Posted on by Staff Report

David Gravel won his first Knoxville Nationals race, his trip to Victory Lane punctuating a four-day event that ended early Sunday morning on the East Coast. It may have been one of the more emotional victories in the 59-year history of the race, too.

Gravel’s victory in the country’s preeminent sprint car race came with Jason Johnson Racing in an Axalta-sponsored No. 41, with supporter Jeff Gordon watching and cheering.

Johnson died last year due to injuries sustained in a wreck while racing. His widow opted to keep Jason Johnson Racing going, and Gravel was selected to fill the seat. The choice paid off in a huge way. Moments after the win, Gravel and Jaxx Johnson — Jason Johnson’s son — celebrated together.

Dubbed the “Granddaddy Of Them All,” the 59th Knoxville Nationals hosted more than 100 sprint cars at Knoxville Raceway, a half-mile clay oval that served as the site for the four-day showdown. Gravel won his Qualifying Night feature race on Thursday to automatically qualify for Saturday night’s 24-car A-Main. His prize for winning was $150,000.

Gordon, who vouched for Gravel and urged Axalta to sponsor the car for the event, celebrated the win as well.

Logan Schuchart finished second, followed by World of Outlaws star Daryn Pittman, Tim Kaeding and Aaron Reutzel.

Brad Sweet, last year’s Knoxville Nationals winner, finished sixth for team owner Kasey Kahne. Sheldon Haudenschild, who drives for team owner Ricky Stenhouse Jr., took seventh. Rico Abreu qualified for the A-Main and finished 22nd.

Chip Ganassi Racing driver Kyle Larson fell a couple spots shy of qualifying for Saturday night’s A-Main during his qualifying session on Wednesday. With the Monster Energy Series racing in Michigan all weekend, Larson did not further attempt to make the main event at Iowa, but he showed up at the track Saturday to sign autographs and take in the racing.

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

BROOKLYN, Mich. — It was a roller coaster day for ThorSport Racing in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series regular season finale on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.

As Grant Enfinger collected the regular-season championship for the organization, Austin Hill’s victory in the Irish Hills meant no first-time 2019 winner — thereby punching Matt Crafton’s ticket into the playoffs on points.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing after Crafton got into the back of Tyler Ankrum’s No. 17 DGR-Crosley Toyota before even getting to the line for a restart with two laps remaining. That contacted spurred a seven-car pileup on the frontstretch.

RELATED: Full race results | Enfinger clinches regular season title

“The one I really have to say sorry to out here is Ankrum,” Crafton said. “We had a phenomenal, phenomenal restart before that, that shoved him out to the lead. I think he just spun his tires just a little bit when I got to him and went to try to help him. Nothing ill-intended there. I was just trying to help him out and shove him up to the lead and maybe get me to second.”

Unfortunately for ThorSport, there was only room for three of the team’s four drivers in the postseason with Johnny Sauter previously locked into the seven-race stretch with a win at Dover. That left Ben Rhodes as the odd man out.

Rhodes flexed muscle for the majority of Saturday afternoon’s 100-lap event, leading 15 laps and swapping positions in the top 10. But a punctured tire forced Rhodes to pit in the final stage, dashing the No. 99 driver’s playoffs hopes after entering the day in a must-win situation.

RELATED: Hill wins, playoffs field is set

“If we didn’t have bad luck this year, we’d have no luck at all for the season,” Rhodes said. “I don’t know why that is. I do believe that you make your own luck and we’ve been in bad situations, whether that would be parts failures or tires going down. … It seems like for whatever reason, bad luck has found us this year.”

Just because Rhodes isn’t in the playoffs doesn’t mean he’s still focused on his singular goal for this season: a victory. And he’ll do whatever it takes to get one.

“Get out of my way because we’re going to win as many races as we can,” Rhodes said. “We’re basically going to be on the Kyle Busch strategy. We’re going to take advantage on pit stops and we’re going after every win we can get.”

With the eight-driver playoff field set, defending Gander Trucks champion Brett Moffitt is the first seed, with Enfinger three points back before the first-round bout kicks off at Bristol on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Crafton now sits in sixth, 11 points back, while Sauter is 13 points behind in seventh.

