Rain places Cup Series race at Pocono on hold

Posted on June 28, 2020June 28, 2020 by Staff Report

Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway has been placed on hold because of rain.

The Pocono 350 (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) was halted with just six of a scheduled 140 laps complete. Kurt Busch’s Chip Ganassi Racing No. 1 Chevrolet led every lap before a rain shower prompted the day’s first caution flag. The red flag lasted for 50 minutes and 50 seconds with action resuming at approximately 6:15 p.m. ET.

The event — the second race in a weekend doubleheader for the series — was also delayed by a 30-minute hold for lightning in the area that interrupted the pace laps.

Saturday’s Cup race was won by Kevin Harvick. Before the Sunday Cup race, the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck race was won by Brandon Jones and the Xfinity race was won by Chase Briscoe.

Posted on June 28, 2020 by Zack Albert

Ross Chastain has assembled a modest streak in the NASCAR Xfinity Series that has been part consistency, part bittersweet and part lucrative. Sunday at Pocono Raceway, he came up short by a hair to race winner Chase Briscoe but claimed the Dash 4 Cash bonus in the Pocono Green 225.

Chastain carried away a $100,000 consolation prize for the second straight week in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, landing his second consecutive runner-up finish. He was the highest finisher among the four eligible drivers, avoiding the trouble that entangled the other three: Austin Cindric, Justin Haley and Alex Labbe.

The payday meant Kaulig Racing collected three of the four Dash 4 Cash bonuses in this year’s program. But Chastain was still left to sit with leading the most laps (31 of 91) then relinquishing the top spot to a charging Briscoe on the next-to-last lap. Chastain even apologized after his post-race news conference for a “doom and gloom” mood.

“It’s tough to be upset with second, but I am,” Chastain told FOX Sports. “I’m so proud of Kaulig Racing, RCR and everybody that brings these race cars, and we’re unloading and we are in the top two or three every week. I know how lucky I am, but man, it’s the memories we take with us, not the money.”

Chastain’s competitors for the Dash 4 Cash bonus were well down the finishing order after the wreck-filled event. Labbe was the next-highest finisher, recovering from a spin and a tap of the inside retaining wall at the end of Stage 1 to take 17th place.

Haley, Chastain’s teammate, was knocked from contention after a mid-race penalty for a run-in with Riley Herbst. The two had brushed together exiting Turn 3 before Haley swerved left to send Herbst’s No. 18 Toyota spinning on the frontstraight, prompting a caution period on Lap 50.

MORE: Haley penalized for Pocono push

NASCAR officials held Haley’s No. 11 Chevrolet for two laps for rough driving. He never made up the deficit, finishing two laps down in 23rd.

Cindric led 11 laps and won Stage 1, but he exited just three laps after the Haley-Herbst incident. His No. 22 Team Penske Ford funneled into a six-car stack-up on the Long Pond straight, and Cindric wound up 29th.

Posted on June 28, 2020June 28, 2020 by Staff Report

The Dash 4 Cash initiative for NASCAR Xfinity Series wrapped up on June 28 at Pocono Raceway with the final installment in the four-race series for the 2020 season. Ross Chastain nabbed the prize for his second $100,000 bonus in the 2020 campaign.

RELATED: 2020 Xfinity Series schedule

The program opened with a qualifying race June 1 at Bristol Motor Speedway and then the first money race June 6 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Noah Gragson took home the $100,000 at Atlanta. AJ Allmendinger took home the $100,000 at Miami. Chastain took the $100,000 prize home at Talladega.

How it works is the first of the four Dash 4 Cash competitors to finish in a race in the program will win the $100,000 bonus. The winner and the next three highest finishing Xfinity Series drivers (who have declared for points in that series) will qualify for the next event.

In addition to the payout to drivers, Xfinity plans to make donations in each Dash 4 Cash race market that reaffirms its companywide commitment of connecting families, veterans and seniors to the digital tools necessary for navigating these challenging times.

2020 Dash 4 Cash recaps

At Pocono:Ross Chastain won the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize for a second time in 2020 to wrap up the program this season. Chastain finished second in the race ahead of Alex Labbe (finished 17th), Justin Haley (finished 23rd) and Austin Cindric (finished 29th).

RECAP: Chase Briscoe wins at Pocono, Ross Chastain takes Dash 4 Cash prize

At Talladega: Ross Chastain won the third Dash 4 Cash $100,000 prize of the season with a second-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway, finishing ahead of AJ Allmendinger (finished seventh), Brandon Jones (finished 16th) and Chase Briscoe (finished 18th). Qualifiers for Pocono: Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Justin Haley, Alex Labbe.

