LONG POND, Pa. – Thanks to a double disqualification of two of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ so-called “Big Three,” Daniel Suarez earned the first Busch Pole Award of his career.

In the final round of Saturday’s knockout qualifying at Pocono Raceway, Suarez navigated the 2.5-mile track in 50.851 seconds (176.988 mph) to claim the top starting position when the cars of Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch failed post-qualifying inspection.

Both Harvick and Busch had posted faster laps than Suarez, but Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford failed the Optical Scanning Station, and Busch’s No. 18 Toyota was outside tolerances at the chassis station.

RELATED: Starting lineup | See every carWeekend schedule

That put Suarez on the pole, surpassing his previous best starting spot of third last June at Dover International Speedway. The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota put his car on the pole without making a mock qualifying run in practice.

“I think this is one of the races of the year where we did not make a qualifying run in practice,” said Suarez, the first Mexican driver to win a pole in NASCAR’s premier series. “We just talked about race trim, and that was the plan.

“We didn’t do a “Q” run in practice, and that’s why we didn’t look very good on the (speed) chart. But we were a top-10, top-eight car for sure in practice. We made some adjustments for qualifying, and actually the car felt better and more connected, so I’m happy for that.”

Suarez was at his motor home, analyzing data and studying where he had lost time to Harvick and Busch when he was told to report to the media center as the pole winner.

“Next time I hope I can get the pole by being the fastest guy, not by a couple of guys being disqualified,” Suarez said. “But it’s fine — we’ll take it.”

Harvick ran the fastest lap of the day at 177.750 mph, but both his run and that of Busch were disallowed because of inspection failures. Both drivers will start from the rear of the field in Sunday’s race.

MORE: Inspection issues snare top qualifiers

Since finishing third at Dover in May, Suarez has gone nine straight races without a top-10 finish, but he sensed the performance at Pocono was a turning point.

“The guys have been working very hard for the last couple months to put things the right way,” Suarez said. “Obviously, we know we can run well, and we can run in the front.

“All my guys are really talented, and I know that I can do it, and the results haven’t been there. So this is a good thing for us.”

LONG POND, Pa. — It’s poetic injustice that Jimmie Johnson is making his 600th start in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in the throes of the worst slump of his career.

MORE: Full schedule for Pocono | Playoff picture entering ‘Tricky Triangle’ 

The seven-time champion hasn’t been to Victory Lane since June 4 of last year, when he took a checkered flag for the record 11th time at Dover. Since then, the drought has stretched to a career-long 43 races entering Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 at Pocono Raceway (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Johnson’s performance issues aren’t isolated. Hendrick Motorsports, his parent organization, hasn’t won a race with any of its four cars since Kasey Kahne’s swan-song victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 23, 2017. 

But Johnson will take the green flag for the 600th time in NASCAR’s top series with his positive outlook intact.

“I think a top five is probably in the realistic standpoint, stage points, but you never know,” Johnson said on Saturday morning before opening Cup practice at the Tricky Triangle. “That’s that optimism that I refuse to lose. I still know I can win these races—that hasn’t changed. That hasn’t gone anywhere. We just need to get the whole package together.”

To do so, Johnson and his entire team will have to rediscover the critical mass that has propelled the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet to 83 victories and the record-tying seven titles.

RELATED: See all of Johnson’s victories

“This whole journey I’ve been on just shows me how important timing is for any team, driver, crew chief, owner, whatever it might be,” said Johnson, who turned the fifth fastest lap in final practice at 174.744 mph. “I was very fortunate to have timing for a large stretch of time—manufacturer, team, crew chief, driver all hitting at 10 tenths.  

“We individualize the sport very often, and it’s way more than just one person that makes this whole thing go. I’m patiently waiting and hoping that we get the timing back and get all the pieces pushed in the right direction, and we can get back to our form that we once had.”

LONG POND, Pa. – In his last start of the season, Kyle Busch got the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory he coveted most.

Holding off a charge from Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Erik Jones—who started the race in place of ailing Noah Gragson—Busch, the pole winner, powered his No. 51 Toyota across the finish line 1.469 seconds ahead of Jones’ No. 18 to win the Gander Outdoors 150 at Pocono Raceway.

RELATED: Race results | Series standingsWeekend schedule

The number “51” had added significance on Saturday. In winning for the second time in five starts this season and the second time at the 2.5-mile “Tricky Triangle,” Busch collected the 51st NCWTS victory of his career, tying him for the all-time series lead with NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr.