Posted on by Staff Report

According to a report on RacinBoys.com, the Jimmie Johnson-Ryan Blaney feud is over.

Blaney told the outlet he brought beers to Johnson’s motorhome Friday night, the two drivers talked, and they agreed to put their different opinions of what happened between them last week at Watkins Glen International behind them.

“We talked for half an hour,” Blaney told RacinBoys.com. “I thought it ended really well. It was just a discussion, two guys talking, explaining our sides. We didn’t agree on some things, but it was agree to disagree on a few things.”

Johnson confirmed Blaney’s account in a Sunday appearance on FS1’s RaceDay Live, saying Blaney appeared with a pair of tall cans of craft brew from New Hampshire.

“Of course you get to the track and questions are asked and it starts swirling and questions get more specific, and it makes things swirl more and more,” Johnson told FS1. “But at the end of the day, Ryan came and knocked on the bus Friday night and showed up with two beers in hand and we sat down and talked about it. I wish it could have happened earlier and sooner. It would’ve saved us both probably some grief, but this stuff happens in racing. We’re not the first ones to disagree on what happened on track and we won’t be the last.”

Johnson was angered last weekend when he spun after what he viewed as Blaney running through him late in the race at Watkins Glen. Blaney said he was simply racing Johnson hard.

The verbal sparring continued Friday when Johnson said he was disappointed he didn’t receive a mid-week phone call from Blaney to apologize.

“There was a window of opportunity there from my standpoint for Ryan to handle it a certain way, to engage in at least the way that I know I have when it wasn’t on purpose and I have yet to see or hear from him,” Johnson told NASCAR.com. “So, that only validates my line of thought and how angry I was in the car.”

From Blaney’s standpoint, no apology was necessary.

“I have nothing to apologize about,” Blaney told NASCAR.com Friday. “He came down on me. I apologized to him right then and there, even though it was his fault. I have a lot of respect for Jimmie — or had a lot of respect – that’s why I kind of let him chew my ass out for a minute, minute-and-a-half or whatever he did and I didn’t go back into him, especially when he put a finger in my face.

“Then his comments after we got done talking pretty much threw all that out the window. That respect is very little.”

RELATED: Johnson waiting for apology, Blaney says it’s not coming

According to Blaney, though, the two drivers have agreed to put their differences aside and race each other cleanly.

“In my eyes, it ended really well,” Blaney told RacinBoys.com. “Jimmie is a good friend of mine. It’s just the whole week has been blown up — blown out of proportion a lot — for sure. I got his side and said I didn’t appreciate what he said about me afterward and explained it. And I was fine with it.

“No, the racing side-by-side with him doesn’t worry me. We’re still going to race each other hard like we always have, but it was good to talk to him at the race track face-to-face.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

Austin Cindric claimed his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in as many weeks – earning an impressive 3.78-second win over Christopher Bell and former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup driver AJ Allmendinger on Saturday afternoon at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.

The 20-year old Cindric had just celebrated his career first win last week at the Watkins Glen International road course and with a huge smile, effusively wondered what may be next for his No. 22 Team Penske Ford as the series heads to the half-mile Bristol  Motor Speedway next week. Should he win at Bristol he would become the first driver in NASCAR Xfinity Series history to earn his first three wins in consecutive races.

RELATED: Race results

“It feels good, two in row and going for three at Bristol,” Cindric said after climbing out of his Ford Mustang. “I’ll probably go crazy if I win there. Should be a lot of fun. This is great momentum for our group.”

Cindric is the seventh different winner in seven Xfinity Series races at the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio course and his day included impressive feats of both maintaining the lead and high pursuit to reclaim it between pit strategies. He won the pole position by a full three-tenths of a second and held “favorite” status before the green flag even dropped.

Much of the race was spent negotiating restarts and high-speed turns with Bell on his bumper or at his door – as well as fending off another road racing star in Jack Hawksworth, who actually won in class in an International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) race at Mid-Ohio already this year and made his series debut in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota.