RECAP: Justin Haley wins at Talladega, Ross Chastain wins Dash 4 Cash prize

At Miami: AJ Allmendinger won the second Dash 4 Cash $100,000 prize of the season with a fourth-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway, finishing ahead of Noah Gragson (finished fifth), Justin Haley (finished sixth) and Daniel Hemric (finished 31st). Qualifiers for Talladega: AJ Allmendinger, Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain, Brandon Jones

RECAP: Chase Briscoe wins in double overtime finish at Miami, Allmendinger nabs prize

At Atlanta: Noah Gragson won the first Dash 4 Cash $100,000 prize of the season with a second-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway, finishing ahead of Harrison Burton (finished fifth), Brandon Jones (finished eighth) and Chase Briscoe (finished ninth). Qualifiers for Miami: AJ Allmendinger, Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, Daniel Hemric.

RECAP: Noah Gragson wins Dash 4 Cash prize at Atlanta

At Bristol: The top four finishing Xfinity Series regulars at Bristol Motor Speedway were eligible for the $100,000 prize at Atlanta. No prize was given out at Bristol, but it did set the Dash 4 Cash participants for Atlanta Motor Speedway. Qualifiers for Atlanta: Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe, Brandon Jones and Harrison Burton.

RECAP: Noah Gragson wins at Bristol, earns Dash 4 Cash spot

Posted on June 28, 2020June 28, 2020 by Reid Spencer

Chase Briscoe recovered from a pit road speeding penalty and a spin with 21 laps left to pick up his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season in Sunday’s Pocono Green 225.

In a race that went to overtime after a record ninth caution at 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway, Briscoe surrendered the lead to Ross Chastain in Turn 1 after the final restart but reclaimed the top spot in the Tunnel Turn and finished 1.015 seconds ahead of the No. 10 Chevrolet a lap-and-a-half later.

The victory, Briscoe’s first at Pocono and the sixth of his Xfinity Series career, left the driver of the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford halfway to his stated goal of at least eight wins this season.

RELATED: Official race results

“We were really not that good at the beginning. We kind of struggled and didn’t have the speed I really anticipated to have here,” Briscoe said. “Zippy (crew chief Greg Zipadelli) and the guys kept working on it, kept getting it better and better. We had the lead there, after I sped on pit road.

“I was a little worried, but, fortunately, a lot of the good cars got torn up and made it a little bit easier to get back through the field. Me and Ross, it was pretty fun. He’s one of the hardest guys to race against and pass … We’re halfway to eight, so hopefully we can keep going.”

In the final Xfinity Dash 4 Cash event, runner-up Chastain claimed the $100,000 bonus as the highest finisher among four eligible drivers for the second straight week — and the third straight for his team, Kaulig Racing.

But Chastain nevertheless rued his second-place result for the second straight week, especially after taking the short-lived lead from Briscoe in the two-lap sprint to the finish.

“We did everything right,” Chastain said. “Got a good push that we needed cleared him into (Turn) 1. It’s tough to be upset with second, but I am. I’m so proud of Kaulig Racing … I know how lucky I am, but, man, it’s the memories we take with us — not the money.”

Leading the race on Lap 69, Briscoe spun when his left rear tire went flat. But the 25-year-old from Mitchell, Indiana, kept his car off the wall and worked his way forward from 11th after the subsequent restart.

A six-car wreck on Lap 53, triggered by contact between the cars of Myatt Snider and Noah Gragson, made Briscoe’s job easier by taking out the race’s dominant car, the No. 22 Team Penske Ford of Austin Cindric, who won the first stage and finished second in Stage 2. The accident also damaged the JR Motorsports cars of Gragson, Justin Allgaier and Daniel Hemric.

“I knew that I was getting a big push from behind,” said Snider, who escaped damage in the wreck and finished a career-best fourth. “I had a run coming on the 9 (Gragson), but I knew we were going to fall off real fast, so I started lifting up, but the guy behind me didn’t. So you can kind of see me squirreling around the whole time, and I’m trying slow down, but I just couldn’t stop.

“I hate that it got so many involved with it, but it ended up being a great day for us. We’re up front leading laps, and we had a chance to win there. It came down to experience for me. I’ve only had a few races with this RCR (Richard Childress Racing) car. It’s got speed. I’ve just got to get myself a little more consistent.”

Jeremy Clements ran third, his best result since winning on the Road America road course in 2017. Michael Annett came home fifth, followed by second-stage winner Allgaier (who regained a lost lap after the wreck), Brett Moffitt, Timmy Hill, Riley Herbst and Jesse Little.

