted 10th, sixth and fourth, and when you restart fourth you’re typically going to come out in second place after that. I was hoping we didn’t have any more cautions after that. So it was good. We’ll take it.”

    Not Surprising: Chase Elliott continued his stellar Rookie of the Year campaign by finishing fourth. It was his second straight top five and his best overall career finish.

    Elliott was fast during the latter portion of the day and found himself second on the last restart before dropping back due to restarting on the inside on the last restart.

    “Guys brought a good car this weekend,” the driver of the No. 24 Kelly Blue Book Chevrolet said. “We started a little slow, didn’t qualify as well as we’d like to on Friday but I thought we hit on a couple things yesterday in final practice that fortunately carried over to today and was able to kind of work our way up through there. Hate to have a loose wheel, but guys did a good job overcoming that having a fast pit under green only losing two laps. That was big to keep us in contention there and try to get back on the lead lap. Definitely a long afternoon, but had a fast car, and that was the biggest thing that kept us alive.”

    Surprising: Typically, drivers with lower budget teams struggle to even finish on the lead lap outside of Daytona and Talladega.

    Sunday was an exception to the rule, as Matt DiBennedetto, driving for BK Racing, finished sixth. It’s the best finish for both the 24-year-old California driver and the Ron Devine owned team.

    After DiBennedetto pulled into his pit, suddenly it got a little dusty on pit road for the No. 83 team.

    “I’m sorry I’m so speechless – just I’m so thankful to everybody on this team, everybody at BK Racing, Cosmo Motors in Hickory, North Carolina – they’re local to me, he’s my best friend, sells some awesome cars, please check them out – everyone at BK Racing, Dustless Blasting.”

    An obviously emotional DiBennedetto told Fox Sports after the race. “These guys, man – that’s unbelievable for a team like to us to be growing this much and for us to get a sixth-place run – I’m sorry I’m so emotional, it’s just this is like a win for us. I am so excited. I see my family back here – my wife, Taylor, my brother is in town from the military and I’m so glad he got to experience this. This is just – this is incredible. I’m so blessed to be here.”

    Clint Bowyer, who is in the midst of far and away his worst statistical full-time season in Sprint Cup, also found some relief after he drove his HScott Motorsports Chevrolet to eighth on race day.

    Bowyer, for his part, was a little less emotional about his good run.

    “It was a good finish and I’m proud of the finish,” Bowyer said. “We had some luck which helped but proud of the result and good that the 5-hour Energy Chevrolet was able to get a top 10 today.”

    Not Surprising: It seems like every week since Kevin Harvick joined Stewart-Haas Racing, he has shown up with either the fastest or one of the fastest cars.

    And most weeks, things just go a little sour for the 2014 Sprint Cup champion. Sure, he finishes top 10 or even top five, but the “what might have beens” have to be a little frustrating for the 40-year-old.

    Sunday continued the trend. Harvick was in the top five for most of the day and even led 13 laps but kept getting stuck on the inside line on restarts and ended up dropping to seventh at the finish.

    ““Yeah, (restarting on the inside) was definitely the biggest challenge for us,” Harvick said. “The guys did a great job with our Ditech Chevy. We had the speed but it seemed like every restart we were just struggling to make ground on the restart and by the time you get two or three spots back, you battle back to where you were and then the caution would come out again. But there’s nothing you can do about that. We raced hard all day and we’ll go to the next one.”

    Next Sunday will be the first scheduled Sunday race at Richmond International Raceway in many years. The traditional Saturday night event has been moved to Sunday afternoon this season in order to both make the race stand out more and make the event a typical three-day weekend rather than two days at the track. Fox’s coverage of the Toyota Owners 400 starts at 1 p.m EST on Sunday.

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Bristol

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Bristol

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and XFINITY Series travel to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is off. Please check below for the complete schedule of events.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, April 15:

    On Track:
    11 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Practice – FS1
    12:30-1:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – FS1
    3-3:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – FS1
    4:15 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1

    Garage Cam:  (Watch live)
    10:30 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series
    2:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series

    Press Conferences:  (Watch live)
    9:30 a.m.: Chase Elliott
    10 a.m.: Ryan Reed
    10:15 a.m.: Ryan Blaney
    10:30 a.m.: Kyle Busch
    12:30 p.m.: Carl Edwards
    1:30 p.m.: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
    3:30 p.m.: Todd Gilliland
    5:30 p.m.: Post-Sprint Cup Qualifying (time approx.)