Hawksworth started from the outside pole and challenged the front-runners for much of the race, eventually finishing 15th and leading five laps. He also won the second stage, which finished under caution – one of six yellow flags for 17 laps on the afternoon.

”I enjoyed it, it was a lot of fun,” Hawksworth said after the race. “I was having a lot of fun out there. I had a great time and would like to come back.”

Cindric led 46 of the 75 laps and Bell, the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, was the only other driver in double digits out front. Bell is second in the championship standings to Tyler Reddick, who finished fourth Saturday. And after the race, the short track superstar conceded he is getting better on the road courses. Bell was second last week to Cindric, as well.

“I don’t know about that, but I do know we’re going to Bristol next week and I can’t wait,” he said, smiling about the road course prowess he’s shown with the back-to-back runner-up finishes. “The last two weeks have been really great for us points-wise and road racing isn’t my strong suit.”

Reddick, Bell and Cole Custer – who finished eighth Saturday after an eventful day on track – combined to win 13 of the first 18 Xfinity Series races of the season. With Bell’s second straight runner-up showing and Reddick’s fourth-place finish, the defending series champion Reddick maintains a 28-point championship lead on Bell heading to Bristol next week. Cindric joins this threesome as the only Xfinity drivers with multiple wins in 2019.

Chase Briscoe, defending race winner Justin Allgaier and rookie Noah Gragson persevered for a good day, as well. Briscoe won Stage 1 and finished seventh. Allgaier, the defending race winner, rallied to a sixth-place finish after a couple of off-track excursions. And the rookie Gragson, impressed with a fifth-place finish after also being involved in some tight, full-contact racing as well.

The series next races Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Food City 300 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App). Chip Ganassi Racing’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup star Kyle Larson won the Xfinity race last year.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Austin Hill’s victory in Saturday’s Corrigan Oil 200 at Michigan International Speedway provided sweet relief for two-time NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series champion Matt Crafton.

With Hill’s second victory of the season, Crafton has a chance to run for a third title, having cliched the final spot in the series Playoffs on points.

RELATED: Race results

The outcome — and Crafton’s fate — weren’t decided until the final moments of a race that went five laps beyond its scheduled distance of 100 laps. For two nail-biting laps of overtime, Sheldon Creed chased Hill, edging ever closer over the last two miles.

But Hill had the advantage off the final corner and beat Creed to the finish line by .125 seconds, denying Creed the playoff spot that went to Crafton. A victory by Creed would have knocked the two-time champion out of the postseason.

“It’s huge,” said Hill, who rebounded from a last-place finish in the previous race at Eldora Speedway. “We’ve had a struggle these last four or five races. We just keep having issues and just can’t finish these races.”

Hill’s winning No. 16 Toyota was brand new, unveiled for this race — appropriately since Hill was racing at Michigan for the first time in the series.

“When we unloaded, we had to work out some bugs in it, but we got it driving really good,” said Hill, who also won the season opener at Daytona. “I was really happy with the speed of it. Man, this race was crazy.”

A nine-car wreck moments after a restart with four laps left in regulation set up the overtime. Tyler Ankrum, the leader at the time, spun his tires, and a well-intentioned push Crafton turned him around and started the melee. The wreck collected NASCAR Playoff hopeful Todd Gilliland, who had driven up to eighth after pitting for tires on Lap 88.

WATCH: Ankrum sparks “Big One” at Michigan

Needing a victory to qualify for the postseason, Gilliland had led 14 laps to that point, but the wreck ended his hopes.

Similarly, Ben Rhodes saw his playoff chances fall apart when he had to pit under green with a cut tire with 21 laps left. Rhodes had led 15 laps before his ill fortune. He and Gilliland finished 23rd and 24th respectively.

Crafton had some nervous moments before he clinched his playoff berth. After a restart on Lap 70, three-drivers on win-or-bust missions — Gilliland, Rhodes and Harrison Burton — were running first through third.

“When all three, the 18 (Burton), the 4 (Gilliland) and the 99 (Rhodes) … when all those guys are 1-2-3 at one point, I’m like, ‘I better get up on the saddle and dig,’” Crafton said. “I was definitely doing everything I could to shuffle them out.”

