Posted on by Zack Albert

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Kurt Busch occupied some prime real estate in Sunday’s final laps at Talladega Superspeedway, riding within sight of leader Joey Logano with his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick in close proximity.

The hopes turned into regrets late in the GEICO 500, with Busch’s No. 41 Ford finishing as the runner-up just .127 seconds behind Logano’s Team Penske entry. Busch tucked in behind Logano for most of the final lap, failing to form a tandem charge with Harvick, who was left to scrap with Chase Elliott and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for the remaining spots among the top five.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos from Talladega

Busch’s second-place result was his best of the season in the Monster Energy Series, but he lamented being “outfoxed” for the final trip around the 2.66-mile track.

“It takes two cars to try to break through the leader. I’m happy that a Ford won. It wasn’t the right one,” Busch said. “Kevin was in good position. I was going to roll with him in any direction that I could. We just got broken up by Stenhouse.

“Man, it’s just so close. You wish you could go over and do it again. I feel like I left that one out on the table.”

RELATED: Race winners from 2018 | All of Kurt Busch’s Monster Energy Series wins

Harvick and Busch were among the fastest Ford drivers for the duration of the weekend; they shared the front row after Saturday’s Busch Pole qualifying, with Harvick’s No. 4 leading their 1-2 start. Each spent time at the front Sunday, but were unable to crack the lead stranglehold of Logano, who paced the final 42 laps.

“The 41 pulled out sooner than I thought he would there,” Harvick said, “and we wound up getting hung out.”

Busch’s day was an eventful one even before Stage 1 transitioned into full churn. Busch was tagged with a Lap 13 speeding penalty on the first exchange of pit stops. That setback was preceded by a team communications issue before the green flag, forcing the No. 41 team to scramble to replace the radio.

Busch could hear the team, but the team could not hear him. Crew members brought an additional helmet and steering wheel to the car in an effort to remedy the problem, but the stop-gap solution was switching to the No. 4 team’s reserve radio channel.

“Just some weird deal,” said Billy Scott, Busch’s crew chief. “They changed out pretty much all the equipment in there and it still had a problem. It came down to it being a radio channel of some sort, so we ended up borrowing a radio for the 4 and went to their backup channel and that’s what we used. It was OK then, so kind of a weird deal. We’ll have to figure that out.”

The quick change left for some anxious moments for the No. 41 team, which sat on pit road for a handful of pace laps before hurrying back to its front-row starting berth.

“There’s only so many parts and pieces to change, right?” Scott said. “It got down to the last one, still fixed it. So I figure we had time to get it all swapped out.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Chase Elliott climbed out of his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet on pit road, downed a bottle of water, spoke with his crew and pretty much was left to wonder, “What if?’’ 

The talented 22-year old finished third in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. But unlike other victory near-misses – he’s had eight career runner-up finishes, including one just last week – Elliott conceded this time he was a victim of circumstance. He was the lone Chevy in a top-five scoreboard of Fords at a track where you need a dancing partner.

“It’s tough,’’ Elliott said of not being able to make a move paired with one of the six Fords that finished in the top seven. “You would think those guys want to win the race around me, but they just ride and ride and ride and they have to know in their minds they are waiting too long, even for themselves.

RELATED: Full race results

“I thought maybe one of them would get greedy and want to win, I certainly did. I knew if I went by myself it wasn’t going to work. For what it was, it worked out pretty good.’’

Team Penske’s Joey Logano scored his first victory in 36 races and was followed across the line by Stewart-Haas Racing Ford driver Kurt Busch. Elliott was third with Busch’s teammate Kevin Harvick right behind and defending race winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. driving his Roush Fenway Racing Ford to fifth place.

While maneuvering the frantic final laps, Elliott hoped that someone up front would pull out of line with him and at least make a determined run at Logano. It never panned out.

“For us, we just never got anything going, I feel like, until the end,’’ Elliott said. “I was able to come in and put on tires toward the end of the race and have a little better rubber than those guys around me, which was nice, and I made some good moves to get up inside the top-five.

 WATCH: Elliott puzzled by lack of late-race aggressiveness

“Last few laps, (I) was really trying to make a run and do something there at the end. Those guys were being awfully patient with one another. I was very surprised. I mean, it was more than obvious that they were not going to help me move forward.’’

