Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Results | Playoff standings | Who’s in, who’s out

Justin Allgaier will likely be without the services of his crew chief in next weekend’s NASCAR XFINITY Series season finale after NASCAR officials discovered a technical infraction in post-race inspection Saturday at Phoenix Raceway.

The JR Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet, which Allgaier drove to a 10th-place finish in Saturday’s Ticket Galaxy 200, was found with an unattached brake cooling hose in inspection.

A NASCAR spokesperson said that the violation would likely result in an L1-level penalty, which would mean a one-race suspension for crew chief Jason Burdett, a 10-point deduction in the driver and owner standings, and a $10,000 fine. Any potential appeal would be expedited, according to the spokesperson.

The same spokesperson said that the penalty would not affect Allgaier’s position among the Championship 4 contenders vying for a series title next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Allgaier qualified for the berth in the final by a 30-point margin.

Two teams were also found with one unsecured lug nut in a post-race check — the Team Penske No. 22 Ford of runner-up Ryan Blaney and the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota of fourth-place finisher Christopher Bell. The guidelines for both infractions are fines for the respective crew chiefs.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Results | Standings | Detailed breakdown

AVONDALE, Ariz. – With a pickup pit crew, at the track that cost him a shot at the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title last year, William Byron won Saturday’s Ticket Galaxy 200 to advance to the Championship 4 race in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

Behind him, JR Motorsports teammates Justin Allgaier and Elliott Sadler also qualified for the title race with finishes of 10th and 18th respectively. The JRM trio will join Daniel Hemric in an all-Chevrolet finale, after Hemric ran fifth and held off a valiant bid from Cole Custer after a restart with 13 laps left.

Byron took the lead off pit road after taking right-side tires only during a stop under caution on Lap 183 of 200. As Hemric, Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell and Custer battled behind him, Byron pulled away to beat Blaney to the finish line by .960 seconds.

“The second-to-last run of the race it took off on the long run,” said Byron, who was knocked out of the Truck Series Playoff last year when his engine blew at Phoenix. “I got up to third, and we got the two tires on it, and we were able to stay up there.

“I felt like clean air was pretty important. The 20 (Jones), the 22 (Blaney) and us were really similar. Whoever was in third would lose distance to the front two after probably 20 or 30 laps. We just had to adjust on it and make sure we got it right for the last pit stop.”

Jones ran third, followed by Bell and Hemric, who passed Custer on the final lap to claim the final spot in the Championship 4 by four points. Blake Koch also got past Custer on the way to the stripe to grab sixth place, and Custer rolled home seventh.

The JRM teams found out Saturday morning that their pit crews wouldn’t make it to Phoenix in time for the race because their plane had been diverted to Little Rock, Arkansas, with a mechanical problem. That led to a scramble for crew members pieced together from Hendrick Motorsports development crews.

RELATED: JRM assembles backup pit crews for Phoenix

In Byron’s case, the put-together crew proved up to the task. They got his No. 9 Chevrolet off pit road first after the final pit stop, though crew chief Dave Elenz said the two-tire call was dictated by the team’s inability to jack the left side of car, a problem that had recurred throughout the race. 

“The guys on the pit crew did an awesome job, to step in cold-turkey like that, not knowing that you’re going to do it this morning,” Byron said. “And then showing up and pitting the car in the Playoffs—that’s pretty insane.” 

If Byron was relatively unconcerned with a makeshift crew, team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. was more than mildly surprised.

“I freaked out when I heard it,” Earnhardt said. “I was real surprised by that news, but I was assured that we had people here who could get in there and do the job, and to be honest with you, they did. Give those guys a lot of credit…

“I’m equally glad that our guys who had to land in Arkansas are safe, and we’ll see them next weekend.”

RELATED: Poole’s early trouble brings his postseason run to an end

The major casualty of the race was Brennan Poole, who came to Phoenix fourth in the standings with a good chance to make the Championship 4. But Poole wrecked on Lap 22 while trying to drive to the inside of the lapped car of Caesar Bacarella, who was making his first XFINITY start.

“I saw (Bacarella) go in (to Turn 1), and we were going to kind of go to the top to go around him, and he slid up so I tried to go to the bottom,” Poole said. “Bad luck, bad circumstances.

“I guess I could have been a little more cautious there, but just trying to get up there to get some stage points and keep moving forward.”