Busch’s milestone triumph, however, was in doubt until the closing laps. On Lap 52 of 60, Jones caught Busch in heavy race traffic and pulled ahead as the trucks rounded Turn 1 and headed down the Long Pond straightaway.

But Busch regained the lead through the Tunnel Turn, powering to the outside of Jones, whose Tundra was slowed by a lapped truck. From that point, Busch pulled away for the victory.

“They (Jones) had a better truck,” Busch acknowledged. “I tried and tried to work on this thing to make it better and probably made it slower with all the things I changed on it, rather than making it faster.

“I knew Erik was going to be fast in that truck—I knew Noah was going to be fast in that truck. They were the ones that we had to beat. I wish we were a tick faster, but obviously, being a bit slower, we put on a better show. Erik was able to run me down, and I did everything I could to hold him off.”

When Busch did his celebratory burnout on the front stretch, two patches of rubber deposited on the racing surface caught fire.

“I sat in one spot for too long on the asphalt,” Busch said. “My bad.”

RELATED: See every 2018 Camping World Truck Series race winner

Busch grabbed the lead from eventual third-place finisher Dalton Sargeant on Lap 37, with Jones running third at the time. It took Jones four more laps to get past Sargeant, as Busch opened a lead of more than two seconds.

But Jones, who won the 2015 series championship in a KBM truck, ate into the gap steadily and had his one shot at the win on Lap 52.

“I saw the lapped trucks, and they gave me the opportunity to get there,” said Jones, who started from the rear of the field and “I was like, ‘This is going to be my shot, probably my only shot to get the lead, and if we can get the lead, I think we can hold him off.’

“We came within about six inches of doing it, and I had to kind of checkup. There were four lapped trucks. We passed three of them on the straightaway, and there was one more in the Tunnel Turn, and I had to check up on the bottom or run him over, which I wasn’t going to do.

“Kyle was still at my quarter, and I had to give him space. It was a close moment. That was our one shot. I used up a lot of the truck just to make that one move.”

Stewart Friesen finished fourth, followed by Justin Haley. Grant Enfinger, Todd Gilliland, Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton and Joe Nemechek completed the top 10.

Gragson was suffering from a stomach virus and wasn’t cleared medically to compete after a visit to the infield care center. But Gragson will receive a medical waiver from NASCAR that keeps him eligible to compete for the series championship.

With one victory to his credit this season, Gragson held on to second in the standings, 65 points behind Sauter.

Erik Jones rolled to an unexpected runner-up finish in Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, stepping in as an 11th-hour replacement for an ailing Noah Gragson at Pocono Raceway.

Jones, a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular, started the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 18 Toyota in the next-to-last starting spot in the 32-truck field after Gragson was unable to post a qualifying speed Saturday morning. He zoomed up to finish fourth in Stage 1 at Lap 15 and briefly took the lead on Lap 27. He challenged for the lead again in the late going but eventually settled for second place, just behind team owner Kyle Busch, who won for the 51st time in his Truck Series career.

RELATED: Busch wins at Pocono | Race results

Jones said his first appearance in a Truck Series race since June 2016 was “definitely a surprise.” Busch said post-race that Jones was his first choice for a fill-in driver, but that former KBM driver William Byron — now a Monster Energy Series rookie with Hendrick Motorsports — was also considered. Jones, the former series champ, said he found out after first Monster Energy Series practice that he might be called upon as a last-ditch substitute.

“You’re definitely changing your mindset getting into a truck race,” said Jones, who will now have an unplanned double-duty weekend with Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM). “I was planning on probably going back, taking a nap and catching the end of the truck race. So I had to really kind of reset and try to think back — I don’t really have any notes with me here, obviously, in truck racing. … Just tried to refresh my memory and get in the mode of what we had to do.

“I knew it was going to be a little challenging coming from the back and obviously not being in the truck all day, I didn’t know how it drove. I don’t know how Noah drives his trucks, so there’s a lot of things that go through your head, but we had a great truck.”

Gragson, 20, fought through what the team described as a stomach virus to be fastest in Friday’s practice for the Gander Outdoors 150 (1 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM). But he was not medically cleared to compete after a pre-race visit to the infield care center.

A NASCAR spokesperson confirmed that Gragson will receive a waiver for postseason eligibility. Even with the late scratch from the lineup, Gragson still ranks second in the Truck Series standings behind points leader Johnny Sauter, having scored one win (Kansas Speedway) and a series-leading four pole positions.

Richard Petty Motorsports announced Saturday that Bubba Wallace will return as driver of the No. 43 Chevrolet, signing the 24-year-old rookie to a multiyear extension.

