Posted on by Reid Spencer

AVONDALE, Ariz. – In a Saturday qualifying session that provided validation that the cream rises to the top, Kyle Busch earned his first pole position of the season, as seven Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers claimed the top seven positions on the grid.

Navigating one-mile ISM Raceway in a blistering 25.693 seconds 140.116 mph, Busch edged Joey Logano (139.752 mph) by .067 seconds for Sunday’s Bluegreen Vacations 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the race that will determine which four drivers will race for the series championship on Nov. 17 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

RELATED: Qualifying results | Full Phoenix schedule

Busch is currently third in the playoff standings, two points ahead of defending series champion Logano in fourth and 22 points better than Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin in fifth, the first driver below the cutline for the Championship 4.

Hamlin qualified third on Saturday at 139.394 mph, one spot ahead of teammate Martin Truex Jr., who is already locked into the Championship 4 by virtue of his victory in the opening race of the Round of 8 at Martinsville.

“I think this is actually the first race all year we made a mock (qualifying) run in practice,” said Busch, who won his first Busch Pole Award of the season, his fourth at ISM Raceway and the 32nd of his career. “Maybe there’s something to that. The guys did a great job. We fight hard every week trying to figure out what we need to do to continue to improve and get better, and a lot of others guys have certainly done that over the year.”

Track position is of paramount importance at Phoenix, as is the No. 1 pit stall, which Busch earned with his qualifying run.

“Hopefully today bodes well for tomorrow,” he said. “I really don’t know. The schedule is all different with all practice all in one day and then just qualifying today. Overall, proud to start out front in this very important race and very important with track position and such.”

Kyle Larson, tied for sixth in the standings with Ryan Blaney, qualified fifth, one position ahead of Chase Elliott, who is eighth among the playoff contenders and must win on Sunday to advance to the Championship 4.

Kevin Harvick, who locked into the final race with last Sunday’s win at Texas, will start seventh on Sunday. Blaney qualified 10th, as all playoff drivers will start within the top five rows on Sunday.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials ejected four car chiefs Saturday after their cars failed pre-qualifying inspection twice at ISM Raceway near Phoenix.

All four cars passed inspection on their third try, but those teams will be docked 15 minutes of practice time next weekend in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

RELATED: Full schedule at ISM Raceway | Wallace penalized, fined

The offending teams and their car chiefs (as listed on this weekend’s team rosters):

  • No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for driver Chase Elliott (car chief Josh Kirk)
  • No. 15 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet for driver Ross Chastain (car chief Mark Fordham)
  • No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for driver William Byron (car chief Tyler Jones)
  • No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota for driver Matt DiBenedetto (car chief Greg Emmer)

A third failure would have cost those teams their qualifying attempt in Saturday’s session ahead of Sunday’s Bluegreen Vacations 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Of the four teams, Elliott is the lone playoff driver in the bunch and is in need of a win in this race to advance on to the Championship 4.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Five years ago, the newly revamped NASCAR Playoffs received its first “signature moment” in its inaugural season when Ryan Newman forcibly moved then-rookie Kyle Larson up the track at ISM Raceway to squeeze one extra, necessary point out of his finish and move on to the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway the following week.

It was widely discussed at the time – was this type of maneuver now fair game? Is this the new normal? Would Larson do the same if roles were reversed?

Newman nearly capitalized on his willfulness to make the Championship 4, coming up just one position short to champion Kevin Harvick at Miami and finishing second in the standings despite not finding his way to Victory Lane over the entire season.

The first two questions remain hotly debated in the garage to this day, but we now know what the Chip Ganassi Racing driver, down 23 points to the cutline ahead of Sunday’s Bluegreen Vacations 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio) is willing to do if faced with a similar decision.

“Immediately when it happens you’re upset, but by the time I got out of the car I was like, ‘You know what? He had to do that and it gave him a shot at the championship.’ He was close to winning the next weekend at Homestead so it was a great move on his part,” Larson told NASCAR.com on Friday.

MORE: What Round of 8 contenders are saying

“Obviously if I’m in that same position, you’ve got to try and do something. There’s a lot on the line. We all want to win a championship. To give yourself the opportunity next week you might have to take some risks you might not typically take. Hopefully it’s Newman in front of me if it does come down to that. Hopefully we’re just checked out in the lead and don’t have to worry about that.”

If Larson hopes to be checked out in the front of the field, chances are likely that he had to find his way around Phoenix masters Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, both currently either already locked in or on the right side of the cutoff line, respectively.

“Harvick’s always dominant, Kyle Busch as well. They’ll be tough to beat for sure, but the way strategies and things work out you never know what could happen.

