Fantasy Update: Last-minute Richmond lineup, props advice

Posted on April 13, 2019April 13, 2019 by RJ Kraft

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick will start from the Busch Pole in Saturday night’s Toyota Owners 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Does the three-time Richmond winner merit a spot in your lineup? We’ve dissected the numbers to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration.

PLAY NOW: Set your lineup | How the game works | Tips to set your lineup

Remember that the garage locks at the end of Stage 2. Once the final stage starts, your roster is locked in. There will be a competition caution at Lap 40.

RJ Kraft’s Fantasy Live lineup for race day at Richmond:
1. Kyle Busch
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Kurt Busch
5. Brad Keselowski
Garage: Kyle Larson

Analysis: Let’s start with who’s staying in my lineup with inspection complete. Kyle Busch won both races here last year and had the best 10-lap time. Despite no victories here, Truex has a history of running well at Richmond. Harvick won the pole and has seven top fives in his last nine Richmond starts. The No. 4 car was second on the 10-lap board and this team seems to be dialed in on speed after a few uncharacteristic weeks. The biggest bugaboo for Kurt Busch this season has been qualifying. He entered Richmond with a 20.1 average start and just one top-10 start in eight races in 2019. That changes at Richmond where he will start third and should be in position to improve greatly on his lack of stage points in 2019 — with only 20 on the season. He grabbed 15 stage points in this race last year starting sixth.

Initially, I was set to have Chase Elliott and Daniel Suarez in my lineup but inspection failures have derailed that plan. I’m really bummed about the Suarez aspect of that given that I hadn’t used him yet and he was on a strong roll entering this race — this seemed like a great spot to plug him in. Keselowski jumps into one of the open spots for me as I have one more use on him than Joey Logano. Given Team Penske’s power on the short tracks this season — they’ve led 795 of 1,000 laps — it’s advisable to have one in the lineup. I was willing to risk not doing it before to save a use, but with some of my choices having inspection woes, the 2012 champion is the driver I feel most comfortable with as a starter.

I’m sticking with a similar strategy as I planned with the garage except instead of Suarez that spot now goes to Kyle Larson. I know what you’re thinking — RJ, you said on the podcast you wanted to see it. That is true, but with all the inspection failures, he will line up 10th and I like the odds of him grabbing some stage points. He has the third-most points in the past four Richmond races and led the lone practice. To be clear, this is a bit of a boom or bust play. I did consider Chris Buescher, who lines up seventh and had the third-best 10-lap average. He’s a sneaky play that is only owned by two percent of players (as of 3:30 p.m. ET). The potential to grab points others might not is really tempting but I am going to gamble on Larson. I’ve used the Ganassi driver once, so he is my “out.” Potentially it’s a wasted use if the 42 camp gets it turned around (and I think they will) but given how he has run so far this year (just two top 10s), I am willing to take the risk knowing that if my top five are running better, he stays in the garage. Denny Hamlin was also in the mix for one of these spots but lost consideration when he too, failed inspection.

For stage wins, I’m taking Harvick in Stage 1 and 2 with Kyle Busch and Toyota for the race and manufacturer win.

Each week in this space, we’ll also highlight two Props Challenge items for players.

MORE: Play the Props Challenge today

1. O/U Hendrick Motorsports has 1.5 drivers finish in the top 10. I initially was dead set on the over with my thinking being based on where they qualified Elliott and Jimmie Johnson would get it done. Now, though, I have shifted to the under following the inspection failures of the Nos. 9 and 48 that saw their times disallowed. I think they can get one of those two in the top 10 but I don’t like the odds of two cars doing it with those two at the back of the field to start and just one top 10 combined this season between William Byron and Alex Bowman through the first eight races.

2. O/U Martin Truex Jr. scores 10.5 stage points at Richmond. I’m taking the over here as well. I’m bullish on Truex turning it around this weekend. He’s hit the over in two of the past four Richmond races — on the opposite side those were both in the fall race. He’s starting fifth, so if he maintains that spot in both stages he will hit the over and I think there’s a strong chance he places higher in one of the two stages to improve the odds.

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Zack Albert

RICHMOND, Va. — Somewhat fittingly, Cole Custer’s No. 00 car captured a payday with some extra zeros in it. The other three Xfinity Series drivers vying for the Dash 4 Cash bonus at Richmond Raceway couldn’t quite cash in.

Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell had roundabout evenings in Friday night’s ToyotaCare 250, fading as Custer charged to his second win of the season. Reddick was the nearest challenger for the bonus for the second straight week, placing fourth. Briscoe wound up eighth with an ill-handling car, and Bell led 32 laps but dipped to 16th after sustaining damage on a restart near the end of Stage 2.

The night’s finishing order established the quartet of drivers eligible for the next Dash 4 Cash event, scheduled April 27 at Talladega Superspeedway. Both Custer and Reddick stay in the field, joined by Richmond runner-up Austin Cindric and third-place Justin Allgaier.

Reddick’s bid for the $100,000 stayed alive until the final stretch, even as the power steering on his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet expired just before the second stage ended.

“That was interesting,” said Reddick, who remained the series’ points leader. “I’d much rather lose power steering here than at Bristol or some of these other race tracks, but it was a handful. Really couldn’t get the tires warmed up. I’d say that was the biggest hurt for us, it’s just taking off is a challenge. And when you’re racing around people or having to make quick moves, you just can’t when the power steering’s locked up like that.”

Briscoe’s moves weren’t quite enough to catch Custer, his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate. He battled variable handling conditions as the race transitioned from dusk to dark, all while cloud cover and the threat of rain persisted.

“It was a weird night,” said Briscoe, who secured his sixth straight top-10 result. “That first run of the race when the sunlight was out, we were able to drive up fifth and were kind of running down second through fourth and thought we were going to be really good. As soon as the sun went down, we just were in the way, I felt like. I don’t know. As soon as the sun went down, we just lost all of our drive.”

Bell’s evening was the most action-packed. He spent time up front battling early contender Allgaier, but his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota became jammed up on a restart after the halfway point, absorbing significant left-front damage. A few laps later, Bell spun, prompting the race’s fourth caution period on Lap 143.

Though he rallied back into the top five, Bell dropped six positions during the final pit-stop sequence, then faded further as his quest for a third straight Richmond victory evaporated.

“I don’t know,” Bell said. “Just trying to make it happen there on the restart at Stage 2. Just they bottled up and I ran right into the back of them and ruined our night.”

Posted on April 12, 2019May 4, 2019 by Staff Report

The four-race NASCAR Xfinity Series Dash 4 Cash returned with a roar for the 2019 season. The program, which awards $100,000 for each of four races to the top competing driver, is eligible to drivers competing for Xfinity Series driver points.

The top four Xfinity Series finishing regulars at Texas Motor Speedway on March 30 are eligible for the Dash 4 Cash prize of $100,000 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The highest finishing driver of those four at Bristol wins the prize and will move on to have a shot at the prize at Richmond Raceway in addition to the top three finishing series regulars. This format continues for the races at Richmond, Talladega Superspeedway and Dover International Speedway (more details below on that).

This page will be updated with a summary of each race as it happens and a breakdown of who is Dash 4 Cash eligible for each race. The four races in the 2018 Dash 4 Cash program were:

Bristol Motor Speedway (April 6, 1 p.m. ET FS1/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Richmond Raceway (April 12, 7 p.m. ET, FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Talladega Superspeedway (April 27, 1 p.m. ET, FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Dover International Speedway (May 4, 1:30 p.m. ET, FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Dash 4 Cash Format Explained
At Texas: The top four finishing Xfinity Series regulars at Texas are eligible for the $100,000 prize at Bristol. No prize is given out at Texas, but it does set the Dash 4 Cash participants for Bristol. Qualifiers for Bristol: Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe and Michael Annett.

RELATED: Texas race recap | Full Texas results

At Bristol: The top Dash 4 Cash-eligible finishing driver wins the $100,000 prize at Bristol and will advance to a have a shot at the prize at Richmond along with the three-highest finishing series regulars. Prize winner: Christopher Bell | Qualifiers for Richmond: Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer and Chase Briscoe.

At Richmond: The top Dash 4 Cash-eligible finishing driver wins the $100,000 prize at Richmond and will advance to a have a shot at the prize at Talladega along with the three-highest finishing series regulars. Prize winner: Cole Custer | Qualifiers for Talladega: Cole Custer, Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier and Tyler Reddick.