None of the four drivers competing for the title next Saturday drives a car eligible for the owners’ championship. The four cars running for the latter title are the No. 22 Ford of Team Penske, the Nos. 18 and 20 Toyotas of Joe Gibbs Racing and No. 42 Chevrolet of Chip Ganassi Racing.

All four cars have been driven by multiple drivers this season.

Note: The No. 7 Chevrolet of Allgaier was found to have an unattached brake cooling hose in post-race inspection, resulting in an L1 penalty. The infraction did not affect the composition of the Championship 4, but Allgaier will lose the services of crew chief Jason Burdett for the season finale.

 

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Phoenix race results | Playoff standings | Byron wins at Phoenix

Saturday’s Ticket Galaxy 400 at Phoenix Raceway set the XFINITY Series Championship 4 with William Byron, Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier and Daniel Hemric. The four drivers will compete for the championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 18 (3:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

With non-regular XFINITY drivers winning the last two races in the XFINITY Series, Saturday’s 400-miler presented four spots up for grabs for the eight XFINITY Playoff contenders. Byron clinched late in the race via points and also got the Phoenix win, while Allgaier and Sadler transferred via their point total at the end of the race.  Hemric and Cole Custer swapped between the fourth and fifth spots throughout the afternoon, including a particularly spirited battle in the final laps. Hemric came up with the final transfer spot by four points with his fifth-place finish.

Ryan Reed, Brennan Poole, Matt Tifft and Custer were eliminated after Phoenix. Poole, who entered Saturday’s race fourth in the Playoff standings, hit the wall hard within the first 30 laps, ending his day early. He was scored 38th. Reed, Tifft, Custer failed to make it with their point totals.

The four drivers advancing are:
Elliott Sadler, No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
William Byron, No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
Justin Allgaier, No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
Daniel Hemric, No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

The four drivers not advancing are:
Cole Custer, No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Matt Tifft, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Brennan Poole, No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
Ryan Reed, No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Poole shares disappointment of Phoenix outcome

An early race crash ended Brennan Poole’s NASCAR XFINITY Series championship hopes Saturday at Phoenix Raceway.

Poole, driving the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 48 Chevrolet, started 14th and had moved into the top 10 in the first stage of the Ticket Galaxy 200. But Poole had trouble in lapped traffic on the 22nd of a scheduled 200 laps, making contact with the No. 8 of Caesar Bacarella and then the outside wall in Turn 1.

The mixup relegated him to a 38th-place finish and a boot out of the XFINITY Series Playoffs, along with fellow ousted drivers Cole Custer, Matt Tifft and Ryan Reed.

“I saw the 8 car go in, and we were kind of going to go to the top to go around him and he slid up, so I tried to go bottom,” Poole told NBC Sports in the garage. “I didn’t know really what was going to happen there. So I tried to go underneath him and we made a little contact and cut the right-front tire down and it sent us into the wall. Just bad luck, bad circumstances. I guess I could’ve been a little more cautious there, but just trying to get up there and get some stage points and keep moving forward.

“Our car was pretty good. Just a bummer. I don’t know what else to say. Sometimes some lapped cars are in your way, you’ve got to navigate around them, and we just didn’t make it happen.”

Poole’s crew worked diligently on repairs under the constrictions of the five-minute crash clock, and the No. 48 briefly returned to the track. But Poole’s car was unable to turn, and he brushed the outside wall again while catching up to the field during the caution period.

That additional contact further damaged his car’s right-front corner, and Poole drove to the garage.

Poole entered the playoff picture with a provisional grip on fourth place in the Round of 8. But Saturday’s incident in the cut-off race ended his hopes of advancing as one of the four drivers competing for a championship next Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Poole was also critical of Bacarella, a 41-year-old Floridian making his XFINITY Series debut, as he bemoaned his postseason fate.

“It’s a shame, but it’s already over. It’s done with,” Poole said. “I can’t control it, so we’ll move on to Homestead and try to go get our first win there and start getting ready for the next year. I just feel like we’ve got to re-evaluate some of these lapped cars and who’s out there and who’s not out there.”

If it’s any consolation to Poole, 21-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race winner Jeff Burton indicated he would’ve made the same decision if he were driving.

“Yes, I think you should revisit (the incident), you should try to learn from the situation,” Burton said during the race broadcast.

“But if I’m driving that car, I’m doing the same thing he did.”

Posted on by Staff Report

MORE: Hooters rewards fans when Elliott scores top fives

Clamoring to get a glimpse of the shiny, new No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro Chase Elliott will pilot in the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season? Clamor no more!

