Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Race results

The Nos. 3, 12, 34 and 42 teams in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series received penalties for lug nuts not properly installed following Monday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Crew chiefs Justin Alexander (No. 3 team), Jeremy Bullins (No. 12 team), Derrick Finley (No. 34 team) and Chad Johnston (No. 42 team) were fined $10,000 each.

Austin Dillon drove the No. 3 Chevrolet to a 30th-place finish; Ryan Blaney finished third in the No. 12 Ford; Michael McDowell finished 21st in the No. 34 Ford; and Kyle Larson finished 16th in the No. 42 Chevrolet.

 

Posted on by Steve Luvender

Ah, Martinsville. The paper clip-shaped short track that’s famous for its hot dogs and grandfather clock trophy. Here’s why we’re raising our thumbs up (and down) after a snow-delayed 500 laps.

Thumbs Up: YRB

Ryan Blaney’s blinding-neon Ford claimed Stage 2 at Martinsville — Blaney’s first stage win at a short track. While he ended up third by the end of the day, the No. 12 looked awfully sporty, leading 145 of 500 laps Monday.

Thumbs up to Young Ryan Blaney for looking not-so-shabby. But that’s what Ryan Blaney does oh-so well. So dreamy.

Thumbs Down: Snow

As of last Tuesday, it’s spring. That’s supposed to mean warm temperatures and flowers, right? Not the case in Virginia, apparently.

Every now and then, a race gets delayed for weather. Whatever; it happens. Can’t race on a rainy track. But, snow? When it’s April next week? Not cool, Mother Nature.

But, hey, it’s not a first.

Thumbs down for snow. In the spring. On race day.

Thumbs Up: Bowman the Snowman

Speaking of snow, it’s interesting to see who performed after Martinsville’s surface was graced by Old Man Winter.

That list of performers includes Alex Bowman, who scored his his first top-10 finish this season for Hendrick Motorsports.

No wonder he wants to race more short tracks.

https://twitter.com/AlexBowman88/status/978418108296818689

After an impressive post-snow performance, doesn’t this earn Bowman a new nickname? Does “Bowman the Snowman” work?

https://twitter.com/steveluvender/status/978418597084192768


Thumbs Down: Rough day for Roush Fenway Racing

Martinsville’s a tough track. Cramming three-dozen-plus race cars into a tiny half-mile race track for 500 laps is a test of equipment, resilience, and patience.

However, for Roush Fenway Racing, Monday’s STP 500 wasn’t the weekend for which the team had hoped.

First, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. crashed in practice, sending the No. 17 team to a backup car. Then, as Monday’s race quickly showed, the backup car didn’t quite take to the “Paper Clip” as well as Stenhouse may have hoped. Stenhouse limped home to a 37th-place finish, 19 laps off the pace.

That wasn’t the only part of Roush Fenway Racing’s tough outing to Martinsville. Trevor Bayne struggled throughout the race, and ultimately pitted under the green flag late in the race after contact to his Ford cut a tire.

That’ll happen at Martinsville, and it wasn’t Roush Fenway Racing’s day. Thumbs down for a rough day — Mondays, am I right?

Biggest Thumbs Up of the Week: Snapping a winless streak

One-hundred ninety races. Over five-plus seasons. Multiple teams. It’s been a long time since Clint Bowyer’s visited Victory Lane — since the 2012 fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, when everybody was rocking out to “Call Me Maybe” and “Gangnam Style.”

Bowyer finally snapped his winless streak Monday, though, leading 215 laps en route to his first victory for Stewart-Haas Racing, and his first victory in a Generation 6-style race car. (His last win was in a Car of Tomorrow-style race car — remember those?)

We knew it was going to happen, but we didn’t know when. Apparently, all it took was a snow-delayed 500-lap brawl in Virginia. A Kansas-sized thumbs up for Clint Bowyer and snapping a winless streak that dates back to when LMFAO was on the Billboard Top 100 songs list.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

Alex Bowman finished seventh at Martinsville Speedway on Monday.

The highest-finishing Hendrick Motorsports driver, the 24-year-old fared better than even nine-time grandfather clock owner Jimmie Johnson — not too shabby for a rookie!

RELATED: Bowman leads Hendrick brigade at Martinsville

Except Bowman isn’t a rookie. And this wasn’t his first rodeo at “The Paperclip” … it was his fifth.

