Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Aside from Tyler Reddick making the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 on Saturday at ISM Raceway, it was a tough day to forget for JR Motorsports.

Regular-season champion Justin Allgaier appeared to be the driver to beat in the Round of 8 finale, winning the first two stages. But the No. 7 Chevrolet suffered right-front damage after contact with John Hunter Nemechek in the final stage, fading to a 24th-place finish with brake issues.

RELATED: Race results | Who’s in, who’s out

“You know, at the end of the day, we did everything right this year,” Allgaier said on pit road after the race. “We had a great season. Today, we did everything right at the beginning part of the race. That was probably the most frustrating part is we led a lot of laps and we won both stages. It was going to be a great day, but then ultimately there at the end getting ourselves in that bad position.”

Through the disappointment, Allgaier was able to find solace in his five victories this season, a total that he could potentially turn into six in the season finale next Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. But admittedly, Allgaier felt they just didn’t do everything right when it mattered the most.

“I feel so bad for my guys, these guys on this 7 team especially, but everybody at JR Motorsports has done a fantastic job all year,” Allgaier said. “We were just in the right place at the wrong time today and didn’t execute like we needed to.”

Similar to Allgaier, Elliott Sadler was also plagued by right-front damage early in the race after contact with the lapped car of Chad Finchum.

“We fought way too many things today,” Sadler said. “We tried some new things and I led us in that direction, so I take full responsibility for that. My guys did so much for me this year and we were so fast at the right times.

“Look, I don’t point fingers,” he added. “I’m the driver. It’s my job to communicate. I just feel my guys are a really good race team and we’ve run up front all year.”

Sadler had to settle for an 11th-place result, missing a shot to make one more title run in Miami in his final race as a full-time driver.

“It’s going to be emotional,” Sadler said, looking ahead to next weekend. “I’ve been racing for 23 years. Been doing it since I was 7, putting a helmet on every weekend. … It’s going to be more relaxing not running for a championship, but it’s gonna suck, too.

“I really wish my guys were going down there (Homestead) to run for a championship. It’s more about them and my sponsors and my team than it is about me.”

Posted on by Staff Report

With the conclusion of Saturday’s Whelen Trusted to Perform 200 at ISM Raceway, the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs field has been trimmed to its Championship 4.

Christopher Bell punched his ticket to next week’s Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a victory on Saturday, leading 94 laps en route to Victory Lane after starting from the rear. Texas winner Cole Custer clinched his Championship 4 spot last weekend with a win in the Lone Star State. Daniel Hemric and Tyler Reddick advanced to the season finale on points.

Matt Tifft, Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier and Austin Cindric were eliminated in Saturday afternoon’s event at ISM Raceway.

MORE: Xfinity Series standings | Bell wins at Phoenix, advances to Miami

The standings and point totals — which reset for the finale — as we head to the Championship 4:

Rank Driver Points
1 Cole Custer 4000
2 Christopher Bell 4000
3 Daniel Hemric 4000
4 Tyler Reddick 4000

The 2018 Xfinity Series season will conclude on Nov. 17 at 3:30 p.m. ET with the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Reid Spencer

AVONDALE, Ariz. – In a playoff round that has been feast or famine for Christopher Bell, the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry gorged to his heart’s content on Saturday at ISM Raceway.

Starting from 38th, Bell roared through the field to win the Whelen Trusted To Perform 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race and advance to the Nov. 17 season championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

RELATED: Race results | Phoenix schedule

Faced with a must-win situation entering the Round of 8 elimination race, Bell did exactly that. By the end of Stage 1, he had cracked the top 10. At the end of Stage 2, he was fourth. And on Lap 108 of 200, he took the lead under green for the first time, forcing his way past pole winner John Hunter Nemechek for the top spot.

The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender never trailed after that, winning for the seventh time this season, the first time at Phoenix and the eighth time in his career. In a playoff format in which victory provides redemption for a multitude of ills, Bell rallied from first-lap crashes at both Kansas and Texas to earn his spot in the Championship 4.

“I’ll be honest, after Kansas and Texas, I just kind of accepted that we weren’t going to be able to get there,” Bell said. “I just came over here with a ‘Let’s have fun’ attitude. To start in the back, we didn’t really make our way up front that fast. I kind of got stalled out once I got into the top 15.

“I knew this thing was really fast, because (on Friday) in practice, it was really good… I’m just thankful for my team. They brought probably the best car we’ve had all year here this weekend. It’s a pleasure to drive ’em, and a race car driver is only as good as his race car. This thing was unbelievably fast.”

Bell joined Texas winner Cole Custer in the Championship 4 Round, along with Saturday’s runner-up Daniel Hemric and sixth-place finisher Tyler Reddick, both of whom advanced on points.

