Hamlin sounds off on Logano after Dover playoff race

Posted on October 6, 2019October 7, 2019 by Pat DeCola

DOVER, Del. — As laps wound down in Stage 2 of Sunday’s NASCAR Playoffs Round of 12 opener at Dover International Speedway, Joey Logano raced leaders Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson hard — as to be expected.

Except that the No. 22 Team Penske Ford was … checks notes … 24 laps down at the time.

Moments before cars took the green flag for Dover’s 100th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, Logano went behind the wall and to the garage with a busted rear axle. The defending series champion’s day was essentially over before it began, but the 22 group decided to put the car back on the track to scrape together any points available.

RELATED: Official results | Playoff picture

“We’re out there racing. I’ve got to race. Here’s the situation … there’s four or five cars that I could possibly catch. That’s five points. I’m in by zero points right now, so we’ve better get ’em all,” Logano said on pit road following a 34th-place finish, 25 laps down. “So, when you think of that, I’ve got to try to get every car I possibly can. I’m still racing. I ran as hard as I could this whole race. Don’t have anything to show for it, but I ran it as if we were on the lead lap and did everything we possibly did to be better.”

Seems reasonable.

Hamlin, who led a race-high 218 laps from the pole en route to a fifth-place finish, felt Logano racing him as hard as he did impeded his shot at the win. Naturally, the viewpoint of Logano — Hamlin’s former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate that he’s had issues with in the past — differs from how he saw things.

“Make up position? He’s 24 laps down. That’s the most idiotic statement I’ve ever heard,” Hamlin said. “We’re battling for the end of the stage. It’s not your day, you had bad luck. We get it. But why? I don’t understand that at all. That’s just a stupid statement by an idiot. …

“ … Probably shouldn’t call Joey an idiot. He’s not an idiot. But that was just a bad choice to say that he’s fighting for something. He’s not fighting for anything, he’s just running around the race track. Stay in one lane. Maybe the high lane, because nobody’s up there. Get the laps over with. Get the race over with and go home and get ready for Talladega to try to win that race.”

Man, that seems reasonable, too.

Perhaps it just comes down personal ideology, then. Drive hard no matter what, or drive hard no matter what … as long as it doesn’t screw anybody else over.

Especially if it might come back to haunt you.

“I get it. Everyone races hard,” Hamlin said. “If you’re one lap down I get it. Even two, just not 24. It frustrates me because it’s just a lack of philosophy. All he did was piss some people off and what did he really gain? He didn’t gain anything. But he just pissed off some guys that he’s racing with now. So now we’re just going to race him extra hard, and for what? Because he didn’t want to go 26 laps down?”

“It remains to be seen (if Logano shot himself in the foot). Nobody’s going out there maliciously trying to screw over Joey. I don’t think anyone’s going to do that but I’m just saying that through these playoffs, you can’t make enemies. You’ve got to have give and take. It’s those deposits and withdrawals that I talked about with (Kevin) Harvick earlier this year. You gotta be able to say thank you. Thanks for that spot. … I don’t want to hear it’s just about racing. That’s not smart. Being smart is a part of racing, too. Not just skill.”

Expect cooler heads to prevail over the next two weeks — and Logano to still be in contention despite being on the bubble. Five combined wins at Talladega and Kansas point to him moving on to the Round of 8.

But remember this moment.

Martinsville looms — and something about Joey Logano, Joe Gibbs Racing and the fall playoff race at “The Paperclip” rings a certain bell.

MORE: Logano has mechanical issue before green flag

Posted on October 6, 2019October 6, 2019 by RJ Kraft

After the opening race of the Round of 12 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race, here’s a brief look at the playoff picture. There are two races remaining in the Round of 12 before the field is whittled to eight, with four drivers eliminated from the postseason following the Kansas race on Oct. 20.

Winner

Kyle Larson won at Dover International Speedway for his first win since a victory at Richmond in September of 2017 — that snapped a drought of 75 winless races for the Chip Ganassi Racing driver. The win also adds five playoff points to his total and locks him into the Round of 8. Larson will carry 11 playoff points into that round.

RELATED: Race results

Who’s hot

Alex Bowman. Bowman followed up his runner-up at the Charlotte Roval with a strong and steady third-place finish at Dover to give him three top-six finishes in the four playoff races so far. He entered the race minus-1 on the cutline in ninth and comes out of the race +17 to the cutline in seventh place. The Hendrick Motorsports driver nabbed runner-up finishes at Talladega and Kansas in the spring so the potential for continued strong performances is very much there.