Elliott did move forward in terms of his season, however. After a frustrating 33rd-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500 and another DNF at Las Vegas two weeks later (34th place) the Hendrick Motorsports driver has been playing a determined game of catch-up in the standings. 

He has four top-11 finishes in the last fives weeks – including, now, his back-to-back efforts of second (at Richmond) and third (at Talladega). He’s ranked 18th in the points standings – tying his highest mark of the season – and is only five points behind 16th-place Ryan Newman and eight points behind 15th-place Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

RELATED: Monster Energy Series driver standings

“For us trying to gain some points back, we needed a good finish [today],’’ Elliott said. “We are trying to dig out of a bit of a hole right now. So, (we) need runs like we’ve had the past two weeks. So we’ll move on.’’

The series races at the famous Dover International Speedway 1-miler next week where Elliot has never finished worse than fifth place in four Cup starts, including a best of second place in the fall race last year.

Posted on by Staff Report

Joey Logano snapping a 36-race winless streak by winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway was a special moment, but there was one thing that made the feat extra special.

Logano celebrated in Victory Lane with his son, Hudson, for the first time. Hudson was born Jan. 4, so experiencing a win with Daddy before he is even four months old was pretty impressive.

RELATED: Full race recap | Results | Standings

“That’s a great family picture in Victory Lane,” Logano said after the race. “Not many people have a family picture like that.”

We captured highlights from a moment that Logano and wife Brittany will never forget.

MORE: Photos from Talladega | Logano’s Victory Lane interview

Posted on by

TALLADEGA, Ala. — One of NASCAR’s best restrictor-plate racers going these days wanted to pay tribute to arguably the best of all-time — but came up just short.

Defending race-winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. led four laps and came home with a top-five finish in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. A great run for a team looking to find its footing in the early stages of the 2018 season, sure, but not quite enough for the Roush Fenway Racing driver to honor one of his racing heroes.

RELATED: Full race results

“I really wanted to win on Dale Sr.’s birthday,” Stenhouse said on pit road following the race. “That would’ve been pretty cool.”

Earnhardt, who won a whopping 10 times at the Alabama track, would have turned 67 on Sunday.

While still a disappointing race in the “tribute category,” the top-five finish comes at a significant time for Stenhouse and crew. A questionable start to the season saw no top-10 finishes for the No. 17 driver through the first seven races and a ticket to the NASCAR Playoffs on points looking unlikely — never too early to start thinking about that, after all.

PHOTOS: All of Earnhardt’s wins

A spectacular fourth-place run at Bristol brought him to 18th in points, but Stenhouse was knocked down to 19th after a 23rd-place run at Richmond. Had he been caught up in either of the major wrecks Sunday, Stenhouse likely would have been looking at clawing his way out of a sub-top-20-in-points scenario throughout the late spring/early summer.

And he’d be working his way back up racing at tracks he hasn’t seen a tremendous amount of success at — the 30-year-old has but one top-10 finish in 43 starts at the next four tracks combined.

RELATED: Stenhouse’s career statistics

Instead, his second top five and top 10 of the season has him 15th in points — and in the provisional playoff field.

“The way our season’s been going and not getting good finishes; running OK but not really finishing it off, I feel really good that we got points in both stages and came home with a top five,” Stenhouse said. “Yeah, we wanted to win … that was a bummer, but all-in-all it was a fun day. Had a lot of fun. …

” … Any time you can come to a speedway and run up front, lead some laps and gain some points on 16th is huge for us,” he continued. “We feel like we’ve not had a great season, but a decent season. And we’re still in the talks of that 16th place in points. That’s really what we wanted to do. We wanted to obviously get a win, but that wasn’t in the mix for us, but a top five is good.”

As far as next weekend’s 400-miler at Dover International Speedway — where Stenhouse owns an average finish of 20.9 and has finished 37th or worse in three of the past four spring races — perhaps those numbers don’t tell the whole story.

“I look forward to going to Dover,” Stenhouse said. “I think we’ve had maybe a little bit more speed in our cars than where we’ve finished the races and that’s just a product of bad luck on a few things; car-wise and mistakes by me. If we can continue to clean that up, we’ll be in decent shape moving forward.”

