Logano confident about chances as drivers adapt at Kansas

Posted on May 10, 2019 by Holly Cain

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Only two active drivers have won more than two-time winner Joey Logano at this week’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stop, Kansas Speedway.

Yet for all his success at the track, Logano conceded Saturday night’s Digital Ally 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) remains a huge unknown throughout the garage. For starters, the Kansas City venue has been unusually chilly for this time of year — daytime temperatures hovering in the 50s and 60s and cooling off significantly at night. And with a new and yet-to-be-race-tested package at this particular track no one knows for sure what to expect on the 1.5-mile high banks.

Unlike some race weekends when drivers run a handful of laps on track and allow their teams to fine tune in the garage, most every driver was turning scores of laps in Friday’s opening practice sessions.

Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford was 12th in the first practice and 20th in the final practice. But the reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion looked fully at ease speaking with the gathered media on Friday afternoon. He conceded that expectations vary greatly for the race and was less surprised by the amount of drafting practice and total laps run in general.

“I think everyone just realizes that you are going to have a lot of wide-open time here and the more you have, the more the draft will come into play,’’ Logano said of Friday’s practice strategies. “You have to be around other cars for those reasons. The difference between clean air and dirty air, balance-wise, is quite a difference because the speed here is faster and you don’t have as much downforce.

“If you go out there and are easy, wide-open by yourself, what are you learning?”

There’s a decent argument that Logano would be a fine teacher. He’s had plenty of success at the track — eight top 10s and seven top fives in his 19 Kansas starts. He finished third in this race last year, won the pole position and led 100 laps in the fall playoff race but finished eighth.

He had a streak of five consecutive top-five finishes between 2013-15, winning the fall races in 2014 and 2015.

Again, however, he reiterated the specific conditions this weekend — the new technical package and unusually cool weather — create a unique circumstance. And it just may present a great opportunity for Logano, who is ranked second in the championship, only five points behind three-time 2019 winner Kyle Busch.

Logano has been hit-or-miss at the previous 1.5-mile venues this season — earning a victory at Las Vegas, but finishing 23rd at Atlanta and 17th at Texas. He’s also had top 10s in the last four races coming to Kansas.

His mindset is adapt and go. And who could argue?

“Cooler temperatures will bring the pack closer,’’ Logano said. “The cars today in practice, it was surprising how much we were lifting actually in that draft. The cars were really sliding all over the place in dirty air and the temperature is a little warmer right now with the sun out.

“When you get to a night race it will bring the pack closer together. It used to be the other way around. When we were lifting a lot we wanted the track temperature to be hot and to rubber up a lot so that it would get really wide and we could move around and do all this stuff. Now, you want it cooler so that you are more wide-open and that is what brings the cars closer.”

Posted on May 10, 2019May 10, 2019 by Staff Report

Kurt Busch surged to the top of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series leaderboard, topping Friday’s final practice at Kansas Speedway.

Busch posted a best lap of 177.731 mph in the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 1 Chevrolet, leading the 50-minute session, the final tune-up for Saturday’s Digital Ally 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Alex Bowman continued his recent show of speed by posting the second-fastest lap. But his Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet didn’t escape unscathed, scraping the outside wall with less than 10 minutes remaining.

Home-state favorite Clint Bowyer was third-fastest in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Ford. Teammate Kevin Harvick, a winner at the 1.5-mile Kansas City track last spring, landed the fourth-fastest lap, with Denny Hamlin completing the top five as the fastest Toyota in the session.

Kyle Larson also encountered trouble late in final practice. His No. 42 Chevrolet spun entering Turn 1, nearly collecting Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 19 Toyota as it skidded. Both continued without significant damage.

Truex, the most recent winner in the series, improved to 21st-fastest on the leaderboard, up from his 27th-best speed in first practice in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota.

Aric Almirola, who topped opening practice, was ninth on the final-practice chart in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Ford.

Busch Pole Qualifying is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM)

SHR shows speed in early practice

Aric Almirola led a 1-2 sweep for Stewart-Haas Racing in Friday’s opening act for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Kansas Speedway, topping the first practice leaderboard.

