Stenhouse fires back, explains decision not to reach out to Kyle Busch

Posted on July 13, 2018July 13, 2018 by Zack Albert

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. tossed barbs right back at Kyle Busch on Friday, saying he didn’t smooth things over after their crash last weekend at Daytona because he was irritated by Busch’s public comments.

Stenhouse reached out to Busch for the first time since the two were involved in a contentious collision last weekend, leaning into the window of Busch’s No. 18 Toyota in between rounds of qualifying at Kentucky Speedway. The two chatted briefly, and Stenhouse elaborated on his reasoning in an interview with NBCSN.

“Ah, not really a change of heart. I just told him why I didn’t reach out. I felt like he ran his mouth enough on his radio and then after the race that I didn’t really have anything to say to him,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “I honestly feel like that I normally do reach out to people when I make mistakes, and I clearly made a mistake, but you know with him running his mouth I just felt like I didn’t really need to call him.

“So I just let him know that. I told him that I was like ‘Hey, you’re right, you do run a lot further up front, but pick and choose your battles wisely because you will have to deal with me sometime whether you’re lapping me or we get our cars better and we’re up there racing with you.’ I told him if he wanted to keep running his mouth, he can come over and do it around me and I’ll stop him for myself.”

Stenhouse was a central figure in multiple wrecks in last weekend’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, including an incident that eliminated Busch before the end of the second stage. Busch was critical of Stenhouse’s aggressive tactics in that crash and the one that preceded it, a massive stack-up that involved more than half of the 40-car field.

Stenhouse accepted blame in his post-race remarks last Saturday night at Daytona, but Busch told reporters at Kentucky that his rival had taken no measures to mend fences. “You wipe out half the field and pretty sure there would be a pretty busy Monday for him, but there wasn’t, so apparently he just doesn’t care,” Busch said earlier Friday.

Stenhouse earned the 14th starting position for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM), just missing out on the final-12 cut for the final round. The early exit allowed Stenhouse to talk briefly with Busch at his car before making his way back to the garage.

Busch, a two-time Kentucky winner, continued in qualifying to snare the fifth starting spot for Saturday night’s race.

Posted on July 13, 2018July 14, 2018 by Staff Report

SPARTA, Ky. – Martin Truex Jr. didn’t need a dress rehearsal to put on a pole-winning performance at Kentucky Speedway on Friday.

His lack of mock qualifying runs in practice did not affect the ultimate result – his first Busch Pole on the 1.5-mile track.

The defending winner of the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart executed the fastest lap in Round 3 to win the pole for Saturday night’s race at the 1.5-mile track (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

For Truex, the pole was his fourth of the season, the most among Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competitors.

“It wasn’t a perfect lap by any means but it was good enough,” said Truex after posting a speed of 188.890 mph (25.588-seconds). “We worked in race trim the whole time and honestly, our qualifying run, we only got one in during practice and it wasn’t very good. We hit traffic.

“We really had to guess on the set-up for here. The first round, I was a little bit off. Some of it was driver, some of it was car. We put our heads together, came up with a plan and everybody stepped it up. It feels good. Starting up front is key, so that first pit stall will be good for here and hopefully, we can back up what we did last year tomorrow night. It’s going to be tough, but it’s going to be fun.”

Last weekend’s first-time winner Erik Jones was second, followed by Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Paul Menard. Ryan Blaney, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Daniel Suarez and Aric Almirola completed the top 12 in time trials.

Harvick topped the first session with a speed of 187.859 mph. Jones, Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Menard, Kyle Busch, Suarez, Bowyer, Newman, Blaney, Truex and Almirola completed the top 12 speeds. Chris Buescher was the first driver on the chart to run three laps in the first session but managed the 15th-fastest speed.

Truex posted a fast lap of 188.976 mph in Round 2 to lead the 12 drivers that advanced to the final round. Kyle Busch, Almirola, Keselowski, Jones, Newman, Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Harvick, Blaney, Menard and Suarez also advanced. With less than a minute to go in the round, Chase Elliott, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Austin Dillon made a second attempt but it was all for naught.

“The car hasn’t drove bad from time to time,” said Elliott, who will start 16th. “It just hasn’t drove as fast as we like. We’ll make it work.”

Four drivers failed to make a qualifying attempt because of trouble in pre-qualifying inspection. Those included Denny Hamlin, Matt DiBenedetto, Timmy Hill and Jesse Little — all of whom will start at the end of the 39-car field.

Seven-time series champ Jimmie Johnson will also have a starting spot deep in the field. He failed to advance out of the first of three qualifying rounds, and his Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet will set sail from 27th place Saturday night.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on July 13, 2018 by NASCAR Wire Service

SPARTA, Ky. — Alex Bowman is living life on the bubble.

The driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet is currently 15th in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings.

But without a check in the win column, Bowman could be on the outside looking in for the Playoffs.

“There is definitely a good bit of pressure, obviously, that comes with it,” Bowman said. “Really, last week was probably the most pressure that I will see until we get to Indy if things keep going the way they have. Definitely in the back of my mind I was looking at the No. 95 car (Kasey Kahne) leading laps and some of the other guys up there, I was like, ‘Oh, this could get really bad for us.’ Glad it didn’t turn into too bad of a night for us, still got solid stage points and all that.”

Bowman led the Hendrick Motorsports contingent for the past two races — at Chicagoland Speedway and Daytona International Speedway. His 10th-place finish last Saturday was his third consecutive and seventh top-10 result since becoming the driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet. Bowman’s 66 laps led this season also tops his three teammates.

MORE: Which young driver will win next?

“For me, it’s just we have to keep putting races together and keep running solid top 10 and hopefully that gets us there,” Bowman added. “Obviously, we would like to win before the cutoff, but I think we can do it on points we just have to keep moving in the right direction.

“We have kind of struggled to get stage points this year and that has really put us farther behind than I think we would be if we got stage points of how we finish. But we will just keep working at it and I think we can make it.”

After serving as the test driver for HMS, Bowman is well-versed with the systems on the Hendrick campus. His time spent with crew chief Greg Ives has been invaluable for getting up to speed. He feels the team is finally showing the consistency that was missing in the first half of the season.

“Working with Greg is a ton of fun,” Bowman said. “It’s been great working with him. I think we have been pretty solid. We have finally seemed to put races all the way together the last three weeks, not have any big mistakes and finished where we deserved to finish.”

Posted on July 13, 2018July 13, 2018 by Brad Norman

SPARTA, Ky. — One of the most difficult turns on the circuit awaits drivers this weekend at Kentucky Speedway.

Just two years after new asphalt was put down, the elusive Turn 3 has forced drivers and teams to put in extra time focusing on how the cars handle the dynamic difference in banking between the ends of the track.

Even drivers who have found success in the Bluegrass State such as Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Erik Jones are challenged by Turn 3, one that will not ease up throughout the course of a race.

PHOTOS: Best of Kentucky

“It’s become more difficult since the repave,” Jones explained ahead of Friday’s opening practice. “When they reconfigured (Turns) 1 and 2, it made them a lot faster. You carry so much speed into Turn 3 and it looks like you’re taking a hard left in a parking lot because it’s so flat and so wide.”

The driver of the No. 20 Toyota took home his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series checkered flag last weekend at Daytona, and may be a contender in Saturday’s night race at Kentucky (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). In six starts between the Monster Energy Series and Xfinity Series, Jones has three top-five and five top-10 finishes at the 1.5-miler.

“If you can get your car handling really well down there, and really hooking the line well, and getting in the corners secure you’re going to be in a pretty good spot,” Jones said. “It’s not an easy thing to do.”

Busch, who arguably is the best driver at Kentucky, has seen Victory Lane twice and has five top fives and six top 10s in just seven starts.

RELATED: Busch sounds off on Ricky

However, he acknowledges Turn 3 is not a turn you see outside of this track, providing another level of trouble if you don’t factor it into race strategy.

“It’s so much different here, Turn 3, than any other 1.5-mile we go to,” Busch said. “Normally other places you get to you start picking up a little bit banking before you get into the corner and here it’s so flat all the way down before you pick up the banking it just has its own characteristics and its own challenges that are tough to deal with.”

When asked what advice he could provide to help tame the turn, Busch made it simple: It’s up to you.

“How you interpret that corner or how you try to decipher that corner is what makes people good here, and I think how you can withstand some of the characteristics it gives you within your race car,” Busch said.

Posted on July 13, 2018July 13, 2018 by Staff Report

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch says he is disappointed that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. did not reach out following an incident between the two last week at Daytona International Speedway, then fired a shot at the Roush Fenway Racing driver when asked if he would race Stenhouse Jr. differently.

UPDATE: Stenhouse fires back at Busch

“He did not reach out,” Busch said Friday at Kentucky Speedway. When pressed with follow-up questions, he added: “I am disappointed that he did not. He wiped out half the field. I was pretty sure it’d be a pretty busy Monday for him. There wasn’t, so apparently he just doesn’t care.”

When asked if it changed how Busch, who has five wins this season, would race the No. 17, he quipped: “I can’t worry about people that far back in the field.”

Busch exited Saturday’s race at Daytona early following contact with Stenhouse Jr. Busch, Kurt Busch and others indicated they felt Stenhouse Jr. initiated both of the race’s early big wrecks.