RPM made the announcement Saturday after opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Pocono Raceway. The organization indicated in a news release that it had exercised its option to keep Wallace behind the wheel.

RELATED: Full schedule for Pocono, Iowa

Both Wallace and team owner Richard Petty indicated earlier this week that Wallace’s return to the team was all but certain. Wallace described talks as having a “positive look” at the Tuesday unveil of the team’s Darlington throwback entry, and Petty said that he hoped to keep Wallace to steady the learning process.

“This definitely helps,” Wallace said. “If you take a step back and help sponsorship efforts, knowing that we have a set future ahead, we can sell that. That’s the biggest thing as a whole, how we want to make our program better from the outside looking in. That goes a long way. So, for us, we’re still in here turning wrenches and trying everything we can to get our race cars better.”

Wallace will make his 25th Monster Energy Series start in Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM). The 2.5-mile track was the site of Wallace’s premier-series debut last season, when he subbed in for the injured Aric Almirola for a four-race stint with RPM.

Wallace sits in a tie for 24th place in the drivers’ standings as a Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate. In addition to the new face behind the wheel, RPM is adjusting this season to a new manufacturer in Chevrolet and a new technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing.

Petty indicated that he’s hopeful the team will grow closer with a long-term commitment. He also showed optimism about building a foundation with one of the sport’s most expressive young drivers.

“I see NASCAR changing as far as all the drivers and stuff are becoming younger, all us old guys, and the ones coming now is moving on,” Petty said. “So, we’re going to have a new chapter with the racing crowd and the drivers. So, we wanted to get in on the ground floor on this. If you look back, a lot of the drivers I’ve had kind of went through their deal and then we picked them up on the back end (of their careers). We want to start out a little bit different this time. We’re going to start out on the front end. Bubba was a logical choice for us.”

MORE: Throwback No. 43 unveiled

Wallace has two top-10 finishes in 20 races this year, topped by a career-best runner-up finish in the season-opening Daytona 500.

Joey Logano topped the leaderboard in Saturday’s second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Pocono Raceway at 176.370 mph in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

MORE: Best 10-lap averagesFull practice results

Right behind him was first practice leader Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford at 176.336 mph.

Rounding out the top five were defending series champion Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota, Aric Almirola in the No. 10 SHR Ford and Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Series points leader Kyle Busch was 13th fastest with a speed of 173.762 mph in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

With less than a minute remaining in practice, Kyle Larson spun his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet and tapped the inside wall. He was ninth on the leaderboard.

The next on-track action is Busch Pole Qualifying at 4:10 p.m. ET (NBCSN/NBC Sports App).

Practice 1

Kevin Harvick topped the leaderboard in Saturday’s first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Pocono Raceway at 174.965 mph in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.

MORE: Full practice results

Last week’s New Hampshire winner, Harvick is looking for his first win at the “Tricky Triangle.”

Right behind him was Erik Jones in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at 174.931 mph.

Rounding out the top five were Ryan Blaney in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford, Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 JGR Toyota and Clint Bowyer in the No. 14 SHR Ford.

Series points leader Kyle Busch was seventh fastest with a speed of 173.304 mph in the No. 18 JGR Toyota.

The following cars were held 15 minutes at the end of practice for infractions incurred at Loudon last week: Nos. 4, 11, 24, 37, 51 for failing pre-race inspection twice. Nos. 7, 66 were also held 15 minutes for being late to pre-qualifying inspection at Chicagoland.

Brad Keselowski, owner of six straight top-five finishes at Pocono, might have seen his fortune turn at the “Tricky Triangle.” The No. 2 Team Penske Ford suffered an electrical issue and severely limited his practice time. He mustered just nine laps to place 18th on the leaderboard with a speed of 172.490 mph.

Of the three top-eight drivers in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Grant Enfinger perhaps has the least cause for anxiety.

The driver of the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford is fourth in the series standings, 120 points ahead of ninth-place Myatt Snider with three races left in the regular season.

MORE: Full Truck schedule | Gragson sets pace at practice

But Enfinger has only two Playoff points—the result of stage victories—and he feels his team needs to find some extra speed to be a contender for the title. 

“I think we’ve still got a little ways to go,” Enfinger said on Friday at Pocono Raceway, venue for Saturday’s Gander Outdoors 150 (1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “We’re solid.

“We’ve had a fair amount better speed this year than we had last year, but I still feel like we’re lacking a little bit in that department. We haven’t got a win yet. We’ve had a few shots at it. We’ve had speed enough to win at a few of ‘em, but it just hasn’t worked out.”

