Posted on by Reid Spencer

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Passing John Hunter Nemechek for the lead on Lap 196 of 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Johnny Sauter picked up his series-best fifth victory of the season, along with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular-season championship, but fellow two-time champion Matt Crafton wasn’t about to begrudge Sauter his success.

Thanks to Sauter’s win, Crafton grabbed the eighth and final spot in the NCWTS Playoffs on points. Also advancing to the playoff in Thursday night’s UNOH 200 were race runner-up Stewart Friesen and Grant Enfinger, who clinched the sixth playoff berth when he took the green flag to start the race.

RELATED: Race results | Sauter wins regular-season title

Those three join race winners Sauter, Brett Moffitt, Noah Gragson, Ben Rhodes and Justin Haley in the NCWTS postseason, which starts Aug. 26 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

Nemechek passed Sauter for the lead in heavy traffic on Lap 177, but after pulling out to a lead of more than 10 truck-lengths, Nemechek suffered fuel pickup issues late in the race, allowing both Sauter and Friesen to pass him before the finish.

“I’m so proud of this team,” said Sauter, who won for the first time at the .533-mile high-banked concrete track and the 22nd time in his career. “I knew we had a great truck today. What a way to cap off the regular season with a win. I had to race really hard with the 52 (Friesen) there for a while, which was exciting.”

In fact, Sauter and Friesen waged an intense battle for second place, with Friesen briefly gaining the spot in traffic before Sauter prevailed by splitting the middle between Friesen and a lapped truck. That proved to be the winning pass, after Nemechek had his troubles in the last few laps.

RELATED: Sauter presented with regular-season championship trophy 

“I’ve never won at Bristol before, so I was pumped,” Sauter said. “I’m so lucky I’ve got this group of guys. We won at Bristol—this is the ultimate. For a short track guy, and I consider myself a short-track guy, to get a win at a place like this is so special.

“I’m just pumped, and I can’t wait to start our championship run.”

Still seeking his first victory in the series, Friesen nevertheless reveled in the competition.

“That was probably the most fun I’ve had all year,” Friesen said. “Bumping and grinding, and no better guys to race with than John Hunter and Johnny. We’ll take it and move on.”

MORE: Full field breakdown of playoff drivers

Notes: Sauter led 58 laps to Nemechek’s 104. Nemechek won both the first and second stages. Sauter enters the playoffs as the top seed, with 42 playoff points to 27 for Moffitt in second and 22 for Gragson in third.

NASCAR officials found one lug nut missing off the No. 88 of Crafton during post-race inspection. Any potential penalties will be announced early next week.

Posted on by Staff Report

Johnny Sauter sealed the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular-season championship Thursday at Bristol Motor Speedway. Sauter, ahead by 56 points entering Thursday’s UNOH 200, clinched the crown just by starting the regular-season finale. He qualified fourth behind pole winner Christopher Bell at the .533-mile track.

The Wisconsin native then went out and took home the checkered flag for his fifth victory of the 2018 season.

RELATED: Sauter wins at Bristol | Full breakdown of playoff field

Sauter, who built a substantial lead in the standings by winning four of the first eight races of the season, captured his first Truck Series title in 2016. He was the series’ runner-up in 2011 and 2017.

Sauter became the first recipient of one of the regular-season championship trophies, unveiled this week for all three NASCAR national series. That added to the additional souvenirs he collected for the race win Thursday night at Bristol.

PHOTOS: See the regular season championship trophies

“Yeah, I got a lot of trophies tonight. I got one for the championship, two for the win tonight and a sword, all kinds of stuff,” Sauter said. “A lot of hardware tonight, but I’ll take it. This is so cool. I consider myself a short-track guy, and to get a short-track win at a historic place like this where I’ve finished second before and raced here for so many years, this is the ultimate.”

Here is a look at the full field of eight drivers for the seven-race postseason, complete with point totals and wins:
1. Johnny Sauter (2,042 points; Wins at Daytona, Dover, Charlotte, Texas and Bristol)
2. Brett Moffitt (2,027 points; Wins at Atlanta, Iowa, Chicago and Michigan)
3. Noah Gragson (2,022 points; Won at Kansas)
4. Ben Rhodes (2,014 points; Won at Kentucky)
5. Stewart Friesen (2,012 points; qualified on points)
6. Grant Enfinger (2,011 points; qualified on points)
7. Justin Haley (2,009 points; Won at Gateway)
8. Matt Crafton (2,003 points; qualified on points)

The Truck Series Playoffs kick off at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday, Aug. 26, in the Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Reid Spencer

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Last Sunday, 6-year-old Keelan Harvick ran across the racing surface at Michigan International Speedway to claim the checkered flag after his father, Kevin Harvick, won the Consumers Energy 400.