Either way, Stenhouse continues to grind and improve and isn’t happy with settling for where he’s at in his career right now, in terms of consistent results. And winning on Sunday or not, that’s something that “The Intimidator” would’ve respected the hell out of.

Posted on by Staff Report

Denny Hamlin has earned a reputation in recent years of speeding on pit road too frequently, and the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota saw his shot at a victory evaporate with back-to-back speeding penalties Sunday at Talladega.

On green-flag pit stops with fewer than 50 laps to go, Hamlin headed to pit road from the lead, along with a host of other cars. Hamlin had meticulously worked his way through the field to lead 11 laps and was in position to control the pack the rest of the race.

RELATED: Full race results

The veteran, though, was issued a speeding penalty (and it wasn’t close, according to data tweeted by NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell) on that stop. Pit road speed at Talladega is 55 mph, and NASCAR officials will allow a 5 mph tolerance. Hamlin, who has three speeding penalties this season, was tagged at 67.22 mph.

He compounded that mistake by speeding again while coming down pit road to serve his pass-through penalty, which resulted in yet another trip down pit road to serve that penalty.

Hamlin dropped from first to running in the 30s and a lap down once pit stops cycled through, effectively ending his shot at victory.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver managed to work his way back to the lead lap and finished 14th. Stenhouse Jr., who was penalized on the same stop as Hamlin but did not speed a second time, finished fifth and was in the lead pack battling for the win.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Joey Logano led a Ford feast on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, beating Kurt Busch to the checkered flag by .127 seconds to win the GEICO 500, the 10th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season.

RELATED: Full race results | Standings
SHOP: Logano gear

Logano led the final 42-of-188 laps, a race-high 70 overall, and controlled the action after a 14-car wreck on Lap 166 thinned the field. Logano led the field to the green flag for the final restart on Lap 172 and stayed out front the rest of the way.

The victory was Logano’s third at Talladega and the 19th of his career, and it broke a dry spell of 36 races dating to the No. 22 team’s victory at Richmond last year, one which incurred a post-race penalty.

“I’m so proud to get this team back in Victory Lane – it’s been a year!” Logano exulted in Victory Lane. “It feels so good to be back in Victory Lane. There is no feeling like this. It feels so good.

“It’s been a long time coming. We’ve been getting consistent.  We’ve been scoring points, and we knew a win was just around the corner. I don’t have to worry about the whole playoff thing anymore.”

RELATED: ‘Big One’ involves 14 cars at ‘Dega 

Logano extended Ford’s winning streak at Talladega to six races. Ford drivers claimed six of the top seven positions, the only exception being third-place finisher Chase Elliott in a Chevrolet.

“What a fast Ford,” Logano said of his No. 22 Team Penske ride. “Teamwork is what did it today. And not just the Team Penske Fords but all of the Fords out there – Kevin (Harvick), Kurt (Busch). We worked really well together. We got a blue oval back in Victory Lane, so proud of that.”

Harvick, the pole winner, came home fourth, followed by defending race winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr., David Ragan and Aric Almirola. 

Busch intended to pair with Harvick, his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, for a final-lap charge at Logano, but Busch changed tactics when he saw that Stenhouse had a strong run on the next-to-last lap.

RELATED: Photos from Talladega  

“We just needed the assistance from behind,” Busch said. “The 17 car (Stenhouse) was strong. All the Fords were great today. I was hoping he would get to us on the back straightaway so we could go on offense on the front to go win it, but it just didn’t materialize.

“I wanted to stay with Harvick, my teammate, and navigate around the 22, but everyone behind kind of broke off and was racing too hard, and nobody got that big head of steam to try to push through and break apart the 22’s lead.

“It was one of the best Fords I have ever had here, and it was fun to race it and lead some laps and be right there, but I just didn’t get the job done. The 22 outfoxed us, and we didn’t get the push from behind to go on offense at the end – but a top-five day, so I can’t really complain.”

Logano finished second in each of the first two stages – behind teammate Brad Keselowski and Paul Menard, respectively – but in the final stage of the race he took control. Logano had the lead when the second major wreck of the race started in Turn 3 on Lap 166.

MORE: Which driver wanted to win for Dale Sr.?

Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson spun in Turn 3 and turned sideways across the nose of Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron’s car, collecting Menard’s Ford in the process. The accident also knocked Keselowski out of the race.