    Saturday, April 16:

    On Track:
    8:30-9:25 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series Second Practice – FS1
    9:30 a.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
    11-11:55 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice – FS1
    12:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 Heat #1 (50 laps, 26.65 miles) – FS1
    1:10 p.m. (approx): XFINITY Series Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 Heat #2 (50 laps, 26.65 miles) – FS1
    1:45 p.m. (approx): XFINITY Series Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 main race (200 laps, 106.6 miles) – FS1

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    3:30 p.m.: Post-XFINITY Race (time approx.)

    Sunday, April 17:

    On Track:
    1 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 (500 laps, 266.5 miles) – FOX

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    4:30 p.m.: Post-Sprint Cup Race (time approx.)

    Additional Info:

    Complete NASCAR TV Schedule

    Special NASCAR Programming:

    • Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase Elliott and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on “Dude Perfect” – Thursday, April 14 at 9:30 p.m. ET on CMT
  • For Kyle Busch, Winning is Everything

    For Kyle Busch, Winning is Everything

    We’ve all heard the adage, it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game. For racers, nothing could be further from the truth. Winning is everything.

    And no matter how fervently they insist that they couldn’t have done it without the entire team, the reality is much simpler. The owner may have given him the best equipment, the crew chief may have executed the perfect strategies and the pit crew may have performed flawlessly to get their driver in position to win.

    But, when the green flag waves and everything is on the line, it all comes down to one thing…the driver. How badly does he want it and what is he willing to risk?

    As Dale Earnhardt once said, “The winner ain’t the one with the fastest car; it’s the one who refuses to lose.”

    No current driver embodies this competitive spirit more so than Kyle Busch.

    After an injury in the season-opening NASCAR XFINITY Series race in 2015 left Busch sidelined for 11 races, he came back to capture five checkered flags, including the season finale event at Homestead-Miami Speedway and won the Sprint Cup championship.

    It seemed as if the time away spent with wife, Samantha, and the birth of his son, Brexton, had given him a new perspective. We saw a more mature and focused driver. And while he is still prone to the occasional bursts of temper when things don’t go his way, Busch is slowly shedding his role as villain and embracing his reign as Champ.

    He hasn’t lost any steam this year.

    Busch has won four straight NASCAR national touring races, scoring the victory at last week’s Camping World Truck Series race as well as the Sprint Cup race at Martinsville. He followed that up with another sweep at Texas Motor Speedway, winning the XFINITY Series race and his second consecutive Cup race.

    His 36th Sprint Cup Series victory ties him with Matt Kenseth for 20th place on the all-time wins list. Additionally, Busch gained two spots to lead the points standings, six points ahead of Jimmie Johnson in second place.

    Add to that, 80 XFINITY wins and 45 in the Camping World Truck Series, and you begin to grasp the enormity of what he has accomplished.

    Busch is enjoying his success and life in general.

    “It’s pretty darn good, I’ll tell you that,” he said after the Cup race at Texas. “I’ve got a great wife, a great son and I’m having a blast, living the dream.”

    While he’s savoring this year’s success, Busch is also looking ahead to the future and the possibilities are endless.

    “There are plenty of things that are out there to achieve,” Busch recently said. “Building that win column, to be able to build that to 100 or something like that. That would be pretty special. Now whether 100 is reachable or not, I doubt it, but we’ll give it our best shot.”

    Hero or villain, Busch’s talent on the track is undeniable. The ride may sometimes get bumpy but it is always compelling.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Texas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Texas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Busch: Busch won his second consecutive race, passing Martin Truex Jr. on a restart with 33 laps to go and cruising to the win in the Duck Commander 500.

    “That’s two wins in two weeks,” Busch said, “in two different states, both pretty convincingly. What I’ve done to the rest of the field is known as ‘Interstate Battery.’

    “It’s funny, given the misguided political opinions of the likes of Brian France and Phil Robertson, that NASCAR has become a haven for people endorsing candidates. Much like American presidential elections, NASCAR crowns a winner in November. That will be me. I’m here today to announce my 2016 slogan for repeating as Sprint Cup champion: ‘Make America One-Eight Again.’”

    2. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished fourth at Texas, posting his fourth top five of the season.

