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NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kyle Busch: Busch finished fourth at Phoenix to post his fourth top-five finish of the season. He is tied with Kevin Harvick for the lead in the Sprint Cup points standings.

“I’m surprised Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick both didn’t wreck each other before they reached the finish line,” Busch said. “I think it would have made for great controversy, although their cars would have been torn up. But I would have been more than happy to pick up the pieces.

“As for being co-leader in the points, there’s only thing I care to share with Harvick, and that’s mutual hatred.”

2. Kevin Harvick: Harvick battled Carl Edwards door to door over the final lap at Phoenix and held on to win the Good Sam 500 by .01 seconds.

“I was surprised I was able to hold off Edwards,” Harvick said. “He may have had fresh tires, but I had a flag that said, ‘Don’t tread on me.’”

3. Carl Edwards: Despite having fresh right-side tires for the final restart at Phoenix, Edwards was unable to complete the pass on Kevin Harvick, instead losing by .01 seconds.

“Harvick and I traded a lot of paint,” Edwards said. “We were racing so close, I felt like I could have reached over and grabbed him by the throat. The only thing that’s clashed harder than our cars is our personalities.”

4. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished 11th at Phoenix after starting in a backup car, due to a wreck in Friday’s qualifying.

“My steering wheel literally came loose in my hands,” Johnson said. “I guess that would be the most severe case of ‘losing your handling.’ And what an impact. I haven’t ‘hit a wall’ like that since right after winning my sixth championship.”

5. Kurt Busch: Busch finished sixth in the Good Sam 500, recording his fourth top 10 of the year. He is fourth in the points standings, 17 out of first.

“That’s a top 10 in each race this year,” Busch said. “That’s called consistency, which is a word that is not used very often to describe me, particularly the history of my mental state.”

6. Joey Logano: Logano finished 18th at Phoenix after his crew failed to fill his fuel tank on what should have been his final pit stop. Logano was forced to pit for a splash of gas, which likely cost him a top 10.

“I thought for sure we got all the fuel in,” Logano said. “Even Matt Kenseth would vouch for that fact—he said I ‘was full of it.’”

7. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin started third at Phoenix, part of a 1-2-3 Joe Gibbs Racing sweep in qualifying, and finished third, posting his first top-five since winning the Daytona 500.

“What a finish between Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards,” Hamlin said. “I think many people are surprised that Edwards didn’t send Harvick into the wall to get past him, as NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt would have done. But let’s be serious. Only one person considers Edwards the ‘Intimidator,’ and that’s Matt Kenseth.”

8. Austin Dillon: Dillon took ninth in the Good Sam 500, posting his third top-10 result of the year.

“It was an otherwise lousy day for Richard Childress Racing,” Dillon said. “My teammates Ryan Newman and Paul Menard finished last and next-to-last. Both suffered right-front tire failures. Some will ask: ‘Who blows more? The tires, or the drivers?’ In any case, Ryan and Paul will always have a job with RCR, probably as the guys who scuff the surface of new tires, because they’re scrubs.”

9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt came home fifth at Phoenix, the top finisher among Hendrick Motorsports drivers.

“It’s too bad it didn’t end with tempers flaring,” Earnhardt said. “That would have made for a perfect ‘March Mad-ness’ tie-in.”

10. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski suffered a blown right-rear tire on lap 226 at Phoenix, and the resulting damage left the No. 2 Penske Ford with a 29th-place finish.

“What an entertaining finish,” Keselowski said. “Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick put on quite a show. Rest assured, when those two are battling for something, it’s definitely not a popularity contest. I really would have loved to have been part of an Edwards-Harvick duel, preferably as the guy that says, ‘Take 10 paces, turn, and fire.’”

March 15, 2016
Surprising and Not Surprising: Good Sam 500 At Phoenix

After one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history on Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway, here was what was surprising and not surprising from the 12th Annual Good Sam 500.

Surprising: Kevin Harvick’s victory at Phoenix came by just inches over Carl Edwards.

Coming out of turn four, Edwards and Harvick were side by side. Edwards slammed into Harvick once but didn’t wreck him. Harvick was still able to get a nose ahead of “Cousin Carl” at the finish line.