At Talladega: The top Dash 4 Cash-eligible finishing driver wins the $100,000 prize at Talladega and will advance to a have a shot at the prize at Dover along with the three-highest finishing series regulars. Prize winner: Tyler Reddick | Qualifiers for Dover: Tyler Reddick, Gray Gaulding, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe.

At Dover: The top Dash 4 Cash-eligible finishing driver wins the $100,000 prize at Dover, the final race of the Dash 4 Cash series. Prize winner: Christopher Bell

RELATED: Dover race recap | Full Dover results

Posted on April 12, 2019April 12, 2019 by Reid Spencer

RICHMOND, Va. – Cole Custer said on Friday afternoon that his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing NASCAR Xfinity Series team might be ready to peak in time for the Playoffs.

Clearly, Custer is ahead of schedule, after a convincing victory in Friday night’s ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway.

After losing the lead to Austin Cindric on a restart with 26 laps left, Custer regained the top spot on Lap 231 of 250 and pulled away for his second victory of the season. In a race that dodged a persistent threat of rain, Custer crossed the finish line 2.639 seconds ahead of Cindric.

Not only did Custer win for the fourth time in his career—and for the first time on a short track—but he also claimed the $100,000 Xfinity Dash 4 Cash bonus that goes to the highest finisher of four eligible contenders.

“We had a great car,” Custer said. “(Crew chief Mike Shiplett) made great adjustments as it went… This one means a lot. We hadn’t had a short-track win yet. We’ve struggled a lot at short tracks, but this helps

“A lot of my friends give me crap for being bad at this place, but I finally won, so I’ve got a little bit of bragging rights there, so that’s night. I’m just so happy. Two wins—that’s pretty awesome.”

Custer also served notice that he expects the team to get even better as the season progresses.

“I think we’re in a great place,” Custer said. “We’re going to get better and better. I think we’ve started to figure out our cars later in the race, and I think the second time we go back (to the same tracks), we’re going to be even better—just me and Mike working together at these tracks for the first time.

“We’re just going to be a team that gets better and better as the year goes on.”

Custer led three times for a race-high 122 laps. Third-place finisher Justin Allgaier led 86 and won the first stage but had to charge to the front after contrarian pit strategy left him 16^th for a Lap 161 restart.

Allgaier was second by the time caution slowed the race for the sixth time on Lap 212, but he spun his tires on the subsequent restart on Lap 219 and fell back to fifth before recovering to third at the finish.

“The pit call we made at the end of the (second) stage there, it worked out, obviously, in our favor,” said Allgaier, who had crashed out of last week’s Bristol race after leading 138 laps. “But I pushed really hard to get back up to the front, and I just didn’t quite have enough there at the end to really do anything.

“I made a mistake on that restart. It really burns me up that I made the mistake, but all in all, a great day. I hope we got the monkey off our back.”

Cindric was hoping rain would halt the race when he was in the lead, but that didn’t happen. He did, however, qualify for the Dash 4 Cash two weeks hence at Talladega, where his sponsor, MoneyLion, also holds the entitlement for the race.

“Congrats to Cole and those guys,” Cindirc said. “I tried my best on that restart to hold him off, but they were obviously the class of the field. Him and the 7 (Allgaier). We had some fun and got some points and now we will move on to Talladega for the MoneyLion 300.

“That will be a big one for me. I would love to win that race and the Dash for Cash at Talladega.”

Tyler Reddick came home fourth, followed by Ryan Sieg, who has finished no worse than 12th in the first eight races of the season. Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, Chase Briscoe, Riley Herbst and Justin Haley completed the top 10.

Making the first of two planned starts this season, Elliott Sadler ran 12th in an emotional return to his home track.

Note: The No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Reddick had one lug nut found to unsecure. Any potential fine will be announced next week by the sanctioning body.

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Jordan Bianchi

When Denny Hamlin rolls into Richmond Raceway it brings an air of familiarity, giving him a depth of knowledge about the Virginia track unlike any other on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule.

That knowledge stems not just from Hamlin having visited the track twice a season for the past 13 seasons, but because the veteran driver and native of nearby Chesterfield, Virginia., — approximately 30 minutes south of the track — attended many races here growing up. Sitting in the grandstands he envisioned one competing on the track himself, something he’s now done 40 combined times across NASCAR’s three national series.