Keelan then enjoyed a victory ride with his father in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.

Three days later, another young boy, unable to run, got behind the wheel of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford— with an assist from driver David Ragan.

But 5-year-old Wyatt Banks, who woke up one morning with his legs inexplicably paralyzed, wasn’t at a race track. He was an integral part of Ragan’s appearance on Wednesday at the Shriners Hospital for Children, where Wyatt receives treatment.

And for Wyatt, sitting in Ragan’s show car with the Shriners Hospital paint scheme the driver will run this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, the thrill was no less intense.

For Ragan, the association with the Shriners Hospitals is as sincere and committed as it gets. Ragan became a Shriner in 2012 after joining a Masonic lodge in Cornelius, North Carolina.

RELATED: Ragan’s link to Shriners goes beyond sponsorship deal

“I’ve got a secret handshake, but I can’t tell you,” Ragan quipped.

To date, he has visited roughly half the 22 Shriners Hospitals in the United States. The visit to the Greenville hospital was his second there.

“I’m fortunate to have a dream job,” Ragan said. “I get to drive race cars for a living. Like any job, I have my good days and bad days, so it’s easy to get stressed out over a performance, or certain part failures or mistakes that I make on the race track.

“But at the end of the day, I still have the full movement of my body. I’m healthy. I don’t have any ailments that keep me down. So I’m able to go out and live a fulfilled life. There are some kids who don’t have that potential. So it’s my way of giving back to the local community and serving one another.”

PHOTOS: Ragan visits Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia

Wyatt will get a taste of real, big-time racing when he visits Bristol this weekend as Ragan’s guest. So will Trana Pittam, director of public relations for the Shriners Hospital in Greenville, who will be attending her first NASCAR race.

Pittam was quick to underscore the importance of Ragan’s visit to the facility.

“It’s incredible to have someone who’s such a supporter, and who has such a platform to be able to reach so many people and let everybody know about the mission of the Shriners and the lives that can be changed by the care that we offered,” said Pittam, who emphasized that no child will ever be turned away from the hospital for lack of money.

On their visit to Bristol, both she and Wyatt may have the opportunity to see some familiar technology. The Optical Scanning Station used for inspection at NASCAR tracks is similar in concept to a scanning system used at the hospital in Greenville.

“As kids grow, and they have a prosthetic limb, or they have some type of spinal cord injury where they can’t walk correctly, they’re always needing adjustment as they get older, as their bones grow and as they grow as a kid,” Ragan said. “That’s something that, every six months or every year, they’ve got to be back at the hospital getting adjusted. So that prosthetic leg that a young kid has today, it’s obsolete six months from now.

“They have basically a white-light scanning room that has pressure points in the floor, and it has digital cameras all around the room. A kid walks back and forth, about 15 to 20 yards, and it has a system that’s checking the pressure and the way that his feet are bouncing, compressing the floor. It creates a digital file that shows that he’s moving a certain way. It can pick up alignment on his spine, so they know that the right leg needs a quarter of an inch of adjustment, or your left leg needs this, or your back brace needs this much of a degree of an adjustment.”

Like the Optical Scanning Station, the hospital’s system uses contact points on a patient’s body, as opposed to points on the body of a car.

“The kids get in there, and it’s like a laser show,” Ragan said. “So they have a 3D image that’s on file, and as the kid grows, that image continues to change. They can go to a CNC machine that they have here, and they can spit out a new prosthetic leg or a new brace. 

“The technology that we have in the NASCAR, it’s all over the world that we live in. So that’s one way they use a scanning system here, much like we scan our race cars.”

At the hospital, though, there’s no potential pitfall to the scanning process.

“I don’t think there’s an inspection process, and nobody’s getting fined for failing,” Ragan said with a laugh.

Posted on by Zack Albert

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Add close friend Kyle Larson to the list of people surprised by Kasey Kahne’s Thursday announcement that 2018 would mark his last season in NASCAR.

Larson and Kahne both split time last weekend between Michigan International Speedway and the Knoxville Nationals, the premier event for sprint-car racing. But Larson says that the notion of Kahne leaving the stock-car circuit never came up.

RELATED: Larson primed for Bristol| Drivers react to Kahne’s announcement

Kahne, 38, said he’s opting to spend more time with his 2 1/2-year-old son, Tanner, and to continue as a hands-on driver/owner for his sprint-car operation.