The finish was one of the closest margins of victory in NASCAR history at .010 second. It’s tied with Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s victory over Bobby Labonte at Atlanta in 2000, Matt Kenseth’s win over Kasey Kahne in the final Cup race at Rockingham in 2004, and this year’s Daytona 500 with Denny Hamlin scooting past Martin Truex Jr. All are ranked 7th on the all-time finishes, with Ricky Craven’s now legendary Darlington win still at the top spot at .002 second.

Edwards was left at the end of the race jovial but still wondering what if.

“I should’ve wrecked him,” Edwards said with a laugh. “No, those guys were doing a great job all day. They hung on with those tires but we were faster so I thought, ‘Man, I’ll just move him out of the way and get by.’

“I just didn’t move him far enough and then he got up the door and I thought I was trying to time — I thought ‘I think he’s going to beat me.’ So, I tried to sideswipe him before he got there but I needed to be in front of his front tire.”

Not Surprising: On paper, however, it seemed to be just another dominant Kevin Harvick race at Phoenix. It’s his sixth win in the last eight and eighth overall, the most of any other driver in history at the track below “Rattlesnake Hill.” Harvick took the lead on lap 239 and held it for the final 79 laps.

It’s Harvick’s first victory since Dover last fall and his 32nd overall. The 2014 champion is now tied with Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett ranked 19th on the all-time wins list.

On the final caution period before NASCAR overtime, Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Austin Dillon decided not to pit. It ended up working out for Harvick after he edged Edwards, who pitted for two tires.

“I had no idea that the cars behind me had two tires,” the driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet said. “I never asked… I was fully expecting everything that I got, but I just needed to be able to get knocked up the track far enough to be able to put the throttle back down. Maybe a little bit too defensive.

“I missed the bottom with the way that the rubber had built up on the racetrack, it just kind of walked up the track and he was able to hold the bottom and able to get to the left rear, and I felt like I got back to the throttle even soon enough to be able to hold him off, but I was kind of a couple feet behind and was able to kind of scrub against his door a little bit to slow him back down, and by the time he’d realized that he was going to be behind, we had carried the momentum by him and we were at the start‑finish line.”

If Harvick were in Edward’s shoes, though, he’d of done just what Edwards had done.

“I would have done the same thing, and really after the race that’s exactly what we said to each other,” Harvick said when asked about how Edwards raced him. ” That’s really what NASCAR racing is all about. You’re coming to the checkered flag and he wants to win for his team and I want to win for my team, and there’s a lot on the line. It’s definitely the way that things should have been done.”

Surprising: After not even making it out of the first round of qualifying, Dale Earnhardt Jr. rebounded on Sunday and scored a nice fifth-place finish. Did “Junebug” have any regrets on not pitting on the final restart, though?

“Yeah, I was surprised we finished as good as we did,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I thought that was a good move to not pit. If a couple more guys don’t pit and we get another guy on the outside in the second row we was in good shape.”

Not Surprising: One recurring story were the tire failures throughout the day. All five cautions were for tire failures.

Ryan Newman was the first to go, smacking the Turn 3 wall just 52 laps into the race. Newman couldn’t continue and finished last (39th) for the day. Paul Menard was the second victim, finishing 38th after a blow-out on lap 106. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s good start to the 2016 season ended with a blowout on lap 164 and a finish of 37th.

Brad Keselowski and Kasey Kahne both had blowouts but were able to continue on. Keselowski didn’t hit the wall after blowing his tire on lap 226 but soldiered on to finish 27th. Finally, Kasey Kahne slammed the Turn 3 wall on lap 307, which caused the final caution that set up the NASCAR Overtime finish. Kahne finished 22nd.

Goodyear blamed brake heat causing the tire beads to go out. Goodyear is trying this season to bring softer tires to each racetrack following rave reviews last year at Darlington. With softer tires, one had to figure a race like Phoenix would come around eventually.

Surprising: Joey Logano ran in the top 10 for much of the day before running out of fuel near the end of the race. Logano pitted just a couple of laps before Kahne wrecked and brought out the caution. Logano ended up languishing a lap down in 18th.

Following the race, Logano was clear that the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford is a little behind and needs to play catch-up.

“We need to clean up the mistakes we have had here at the beginning of the season on everybody’s front,” Logano said. “We still have speed. We were close today.

“At times it felt like we were a third-place car, and we were running up there around third. We just still have work to do to catch the 4 and 19, they were the class of the field.”

