Championship 4 set for Camping World Truck Series

Posted on November 9, 2018November 9, 2018 by Staff Report

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship 4 is set with Brett Moffitt and Noah Gragson joining Johnny Sauter and Justin Haley as the four drivers that will battle for the title at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 16. Moffitt won the race at ISM Raceway — taking the lead with three to go while Gragson finished second.

ThorSport Racing teammates Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton were the two drivers eliminated from the playoffs at the end of the Lucas Oil 150 at ISM Raceway. Enfinger was in contention late but couldn’t win his way into the next round.

GMS Racing teammates Sauter and Haley won their way in with victories at Martinsville and Texas, respectively. Sauter, the 2016 champion, has made all three Championship 4s in Truck Series history. The Wisconsin native and driver of the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet was the Truck Series Regular Season Champion in 2018 and has six wins on the season.

Haley has won three races this season in the No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet — including two last-lap wins in playoff races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Texas. This is the 19-year-old Indiana native’s second season in the series and first Championship 4 appearance.

Moffitt now has five wins driving the No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota. The 26-year-old Iowa native has had a knack for late-race passes for the win and has been a feel-good story in the Truck Series garage this season running with an upstart team. Coming off of his win at Phoenix, Moffitt is riding high heading into the finale with a championship on the line.

“This HRE team has been strong pretty much everywhere we go I feel like we have a shot to win the race if we execute,” Moffitt said. “Tonight we executed like we need to and we need to do that next week. Homestead is a fun track for me, I like it. I’ve also never been there in a truck, never been here in a truck and never been there in a truck – only been in Cup cars so hopefully that’s a good sign.”

Gragson rounds out the Championship 4 in his second full-time Truck Series season. The driver of the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota scored his second series win at Kansas in May and has been knocking on the door for another win during the postseason.

ThorSport Racing teammates Enfinger and Crafton saw their championship dreams come to an end in 2018. Enfinger won at Las Vegas to lock into the Round of 6. Two finishes outside of the top 10 put the driver of the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford in a hole for the Round of 6 finale.

Crafton, a two-time series champion, had reached the previous two Championship 4s in Truck Series history. However, the driver of the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford is looking at some statistical lows this season that led to his elimination — he’s winless (first time since 2012), fewest top 10s since 2008 (12) and fewest laps led since 2008 (65).

The Ford EcoBoost 200 (8 p.m. ET on Nov. 16 with coverage on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will close out the 2018 Truck Series season, and the highest finishing driver among the Championship 4 will take home the title. Christopher Bell, who moved up to the Xfinity Series this season, is the reigning series champion.

Posted on November 9, 2018November 11, 2018 by Chase Wilhelm

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Martin Truex Jr. will be without his car chief after the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota failed inspection three times prior to Friday’s Busch Pole Qualifying at ISM Raceway.

Truex will be able to keep his 13th-place position for Sunday’s Can-Am 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), but he will lose 30 minutes of practice time in Saturday’s final practice session along with the ejection of car chief Blake Harris.

The defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion sits 25 points above the cutline going into the final elimination race to set the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“This seems to be kind of par for the course for us lately,” Truex said after qualifying. “I’d say 13^th is a pretty good starting spot for the day we’ve had. We really didn’t get a crack at anything in practice and we didn’t have much time to get ready for qualifying and we were pretty far off. Made some good gains for sure.”

MORE: Truex on Logano saying he’s title favorite: ‘Good for him’

Posted on November 9, 2018November 9, 2018 by Staff Report

Kevin Harvick rolled to the Busch Pole Award in Monster Energy Series qualifying Friday at ISM Raceway in Phoenix.

Harvick, a nine-time Phoenix winner, landed a best lap of 139.340 mph around the 1-mile track, putting the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford in the first starting spot for Sunday’s Can-Am 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The pole position is the fourth for Harvick this season, his second at Phoenix and 25th of his Monster Energy Series career.

Harvick is competing this weekend with interim crew chief Tony Gibson calling the shots in place of Rodney Childers, who is serving a two-race suspension for a technical infraction after last weekend’s win at Texas Motor Speedway.

“It’s pretty awesome to see a group of people come together — old man Tony Gibson and Nick (DeFazio, interim car chief) — coming out to fill the gaps for the suspensions,” Harvick told NBCSN. “Like I told the radio a second ago, everybody on our Busch Light Ford has been there before and we know what we need to do. This is a great race track for us. I really wasn’t expecting that. Our cars are usually a lot better in race trim than in qualifying trim, and just got fortunate to hit a good lap right there and it came at a good time.”

Chase Elliott will share the front row after registering the second-fastest lap (139.152 mph) in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet.

