NASCAR Podcast
Feb. 27, 2016
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
HAMPTON, Ga. – Scratch another race track off Kyle Busch’s checklist.
In what evolved into a two-man battle against Kyle Larson on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion continued his mastery in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, beating Kyle Larson to the finish line to win the Heads Up Georgia 250. Continue reading “Kyle Busch holds off Kyle Larson for XFINITY Series win at Atlanta”
Oct. 3, 2015
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
DOVER, Del.—Regan Smith charged from fourth to first during a restart on Lap 121 and stayed there for the rest of the Hisense 200 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Dover International Speedway Saturday, posting his second victory of the season and working his way back into championship contention.
After a 31-minute rain delay, Smith passed Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and leader Elliott Sadler on the restart on Lap 121 of 200, staved off intense pressure from Hamlin midway through the final green-flag run and pulled away as the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates battled for second place.
Without a concrete deal in place for next season, Smith won for the first time at the Monster Mile—in fact, the 80 laps he led were the first circuits he had ever spent out front at Dover. The victory was the sixth of Smith’s career, and all of them have come under the JR Motorsports banner.
Hamlin won the fight for the runner-up spot, crossing the finish line .703 seconds behind Smith. Busch led a race-high 110 laps and came home third, followed by Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson.
Austin Dillon ran sixth, one spot ahead of Chase Elliott, who moved into second place in the series standings, 24 points behind leader Chris Buescher, who finished eighth on Saturday. Smith, who rallied from a flat tire in the first third of the race, took over third in points, 36 behind Buescher.
“I knew the car was fast, but I didn’t know it was that fast until we got out in clean air,” Smith said in Victory Lane. “This wasn’t a Hail May. We came from the back to the front and just had a fast race car.
“If we can keep doing that every week, and get another win or two here or there, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m trying to figure out some things for next year, so wins never hurt—that’s never a bad thing going forward.”
A victory for Smith was not even a remote consideration when a light rain began falling shortly after the halfway point, with the race already under caution for a wreck involving Stanton Barrett and Cale Conley on Lap 106.
Sadler, whose 2016 move to JR Motorsports was announced on Friday, took two new tires under the yellow and was first off pit road, leading the race and praying for a monsoon. But the rain abated, depriving Sadler of a going-away present to Roush Fenway Racing, the organization he will leave at season’s end.
“I’ve never had much luck with the rain,” Sadler said ruefully. “I’ve always been on the wrong side of that, going back to the 2009 Daytona 500 (where Sadler was fifth with a chance to win when the race was called because of rain after 152 laps).”
Note: Ty Dillon cut a tire and hit the outside wall on Lap 24, resulting in a 28th-place finish. He slipped from second to fourth in the series standings, 39 points back of Buescher.
Byron notches K&N East title; D4D member Cabre wins first race
For William Byron, an extra day was worth the wait at the Monster Mile.
After the Drive Sober 125 was postponed Friday due to inclement weather, and the start was delayed again Saturday morning, the 17-year-old NASCAR Next member from Charlotte, N.C., was finally able to drive his No. 9 Liberty University Chevrolet to a ninth-place finish and raise the 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship trophy Saturday afternoon at Dover International Speedway.
The rain delay didn’t slow down Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Collin Cabre, as the 21-year-old from Tampa scored his first career victory.
Cabre became the sixth different driver from the NASCAR Drive For Diversity program to win a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race and gave Rev Racing, which has fielded the competition team for the program since 2010, its 17th win.
Cabre’s No. 2 UTI/NTI Toyota crossed the finish line 6.454 seconds in front of series veteran Eddie MacDonald’s Chevrolet.
NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Hisense 200
Dover International Speedway
Dover, Delaware
Saturday, October 03, 2015
1. (8) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 200, $49402.
2. (7) Denny Hamlin(i), Toyota, 200, $35586.
3. (2) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 200, $34950.
4. (1) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 200, $30183.
5. (15) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 200, $22698.
6. (5) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 200, $21077.
7. (6) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 200, $27457.
8. (3) Chris Buescher, Ford, 200, $28315.
9. (10) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 200, $25816.
10. (13) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, 200, $27362.
11. (9) Darrell Wallace Jr. #, Ford, 199, $25158.
12. (19) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 199, $25031.
13. (11) Ben Rhodes, Chevrolet, 199, $24931.
14. (16) Ryan Reed, Ford, 199, $24803.
15. (23) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 198, $25328.
16. (14) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 198, $24652.
17. (21) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 196, $24576.
18. (22) David Starr, Toyota, 196, $24526.
19. (26) Mario Gosselin, Chevrolet, 195, $24475.
20. (20) Dakoda Armstrong, Ford, 195, $24925.
21. (17) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 194, $24369.