Enfinger came tantalizingly close July 18 at Eldora Speedway, where he battled side-by-side against race winner Chase Briscoe for the final two laps but came up short by .038 seconds. A victory would have locked Enfinger into the Playoffs. Without it, he still has to walk a tightrope between caution and aggression.

“For us, we really can’t do anything different,” he said. “We still need stage points, and we still need to contend for wins. So we can’t just lay it all on the line, and we can’t run conservative either. We pretty much have to keep doing what we’ve been doing all year.”

 

Awesome Bill from Dawsonville.

The small, Georgia town tucked away from the hustle and bustle of big-city living is home to Bill Elliott (as well his son, Chase), and the community has rallied around the iconic racing family since the beginning.

From sirens blasting from the famous Dawsonville Pool Room after every Elliott win to the nickname given to the former champion driver, the Elliotts and Dawsonville are synonymous.

So it’s only right that the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office had a special guest in their lip sync video: Say hello to musical talent, Bill Elliott.

Enjoy.

When Dale Jr. puts out the call to NASCAR drivers to help support The Dale Jr. Foundation and Nationwide Children’s Hospital, they show up … by the dozens.

During the Watkins Glen race weekend (Aug. 3-5), 32 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers and all four JR Motorsports NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers will participate in the 2018 Driven to Give Glove program. Drivers will wear skeleton driving gloves inspired by the ones Junior wore during races. Each pair of gloves will be autographed by both Dale Jr. and the driver wearing them and then auctioned off beginning Aug. 8, with proceeds benefiting the Dale and Amy Earnhardt Fund at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

The fund supports the hospital’s efforts in pediatric injury rehabilitation, research and prevention.

MORE: Bookmark the auction site | Dale and Amy Earnhardt Fund

Dale Earnhardt Jr Childrens Hospital2“We’ve done a lot with the Gloves program through the years at The Dale Jr. Foundation, but this year we wanted to open it up to more people,” said Earnhardt Jr. of the program. “To have 32 of my former competitors and all four of our JR Motorsports’ drivers sign on to this to help the Nationwide Children’s Hospital continue the life-saving work they do there is impressive, and I can’t thank them all enough. Nationwide Children’s Hospital is a huge part of the work we do at The Dale Jr. Foundation.”

In 2016, the Dale & Amy Earnhardt Activity Room on the hospital’s rehabilitation floor was dedicated to the driver and his wife in recognition of their wedding, and they created the Dale & Amy Earnhardt Fund in November of 2017 as a way to extend that relationship beyond Junior’s retirement from driving. They acknowledged their commitment to the Fund with an $88,888 initial donation made by The Dale Jr Foundation, commemorating Dale’s years driving the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports car with Nationwide as a sponsor.

Nationwide will be on the No 88 car again at Watkins Glen, with Alex Bowman driving a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet featuring a butterfly-themed special Nationwide Children’s Hospital paint scheme. Patient Champion Ashyzla Jackson was at Hendrick Motorsports for the unveiling of the paint scheme. Patient Champions help tell the story of the work the hospital does for children.

MORE: See the special No. 88 look for Watkins Glen

The Driven to Give Glove program started in 2014 and has raised more than $100,000 to support the work of Dale Jr. Foundation. During the previous two years, the glove program was focused on Nationwide Children’s Hospital and highlighting

Bowman Ashyzia
Photo credit: Hendrick Motorsports

Patient Champions from the hospital with glove colors that matched the causes and illnesses of those patients.

Bowman has history with Nationwide Children’s Hospital as well. He was the first driver to pilot a car with a special paint scheme for the hospital, at the Xfinity Series’ 2013 race at Watkins Glen. When he’s back behind the wheel with the hospital on board, Nationwide Children’s Hospital Patient Championship Bricen Thall will be on hand at Watkins Glen with his family. Bricen’s name will also be featured above the passenger window of the car.

RELATED: Dale Jr. finds, gives comfort in Nationwide Children’s Hospital

Bricen and his family are from Winfield, New York, and he was born with a condition named Hirschsprung’s Disease. He’s now five but had his first of many surgeries at just one week old.

After several surgeries over the first two years of his life, Bricen was referred to the Center for Colorectal and Pelvic Reconstruction at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. His care there has set him on a path that for the first time didn’t involve a surgery for a whole year.

“Nationwide Children’s has a very special place in our hearts for everything they have done for Bricen,” said his mother, Colby Thall. “They have given him a better quality of life and the chance to experience all that a 5-year-old should.”