Kyle Busch saw his three-race winning streak end with a 13th-place finish at Talladega. The driver of the No. 18 Toyota was hit with a pit road speeding penalty under caution after the end of the second stage and recovered to run in the top five during the third stage, but he could make little progress after coming to pit road and restarting 18th on Lap 172.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Throughout Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson patiently worked his way forward from his 16th-place starting position, running as high as third and battling with the fastest cars in the race.

On Lap 166 of 188, however, Johnson’s race fell apart, when he and Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron got too close together as they rolled into Turn 3. Johnson slid sideways in dirty air and collected both Byron and Paul Menard, triggering a 14-car wreck.

WATCH: In-car view from Ty Dillon

The melee eliminated the cars of Byron, Menard, Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, Michael McDowell, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Dillon. The machines of Ryan Blaney, Darrell Wallace Jr., Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne and Brendan Gaughan also sustained damage.

The accident, however, didn’t affect the race winner. Joey Logano led the last 42 laps – through two cautions – and took the checkered flag .127 seconds ahead of runner-up Kurt Busch.

 “I knew I had help somehow just the way it turned around,” Johnson said of the wreck. “Unfortunately, when I was sliding, the No. 12 car (Blaney) hit us and bent something in the rear end. It wasn’t the same after.”

Johnson managed a 12th-place finish. Byron, on the other hand, saw a solid run spoiled after leading 14 laps in his Monster Energy debut at the 2.66-mile track. 

“Honestly, I think we just got side-drafted going into (Turn) 3 and got me a little bit free and then I think I just packed some air on his left rear,” Byron said of the circumstances that sparked the wreck. 

“It was just unfortunate that we couldn’t get to the end of the race, but we’ll learn from it and come back here in the fall and hopefully have an even better run.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series all head to Dover International Speedway for a tripleheader this weekend. Check out the tentative full schedule below, subject to change.

Note: All times are ET

Sunday, May 6

RUN OF SHOW
1:10:00: Driver introductions
1:43:30 p.m. God Bless America by Jessica Lynn, International Country Music Star
1:45 p.m. Presentation of Colors by Dover Air Force Base Color Guard
1:46 p.m. National Anthem by Jessica Lynn, International Country Music Star
1:47:40 p.m. Flyover: 4 F16s from the 113th Wing of the District of Columbia Air National Guard
1:52 p.m. “Drivers, Start Your Engines,” by Merrill Reese, voice of Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles and Mike Quick, five-time Pro-Bowler and Eagles radio host
2 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA 400 Drive for Autism (400 laps, 400 miles), FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN 1, 4, 5)

Press Pass (Watch live)
5:45 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race

Thursday, May 3
2:05-3:03 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series first practice (Results)
4:05-4:55 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice (Results)

Press Pass (Watch live)
3:30 p.m.: David Gilliland, Todd Gilliland, Myatt Snider

Friday, May 4
9:35-10:25 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice, FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN GO)
10:35-11:25 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series first practice, FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN 2)
1:05 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying, FS1 (Results)
2:05-2:50 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN GO)
3:20 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Qualifying, FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN 5)
5 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series JEGS 200 (200 laps, 200 miles), FS1 (Results)

Press Pass (Watch live)
9 a.m.: Joey Logano
9:15 a.m.: Austin Dillon
9:30 a.m.: Jimmie Johnson
9:45 a.m.: Daniel Suarez
11:30 a.m.: Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Elliott Sadler, Ryan Sieg
12:30 p.m.: Martin Truex Jr.
4:15 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying
7 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race

Saturday, May 5
8:30-9:20 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series second practice, FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN GO)
9:35 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying, FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN GO)
11-11:50 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN 5)
12:30 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series OneMain Financial 200 (200 laps, 200 miles), FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN 3, 5)

Press Pass (Watch live)
2:30 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Xfinity Series race

 

Posted on by Staff Report

What channels are NASCAR races on this week? We answer that and provide all the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: Get the NBC Sports App |  How to find FS1, FS2 | Get FOX Sports GO | How to find NBCSN

Monday, April 30
12 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 (re-air), FS1
noon: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 (re-air), FS2
6 p.m.: NASCAR America, NBCSN
6 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

On MRN:
12 p.m.: MRN Motorsports Monday presented by Outback Steakhouse (Hosts: Woody Cain, Joey Meier)