Kevin Harvick. Harvick’s fourth-place finish was a workman-like effort. He didn’t lead any laps, but he nabbed a good points day to give him a nice buffer in the standings — especially considering the problems of others — heading to Talladega. The finish also marked his sixth straight top-seven finish this season and his 10th such finish in the past 11 races.

Who’s not

Ryan Blaney. It looked like Blaney was going to have a nice day as he scored stage points in both stages and was shaping up for a top-10 finish. However, the No. 12 Team Penske Ford lost its brakes and went to the garage before finishing 35th. Talladega has been hit-or-miss for YRB while Kansas has one of his better tracks on the Cup circuit. Given the points deficit he faces and the quality of drivers ahead of him in the standings, those races are close to must-win for him at this point.

Joey Logano. Logano had to go to the garage before the race started with a rear axle issue and returned to the track 23 laps down. The 34th-place finish leaves the reigning champion squarely on the cutline since William Byron owns the better finish in this round so far. If you are looking for a bright side, he does have three wins at Talladega — including two in the fall race under the elimination playoff format.

Chase Elliott. Elliott came into this race with a 4.4 average finish at Dover — his best track on the circuit — but he “blew up” on Lap 8 as he described over the radio and that put a serious damper on their day. The 38th-place finish leaves Elliott in a bit of a points hole in the Round of 12. He is the most recent winner at Talladega, where the round will continue next Sunday.

BUBBLE WATCH

Rank	Driver	Points to cutoff
5.	Kevin Harvick	+42
6.	Brad Keselowski	+20
7.	Alex Bowman	+17
8.	William Byron	+0
—————	CUT-OFF LINE	—————
9.	Joey Logano	-0
10.	Clint Bowyer	-4
11.	Chase Elliott	-7
12.	Ryan Blaney	-22

Next race

The Monster Energy Series travels to Talladega Superspeedway to tackle the high banks of Alabama and pack racing in the 1000Bulbs.com 500 on Oct. 13 (2 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Who it favors

Brad Keselowski. The 2012 champion has five wins at Talladega — the most among active drivers. Two of those victories have come in the playoff race during the elimination era. Keselowski is regarded as the best superspeedway racer right now and he will be a favorite at the 2.66-mile track.

Who it hurts

Martin Truex Jr. Superspeedway racing and Truex do not go together so it’s a pretty good thing that the 2017 champion scored a runner-up finish at Dover to give himself the points lead and +63 advantage on the cutline. In 58 starts at Daytona and Talladega, he has four top fives (two of those came at Talladega) and 12 top 10s (eight at Talladega). His 21.3 average finish at Talladega is tied for second-worst for him among active tracks on the circuit. And if you are looking at recent results: He hasn’t finished better than 20th in the past six races there.

Posted on October 6, 2019October 6, 2019 by Holly Cain

Kyle Larson celebrated his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in two years Sunday at Dover International Speedway, taking the checkered flag in the Drydene 400 by a convincing 1.578-second lead over Martin Truex Jr. and securing himself and his Chip Ganassi Racing team their first-ever berth in the upcoming Round of 8.

Larson’s friend and polesitter, Denny Hamlin, finished fifth after leading a race-high 218 laps. But perhaps the two golf buddies would agree, on this Sunday, Larson’s long game was just a bit better.

Larson, who started alongside Hamlin on the front row, took the race lead on a fast pit stop by his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet team during the Stage 2 break and pulled out to a five-, then six-second advantage on the field – first on Hamlin then on Truex, a contender all afternoon. Truex won Stage 2 and led 15 laps, but a slight pit-stop miscue put the 2017 Cup champion out of the pits sixth on that stage stop instead of with the lead.

“After the first stage, I kind of changed my driving style up and I felt like I made the car better at the same time, and it really benefited our long runs,’’ said Larson, who led 154 laps en route to his sixth career win and first playoff victory. “That’s as good as I’ve ever been around cutting the bottom here. Just a great combination here. Good to be fast in practice and then be good again in the race and get the win.”