Stenhouse Jr. later said it was simply aggressive speedway racing as he seeks a win to lock up a playoff spot.

“I was frustrated with myself causing crashes like that,” Stenhouse said after Saturday night’s race. “You don’t ever really want to do that.”

However, to Busch, reaching out to fellow drivers to apologize personally is a mindset not everyone shares in the garage. And he doesn’t expect one to come from the driver of the No. 17.

“If you don’t care, then don’t reach out you know,” Busch said. “If you did it purposefully, don’t reach out. But if you actually have some remorse, and you’re apologetic … I tend to reach out. When I make mistakes or when I do things that I feel like hindered other drivers than I always reach out and say something like ‘Hey man, hate I got into you, I’m sorry.’ … It’s not going to change the fact, but at least you took that step.”

Posted on July 13, 2018July 13, 2018 by Staff Report

NASCAR’s newest first-time winner is showing some strong speed in Kentucky.

Fresh off his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win last weekend at Daytona, Erik Jones recorded the fastest lap in final practice ahead of Saturday night’s race at Kentucky Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Jones posted a lap at 187.748 miles per hour in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Just like opening practice earlier in the day, Ryan Blaney laid down the second-fastest time at a speed of 187.311 mph in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford. Kyle Busch was third-fastest in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (186.503 mph), followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (185.982 mph) and Austin Dillon (185.714 mph).

Next up for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is final practice at 2 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, followed by Busch Pole Award qualifying at 6:40 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App.

PRACTICE 1

Kyle Larson is showcasing the horsepower so far at Kentucky Speedway.

Larson topped the charts in opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice for Saturday night’s race (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sportd App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), laying down a lap of 185.867 mph in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet — the only driver to break the 185-mph barrier after running a mock qualifying lap.

RELATED: Opening practice results

Ryan Blaney finished second, flying around the 1.5-mile oval at a speed of 184.653 mph in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford. Blaney’s teammate, Joey Logano, posted the third-fastest time at 184.300 mph in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

A pair of Toyotas rounded out the top five, as Kyle Busch was fourth in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (183.955 mph) and Martin Truex Jr. was fifth in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota (183.892 mph).

Posted on July 13, 2018July 14, 2018 by Staff Report

On Friday and Saturday, NASCAR Digital will live stream the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series inspection process from a camera inside the Optical Scanning Station on our YouTube channel from 3:30-5 p.m. ET.

Bookmark our YouTube channel here to watch, or come back to this article, where we’ll embed the YouTube stream.

Cars go through inspection inside a black tent with a collection of 16 cameras and eight projectors attached to its inner structure. An additional camera is positioned below the vehicle to measure the underside.

Once a car rolls in, the projectors cast light in a series of lines and dots over the body to create a coordinate system for the cameras. In roughly 30 seconds, those cameras capture the measurements of those light patterns and create a 3-D heat map — also called a point cloud — that helps officials determine whether a car is in compliance.

Posted on July 13, 2018July 13, 2018 by Staff Report

Axalta and the Philadelphia Eagles have unveiled a new paint scheme for the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driven by Alex Bowman, one which celebrates the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on the field and STEM educators in the classroom.

Axalta, which is headquartered in Philadelphia, has teamed with the Eagles since 2015 on the Axalta All-Pro Teachers program, celebrating outstanding sixth through 12th grade teachers who focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The sharp green Chevy will race July 29 at the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“It’s pretty cool to have the reigning World Champion Philadelphia Eagles and the All-Pro Teachers logo on my Camaro ZL1 in Pocono in just a few weeks,” Bowman said in a press release. “That race weekend is going to be a special one with both of these logos on our No. 88 machine, so we’re hoping for a good finish.”

PHOTOS: Memorable Axalta paint schemes

Axalta is an official partner of Hendrick Motorsports and NASCAR, and has long sponsored Hendrick’s fleet of Chevys with splashy and innovative paint schemes.

“Axalta is thrilled to be part of this historic moment and debut the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1’s new color scheme, featuring the World Champion Philadelphia Eagles colors and the Axalta All-Pro Teachers logo,” said Axalta Chairman and CEO Charlie Shaver. “The exposure that the Axalta All-Pro Teachers program will receive thanks to Alex Bowman’s No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will showcase the campaign to a national audience. We thank the Philadelphia Eagles, Alex Bowman and Hendrick Motorsports for their dedicated support of such a worthwhile program.”

Posted on July 12, 2018July 12, 2018 by NASCAR Wire Service

SPARTA, Ky. –The Louisville Slugger knocked it out of the park on Thursday night at Kentucky Speedway.