Tuesday, May 1
3:30 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Sparks Energy 300 (re-air), FS1
5 p.m.: NASCAR America, NBCSN
6 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

On MRN:
7 p.m.: NASCAR Live (Host: Mike Bagley)

Wednesday, May 2 
5 p.m.: NASCAR America, NBCSN
6 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

On MRN:
Noon: MRN Crew Call presented by Hercules Tires (Hosts: Dion Williams, Sammi Jo Francis)
1 p.m.: NASCAR Coast to Coast (Hosts: Kyle Rickey, Hannah Newhouse)

Thursday, May 3
6 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
11 p.m.: NASCAR K&N Pro Series East: Langley Speedway, NBCSN

On MRN:
1 p.m.: Throwback Thursday presented by Sunoco

Friday, May 4
3:30 a.m.: NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FS1
9:30 a.m..: NASCAR Xfinity Series practice at Dover International Speedway, FS1 (Canada: TSN GO)
10:30 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Dover International Speedway, FS1 (Canada: TSN 2)
11:30 a.m.: Beyond the Wheel 2018, FS1
12:30 p.m.: NASCAR Race Classic: 1998 Daytona 500, FS1
1 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series qualifying at Dover International Speedway, FS1
2 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice at Dover International Speedway, FS1 (Canada: TSN GO)
3 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Qualifying at Dover International Speedway, FS1 (Canada: TSN 5)
4:30 p.m.: NASCAR RaceDay: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Dover International Speedway, FS1
5 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series JEGS 200 at Dover International Speedway, FS1

On MRN:
noon: Inside Line Fantasy Racing Show (Hosts: Tyler Burnett, Robbie Mays)

Saturday, May 5
4 a.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series JEGS 200 at Dover International Speedway (re-air), FS1
6:30 a.m.: NASCAR Race Classic: 1998 Daytona 500, FS1
7 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice (re-air), FS1
8 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole Qualifying at Dover International Speedway (re-air), FS1
8:30 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Dover International Speedway, FS1 (Canada: TSN GO)
9:30 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series pole qualifying at Dover International Speedway, FS1 (Canada: TSN GO)
10:30 a.m.: Race Hub Weekend Edition, FS1
11 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice at Dover International Speedway, FS1 (Canada: TSN 5)
12 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series RaceDay at Dover International Speedway, FS1
12:30 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series OneMain Financial 200 at Dover International Speedway, FS1 (Canada: TSN 3, 5)

Sunday, May 6
1 a.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series OneMain Financial 200 at Dover International Speedway (re-air), FS1
3:30 a.m.: NASCAR Race Classic: 1998 Daytona 500, FS1
8 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice at Dover International Speedway (re-air), FS1
9 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Dover International Speedway (re-air), FS1
12:30 p.m.: NASCAR RaceDay at Dover International Speedway, FS1
2 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway, FS1 (Canada: TSN 1, 4, 5)

Posted on by Staff Report

Erik Jones sparked a six-car wreck on Lap 71 of the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway when his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota spun in traffic and collided with the No. 6 Ford of Trevor Bayne and the No. 1 Chevrolet of Jamie McMurray.

Other cars involved in the Stage 2 wreck included Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota, Kyle Larson in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet and Aric Almirola in the No. 10 Ford. Almirola’s car escaped with scant damage — the rest weren’t so fortunate.

WATCH: In-car view from Truex Jr.

“I’d been loose all day and I was thinking that I had finally gotten the car to where I could race it and unfortunately I just pushed too hard early and just caused a wreck,” Jones said. “It’s not what you want, we probably should have been more patient. We were getting the car better, but it was very loose, which is too bad.”

The No. 20 Toyota of Jones had to be towed from the track. The No. 42 Chevrolet of Larson was forced to the garage after exceeding the time allotted for repairs. Those two cars, along with the No. 6 of Bayne, were all forced out of the race.

“I was ready to get to go do some racing,” Larson said. “I’m not really sure what happened, but I had nowhere to go.”

Bayne echoed those sentiments, especially given how the unpredictability of Talladega makes this race ripe for an upset winner.

“It stinks,” Bayne said. “You try to manage your highs and lows, though. … It is frustrating because Talladega is one of the
ones you know you can win at and we wanted to do that today.”