Matt Tifft ran third but fell short in the playoffs, as did regular-season champion Justin Allgaier, who won the first and second stages but sustained heavy damage to the right front of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet when Nemechek slid sideways across the track on Lap 145 and clobbered Allgaier’s car.

Allgaier later lost his brakes before finishing 24th.

“It’s extremely disappointing,” said Allgaier, who lost seven spots on pit road after sliding into his stall under caution on Lap 139. “But we did everything we could in the first two stages. We had a really fast Brandt Camaro. We had a lot of trouble today, seeing our pit stall. It was really difficult to see where we were at and navigate that. I lost us some spots on pit road.

“Ultimately, that put ourselves in a bad position. Got some damage, and we lost the brakes there at the end. At that point it was just about survival, finishing the race and getting as many points as we could gain.”

Likewise, veteran Elliott Sadler left Phoenix disappointed after early contact with the No. 40 Toyota of Chad Finchum cost him track position he could never regain. Sadler finished 11th and failed to advance to Homestead in his final year as a full-time NASCAR driver.

“I made too many mistakes today to give my guys an opportunity,” Sadler said. “It’s all on me. My guys work too hard and deserve to be a part of this Championship 4 at Homestead, but I just didn’t pull my part through.

“It’s going to be an emotional week. I have one race left, and my wife and kids are coming to Homestead, and we’ll make the most of it, but it’s definitely going to be hard to look my guys in the eye, knowing we’re not part of the championship.”

Austin Cindric, whose only path to the Championship 4 was to win at ISM Raceway, finished fourth. Ryan Preece and Brandon Jones were fifth and seventh, respectively, with Custer finishing eighth. Nemechek and Spencer Gallagher completed the top 10.

Pit notes: Chevrolet claimed its 19th manufacturer championship in the Xfinity Series after the drop of the green flag. The title is the fourth in the last five years for the automaker. … Akinori Ogata, a 45-year-old native of Japan, crashed in the first lap of his Xfinity Series debut. He spun again on Lap 100 and limped to an 33rd-place finish, 21 laps down.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Reid Spencer

AVONDALE, Ariz. — For Clint Bowyer, it’s all about getting better at a track and on a weekend when he has to be the absolute best.

Bowyer is still alive in the race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship — but just barely. After a 21st-place finish at Martinsville to start the Round of 8 and a problem-laden 26th-place result at Texas last Sunday, Bowyer has only one way to advance to the Championship 4 Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Quite simply, he must win Sunday’s Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The way the weekend started for Bowyer, that possibility seemed remote at best.

The No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford struggled in Friday’s opening practice, posting the 19th-fastest lap. In knockout qualifying that afternoon, Bowyer nailed down the 16th starting spot for Sunday’s race.

MORE: Full qualifying results | Monster Energy Series standings

“I felt like we definitely improved from our practice,” Bowyer said. “Unfortunately, our result didn’t show much for it, but I think the car responded to some of the things that we changed going into qualifying for the better.

“Here, it’s all about the long runs and getting settled in and being good, having a good medium, middle-ground balance between these drastically different corners. (Turns) 1 and 2 are a lot different than 3 and 4, and you’ve got to have that balance. You’ve got to have a happy medium there.”

Bowyer’s approach to Sunday’s race will be as simple and straightforward as his mission — to get to the front and stay there. Bowyer concedes that an off-the-wall strategy isn’t likely to accomplish that objective.

“At the end of the day, stage points lead to good results,” Bowyer said. “Everybody wants stage points, because, if you’re getting stage points, you’re running up front, and you’ve got a shot at winning. That’s the way it is.

“If there’s some sort of opportunity that opens up, of course we’re going to take it at all costs, but at the end of the day, the reason people want stage points is because you’re running up front where you need to be running and in position to win the race.”

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

AVONDALE, Ariz. — The No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs contender Christopher Bell failed pre-qualifying inspection three times Saturday morning at ISM Raceway.

As a result, the team will lose its car chief (Chris Sherwood) and start at the rear of the field for Saturday’s Whelen Trusted to Perform 200 (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Xfinity playoff standings | Full Phoenix schedule

Bell currently sits seventh in the playoff standings, 34 points below the cutline heading into the final elimination race to set the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 17. Cole Custer is the only playoff driver locked in, leaving three spots up for grabs.

“Well the good thing is Homestead isn’t decided on where we start, it’s decided on where we finish,” Bell told NBCSN after the penalty was handed down. “We have 200 laps, which is an eternity, especially with what I grew up doing in sprint-car racing. We have a bunch of pit stops in there and a really fast race car to make it up. So, I think we’ll be fine.”

MORE: Who’s in bubble trouble in the Xfinity Series?

The No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Ty Majeski also failed pre-qualifying inspection three times. Majeski will start at the rear and his car chief (Zach Marquardt) has been ejected.