22. (27) Eric McClure, Toyota, 190, $24263.
23. (24) Blake Koch, Toyota, 187, $24186.
24. (28) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 187, $24111.
25. (36) Mike Harmon, Dodge, 185, $18210.
26. (30) Ryan Ellis(i), Chevrolet, 132, $24009.
27. (32) Harrison Rhodes #, Chevrolet, Suspension, 126, $23959.
28. (4) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 115, $23883.
29. (25) Cale Conley #, Toyota, Accident, 103, $23808.
30. (34) Stanton Barrett, Ford, Accident, 100, $24057.
31. (12) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, Accident, 80, $23701.
32. (35) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, Accident, 79, $23640.
33. (38) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Suspension, 72, $17575.
34. (33) Josh Reaume #, Dodge, Parked, 72, $23540.
35. (40) Timmy Hill(i), Chevrolet, Brakes, 39, $17499.
36. (29) TJ Bell(i), Toyota, Suspension, 38, $21806.
37. (18) Ross Chastain #, Chevrolet, Accident, 23, $20806.
38. (39) Dexter Bean, Chevrolet, Suspension, 17, $13806.
39. (37) Carl Long, Chevrolet, Suspension, 10, $12806.
40. (31) Jeff Green, Toyota, Suspension, 4, $11806.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 105.156 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 54 Mins, 07 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.703 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 29 laps.
Lead Changes: 5 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: 0; K. Busch(i) 1-29; J. Yeley 30-31; K. Busch(i) 32-112; E. Sadler 113-120; R. Smith 121-200.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): K. Busch(i) 2 times for 110 laps; R. Smith 1 time for 80 laps; E. Sadler 1 time for 8 laps; J. Yeley 1 time for 2 laps.
Top 10 in Points: C. Buescher – 1,018; C. Elliott – 994; R. Smith – 982; T. Dillon – 979; E. Sadler – 908; D. Wallace Jr. # – 907; D. Suarez # – 886; B. Scott – 870; B. Gaughan – 864; R. Reed – 765.
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Sept. 11, 2015
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
RICHMOND, Va. – Reigning NASCAR XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott was first off pit road under caution on Lap 218 of 250 and held the top spot the rest of the way, breaking a 39-race winless streak on Friday night at Richmond International Raceway.
Elliott’s victory in the Virginia529 College Savings 250 trimmed his standings deficit to 21 points behind series leader Chris Buescher, who finished 10th. Elliott’s first victory of the season was also the first in 24 races for an XFINITY Series regular at RIR.
Yes, Elliott won the race, leading a race-high 83 laps on the way to his first win at Richmond and the fourth of his career. Perhaps, the loudest noise, however, came from late model stock car star and Dale Earnhardt Jr. protégé Josh Berry, who trumpeted his arrival for his maiden XFINITY race at RIR with a seventh-place finish.
During an 81-lap green-flag run from Lap 54 through Lap 134, Berry drove from seventh to second. In the latter half of the run, Berry trimmed a five-second deficit to Brian Scott, the leader, to 2.6 seconds before Jeremy Clements’ wreck in Turn 2 slowed the action for the fourth cation of the race.
Berry repeatedly lost positions on pit road, the last time because egress from his stall was blocked by the No. 6 Ford of Darrell Wallace Jr. He lost five positions under that sixth caution and restarted ninth on Lap 226 before recovering to finish seventh.
Polesitter Kyle Busch came home second, 1.308 seconds behind Elliott. Brian Scott led 63 laps and finished third, followed by Joey Logano, Erik Jones, Regan Smith and Berry.
Sept. 5, 2015
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
DARLINGTON, S.C. – You could call polesitter Denny Hamlin’s victory in Saturday’s VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway “dominating,” but the NASCAR XFINITY Series event wasn’t without its share of drama—courtesy of a fuel shortage and Hamlin’s own Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Daniel Suarez.
Hamlin Led 117 of 147 laps at the 1.366-mile speedway, but he didn’t make the winning pass until Lap 145, when he surged past Suarez, who was stretching fuel after foregoing a final pit stop in hopes of stealing the victory.
The win was Hamlin’s third of the season (all from the pole), his fourth at Darlington (all from the pole) and the 20th of his career.
In a 1-2-3 finish for JGR, Kyle Busch got past Suarez, who finished third, to start the final circuit and came home in the runner-up position. But Suarez secured a $100,000 bonus as the top finisher among eligible series regulars in the final XFINITY Dash 4 Cash event of the season.
Suarez also won $100,000 for a Kurt Kolstad, a race fan paired with Suarez for the Dash 4 Cash finale.
When Hamlin brought his No. 20 Toyota to pit road under caution on Lap 72, he returned to the track after a lightning fast stop during which his team left the fuel cell slightly short of a full load.