“This is unbelievable,’’ he continued, motioning toward the track’s front grandstands in gratitude. “I’ve always wanted to win a Cup race here. I’ve been close a number of times, so to get a Golden Monster (trophy) is going to be pretty sweet.’’

Larson and Truex’s fellow playoff contenders, Alex Bowman, Kevin Harvick and Hamlin, rounded out the top five. Regular-season champion Kyle Busch, who started lowest on the grid of the 12 playoff drivers in 18th, rallied from an early-race pit-road penalty to finish sixth.

Heading to the second race of the NASCAR Playoffs’ three-race Round 2, Larson’s victory puts him atop the standings with a 500-mile race at the historic Talladega Superspeedway next week. Truex’s runner-up finish puts him atop the points – 15 points ahead of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Hamlin. Busch’s rally puts him fourth in the points standings – tied with Hamlin.

“We were catching him at the end, got close, just unfortunate there,’’ Truex said. “We win and lose as a team and the guys will clean it up for sure.

“Every week is about getting most points you can, so a positive day for us.’’

Positive would be an understatement for Larson, who celebrated in Victory Lane for the first time in 75 races, hoisting Dover’s special golden trophy designed to commemorate the track’s 100th Cup Series race. Larson has been consistently good at Dover throughout his six-year Cup career, earning a pair of runner-up finishes previously. He was third there this spring – a race won by Truex.

Hamlin, who won the pole position by a mere .003 seconds over Larson, looked strong early but radioed to his team with 130 laps remaining he was worried about his car’s engine. At the time, however, he was running fastest among the field and maintaining a nearly two-second advantage over third place. With about 60 laps to go, Truex got around Hamlin.

Plenty of lapped traffic put Truex in position to perhaps make a move toward Larson. Twice the traffic cut Larson’s leads from more than five seconds to less than two seconds.

Among the other playoff-eligible drivers, Clint Bowyer rallied to a 10th-place finish, one position ahead of 2012 Cup champion Brad Keselowski, who was the only driver to score top-five finishes in all three opening round races. William Byron was 13th.

It was a tough day for several other playoff drivers. Ryan Blaney, who ran top 10 much of the afternoon, pit on Lap 298 complaining of a brake issue. The Team Penske crew took his No. 12 Ford to the garage for repairs, and he finished 35th.

It was nothing short of a monstrous beginning for two other playoff competitors. Reigning Cup champion Joey Logano didn’t even take the green flag with the field. Instead his No. 22 Team Penske Ford was in the garage, where the team was furiously working to repair an axle problem. He returned to the track 24 laps down and finished 34th.

Defending Dover race winner and last week’s Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval winner, Chase Elliott, only lasted eight laps – his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet suffered an early engine failure. He was officially scored last – 38th – and like Logano and Blaney, will need to have big points days at both Talladega and Kansas Speedway. Elliott won at Talladega in May and is the defending Kansas playoff winner.

Matt DiBenedetto finished seventh – best among the non-playoff drivers. Jimmie Johnson, whose 11 Dover wins makes him the track’s winningest driver, scored points in both Stage 1 and Stage 2 to take over the points lead among drivers who didn’t qualify for the playoffs. He now leads Daniel Suarez by 10 points.

Posted on October 6, 2019October 13, 2019 by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find NBCSN | Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App

Monday, October 7
2 p.m., Glory Road: The Inaugural Brickyard (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
2:30 p.m., NASCAR 120, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR America: Monday, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Tuesday, October 8
5 p.m., The Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN
10 a.m., 50 Years: The Voice of NASCAR—Episode 4
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Wednesday, October 9
5 p.m., NASCAR America: Motormouths, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., Glory Road: IROC, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
noon, NASCAR Coast to Coast

Thursday, October 10
1 p.m., Glory Road: Stock Car Evolution (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

Friday, October 11
1 p.m., Glory Road: IROC (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
1:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN2)
4:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN2)
5:30 p.m., IMSA Racing: Qualifying at Petit Le Mans, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN
1:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice
4:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice

Saturday, October 12
10:30 a.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series qualifying, FS1/FOX Sports App
1 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Gander Outdoors Truck Series, FS1/FOX Sports App
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Sugarlands Shine 250, FS1/FOX Sports App
4:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
5:30 p.m., IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship: Motul Petit Le Mans, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN
1 p.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Sugarlands Shine 250
4:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Qualifying