“You look at data and kind of see what driving styles they have. Harvick drives so different compared to everybody at a lot of race tracks, but I feel like Kyle and I are pretty similar driving style-wise, just looking at the data. If we can get our car handling right, I think we’ll be good.”

MORE: Clinching scenarios | Phoenix preview

Even still, the pressure to perform-or-else isn’t getting to him – it might not even exist within Larson, as the 27-year-old is so cool and collected at the moment it’s almost medically concerning.

“I haven’t felt any pressure yet, really throughout these whole playoffs. Just kind of taking it week by week and treating it like it’s no different,” he said. “I feel good. Obviously I’d feel a lot better if we were in the top four right now, but we can still get it done with a good points day if we want to have a shot. But we can go out there and win and make it to the final four that way. We’ve run well here the last few years so hopefully we have a good shot.”

Winning or otherwise, Larson is willing to do whatever it takes to advance. Even if it means revisiting history — this time, for the better.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

AVONDALE, Ariz. — NASCAR issued a behavioral penalty to Richard Petty Motorsports driver Bubba Wallace on Saturday for intentionally manipulating competition last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

The driver has been fined $50,000 and docked 50 driver points as a result.

RELATED: Spins are a judgment call

Wallace brought out a caution during a green-flag pit cycle when his car spun after a tire began going down. In a brief interview with NBC Sports’ Dustin Long on Friday, Wallace said the following when asked if he was worried about a potential penalty: “Until they do anything, no. I’m not the only one to do it.”

Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, met with media on Saturday morning at ISM Raceway to discuss the infraction.

“If we feel like it’s on purpose and we have enough information to determine that 100% it’s on purpose, we will react,” Miller said. “The reaction today was after a complete admission of guilt, so that’s really what led to the penalty happening today.

“… That was a full admission of something that has been abuzz in the garage and the media. (A warning instead of a penalty) wasn’t an option.”

Richard Petty Motorsports put out a statement shortly after the penalty was announced, accepting NASCAR’s decision and noting that Wallace will not appeal.

“We fully understand NASCAR’s position and expectations of its competitors,” said Philippe Lopez, Richard Petty Motorsports’ director of competition. “NASCAR has a difficult job officiating race events and we do not need to make the task more challenging. Wallace will not appeal the penalty, and will direct his immediate focus to this weekend’s event at the ISM Raceway.”

Kyle Larson, a playoff driver running in the top five at the time of last Sunday’s incident, and others had to alter their pit strategy at Texas as a result. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver was perhaps the most vocal to question if Wallace intentionally spun his No. 43 Chevrolet, and later Friday said his team looked at the data, which bolstered his claim.

“We looked at Bubba’s data the next day,” Larson said. “You could definitely see, because we have SMT (SportsMEDIA Technology) where you have the digital car, you could see him like swerving, he turns right and at the same time he turns left and stabs the throttle and spins out. It’s whatever at this point.”

Miller, however, disagreed that the call was as black and white as Larson presented it.

“I would dispute that the data clearly shows (an intentional spin) … we don’t have a lot of data comparison of a guy trying to drive a car with a flat tire. So we’ve looked at all that and we don’t really feel it’s as straightforward as some of the others do as far as the data showing definitively that he did it on purpose.

With precedent now set and the message clear – “Don’t do it,” Miller cautioned – the hope is that this will not be an issue moving forward.

“We haven’t spoken to the drivers, but this obviously is going to start some dialogue. … We have the ability to react monetarily and points-wise, what we feel is appropriate. I’d say this is pretty substantial and hopefully sends the right message,” Miller expanded, adding that he hoped the ruling impacts how drivers react when they have flats going forward.

“All we can do is wait and watch and see how we need to react next.

“Hopefully we don’t. Hopefully it cleans itself up.”

Posted on by Pat DeCola

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Austin Hill didn’t want to know how the Gander Outdoors Truck Series Playoffs points were lining up at any point during Friday’s Lucas Oil 150 at ISM Raceway.

Thus, the Hattori Racing Enterprises driver and polesitter received rather disappointing news as the checkered flag fell that he did not, in fact, advance to Homestead-Miami Speedway for next weekend’s Championship 4 showdown.

Minutes later on pit road, his dejection as he spoke with reporters was tangible.

RELATED: Full results

“I just wanted to go out there and finish the best we possibly could and wherever we ended up, we ended up. If we made it, we made it. If we didn’t, we didn’t,” Hill said after placing 13th, six points out of the final transfer spot. “I hate that we finished where we did, especially after qualifying on the pole. I definitely had high hopes for this race after qualifying on the pole and showing speed in second practice. So we’ll go to Homestead and regroup for next year. … just a bummer.”

