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.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Clint Bowyer is one of the most gregarious, fun-loving drivers in the garage. So, it should come as no surprise that his win at Martinsville on Monday — which broke a 190-race winless streak — was a popular one among the NASCAR community.

RELATED: Bowyer reigns at Martinsville | See his epic celebration | Clint celebrates with son Cash

Here’s a sampling of what was said on social media:

Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Busch made a young fan’s day following the race at Martinsville Speedway … stop us if you’ve heard this before.

Yeah, remember this? In 2016? “Rowdy” won his first grandfather clock, then surprised a fan on the drive home by rolling down his window, saying hello and signing her hat while traffic slowly rolled forward.

Two years later, Busch was at it again. Jokingly saying sorry for holding up traffic, Busch signed a young fan’s hat … and actually apologized for finishing second.

There’s the memory of a lifetime for that young man.

Posted on by Staff Report

Clint Bowyer won the STP 500 on Monday at Martinsville Speedway — “Clint Bowyer won” being a phrase that hasn’t been uttered in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series since Oct. 13, 2012.

Bowyer’s last win was 190 races ago at Charlotte Motor Speedway when he was driving the No. 15 Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing. Bowyer led 47 laps in what was his third win of the 2012 season en route to finishing second to Brad Keselowski in the final point standings that year.

RELATED: Race results | Race recap: Bowyer reigns

You might recall Bowyer’s run-in with Jeff Gordon in the penultimate race of that season at Phoenix, when Bowyer was seen running through the garage area to confront Gordon after some late contact. It’s been that long. Five years, five months and 14 days to be precise.

Bowyer’s streak of 190 races between wins is the third-longest recorded in NASCAR history, according to NASCAR’s statistical services team. Bill Elliott had the longest streak at 227 (1994-2001) with Martin Truex Jr. second with 219 races between wins (2007-2013).