Hamlin will make his 41st start on what he considers his home track Saturday night in the Toyota Owners 400 (at 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). As he is every time he turns a lap at Richmond before a partisan crowd filled with a multitude of family and friends, Hamlin isn’t lacking motivation to do well.

“It’s great,” Hamlin said Friday. “I’ll always love coming to this race track. It is home. It’s one that I’ve been to many, many times even when I wasn’t racing. It’s certainly the home track for me.”

Perhaps in part because of his intricate knowledge that comes with Richmond being his home track, Hamlin’s boasts a stellar record on the three-quarter-mile oval. Rarely is it that the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is not either leading or up near the front. Hamlin’s 1,659 laps led in 25 Cup starts are the most among active drivers, while only Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch has more wins (six to three).

But that past success also brings the expectation that Hamlin should be among those vying for the win Saturday night, if not outright being the driver to beat. Yet, it is an expectation that he embraces.

“It’s just exciting because I know that I very well could have a great weekend ahead of us and really focus a lot of my efforts on how can we go out there and dominate the race, not just win but dominate,” Hamlin said. “That’s been the primary focus for the last five days and hopefully we put it all together for tomorrow night.

“When I come home, it’s a special feeling for sure.”

Hamlin’s last victory at Richmond occurred in 2016, and in the subsequent four races he’s posted two third-place finishes and a fifth. Busch has won the won the past two races here and can become the first driver since Bobby Allison in the early 1980s to win three straight races at Richmond.

“I certainly feel like I know what I need out of the car to be successful here,” Hamlin said. “Just searching for that feel is really what you do every time you come here. Especially the races that we’ve dominated here, there’s that’s a special type of feel that you have to have in the race car.”

And as if he needs another reason to feel good at his home track, Hamlin comes into the weekend enjoying the best start to his career, having scored two wins — one of which was the Daytona 500 — and seven top-10 finishes in eight races this season, and is only 27 points behind Busch in the standings.

“Our cars have been running really good,” Hamlin said. “We’ve been finishing really well and running really well every single week.”

Posted on April 12, 2019April 12, 2019 by Jordan Bianchi

Kyle Busch has a lot of fond memories of Richmond Raceway, though not among them is the first time he competed at the three-quarter-mile Virginia track. That race was in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series in 2001, and by Busch’s recollection it was a night to quickly forget.

“Hit about everything but the pace car,” Busch said Friday at Richmond, site of the Toyota Owners 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on Saturday night (7:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “It was an ugly, ugly venture for me. It was pretty bad.”

While Busch may have had an auspicious debut at Richmond (he finished 22nd, three laps behind race-winner Jack Sprague), it wasn’t long before he would make better memories. Busch’s next start at Richmond came three years later in an Xfinity Series race, and did not feature any run-ins with the pace vehicle. Instead, on that night Busch put forth a dominating performance where he led 236 of 250 laps to score his first-ever victory in a NASCAR national series event.

“I remember that day and being able to score that first victory and remembering going to victory lane and jumping off the car and all the guys catching me behind me and just having a good celebration,” Busch said. “That was certainly a lot of fun. Fifteen years, that’s scary.”

Ever since, regardless of the series he’s competing in, Richmond has been a place where Busch has excelled. In many instances, it has looked as if he knows sometime about the track that few could even comprehend.

Busch’s six Cup wins at Richmond are most among active drivers, as is his 6.9 average finish. That superiority also extends to the Xfinity Series where Busch leads all active drivers in wins (6), top-five finishes (16), top-10 finishes (19) and laps led (1,497).

On Saturday, Busch can further assert that Richmond is his own personal playground. He has won the past two races here, and a third consecutive victory would make him the first driver since Bobby Allison in the early 1980s to accomplish the feat. The only others besides Allison in the three wins in-a-row club are David Pearson and Richard Petty, rarefied company as Allison, Pearson and Petty are each members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

“If we can win three in a row here at Richmond and match names like that — the Godfathers of our sport that built our sport to what it is today — would be pretty cool,” Busch said.

A win Saturday would be more than just Busch cementing his status as one of the best-ever at Richmond, it would also be a continuation of the best start to a season of his career and one of the best overall in the Cup Series modern era (1972-present).