The 25-year-old piloted the No. 16 Toyota to three wins in 2019 – the first three of his career – but was unable to propel the truck back to the Championship 4 once again. The team moved on from ’18 champion Brett Moffitt after the season in favor of Hill.

RELATED: Hill to return to Hattori for 2020 season

“I definitely felt like I made somewhat of a statement but I really wanted to bring back a championship back-to-back for these guys,” said Hill. “That’s the only thing that’s really frustrating about it that I feel like I didn’t achieve this year. Marked off all the other boxes except for at least giving us a shot at Homestead and we didn’t do that.”

After clinching his berth on points after Stage 2, Moffitt will once again battle for the title next weekend racing for GMS Racing, along with Ross Chastain, Friday’s winner Stewart Friesen and two-time champ Matt Crafton, who was the last one in over Hill.

Tyler Ankrum was the other driver eliminated, putting an end to a magical season for the high-reaching rookie Californian.

“I think we went a lot further than a lot of people expected our program to do, especially where we started from nothing and went to something,” Ankrum said after placing 26th. “In most people’s eyes, we overachieved, but maybe in some people’s eyes we could’ve gone to Homestead and I think we could’ve too, just didn’t pan out the way we wanted it to.”

While Hill and Ankrum will look to play spoiler, Chastain, Crafton, Friesen and Moffitt will put it all on the line in next Friday’s Ford EcoBoost 200 finale (8 p.m. ET, FS1).

Posted on by Reid Spencer

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Stewart Friesen thought he had led the first lap of Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 at ISM Raceway in Phoenix.

He was wrong.

After suffering a penalty for jumping the start of the race, however, Friesen rallied to lead the lap that counted most — the last one — and secured a spot in next weekend’s Championship 4 race with the second NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series victory of the season and his career.

RELATED: Official results

“We’ve got a badass piece for next week, too,” promised Friesen, who will try for the title next Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Friesen will have to contend with defending series champion Brett Moffitt, who locked himself into the Championship 4 after finishing ninth in the second stage of Friday night’s race.

Ross Chastain also gained a berth in the title race with a 14-place finish, and two-time series champion Matt Crafton claimed the final spot after finishing sixth — and edging pole winner Austin Hill (13th) — by six points for the final spot.

After the fifth and final caution of the evening for a wreck in Turn 3 involving Sam Mayer and John Hunter Nemechek, Friesen charged into the lead before past Brandon Jones and Ben Rhodes and led the final 44 circuits.

It was no cakewalk, though. With five laps left, Jones made a last-ditch run to the inside of Friesen but couldn’t get past the No. 52 Chevrolet. Friesen pulled away on the last two laps to beat Jones to the finish line by .860 seconds.

“It was a great race car,” said Friesen, who was sent to the rear of the field after getting to the stripe ahead of Hill, who spun his tires on the initial start. “We were able to pass ‘em all, pass ‘em all clean,” said Friesen.

“Great race car, great race team. We’ll all celebrate tomorrow, and then it’s game on.”

Moffitt came to Phoenix with the series lead and was first to clinch a spot in the final race. But the driver of the No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet, who won last year’s championship driving for Hattori Racing Enterprises, had two objectives on Friday.

My main concern for the day was getting us locked into the owner points as well,” Moffitt said. “We got both jobs done today.”

Chastain finished with a 13-point margin over Hill, who lost ground to Crafton on the Lap 107 restart and never recovered. Chastain didn’t declare for the Truck Series championship until nine races into the season but qualified for the Championship 4 nevertheless.

“Man, this is crazy — a dream come true though,” Chastain said.

Crafton came to Phoenix nine points behind Hill but made up most of the deficit with 17 points combined in the first two stages.

“I didn’t have anything to lose and everything to gain,” Crafton said. “And that’s the way I drove it from the green flag to the checkered flag.”

Hill joined fellow Toyota driver Tyler Ankrum on the sidelines for the final race. Ankrum suffered early damage and finished 26th, six laps down. Hill simply didn’t have any juice on the restarts.

“We just didn’t have any short-run speed,” Hill said. “I hate it for my guys. I just couldn’t do anything on the restarts. The front end would slide, the rear would slide, and during that last long green-flag run, it was terrible.

“I hate that we finished where we did, especially after qualifying from the pole. I definitely had high hopes for the race after qualifying on the pole and showing speed in second practice. We’ll move on to Homestead and regroup for next year.”