Briscoe regained the series lead by three points over Gragson, who finished 22nd, one lap down.

Brandon Jones, who won Sunday morning’s NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race, didn’t make it through the first corner of the Xfinity event that followed.

With a tap from Austin Cindric in a three-wide situation in Turn 1, Jones spun off the corner and slammed into the inside wall, destroying his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

“Ultimately, you make up spots on these restarts, so we were trying to go three-wide and get them early,” Jones said. “But, obviously, you have to have a little give and take. It’s just early. It doesn’t take much when you get three-wide to get pushed around. But from my vantage point, we got hit in the back…

“We had a really good positive. We won the truck race. I had high hopes for this race, too.”

Fourteen laps and two cautions later, Jones’ Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Harrison Burton wiped out at the exit of Turn 1 in oil spilled by Brandon Brown when his engine expired. Knocked out of the race, Burton shrugged off the collision with the inside wall.

“I was racing with the 1 (Michael Annett) and felt good, and it just instantly came around,” said Burton, who has crashed out of two straight races after opening the season with a record 10 straight top 10s, including two wins. “That’s a weird place to come around. That hit looked harder than it was, so I’m all right.

“Thankful that my team built safe racecars. I’ve unfortunately tested that out twice this year. Bummer, but we’ll be back and hopefully win some more.”

The Xfinity Series’ next race is scheduled Saturday (3 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS, SiriusXM), the series’ first event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s oval-road course layout.

Notes: There were no issues in post-race inspection, including no lug-nut penalties. … Justin Haley was held for two laps for aggressive driving and called to the NASCAR hauler after the race for an incident that also included Riley Herbst. READ MORE

Posted on June 28, 2020June 28, 2020 by Staff Report

Justin Haley’s hopes for a $100,000 bonus took a significant hit after a run-in with Riley Herbst left him with a two-lap penalty for rough driving in Sunday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway.

RELATED: Official race results

Haley’s Kaulig Racing No. 11 Chevrolet had brushed with Herbst’s Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota exiting Turn 3, but Haley initiated further contact by veering left, bringing out the caution flag on Lap 49 in the 90-lap Pocono Green 225.

Herbst’s car tapped the frontstraight wall but stayed in the race. Haley, who scored his first Xfinity win last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, pitted during the yellow flag, but race officials held him for two laps as a penalty for over-aggressive driving.

Haley and crew chief Alex Yontz were also summoned to the NASCAR Xfinity Series hauler for a post-race consultation. Haley would go on to finish 23rd, while Herbst rebounded with a top-10 finish in ninth.

Haley was one of four drivers eligible for Xfinity’s Dash 4 Cash bonus along with Ross Chastain, Alex Labbe and Austin Cindric. Chastain took the $100,000 bonus at Pocono.

Posted on June 28, 2020June 28, 2020 by Reid Spencer

Brandon Jones held off Sheldon Creed during a fierce two-lap battle Sunday morning at Pocono Raceway and pulled away to win the rain-delayed Pocono Organics 150 at the 2.5-mile triangular track.

Jones sealed his first NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series victory when Creed’s Chevrolet got loose in the Tunnel Turn as they were racing side by side for the lead. Jones pulled out to a comfortable advantage through Turn 3 and arrived at the finish line with a .864-second margin over runner-up Austin Hill, who charged past Creed in the final corner.

“That was a heck of a battle,” said Jones, a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor who has won twice there. “I know it was fun to watch on TV — it was really fun for me there.”

Despite driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports, whose equipment is arguably the best in the Gander Truck Series, Jones said the expectations to win weren’t that weighty.

“It’s not really that much pressure, honestly,” Jones said. “There’s so much they provide for us. We were all on a call with him (owner Kyle Busch) last night after the Cup race. He gave us so much information that led to this win today.”

Jones inherited the lead from teammate Christian Eckes on Lap 49, when Eckes blew a right-rear tire in the Tunnel Turn and smacked the outside wall. The root cause of the incident may have been earlier contact between Eckes’ Toyota and Chase Purdy’s Chevrolet on pit road.

“It sucks, for sure,” said Eckes, who was 11 laps away from winning his first race in the series. “Probably caused by me. We had a little contact on pit road. It might have created a rub — I don’t know. They said everything was clear… We could never really get track position. We finally got there and blew a tire.”

Todd Gilliland and Ben Rhodes finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Ross Chastain, Brett Moffitt, Stewart Friesen, Tyler Ankrum and Derek Kraus completed the top 10.