    “We got off to a shaky start,” Johnson said. “On our first pit stop, I banged the back of Kyle Busch’s car. That left the No. 48 Chevrolet with some damage to the nose. That, of course, made the car difficult to drive. Trust me. I’m a triathlete—I know an ‘out-of-shape’ car when I see one.”

    3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 10th at Texas, earning his sixth top 10 of the season. He is third in the Sprint Cup points standings, seven behind Kyle Busch.

    “We had a top-10 car,” Harvick said, “and nothing else. It was clear early on that we weren’t going to win. In other words, we ‘didn’t have a prayer,’ which would also happen to be a good position for NASCAR to take in regards to pre-race ceremonies.”

    4. Carl Edwards: Edwards, along with Martin Truex Jr., had one of the fields best cars at Texas, but failed to secure the win due to a loose wheel with 113 laps to go.

    “Speaking of a ‘screw loose,’” Edwards said, “did you hear Phil Robertson’s pre-race prayer? It was more quotable than the Bible itself.

    “Now, I’m frankly sick and tired of congratulating Kyle Busch on his victories. If he wants a pat on the back, he’ll have to get it from someone else, because when I joined JGR, I promised Matt Kenseth I wouldn’t raise a hand to anyone.”

    5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt finished second in the Duck Commander 500 at Texas as Kyle Busch took the win.

    “Once Kyle got into clean air,” Earnhardt said, “there was no stopping him. I think Phil Robertson said it best when he quipped, ‘Jesus man, that car is fast.’

    “Texas Motor Speedway had on display the taxidermied ‘Lil’ Dale’ goat. That goat rose to fame when it was born in 2002 with a marking on its side that looked like the No. 3. Despite the fact that ‘Lil’ Dale’ is a male, he’s been milked for all he’s worth.”

    6. Kurt Busch: Busch took ninth in the Duck Commander 500 as younger brother Kyle gained his second consecutive win.

    “Kyle is on a roll,” Busch said. “He won four races across three NASCAR series in eight days. You can say he’s done just about everything, except accuse his wife of being an assassin.”

    “In his pre-race prayer, Phil Robertson asked the Lord to put a ‘Jesus man’ in the White House. I’m not sure Robertson is qualified to speak intelligently about religion or politics, or to speak intelligently period. But you know the old saying: ‘Robertson 3:16 says I’m just talking out my ass.’”

    7. Joey Logano: Logano finished third in the Duck Commander 500, recording his third top-five finish of the year.

    “Dale Earnhardt Jr. created a stir on Twitter,” Logano said, “when he tweeted about eating a banana and mayonnaise sandwich. I received a lot of unwanted responses because Junior happened to add ‘#SlicedBread’ to his tweet.”

    8. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin started sixth and finished 12th as Joe Gibbs Racing placed all four cars in the top 12, led by Kyle Busch’s win. Hamlin is eighth in the points standings, 58 out of first.

    “JGR is building a dynasty,” Hamlin said, “and unlike some other ‘dynasties,’ this one isn’t full of quacks. And speaking of ‘duck calls,’ did you hear the national anthem performed by Will Robertson? He hit all the notes. And by ‘all’ the notes, I mean one. But Will has one thing going for him—he’s adopted.”

    9. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 19th at Texas and is now eighth in the points standings, 58 out of first.

    “Once again,” Keselowski said, “politics made its way into NASCAR when Phil Robertson prayed for a ‘Jesus man’ in the White House. This happened just weeks after Brian France endorsed Donald Trump for President. What’s next? Robertson and France start a NASCAR team and call it ‘Presidential Racing?’”

    10. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex led a race-high 147 laps but couldn’t hold off Kyle Busch on a late restart, and eventually finished fifth.

    “I clearly had the best car,” Truex said, “but what I lacked was a little luck, or maybe a little bible, and a little gun. But I don’t need anyone to tell me that we let a win slip away. I also don’t need anyone to tell me who to vote for, or anyone to pray for me.”

  • Texas Race Brings Many Questions

    Texas Race Brings Many Questions

    I hate night races. I always have. Just say that my history is that NASCAR Sprint Cup races are held on Sundays at 1 p.m. and lights, regardless of how they pretty they are, just don’t get it. It’s especially true in Spring, where rain is more a problem than maybe in July unless you are in Daytona or the desert. Texas was one of those races that somebody decided should be done in the dark despite the dangers.

    In the end, we had a race that ended in the wee hours and many headed to bed before the end. I understand a night race at Bristol in August where it can be hot and sticky and maybe at Darlington on Labor Day when it can be the same, but even Texas in April is an iffy weather chance. So it was on Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway.