Not Surprising: Although they ended up playing the bridesmaid today, Joe Gibbs Racing is still consistently ahead of much of the field.

After sweeping the top three positions in qualifying. JGR’s four cars finished second, third, fourth, and seventh on Sunday. Denny Hamlin recovered from somewhat of a slump since winning the Daytona 500 by finishing third while Kyle Busch started on the pole and led 75 laps before finishing the day fourth. Matt Kenseth also finally had a good finish this season in seventh.

However, it’s clear they all want a little more.

“Yes and no,” Busch said after being asked if he was happy with his start to the season. Busch has four top fives in four starts but no wins and is tied for the points lead with Kevin Harvick. “You could be happy with top-five and you could be happy with running up front and doing those things. Those are the things you’re supposed to do, but ultimately we’ve got to get to victory lane.

“We’re close. We’ll see if we can hit one here on the west coast swing, maybe next week in California, and put ourselves in [the Chase].”

The Sprint Cup Series wraps up its west coast swing next weekend at Fontana, California. Expect plenty of three and four wide racing at the two-mile oval as coverage starts for the Auto Club 400 at 3 p.m ET on FOX.

March 14, 2016
NASCAR Racing Schedule for Phoenix

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

All times are Eastern.

Friday, March 11:

On Track:
11:30 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – FS1
12:30-1:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Practice – FS1
3-4:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – FS1
5:30-6:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – FS2
6:45 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS2

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

Press Conferences: (Watch live)
11:30 a.m.: Kevin Harvick
11:45 a.m.: Jimmie Johnson
2:05 p.m.: Carl Edwards
2:20 p.m.: Daniel Suarez
2:40 p.m.: Ryan Blaney
4:45 p.m.: Austin Dillon
7:45 p.m. (approx.): Post-Sprint Cup Series Qualifying and Brad Keselowski

Saturday, March 12:

On Track:

10:30-11:25 a.m.: Sprint Cup Series Practice – FS1
11:45 p.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
1-1:50 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice – FS1
2:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series Axalta Faster.Tougher. Brighter. 200 (200 laps, 200 miles) – FOX

Press Conferences: (Watch live)
4:30 p.m. (approx.): Post-XFINITY Series Race

Sunday, March 13:

On Track:

3:30 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 (312 laps, 312 miles) – FOX

Press Conferences: (Watch live)
6:30 p.m. (approx.): Post-Sprint Cup Series Race

Additional Info:

Complete NASCAR TV Schedule

March 10, 2016
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kyle Busch: Busch led late at Las Vegas but was passed with five laps to go by Brad Keselowski, who went on to win the Kobalt 400. Busch leads the Sprint Cup points standings by six points over Jimmie Johnson.

“The No. 18 M&M’s car had a late wheel vibration that affected the handling,” Busch said. “If that type of vibration happens to the No. 48 car, you’d call it a ‘Shimmie Johnson.’”

2. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson led a race-high 76 laps and finished third in the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“It was a grueling race due to the weather,” Johnson said, “and that takes a physical toll on a driver. Take it from a guy who runs triathlons—even I was ‘winded’ afterwards.”

3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick took seventh at Las Vegas, piloting the No. 4 Jimmy Johns Chevy to its third top-10 finish of the year.

“NASCAR legend Mark Martin has endorsed Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for President,” Harvick said. “Martin urged Trump to ‘build that wall.’ A lot of people have urged Trump to do that. Some have even encouraged him to build that wall out of Muslims. I don’t know how high a wall would be needed to prevent illegal aliens from crossing the border. I do know that a four-foot wall would prevent Mark from seeing over it.”

4. Joey Logano: Logano finished second to Brad Keselowski as Penske Racing swept the top two places at Las Vegas. Logano is fourth in the points standings, 12 behind Kyle Busch.

“That’s right,” Logano said, “Penske drivers went 1-2 at Vegas. I think we could make a habit of taking the top 2 positions at future races. Other drivers have already nicknamed us ‘The Old One-Two,’ but mostly because our faces are so punchable.”

5. Kurt Busch: Busch started on the pole for the second consecutive week and had a strong run waylaid when he was collected in a crash with Carl Edwards caused by Matt Kenseth’s spin. Busch salvaged a ninth-place finish and is fifth in the points standings.