Posted on by Staff Report

Kevin Harvick led the way to a Saturday sweep of Monster Energy Series practices, capping his show of speed with a chart-topping lap in final practice at ISM Raceway in Phoenix.

Harvick, who claimed the Busch Pole in Friday’s qualifying, secured a 135.125 mph lap in the final 50-minute session. Harvick will start first in Sunday’s Can-Am 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in search of his 10th career victory at the 1-mile Arizona oval.

RELATED: Harvick wins pole | Final practice results

Harvick is competing the next two weeks without crew chief Rodney Childers and car chief Cheddar Smith, both suspended as part of L1-level penalties against the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 team after last weekend’s win at Texas. Veteran crew chief Tony Gibson and interim car chief Nick DeFazio will fill in for the last two races of the season.

Brad Keselowski collected the second-fastest speed in the final session, clocking a 134.484 mph lap in the Team Penske No. 2 Ford. Kyle Busch, Erik Jones and Martin Truex Jr. went third through fifth, all in Toyotas.

Five of the eight remaining championship-eligible drivers were in the top 10 on the final practice leaderboard. The field of four title contenders for the Nov. 18 Homestead-Miami Speedway finale will be determined after Sunday’s 312-lapper.

Paul Menard crashed with less than one minute remaining in the practice session. His Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford spun and made heavy left-side contact with the outside retaining wall in Turn 3.

The first incident of final practice occurred 12 minutes in, when a small fire flashed under the hood of the Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 Ford of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Three teams had time deducted at the end of final practice:

  • No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet of AJ Allmendinger (15 minutes for failing pre-qualifying inspection twice)
  • No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota of Martin Truex Jr. (30 minutes for failing pre-qualifying inspection three times)
  • No .97 Obaika Racing Toyota of Tanner Berryhill (15 minutes for failing pre-qualifying inspection twice)

Harvick sets early pace at Phoenix

Pole winner Kevin Harvick set the pace in Saturday’s early Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at ISM Raceway in Phoenix.

Harvick pushed the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford to a best lap of 134.710 mph. He earned the first starting spot in Friday qualifying for Sunday’s Can-Am 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the ninth of 10 races in the NASCAR Playoffs.

RELATED: Best 10-lap averages | Practice 2 results

Kyle Larson turned in the second-fastest lap (134.680 mph) on the 1-mile track in the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet. Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney filled out the rest of the top five in the 50-minute session.

Sunday’s 312-lap race is the final event in the three-race Round of 8. The championship-eligible field will be reduced to the four title-contending drivers who will vie for the Monster Energy Series crown Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Joey Logano, the only driver automatically locked into a Championship 4 spot, was 24th-fastest in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford — slowest among the eight title contenders.

MORE: See every car in the field | Full schedule for Phoenix

The final portion of practice was set aside for teams to practice restarts. The Arizona facility is preparing for its first Monster Energy Series race with the start-finish line moved into the west turn.

Six teams were docked 15 minutes of practice time for being late to pre-qualifying inspection:

  • No. 7 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet for DJ Kennington
  • No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet of Ty Dillon
  • No. 23 BK Racing Toyota of JJ Yeley
  • No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson
  • No. 66 Phoenix Air Racing Toyota of Timmy Hill
  • No .97 Obaika Racing Toyota of Tanner Berryhill
Posted on by Team Release

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Jeffrey Earnhardt will compete in a nine-race NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) in 2019 with sponsorship from Xtreme Concepts Inc., a worldwide leader in providing turnkey security solutions, along with training and technology integration to U.S. government, military and commercial clients on a global scale.

Earnhardt will make his debut in the No. 18 Xtreme Concepts Toyota Supra in the season-opening Xfinity Series race Feb. 16 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Eight more races will follow, allowing the 29-year-old from Mooresville, North Carolina, to compete in the same front-running equipment that has secured more than 150 Xfinity Series victories for JGR.

“I’ve worked incredibly hard for this opportunity and I’ve got to thank Xtreme Concepts for making it happen,” said Earnhardt, the grandson of seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt. “You see the level of expertise Joe Gibbs Racing has and the caliber of equipment they bring to the racetrack every week. As a driver, it’s exactly where you want to be. It’s the best opportunity I’ve had in my career and I plan to make the most of it.”

Xtreme Concepts is backing Earnhardt’s endeavor, with the Birmingham, Alabama-based company showcasing its brands on the No. 18 Toyota, most notably iK9, a comprehensive canine solutions provider for detection and service dogs, along with professional handler education.

