Posted on by Staff Report

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

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

ROSTERS: Pocono

RELATED: Overview of 2018 rules updates

Posted on by Staff Report

NEWTON, Iowa — How long had it been since a non-Monster Energy Cup regular triumphed in three straight Xfinity Series races?

Even NASCAR star-turned-NBC Sports Network commentator Dale Earnhardt, Jr., didn’t seem to know the answer when asked on-air — and he was the most recent driver to accomplish the feat in 1999.

Until Saturday at Iowa Speedway.

RELATED: Race results | Series standings

Christopher Bell somehow steered clear of a spate of potential disasters within the final 15 laps of the mostly-green U.S. Cellular 250, wheeling his No. 20 Ruud Toyota to Victory Lane for the third consecutive time.

“When it’s your day, it’s your day,” a smiling Bell said as he celebrated by his car. “I’ll take them any way I can get them.”

“Our Ruud Camry was really, really good,” Bell said. “I’m just thankful we were able to get Ruud in Victory Lane. This is their first win. All these Camry’s are made in Georgetown, Kentucky here in the United States, so it’s special to win for these guys.”

RELATED: Allgaier: ‘It’s disappointing to get run over’

Bell somehow kept his car intact after Chase Briscoe spun in front of him with 14 to go. The 23-year-old Joe Gibbs racing rookie’s car sustained some damage, but he managed to maintain the lead after the restart — until Garrett Smithley spun out to draw another caution flag. Then the inexplicable occurred. On the following restart, Justin Allgaier — who won the June race at Iowa — boldly drove the high groove to the lead. Bell was shuffled back to fourth during a four-wide restart that completed one lap before contact between Matt Tifft and Max Tullman caused the red flag to wave.

Bell was momentarily stunned. How’d it happen?

“I don’t know,” he told NBC Sports during the red flag. “I really don’t know.”

But it would be Allgaier shaking his head after Bell found a way to reverse his fortunes on the final restart. He also said he felt Bell didn’t race him as clean as he’s accustomed to at the end.

“It’s just disappointing to get run over,” said Allgaier, who settled for second. “I know that Christopher definitely had the best car. … It’s a good day at Iowa. 1-2 in the two races here. I know social media’s going to blow up. They’re going to hate me for being mad at Christopher, but it is what it is.”

Bell said his last-gasp restart maneuver past Allgaier had been executed according to plan.

“I mean, I haven’t seen it so I don’t know, but the spotter was yelling clear and if I’m clear then it was clean,” Bell said.

MORE: Bell offers his take on the overtime events

Bell’s third win in as many weeks shuffled up spots atop the point standings.

He now leads Elliott Sadler by 16 points, 702 to 686. Cole Custer — who led 104 laps before car troubles hit later in the race — is third with 684 points and Daniel Hemric ranks fourth, a mere five points behind Custer, who finished ninth in Saturday’s race.

Kyle Benjamin, Ross Chastain and John Hunter Nemechek completed Saturday’s top-five.

Sadler, Saturday’s pole-sitter, led most of the first stage and finished sixth.

Bell led 94 laps and shrugged off disappointment over a second-place June finish at Iowa.

Now the former dirt open-wheel racer’s accomplished something no series regular has done in this millennium.

“It’s pretty cool, man,” Bell said. “I’m just kind of speechless. These races are really hard to win.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Post-qualifying tech dealt a Saturday shake-up to the starting lineup for Sunday’s Gander Outdoors 400 after the cars driven by the five of the top six qualifiers — including the initial front row of Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch — failed inspection at Pocono Raceway.

Harvick was fastest in the first and final round of Busch Pole Qualifying, but his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford did not pass the body scan portion post-qualifying inspection. The same fate occurred with the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of second-fastest qualifier Kyle Busch, but his car failed at the chassis station of the inspection process.

The ruling elevated Daniel Suarez, third on the original unofficial speed chart, to a first-time pole winner in the Monster Energy Series. His speed of 176.988 mph in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota stands as the pole-winning lap of record.

RELATED: Starting lineup | First pole for Suarez

A total of 13 cars failed the inspection process the first time through. Scott Miller, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition, explained the process in a media gathering as inspection was nearing its conclusion.

“It’s pretty obvious what’s happened here. There was 13 cars that didn’t pass the post-qualifying inspection,” Miller said. “Most of the problems were centered around the body scan, but not all. Some were mechanical measurements with the rear toe. But quite heavy on the body scans, 13 cars. We’re disappointed in this, but we’re certainly confident in our process and the teams didn’t do a real good job here today.”

In addition to Harvick and Busch, the qualifying speeds for Kyle Larson (initially the fourth-fastest qualifier), Joey Logano (fifth) and rookie William Byron (sixth) were disallowed. Others further back in the field with qualifying speeds thrown out: Clint Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford, Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Ford, Aric Almirola’s No. 10 Ford, Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet, Paul Menard’s No. 21 Ford, Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet, Bubba Wallace’s No. 43 Chevrolet, Kasey Kahne’s No. 95 Chevrolet.

RELATED: See every car in Sunday’s field

All 13 will start from the rear of the 40-car field in Sunday’s 400-miler (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM), ranked in order of their rank in the Monster Energy Series standings.

Both Harvick and Kahne’s car failed three times and the penalty for that is the loss of their car chiefs — Robert Smith (No. 4 team) and Ben Leslie (No. 95 team) — and a 10-point penalty in the driver and owner championship standings. Logano and Menard’s cars failed twice and both of their respective car chiefs — Raymond Fox (No. 22 team) and William Curwood (No. 21 team) were ejected as well.

It’s the first season for the new inspection process and NASCAR’s Optical Scanning Station, which maps and checks vehicle bodies for conformance to the rules. It’s also the second time this season that the Monster Energy Series has been subject to inspection immediately after qualifying under the enhanced weekend schedule. The other occurrence was at Chicagoland Speedway, where only four cars lost their starting spots.

“This is only the second time we’ve done this and I don’t think the teams want to be sitting here in this situation, either,” Miller said when asked if the severity of the penalties might change after Saturday’s issues. “But I think they tested the waters and it didn’t work out too good for them today. So, hopefully the next time we have one of these inspections, they’ll be able to get closer to right and we won’t have this.”

Contributing: Jessica Ruffin from Pocono

Posted on by Reid Spencer

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 car | Weekend 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.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

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.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

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 standings | Weekend 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.

Posted on by Staff Report

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.

Posted on by Zack Albert

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.

Posted on by Staff Report

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 averages | Full 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.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

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.”