“The wind was blowing something fierce,” Busch said. “There were gusts upwards of 50 miles per hour. In NASCAR, we call that ‘da breeze caution.’ In the NHRA, they call that ‘Gale Force.’ No relation to John.”

6. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski recovered from a pit road speeding penalty and passed Kyle Busch with five laps to go to win the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas. Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano took second.

“It wasn’t easy passing Kyle,” Keselowski said. “I really had to work for it, as Kyle doesn’t concede position easily. If you mention the words ‘push over,’ Kyle won’t respond. Now, if you mention the words ‘pull over,’ Kyle will respond, especially if you’re a state trooper.”

7. Carl Edwards: After a wreck in practice, Edwards resorted to a backup car and finished 18th at Las Vegas. He sits seventh in the Sprint Cup points standings, 20 out of first.

“Las Vegas is a favorite stop on the circuit for many drivers,” Edwards said. “We all head to the casinos with high hopes, and leave with lighter wallets. Of course, you can’t talk about ‘blow money’ without mentioning Tim Richmond. He would have loved the track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and if given the chance to turn laps there, I bet he would have never left. Tim was always driven to excess.”

8. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished 11th in the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas. He is ninth in the points standings, 26 out of first.

“I was docked 15 points for having a roof flap issue for the second-straight race,” Truex said. “We’ve been trying to fool NASCAR for a week. Interestingly enough, they just happened to choose Las Vegas to blow the roof off this scandal.”

9. Austin Dillon: Dillon posted his second consecutive top-five finish with a fifth in the Kobalt 400. He is ninth in the points standings, 26 out of first.

“It’s nice to make Richard Childress Racing important again,” Dillon said. “If I’m not mistaken, they made a movie about me called ‘The Relevant.’”

10. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt finished eighth at Las Vegas, posting his second top 10 of the year.

“I was in attendance at UFC 196 in Las Vegas on Saturday night,” Earnhardt said. “Believe me, the only times I hear the words ‘tap out’ mentioned more are at a Junior Nation keg party.”

March 8, 2016
Surprising and Not Surprising: Kobalt Tools 400 At Las Vegas

It was a rather blustery day on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Here was what was surprising and not surprising from the 19th Annual Kobalt 400.

Surprising: Brad Keselowski ended Sunday the winner of Las Vegas, the first stop on NASCAR’s western swing.

Keselowski stayed out during the final couple of cautions for track position along with teammate Joey Logano and was able to get around both Logano and Kyle Busch in the final ten laps.

It was Keselowski’s first win in 33 races. His final victory was at Fontana, nearly a full year ago. It’s the 2012 Sprint Cup champion’s 18th career victory. Logano ended up finishing second while Busch fell to fourth, behind Jimmie Johnson in third.

It’s also the first win for Team Penske in any major race in its 50th anniversary season.

It wasn’t easy for Keselowski, who had to serve a pit road speeding penalty with just over 80 laps to go.

“Got that long run at the end,” Keselowski said after the race. “We knew we had a lot of long-run speed. Sure enough, we were able to hold off the 48, who was really, really fast on his own. Next thing I knew, we were closing in on our teammate. Took a long time to get by Joey. He put up a heck of a fight.

“Then, of course, the very end, to be able to pass Kyle and get the win. I know the local media is probably not very thrilled about that. But he did pass me to win the championship last year on the last race. Maybe some tradeoffs there.”

Not Surprising: It was a trying but ultimately good day for the Busch brothers at their home track.

Both Kurt and Kyle Busch were sidelined from competing last season at Las Vegas for differing reasons. Kurt was facing domestic violence abuse allegations while Kyle was out with injuries stemming from an accident in the opening XFINITY Series race at Daytona.

Kyle Busch was able to recover from a 23rd starting spot and a slow car to leading with just seven laps to go before a vibration caused the car to become too tight. He ended the day falling to fourth.

“If I were to grade our weekend, for progress it’s an A-plus, but for being as bad as we were and ending up right there it would probably be a B or B-minus,” the driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota said following the race.

Kurt Busch, meanwhile, started on the pole and led the race before being hit with a speeding penalty on pit road, some slow restarts, and getting caught up in the final wreck of the day. Busch was able to recover to finish ninth, however.

Surprising: Sunday’s race had to be one of the most windiest races in Sprint Cup history.