“We believe motorsports is an incredibly strong platform to highlight the many services Xtreme Concepts can provide, and we also believe in Jeffrey Earnhardt,” said Landon Ash, founder, Xtreme Concepts. “I know firsthand how just having the opportunity to show what you can do is all you need to find success. It’s how we’ve grown Xtreme Concepts since our founding in 2008 to a worldwide leader in security concepts and solutions. Jeffrey has been an excellent representative for Xtreme Concepts and our brands like iK9, and through this endeavor with Joe Gibbs Racing we plan to grow together.”

Earnhardt has made a total of 151 starts across the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series, but none have been with an organization with the depth and resources of JGR. Earnhardt is taking a path most recently traveled by Ryan Preece, a driver who joined JGR in 2017 and promptly won two Xfinity Series races after finally getting into equipment befitting his talent.

“From the time we first came to NASCAR in 1992, we’ve always put forth maximum effort to have the best possible results on the racetrack,” said Coy Gibbs, Vice Chairman and COO, JGR. “Our Xfinity Series program is the perfect example of what happens when preparation meets execution. We’ve had both up-and-coming and veteran drivers achieve success in our racecars, and that success has translated to the partners they’ve represented. We think Jeffrey Earnhardt has the talent to win races and deliver strong results for Xtreme Concepts.”

Details regarding Earnhardt’s nine-race Xfinity Series schedule will be announced prior to the start of the 2019 season.

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Crew chief Rodney Childers had only one word to say after Kevin Harvick earned the Busch Pole Award on Friday evening at ISM Raceway.

Harvick will start at the head of the field for Sunday’s Can-Am 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), two days after the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team received an L1-level penalty following its win at Texas Motor Speedway.

The penalty resulted in a two-race suspension for Childers, a loss of 40 driver and owner points and a loss of the Championship 4 automatic bid — and left Harvick just three points above the cutline ahead of teammate Kurt Busch.

Tony Gibson, veteran crew chief and current production manager at SHR, will serve as crew chief for Harvick at ISMR and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs finale Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“Everything went smooth,” Harvick said during his post-qualifying press conference. “I think as you guys are quickly figuring out it’s more about people than it is about cars, so we’ve got a lot of good people and obviously a lot of experience with Tony and those guys did a great job filling the roles.

“You can’t drive a slow car fast and you can’t beat good people.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Charging from third to first with a strong inside move after a restart with three laps left, Brett Moffitt clinched his spot in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship 4 with a dramatic victory in Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 at ISM Raceway.

While Noah Gragson and Grant Enfinger battled for the lead and swapped side-to-side shots on Lap 148 of 150, Moffitt powered his No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota down to the frontstretch apron and cleared Gragson and Enfinger off the second corner.

Moffitt pulled away to win his fifth race of the season by .456 seconds over Gragson, who qualified for the Championship 4 on points, as Enfinger faded to fourth and out of the playoff picture. Moffitt took the checkered flag in his first start at ISM Raceway and claimed the sixth victory of his career.

RELATED: Who’s in the Championship 4? |  Race results

Gragson was leading with seven laps left when Riley Herbst’s spin brought out the fourth and final caution of the evening. The subsequent restart gave Moffitt the opportunity he needed to win the race. Adding to the urgency, Enfinger could have qualified for the Championship by winning, leaving Moffitt and Gragson to fight a close battle for the final spot on points.

“I wasn’t sure if I wanted a caution to come out or not, but in hindsight I did,” Moffitt said. “Where we were sitting we were locked into Homestead mathematically. When that caution came out, I was kind of nervous. I didn’t know what was going to happen. Then when the 18 (Gragson) took the top (lane for the restart), I really didn’t know what the hell was going to happen.

“I was just hoping the 98 (Enfinger) got rolling to where he didn’t stack up the inside, and fortunately he got a good restart, and I dove down to the apron. Our truck was really good running the actual apron through (Turns) 1 and 2 all night long. I made a lot of passes there. I stuck it down there and went for it and was able to clear off (Turn) 2 and drive away.”

After running the spec Ilmor NT-1 engine at Texas last Friday, Moffitt returned to the Mark Cronquist-built Toyota engine at Phoenix, despite a NASCAR gear rule change designed to even out the performance of the two types of power plants.

“It’s Joe Gibbs 299th engine win with Mark Cronquist,” Moffitt said. “They put our backs against the wall (with the rule change), but the s.o.b. won again.”

Toyota drivers Moffitt and Gragson joined GMS Racing teammates Johnny Sauter and Justin Haley in the Championship 4. Sauter had qualified with a win at Martinsville, and Haley earned his spot with a victory at Texas.

Two-time series champion Matt Crafton was eliminated from the playoffs after an 11th-place finish. Crafton lost his chance for victory when his crew had trouble with the right front tire on the No. 88 Ford’s final pit stop.

RELATED: Crafton on one of his worst seasons

Harrison Burton matched his career-best finish with a third-place run.