Busch already has three wins in eight races this season, and not once has he finished outside the top 10. The last time a driver began a season with that many consecutive top-10 finishes was Terry Labonte in 1992.

There is considerable distinction between the respective streaks compiled by Busch and Labonte, however. Labonte had neither a victory during nor led the series standings, whereas Busch has multiple wins and currently atop the standings by 27 points over Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin.

“We’ve been doing really well and the results have been coming, too,” Busch said. “We’ve had a little luck on our side as well. I always tell you when we don’t have any luck on our side, so I might as well tell you when we do have a little luck on our side. It’s been nice to have. We just have to continue with the way we’re running and the way that we’re doing it. Keep being successful.”

Posted on April 12, 2019April 13, 2019 by Reid Spencer

RICHMOND, Va. – Where the short tracks are concerned, Kevin Harvick and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team appeared to have turned a corner.

And on Friday afternoon at Richmond Raceway, Harvick got through the corners better than everyone else in winning the pole position — later locked in by his car passing inspection — for Saturday’s Toyota Owners 400 at the .75-mile track (7:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The Busch Pole Award was Harvick’s third at Richmond, his second of the season and the 27th of his career, setting up a showdown with the Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske cars that have monopolized Victory Lane in the first eight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series events of the season.

Harvick posted a lap at 124.298 mph (21.722 seconds) to edge Erik Jones (124.081 mph) for the top starting spot by .038 seconds. Jones time was later disallowed after his failed inspection.

Kurt Busch qualified second at 123.870 mph, a dramatic improvement over his 2019 average starting position of 20.1. Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. completed the top five.

“The cars definitely had a little fall-off,” Harvick said. “I was just really just managing the fall-off and just trying to be consistent with the laps, but stickers (new tires) were definitely faster in the first round than they were in the second and third round.”

Harvick was sixth in the first round, second to Kyle Busch in the second round and first with the pole at stake.

For the first time, NASCAR limited each round to five minutes, with seven minutes between, condensing the entire qualifying session to 29 minutes. For Erik Jones, who had a pit stall near the exit from pit road, the time limits weren’t an issue.

“Short tracks, I think it’s fine,” Jones said. “It’s a little hectic in the first round and even in the second round, but it’s easy for me to say. We had a great pit stall being first out. I could just roll out, and here it doesn’t benefit you to wait so you just roll out and get your lap in.”

Harvick was fast last week at Bristol, only to have his prospects crushed by a pre-race penalty for multiple inspection failures and an early loose wheel that forced an unplanned pit stop. But at Richmond on Saturday, he’ll be leading the field to green.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of unknowns, including a new Goodyear tire combination.

“As you look at this place, this is really one of those places where you kind of have to go off of what happened last time,” Harvick said. “New tire, so you don’t really know exactly what the cars are going to do deep into runs as far as how bad they will push, will the get looser.

“What conditions will you be fighting? We wind up guessing a number of times when they change the tires like this, because you don’t know what to anticipate.”

Posted on April 12, 2019April 12, 2019 by Staff Report

Rain showers hit the Richmond area on Friday afternoon, hitting the pause button on NASCAR’s on-track activity at Richmond Raceway and forcing the sanctioning body to cancel final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice. NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying also fell victim to the wet weather and the lineup for Friday’s race will be set in accordance to the NASCAR Rule Book.

The schedule got back on track with Cup qualifying at 5:45 p.m. ET. The Xfinity Series ToyotaCare 250 also got underway at 7 p.m. ET; the second race of the four-race Dash 4 Cash in the Xfinity ranks.

Cup Series teams were scheduled to practice on the 0.75-mile short track from 1:05-1:55 p.m. ET. Rain started falling around 12:15 and NASCAR officials put everything on hold and announced it would be scrapping practice shortly before 1 p.m.

MORE: Weather updates from Richmond | Full Richmond schedule

Scattered thunderstorms and rain are in the forecast for the rest of the evening.

Race officials have a full fleet of track-drying equipment on hand. Stationed at Richmond are eight Air Titan dryers, four conventional jet dryers, one track blower, one Elgin sweeper and one track vacuum.

Posted on April 12, 2019April 12, 2019 by Staff Report

Kyle Larson was top of the board in the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice on Friday at Richmond Raceway, pushing his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet at 121.704 mph. Larson has two top-10 finishes and five top 15s for the 2019 season.

