Posted on by Pat DeCola

Jamie McMurray was driving Monday with more than a Chip over his radio, but one on his shoulder, too.

Hours after a report surfaced indicating team owner Chip Ganassi has told the longtime CGR driver he would not be in the No. 1 Chevrolet full time for the 2019 season, McMurray gutted out one of his best performances of the season in a do-or-die situation.

MORE: Report: Jamie McMurray out of No. 1 next year

McMurray, 21st in points heading into the 25th annual Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, was in need of a win in order to clinch a berth in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. He wound up placing seventh, but was in position to strike for the win late running in the top three.

After starting 21st — since qualifying (and both practice sessions) were rained out — the 2010 Brickyard 400 winner and crew chief Matt McCall elected to stay on the track late, elevating McMurray to third place on Lap 145 of the 160-lap event. On the ensuring restart, an aggressive McMurray was all over the rear bumper of Clint Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford, but the contact allowed leader Denny Hamlin to pull farther ahead.

“You never know what is going to happen,” McMurray said. “When I was third, yeah, I had been getting really good restarts all day long on the bottom. So, yeah, I did (think I had a shot), but just didn’t have it.”

Before McMurray could continue to battle and move up, a caution came out after Landon Cassill and Jeffrey Earnhardt crashed hard into the outside wall. The 42-year-old driver was unable to hold his ground on the final restart, getting shuffled back to seventh over the final few laps. While the result wasn’t enough to propel him to a fourth straight– and potentially final — playoff berth, it tied for his third-best finish of the season.

“You just do whatever you have to in order to win, and it’s the same strategy that the No. 11 and No. 14 were on,” McMurray said. “I think we all pitted really close. It was hard to pass today and having that track position at the end I didn’t think… I mean I wanted to stay out because it was hard to make up any ground. When the No. 42 pitted I was worried about how many behind us might follow him in. We definitely made the right call.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Denny Hamlin led a race-high 37 laps Monday in search for his first Brickyard 400 win, but was foiled by an untimely caution flag and a late-race surge by eventual winner Brad Keselowski.

RELATED: Keselowski wins Indy | Race results

Keselowski bruised by Hamlin with a lap and half remaining at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Erik Jones slipped by for second place, leaving the No. 11 Toyota to settle for third place and lament the finish.

Hamlin led the race before a crash between Landon Cassill and Jeffrey Earnhardt near the back of the pack prompted the final caution flag with seven laps left. That tightened the field and allowed Keselowski, who had the benefit of fresher tires, to close in.

Asked what he could have done differently, Hamlin focused his ire toward Cassill and Earnhardt.

“Not have meaningless guys in the back wreck,” Hamlin said. “I don’t know what they’re doing, crashing with a couple laps to go, multiple laps down. Meaningless. Besides that, all those cautions allowed the guys who took tires and saved their strategy allowed them to come back up there and obviously allowed the 2 (Keselowski) to kind of rough us up there at the end. Very unfortunate, but it’s what happens sometimes.”

Hamlin made his final pit stop on Lap 126 of the 160-lap event. Keselowski stayed on the track longer before making his last stop for service on Lap 143, giving him fresher tires for the home stretch. The pair of caution periods — one for debris and one for the Cassill-Earnhardt melee — further allowed Keselowski to close the gap.

With two laps to go, Keselowski tracked Hamlin down and the two cars brushed on the backstretch. Keselowski finally got the upper hand as he cleared Hamlin’s car nearing the white flag.

Hamlin enters the playoffs after a winless run through the 26-race regular season. He’ll aim to keep a personal streak going in the postseason; he has won at least one race each year since his rookie season in 2006.

The postseason aims, however, took a back seat to the immediate disappointment late Monday afternoon.