“Yeah, unfortunately not good enough,” Elliott said. “The guys brought me a great NAPA Chevy this week and one of these days I’ll figure out how to qualify on a non-plate track, maybe. I had a car to do it today, and I didn’t get it done. So, we’ll go to work on Sunday.”

Elliott starts Sunday’s race 17 points behind Harvick for the final spot in the Championship 4.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five in qualifying for the penultimate event in the 10-race playoffs, with title-eligible Kyle Busch snagging sixth.

The 312-lap event is the final race in the Round of 8. After Sunday’s race, the championship-eligible field will be trimmed from eight to the four drivers who will race for a title Nov. 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Joey Logano, the only driver assured of a title shot after his Martinsville win clinched an automatic berth, qualified ninth in the 39-car field.

Defending series champ Martin Truex Jr. was a late arrival to the qualifying grid after his Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota failed inspection three times. The issues resulted in the ejection of Blake Harris, the team’s car chief, and a loss of 30 minutes in Saturday’s final practice.

Truex was bumped out of the final round of the session by a last-minute lap from Brad Keselowski. Truex will start 13th.

“It was a battle,” said Truex, who was 20th-fastest in Friday’s practice. “Kind of par for the course for us here lately, so I say 13th is a pretty good starting spot for the day we’ve had. I really didn’t get a good crack at anything in practice and we didn’t end up having much time and we were pretty far off. Made some good gains for sure. I wish we could’ve ran again. I definitely feel like I could pick up some more. Car was just pretty tight, so we’ll start 13th and get to work tomorrow.”

MORE: Playoff standings

Other postseason drivers missing out of the final session were the Stewart-Haas Racing trio of Kurt Busch (starts 14th), Clint Bowyer (16th), Aric Almirola (18th) — all of whom sit outside of the elimination cut-off line.

Cody Ware, who crashed during Friday’s lone practice for the series, did not make a qualifying attempt in the Rick Ware Racing No. 51 Ford.

Contributing: NASCAR Wire Service

Posted on November 9, 2018November 21, 2018 by Reid Spencer

AVONDALE, Ariz — Seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will get his first taste of action in a Formula 1 car, and he’ll go halfway around the world for the opportunity.

In the same session at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso of Spain will test his skills in one of Johnson’s road course cars.

“It’s our back-up car from the (Charlotte) Roval event,” Johnson said. “The way the timing worked out, it worked out well, we figured we would have a road course car freshly prepped and ready to go. We kicked around other dates where we were going to swap cars and (thought about) somewhere in the U.S.

“The opportunity in Bahrain developed, and just made a lot of sense. Obviously, it’s just something really different, and that was of importance to me. Let’s do something different, and let’s truly get time in each other’s cars.”

RELATED: Two champions, one track

The No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has already left for Bahrain in a container. Johnson will attend the F1 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and take part in the car swap on Nov. 26, 2018.

“Immediately after the ROVAL race, we needed to get the container packed and put that on a ship, and the ship has arrived in Dubai, and there are a few more stops that it needs to make,” Johnson said. “But it should arrive in Bahrain probably a week before the event takes place and will be transferred over to the race track

“And then our guys will get there probably a day or two in advance and start unpacking, unloading and getting the pit stall set-up and everything up and running. And then it’s got to come all the way back, obviously, after that.”

Alan Gustafson, Chase Elliott’s crew chief in the Monster Energy Series, will lead the Hendrick Motorsports team in Bahrain.

Alonso is just as excited by the opportunity as Johnson is.

“Well, the first thing I think is going to be to have fun,” Alonso told reporters in Phoenix via Skype from Brazil, site of this weekend’s F1 race. “I think we all love racing, any type of racing, and to test for the very first time a NASCAR car with the huge following and all the repercussions that NASCAR has in the world of motorsports… I want to experience that, and I want to have that opportunity in life, and it’s happening now in a couple of weeks’ time.”

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Holly Cain

Chase Elliott arrives in Phoenix needing to overcome a 17-point deficit to advance to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship race next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

He has an outstanding record at the ISM Raceway 1-miler and a track record to be envied – four top-10 finishes in five starts. He was the runner-up to Matt Kenseth in this Playoffs race last year.

For the 22-year-old Georgia native, the outlook for Sunday’s Can-Am 500 (at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is pretty simple: Win and he’s in the Championship 4. It’s not a complicated formula and doesn’t require sleepless nights. His No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team just needs to perform.

RELATED: Playoff standings

And that wouldn’t be any different if Kevin Harvick’s points from winning at Texas Motor Speedway had held up, instead of him being docked 40 points Wednesday after officials found an illegal spoiler on that Texas car.

So the field is closer. Instead of an automatic berth to the title race, with the penalty, Harvick is now only three points ahead of fifth place Kurt Busch. And only Martinsville Speedway winner Joey Logano, has locked in a position in the Championship 4.