“None. I was kind of caught off guard by it,” Larson said Thursday at Bristol Motor Speedway. “I spent a whole week with him in Knoxville and he never mentioned anything about that. So yeah, a little surprising but I think in his situation with having Tanner and wanting to spend more time with him, it’s going to be a lot of fun for him — as well as he’ll get to race a sprint car a bunch. He loves doing that and loves trying to figure out how to make his car go faster and being his own crew chief over there is a lot of fun for him.

“I’m excited for him because I know it’s going to be a fun change for him. He’s just going to enjoy life a lot more than he already does.”

Kahne, an 18-time winner in his 15th Monster Energy Series season, sits 28th in the drivers’ standings.

Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Larson revealed his Darlington throwback scheme Thursday, and it’s one that honors NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Davey Allison. Larson will run the same type of striping effect that Allison had at one time on his famous No. 28 Texaco Havoline Ford.

The stripes on Larson’s  No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet will be in the colors of DC Solar at Darlington. Larson told NASCAR.com’s Jessica Ruffin recently that this year’s throwback idea was near and dear to Jeff Carpoff, the president and CEO of DC Solar.

RELATED: Darlington paint schemes

Larson will run the scheme in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 on Sept. 2 at Darlington Raceway (6 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Larson has three top-10 finishes in his four appearances at Darlington in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

MORE: Buy Tickets for Darlington

 

Posted on by Jordan Bianchi

It was the kind of finish in a rough-and-tumble race that should’ve had Cole Custer encouraged leaving Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Yet, while the seventh-place finish extended Custer’s streak of consecutive top 10s to five and 10 in the past 11 races overall, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver couldn’t help but think a better result — and the accompanying points — had slipped away.

“I want to win,” Custer said. “That’s what we want to do. It’s frustrating when things don’t go your way. I thought we were doing everything right, we just need everything to fall into place.”

Adding to Custer’s sense that a better day escaped him at Mid-Ohio is that he is locked into a tight battle where with five regular season races remaining the top five in the Xfinity standings are separated by a scant 20 points with only a three-point gap between second through fifth.

RELATED: Xfinity Series standings 

And on Saturday, despite finishing seventh, Custer conceded points to Justin Allgaier (race winner), Daniel Hemric (third) and Elliott Sadler (sixth). Custer only gained ground on points leader Christopher Bell, who finished 11th after a late-race spin caused by contact with Sadler.

Whomever wins the regular-season points crown earns an additional 15 playoff points, while second is worth 10 points; the top 10 in the standings all earn a declining amount of points. How points are distributed for excellence during the regular season means any points lost now may make a big difference come the postseason. A year ago, Custer started the playoffs four points behind Hemric — the same margin Hemric ultimately edged Custer out by for the final transfer spot into the championship finale.

The ethos that every point matters is how Allgaier and crew chief Jason Burdett approached Mid-Ohio, and plan to do so throughout the remainder of the regular season. That mentality paid off, with Allgaier scoring 10 regular season points for winning the first stage, a single point for finishing 10th in Stage 2 and six playoff points for winning a stage plus the overall victory.

The Xfinity Series next races Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, followed by the final regular-season stops at Road America (Aug. 25), Darlington Raceway (Sept. 1), Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Sept. 8) and Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Sept. 15).

“This is a good stretch of races for us to get points, to make up points,” Burdett said. “There are a lot of bonus points for winning the regular season championship, and if we can get on up to first or second … all those bonus points are going to be huge.”

Although Bell had the worst finish of the top-five contenders at Mid-Ohio — attributed to contact with Sadler as they contested the second position that resulted in Bell spinning — he remains the championship leader going into Bristol. Not only is Bell up 17 points on Sadler and Hemric, who are tied for second, but he owns a series-best four wins and has emphatically shed the inconsistency that pockmarked his first half of the regular season.

“Winning bonus points and the regular season championship has been our No. 1 focus since we won at Richmond (April 20),” Bell said. “Our goal has been to try and make life as easy as possible during the playoffs.”

Bristol can be unforgiving, though, and an off night by Bell on Friday could open the door for any of the four drivers immediately behind him to vault ahead in the standings. That’s a fact Bell knows all too well, as he crashed out while running near the front during the spring race at the half-mile Tennessee track.

“Bristol is so fast, it’s a short track that races similar to a mile-and-a-half,” Bell said. “It’s easy to get in trouble because it’s so fast and narrow. It’s a place to have to survive to be there at the end.”