After the record-tying ninth caution of the race for Tim Viens’ spin in Turn 1, Creed led the next-to-last lap, but Jones pulled even before the trucks got back to the first corner. Jones and Creed raced side by side until Creed lost traction and momentum in the Tunnel Turn.

Reigning and three-time series champion Matt Crafton didn’t make it through the first corner of the first lap. Contact between the Chevrolets of Austin Wayne Self and Codie Rohrbaugh sent Rohrbaugh’s truck sliding out of control up the track into Crafton’s No. 88 Ford, knocking Crafton into the outside wall.

Rohrbaugh and Crafton were eliminated seconds after the race began and retired in the 39th and 40th positions, respectively.

“My spotter said, ‘Three-wide, three-wide,’ and I thought I gave him enough room,” Crafton said after exiting the infield care center. “He got clipped in the left rear. That’s what he was telling me inside (the care center).

“Then he went and got me in the left rear and spun me. Wrong place, wrong time, so move on to Kentucky (Speedway).”

The field didn’t make it through the next restart lap on Lap 6 either. Raphael Lessard’s No. 4 Toyota took evasive action in Turn 3, clipped the infield grass with his left-side tires and shot up the track into Self’s Silverado, knocking both trucks out of the race.

“I tried to go on the inside of the 24 (Chase Purdy), and he was kind of slow and then just kind of blocked me a little bit,” Lessard said. “And I just kind of smacked the fence there.”

On Lap 12, Ty Majeski — running third after starting 19th — tried to block Grant Enfinger’s Ford on the frontstretch and paid a heavy price, nosing hard into the inside SAFER barrier. Before the 15-lap first stage was over, five of the 40 trucks were out of the race.

Up next, the Gander Truck Series heads to Kentucky Speedway on July 11 for the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 (6 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Notes: Rescheduled from Saturday because of rain, the race was the opening leg in a first-ever NASCAR tripleheader in which all three of the national series would race on the same track on the same day. … No major issues were found in post-race inspection. Jones’ winning No. 51 truck had one lug nut unsecured, which would result in a fine for crew chief Danny Stockman Jr. … Creed led the first 30 laps and won the first two stages but didn’t lead again until he took the top spot on Lap 59 of 60.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on June 28, 2020June 28, 2020 by Staff Report

Multiple cars in the NASCAR Cup Series will drop to the rear before the start of Sunday’s Pocono 350 (4 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Because Sunday’s race is the second in a weekend doubleheader, teams are supposed to use the same car from the first race. Five teams, though, have been approved to go to a backup car and therefore will have to fall back before the green flag: the No. 00 StarCom Racing Chevrolet of Quin Houff (supposed to start 40th), the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Tyler Reddick (supposed to start 30th), the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Erik Jones (supposed to start 38th), the No. 22 Team Penske Ford of Joey Logano (supposed to start 36th) and the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Alex Bowman (supposed to start 27th).

Also, four other drivers will lose their starting spot for different reasons. Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and B.J. McLeod’s No. 78 B.J. McLeod Motorsports Chevrolet had their transmissions changed. Elliott and McLeod were set to fire off 25th and 39th, respectively. Then, William Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Ryan Preece’s No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet had their engines changed. Byron was going to start seventh, while Preece originally had the pole position.

Sunday’s lineup was based on the finishing results from Saturday, which included an inversion of the top 20 finishers.

Posted on June 28, 2020June 28, 2020 by Staff Report

See where your favorite driver will pit in Sunday’s Pocono 350 at Pocono Raceway (4 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on June 27, 2020 by Chase Wilhelm

With one race down in the Pocono Raceway doubleheader for the NASCAR Cup Series, drivers and teams will now quickly turn their attention to Sunday’s Pocono 350 (4 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

With NASCAR officials requiring teams to run the same car they competed with on Saturday, provided they don’t switch to a backup car from damages beyond repair, teams will work feverishly to complete the proper maintenance to get their machines ready.

The near hour delay to Saturday’s green flag time for inclement weather tightened the window for just how long teams are able work in the garage before it closes. NASCAR officials extended the closure of the Cup Series garage to 11 p.m. ET for cars that had to go through post-race inspection, a half-hour addition to their prep time. For all other teams, the garage was still set to shut down at 10:30 p.m. ET at the 2.5-mile Pennsylvania triangle. It reopens bright and early Sunday at 7 a.m. ET.

So just how much is everyone feeling the crunch? When asked about the tall task of getting the same car race-ready for Sunday during his post-race virtual media availability, Rodney Childers — crew chief for race winner Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford — began to not express much concern for making it happen.

But then he looked down at his watch, a little surprised to see what his time piece had displayed.