Sunday, October 13
9 a.m., NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Sugarlands Shine 250 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
11 a.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Talladega, FS1/FOX Sports App
1 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC/NBC Sports App
1:30 p.m., Countdown to Green, NBC/NBC Sports App
2 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 1000Bulbs.com 500, NBC/NBC Sports App, POSTPONED
6 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Post Race, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lap, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN
1 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 1000Bulbs.com 500, POSTPONED

Monday, October 14
2 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 1000Bulbs.com 500, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

Posted on October 6, 2019October 6, 2019 by Staff Report

Martin Truex Jr. struck late in Stage 2 to score the stage win — his sixth of the season — in the Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway. Truex won the spring race at Dover and grabbed the lead late in the stage from polesitter Denny Hamlin.

The top four positions were made up of playoff drivers in this order: Truex, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick. Jimmie Johnson completed the top five.

A pit road penalty after Stage 1 put Kyle Busch at the back of the lead-lap cars, but he was able to finish the stage 12th.

During green flag pit stops around the middle of the stage, William Byron was busted for speeding and had to serve a pass-through penalty that left him a lap down. He had been running in the top seven before that penalty.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Place	Driver	Team	Pts
1	Martin Truex Jr. (P)	Joe Gibbs Racing	10
2	Kyle Larson (P)	Chip Ganassi Racing	9
3	Denny Hamlin (P)	Joe Gibbs Racing	8
4	Kevin Harvick (P)	Stewart-Haas Racing	7
5	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	6
6	Alex Bowman (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	5
7	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	4
8	Ryan Blaney (P)	Team Penske	3
9	Brad Keselowski (P)	Team Penske	2
10	Clint Bowyer (P)	Stewart-Haas Racing	1

STAGE 1 RESULTS

Denny Hamlin dominated Stage 1 to score his fourth stage win of the season in Sunday’s Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway. The race marks the start of the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs. Hamlin won the pole and led 113 of the 120 laps in Stage 1 in his 500th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start.

Playoff drivers filled the top six spots in the stage in the following order: Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, William Byron, Kevin Harvick and Alex Bowman.

Trouble found two playoff drivers early. Defending race winner Chase Elliott blew an engine on Lap 8 while running in the top 10 and saw his day come to an end.

Before taking the green flag, Joey Logano pitted for what he described over the radio as an issue with the rear of the car that was believed to be an issue with the rear gear and axles.

Place	Driver	Team	Pts
1	Denny Hamlin (P)	Joe Gibbs Racing	10
2	Martin Truex Jr. (P)	Joe Gibbs Racing	9
3	Kyle Larson (P)	Chip Ganassi Racing	8
4	William Byron (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	7
5	Kevin Harvick (P)	Stewart-Haas Racing	6
6	Alex Bowman (P)	Hendrick Motorsports	5
7	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	4
8	Kyle Busch (P)	Joe Gibbs Racing	3
9	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	2
10	Ryan Blaney (P)	Team Penske	1

Posted on October 6, 2019October 6, 2019 by Staff Report

Chase Elliott came into Dover International Speedway pegged as a favorite to contend for the race win.

After just eight laps, Elliott took the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to pit road because, as he said on the radio, he thought the car was blowing up. After the team examined the vehicle on pit road, Elliott’s fears were confirmed and the crew wheeled the car to the garage.

Elliott, who won last week at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval road course and was the defending winner at this week’s race at Dover, went behind the wall and eventually his day was done with a 38th-place finish.

“Yeah I just had an engine failure of some sort,” Elliott said. “Unfortunately, we don’t really know what it was just yet. It just quit running. It didn’t really seem like anything was off. We were just kind of making laps and then obviously had a failure. It’s an unfortunate way to start this round for sure.”

Elliott won at Dover last October to kick off the Round of 12 and had never finished worse than 12th at the 1-mile concrete oval in seven starts and has six top-five finishes.

Elliott entered the race sixth in the standings, 19 points above the cutline. Eight of the 12 playoff drivers will advance to the Round of 8 in two weeks after the elimination race at Kansas Speedway. Next weekend’s race is at Talladega Superspeedway where Elliott won in the spring after leading 45 laps.

The DNF sets him 11th in points, seven points beneath the cutoff line.

“I don’t know where we’ll stack up,” Elliott said. “I assume we’ll have to win one of these next few weeks. If you ever make it to (Homestead-Miami Speedway), you’re going to have to win down there. I guess it’s a good opportunity to practice here these next few weeks.”