Should Bell stumble, Sadler, Hemric, Custer and Allgaier are each well-positioned to capitalize. Allgaier appears especially capable of taking the fight to Bell, as he, too, has come on strong over the second half, riding a streak where he’s finished no worse than ninth over the past nine races. The JR Motorsports driver also ranks first in laps led and his three victories trail only Bell’s four.

“The regular season champion — I don’t know if we can get to first, but we’re still pushing,” Allgaier said.

Posted on by Staff Report

Longtime fan favorite Kasey Kahne announced his retirement from full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series racing following the 2018 season on Thursday morning.

Not only popular with NASCAR Nation, Kahne, 38, was well-respected among his peers in the garage, as well.

Fellow competitors and former teammates reached out to Kahne on Twitter to offer their congrats on a career that included 31 trips to Victory Lane across all three series, including several marquee wins.

MORE: All of Kasey Kahne’s Monster Energy Series wins | Career in photos

 

 

Posted on by Staff Report

Fifteen-year premier series veteran Kasey Kahne revealed that 2018 will be his last full-time season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Kahne, 38, currently drives the No. 95 Chevrolet for Leavine Family Racing.

“I’ve thought about this decision for many months, if not longer,” Kahne wrote on his Twitter account. “It’s time for me to step away from racing in NASCAR full time.”

(See the full statement in the Twitter post at the bottom of this article.)

Kahne has compiled 18 wins in 527 starts in the Monster Energy Series, most notably capturing the Coca-Cola 600 three times (2006, ’08, ’12) and the Brickyard 400 once, his last victory driving for Hendrick Motorsports.

MORE: Recap of Kahne’s final Hendrick season | Career in photos

Kahne’s best finish in the season-ending standings was fourth in 2012 while driving for Hendrick and with Kenny Francis as his crew chief. He was the Sunoco Rookie of the Year in 2004 while driving for Ray Evernham. He had a series-high six victories in 2006 for Evernham.

Leavine Family Racing sent out the following tweet on social media in response to the news:

Kahne’s first race was the 2004 Daytona 500 in which he finished 41st after bowing out early with an engine issue. However, Kahne won his first pole a few weeks later at Las Vegas and now has 27 Busch Pole Awards to his credit.

MORE: All of Kasey Kahne’s Monster Energy Series wins | Full career stats

Kahne has the distinction of winning in all three of NASCAR’s national series with eight wins coming in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and five wins in the Camping World Truck Series.

Here’s Kahne’s full statement:

 

Posted on by Staff Report

Darlington’s throwback paint scheme fun adds an extra layer of spice this year as the top eight vote-getters for best paint scheme go head-to-head in a bracket format. If March Madness is college basketball’s favorite time of year, the pageant of paint schemes might be called Darlington Delirium.

Voting is open in the first round of Southern 500 bracketology, so cast your ballot now. And of course discuss the seeding — our selection committee based it on the top eight in voting for Darlington’s Best in Show fan award through Aug. 15.

RELATED: Vote for your four favorite schemes

The first round pits these eight looks honoring NASCAR’s past against each other as the theme for 2018 is “Seven Decades of NASCAR.”

William Byron vs. Brad Keselowski: Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet will be wrapped by Sam Bass’s “Hot Summer Nights” design honoring Jeff Gordon’s rainbow car while Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford is a nod to Rusty Wallace’s 1990 ride.

Chase Elliott vs. Matt DiBenedetto: Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet’s paint scheme honors his cousin, Casey Elliott. DiBenedetto’s pink-and-blue lightning bolt look for the No. 32 Ford hearkens back to Jeff Burton’s No. 99 car with Exide branding from 1996-2000.

Derrike Cope vs. Jimmie Johnson: Cope’s No. 99 yellow-and-red Bojangles’ theme matches the current race sponsor and throws it back to the partnership’s start in 1993. Johnson’s No. 48 “Last Ride for Kobalt” paint scheme is a nod to the one he captured Hendrick Motorsports’ 200th win with in 2012 at Darlington.

Kyle Busch vs. Clint Bowyer: Two current season heavyweights square off with Busch’s Ernie Irvan “Rainbow of Flavor” scheme on the No. 18 Toyota battling the No. 14 Ford’s tip of the hat to Ned Jarrett’s 1965 Ford Galaxie.

RELATED: See all the throwback schemes | Buy tickets now!

First-round voting will be open through Aug. 20. Those four winners will create the semifinal matchups, open to voting Aug. 21-25. Championship round voting will be open Aug. 26-31, with the winner being announced before the start of the Bojangles’ Southern 500 (2 p.m. ET Sept. 2, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).