Almirola’s Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Ford clocked a 178.153 mph lap at the 1.5-mile Kansas City oval. He was just ahead of second-fastest Clint Bowyer, a home-state favorite who wound up with a best lap of 177.381 mph in the No. 14 SHR Ford.

RELATED: Practice 1 results

Kyle Busch secured the third-fastest lap at 177.160 mph in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota. Brad Keselowski was fourth with William Byron rounding out the top five in the 50-minute session, the opening prep for Saturday’s Digital Ally 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM)

Defending race winner Kevin Harvick landed the ninth-fastest lap in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford. Martin Truex Jr., winner of the series’ most recent race Monday at Dover, was 27th-fastest in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota. Truex is a two-time Kansas winner, having swept the 2017 season’s events at the 1.5-mile track.

MORE: Best 10-lap averages

NASCAR officials penalized four teams by deducting practice time after their cars failed inspection multiple times last weekend at Dover. The Front Row Motorsports No. 36 Ford for driver Matt Tifft was held for 30 minutes at the end of first practice for failing inspection three times at the Monster Mile.

The following teams served 15-minute penalties for failing inspection twice at Dover:

• The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Martin Truex Jr.

• The No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet of Ryan Preece

• The No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Alex Bowman

Posted on May 10, 2019 by Staff Report

See the order that Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series cars will roll off to qualifying at Kansas Speedway on Friday night (7:05 p.m. ET, FS1).

Order	Car	Driver	Team
1	38	David Ragan	Mystik Lubricants Ford
2	36	Matt Tifft	Out West Express Ford
3	15	Ross Chastain	Low T Center Chevrolet
4	6	Ryan Newman	Performance Plus Motor Oil Ford
5	51	Cody Ware	JACOB Companies Chevrolet
6	52	Bayley Currey	Belmont Classic Cars Ford
7	31	Tyler Reddick	TAME the BEAST Chevrolet
8	27	Reed Sorenson	Harrah’s Chevrolet
9	00	Landon Cassill	StarCom Fiber Chevrolet
10	32	Corey LaJoie	Schluter Systems Ford
11	13	Ty Dillon	GEICO Chevrolet
12	77	Quin Houff	OilFire Rye Whiskey Chevrolet
13	43	Bubba Wallace	World Wide Technology Chevrolet
14	18	Kyle Busch	M&M’s Red Nose Toyota
15	46	Joey Gase	MBM Motorsports Toyota
16	47	Ryan Preece	Kroger Chevrolet
17	66	Timmy Hill	MBM Motorsports Toyota
18	34	Michael McDowell	Dockside Logistics Ford
19	37	Chris Buescher	Kroger Your Personal Pit Stop Chevrolet
20	8	Daniel Hemric	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet
21	3	Austin Dillon	American Ethanol Chevrolet
22	20	Erik Jones	DeWalt Toyota
23	48	Jimmie Johnson	Ally Chevrolet
24	24	William Byron	UniFirst Chevrolet
25	9	Chase Elliott	NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet
26	95	Matt DiBenedetto	Digital Momentum/Hubspot Toyota
27	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	SunnyD Ford
28	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Auto Owners Insurance Toyota
29	12	Ryan Blaney	BodyArmor Ford
30	14	Clint Bowyer	Rush Truck Centers/Haas Automation Ford
31	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Freight Toyota
32	10	Aric Almirola	Smithfield Ford
33	1	Kurt Busch	Global Poker Chevrolet
34	21	Paul Menard	Menards/Dutch Boy Ford
35	41	Daniel Suarez	Haas Automation Demo Day Ford
36	42	Kyle Larson	Credit One Bank Chevrolet
37	2	Brad Keselowski	Wurth Ford
38	4	Kevin Harvick	Busch Beer Ford
39	88	Alex Bowman	Axalta Chevrolet
40	22	Joey Logano	Shell Pennzoil Ford

Posted on May 9, 2019May 10, 2019 by Holly Cain

With eight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victories in 2018 and a near-miss at his second Cup title, Kevin Harvick came into the 2019 season feeling understandably confident in himself and his Stewart-Haas Racing team.