Tyler Dippel finished a career-best third, followed by Brett Moffitt and Austin Wayne Self. Bayley Currey, Grant Enfinger, Stewart Friesen, Ray Ciccarelli and Crafton completed the top 10.

Enfinger clinched a spot in the playoffs when he took the green flag. By the end of the first stage, he had locked up the regular-season title — and accompanying 15 playoff points — with a sixth-place finish.

MORE: Enfinger seals regular-season title

Crafton, the only driver with a remote chance to catch Enfinger for the regular-season championship, had to start from the rear of the field because of an engine change. The driver of the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford climbed to 10th by the end of the first stage, but by then, his chances of unseating his teammate were gone.

Polesitter Ross Chastain won Stage 1 wire-to-wire, but a three-truck accident on pit road cost him dearly. While exiting his stall under caution on Lap 23, Johnny Sauter collided with the No. 9 Chevrolet of Codie Rohrbaugh, knocking Rohrbaugh into the right side of Chastain’s Chevrolet.

RELATED: Chastain involved in multi-truck wreck

Chastain, Sauter and Rohrbaugh all spent extra time on pit road dealing with the damage, but Chastain was the primary victim, his race over.

“It was gut-wrenching, for sure,” Chastain said after leaving the infield care center. “It was a shame, but that’s part of racing. They can’t all be great days. … It’s tough to lose a race with a truck like we had today.”

Eight drivers — Chastain, Hill, Ankrum, Sauter, Enfinger, Moffitt, Friesen and Crafton — will start their potential title runs on Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Posted on by Staff Report

Grant Enfinger sealed the regular-season championship for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series by clinching an insurmountable points gap during Saturday’s race at Michigan International Speedway.

RELATED: Race results | Truck standings

Enfinger’s ThorSport Racing No. 98 Ford finished sixth in the opening stage of the Corrigan Oil 200, securing the points needed for the regular-season crown. He locked up a berth in the eight-driver postseason field by merely starting the race, then went on to a seventh-place finish in the regular-season finale.

“It’s definitely huge. It’s a huge accomplishment,” Enfinger said post-race. “We haven’t won a race yet, but we did get this. It’s a big deal for the playoffs — 15 playoff points — but also something to hang our hat on that we got out of hard work, perseverance. We finished seventh today, but had a 27th-place truck yesterday. That’s how our year has been. It hasn’t always been pretty, but we’ve always made the most of it.”

Enfinger entered the race still searching for his first win of the Gander Trucks season. His consistency — 13 top-10 finishes in 16 races — has helped him find his path onto the postseason grid.

This is only the second year NASCAR has crowned a regular-season champion in all three national series. Johnny Sauter claimed the Gander Outdoors Truck Series’ inaugural award in 2018.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is a realist, and he can do the math.

Given that Stenhouse is 20th in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings, 78 points behind the last eligible playoff position, Stenhouse knows only too well that there’s only one path to NASCAR’s postseason.

RELATED: Driver standings | Michigan starting lineup

“One hundred percent, we have to win,” Stenhouse said Friday at Michigan International Speedway, site of Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “It’s a bummer, because I feel like we have been fast compared to the previous years, at least on the 1.5-mile tracks.

“It’s a bummer that we are kind of in that spot, but I think we can get our car good here and strategy — there are all different ways these races can play out. I don’t think Michigan is our best opportunity to win, but I do think it is an opportunity that if the situation arises that you might be able to get something done. Bristol is by far the one that we circle.”

Stenhouse is right to consider Bristol his best hope. Though both his career Cup victories have come on superspeedways, Stenhouse has four top fives in 13 starts at Thunder Valley, including second-place runs in 2014 and 2016. In this year’s spring race, Stenhouse had a fast No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, but a backstretch wreck on the second lap of the event ruined his chances.

“I think Bristol is our race track to go in and do what we need to do,” Stenhouse said. “I’m bummed in the spring that we didn’t get to race and show exactly how much speed we had, because throughout the weekend in practice that was by far the best race car that I have ever had at Bristol.