“Well, someone’s misfortunate shouldn’t be a morale boost for your team, first off,” Elliott said when asked about benefitting from Harvick’s penalty.

“Yeah, we are in a position anyway where I feel like we have to win and honestly, that needs to be the mentality, anyway. Because if you were to make it to Miami next week you are going to have to win down there, so you might as well embrace it and like it and move on.”

Elliott didn’t mince words in his press availability trackside at the new-look ISM Raceway. He insisted his motivation to win was not affected by the points-shuffle as a result of Harvick’s mid-week penalty.

And he also bluntly downplayed any title talk by Logano, who told reporters this week that he should be considered the title favorite based on his playoff work – a 6.0 average finish through the opening eight weeks of the playoffs. And he is also the top points-earner during that time frame.

“I mean, I don’t really care what he thinks,” Elliott said when asked about Logano’s proclamation.

It’s hard to argue with Elliott’s focus. The son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott is having the best season of his three-year Cup career. He scored his first career Cup victory at Watkins Glen this summer then followed it with playoff wins at Dover International Speedway and then Kansas Speedway. He now has more playoff wins than any other driver in the field, and he comes to a track where he is considered among the best. His average finish of 6.8 in five starts is best on the grid and his driver rating of 110.3 is second only to nine-time Phoenix winner Harvick (110.9).

Since a crash in the Las Vegas playoff opener, Elliott has finished seventh or better – and won twice – in six of the last seven races. He was seventh at Martinsville two weeks ago and sixth last week at Texas.

And there is some thought that the new track look is less consequential for the young drivers with fewer starts there anyway. The start/finish line now is near the old Turn 2 and Turns 1 and 2 are now Turns 3 and 4. And vice versa.

The vibe Elliott gave off Friday was unmistakable. A championship points shuffle? A new track layout? None of it ultimately matters more than being first to the checkered flag Sunday.

“Yeah, the track to me is the same, which is a good thing,” Elliott said. “I think this is a great track that we come to.”

And he’s hoping to give his fans there plenty to cheer about when the checkered flag flies.

Posted on November 9, 2018November 9, 2018 by Chase Wilhelm

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Going into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series elimination race weekend at ISM Raceway, Joey Logano remains the only driver currently locked into the Championship 4 after his victory at Martinsville Speedway.

With nothing to sweat about as seven playoff drivers vie for three remaining championship spots in Sunday’s Can-Am 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Logano made known the confidence he has in himself, stating he believes the No. 22 Team Penske squad is the favorite to win the title in next Sunday’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

RELATED: Full schedule at Phoenix

“Honestly, it’s funny. … I was talking with Todd (Gordon, crew chief) on the way out here, and I told him, ‘When the playoffs started I kind of felt like we were an underdog of making it,’ ” Logano told a group of reporters at a Team Penske event in Phoenix on Thursday night. “And honestly, the last six or seven weeks we’ve led a lot more laps, we’ve won a lot of stages, won a race, was fast at Kansas, was fast at Texas, you know what, I think we’re the favorite now to win.”

Other postseason contenders did not share that opinion when asked about their reaction to Logano’s bold belief. Those assessments came from “Big 3” drivers Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr., along with three-time 2018 race winner Chase Elliott.

Kyle Busch: “Uh, sure, he’s the only one locked in to go to Homestead. He’s the only guy racing right now. He can be the favorite if he wants to.”

Chase Elliott: “I mean, I don’t really care what he thinks.”

Kevin Harvick: “I’m just worried about Phoenix.”

Martin Truex Jr.: “Good for him. I mean, I really don’t care. I think it’s good for the sport. It’s good for the fans to get them fired up. For me personally, I know what I have to do, I don’t need to tell anyone. Talk is cheap. Put it on the race track and show us what you got. That’s all that matters. That’s what I focus on and that’s what I plan on doing if I get there.”

Posted on November 9, 2018November 9, 2018 by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 9, 2018) – NASCAR today announced that it has submitted a non-binding offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock of International Speedway Corporation (“ISC”) not already owned by the controlling shareholders of NASCAR. The intention is to combine ISC and NASCAR as one privately run group of companies led by the France family.

“In a highly competitive sports and entertainment landscape, a more unified strategic approach is important to our future growth,” said Jim France, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, NASCAR. “We believe the industry requires structural changes to best position the sport for long-term success and this offer represents a positive step forward in that direction.”

NASCAR has retained Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC as its financial advisor and Baker Botts as its legal counsel in connection with the negotiation and consummation of a mutually acceptable transaction, and BDT & Company is serving as financial advisor to the France family. NASCAR’s offer will be reviewed by a special committee of independent ISC board members advised by independent legal and financial advisors. In the interim, NASCAR and ISC will continue to operate separate as independent entities working to deliver great racing experiences to our fans everywhere.