But 11 races into the season, Harvick and his No. 4 team are still surprisingly looking for a first trip to Victory Lane. That’s not to say they haven’t been close. But as defending winner of Saturday night’s Digital Ally 400 at Kansas Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) Harvick would like nothing better than to right the ship.

RELATED: Kansas schedule | Entry list

Last year, Harvick won this race from the Busch Pole position – a place he’s started more than anyone else in history at Kansas (four) — and he also holds the track qualifying record at 197.773 mph (October 2014). Historically the pole position is the winningest spot on the Kansas grid, producing six winners to date.

Harvick has finished eighth or better in eight of the last 11 Kansas races – three times he’s won, three times he’s finished runner-up. During that stretch he’s led 668 laps total, the most in the field. In 10 of those 11 races, he led double-digit laps.

This season, however, Harvick and essentially the rest of the field find themselves playing catch-up to Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske, whose teams have combined to earn 10 of the first 11 trophies. The other typically “hot” driver at Kansas, two-time race winner Martin Truex Jr., has won two of the last three 2019 Monster Energy Series races, including last week at Dover in his new No. 19 Toyota ride for JGR. He swept the two Kansas races in 2017 en route to winning the series championship.

Last year, Harvick already had won four times before the series arrived at the Kansas 1.5-miler, where he won again. In fact, his SHR team had five wins total through the opening 11 races in 2018 with Kansas’ own Clint Bowyer winning an early season trophy in Martinsville too.

WATCH: See highlights from Harvick’s 2018 win

That the Penske Fords have won this year – twice with Brad Keselowski and once with Joey Logano – assuages the situation some for the SHR Ford team. But patience is not a practical virtue as the regular season approaches the halfway point. SHR has 25 top-10 and 10 top-five finishes among its four drivers but that conspicuous “0” where it would prefer a higher number.

Harvick is third in the points standings despite being the only driver among the top seven without a victory yet. He trails three-time race winner Kyle Busch by 63 points and is 58 points behind second place Logano.

“Our cars ran fine at Texas,’’ Harvick said of the similar 1.5-mile venue the series has already competed on. “Obviously, we had some isolated problems. Our cars from the Stewart-Haas standpoint haven’t won a race, but they ran fine at Texas.

“We’ve been in contention. We were plenty good at Bristol and Richmond, so it’s really just a detail thing at this point to get one of them to Victory Lane.”

Posted on May 9, 2019April 1, 2021 by Staff Report

Mitchell Pehrson likes to use his racing in the same way NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Joey Gase uses his: to raise awareness for organ donation.

Organ donation is something near to Pehrson; in 2005 he received a kidney from his brother-in-law.

Pehrson was active duty in the marines at the time, and his brother-in-law was active duty in the army. But the procedure didn’t stop Pehrson from pursuing racing. He got back behind the wheel in 2010, and has been running full-time at Magic Valley Speedway, a quarter-mile semi-banked asphalt oval in Twin Falls, Idaho, ever since.

Magic Valley Speedway Facebook

Pehrson grew up around racing. His dad was a crew member for a team when Pehrson was a kid, and got the chance to get behind the wheel during a rookie race that let crew members drive the team’s car.

Pehrson said his dad got the bug from doing a heat race, and the next year built his own car to drive.

That same bug hit Pehrson soon after.

“My mom used to get mad at me because she’d get me all cleaned up and ready for bed and she’d tell me to go say good night to him and I’d be out there changing a tire or helping him with the car getting all dirty again,” he said.

Pehrson got his own opportunity to drive during his senior year of high school, racing in the hornets division at Magic Valley for two seasons.

“I actually flipped a car the night before I graduated,” he said.

After two years, Pehrson left the track to join the military, and stayed active duty for two years before being diagnosed with kidney failure.