    The weather put the starting time nearly two hours later and America went to sleep, but not before the race, sponsored by Duck Dynasty’s own Robertson family, unloaded a shot to the heart of NASCAR’s diversity program. The patriarch of the family, Phil Robertson was given the opportunity of leading the opening prayer, which is a standard part of the NASCAR program. Robertson did well until he invoked a large dose of southern religion and seemingly politics.

    Having grown up in what many would consider a rural, evangelical church, I understand, but I do not agree. NASCAR has tried so hard to make this sport diverse, allowing any person of color or creed to include everyone. Robertson set that back a bit and Brian France’s endorsement of Donald Trump hurt earlier. My father, a Baptist deacon, once said that there was no place in the church for politics and racism. That was in 1980 and look how far we’ve come.

    Robertson’s comment in his prayer that, “America needs a Jesus man,” insulted Jews, agnostics, and mainline Christians. He insulted Democrats, Independents, Jews, and the majority of those with moderate views. Luckily, many did not see this. They were already asleep. NASCAR doesn’t need to alienate anyone in these days of low attendance and television ratings.

    Regardless, it happened and it overshadowed a Kyle Busch win in his fourth-straight race, a sweep at the track, and a domination rarely seen. Though the race was pretty much a yawner, it wasn’t bad except for the late start (they tell me it was clear all day) and the later finish. Put all of it, the invocation, the seemingly horrible National Anthem, and the tepid racing, and it became a bad night for NASCAR. Who is to blame? Maybe it was Brian France opening the door to get our sport into politics or allowing controversial sponsors to get access. It continued to those who consider our sport as a unlearned redneck sport akin to something out of the last century.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Duck Commander 500 at Texas

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Duck Commander 500 at Texas

    The first Saturday night race under the lights occurred this weekend, as the Sprint Cup Series invaded Texas Motor Speedway for the 20th Annual Duck Commander 500. Everything is bigger in Texas, and Saturday night’s race was no exception. Here was what was surprising and not surprising from the event.

    Not Surprising: Another NASCAR race in the books, another win for Kyle Busch.

    Busch got around Martin Truex Jr. on the final restart of the night and drove away from Joey Logano and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win at Texas.

    It’s Kyle Busch’s 36th career Sprint Cup Series victory and his second in a row. The driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota has now won 161 national touring races and has swept the past two weekends at Martinsville Speedway and Texas.

    It’s the seventh win for Busch since coming back from an injury last season. In 32 races since that time, Busch has led over 1,200 laps and has 22 top 10s.

    Busch talked about teamwork following the race when asked how he came back so fast from a broken leg and a broken ankle.

    “It’s not just me, it’s not just Samantha, but it’s Adam Stevens, it’s Coach Gibbs, it’s the organization and everyone rallying around us,” Busch said. “It’s my medical team, everyone that helped me, as well, getting me healthy, too, and forcing me to do the therapies and things like that and getting up in the morning and going and trying to get better faster.

    “I think, too, things are clicking. Things are gelling, and it wouldn’t be possible probably, without the relationship that Adam and I were able to spend gathering and gaining in the Xfinity Series. If we would have come into this Cup deal not really knowing each other, it probably wouldn’t have been as good as it was. So I think that has been a huge part of it, as well, too. It’s all worked real well, and it’s been exciting to have the success that we’ve had as of late, and let’s just keep it going.”

    Surprising: Texas has always been a good track for Dale Earnhardt Jr. It’s the site of his very first win and although it’s his only win, he has recorded nine top 10s in the last 11 races there.

    This week was no exception, with a runner-up finish. But how he did so, by getting around Joey Logano in the last few laps, was a little surprising, to say the least. It would have been much harder to get around him just a year or two ago.

    “We got lucky at the end to be able to restart on the inside,” the driver of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet said. “The outside was kind of difficult, and we restarted fifth and were able to get up to third and raced the 22 at the end. It was fun. I enjoyed driving the car tonight. The car was very loose and very challenging but a lot of fun for me. Obviously, our car was good, so passing guys — we had a lot of passing, which with the ’14 or ’15 package, I’d have never got by Joey, so it was fun to have an opportunity to sort of set somebody up and get it by him there at the end, and that’s due to the direction we went this year with the low downforce. Pretty cool.”