“I don’t even care about the playoffs at this moment. All I care about is not winning this race,” Hamlin said. “It’s one that was big on my list of races I wanted to win and the team gave me the car that was certainly capable of doing that today. Executed flawlessly on pit lane, the strategy was good, had a fast car. Just circumstances. Cautions killed us at the end and allowed those guys to come up there.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – It’s been a historic two weeks for Brad Keselowski. The No. 2 Ford driver executed a hard-nosed pass of Denny Hamlin with two laps remaining in Monday’s rain-delayed Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard to win his first race at prestigious Indianapolis Motor Speedway, one week after visiting Victory Lane in the crown-jewel Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Keselowski earned Team Penske its first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win at the track to go with the storied organization’s 17 Indianapolis 500 trophies – including one this May.

RELATED: Playoff standings | Race results
SHOP: Keselowski gear

The 34-year-old Michigan native finished runner-up in this race last year and positioned himself to one-up the effort thanks to a late-race pit strategy call by his crew chief Paul Wolfe. On a restart with three laps remaining, the 2012 Cup champion muscled by Hamlin on fresher tires. He beat runner-up Erik Jones – who later maneuvered around Hamlin – to the start-finish line by 0.904 seconds.

“It’s incredible, last year I lost this race almost exactly the same way,” Keselowski said in Victory Lane after joining his team in climbing the frontstretch grandstands to celebrate with the loyal crowd.

“It feels really good to make up for it and to get Roger Penske his first Cup car win here at the Brickyard. It’s an incredible feeling and I’m so happy for Team Penske.”

Hamlin finished third, while Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five. Hamlin and Bowyer – who raced for the lead much of the final stage – each led a race-high 37 laps.

The race marked the end of the regular season with points leader Kyle Busch – who finished eighth Monday – officially collecting the regular-season championship. He and seven-race winner Harvick top the points standings as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series begins its 10-week playoff run this Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM).

RELATED: Kyle Busch claims regular-season crown

“We had a lot of ups and downs, mostly downs but fought our way back,’’ the six-race winner and two-time Indy winner Busch said just before receiving the regular-season trophy.

“In the grand scheme of things it was a pretty good day considering we get to go home with some hardware.”

The third member of the sport’s “Big 3” this season is four-race winner Martin Truex Jr. The reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup champion goes into the playoffs ranked third, although he only completed 41 laps at Indy, his No. 78 Furniture Row Toyota officially finishing last in the 40-car field having to retire early with a brake problem.

With the two wins, Keselowski jumps into fourth place in the Playoff standings just ahead of the season’s other two-time winner Bowyer.

Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman were the only two drivers that hadn’t secured a playoff berth before the drop of the Indy green flag, but both advanced to the 16-driver field with 16th- and 33rd-place efforts at Indy.

“We raced up into the top 10 a couple times, we just didn’t have the speed to run up front,’’ said Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

“We’ll go home and work hard and be ready for Las Vegas. I’m just proud I’ve made every playoff since NASCAR started them. …we have a lot of experience and I think our experience in pressure-packed situations will help us.”

There were plenty of pressure-packed situations in Monday’s race, including two at the end of the day unraveling the chances of a couple of front-runners.

Ryan Blaney, who ran among the lead pack most of the day, missed his pit stall on the final stop and ended up 11th in his Team Penske Ford. And former series champion Matt Kenseth, who seemed to revitalize the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford operation this weekend, had pit problems as well on the final stop with the car falling off the jack.

Still it was a positive day for the team. Kenseth led five laps and scored the first stage win of the season for the No. 6 Ford, capturing the Stage 2 checkered flag just ahead of Chase Elliott and Jones. His 12th-place effort was a season best for him and a promising sign for Roush Fenway Racing.

Three former Brickyard winners – Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard and Ryan Newman – kept the closing laps suspenseful as well. Because they came into the race ranked outside the playoffs’ top 16, a win would’ve eliminated Bowman from the postseason. They finished seventh, ninth and 10th respectively.

Keselowski’s win was the first for Ford Motor Company at Indianapolis since 1999.

Posted on by Staff Report

The field is set.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begin this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and we know which 16 drivers will compete for the championship when the postseason opens at LVMS for the first time in series history.

Two spots were up for grabs at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday in the regular-season finale, with 10 drivers having locked in their spots already via wins and four clinched via points.