The outcome of this prospective offer will not impact the France family’s long-term commitment to the sport, nor its interest in maintaining its current ownership in ISC, as the France family is not interested in selling its shares of ISC at this time.

Posted on November 9, 2018November 9, 2018 by Staff Report

Erik Jones rose to the top of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series leaderboard in Friday’s opening practice at ISM Raceway in Phoenix.

In the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota, Jones checked in with a fast lap of 137.862 mph around the 1-mile Arizona track. He was just ahead of JGR teammate Kyle Busch, who was .007-second slower at 137.825 mph in the No. 18 Toyota in a 1-2 sweep of cars owned by Coach Joe Gibbs.

Chase Elliott posted the third-fastest lap at 137.815 mph in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson completed the top five.

Kevin Harvick, a nine-time Phoenix winner, was 10th-fastest at 137.200 mph. His Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford team was docked 40 points and denied an automatic championship berth after infractions were discovered in a post-race inspection after Harvick’s Texas win last weekend.

Defending race winner Matt Kenseth was eighth-fastest in the Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford.

Cody Ware brought out the practice’s lone caution period, crashing hard in Turn 3 with 30 minutes left in the 50-minute session. His Rick Ware Racing No. 51 Ford made heavy contact with the Turn 3 retaining wall.

Two teams were penalized with deductions from their practice time at the end of the session. William Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 team lost 30 minutes of practice time after failing pre-race inspection three times. The Obaika Racing No. 97 for Tanner Berryhill was penalized with a 15-minute hold for being late to pre-race inspection.

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Staff Report

NASCAR announced before the season that it will standardize at-track team rosters across all three national series in 2018, providing a structure for the number of personnel working on each vehicle during the course of a race weekend.

Official team rosters for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at ISM Raceway in Phoenix (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) have been released. Click the print icon above, or the link below.

ROSTERS: ISM Raceway rosters

Posted on November 9, 2018November 9, 2018 by Staff Report

Ross Chastain is getting his shot — and on a full-time basis.

Chip Ganassi Racing officials announced Friday morning that the 25-year-old will drive the organization’s No. 42 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series full time beginning in 2019, with sponsorship from DC Solar.

It’s quite a jump for a driver who, midway through the 2018 season, bet on himself and won. When a three-race opportunity with Ganassi materialized, Chastain opted to take it and forego a paycheck, betting on the experience paying dividends in the future instead.

“I’m just trying to not to throw up, honestly,” an emotional Chastain joked during a press conference. “It’s unreal.”

RELATED: ‘Silly Season’ roundup

In August, after CGR had announced Chastain had come on to drive the car for three races, the Florida native consistently was one of the fastest drivers on the track. He won the Busch Pole Award in his first race with Ganassi at Darlington, then won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway while leading 180 laps and driving a DC Solar-backed Chevy. The stint concluded with a runner-up showing at Richmond.

Driving for JD Motorsports in the Xfinity Series and Premium Motorsports in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Chastain has displayed a knack for getting the most out of his equipment.

Chastain has one win and four top-five finishes in 137 career Xfinity Series starts — two of those top-five finishes came in three races with Ganassi this year. The other two were at Iowa in the No. 4 Chevrolet for team owner Johnny Davis.

Additionally, he’s known for being a watermelon farmer back home in Florida. He smashed a watermelon in celebration at Las Vegas and has had watermelon-based sponsorship in his NASCAR career.

“I’m an eighth-generation farmer from Florida who was fortunate enough to get a shot in top-flight equipment,” Chastain said. “I didn’t think anything like this would come about, at least not this soon,” Chastain said. ” … I felt like I made so many mistakes (driving the No. 42) … but they reassured me the entire time while I was thinking about all my mistakes. I knew that was my chance.”

DC Solar co-founder and CEO Jeff Carpoff had a major hand in Chastain’s opportunity as well. He met Chastain at the track, got to know him and eventually talked to Ganassi about the three-race trial run. His performance there was an eye-opening one to the team owner.

“From the moment I met Ross, I knew there was something special about him, so the decision to support him came easy,” Carpoff said in a release. “Witnessing his raw talent, as well as his humility and gratitude for the opportunity, only confirmed that he would be a great representative for the DC Solar brand.”

Ganassi reiterated during the press conference that he also hoped to keep John Hunter Nemechek in the Ganassi fold. Entering Phoenix, Nemechek had run 16 Xfinity Series races in the No. 42, winning once at Kansas Speedway and logging five top-five finishes.

“I like the kid,” Ganassi said of Nemechek. “I’d love to have him around.”