With gusts reaching to 50 mph, it swept plenty of sand around the track and caused problems on pit road all day long with the teams not being able to use pit signs.

Race winner Brad Keselowski might know this better than some, with the wind knocking the American Flag out of his car during his trademark victory celebration. It didn’t seem to affect his race, however.

“Certainly wasn’t an easy race with, like you said, the weather,” Keselowski said. “I didn’t think the weather was as big of a challenge as I thought it was going to be, specific to the wind. You could feel it, but it didn’t put us in anything that I thought was too risky.”

Las Vegas native Kyle Busch might also know the “sandstorms” better than most.

“This weather was horrible for the race fans,” Busch said. “I feel bad for all of them and having to deal with all the wind. The wind in the desert you get sand in your face and eyes and everything else. But for us being behind the wheel, it wasn’t too bad. I didn’t feel much of it.”

Not Surprising: Jimmie Johnson had a good day, finishing third a week after all but guaranteeing himself a Chase seed after winning Atlanta.

“Track position was pretty important,” Johnson told the media following the race. “The series of events leading up to that last restart kind of had us deeper in track position than we needed to be for the win. We still got a third, which is good, but those top three or four cars were pretty equal.

“It was just real hard to get there and get inside of somebody. I was impressed the No. 2 was able to sit behind the No. 22 that long and finally get by and not wear his stuff out in the process. But, decent day for us all-in-all.”

Another Chevrolet driver who had a good run was Austin Dillon. After a great weekend, the driver of the No. 3 Dow Chevrolet ended it fifth after staying out the last couple of cautions with the Team Penske cars. Dillon, however, is still hunting for that elusive first Sprint Cup victory.

“What a fast race car, we were running some lap times faster than the leader at one point in the middle of the race when we were laps down that we were really proud of,” Dillon said. “I wish the wind wouldn’t have been so bad today. I think it would have been an even better day for us. Just proud of the Dow/Intellifresh team, we have something to work with. I think you will see us in Victory Lane before the season is over.”

Surprising: A late-race wreck that brought out the final caution of the day took out multiple front runners.

Matt Kenseth, statistically the best active driver at Las Vegas, spun in turn two and collected Chase Elliott with just 40 laps to go. Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch also were a part of the chain reaction crash, although both were able to continue running.

Kenseth and Elliott finished 37th and 38th respectively after being in the top 10 for most of the day.

“I went into turn one and I wasn’t really hardly turning yet and just spun out before I had any idea what happened,” Kenseth said. “I don’t know, after that, I was just trying to save our DeWalt Toyota and got ran into from behind.”

It’s another frustrating finish for Elliott. The Rookie of the Year contender has run well so far in 2016 but had problems both here and at Daytona.

“Just disappointed, what a fast race car, I appreciate everybody working hard,” Elliott said. “I feel like we made a lot of gains this weekend. Just a terrible job on my behalf. That is pitiful. We have run three races and finished one. Just a bad job on my end. I ought to know better to miss a wreck like that.”

Not Surprising: Brian Vickers had a frustrating day subbing for Tony Stewart, finishing nine laps down after good practice results the last few days.

As expected, Tony Stewart announced on Friday that Vickers and Ty Dillon will substitute for him until “Smoke” has recovered from his back injury. Which driver is in the car week-to-week depends on the sponsor; Dillon will be in the No. 14 Chevrolet when it’s sponsored by Bass Pro Shops, while Vickers will be in the car when it isn’t.

The Sprint Cup series continues its western swing next weekend at Phoenix. Race coverage for the Good Sam 500 begins at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

March 7, 2016
Blaney Rebounds with Sixth Place Finish at Las Vegas

Ryan Blaney drove his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford to a sixth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, capturing his first top-10 of the season. It was especially gratifying after a last-lap crash at Atlanta the previous week relegated him to a discouraging 25th place result.

The 22-year-old was also the highest finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender and moved up seven spots to 14th in the series standings.

“It was good to get a good finish after last week’s disappointment,” he said.

Blaney began the Sprint Cup Series race in 14th but by lap 36, made his way into the top 10, running as high as fourth on lap 150. It was no easy task considering the high winds and rain that delayed the start of the Kobalt 400.

“If a gust hit you wrong it was ‘hang on tight’ between (turns) three and four,” he explained. “I actually almost caused a big one on a re-start because a huge gust of wind hit us. It was really unpredictable but the spotter does a great job of telling you what’s going on.”