Contributing: NASCAR Wire Service & staff reports

Posted on October 6, 2019October 6, 2019 by Staff Report

Joey Logano took the No. 22 Team Penske Ford to the garage before green flag for the NASCAR Playoffs race at Dover International Speedway on Sunday.

Logano brought the No. 22 down pit road before the start of the Round of 12 race because of a mechanical issue with the rear axle of the car. When the issue could not be resolved on pit road, Logano took the car to the garage.

RELATED: Elliott exits early at Dover

Logano, the defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion, entered the race in fourth place in the standings. Eight of the 12 playoff drivers will move on to the Round of 8 in two weeks following an elimination race at Kansas.

The Team Penske driver returned to the race — 23 laps down.

Posted on October 6, 2019 by Nick Giffen

The second round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs kicks off at Dover International Speedway. The “Monster Mile” is a steeply banked, 1-mile oval with a concrete surface that features a modest incident rate of 20.1% since 2013. Notably, that number reduces to 14.8% during the seven high-downforce races in that time frame.

Track history plays a strong role in my statistical model, which is likely due to the fact that Dover is such a unique track. Additionally, weighing the high downforce era improves the out-of-sample predictive power of my model, so it gives extra weight to the 2013-2015 races, plus the first race of 2019.

My statistical model this weekend consists of the following data points:

• 10-lap average
• Track history
• Year-to-date performance
• Steep track performance (Dover, Bristol, Darlington, Homestead)

Because 15, 20, and even 30-lap practice data became available to the public just this year, I cannot use it in a historical model. But we can use that data as part of our intuition on how to evaluate driver performance.

With all that, here are my top bets to win Sunday’s Drydene 400.

RELATED: Updated winning odds

Kyle Larson +500

In the spring Dover race, there was a big five of Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott and Larson. Each of these drivers placed in the top five in average green flag speed. They also all brought their cars home for top-five finishes. Clint Bowyer was sixth in average green flag speed, but was three-tenths of a mile per hour slower than the other five, and only finished ninth.

Larson might have the car to beat this weekend and certainly is one of the three favorites across the industry. Most books have him in the +300 to +450 range, but MGM has him listed at +500. It’s hard to trust Larson, who is winless in his last 75 starts, but this could be the weekend he snaps that streak.

Larson has five top-five finishes at Dover. Each of those finishes also corresponded with a 10-lap average inside the top seven. This weekend, Larson was quickest over 10 and 25 consecutive laps, and second to Harvick over 15 and 20 laps. In opening practice, Larson tied for the fastest five lap average, but did not make a longer run.

Harvick, Truex, and Larson are the favorites across the industry, and while Harvick is also listed at +500 at MGM, Larson has shorter odds at more books, and has finished better than Harvick in each of the last three steep-track races.

It’s always imperative to shop around for the best lines, but especially so with favorites. Breaking even on a +500 vs. a +350 bet means increasing the bet’s win rate by 5.6%. That’s about the same as going from a +9900 bet to a +1500 bet. I’d pass at +400, but anything longer is playable. Get the best number you can if you’re willing to make this bet.

Alex Bowman +2500

Bowman was the runner up at Dover in the spring, and didn’t fluke his way into that finish. He had the third-fastest green flag speed among all drivers during the race, behind only race winner Truex, and Harvick.

Bowman has only run at Dover three times for a highly-funded team, but last year’s two races were with the low downforce package. If we go back to 2014-2015 when there was more downforce on the car, Bowman was running with two underfunded teams. His 2015 result of 20th was one of two top-20 finishes he had at non-restrictor plate tracks in those two years. The other came at Bristol, another highly banked concrete track.

Bowman was also fast in practice, placing third over 10 consecutive laps in Happy Hour and fourth in the opening practice. Bowman has five career top-two finishes, all coming this year. He could be in line to push that to six. MGM and PointsBet both carry this generous line. There’s value here down to +1800.

Jimmie Johnson +2750

Johnson is an 11-time winner at Dover, but with only one since 2016. However, prior to that, Johnson won three of the six Dover races from 2013-2015, when more downforce was on the car.

