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July 25, 2015

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

INDIANAPOLIS—If Toyota and Ford are to break the Chevrolet stranglehold on Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the two manufacturers took a positive step in that direction during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series time trials on Saturday.

Underscoring the recent resurgence of Joe Gibbs Racing, Carl Edwards toured the 2.5-mile track in 49.056 seconds (183.464 mph) to put his No. 19 Toyota on the pole for Sunday’s Crown Royal presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at The Brickyard (3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN), edging Joey Logano’s Team Penske Ford (183.139 mph) by .087 seconds.

David Ragan (182.886 mph) qualified third in the No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota. Fourth-place qualifier Tony Stewart (182.823 mph) had the fastest Chevrolet in the final round. Chevrolets have won the last 12 Sprint Cup races at Indianapolis.

Stewart, though, had the fastest lap of the afternoon (185.547 mph) in the first round of time trials, which trimmed the number of drivers eligible for the pole from 46 to 12.

The Coors Light Pole Award was Edwards’ first at The Brickyard, his second of the season, his second in a row and the 15th of his career.

“After yesterday, this is amazing,” Edwards said. “We started so slow yesterday and we struggled. I think at one point (crew chief) Darian (Grubb) and I were looking at each other going, ‘What are we going to do here?’

“It was a struggle, and everybody buckled down, worked hard—I’m so proud of my guys. TRD and Toyota have been putting so much effort into this whole program. Stanley has been behind us 100 percent—not just me, but Matt Kenseth and our whole team. This is big. It will be neat to start up front.”

Kyle Busch, Edwards’ JGR teammate, will start ninth on Sunday in search of his third consecutive victory in the Sprint Cup Series. Sidelined for the first 11 events of the season by injuries sustained in an accident at Daytona in February, Busch has won three of the last four races and has seven races left in which to regain eligibility for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup by finishing the regular season in the top 30 in the series standings.

Entering Sunday’s race, Busch is 33rd in points, 58 behind David Gilliland in 30th place.

Behind Stewart, Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will line up fifth through eighth on the grid.

After qualifying, Logano and Ragan were quick to point out an unusual coincidence. Edwards, Logano and Ragan started 1-2-3, in that order, a week before at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a one-mile flat track.

The Sprint Cup cars are running a completely different high-drag aerodynamic package this week, with a nine-inch-tall rear spoiler and a one-inch wicker. Last week at Loudon, the cars featured the normal 2015 rules package with a six-inch spoiler.

“David and I were just laughing up here that these are the same three race cars that started up front at Loudon,” Logano said. “A completely different race track, different package and the same cars are fast. It’s good for us. We’re close. Second always hurts, but it’s nice to be up toward the front, especially here.”

Jeff Gordon’s final run at Indianapolis as a full-time driver didn’t start the way the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet would have hoped.

“I really think our 3M Chevrolet is really good,” said Gordon, who qualified 19th. “It’s been good all weekend. I feel like I underestimated the grip. I had a little wiggle out of three coming to the green and that concerned me slightly. The grip was there in Turn 4, and I was aggressive into Turn 1, but not aggressive enough.

“That’s what’s disappointing; it wasn’t a balance issue or a speed issue. I didn’t get enough speed through (Turn) 1. It adds up with this new package. Yeah, I’m pretty disappointed to start back there.”

Notes: Josh Wise, Jeb Burton and Reed Sorenson failed to make the 43-car field… Ryan Newman’s time was disallowed because he ran his lap without the mandatory right-side window in his car. Newman will start 43rd on Sunday on a provisional.

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The Final Lap Weekly Podcast LogoSHOW #368 – Guest: Brian Scott – We recap New Hampshire, Danica does a hand stand (forearm stand?) drivers are litterbugs, Brad is smashed by a shark, Johnson needs a contract, and a full, and massive preview of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Toby Christie

( Roughly 48:00 mins)

Continue reading “The Final Lap Weekly NASCAR Podcast #368 Brian Scott / Indianapolis Motor Speedway Brickyard Preview”

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during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 5-Hour ENERGY 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 19, 2015 in Loudon, New Hampshire.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race – 5-hour ENERGY 301
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Loudon, New Hampshire
Sunday, July 19, 2015

