Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR Playoff drivers Brad Keselowski and Erik Jones were involved in a hard wreck toward the end of Stage 1 in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that left Keselowski climbing out of his No. 2 Team Penske Ford at an odd angle after it was entangled in a tire barrier.

RELATED: Race leaderboard

Both drivers emerged from their vehicles and were OK after an intense crash where the two vehicles came together and wrecked in Turn 2. Jones’ No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota got loose underneath the No. 2 and both cars went into the outside wall with Keselowski then careening toward the inside wall and the tire barrier.

“I just got loose and made a mistake. I didn’t think Brad would be so tight on me and I just lost it,” Jones told NBCSN after exiting the infield care center. “It’s my fault. I feel bad for the 2 and I feel bad for our team as well.”

The wreck brought out a red flag for cleanup and ended both drivers’ days in the regular-season finale. Both already are locked into the NASCAR Playoffs because of earlier victories, however.

“I was trying to leave room and probably came down on Erik (Jones) more than I thought I did and he got real loose,” Keselowski said. “No air on my car. I hit the wall there.”

Keselowski was officially scored in 38th place while Jones finished 39th.

Posted on by Staff Report

Kevin Harvick scored the fifth stage win of his 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season in the Big Machine Vodka 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Harvick led over three-fourths of the first 100 laps at the Brickyard on Sunday.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Kyle Larson came in second in the stage, while Ryan Blaney placed third and Stage 1 winner Joey Logano came in fourth. Clint Bowyer led the bubble brigade with a fifth-place stage finish, while Daniel Suarez (sixth) and Jimmie Johnson (eighth) also earned stage points. Ryan Newman did not earn Stage 2 points, while Johnson was the only driver to earn points in both stages.

With roughly 13 laps to go in Stage 2, Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota had smoke coming out of his machine and a big fire under the hood on pit road that ended his day.

Place Driver Team Pts
1 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 10
2 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing 9
3 Ryan Blaney Team Penske 8
4 Joey Logano Team Penske 7
5 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing 6
6 Daniel Suarez Stewart-Haas Racing 5
7 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing 4
8 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports 3
9 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports 2
10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing 1

STAGE 1 RECAP
Joey Logano used a strategy shakeup by staying out under a late-stage caution to score the Stage 1 win in the Big Machine Vodka 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was the Team Penske driver’s eighth stage win of the season.

Landon Cassill’s hard hit in Turn 1 brought out the caution on Lap 42 and led to Logano and Ryan Newman staying out, while Jimmie Johnson took two tires in an effort to gain stage points. Both Newman and Johnson are in a battle to make the 16-driver playoffs in the regular-season finale with two spots up for grabs. The gambles by both paid off and resulted in stage points due to their respective fifth- and sixth-place finishes in Stage 1. Clint Bowyer and Daniel Suarez did not score stage points — Bowyer was the first driver outside the top 10.

RELATED: Stage 1 results

Erik Jones and Brad Keselowski’s hard wreck in Turn 2 brought the end of the stage under yellow. Both drivers were running in the top 10 when the incident occurred. Jones turned sideways, making contact with Keselowski and sending both cars into the wall. Keselowski’s hit into the tire barrier was particularly hard, and his No. 2 car came to a stop on its side. The defending race winner dropped the window quickly and exited his vehicle.

Kyle Larson finished second in the stage, while polesitter Kevin Harvick finished in third.

Some playoff bubble drivers found trouble in the opening stage. On Lap 11, Suarez’s No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford made contact with the wall. Suarez entered the race as the last driver in the provisional playoff field. During the ensuing caution, a tight pit road led to contact between Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon and Bubba Wallace. All of that jammed up traffic also impacted Johnson, who had to make a return trip to pit road to fix some damage. Johnson was able to rally for some stage points.

Place Driver Team Pts
1 Joey Logano Team Penske 10
2 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing 9
3 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 8
4 Ryan Blaney Team Penske 7
5 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing 6
6 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports 5
7 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing 4
8 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing 3
9 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports 2
10 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing 1
Posted on by Pat DeCola

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — After seeing the stand-out success of last season’s road course/oval layout at Charlotte Motor Speedway, could a similar concept be deployed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway down the road?

In short, maybe.

“We have considered the road course and we still continue to talk about it,” IMS track president J. Douglas Boles said Sunday morning ahead of the 2019 Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard (2 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“I think the challenge for us, especially with respect to the Monster Energy (NASCAR Cup Series), is where we’re really an oval brand and the Monster Energy Cup is really an oval brand and … what makes running here special is winning on the oval where Ray Harroun won, where AJ Foyt won, where Wilbur Shaw, you can just go through the list of names, where Jeff Gordon won. That’s what really makes this special.”