Watch the video of the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s ride below, and be sure to get a glimpse of it in person at a race next season.

BUY: 2018 tickets

Posted on by Pat DeCola

RELATED: Starting lineup for Sunday’s race | See every car in the field

At a Glance 

What: Can-Am 500

Where: Phoenix Raceway, 1-mile tri-oval in Avondale, Arizona

Green flag: 2:37 p.m. ET 

TV/Radio: NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio 

Forecast: Partly sunny, with a high near 86. East northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the afternoon, according to weather.gov.

National anthem: Phoenix resident Dr. Jesse McGuire

Grand Marshal: Jamie Camil, Star of CW’s, Jane the Virgin & upcoming Disney/Pixar film “Coco”

Race distance: 312 laps, 312 miles 

Pit road speed: 45 mph 

Caution car speed: 50 mph

Stage lengths: Stage 1 ends on Lap 75. Stage 2 ends on Lap 150. Final stage is scheduled to end on Lap 312.

More: Race-day schedule | Blaney on pole | Clinch scenarios

Posted on by Staff Report

A look at the drivers with the best 10-lap runs in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practices at Phoenix Raceway.

PRACTICE 1 | Practice 1 results 

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 11 Denny Hamlin (P) 10 19 132.831

PRACTICE 2 | Practice 2 results

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 77 Erik Jones # 3 12 133.060
2 42 Kyle Larson 16 25 132.938
3 18 Kyle Busch (P) 5 14 132.871
4 48 Jimmie Johnson (P) 5 14 132.869
5 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2 11 132.856
6 31 Ryan Newman 3 12 132.842
7 1 Jamie McMurray 2 11 132.800
8 14 Clint Bowyer 1 10 132.729
9 27 Paul Menard 2 11 132.172
10 2 Brad Keselowski (P) 1 10 132.130
11 20 Matt Kenseth 20 29 131.989
12 19 Daniel Suarez # 1 10 131.605
13 3 Austin Dillon 33 42 131.308
14 43 Aric Almirola 20 29 131.049
15 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 10 19 130.820
16 37 Chris Buescher 27 36 130.709
17 24 Chase Elliott (P) 23 32 130.580
18 34 Landon Cassill 3 12 130.217
19 10 Danica Patrick 5 14 130.132
20 66 * David Starr(i) 4 13 127.905
21 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt 2 11 127.839
22 15 DJ Kennington 2 11 127.120

PRACTICE 3 | Practice 3 results

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 48 Jimmie Johnson (P) 2 11 133.549
2 18 Kyle Busch (P) 1 10 133.548
3 11 Denny Hamlin (P) 2 11 133.344
4 78 Martin Truex Jr. (P) 2 11 133.322
5 1 Jamie McMurray 2 11 133.279
6 4 Kevin Harvick (P) 1 10 133.152
7 20 Matt Kenseth 2 11 133.105
8 5 Kasey Kahne 2 11 133.087
9 42 Kyle Larson 1 10 133.033
10 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1 10 133.020
11 14 Clint Bowyer 1 10 132.971
12 21 Ryan Blaney (P) 1 10 132.898
13 2 Brad Keselowski (P) 1 10 132.869
14 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 2 11 132.587
15 22 Joey Logano 2 11 132.577
16 41 Kurt Busch 1 10 132.462
17 3 Austin Dillon 1 10 132.287
18 24 Chase Elliott (P) 1 10 132.210
19 6 Trevor Bayne 2 11 131.879
20 38 David Ragan 2 11 131.695
21 43 Aric Almirola 3 12 131.608
22 34 Landon Cassill 2 11 131.544
23 19 Daniel Suarez # 3 12 131.535
24 31 Ryan Newman 7 16 131.369
25 77 Erik Jones # 2 11 131.331
26 10 Danica Patrick 3 12 131.232
27 47 AJ Allmendinger 8 17 130.915
28 27 Paul Menard 30 39 130.882
29 13 Ty Dillon # 26 35 130.412
30 95 Michael McDowell 7 16 130.319
31 23 Corey LaJoie # 1 10 129.692
32 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt 11 20 126.136
33 51 * Kyle Weatherman 21 30 123.026

 

Car must run 10 consecutive laps on the track to be included in the above chart.
*Required to qualify on time
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series.
(P) Driver is running in the NASCAR Playoffs.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

RELATED: Clinch scenarios for Phoenix | Full schedule for Phoenix

JR Motorsports found itself in a pickle ahead of Saturday’s XFINITY Series Round of 8 cutoff race.