In the years after his surgery, Pehrson spent some time as a crew member at Magic Valley while watching the track’s street stock division grow.

“I was like that seems like a fun class so I decided to do it,” he said. “And my brother decided to do it too.”

The younger Pehrson spent 2010 racing against his brother, while their dad ran in Magic Valley’s Division I late model class, though Pehrson said it was a struggle at first.

“I had some mechanical failures that didn’t quite make me competitive and I struggled a bit the first year. He ended up finishing second in the points, I finished if I remember right sixth in points,” he said. “It was kind of tough but it was a good, humbling year.”

Three years later, Pehrson’s success would match his family’s. In 2013, his dad was the Division I late model state champion in Idaho, and he and Pehrson’s brother finished first and second in the points at Magic Valley. That same year, Pehrson also won the track’s Division III championship, and he had three nieces who also raced.

The Pehrson’s still all race at Magic Valley. Racing, for Pehrson, has always been about family.

“We have such a close family, that now it’s just more family time that we get spend with each other,” he said

“The camaraderie between fellow competitors, fellow racers in the pits, our great track promoter Eddy McKean, it’s just that second family feeling that you get in the pits when you show up and everybody is just ‘hey how are you, good to see you back,’ kind of feeling.”

Pehrson briefly moved up to the Division I late model class at Magic Valley in 2015 to try to run for rookie of the year. He finished second. The next year, he was back down to the street stocks, where he feels he belongs.

“I wanted something I could run and have fun with and something I see myself excelling in,” he said “So finding the right car and the right class was the hardest part.

“There’s something about running a 50-year-old car, it’s kind of a nostalgia feel. Seeing these 50-year-old cars out there running at 3300 pounds, just banging bumpers and everybody just having a good time, getting out high-fiving each other and talking and joking about how much fun they had.”

Pehrson plans to run another full season at Magic Valley, and has a couple of second place finishes in three races so far in 2019.

While he says he’s struggled a bit out of the gate to get used to changes they’ve made to his car, he’s ready to get some more wins under his belt soon.

“The biggest thing I’m looking forward to is getting back in Victory Lane. I’ve had a pretty good streak with my car,” he said.

“It’s just a fun-filled addiction.”

Magic Valley Speedway will host Whelen Night on Saturday beginning at 5 p.m.

Magic Valley Speedway Schedule

Posted on May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 by RJ Kraft

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Kyle Busch unveiled his special paint scheme for the Coca-Cola 600 (May 26 at 6 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with the help of the parents of fallen Army Sgt. Dale Griffin.

Griffin’s name will adorn the No. 18 Red, White and Blue M&M’s Toyota of Busch – the defending winner of the Coca-Cola 600 – as part of the 600 Miles of Remembrance. Griffin’s parents, Dona and Gene, were on hand for the car unveiling with their son’s name across the top.

With help from the family of Sergeant Dale Russel Griffin, @KyleBusch unveils his car for the #CocaCola600.#NASCARSalutes | @CLTMotorSpdwy pic.twitter.com/WO07hbtMqW

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 8, 2019

“To have the opportunity to carry a fallen members name on our race car is the ultimate honor really,” Busch said. “To be able to meet those families, spend time with those families and have the opportunity to get their story and to know more about them and to hear exactly who we’re honoring and what we’re honoring is what means so much to me and the rest of the field.

“It means a lot to be able to go to Victory Lane and to celebrate there. To have the family with us to be able to celebrate as well. It’s another little token of appreciation to what this whole program is about. But first and foremost, it’s about running the 600 miles with Sgt. Griffin’s name on our car this year.”

With the paint scheme, Busch campaigned for and will wear a red, white and blue fire suit and helmet similar to the look of the car.

As part of the unveiling, Charlotte Motor Speedway announced that at the conclusion of Stage 2 of the Coca-Cola 600, the field will come down pit road for a moment of remembrance. The 400-lap race is four stages with each stage running 100 laps.

“It’s going to be received well for what it signifies and honors,” Busch said of the planned mid-race moment of remembrance. “It’s a big deal for us and for our sport to be able to honor our fallen.”