    Surprising: Chase Elliott has had an up and down season so far, but what at first looked like a mistake by crew chief Alan Gustafson ended up netting the Georgia driver his first top five finish in Sprint Cup competition.

    With 50 laps to go on the second to last caution, Elliott was the only car that pitted and changed two tires. On the last caution with about 30 to go, Gustafson made the call to come back down and grab four fresh Goodyear Eagles.

    On the ensuing restart, Elliott passed a few cars and ended the day fifth after losing a duel with Jimmie Johnson for fourth with two laps to go.

    “It was just Alan’s decision to come back, and it was a quick decision,” Elliott, who is the highest rookie in points at 14th. “He didn’t have a lot of time. Once the caution came out, I think pretty much the first time we came back, pit road was open. Those crew chiefs are put in a position they’ve got to make a call in a hurry, and they have all — they definitely have my respect because I respect them for what they do because that’s a tough, tough spot to be in, but as I’ve said, we’re a team. I’m going to support his decision, right, wrong or indifferent, so I was happy we did it, and we tried to make the most of it.”

    Not Surprising: Martin Truex Jr.’s run at Texas could be used as the quintessential race of his time so far at Furniture Row Racing.

    Truex led 141 laps, more than anybody else, but not going in for tires on either of the last two caution breaks left him a sitting duck for Kyle Busch on the final restart. Truex hung on for a sixth place finish.

    “It was Cole [Pearn, my crew chief,] who called me in at the last second,” Truex said. “Our plan was to stay out and he called me in. I didn’t want to hit the cone. It’s just the way it goes. Had we went green that next restart, we did OK. We got the lead and we drove away. We just kept getting yellows and caution laps and the tires just kept getting more air in them and more air in them. By the time we finally got moving there, we just didn’t have the grip everybody else had. Just sliding around.

    “It’s frustrating, but that’s racing. That’s the way it goes sometimes. I’m proud of my guys for the race car they brought. That thing was so fast all night, we did everything we were supposed to do except for that one deal there. I don’t know. It hurts, it’s tough, but we have a lot to look forward to this year. We have great race cars and we have a lot to look forward to. We’ll go back home and get to work and hopefully come out smarter and stronger.”

    Surprising: It was not a good night for Richard Childress Racing. All three RCR cars ended up getting caught up in the only multi-car wreck of the evening late in the race.

    Other drivers involved in the accident, which happened going into turn three, included Jimmie Johnson, Brian Vickers, Clint Bowyer, and Matt Kenseth.

    “We were on older tires and I was trying to get all I could there,” RCR driver Austin Dillon said. “It’s part of trying to win a race. We put ourselves in a position to be out front, thinking that two laps wouldn’t mean much, but it did. That’s part of it.

    “We’ll come back next week with another fast car and hopefully, we can do the same thing we did today, and that’s run up front. It tore up a bunch of race cars. We had a good car. I just wish we could re-do it. But heck, we’re learning. We had another fast race car. We’ll go on from here.”

    Not Surprising: It was a good night for Jimmie Johnson. A return to yellow numbers after running primarily white numbers the last few years on his No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet netted Johnson fourth at the end of the night. But it wasn’t an easy night for the six-time Sprint Cup champion.

    “We overcame a lot today,” Johnson said. “On that first pit stop, everyone was checking up and I hammered the back of the 18. We had to fix damage on the nose, and it wasn’t pretty. There’s a big hole up front and that couldn’t have been helping us at all. There’s a lot of fight in this Lowe’s team today.”

    The next race on the calendar? Bristol, baby! Tune in at 1 p.m. EST Sunday on Fox for the first race at Bristol since the installation of Colossus, the Food City 500.

     

  • Three-Time Texas Winner Carl Edwards Grabs Pole

    Three-Time Texas Winner Carl Edwards Grabs Pole

  • Truex Roars Atop Early Texas Practice

    Truex Roars Atop Early Texas Practice

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Texas

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Texas

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and XFINITY Series travel to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend while the Camping World Truck Series is off. Please check below for the complete schedule of events.

    All times are Eastern.