“I know we have ran second there and struggled in practice and qualifying. I was bummed that we didn’t get to show that speed. I’m thinking that, when we go back there, we will have that same speed and hopefully showcase what we’ve got.”

A spot in the playoffs likely depends on it.

Posted on by Staff Report

Erik Jones made some home-state headway in Saturday’s final Monster Energy Series practice, topping the leaderboard at Michigan International Speedway.

Jones pushed the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota to a best lap of 189.843 mph in the 50-minute final tune-up for Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM). Jones is searching for his first Michigan win and some stability on the postseason bubble in Sunday’s 400-miler.

RELATED: Final practice results, lap averages

Alex Bowman clinched the second spot on the speed chart, guiding the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet at 188.763 mph. Kevin Harvick, who led Saturday’s opening practice, was third-best at 188.640 in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford.

Austin Dillon was fourth-fastest with Daniel Suarez completing the top five. Suarez’s speed was offset by an incident with 17 minutes left in practice, when he lost control of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Ford and brushed the outside retaining wall in Turn 2.

WATCH: Suarez saves spin

Suarez limped his car back to the garage with damage to the right-rear fender and a flat left-rear tire, which caused his spin.

Brad Keselowski, who won the pole position in Friday qualifying, was 13th-best on the final practice chart.

Final practice holds: The Nos. 34 (Michael McDowell), 52 (Austin Theriault) and 53 (Spencer Boyd) were docked 15 minutes of practice time for being late out of the garage for inspection.

Harvick builds head of steam in Saturday’s early practice

Kevin Harvick clocked the fastest lap time during Saturday morning’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Michigan International Speedway, reminding people how he won this August race a year ago.

The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford had a best time of 37.795 seconds around the 2-miler, going around at a high 190.501 mph.

Just 0.096 seconds behind Harvick was Kyle Busch with a fast lap of 37.891 seconds and 190.019 mph. William Byron was then in third at 37.895 seconds and 189.999 mph.

RELATED: Practice 2 results | Full Michigan schedule

Erik Jones (37.918 seconds, 189.883 mph) and Joey Logano (37.922 seconds, 189.863 mph) rounded out the top five. Logano won the series’ June race here.

Busch Pole Award winner Brad Keselowski came in 18th, timing a 38.127-second lap at 188.843 mph. As the final driver to qualify Friday, Keselowski had a 37.801-second time and 190.471 mph speed.

Last Sunday’s winner at Watkins Glen International, Chase Elliott, had the 22nd-fast lap at 38.208 seconds and 188.442 mph.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

Kyle Larson knew the score when he entered the Knoxville Nationals this year. A lackluster preliminary would end his chances for one of the dirt titles he covets most.

Besides, his day job with Chip Ganassi Racing is far too important. Larson is 14th in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings with four races left in the regular season, and he’s not locked into the playoffs.

So when Larson failed to advance to the feature at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway on Wednesday, he knew the logistics for a Friday return just wouldn’t work, given the 5:05 p.m. ET qualifying start time at Michigan International Speedway.

RELATED: Michigan starting lineup

“I’ve always said that, if I didn’t have a good prelim night, I wouldn’t be able to go back,” Larson said Friday afternoon at MIS. “It’s a bummer, but like I said, I already knew it going into it. I just needed to do better on Wednesday.”

Nor will Larson try to race his way through multiple races Saturday. Instead, he will return to Knoxville to cheer on the winged 410 sprint car he fields for driver Carson Macedo.

RELATED: Gordon in Knoxville Victory Lane

“No, we wouldn’t race on Saturday because, with me not racing tonight, I’d have to start like last in the E-main, and it’s pretty much impossible to transfer,” Larson said. “I couldn’t pass anybody the other night, so why would I be able to pass people tomorrow?”

For those who might question if Larson’s racing in other series might hurt his Cup effort, he has a definitive answer.

“To me, the way I view it, the more often I’m racing, the better I’m becoming,” said Larson, who qualified 17th for Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“I would race every single day of the week if I could, and I believe it would help me.”