In the first race at the Monster Mile this year, Johnson struggled to a 14th-place finish. Notably, he only practiced 16th quick over 10 consecutive laps in Happy Hour. This weekend, Johnson looks to have his old Dover mojo back. He placed second or third in every consecutive lap category in final practice, and was fourth and second respectively over five and 10 consecutive laps in the opening session.

The spring’s big five could turn into a big six with Johnson in the mix. My model don’t trust Johnson as much as Bowman because of Johnson’s struggles this year, but he’s not too far behind Bowman. There’s value here down to +2000.

Posted on October 5, 2019 by Pat DeCola

DOVER, Del. – One lap in, one was already out.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs’ Round of 12 finale got interesting in a hurry Saturday at Dover International Speedway, seeing Brandon Jones eliminated from contention early and Justin Haley, John Hunter Nemechek and Ryan Sieg soon to follow.

On the opening lap of the Use Your Melon Drive Sober 200 at the Monster Mile, Jones was the unfortunate driver in the wrong spot at the wrong time, taking contact from a spinning teammate in Harrison Burton that was enough to end his day almost before it even began. Coming into the race one spot and 11 points shy of the final advancing spot, Jones didn’t get much chance to even try to overcome that deficit and will have to trophy hunt the rest of the year as he begins to put the pieces in place for next season.

RELATED: Full Dover race results

“I always try to find the positives with this kind of stuff. Obviously, none today,” Jones told NBCSN after being released from the infield care center. “But the good thing is, we can still go win one of these races. I think we can still get to fifth in points. You can’t do anything when these guys spin out.

“ … I don’t know man. I’ve had one race like this where I’ve wrecked at the start of the race, so these are tough. I know it’s going to be tough for my guys to rally back from them, but as I’ve mentioned, we’ve got some good tracks coming up. Texas (Motor Speedway) is on my mind. So maybe we will get there and I can win that track.”

Michael Annett entered in the eighth and final spot, and a strong, sixth-place run propelled him to the Round of 8, even if he was playing defense for most of the day at one of NASCAR’s most volatile tracks.

“Ton of relief (to advance),” Annett said on pit road after the race. “Obviously I have a ton of confidence in these JR Motorsports cars coming to Dover, but you’re also walking into the Monster Mile and there’s so many stupid things that can happen. I knew if we just ran our race we’d be fine, but there’s just the unknown … you’re kind of passive-aggressive on a deal like that.

“We had a goal when we came here and we accomplished it. I feel really good (about the Round of 8). Kind of what I’ve been saying all along, if we got through the first (round) we’re really confident about the round coming up. … it’s going to be a battle between the JR Motorsports camp but it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

As for the remaining trio to miss the cut, their reactions to their respective title hopes being dashed ranged from upset and angry to contentment and happy just to be here – all perhaps rightfully so.

Nemechek entered the race 10th in points, tied with Jones at 2,062 points apiece and 11 down from the bubble. An eighth-place run was not enough to make up ground, of course, but the GMS Racing driver thought he lost a viable shot at the win – and not by his doing.

Late in the race, the young driver was forced to come back down pit road after a routine stop because his crew failed to secure all his lug nuts, effectively ending his path to Victory Lane.

“We did everything that we needed to do, execution-wise. Had a loose wheel, didn’t get enough lug nuts on for one pit stop and it’s a team effort. Comes down to a team effort and it sucks,” Nemechek said “We gained points every stage, thought we were going to be good there at the end to gain some more but when we had to come down and put extra lug nuts on, pretty much killed our day. … Ended up being so far behind couldn’t make anything up. Frustrating day. … For sure (we had a shot.)”

Haley has shown contending speed at times this year but needed more than a solid finish after a rough start to the postseason with “bad luck” finishes of 17th at Richmond Raceway and 31st at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval. The Kaulig Racing driver never quite gave the leaders a run for their money at the front of the field but still had an outside shot at the win as late as the final restart – something the young driver is proud of his team for.

“No (I’m not disappointed), I expected us not to make it going into (today),” Haley said. “We obviously put the best car on the table. I’ve had three weeks to get over the disappointment. We’ve had fifth-place speed this whole round, just had stuff happen. Glad we could finally put it together this race and show that we’re top-five capable cars. First two races in the round, just had bad luck out of our control. Not much we can do, but still got races to win and plenty of time to make it happen.”