RELATED: 2020 NASCAR schedule

The long-standing tradition of the Brickyard is among the most prestigious in sports, but IMS isn’t afraid to mix things up in the name of opportunity to put on the best show for the fans.

While it’s unlikely NASCAR’s top series will try an alternate layout at IMS in the foreseeable future, Boles mentioned the Xfinity Series could be a proving ground “first, to see how it works.”

“We’re considering everything,” he continued. “We talk to Scott (Borchetta, of Big Machine Records) all the time about opportunities, changes. We’re not afraid to change if we think that change is going to make the event better and, like I said, the road course is something we’ve talked about, it’s just not on the horizon yet.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Kevin Harvick sped to his third career Busch Pole Award at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, racing his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford around the 2.5 mile track at 185.766 mph.

The pole is Harvick’s fifth of the season and the 30th of his career.

RELATED: Indianapolis starting lineup

Harvick’s single-car qualifying time nearly was bettered by Paul Menard as qualifying neared its conclusion, but Menard settled for the second starting spot in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford after recording a lap at 185.724 mph.

Four of the top five qualifiers were in Fords, with Clint Bowyer in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford (185.277 mph) and Joey Logano in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford (185.193 mph) logging the second and third times, respectively.

Jimmie Johnson will start fifth in the regular-season finale, the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard (2 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), after recording a lap of 185.181 mph in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Bowyer, Johnson, Ryan Newman and Daniel Suarez are separated by 26 points entering Sunday’s race as they fight for the two remaining playoff spots. A winner behind them in the standings would really shake up the playoff picture.

This marks the first time since 2017 that Busch Pole Qualifying took place on the same day as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Jeb Burton knows that every time he hops in the side window of the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, he’s got to make it count.

The son of retired NASCAR veteran Ward Burton certainly did on Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, landing a career-best fourth-place finish in the Indiana 250 Xfinity Series race, matching a previous best at Daytona in 2017.

MORE: Unofficial race results

Sharing a part-time ride among several talented drivers and with an uncertain future ahead of him, Burton couldn’t hold back the emotions on pit road following the race.

“A lot of emotion, crying like a little baby because you don’t know if you’re ever going to race again,” he said, choking up between sentences. “It just has a lot of emotion to run good like that. I’m lucky to have a team like this and the sponsors I have. It just means a lot.”

It’s Burton’s fourth top 10 in his fifth JRM start, with a brake issue costing him a fifth last month at Bristol. The 26-year-old is in top-tier equipment, for sure, but he’s making the most of it — and making a name of his own in the meantime.

“Every time I get in a race car I feel like I have something to prove. Like I said, you don’t know. This could be the last time out there,” Burton said.

“Just a lot of emotion. I cried like a little baby in my TV interview because it just means so much. Just got to cherish every moment.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — It was more of the same for Kyle Busch in Saturday’s Indiana 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but “more of the same” was anything but easy.

RELATED: Race results | Updated standings

Busch held off Justin Allgaier by .132 seconds during a five-lap run to the finish at the 2.5-mile track, but only after a hard crash that took out frontrunners Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick with seven laps left.

With a strong short-run car, combined with his unquestioned prowess on restarts, Busch took control after the final restart to win for the fourth time at the Brickyard, the fourth time in seven starts this season and the 96th time in his career, extending his series record.

In more ways than one, Busch benefited from the wreck that took out Bell and Reddick as they were battling for the lead. For one thing, it eliminated two of the strongest cars in the race. For another, it put Busch out front in clean air, greatly improving the handling of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra.

“It was really tough to pass, even when you had a run on a guy,” Busch said in Victory Lane. “You could pass the guys who were set up for long-runs on the straightaways but some of those other guys, like (Bell, Brandon Jones) and the JGR guys, they were stupid fast.

“We got back in traffic and just really fought the handling of this thing and got stuck around fourth place. I’m real proud of this team. This Toyota Supra was awesome today, and glad we got to take it to Victory Lane.”

Allgaier, the defending race winner, led a trio of JR Motorsports cars to top-five finishes, with Noah Gragson charging to third in the closing laps and Jeb Burton matching his career-best finish in his fifth start of the season. Justin Haley ran fifth and scored 35 points, enough to become the ninth driver to clinch a spot in the Xfinity Series Playoffs.

Three cautions in the final 14 laps doomed the chances of Allgaier, whose No. 7 Chevrolet was set up for long green-flag runs.