Bowman had to explain this to Dale Earnhardt Jr after the former driver of his current No. 88 Chevrolet ride texted his congratulations and mentioned it being his “first time there.” Oops.

https://twitter.com/AlexBowman88/status/978707322548752384

Hey, it happens. It’s easy to forget Bowman has a pair of full-time seasons under his belt from 2014-15 before he patiently awaited his turn behind the No. 88 wheel the next two years with a few spot starts sprinkled here and there.

NASCAR.com’s own Steve Luvender then pointed out something interesting.

https://twitter.com/steveluvender/status/978707813533978625

Junior had the perfect response …

… but “The Showman” was not amused.

https://twitter.com/AlexBowman88/status/978709412578775041

Classic rookie move.

Posted on by Staff Report

Zack Young, the jackman for the No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet driven by Chris Buescher, was transported to an area hospital and later released after suffering an injury in Monday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Young, who was hit during pit stops early in the race and taken to the hospital by ambulance, tweeted out an update to his condition on Tuesday evening.

Earlier, Young had replied to fans offering him well-wishes on Twitter and indicated he was undergoing tests.

Evan Marchal, the gasman for Buescher’s JTG Daugherty Racing teammate AJ Allmendinger, replaced Young.

Posted on by Steve Luvender

1: Ryan Luza (+1)

At Auto Club Speedway, It’s hard to count out the man who won the race from the pole last season. And lots of other races, too.

 

2: Michael Conti (+3)

Michael Conti finished eighth at ISM Raceway after starting from the pole, and he’s tied for second in points. That’s good enough for second in these fine power rankings.

RELATED: How to watch this week’s race

3: Keegan Leahy (NR)

So, it turns out we shouldn’t have counted out the newbie, who flat-out dominated at ISM Raceway, leading all but 16 laps. He’s also the only driver to score top-five finishes each race this season. Color us impressed.

 

4: Ray Alfalla (–)

After two races, Alfalla has two top-10 finishes and 69 points. Nice.

 

5: Logan Clampitt (-2)

The leader of #ClampNation brought home his first Top-10 of the season at ISM Raceway, but has yet to score a top five. The good news is that Clampitt finished runner-up at Auto Club last year.

 

6: Bobby Zalenski (-4)

Bobby Zalenski posted a solid top 15 at ISM Raceway, but he didn’t defend his 2017 victory. He’s still a solid bet for Auto Club Speedway.

 

7: Jimmy Mullis (NR)

Jimmy Mullis carried the Lockdown Racing banner at ISM Raceway, finishing second behind Keegan Leahy. The Jim-boree’s cheering on No. 27 at Auto Club. Yeah, we just made up a name for the Mullis fan club.

 

8: Nick Ottinger (+1)

Daytona’s winner managed to post a respectable finish at ISM Raceway, keeping hold of second in points. We’ll see what happens when we get to the virtual high-banks at Auto Club Speedway.

 

9: Dylan Duval (+2)

Canada’s Dylan Duval earned a top-five finish and finds himself fifth in points after two races. After scoring a top 10 at Daytona, that’s a perfect top 10 percentage if you’re keeping track at home.

 

10: Matt Bussa (NR)

A newcomer to the NASCAR Peak Antifreeze iRacing Series power rankings, Matt Bussa’s earned his spot with a pair of top-12 finishes to start out the season — putting the Illinois driver seventh in points.

Posted on by Staff Report

WATCH: Live stream on Facebook

The NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series continues at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday from the virtual Auto Club Speedway in southern California. This is the third race of the season, and already there has been plenty of action with a first-time series winner in Keegan Leahy coming forward last time at ISM Raceway in Phoenix.

See the latest iRacing Power Rankings

If you’ve never tuned in for an iRacing race, you are in for a treat. The production is first-rate, with announcers, track reporters and post-race interviews with drivers giving you a behind-the-scenes look at the awesome racing action.

Eighteen races make up the season, which culminates in a four-race playoff, with more than $17,000 in cash and prizes at stake in the competitive NASCAR eSports series.

Be sure to log in to Facebook to watch tonight’s race, and follow updates on Twitter @iRacing. See the full iRacing schedule.

iRacing Tuesday, March 27 at 9 p.m. ET, watch on Facebook.com/iRacing

Posted on by Reid Spencer

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — It was a solid, gratifying day for Alex Bowman, who took over the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet from retired Dale Earnhardt Jr. this season.

No, Bowman wasn’t a contender for the victory in Monday’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch settled that issue, with Bowyer coming out on top.

RELATED: Race results | Updated series standings | Bowyer reigns at Martinsville

But Bowman improved from a 16th-place starting position to seventh at the finish in a car that improved steadily throughout the day. His car was the highest-finishing Chevrolet in the race. 