1. (4) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 301, $271031.
2. (10) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 301, $214416.
3. (12) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 301, $184550.
4. (2) Joey Logano, Ford, 301, $161258.
5. (19) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 301, $127600.
6. (8) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 301, $144026.
7. (1) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 301, $107315.
8. (24) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 301, $137601.
9. (23) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 301, $137901.
10. (6) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 301, $107415.
11. (26) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 301, $124590.
12. (15) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 301, $117485.
13. (22) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 301, $121898.
14. (5) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 301, $102615.
15. (29) Aric Almirola, Ford, 301, $125251.
16. (21) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 301, $111548.
17. (32) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 301, $95515.
18. (3) David Ragan, Toyota, 301, $115309.
19. (9) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 301, $100590.
20. (25) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 301, $113804.
21. (37) David Gilliland, Ford, 301, $112898.
22. (7) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 300, $129826.
23. (16) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 300, $81665.
24. (20) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 300, $92965.
25. (28) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 300, $92665.
26. (11) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 300, $114356.
27. (14) Greg Biffle, Ford, 299, $115048.
28. (33) Cole Whitt, Ford, 299, $95373.
29. (27) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 299, $109685.
30. (13) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 299, $84590.
31. (17) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 299, $110298.
32. (31) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 299, $124190.
33. (34) Brett Moffitt #, Ford, 297, $80890.
34. (18) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 297, $113348.
35. (35) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 296, $88537.
36. (38) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 296, $78760.
37. (41) Eddie MacDonald, Ford, 295, $78542.
38. (43) Timmy Hill(i), Ford, 292, $73727.
39. (42) Derek White(i), Chevrolet, 290, $69655.
40. (30) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 284, $73655.
41. (36) Jeb Burton #, Toyota, 239, $61655.
42. (40) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 230, $57655.
43. (39) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, Rear Gear, 202, $54155.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 108.504 mph.
Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 56 Mins, 06 Secs. Margin of Victory: Caution.
Caution Flags: 7 for 34 laps.
Lead Changes: 9 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Edwards 1-19; Kyle Busch 20-66; B. Keselowski 67-88; J. Gordon 89-90; A. Allmendinger 91-103; B. Keselowski 104-178; J. Logano 179-190; B. Keselowski 191-193; K. Harvick 194-252; Kyle Busch 253-301.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): B. Keselowski 3 times for 100 laps; Kyle Busch 2 times for 96 laps; K. Harvick 1 time for 59 laps; C. Edwards 1 time for 19 laps; A. Allmendinger 1 time for 13 laps; J. Logano 1 time for 12 laps; J. Gordon 1 time for 2 laps.
Top 16 in Points: K. Harvick – 734; J. Logano – 665; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 655; J. Johnson – 646; M. Truex Jr. – 628; B. Keselowski – 603; M. Kenseth – 578; Kurt Busch – 576; J. Mcmurray – 574; J. Gordon – 573; D. Hamlin – 552; K. Kahne – 538; R. Newman – 530; P. Menard – 528; A. Almirola – 502; C. Bowyer – 500.

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Kyle Busch wins New Hampshire 2015

July 19, 2015

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

LOUDON, N.H. – The odds in Kyle Busch’s favor made another dramatic surge on Sunday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

In winning for the third time in eight starts since returning from an 11-race injury absence, Busch solidified his chances of qualifying for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with a serendipitous victory in the 5-Hour ENERGY 301 at the Magic Mile.

Two critical moves were essential to Busch’s winning for the second time at New Hampshire and the 32nd time in his career. First, with the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota sliding in a patch of oil and thinking he had a tire going flat, Busch brought his car to pit road on Lap 244, sooner than planned.

That allowed Busch to gain time on the track while other contending cars stayed out on old tires. The spur of the moment “strategy” ultimately played out in his favor.

Second, Busch got back on the lead lap with a gutsy pass of race leader Kevin Harvick and second-place Brad Keselowski, weaving through traffic on the frontstretch seconds before NASCAR called a caution for fluid on the track on Lap 251 of 301.

Busch inherited the top spot when the rest of the lead-lap cars came to pit road on Lap 253, and he stayed up front the rest of the way. After taking the white flag, Busch won the race under yellow when Alex Bowman’s accident in Turn 2 on the final lap caused the race’s seventh caution.

Given the discussion on team radios about the probability of that Lap 251 caution being called, Busch felt a strong sense of urgency to make what proved to be the decisive pass.