As for Sieg, who entered the race 11th in points and 37 down from Annett, there’s nothing to hang his head about at all – and he wasn’t. The 10th-place Dover finish was his 10th of the season, more than he collected in his five-plus previous Xfinity seasons combined.

It was a career year for the 32-year-old and one to build on for 2020.

“Pretty happy with the whole year, just got to get a little bit more and try to take some more chances on our calls and improve our performances a little bit more also, but all-in-all a great season all year,” Sieg told NASCAR.com. “ … Just glad we were able to race with the big-budget teams. It’s a great day for us that we were right there with them.”

Posted on October 5, 2019October 6, 2019 by Staff Report

DOVER, Del. – In his 100th NASCAR Xfinity Series start, Cole Custer conquered the Monster Mile.

Custer held off a hungry field of playoff contenders on a restart with seven laps to go and pulled away from Justin Allgaier to win the Use Your Melon Drive Sober 200 at Dover International Speedway on Saturday afternoon.

Custer, who claimed the victory as Dover celebrates its 50th anniversary, is the fifth Xfinity Series driver to win in their 100th start.

“I’ve wanted to win here so bad for so long,” Custer said. “I’ve been close a number of times but just to win the gold Monster (trophy) is unbelievable.”

DOVER: Official results | At-track gallery

Michael Annett claimed the last available spot in the Round of 8 as the first round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs came to a close. Advancing along with Custer and Annett are Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Austin Cindric, Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe and Justin Allgaier.

Eliminated from championship contention were John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Haley, Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones.

Custer, Annett and Haley were the biggest benefactors of a caution with 23 laps to go that fell in the middle of green-flag pit stops that changed the complexion of the race.

Dillon Bassett spun at pit entrance on Lap 177, which brought out the yellow flag, leaving only Custer, Annett, Haley, Allgaier, Briscoe, Cindric and Zane Smith on the lead lap.

Custer maintained the lead on the Lap 185 restart only to see another caution displayed when Ray Black Jr. crashed in Turn 2, where Matt Mills and Stephen Leicht were also collected.

Luckily for Custer, the final caution didn’t limit him. He cleared Allgaier and Haley on the restart and pulled away swiftly for his seventh win of 2019, tying Bell for the most in the series this season.

“(The car) felt really good in practice,” Custer said. “I thought we had a good car. I don’t think it was everything we expected in the race. We kind of tried something a little bit different in this race but just (an) amazing pit call.”

The playoff drama began on the opening lap when both Reddick and Harrison Burton broke loose on the back straightaway. Reddick slapped the wall with the right side of his car and continued, but Burton wasn’t as lucky.

Burton spun toward the inside of the track and was clobbered by teammate Jones, lifting Burton’s No. 18 car off the ground. Both drivers were checked and released from the infield care center, but Jones’ playoff hopes ended there.

“There’s nothing that you can do about it,” Jones said after exiting the care center.

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Joe Gibbs Racing’s luck worsened when Bell lost fuel pressure on Lap 15, shortly after brushing the wall off Turn 4. Bell finished 25th behind the wall 34 laps down.

The early cautions continued on Lap 21 when Nemechek spun Mike Harmon exiting Turn 4 onto the fronstretch.

That was the end of yellows for on-track incidents until Bassett spun on Lap 177.

Annett, who finished sixth after starting from the rear of the field due to an engine change, advanced out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time in his Xfinity career.

“I can’t say enough about these guys all the way through these playoffs,” Annett said. “To come from the back today is just a testament to the car they gave me.”

Nemechek finished in eighth place after an eventful race. A strong pit stop at the conclusion of Stage 2 allowed his No. 23 to exit pit road fourth. That effort went for naught after a loose lug nut forced Nemechek back to the pits.

“That’s why we’re standing here, I feel like,” Nemechek said. “It just put us behind the eight-ball. We were in good position all day and right here, we came out of the pits fourth, but we didn’t have enough lug nuts on the left rear.

“Had to come back down. You can’t have a loose wheel here at Dover. It’s just something that you don’t want to have under green. I think we got the margin down to minus-six or something like that after the first two stages and were executing like we needed to all day. We just haven’t been able to close this year.”

Rounding out the top five behind Custer were Allgaier, Cindric, Haley and Briscoe. Annett was sixth and his JR Motorsports teammate Noah Gragson was the last car on the lead lap in seventh. Nemechek, Smith and Sieg completed the top 10.