“I felt like I had some good observations after second practice (on Saturday) on some things I wanted to change, and they seemed to pay off big during the race,” Bowman said. “Or at least be the right direction during the race. 

“(Crew chief) Greg (Ives) just made really good adjustments. Every stop we got better. We had solid pit stops all day, the pit crew worked really hard — just good decisions on top of the box and a good race car.”

 If Bowman had picked a track to produce his first top 10 of the season, Martinsville would have been an unlikely candidate.

 “I mean Daytona, and then, if not Daytona, then Atlanta, and then if not Atlanta, Phoenix,” Bowman said. “I mean we’re here to win races every week. To take this long to get a top 10, it’s not what we wanted at all, but glad we are going the right way.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — AJ Allmendinger couldn’t run with the contenders in Monday’s STP 500, but at least he could see them through his windshield.

Allmendinger hadn’t sniffed a top 10 since running 10th in the Daytona 500, but in the snow-delayed race, he had a strong enough No. 47 JTG Daugherty Chevrolet to fight his way toward the front, even after losing spots to comparable cars on pit road.

RELATED: Full Martinsville results | Updated driver standings

Allmendinger, who has two runner-up finishes at the .526-mile short track, once again demonstrated he has a knack for the tricky paperclip-shaped circuit. He finished eighth, second-best among Chevrolet drivers.

On the final green-flag run, Allmendinger complained that his car was bouncing, but he persevered.

“We still got a top 10 out it, ran in the top 10 all day and were able to start 25th and pass a lot of cars,” Allmendinger said. “Solid day, what we needed at one of our better race tracks.

“These are the places we know that we have a better chance at, and we have to take advantage of it. So I would say I’m OK with eighth. I wish we could have got a little bit more at the end of the race there, but a solid day all around.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Brake check? What brake check?

 

After Monday’s snow-delayed STP 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, fifth-place finisher Kevin Harvick pleaded innocent to an intentional brake check of fellow veteran Denny Hamlin late in the event won by Clint Bowyer.

RELATED: Race results | Series standings | Bowyer reigns at Martinsville

“No, he hit me a couple times and I was just trying to make sure I had my car under control,” said Harvick, who slowed in front of Hamlin enough to damage the nose of Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota when the trailing driver couldn’t stop quickly enough.

 

When Hamlin bumped the No. 4 Ford, it was payback for similar treatment from Harvick, who was unabashed in his explanation of the initial contact with Hamlin’s car.

 

“He was on the bottom, and I knocked him out of the way,” Harvick said.

 

When Hamlin returned the favor and bumped Harvick, he got more than he bargained for.

RELATED: Hamlin discusses contact with Harvick

“He just got to me and, I think, bumped me three or four times,” Hamlin said. “And then I was just bumping him back and he brake-checked me. I probably should have brake-checked him in the first place.

 

“They were just some light bumps here, and then slammed on the brakes. So classy.”

 

The damage to Hamlin’s car ruined a promising start at one of the driver’s best tracks. Hamlin made an extra pit stop to check for possible overheating of his car and dropped to 15th for a restart on Lap 392.

 

After leading 111 laps and winning the first stage of the race, Hamlin finished 12th.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Kyle Busch enters NASCAR’s first off weekend as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ new points leader. But having the mantle was faintly a silver lining after a hard-fought second place at Martinsville Speedway.

Busch settled for the runner-up spot for the third time in the past four races, taking the checkered flag a little more than a second behind STP 500 winner Clint Bowyer.

“We keep executing, we keep doing a good job, but it’s not good enough,” Busch said. “It’s very frustrating. I’m about half my career total of wins with second-place finishes so that’s pretty discouraging. Guess for as often as I win, I lose more.”

RELATED: Kyle Busch makes a fan’s day | Race results

Busch’s career stats do have a compelling similarity: His 43 victories in NASCAR’s top division are matched by his 43 runner-up finishes.

With Stewart-Haas Racing cornering the market with four wins in six events, the victory column has been a tough category to scratch in 2018. The consolation, Busch says, is that his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 team has consistently remained in the hunt.

“I mean, we take solace, sure, but you know, ultimately we’re here to win each and every week,” Busch said. “I know everybody is, but we’ve been that close each and every week, so we’re right there, we’re knocking on the door. We’re trying. I wouldn’t say it’s one particular thing that we can pinpoint, we’ve just been beat by somebody kind of hitting it a little bit more than we have.

“We’ve been the closest thing to everybody each and every week. We’re getting beat by different guys. The SHR team is certainly probably one of the better teams right now, but we’re right there knocking at their heels.”