“Kyle’s great, especially on restarts,” said Allgaier, who led three times for 24 laps, half the total recorded by the race winner. “That’s what sets him apart in the Cup Series and here in the Xfinity Series. Our Suave Men Camaro was on rails, especially on the long runs …

“You don’t realize what it means to you until you come that close to tasting those bricks again. We’ll go to Vegas (for the regular-season finale) next week, finish out the regular season strong and take this momentum into the playoffs.”

Bell and Reddick were running up front after a restart on Lap 93 of 100, but Bell’s Toyota broke loose under Reddick’s Chevrolet in Turn 2, sending both cars hard into the outside wall and eliminating them from the race.

WATCH: Reddick, Bell wreck

Bell finished 29th, one spot ahead of Reddick.

“Of all my NASCAR crashes, this one takes the cake,” Bell said after visiting the infield care center. The wreck deprived him of a chance to win for the seventh time this season.

Brandon Jones recovered from a spin after contact with Austin Cindric’s Ford on Lap 87 to finish sixth, one position ahead of six-time winner Cole Custer. Chase Briscoe, Austin Hill and Ryan Sieg completed the top 10.

Reddick retained the series lead by 50 points over Bell and can clinch the regular-season title next Saturday by scoring 11 points.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — There’s no doubt what’s at top of mind at Hendrick Motorsports entering Sunday’s Big Machine Vodka 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET on NBC, IMS and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Getting seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson into the playoffs is the No. 1 priority for the organization, which already has three of its four drivers — Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and William Byron — qualified for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series postseason.

RELATED: Indianapolis schedule | Driver standings

“Me personally, I want to see him get in,” said Elliott, who won at Talladega and Watkins Glen this season. “I’m a race fan first, and I want to see him do well. I’m certainly pulling for him to do that, but there is a lot of emphasis to make sure he has a fast car.

“That’s the best way to fix it — to be fast. If they are fast today, that is the main thing. Your job gets a lot easier for the weekend.”

Mission accomplished, as far as the first order of business was concerned. Johnson was fast off the truck for opening practice at the 2.5-mile speedway. He was on top of the speed chart until late in the session, when other drivers began making mock qualifying runs.

After the dust settled, Johnson was ninth fastest, with a best time of 49.261 seconds (182.700 mph).

Though the speed was encouraging, Johnson faces an uphill battle if he hopes to preserve his perfect record of qualifying for every Cup postseason. Johnson is 18 points behind Ryan Newman and Daniel Suarez, who currently are tied for 16th in the standings, the final playoff-eligible position.

Johnson said his No. 48 team has been doing a more thorough job of preparation, but it hasn’t been confined to the week before the trip to the Brickyard, where Johnson has won four times, one fewer than the record five of former teammate Jeff Gordon.

“There has been more preparation, but it really hasn’t been because of the week,” Johnson said. “It’s been since Cliff (Daniels) took over as crew chief (in late July). There are more hours and more time. … We had a Saturday night race recently, and (team members) were asked not to come to the shop, and it’s not just Cliff alone, but the energy and the brotherhood inside of the No. 48 team and how bad the guys want to perform. They are there when they don’t need to be. They’re there when they’re asked not to be.

“So, it’s pretty amazing to see the time and effort. And all of that has added up over the last couple of weeks, where our guys have been able to spend more time on the car that we brought here. So it’s hard to just look at any given week and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to do more,’ because you don’t have the time. The truck’s got to load and leave and all that stuff. But, weeks back, things started clicking, which have allowed really every car that’s gone to the track in the last three or four weeks to have more detail and more time spent on it.”

With the speed in his car, Johnson at least has a hope of making the playoffs on points, but the definitive path would be a fifth victory at the Brickyard. Eighty-four races have passed since Johnson last went to Victory Lane at Dover in 2017.

“Yeah, it would be a heck of a story to tie Jeff with five here and to come through a drought and all the things that we all know,” Johnson said. “You guys (media) had to write about it and talk about it. To have all that come to a conclusion and lock myself into the playoffs would be one hell of a story. Hopefully, that is the story.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — William Byron was a visible mixture of raw excitement and tempered enthusiasm Saturday morning before the opening round of practice for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

For the first time in his two-year Cup career, Byron has secured a position in the NASCAR Playoffs. And while he acknowledged a bit of the pressure was lifted for Sunday’s Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard (2 p.m. ET. on NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the 21-year-old Charlotte native was fine with high expectations. He’s used to success.