Posted on May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 by Staff Report

NASCAR officials announced Wednesday a tweak in the 2019 baseline rules package for select tracks, adding aero ducts to the three remaining race tracks where a 550 horsepower engine will run, but where cars were not originally required to be fitted with the ducts — Pocono Raceway, Darlington Raceway and the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Previously at those three tracks and Atlanta Motor Speedway, NASCAR required teams to use brake ducts or block-offs in that area to help cool the brakes.

RELATED: 2019 baseline rules packages

Following the racing at Atlanta earlier this season, concerns about air flow to the brakes were alleviated.

“When we originally looked at which elements of the package to race at each track, we wanted to err on the side of caution at a few tracks where there may be some brake cooling concerns,” said John Probst, NASCAR senior vice president, innovation and racing development. “After reviewing data from Atlanta, and with what we’ve learned over the first 11 races, we believe we can use the ducts without issue. In conversations with the teams, they emphasized the desire to focus on one race package, which will continue to improve the racing.”

Created to bolster competition with enhanced aerodynamic and engine configurations, the 2019 rules packages are tailored to the specific tracks on the Monster Energy Series circuit. A smaller tapered spacer to reduce engine horsepower to a target goal of 550 and aero ducts to foster tighter racing were implemented on a majority of speedways measuring longer than 1 mile.

The rules packages for the remaining tracks on the schedule have not changed.

Posted on May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 by Staff Report

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series are off to Kansas Speedway this weekend, their first visit to the 1.5-mile track this season, site of Saturday night’s Digital Ally 400.

Here are all the things you need to know for Saturday’s event under the lights.

TRACK DETAILS

Kansas Speedway is a 1.5-mile tri-oval with 17-20 degrees of variable banking in the turns, 9-11 degrees of variable banking on the frontstretch and 5 degrees of banking on the backstretch. The track has an asphalt surface.

The track held its inaugural Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on Sept. 30, 2001 where NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon took the checkered flag.

Since then, there have been 15 different race winners in 26 held at the Kansas track. Speeding has been an issue since 2016 at the track, totaling 36 penalties in the last six races.

With another night race ahead of us, five drivers have 15 or more top-five finishes in night races since 2015. Kevin Harvick has 20, Joey Logano has 19, Denny Hamlin has 17, Kyle Busch has 16 and Martin Truex Jr. has 15.

HORSEPOWER, AERO DUCTS, GOODYEAR TIRES
Teams will use the 2019 rules package with a target horsepower of 550 and aero ducts as part of the aerodynamic devices.

The return of single-car qualifying began last weekend at Dover International Speedway for all three national series, including the Xfinity Series and Gander Outdoors Truck Series. The rules change was announced last week, ending a run of five-plus years for multi-car, multiple-round qualifying for all three circuits.

The track surface at Kansas has weathered over the years, made obvious by the Cup Series teams experiencing two seconds of tire fall-off over the course of a fuel run in both races in 2018. The 2019 rules package with higher downforce has resulted in slightly less tire fall-off this season because of less slide in the corners. Four-tire stops should still be the goal in the race.

While both the Cup Series and Gander Trucks will run the same right-side tire code at Kansas, each series will run its own left-side code. Cup Series cars will use the same code they used last weekend in Dover, while the right-side code is what was used at Las Vegas and Texas earlier in 2019. Teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions, as they do on all oval tracks greater than one mile in length. Air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.

This weekend will mark the first time Truck teams have run the left-side tire code. This code features a construction update to align with other speedway and a compound upgrade to give the Truck more grip. They did, however, run this right-side code at Texas, which features an update and moves the trucks from a multi-zone tread to a single treat tire. Gander Trucks teams are also required to run inner lines in all four tire positions.

Cup Series teams will have three sets of Goodyear tires for practice, one set for qualifying and nine sets for the race. Gander Trucks teams will have six sets for the race weekend.