MORE: Photos from Indy weekend

Those outside the playoff picture entering Indianapolis were in a win-or-bust mode, and the upset victory didn’t materialize with Brad Keselowski winning at the Brickyard.

Below is the 16-driver field with the official seeding and points.

MORE: Keselowski wins at Indianapolis

1. Kyle Busch: 2,050 points
2. Kevin Harvick: 2,050 points
3. Martin Truex Jr.: 2,035 points
4. Brad Keselowski: 2,019 points
5.  Clint Bowyer: 2,015 points
6. Joey Logano: 2014 points
7. Kurt Busch: 2,014 points
8. Chase Elliott: 2,008 points
9. Ryan Blaney: 2,007 points
10. Erik Jones: 2,005 points
11. Austin Dillon: 2,005 points
12. Kyle Larson: 2,005 points
13. Denny Hamlin: 2,003 points
14. Aric Almirola: 2,001 points
15. Jimmie Johnson: 2,000 points
16. Alex Bowman: 2,000 points

Regular Season Champion: Kyle Busch clinched the honor at Indy, becoming the second driver to win the distinction since NASCAR moved to this playoffs format prior to the 2017 season. Last year’s Regular Season Champion, Martin Truex Jr., went on to win the championship in Miami. For Busch, in addition to winning the honor and receiving a trophy, he receives a crucial 15 playoff points to add to his total and carry over from round to round.

Last In: Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman entered Indianapolis on the good side of the playoff bubble, but not locked in. Both could breathe a sigh of relief when a first-time 2018 winner positioned below the cutoff line didn’t throw the field into disarray by winning.

First Out: Ryan Newman finished the regular season in the top 16 of the driver standings, but he’s not in the 16-driver postseason field. That’s because Austin Dillon, who stood 18th in the standings after Indianapolis, won the Daytona 500 — and in this format, winning trumps all. Newman missed the playoffs this year after qualifying for the postseason in 2017. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne and Matt Kenseth (part time in 2018) were the other playoff drivers who missed out this year.

First-timers: Erik Jones, in his second full-time Monster Energy Series season, qualified for the series’ playoffs for the first time. He’s the only first-timer in the field, although Aric Almirola and Ryan Blaney qualified for the second time in their respective careers.

Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Busch is the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Champion, claiming the distinction at the end of Stage 2 in Monday’s Big Machine Vodka 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Clinching the regular-season title hands Busch a 15-point bonus heading into the 10-race playoffs, which begin Sept. 16 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

With six victories and five stage wins, the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing driver already had 35 playoff points entering the regular-season finale and will enter the final, championship-hunting stretch of the season with 50 playoff points to his name — barring a win at Indy, which would give him 55.

RELATED: Kyle Busch career highlights

Martin Truex Jr. clinched the regular-season championship in 2017, its first year of inception. He went on to win the title months later at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Busch and Kevin Harvick battled for regular-season supremacy throughout the year, along with Truex Jr. Together, they formed the sport’s “Big 3.” Busch and Harvick pulled ahead of Truex over the last several weeks, though.

Monday’s clinch completed a stellar performance throughout the season’s first 26 races. Busch claimed the points lead following the sixth race of the season at Martinsville and never lost it. He entered Monday’s race 39 points ahead of Harvick.

Posted on by Staff Report

STAGE 2

Matt Kenseth took advantage when the field in front of him pitted late in Stage 2 to take fresh tires and fuel, pulling away in the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford to win Stage 2 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It’s the first stage win of the year for the veteran.

Chase Elliott cruised into second place behind Kenseth, followed by Erik Jones, Joey Logano and Kurt Busch to complete the top five. Complete results for the Top 10 are listed below.

Clint Bowyer appeared set to take the Stage 2 win after winning Stage 1, but he pitted two laps before the stage ended in order to be in an optimal position for the start of the final stage.

Finish Driver Team Race Points
1 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing 10
2 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 9
3 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing 8
4 Joey Logano Team Penske 7
5 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing 6
6 Daniel Suarez Joe Gibbs Racing 5
7 Brad Keselowski Team Penske 4
8 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports 3
9 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing 2
10 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports 1

STAGE 1

Pit strategy from his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team and excellent execution on a late restart powered Clint Bowyer to a Stage 1 win in Monday’s rain-delayed Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard.