“I knew I’d been running it hard and I’d been trying to catch (Matt) Kenseth in front of me that entire run, and I had just been so tight that I couldn’t get going and couldn’t get a rhythm going to close in on Kenseth. And I figured I just chewed the right front off of it, because I went into the corner and the thing just went straight one time so I was like, ‘Man, I’m down to cords now, that’s it, it’s done.’

“We shot to pit road and got it changed there, and evidently it was oil on the race track that just made the car slip so bad from out from under me. We got a lucky break and I hauled butt, man, those five laps I ran were five qualifying laps through traffic trying to get back up to the front and pass Harvick to stay on the lead lap. That was our saving bucket right there. That was what we needed to do.”

The offshoot of the victory is that Busch’s hopes of making the Chase now are better than realistic. To qualify, he must finish the first 26 races in the top 30 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings. With seven races left before the cutoff, Busch is 33rd, trailing 30th-place David Gilliland by 58 points.

“This is such an awesome win and such an awesome comeback,” Busch said. “I just can’t say enough about everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, the work that they’ve put in. Our cars are a lot better than what they were last year.

“It’s so much fun to win these races and to win with this group of guys – (crew chief) Adam Stevens and this bunch, all my pit crew since 2008, they deserve all this.”

Keselowski, who got two fresh tires on the last pit stop, was closing on Busch at the end of the race but ran out of time and finished second. For the second straight week, Keselowski failed to win in what was arguably the best car.

“We had a really fast car and led a lot of laps (a race-high 100),” Keselowski said tersely. “I’m really proud of the team for bringing me two fast cars these past two weekends.”

“It’s a joy to drive cars that fast,” added Keselowski, looking less than joyful.

Asked whether he was frustrated, Keselowski replied, “I’m ready to go home.”

Asked whether taking four tires instead of two on the last pit stop might have made a difference, Keselowski said, “It probably didn’t matter, so it’s hard to say. It is what it is.”

Harvick came home third, followed by Joey Logano and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kenseth, polesitter Carl Edwards, Austin Dillon, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch completed the top 10.

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July 18, 2015

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

LOUDON, N.H. – To Denny Hamlin, it was just hard short-track racing for the win.

To runner-up Austin Dillon, it was unnecessarily aggressive driving that led to Hamlin’s victory in the Lakes Region 200 NASCAR XFINITY Series race on Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

On Lap 179 of 200 at the Magic Mile, Hamlin drove his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to the inside of Dillon’s No. 33 Chevrolet. Hamlin slid up the track into Dillon, broke the No. 33’s momentum and took the lead.

Eventual third- and fourth-place finishers Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch also passed Dillon, who later regained the positions he lost to Keselowski and Busch but ran out of time in his pursuit of Hamlin.

Earlier in the race Hamlin had two similar incidents with Busch, his teammate. And though Busch didn’t appear particularly annoyed with Hamlin’s tactics, Dillon was incensed.

“He got to me, and I figured he was going to race, but he never even wanted to,” Dillon said. “He wrecked his teammate and then proceeded to try and wreck me, and if I had gotten back to him, it would have happened to him.”

Hamlin wrote off the contact to all-out racing at a one-mile flat track.

“The bottom line is, if you don’t have any air on the outside of you, you just can’t hold it,” Hamlin said. “There was an example of that about three times today … I want to thank ‘Wheels’ (crew chief Mike Wheeler) for giving me the dominant car. We had the best car, and just, wow, what a day.”

In Hamlin’s view, Dillon wasn’t blameless either.

“Well, he jumped the restart, for one,” Hamlin said. “I’m the control car, but that’s fine. Eventually I was going to get back around him anyway. Same thing—I was a fender ahead, and he drove in there knowing that he was going to have to hold me low to hold the position, and I just washed up into him.

“But that’s two guys on a short track racing for the win.”

Dillon clearly had a different opinion.

“What is racing, if you can’t race side-by-side for more than a corner?” Dillon asked rhetorically. “He never even went through a corner with me, the whole race. He didn’t want to. He just moved me. Missed the corner. Wrecked me.

“I’m fine with racing rough. I promise you, I can do it to anybody. But if we’re going to race like that, I need to know before you get to the first corner. Give me a corner at least.”

Dillon indicated there might be some payback in the offing but wouldn’t reveal how or when.

“I’m not going to talk about it,” Dillon said. “He won’t be ready.”