You see, their pit crews were stuck in Arkansas with a flight issue as of Saturday morning … and the race was at Phoenix Raceway, in Arizona.

This could’ve proved to be particularly challenging, considering three of their four drivers were still in the running for a championship in Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier and William Byron.

JRM co-owner, vice president and business manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller confirmed roughly an hour and a half before the race that substitute crews were on hand to take the place of the starters, and had faith that they’d rise to the occasion.

As for the drivers, Allgaier was confident the team would be just fine and advance into the Championship 4 despite this hurdle.

“No concern,” JRM driver Justin Allgaier told NBC Sports. “At the end of the day, we have the best pit crew on pit road normally, so that’s a little disappointing that those guys aren’t here because I really feel confident with those guys. But one thing that I know is everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, that we use their pit crews, and everybody here at JR Motorsports, they rally behind adversity and I know that the guys they’re going to assemble are going to be just as good. I’m looking forward to that challenge, to be honest with you.”

The veteran driver was right, as all three drivers made the cut, and will race next weekend for the XFINITY Series title. Byron even won the race, for good measure, with Allgaier pulling in 10th and Sadler 18th.

When news broke, team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. also took to Twitter to call for any and all help.

 


… and received an offer to pitch in from an unexpected source.

 

Stenhouse does have experience working with race cars — Roush Fenway Racing owner Jack Roush used to make the driver work on cars he crashed to teach him a lesson back in the day — so if you see a familiar face on pit road Saturday afternoon, you know why.

RELATED: Stenhouse Jr. helps to fix his own car 

He may need approval from the “Cat in the Hat,” himself, but at the very least, Roush Fenway Racing’s Twitter account approves of the move.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Full results | Best 10-lap times | Full schedule for Phoenix

A best lap of 134.973 mph in final practice allowed Kevin Harvick to sweep both Saturday Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series sessions at Phoenix Raceway. Harvick is an eight-time winner at the desert track and will start sixth in Sunday’s race.

Kyle Busch was second-fastest, his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota notching a top speed of 134.333 mph.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne ranked third on the speed charts in his No. 5 Chevrolet (134.328 mph), while Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota came up fourth (134.313 mph). Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five with a fast lap of 134.263 mph in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.

Chase Elliott was the slowest of the NASCAR Playoff drivers, ranking 17th in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in final prep for Sunday’s Can-Am 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM).

Seven teams served practice holds in the final 50-minute session. Joey Logano (No. 22), Chase Elliott (No. 24) and Chris Buescher (No. 37) all served 15-minute holds for failing race inspection at Texas twice. Ty Dillon (No. 13), Corey LaJoie (No. 23) and Matt DiBenedetto (No. 32) also served 15-minute holds for failing qualifying inspection at Phoenix twice. Erik Jones (No. 77) was held for 30 minutes due to failing qualifying inspection three times.

PRACTICE 2 RECAP | RELATED: Full results | Best 10-lap times 

Eight-time Phoenix winner Kevin Harvick was fastest in Saturday’s opening practice at Phoenix Raceway, wheeling his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to a best lap of 134.328 mph.

Friday practice leader Chase Elliott came up second-quickest in Saturday’s first session, his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet clocking a fast lap of 134.163 mph. Elliott’s HMS teammate Kasey Kahne posted the third-fastest speed (134.083 mph) in his No. 5 Chevrolet. He was the only non-Playoff driver in the top five this session.

Martin Truex Jr. (134.058 mph) and outside pole-sitter Denny Hamlin (133.934 mph) completed the top five, respectively.

Pole-sitter Ryan Blaney (20th) and Brad Keselowski (21st) were the slowest of the eight Playoff drivers.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun early in practice, but received no damage to his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, according to the team’s Twitter account. He ended practice 15th-fastest.

XFINITY Series regular Daniel Hemric spent a portion of the 55-minute session driving the No. 13 Chevrolet of Ty Dillon, who is on baby watch for his wife, Haley. Dillon climbed back into the car for the last part of the session.

Several drivers served 15-minute practice holds during Saturday’s opening practice; The No. 23 of Corey LaJoie, the No. 32 of Matt DiBenedetto and and the No. 34 of Landon Cassill.