Bowyer took two tires following a competition caution on Lap 30, then recovered from a bobble on a Lap 44 restart to power in front of teammate Kurt Busch into the preferred groove at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Stage 1 results

It was Bowyer’s first stage win of 2018, and it came with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs starting next week in Las Vegas.

Busch finished second to Bowyer, with Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch rounding out the top five. Top 10 Stage 1 results are below.

Teams had two chances to hit pit road for tires and adjustments in Stage 1. Due to persistent rainfall over the previous three days, NASCAR issued competition cautions at Lap 10 and Lap 30.

Finish Driver Team Race Points
1 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing 10
2 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing 9
3 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing 8
4 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing 7
5 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing 6
6 Brad Keselowski Team Penske 5
7 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing 4
8 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing 3
9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 2
10 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing 1

 

Posted on by Staff Report

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will be in action at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Monster Energy Series begins its first round of playoffs, while the Camping World Truck Series has its second race of the Round of 8 and the Xfinity Series sets its playoff field. Check out the full schedule below, which is subject to change.

Note: All times are ET

MORE: How to find NBCSN

SUNDAY, Sept. 16
TRACKSIDE LIVE
11:30 a.m.: Watch your favorite drivers answer questions and play games

RACE-DAY SCHEDULE
1 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Driver/Crew Chief Meeting (Neon Garage)
2:20 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Driver Introductions
3:00:00 p.m.: Presentation of Colors by: Nellis Air Force Base Honor Guard
3:00:20 p.m.: Invocation by: Billy Mauldin, MRO Chaplain
3:01:00 p.m.: National Anthem by: Sierra Black
3:02:30 p.m.: Flyover TOT by: (4) A-10s, Strike Fighter Squadron 213 Blacklions, Nellis AFRB
3:07:30 p.m.: “Drivers, Start Your Engines” command by: Brendan Gaughan
3:16 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series SouthPoint 400 (267 laps, 400.5 miles; NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Results)

PRESS PASS (Watch live)
6 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race

THURSDAY, Sept. 13
5:05-5:55 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series first practice (Results)
7:05-7:55 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice (Results)

FRIDAY, Sept. 14
2:05-2:55 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series first practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Results)
3:05-3:55 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Results)
5:05-5:50 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Results)
6:05 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying, FS1 (Results)
7:30 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Results)
9 p.m.: NASCARCamping World Truck Series World of Westgate 200 (134 laps, 201 miles; FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) (Results)

PRESS PASS (Watch live)
1:15 p.m.: Justin Allgaier, Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric
1:30 p.m.: Noah Gragson, Justin Haley and Ben Rhodes
8:15 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying
10:45 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race

SATURDAY, Sept. 15
1-1:50 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Results)
2:10 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Results)
3:30-4:20 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Results)
5 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series DC Solar 300 (200 laps, 300 miles; NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) (Results)

PRESS PASS (Watch live)
7:15 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Xfinity Series race

Posted on by Staff Report

Jamie McMurray’s 2018 season with Chip Ganassi Racing is expected to be his last in the No. 1 Chevrolet, according to a published report.

The Associated Press reported Monday that McMurray would close out the Monster Energy Series season in the No. 1 Chevrolet. Team owner Ganassi told the Associated Press he has offered the 42-year-old driver a contract for the 2019 Daytona 500 and a leadership position with the team.

A representative for Chip Ganassi Racing said Monday afternoon that the team had no comment at this time.

PHOTOS: 2018 winners

McMurray entered Monday’s rain-delayed race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 21st place in the series standings, needing a victory for a last-ditch shot at the postseason. He has one top-five finish this season, a third-place result in April at Texas Motor Speedway.

McMurray has seven career victories in the Monster Energy Series, including the 2010 Daytona 500. He has been with team owner Chip Ganassi since 2010.