    Thursday, April 7:

     On Track:
    4-5:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – FS1
    5:30-6:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Practice – FS1
    7-7:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – FS1

    Garage Cam: (Watch live)
    5 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    3 p.m.: Brian Vickers
    3:15 p.m.: Daniel Suarez
    3:30 p.m.: Brendan Gaughan
    4:15 p.m.: Chris Buescher
    4:30 p.m.: Matt Kenseth
    4:45 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson

    Friday, April 8:

    On Track:
    2:45 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
    4:45 p.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
    6:30-7:50 p.m.: Sprint Series Final Practice – FS1
    8:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 (200 laps, 300 miles) – (Green Flag: 8:46 p.m. approx.) – FS1

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    2 p.m.: Eddie Gossage
    3:45 p.m.: Joey Logano
    11 p.m.: Post-XFINITY Race (time approx.)

    Saturday, April 9:

    On Track:
    7:30 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Duck Commander 500 (334 laps, 501 miles) (Green Flag: 7:46 p.m. approx.) – FOX

    Press Conferences: (Watch live)
    11 p.m.: Post-Sprint Cup Race (time approx.)

    Additional NASCAR Programming

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Busch: Busch led 352 of 500 laps on his way to a commanding win in the STP 500, his first ever Sprint Cup win at Martinsville.

    “Finally,” Busch said, “I get the Martinsville grandfather clock. After 21 tries, I can look at this trophy and confidently say, ‘It’s about time.’

    “Leading 352 of 500 laps is just pure dominance. I’m shocked that the car was a good as it was. And my crew chief Dave Rogers was as well. After the race, he said to me, ‘Do you know how fast you were going?’”

    2. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished ninth in the STP 500, posting his fourth top 10 of the year. He is second in the Sprint Cup points standings, four behind Kevin Harvick.

    “I advocate stronger concussion protocols in our sport,” Johnson said. “Chad Knaus disagrees. He’s against anything that calls for more thorough inspections.”

    3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 17th at Martinsville, his first result outside the top 10 this season.

    “If you would have told me before the race,” Harvick said, “that I’d finish one spot behind Danica Patrick, I would have said, “I guess I didn’t finish second.”

    4. Carl Edwards: Edwards took sixth in the STP 500 as Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch won. Edwards is 14th in the Sprint Cup points standings, 14 out of first.

    “Congratulations to Kyle,” Edwards said. “In his victory burnout, he smoked the tires. And speaking of ‘smoking’ the tires, NASCAR driver Derek White was arrested by Canadian police in a tobacco smuggling ring. Authorities seized 52,800 kilograms of tobacco. I guess where tobacco in concerned, the US-Canada border is unfiltered.”

    5. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski recorded his second top-five finish of the year with a fifth at Martinsville.

    “It was a typical day at Martinsville,” Keselowski said. “There was beating and banging, grumbling, and a few caution flags. These are all examples of your stomach warning you after eating a Martinsville hot dog.”

    6. Kurt Busch: Busch finished 13th at Martinsville as younger brother Kyle won. Busch is seventh in the points standings, 44 out of first.

    “I’m proud of Kyle for winning his first Martinsville grandfather clock,” Busch said. “As you know, clocks have little hands and big hands, and Brian France earlier made his political endorsement based on that criteria.”

    7. Joey Logano: Logano started on the pole but went a lap down early at Martinsville, as tire grip issues sent him backward. However, he recovered to post a solid 11th, and now occupies the fifth spot in the points standings.

    “We hit a rough patch to start the race,” Logano said, “but we worked things out. That’s a testament to the preparation and attention to detail of this team. There’s a lot to be said for crossing your T’s and dotting your ‘squinty and douchey’ ‘I’s.’

    8. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin crashed early and finished a disappointing 39th in the STP 500 at Martinsville.

    “The wreck was the result of a wheel hop,” Hamlin said. “Frankly, I’m embarrassed that it happened. I’m also angry. You could say I’m ‘hopping mad.’ Ironically, if you’ve ever seen me play basketball, you know I’ve never been accused of having ‘mad hops.’”

    9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: After falling a lap down early at Martinsville, Earnhardt battled his way back to score a respectable 14th-place finish. He is ninth in the points standings, 48 out of first.

    “As you probably heard,” Earnhardt said, “I decided to donate my brain to concussion research. My dad made a lot of enemies on the track, so you can add ‘science’ to the list of entities that wanted an Earnhardt’s head on a platter.”

    10. Austin Dillon: Dillon posted his second top-five finish of the year with a fourth at Martinsville. He is seventh in the Sprint Cup points standings, 44 out of first.

    “Joey Logano finished 11th,” Dillon said, “and Matt Kenseth finished 15th. So, much like the last race here, there were four drivers ‘separating’ the two.”