Chandler Smith finished third, followed by Rhodes and Grant Enfinger. Crafton, Harrison Burton, Johnny Sauter, Chastain and Moffitt completed the top 10.

Posted on by Holly Cain

Truth be told, Chase Elliott says he was already over a tough playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway and looking ahead to this week’s Bluegreen Vacations 500 at Phoenix’s ISM Raceway (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) by the time the checkered flag flew on the Texas high banks last Sunday.

A single-car accident only nine laps into the race relegated Elliott to a 32nd-place finish. The week before, a mechanical issue with his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet left him 36th in the final order. And now Elliott enters the final race of this playoff round 78 points behind fourth-place Joey Logano in the championship standings – making Sunday’s race a must-win situation at the Phoenix one-miler for a shot in the Championship 4 next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

RELATED: Full schedule for Phoenix

And as disappointed and frustrated as Elliott may have been last Sunday in Texas, he appeared very much up for the tall task this week, calm and thoughtful while speaking with reporters at ISM Raceway.

“I had 475 miles to think about it last week,” Elliott said, shaking his head. “I deserved that, really — to ride around 475 miles and think about it. And I’d say by mile 400, I was pretty much over it and thinking about Phoenix. I was cruising around just thinking about what we needed to do to be better (at Phoenix). Obviously we were just in a position we needed to finish. My mindset had moved on.

“At the time, that’s about all I could do. I’m glad I was able to do that. I’m not dwelling on last week. We still have an opportunity ahead right here and right now and we either make the most of it or we don’t.”

Looking ahead to the final regular-season race at the historic track in the desert, had to have given Elliott something positive to take his mind off things.

The 23-year-old Elliott has an average finish of 11.3 in the three ISM Raceway playoff races he’s competed in, including a career-best showing at the track of runner-up in the 2017 edition. He answered that with a third-place showing in the 2018 spring race.

MORE: Playoff standings | Clinch scenarios

In all, Elliott has four top-10 finishes in seven starts. He sat on the outside pole and led a personal-best 106 laps in the 2017 spring race, finishing 12th.

Elliott, a three-race winner this year, realizes the odds may be against him. But he has battled through a tough playoff round already this year – rallying to a runner-up finish at Kansas Speedway in the Round of 12’s final race. It was just enough to advance him to the Round of 8 and give him opportunity to try and make his career first Championship 4.

“We were in a tough spot in that second round too, so it’s definitely not where you want to be in any means, but I do think we still have a chance this weekend,” Elliott said. “I feel like our team has worked really hard to get us this far. We could have very easily not made it past Kansas and been out then.

“There’s three races in every round for a reason and you just can’t let those first two weeks affect your mindset, your approach, your aggressiveness and your will to want to win in this last opportunity,” Elliott continued.

Certainly it’s been a boomerang of a playoffs for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ 2018 Most Popular Driver. Through the first eight races, Elliott has four top-10 finishes, highlighted by a win at the Charlotte Roval. He also has three finishes of 32nd or worse.

As a whole, he’s turned in a career season. He tied his previous best season’s win total (2018: three wins), and has earned four poles this year, also a career-best feat.

Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team has shown the ability to rebound all season. After a 38th-place finish at Pocono Raceway this summer, he won the very next week at Watkins Glen International. Then after a second 38th-place finish – at Dover International Speedway – Elliott won the pole position at Talladega and finished eighth.

Known for being his own worst critic, Elliott instead seemed especially motivated on Friday – ready to turn this season into a championship opportunity.

“We still have an entire race on Sunday,” Elliott reiterated. “I think you have to make sure you keep that in mind. It can definitely be challenging to look and say, “I crashed on lap eight last week’ and that’s not good obviously.

“But you just have to approach this week as a new one and know if we win on Sunday, we can race again next week and have a shot at the title.

“It’s just not over until it’s over.”

Since the inception of the elimination-style playoffs in 2014, Kevin Harvick is the only driver to race his way from the eighth position in the standings into the Championship 4 with a win at Phoenix. Harvick went on to win the 2014 championship a week later.

Posted on by Staff Report

Chase Elliott surged atop the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series leaderboard in Friday’s final practice at ISM Raceway near Phoenix.

Elliott powered the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet to a speed of 138.627 mph at the 1-mile oval. He faces a must-win situation in Sunday’s Bluegreen Vacations 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) to keep his championship hopes alive.

RELATED: Final practice results | Lap averages

Ryan Blaney secured the second-fastest lap in the Team Penske No. 12 Ford, clocking in at 137.206 mph. Kevin Harvick, a nine-time Phoenix winner, was third-fastest in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford.