RELATED: Indianapolis schedule | Lap averages

And this weekend, Byron’s success could make NASCAR history as the series prepares for the 10-race playoff portion of the season beginning next week at Las Vegas. Should Byron win the Busch Pole Award on Sunday (10:30 a.m. ET on NBCSN, IMS Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), he would be the first driver in history to win the pole position at the sport’s four biggest races — the Daytona 500, Charlotte’s Coca-Cola 600, Darlington’s Southern 500 and the Brickyard 400 — all in the same season.

Of course, for this former NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, it’s where he finishes that will matter the most, and Byron is optimistic about his chances at Indy, where he won in 2017 en route to the Xfinity title.

“I think it means a lot just for the sole reason that it’s the Brickyard 400 and this place means a lot to win here,” Byron said. “I don’t know if it would mean as much if it was just a typical race and we were already in the playoffs, but for it being the race that it is, it would mean a lot (to win).

“Plus, it would be such a big race to win right before you start the playoffs. I think (a win) would carry a lot of momentum into the first round.”

Momentum is certainly something Byron has benefited from this year. And he credits a lot of that to his new crew chief Chad Knaus, who previously led his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson to seven Cup titles.

In Byron’s 2018 rookie Monster Energy Series season, he had four top 10s and no top fives. He’s had four top 10s in the last two months under Knaus’ guidance, including a career best runner-up finish in the summer Daytona race. In all, Byron has eight top 10s and two top fives — career highs — with 11 races still remaining in the season.

And it all translates into a hefty dose of playoff confidence at just the right time. Byron is currently ranked 13th in the point standings and has already clinched his postseason berth.

“I’m excited,’’ Byron said of his championship position. “I don’t really know what to do or what to expect or anything. But obviously having been in the series last year and having seen the way that the races played out, it’s just all about getting down to business and pretty much doing the same thing that you’ve been doing to get here and just try to eliminate mistakes.

“I think that is the biggest thing. I’m going to try to definitely have really clean races and that starts this weekend for us and just trying to build the momentum for it and make sure we execute a good race.”

Byron has previous top-10 finishes at three of the playoff venues — an eighth-place finish at the Dover 1-miler earlier this season, ninth at Phoenix last year and a top 10 at Texas both last year (10th) and this year (sixth).

“I think anywhere we’ve been and then go a second time, like Vegas and Richmond’’ are places Byron says he feels especially optimistic about. “That second or third round, Texas would be a good track for us. I think Texas and Kansas would be good, too, because we’ve been there already this year.

“Anywhere that Chad (Knaus) and I go for the second time is going to pay off.’’

Posted on by Staff Report

Paul Menard snuck into the top spot on the leaderboard just before the end of final Monster Energy Series practice, and Denny Hamlin smacked his No. 11 Toyota hard into the wall after the red-and-black flag already had been displayed as his car erupted into flames at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday.

RELATED: Final practice results

The 50-minute practice session had already ended when Hamlin’s car did not turn as it approached Turn 4, it careened into the wall and fire trailed behind his rear bumper. He brought his car to a stop soon afterward, and exited the vehicle. His crew rolled out his backup car immediately.

“It was big for sure,” Hamlin told NBCSN of the end of practice incident. “It was the last corner and I think the red flag had been out for a minute or so. We had just got into Turn 1 when the red went out and we were going to finish our lap. It just blew a right-front. We hadn’t seen any wear issues so we might have run something over or whatever.”

Meanwhile, Menard’s lap of 185.079 mph in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford bettered Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s second-fastest lap of 184.151 mph in his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

Last week’s Darlington winner Erik Jones in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (183.550 mph), Chris Buescher in the No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet (183.385 mph) and Matt DiBenedetto in the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota (183.050 mph) rounded out the top five.

The Monster Energy Series returns to the track Sunday morning for Busch Pole Qualifying at 10:35 a.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App) before the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard (2 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

FIRST PRACTICE
Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Kyle Larson and Kurt Busch topped the leaderboard in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with Larson wheeling his No. 42 Chevrolet around the 2.5-mile track for a fast lap of 185.025 mph on Saturday.

RELATED: First practice results

Busch, meanwhile, was second-fastest at 184.763 mph in his No. 1 Chevrolet in the practice session in preparation for Sunday’s regular-season finale, the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard (2 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Brad Keselowski in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford (184.600 mph), Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (184.305 mph) and Bubba Wallace in the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet (183.685 mph) rounded out the top five.

Jimmie Johnson, who is a four-time winner at Indianapolis and is currently below the cutline for the 16-driver playoff field, led for much of the session, but wound up with the ninth-fastest lap of 182.700 mph in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

The No. 95 Toyota of Matt DiBenedetto served a 15-minute practice hold at the end of the session for failing inspection twice at Darlington last week.