Blaney described the incident in more detail in the media center following the race, saying, “I got blown into (turn) three pretty hard one time and almost took the 88 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) out and that would have been terrible.”

Joey Logano, who finished second in the race, quipped, “You would have been hated as much as me, maybe more.”

Amid laughter, Blaney answered, “That was in my mind actually as I was sliding to him.”

The finish was not only a morale boost for the team but inspires confidence as they head to next week’s event at Phoenix. Blaney spoke about the impact moving forward.

“(It was) very significant,” he said. “Especially after Atlanta, last week, getting spun out on the last lap, kind of got us down a lot. To come here and have a solid run all day really ups the spirits. This team is working very well together. We kind of had a trial run last year running part-time. Now we brought in some new personnel this year. They’ve done a great job since Daytona.

“It’s a big, big accomplishment for the Wood Brothers team today,” Blaney continued, “and hopefully gives us some good momentum for Phoenix.

“We were good all day,” he emphasized after the race. “We were able to drive up through the field early and we made the car better throughout the day. It’s a great day. It’s a good way to get our season back on track after Atlanta. We had a good run and it always makes you feel good going into next week.”

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Phoenix International Raceway next weekend as Blaney and the No. 21 team hope to capitalize on their success as the season progresses.

March 6, 2016
NASCAR Racing Schedule for Las Vegas
The NASCAR Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series travel to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend while the Camping World Truck Series enjoys a week off. Please check below for the complete schedule of events.

All times are Eastern.

Thursday, March 3:

On Track:
Noon-2 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Testing – Session 1
3-6 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Testing – Session 2

Press Conferences: (Watch Live)
2:05 p.m.: Carl Edwards
6:30 p.m.: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Friday, March 4:

On Track:
1:30-2:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Practice – FS1
3:30-4:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – FS1
6-6:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – FS1
7:45 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1

Garage Cam: (Watch live)
1 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series
3 p.m.: XFINITY Series

Press Conferences: (Watch Live)
12:30 p.m.: Martin Truex Jr.
1:15 p.m.: DC Solar announcement with Brennan Poole
3 p.m.: Tony Stewart with Mobil 1
8:45 p.m. Post-Sprint Cup Qualifying and Brad Keselowski (time approx.)

Saturday, March 5:

On Track:
11:30 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Practice – FS1
12:45 p.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS2
2:30-3:20 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice – FS1
4 p.m.: XFINITY Series Boyd Gaming 300 (200 laps, 300 miles) – FS1

Press Conferences: (Watch Live)
6:30 p.m.: P0st-XFINITY Series Race (time approx.)

Sunday, March 6:

On Track:
3:30 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Kobalt 400 (267 laps, 400 miles) – FOX

Press Conferences: (Watch Live)
6:30 p.m.: P0st-Sprint Cup Series Race (time approx.)

Additional NASCAR Programming:
- Darrell Wallace Jr. on “The Lineup” – March 5 at 6 p.m. ET on Fuse
- Ty Dillon, Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on “Party Down South” – March 10 at 9 p.m. ET on CMT
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. on “Treehouse Masters” – March 11 at 10 p.m. ET on Animal Planet
- Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on “Wahlburgers” – March 16 at 9 p.m. ET on A&E
- Complete NASCAR TV Schedule for on-track, pre-race and post-race coverage.
March 2, 2016
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Atlanta

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kyle Busch: One day after winning the XFINITY Series race, Busch finished third in the Folds Of Honor 500. He now stands third in the points standings, eight behind Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin.

“I originally won the pole,” Busch said, “but my car failed inspection. That gave the pole to my brother Kurt. You could say Kurt backed into the pole. That ‘pole’ at Atlanta caused no damage to Kurt’s car, unlike that ‘wall’ at Dover last October, which damaged Kevin Harvick’s car not only beyond recognition but beyond inspection.”

2. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson short-pitted with about 40 laps to go in Atlanta, and held off the charging Kevin Harvick down the stretch to capture the Folds Of Honor 500. With the win, Johnson matched Dale Earnhardt with his 76th career win.

“That’s why I held three fingers out of the window,” Johnson said. “Not because I was three times as pissed off as Martin Truex Jr. was at Regan Smith, but because I wanted to honor Dale Earnhardt. Just call me the ‘InJimidator.’