Denny Hamlin, in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, was second-fastest (121.682 mph) to Larson. Chris Buescher, in the No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet, was third (121.638 mph), followed by series points leader Kyle Busch (121.611 mph) and David Ragan (121.518 mph), in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford, to round out the top five.

RELATED: First practice results

The 50-minute practice had four drivers serving 15-minute penalties for arriving late to inspection at Bristol, including the No. 6 of Ryan Newman, Ragan’s No. 38, Larson’s No. 42 and the No. 51 of Jeb Burton. There was also a 30-minute deduction from practice for Kevin Harvick for multiple inspection failures. Harvick ran ninth at Richmond.

Friday’s final practice for the Monster Energy Series was canceled because of rain.

Posted on April 12, 2019April 12, 2019 by Zack Albert

RICHMOND, Va. — Chip Ganassi Racing made changes to the pit-crew lineup for its two-car operation ahead of this weekend’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway.

“In the whole offseason, we built around trying to build what we thought was our best group,” said Matt McCall, crew chief of the Ganassi No. 1 Chevrolet for Kurt Busch. “Everybody’s still new that everybody had a chance to be different players, so that’s where we’re at right now. Just moving a couple different people around and see how it works out.”

Bryan Jacobsen moves to front tire-changing duties for the Ganassi No. 42 Chevrolet driven by Kyle Larson. He served last week in that role for the No. 00 Chevrolet of StarCom Racing, which has a developmental pit-crew partnership with Ganassi. Jacobsen replaces Steve Price, who takes Jacobsen’s place on the StarCom No. 00 driven by Landon Cassill.

RELATED: CGR team page | Kurt Busch driver page

On the No. 1 Ganassi Chevy driven by Kurt Busch, Daniel Kincaid replaces Ken Pozega as front tire changer. Cory Baldwin, who was with the Front Row Motorsports No. 34 pit crew last week at Bristol, will change rear tires for the No. 1 this weekend. Pozega is on this weekend’s roster for Front Row’s No. 34, listed as the rear-tire changer. He is also listed as a member for the backup pit crew for both Ganassi entries.

“I don’t know for how long, if it’ll be permanent or whatever,” Larson said after qualifying 14th Friday. “I think it’s good to spice things up and try something different. I feel like our pit stops have lacked the last couple years, so just searching to try to get our stops better and hopefully it’ll help our races out a little bit.”

McCall indicated that Chip Ganassi Racing was fortunate to have the luxury of a deep bench for its pit crew personnel, but that the changes put in place this weekend were by no means permanent. He also told NASCAR.com that no single issue stood out as the impetus for the pit crew shake-up.

“No, and the guys we’ve changed, I would say the odds of them getting back on the team are still there,” McCall said. “I think it’s going to be a moving target for a while if we can find the right combination. Some of it is purely related to overall averages. It’s not been one thing or the other, like, ‘oh, we’ve left this lug loose five times.’ It’s none of that. It’s just more or less trying to find some consistency.”

RELATED: Dive into the 2019 stats

Consistency is also the quest for the No. 1 team in Busch Pole Qualifying. Busch has found solid results in his first year with the Ganassi organization, with six top-10 finishes in the first eight races this season. But he’s had to achieve those results coming from far back in the starting grid. Busch’s average finish of 8.6 is third-best in the series, but his average start of 20.1 equals the largest disparity between the two numbers among Cup Series regulars.

McCall says there’s no single factor there, either.

“For the most part, we’ve come off the truck close, we’ve practiced OK, but when qualifying rolls around, we’ve not been anywhere close to where anyone can drive it,” McCall said. “So it’s not been good. … It’s building a notebook, for sure. That’s the biggest thing. Then there’s things that he’s looking for that are different for qualifying than what we’re accustomed to giving him, so once we get that built up, I think it’ll be a little more straightforward hopefully.”

In addition to building a wealth of notes and information, McCall has also been finding chemistry in his first season paired with Busch, whose fiery personality often comes through on the team communications.

“It’s been fun, man,” McCall said. “The intensity level is high, which is good. I think that’s what it takes to have a chance to win races. His mentality is the same as mine. I like the edge side, that he gets really pissed off at me because I think there’s a little bit of drive there that makes you try to make sure you’re not missing some details.”