That meant Hamlin would have to pit before his primary pursuers, Busch and Kevin Harvick, and hope the race would run caution-free for the entire cycle of stops.
Hamlin got his wish. After pitting on Lap 122 and gaining time on fresh tires, a relieved Hamlin saw the race run caution-free to the end, giving him just enough time to catch Suarez, who was saving fuel on old rubber, before the laps ran out.
“I’m almost glad we didn’t (get the car full of fuel),” Hamlin said after the race. “We didn’t want a caution to fall and trap us there, but I had scraped the wall and kind of misjudged my line one time and got a little right-side damage, and the car just stopped turning.
“I don’t know if the right side would have made it or not (under the pressure of all-out racing).”
Harvick led 16 laps and finished fourth, his chances thwarted when the race ran green to the finish.
“The 9 (Chase Elliott) hit the wall or was blowing up or something, and we stayed out a few extra laps, thinking that the caution was going to come out, and got a little bit behind, “ Harvick said.
“The 20 (Hamlin) had the best car. We were better in the long run—we could run him back down and race with him, but on the short run, those guys were a little bit better than we were.”
Chris Buescher ran fifth and extended his series lead to 29 points over Ty Dillon, who finished 15th, and 35 over Elliott, who came home 24th, three laps down, after his engine soured late in the race.
Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Landon Cassill, Regan Smith and Ross Chastain completed the top 10.
NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200
Darlington Raceway
Darlington, South Carolina
Saturday, September 05, 2015
1. (1) Denny Hamlin(i), Toyota, 147, $53679.
2. (36) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 147, $32435.
3. (2) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, 147, $32251.
4. (9) Kevin Harvick(i), Chevrolet, 147, $21878.
5. (10) Chris Buescher, Ford, 147, $28698.
6. (4) Joey Logano(i), Ford, 147, $18464.
7. (3) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 147, $17790.
8. (19) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 147, $23854.
9. (8) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 147, $23555.
10. (14) Ross Chastain #, Chevrolet, 147, $24227.
11. (24) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 147, $23099.
12. (12) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 146, $23024.
13. (6) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 146, $22973.
14. (15) Darrell Wallace Jr. #, Ford, 146, $22922.
15. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 146, $23271.
16. (11) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 146, $22745.
17. (18) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 146, $22694.
18. (26) Dakoda Armstrong, Ford, 146, $22643.
19. (21) Cale Conley #, Toyota, 146, $22593.
20. (16) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 145, $23017.
21. (20) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 145, $22666.
22. (25) David Starr, Toyota, 145, $22410.
23. (17) Ryan Reed, Ford, 145, $22359.
24. (7) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 144, $23284.
25. (5) Paul Menard(i), Chevrolet, 144, $16156.
26. (23) John Wes Townley(i), Chevrolet, 144, $22157.
27. (22) Blake Koch, Toyota, 143, $22106.
28. (33) Eric McClure, Toyota, 142, $22031.
29. (28) Todd Bodine, Chevrolet, 141, $21995.
30. (32) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 141, $22254.
31. (31) BJ McLeod(i), Chevrolet, 138, $21899.
32. (30) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 134, $21854.
33. (35) Harrison Rhodes #, Chevrolet, Vibration, 83, $21828.
34. (38) Mike Harmon, Dodge, Suspension, 82, $21807.
35. (34) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Brakes, 34, $15550.
36. (27) TJ Bell(i), Toyota, Clutch, 23, $14039.
37. (37) Carlos Contreras, Chevrolet, Accident, 10, $19245.
38. (29) Jeff Green, Toyota, Suspension, 6, $12039.
39. (39) Carl Long, Dodge, Suspension, 4, $11039.
40. (40) Ryan Ellis(i), Ford, Suspension, 1, $10039.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 141.355 mph.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 25 Mins, 14 Secs. Margin of Victory: 2.058 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 2 for 8 laps.
Lead Changes: 7 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: D. Hamlin(i) 1-29; K. Harvick(i) 30-34; D. Hamlin(i) 35-48; K. Harvick(i) 49-50; D. Hamlin(i) 51-121; K. Harvick(i) 122-130; D. Suarez # 131-144; D. Hamlin(i) 145-147.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): D. Hamlin(i) 4 times for 117 laps; K. Harvick(i) 3 times for 16 laps; D. Suarez # 1 time for 14 laps.
Top 10 in Points: C. Buescher – 874; T. Dillon – 845; C. Elliott – 839; R. Smith – 820; E. Sadler – 783; D. Wallace Jr. # – 766; D. Suarez # – 759; B. Scott – 755; B. Gaughan – 736; R. Reed – 652.
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The Final Lap Weekly 