Ben Rhodes, who grew up less than an hour west of the venue in Sparta, Kentucky, finally won a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at his home track.

A fuel-only gamble by the No. 41 ThorSport Racing team in the closing laps paid off for the 21-year-old Louisville native, who led the final 24 laps of the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225.

Rhodes held off Stewart Friesen by .922-seconds at the line for his first win of the season and the first victory for ThorSport since switching to Ford Performance at the start of 2018.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

“I still don’t have any words,” Rhodes said after his second-career win in the Camping World Truck Series. “This is amazing; a dream come true. This has been such a long time coming. These guys deserved it so much. They’ve been working their butts off and we’ve been having such bad luck this year.

“We’ve had trucks like this all year long, finally we could showcase it. I’m so proud of this team. This is exactly what we needed.”

Friesen came from the rear of the field after the team was forced to change engines prior to the race to finish second – tying his career-best from Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year.

“We had an engine problem during time trials and the whole team stepped in,” Friesen said. “It was awesome. We had less than an hour to go to swap ’em out and we had a good finish. We led some laps. Didn’t get off the way we needed to on pit road at the end and it was the difference of about 100 yards and a lot of clean air. Proud of the guys, but I made a little mistake there and it cost us.”

Matt Crafton, Brandon Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, Grant Enfinger, Todd Gilliland, Noah Gragson, Dalton Sergeant and Justin Haley rounded out the top 10.

Rhodes passed pole sitter Noah Gragson with three laps remaining in the first segment to win Stage 1. Gragson came back to win Stage 2. Parker Kligerman led the field to green for the final segment. Friesen swapped spots with Kligerman and finally gained control of the point by Lap 89.

Rhodes came from fifth to second with a bold move taking Kligerman and Brandon Jones three-wide to gain the position. Although Friesen led 37 laps, a problem in the pits with the right rear tire proved costly for the No. 52 Chevrolet on Lap 124. Rhodes gained the lead before pitting on the next lap.

Crew chief Eddie Troconis elected to pit for fuel only and a chassis adjustment. Although he had the lead entering pit road, a fire in the pit ahead of him left a cloud of smoke blocking his view of his box.

“I was really worried,” Rhodes said. “I came in with the pit stall on fire in front of us. I almost missed my stall with all the smoke coming out.”

Still, Rhodes cycled out to the lead with Friesen in second place.

“It was a bold move, but that’s how you win, you win with bold moves,” Troconis said. “That’s what we came here to show them that we’re going to win this championship. This kid has a lot of talent.”

With 15 laps remaining, Rhodes’ lead was just over .32-seconds over Friesen. But after Rhodes settled in he extended his advantage over the Friesen in the closing laps.

“A huge thank you to Ford Performance, ThorSport Racing and Carolina Nut Company,” Rhodes said. “They’ve been behind us 100 percent. This is our first win with Ford this year for ThorSport, so I’m pretty happy about that.”

Johnny Sauter, who suffered a speeding penalty on pit road late in the race finished 15th but retained the points lead by 42 over Noah Gragson.

The only caution other than the completion of stages occurred on the first lap of the race when Tyler Matthews made contact with Nemechek and spun the No. 83 truck.

Posted on July 12, 2018July 19, 2018 by NASCAR Wire Service

SPARTA, Ky — Logan Seavey will make his NASCAR debut in the Camping World Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway on July 18.

The 21-year-old Columbus, Indiana, native will pilot the No. 51 Mobil 1 Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports under the direction of crew chief Mike Hillman Jr.

Seavey, the 2017 POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series champion, comes from the same fertile farm club – Keith Kunz Motorsports – that produced Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell under the Toyota Racing Development banner.

“Running the Truck Series race at Eldora for Kyle Busch Motorsports is the chance of a lifetime and I can’t thank everyone at Mobil 1, Toyota and TRD enough for having the confidence to put me in this position,” Seavey said. “Not many people get the chance to run a stock car on dirt and it’s definitely going to be a big challenge racing something so much heavier than what I’m used to.

“Hopefully, I’ll have a little bit of an advantage just knowing what dirt racing is like and how the dirt changes and I’ve already leaned on Christopher for some advice.”

Seavey, who currently leads the midget standings, has never raced at the half-mile dirt track in Rossburg, Ohio. However, in the five previous Dirt Derby’s at Eldora, KBM trucks have won twice. Bubba Wallace won the second truck race at the Big E in 2014 and Bell won the following year.

“I’ve been able to get Mobil 1 to Victory Lane a few times in my Midget this year and hopefully I can do it again in the Truck Series to reward them for their support of not only myself, but the entire Toyota Racing Development program.”