Hamlin’s reply? “We’ve both got race cars.”

Dillon got the lead on Lap 175 moments after a restart following the sixth and final caution for Brian Scott’s blown engine.

Both Hamlin and Dillon had stayed out on old tires under the previous yellow, but Keselowski came to pit road for fresh rubber on Lap 142. As it turned out, the new tires made little difference.

“It was the right call and probably got us to third, instead of fourth or fifth,” Keselowski said. “We just weren’t as fast as the 33 and 20 were. … We just weren’t fast enough this weekend.”

Rookie Daniel Suarez ran fifth, followed by Ty Dillon, Regan Smith, Darrell Wallace Jr., Chase Elliott and Brennan Poole. Series leader Chris Buescher finished 14th, one lap down, and saw his lead in the standings shrink to 31 points over second-place Elliott.

NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Lakes Region 200
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Loudon, New Hampshire
Saturday, July 18, 2015

1. (1) Denny Hamlin(i), Toyota, 200, $52101.
2. (6) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 200, $32261.
3. (4) Brad Keselowski(i), Ford, 200, $27038.
4. (2) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 200, $26186.
5. (3) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, 200, $27768.
6. (7) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 200, $23909.
7. (8) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 200, $23253.
8. (11) Darrell Wallace Jr. #, Ford, 200, $24948.
9. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 200, $23720.
10. (13) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 200, $23494.
11. (10) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 200, $22467.
12. (14) Ben Rhodes, Chevrolet, 199, $22341.
13. (21) Ryan Reed, Ford, 199, $22188.
14. (20) Chris Buescher, Ford, 199, $21935.
15. (19) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 199, $22209.
16. (15) Dakoda Armstrong, Ford, 199, $21681.
17. (17) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 199, $21755.
18. (28) Eric McClure, Toyota, 198, $21402.
19. (23) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 198, $21352.
20. (16) Blake Koch, Toyota, 198, $21802.
21. (25) Cale Conley #, Toyota, 198, $21200.
22. (24) David Starr, Toyota, 198, $21144.
23. (18) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 198, $21093.
24. (26) Dylan Lupton, Chevrolet, 198, $21028.
25. (27) BJ McLeod(i), Chevrolet, 197, $21142.
26. (31) Peyton Sellers #, Chevrolet, 195, $20957.
27. (36) Derek White, Dodge, 195, $20921.
28. (33) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, Clutch, 174, $20885.
29. (5) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, Engine, 165, $20850.
30. (35) Todd Peck(i), Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 156, $21115.
31. (37) Mike Harmon, Dodge, Brakes, 111, $20779.
32. (38) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, Brakes, 98, $14744.
33. (29) Matt Wallace, Toyota, Vibration, 84, $14723.
34. (12) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, Brakes, 46, $20703.
35. (40) Matt Frahm, Chevrolet, Brakes, 42, $14651.
36. (34) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Brakes, 40, $13234.
37. (22) Ross Chastain #, Chevrolet, Accident, 36, $18234.
38. (39) Josh Reaume #, Dodge, Brakes, 24, $11234.
39. (32) Harrison Rhodes #, Chevrolet, Engine, 16, $16234.
40. (30) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 3, $9234.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 98.342 mph.
Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 09 Mins, 06 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.516 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 38 laps.
Lead Changes: 12 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: D. Hamlin(i) 0; K. Busch(i) 1-22; B. Keselowski(i) 23-39; D. Lupton 40-42; D. Hamlin(i) 43-44; K. Busch(i) 45-47; D. Hamlin(i) 48-119; B. Scott 120-121; A. Dillon(i) 122-123; D. Wallace Jr. # 124; D. Hamlin(i) 125-173; A. Dillon(i) 174-178; D. Hamlin(i) 179-200.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): D. Hamlin(i) 4 times for 145 laps; K. Busch(i) 2 times for 25 laps; B. Keselowski(i) 1 time for 17 laps; A. Dillon(i) 2 times for 7 laps; D. Lupton 1 time for 3 laps; B. Scott 1 time for 2 laps; D. Wallace Jr. # 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 10 in Points: C. Buescher – 623; C. Elliott – 592; T. Dillon – 585; R. Smith – 564; E. Sadler – 555; D. Wallace Jr. # – 547; D. Suarez # – 516; B. Gaughan – 506; R. Reed – 502; B. Scott – 494.

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