Both McMurray and Kurt Busch had previously declined to address speculation that Busch was being targeted to fill the No. 1 ride beginning in 2019.

RELATED: Kurt Busch addresses reports

Posted on by Reid Spencer

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — The Lilly Diabetes 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway may have been delayed by rain for two days, but that wasn’t enough to break the magical run Justin Allgaier is enjoying.

Holding off JR Motorsports teammate Tyler Reddick after grabbing the lead on Lap 84 of 100 in Monday’s event, Allgaier collected his fifth victory of the season, his third in the last five races and — perhaps most important — his first at the vaunted Brickyard.

“We won Indy — how cool is that?” Allgaier exulted on the team radio after powering his No. 7 Chevrolet across the finish line .092 seconds ahead of Reddick. “You guys (his team) are awesome. That’s all I can say. The car was phenomenal.

“I know that (Indianapolis) has given me a lot of headaches and a lot of grief over the years, but we just won Indy — how cool is that?”

RELATED: Full race results | Series standings 

The victory was the 10th of Allgaier’s career. With one race left before the cutoff for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs (Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway), Allgaier moved significantly closer to the regular-season title and accompanying bonus of 15 playoff points.

He currently leads Cole Custer, second in the series standings, by 49 points. Custer suffered a jarring wreck into the inside wall after turning his Ford into the Toyota of Brandon Jones on Lap 72. Custer finished 29th but maintained a three-point advantage over third-place Christopher Bell, who faded to seventh on Monday after restarting second on Lap 84.

Allgaier dedicated the victory to his father, who helped develop Allgaier’s off-track sophistication by bringing him to Toastmasters classes for young drivers at a hotel near the speedway.

WATCH: Four-wide battle for Stage 1

“This one is for my dad, because at Brickyard Crossing up there, he drove me up here every Wednesday night during the winter, so that I could take classes to be the best that I could be, not only inside the car but outside the car,” Allgaier said.

“It was about three-and-a-half hours, and he drove me here every Wednesday night, so hats off to him.”

Ryan Blaney finished third after starting from the pole in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. Chase Elliott came home fourth, followed by Daniel Hemric, as Chevrolets claimed four of the top five positions.

Reddick wanted to wait until the final lap to battle his teammate for the victory, but he never got a run on the final circuit.

“I didn’t want to cost me and Justin a first- and second-place finish,” Reddick said. “I wanted it to be off Turn 4, preferably on the last lap… Unfortunately, I didn’t get the run I needed on that last lap.

“I really should have taken it with two (laps) to go, but I was unsure. I really didn’t want to mess up either one of our days.”

Elliott Sadler saw his hopes for a regular-season title disappear on Lap 23, when Ty Dillon spun in Turn 3 and carried Sadler’s Chevrolet into the outside wall.

“We’re done,” radioed Sadler, who fell out of the race in 35th place and dropped to fifth in the standings, 69 points behind Allgaier.

WATCH: Sadler wrecks with Ty Dillon

Austin Cindric, 12th in the standings and currently in the last playoff-eligible position, fell out of the race after running through the grass and tearing the splitter off his No. 12 Ford, trying to avoid the Sadler wreck. Cindric finished 34th but remained 57 points ahead of 13th-place Michael Annett, who ran 31st.

Posted on by Staff Report

The NASCAR community is in mourning Monday following the death of 11-year-old racing fan Caleb Hammond, who weeks before had issued a call for racing stickers to cover his casket.

Earlier this summer, Hammond and his family accepted a difficult realization: Cancer treatments weren’t working anymore. So Caleb left the hospital where he had been receiving treatments for his two-year battle with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and returned to his home in Oskaloosa, Iowa, to live the rest of his life away from painful procedures, and to spend time with his family.

He had a request that has reverberated across NASCAR and social media: He wanted to gather as many racing stickers as possible to cover his casket.

NASCAR drivers and teams answered the call, and took to social media Monday to offer their condolences to the Hammond family.

We offer ours, too.

https://twitter.com/Mc_Driver/status/1039141862421024768