Drivers who are participating in the Driven go Give Glove program are: Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger , Aric Almirola, Michael Annett, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Clint Bowyer, Chris Buescher, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Landon Cassill, Matt DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Erik Jones, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Michael McDowell, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Ryan Newman, David Ragan, Tyler Reddick, Elliott Sadler, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr. and Bubba Wallace.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Perhaps it was the angst and palpable disappointment on Aric Almirola’s face and in his voice even following his best outing of the 2018 season last week – a third place at New Hampshire Motor Speedway – that so powerfully displayed his competitive spirit.

The 34-year-old had led 42 laps – the third largest single-day tally out front in his seven-year career – and yet finished third behind the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ championship leaders, Almirola’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch.

RELATED: Full schedule for Pocono, Iowa

After a few days to reflect on the outing, Almirola arrives at Pocono Raceway for Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) never having felt more motivated to win.

“We’re going to be a contender, we’re going to be tough to beat,’’ Almirola said of his No. 10 Smithfield Ford team. “That’s what I keep telling everybody. We’re so new and so young. We’re 20 races into working together.

“We’re good, we’re not great. We have potential to be great because I don’t feel like we’ve reached our max potential just because everything is so new and we’re still learning each other, learning what I like in the race cars and all of those things.”

Almirola, who spent the first six years of his Monster Energy Series career driving the No. 43 for Richard Petty Motorsports, understandably feels that this SHR team, in this season, in this stretch, presents the best-case scenario for him to hoist a Cup winner’s trophy again.

He scored his first career victory in the rain-shortened Coke Zero 400 at Daytona in July of 2014. It earned him a playoff shot, but he finished last among the 16 championship-eligible drivers. His only top-10 in that 10-race playoff run was a sixth place at New Hampshire.

RELATED: Stewart’s faith in all four SHR entries

Almirola has nine top-10s through the opening 20 races and his 113 laps led so far is a career best. Also very telling, his average finish is an impressive 12.6. And Almirola sits 11th in the points standings with a sizeable 53-point advantage over 12th-place Jimmie Johnson.

However, he clearly doesn’t want to “point” his way into the championship mix. He wants to win outright. And for him, that time has been long coming. Last weekend’s near miss only reinforced the feelings.

“Now I have this opportunity here at Stewart-Haas Racing and equipment is not an excuse,’’ Almirola said. “We have the best of everything. We have everything we need to go out and compete for wins. It’s up to me and my team.

“So, yeah, I do feel like there is justification running up front and racing with [defending Monster Energy Series champ] Martin Truex Jr., and Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch – all those guys who run up front on a regular basis.

“It makes me feel like I’m capable and I can do it. That does make me feel better. At least I’ll be able to sleep at night knowing that, given the right opportunity, I could perform at that level. Now we’ve just got to figure out how to win.”

MORE: Almirola leaves NHMS ‘really frustrated’

Pocono’s 2.5-mile “Tricky Triangle,” has been a particular upside in Almirola’s season. In five of six starts at tracks two miles or longer, Almirola has only one finish (accident at Daytona in July) outside the top 12. His seventh-place finish at Pocono in June was his first top-15 there.

And it’s the grand possibilities that Almirola expects on the schedule’s “second visits” that excite and provide promise.

“I feel like going back to some of these tracks that we’ll now have notes,’’ Almirola said. “A lot of these tracks all year long we’ve shown up kind of blind. We had no real notebook.

“Now we’re going back to these races where we have a notebook. We changed these things in practice, we’ll start already with that in our car. We’ll be able to fine-tune on that and make that better. We’ve learned what not to do. … It’s as much learning what to do as what not to do. It’s just building a foundation and a notebook.’’

Almirola acknowledged that while the expectations are high, so is his learning curve. But the big picture has never looked brighter. His teammate Harvick leads the series with six wins, his teammate Clint Bowyer has two wins and his teammate Kurt Busch is the top-ranked driver without a win. All four SHR cars look poised to make the Playoffs – and for Almirola that will be a big, big deal.

“When you look at the teams that are very successful, the big three (Harvick, Busch and Truex) that everyone talks about, they’ve all been working together for three, four, five, six years now,’’ Almirola said. “They’ve got a foundation.

“That’s what has me excited about my relationship with [crew chief] Johnny Klausmeier, my engineers, this whole 10 team, is that we’re young. We’re all a young group of guys all in our early 30s. We’re learning each other, we’re new. And we’re already starting to compete with these guys, 20 races working together.

“I feel like we have so much potential to continue to get better.’’