Martin Truex Jr. — who, like Harvick, has already clinched a title shot — posted the fourth-fastest lap, and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five.

The eight remaining playoff-eligible drivers were all among the top 11 in the 50-minute session. Sunday’s race is the final event in the three-race Round of 8 that will determine the Championship 4 field for the Nov. 17 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Busch Pole Qualifying to set the starting lineup is scheduled Saturday at 2 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Kyle Busch sits atop first practice

Kyle Busch showed signs of early speed by topping Friday’s opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at ISM Raceway near Phoenix.

Busch landed a best lap of 137.562 mph on the 1-mile Arizona track to put the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota on top of the board. He’ll be aiming for his third consecutive Phoenix victory in Sunday’s Bluegreen Vacations 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Practice 1 results | Lap averages | Full schedule for Phoenix

Denny Hamlin, a teammate to Busch in the JGR No. 11 Toyota, was second-fastest with a lap of 137.478 mph. Matt DiBenedetto posted the third-best lap (137.169 mph) in the Leavine Family Racing No. 95 to complete at top-three sweep by Toyotas. Joey Logano was fourth-fastest with Kyle Larson capping the top five.

Three teams were penalized with 15-minute deductions of practice time after failing inspection twice last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. The three penalized teams:

  • No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Austin Dillon
  • No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  • No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson.
Posted on by Marla Bautista

Editor’s note: Marla Bautista is a military spouse and freelance author/writer. She attended her first race at Pocono Raceway as part of the NASCAR Salutes refreshed by Coca-Cola program over the summer.

NASCAR is the most patriotic sport in America, so it’s no surprise there is a current service member racing on the track. Jesse Iwuji, naval officer and NASCAR driver, proves he puts the go in goals.

During a recent interview Jesse said, “NASCAR is not like any other sport. I love how NASCAR is set up like the USA. It’s the land of opportunity. If you have grit, ethic and are willing to grind, you can turn yourself into something big.”

Iwuji currently races for the Reaume Brothers Racing team in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series.

Born to Nigerian immigrant parents, Jesse was one of four children raised in Carrollton, Texas. His parents taught him the importance of academic achievement and self-preservation. With the discipline instilled by his parents, he went into adulthood with a plan. A plan to be immensely successful.

Jesse Iwuji Nascar Vertical

After being recruited to the prestigious Naval Academy as a football player and playing for four years, he began working as a Surface Warfare Officer in the Navy. He loved serving his country, but he wanted more. He had an unrelenting desire to achieve greatness. Thus conceived, the whiteboard. Even in college, Jesse had a way of strategically working toward his goals. Using a whiteboard, he wrote down his long-term goals.

1. Race in the NASCAR Cup Series
2. Make $25 million per year profit
3. Start a family by age 35

Jesse’s climb to glory didn’t come without its challenges. His determination is derived from sheer will and brawn. He came into NASCAR with no money, no fan base, and over time, he captivated an audience with his story and earned his place in NASCAR.

Having sponsors is crucial in NASCAR, and Jesse knows this firsthand.

“Being able to connect with brands while representing your authentic self, is key in building lasting relationships and increasing your value as a driver,” he said.

It’s no secret the cost of racing has created a distinct separation between drivers and teams. But Jesse is resilient and has overcome every obstacle he’s faced. As a service member, he was taught to propel forward, even in the face of adversity. Jesse started his own small business to help cover his racing expenses.

There are many drivers and employees throughout NASCAR who are veterans or has someone in their family who has served in the armed forces. A study conducted by Pew Research Center found that there are over 18 million veterans in the United States; many of them having served in foreign wars dating back to the Korean War and earlier.

Iwuji is the only current active service member racing in one of the three national NASCAR series. We asked Jesse what his future military plans were and he said, “I will continue my time in the Navy Reserves until my retirement, and then who knows.”

Being patriotic was effortless and doing good unto others was something that came natural to Jesse. He recently teamed up with USAA for its Honor Through Action Campaign. This campaign focuses on expressing gratitude for Americans who have served.

At every race NASCAR shows its gratitude to our nation and the service members by inviting them to the track, creating programs like NASCAR Salutes that allows military members and their spouses an experience no amount of money can buy, and enlisting incoming service members in front of the most patriotic sports fans in America.

NASCAR is not any other sport. NASCAR fans are not like any other fans. Their love of country is second to none. Service is a form of patriotism. Without the sacrifice of our brave men and women with wouldn’t have the freedoms we exercise today. Thank you for your sacrifice and thank you for your service.