“I have to give it up to Chad Knaus for making a bold strategy call. Chad firmly believes in staying one step ahead of the competition, and two steps ahead of the rule book.”

3. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex led 34 laps and finished seventh in Atlanta, and is now fourth in the Sprint Cup points standings.

“You may have seen me give Regan Smith the finger,” Truex said. “You may not know this, but the Sunday before ‘Leap Day’ is ‘Flip Day.’”

4. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin fell a lap down early at Atlanta and never recovered, finishing 16th, two laps down.

“I call it the ‘Daytona Hangover,’” Hamlin said. “The thrill of victory at Daytona is often determined by less than a tenth of a second. The agony of defeat is often marked by more than a fifth of liquor.”

5. Kevin Harvick: Harvick led a race-high 131 laps but was outsmarted in the pits by Jimmie Johnson, who short-pitted to build a big lead, then held on after a late caution.

“That race was mine to lose,” Harvick said. “But I’ll let my crew chief, Rodney Childers, take ownership of it, though, because he was outsmarted by Chad Knaus. It was a contest to see who was going to pit first. You could say it was a game of ‘cat and Knaus.’”

6. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished 19th at Atlanta after a mid-race penalty left him two laps down.

“That’s called an ‘improper fueling’ penalty,” Kenseth said. “Apparently, my gas man placed a wrench on the back of the car. That’s a no-no. But not as big a no-no as me placing my front bumper on the back of Joey Logano’s car.”

7. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished fifth in the Folds Of Honor 500 to score his second top-five result of the year.

“There were 327 laps of green flag racing,” Edwards said. “We haven’t seen this much green flag racing since 2015. Or, should I say, ‘We didn’t see this much green flag racing in 2015.’”

8. Kurt Busch: Busch started on the pole and took fourth at Atlanta, one spot behind younger brother Kyle. Kurt is seventh in the points standings, nine out of first.

“Did you hear?” Busch said. “Brian France endorsed Donald Trump for President. That’s interesting because, in July, NASCAR said it would not hold its Camping World and XFINITY banquets at Trump’s National Doral Resort after Trump made racist and disparaging remarks about immigrants. Apparently, France puts the ‘race’ in ‘racism.’ I can see Trump spin this to even greater advantage: he’ll say he was endorsed by France, and his supporters will believe it’s the country. Viva Le Trump!”

9. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished ninth at Atlanta, plagued by handling issues that likely prevented a top-5 result.

“In light of Brian France’s endorsement of Donald trump,” Keselowski said, “this is certainly not the first time someone has looked at France and said, ‘What is he doing?’

“But enough about a pudgy-faced clown who is clueless as to how to run a race, France needs to mind his own business. He can’t even handle the politics of his own sport, much less those of a nation.”

10. Austin Dillon: Dillon started eighth and finished 11th in the Folds Of Honor 500. He is ninth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 15 out of first.

“My younger brother Ty subbed for Tony Stewart in the No. 14 car,” Dillon said. “Tony is out for a few weeks, mostly to rehab a back injury, but also to work on his new cookbook, ’50 Shades Of Gravy.’

“While Tony is out, Stewart-Haas Racing wants someone in that car. They certainly don’t want that ride empty. Ty is more than happy to occupy that spot. So, with or without Tony, you know there will be an ass in the seat.”

March 1, 2016
Logging Laps: Racing the way it should be

Atlanta, arguably, is the driver’s favorite track. She’s fast, slick and hard to handle. For a race car driver, that’s a thrill and a half for an afternoon’s work. This last weekend, we got a show the likes of which we haven’t seen in years now. Cars that were sideways, three-wide and passing. That’s right, it was racing, everyone. That’s what racing is. That’s what racing should be. It’s the thrill of side-by-side action at speeds we normal folks could only dream about.

For a driver, it’s the greatest adrenaline rush you can have. You’re wrestling a 3400-pound stock car on 10-inch tires with 750 horsepower around a track as fast as possible. A race car that doesn’t want to do anything you’re asking it too, but as a driver, you have the skills and the will to make that car comply. It’s a rugged task that few can step up to and complete.