“Yeah, it’s going to be pretty tight, and I was supposed to be out there changing brakes and hubs. So, the longer I’m on here, the more behind we’re going to be,” Childers said with a grin.

“We’ll get it done,” Childers added. “I think from a body standpoint, there was a little bit more damage on the car than I thought there. There’s actually a hole in the nose that probably wasn’t helping at all. Somehow, we have to get that fixed tonight, along with all of our other maintenance stuff and engine stuff.”

On top of the challenge for the winning No. 4 team, Harvick will start 20th Sunday after the first 20 positions were inverted for Sunday’s starting lineup based on Saturday’s results. But after missing the setup a bit during the early stages of Saturday’s 325-miler, Harvick didn’t appear to sweat the double duty.

“We had great practice today being 20th,” Harvick said. “I think if you look at the track position, we were able to overcome that with the right decision. In the end, I think that’s what it’s going to boil down to. You’re going to have to have fast cars, you’re going to have to have the right strategy.”

Posted on June 27, 2020June 28, 2020 by Staff Report

Based on the finishing results from Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway, the official starting lineup is set for Sunday’s Pocono 350 (4 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM), the second race of a weekend doubleheader at the 2.5-mile Pennsylvania venue.

The starting lineup for Sunday’s Cup Series event will use the finishing order from Saturday’s 325-mile race as the basis for the lineup with one inversion:

Starting positions 1-20: The top 20 finishers from the Saturday event will be inverted for the start of the Sunday race
Starting positions 21-40: The bottom 20 finishers from the Saturday event will start from their finishing positions for the start of the June 27th race; any new entries will be placed at the tail of the field.

That means Ryan Preece, Saturday’s 20th-place finisher, will start from the pole position for Sunday’s 350-miler. After notching his third win of the 2020 season on Saturday, Kevin Harvick will start Sunday’s race from 20th.

UPDATE: Ryan Preece among cars sent to the rear

It’s not the first time this season that Preece and Harvick have swapped for first and 20th. When Darlington Raceway hosted two Cup Series races within four days in May, Harvick finished first with Preece 20th in the first race; Preece was on the pole with Harvick 20th in the starting lineup for the second Darlington race.

Note: Any driver that goes to a backup car will drop to the rear.

Position	Driver	Car #	Team
1	Ryan Preece	37	JTG Daugherty Racing
2	Austin Dillon	3	Richard Childress Racing
3	Kurt Busch	1	Chip Ganassi Racing
4	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	47	JTG Daugherty Racing
5	Cole Custer	41	Stewart-Haas Racing
6	Ryan Newman	6	Roush Fenway Racing
7	William Byron	24	Hendrick Motorsports
8	Matt DiBenedetto	21	Wood Brothers Racing
9	Ryan Blaney	12	Team Penske
10	Matt Kenseth	42	Chip Ganassi Racing
11	Chris Buescher	17	Roush Fenway Racing
12	Brad Keselowski	2	Team Penske
13	Michael McDowell	34	Front Row Motorsports
14	Clint Bowyer	14	Stewart-Haas Racing
15	Martin Truex Jr.	19	Joe Gibbs Racing
16	Kyle Busch	18	Joe Gibbs Racing
17	Christopher Bell	95	Leavine Family Racing
18	Aric Almirola	10	Stewart-Haas Racing
19	Denny Hamlin	11	Joe Gibbs Racing
20	Kevin Harvick	4	Stewart-Haas Racing
21	Jimmie Johnson	48	Hendrick Motorsports
22	Bubba Wallace	43	Richard Petty Motorsports
23	Corey LaJoie	32	Go Fas Racing
24	John Hunter Nemechek	38	Front Row Motorsports
25	Chase Elliott	9	Hendrick Motorsports
26	Ty Dillon	13	Germain Racing
27	Alex Bowman	88	Hendrick Motorsports
28	Daniel Suarez	96	Gaunt Brothers Racing
29	Brennan Poole	15	Premium Motorsports
30	Tyler Reddick	8	Richard Childress Racing
31	JJ Yeley	27	Rick Ware Racing
32	Josh Bilicki	7	Tommy Baldwin Racing
33	Garrett Smithley	53	Rick Ware Racing
34	James Davison	77	Spire Motorsports
35	Timmy Hill	66	MBM Motorsports
36	Joey Logano	22	Team Penske
37	Joey Gase	51	Petty Ware Racing
38	Erik Jones	20	Joe Gibbs Racing
39	B.J. McLeod	78	B.J. McLeod Motorsports
40	Quin Houff	00	StarCom Racing