FACTS AND FIGURES

Team Penske has won three of the last four races on 1.5-mile tracks. Although, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin won the most recent one in March at Texas.
Four drivers have finished in the top 10 in all three 1.5-mile races in 2019. They’re Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. No driver has finished in the top five in all three.

PHOTOS: Memorable Kansas moments

Two drivers are currently on top-10 streaks. Kyle Busch started his streak at Phoenix in 2018 and has 13 total. Joey Logano’s streak started at Bristol and is four races long.
Six different drivers have won the last nine races at Kansas Speedway.
Stage winners often don’t win at Kansas. Last season, Ryan Blaney won Stage 1 in May but finished 37th and Kyle Larson won Stage 2 and finished fourth. In October, Joey Logano won Stage 1 and finished eighth and Kevin Harvick won Stage 2 and finished 12th.

LIVE COVERAGE
The Digital Ally 400 will air on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 11. Fans can also follow along on the live leaderboard on NASCAR.com, get in-car audio on RaceView and watch in-car cameras on NASCAR Drive. Be sure to set your Fantasy Live lineup and sub in your garage pick (if needed) before the end of Stage 2 when rosters lock for good.

The Digital Ally 250 will air on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio at 8:30 p.m. ET on Friday, May 10.

2018 RACE WINNER
Kevin Harvick started on the pole and led 79 of the 267 laps last May to score his third Kansas victory. There were six cautions for 31 laps with 13 lead changes. Harvick and Stewart-Haas Racing have not yet won in 2019.

Posted on May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 by PJ Walsh

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

After stops at a few short tracks, pack-racing at Talladega and last week’s clash at the Monster Mile, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to a 1.5-mile race track for the first time since visiting Texas on March 31.

And with a return to a 1.5-miler also comes a return of the high-downforce, low-horsepower race package.

Now that we’re 11 races into the 2019 season, we finally have some data to lean on when trying to project which drivers will be fast this weekend at Kansas.

With this in mind, I’ll use results from Las Vegas and Texas — both 1.5-mile race tracks with low tire wear — to make my NASCAR Props Challenge picks for Saturday’s Digital Ally 400.

RELATED: Make your picks, too

1. Which driver will finish higher? Denny Hamlin or Brad Keselowski?

Denny Hamlin has been among the best drivers at the 1.5-mile tracks this season, including a win at Texas.

Keselowski’s numbers are skewed due to a mechanical issue at Texas, but I still lean Hamlin because his series-best average finishes of 5.5 at Las Vegas and Texas are too good to ignore.

Pick: Hamlin

2. Over/Under 1.5 drivers lead over 80 laps at Kansas?

I think passing is going to be difficult Saturday night as the cooler track temps will result in even less off-throttle time.

Because of this, we should see a handful of drivers dominate laps led as opposed to them finishing more evenly distributed.

Pick: Over

3. Martin Truex Jr. has four straight top-five finishes at Kansas. Does this streak continue?

Truex has been awesome at Kansas in his career, but he hasn’t been close to as dominant with this aero package at similar race tracks.

Add in the fact that he’s coming off a win last week at Dover and I think this is a nice pivot spot to not only follow the data, but differentiate ourselves from the majority of Props Challenge players who will likely expect a top-five finish.

Pick: No

4. Over/Under 42.5 race points for Ryan Blaney?

To go over, Blaney would need something along the lines of a top-five finish in the race overall, as well as top fives in both stages. Can he do it? Sure.

But should we expect that? No.

Pick: Under

Download the FREE Action Network app to finish reading this article and get the rest of PJ Walsh’s NASCAR Props Challenge Picks.

Posted on May 7, 2019 by Staff Report

NASCAR fined two crew chiefs from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series for lug nuts not properly installed following the Monday race at Dover International Speedway.

Both race teams had one lug nut not safe and secure in post-race inspection.

RELATED: Full race results

NASCAR fined crew chiefs from the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing team (Billy Scott) and No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team (Chad Johnston) $10,000 apiece for the infraction.

Daniel Suarez drove the No. 41 to an 11th-place finish, while Kyle Larson (No. 42) finished third.