For the better part of 200 laps in the Atlanta sun, we got to see racing the way it was 20-30 years ago. A race where tires mattered and the skill of the drivers separated the contenders from the pretenders. As I sat there listening to the roar of the engines and the sound of grinding rubber being torn off the tires at 170 mph, I found myself casually reading my twitter feed, eager to see what other motorsports fans had to say about the throwback spectacle we’d clamored for so hard after the Kentucky race last year. Much to my surprise, the same people that were complaining about the caution clock from the day before were now complaining that we were in the middle of the longest green-flag run of the last few years.

You can’t please everyone, I guess.

Needless to say, I was taken aback. I can’t exactly say I was surprised by this, as it’s become a running gag that no matter what you do on social media, someone will go on a rampage about it and call for your head on a stick. For the first time in years, I actually felt some sympathy for NASCAR. Now, for those of you that know me, that’s an odd thing for me to say, but hear me out.

This year, we got an aero package that was championed and spearheaded by Tony Stewart and backed by the vast majority of the drivers in the garage. “Make the cars harder to drive,” was the motto that was echoed time and time again. After the Kentucky race last year, the driver’s reaffirmed that same theory. The response from the fans was overwhelmingly positive on twitter and facebook. They loved the side-by-side passing and the cars being able to race each other. Flash forward to the Indy race and the reaction was muted by the drivers and unsurprisingly negative from the fans. They hated the high-drag package and in today’s day age, everyone was going to tell NASCAR about it.

So, after all, the discussions and bickering, the pit road talks between the bigwigs and the stars of our sport, we got the new 2016 aero package. In my personal opinion, it didn’t disappoint. The racing was amazing, the skill of the drivers mattered and the leader wasn’t always the same car that took the restart from the pole. Case in point, Denny Hamlin early in the race. At the drop of the green flag, he rocketed to the outside in the turns and made up a bunch of spots, quickly moving into the top 10 and then the top five. But within 15 laps, he started to pay the price. His tires wore out and he faded quickly back into the pack, eventually being lapped.

That was just a single example of the great racing we saw on Sunday. Others include seeing the battle for the lead between Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth. Watching Joey Logano race his way from the back to the front, mirrored by Kyle Busch. Jimmie Johnson’s slow and steady climb to the top five and of course, Kevin Harvick proving again that’s he’s freaky fast in his repeated battles and the feel good story of the last two years, Martin Truex. Cars could race each other. They could pass each other. They could take any groove they wanted and make it work for them. The drivers had choices and they put on an amazing display of skill and show.

That’s real racing, ladies and gentleman. That’s how it should be. For the few poor souls that blew up my twitter during the race complaining about how boring it was without crashes? They have a racing event called a demolition derby that may suit your tastes. You might want to check with your local race tracks about it.

March 1, 2016
NASCAR Racing Schedule for Atlanta Motor Speedway
NASCAR heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway this week where all three NASCAR Series will compete. Please check below for the complete schedule of events.

All times are Eastern

Friday, Feb. 26:

On Track:
9-9:55 a.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – FS1
10-10:55 a.m.: Camping World Truck Series Practice – FS1
11 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series practice – FS1
12:30-1:25 p.m.: XFINITY Series Practice – FS1
1:30-2:25 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Practice – FS1
2:30-3:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series Final Practice – FS1
4-5:25 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Final Practice – FS1
5:45 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1

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

Press Conferences: (Watch live)
8:15 a.m.: Ty Dillon
9:15 a.m.: Christopher Bell
9:45 a.m.: Chase Elliott
10 a.m.: Jimmie Johnson
12:30 p.m.: Carl Edwards
1 p.m.: Denny Hamlin
1:30 p.m.: Greg Biffle
7:15 p.m.. (approx.): Post-NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying

Saturday, Feb. 27:

On Track:
8:35 a.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
10 a.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
11:30 a.m.-12:50 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice – FS1
1:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series Heads Up Georgia 250 (163 laps, 251.02 miles) – FS1
4:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Great Clips 200 (130 laps, 200.02 miles) – FS1

Press Conferences: (Watch live)
3:15 p.m. (approx.): Post-NASCAR XFINITY Series Race
6 p.m. (approx.): Post-NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race

Sunday, Feb. 28:

On Track:
1 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (325 laps – 500.05 miles) – FOX

Press Conferences: (Watch live)
4:45 p.m. (approx.): Post-NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race

Additional Info:
- Complete NASCAR TV Schedule
February 25, 2016