Matt Kenseth to step away from driving in 2018

Posted on November 4, 2017November 4, 2017 by Holly Cain

FORT WORTH, Texas — NASCAR veteran and 2003 Monster Energy Series champion Matt Kenseth revealed Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway that he does not expect to race full-time in 2018 after 18 accomplished seasons in NASCAR’s premier ranks.

Kenseth, 45, didn’t want to go so far as to call it “retirement” in the truest sense of the word, but he did say he fully intended to take time off to spend with his family, in a story first reported by NBC Sports. It may be a year or more, or, he said, it could be only three or four months should the right situation arise.

“I don’t know if I’d necessarily call it an announcement,” Kenseth said after final practice for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500. “I’m not looking at anything for 2018, the retirement word doesn’t really make a lot of sense in this sport really because you don’t officially retire and get a pension.

“Mostly, that’s for people like Junior, when you have to fill a seat and find a sponsor. For me it’s different, I didn’t really have that option. My seat got filled before I had that option.”

Kenseth is referring to the decision this summer that his Joe Gibbs Racing team made to replace him in the No. 20 Toyota with 21-year-old driver Erik Jones beginning next year.

Kenseth’s friend Earnhardt announced in April he will step away from full-time Cup competition after the Homestead-Miami season finale in two weeks. The two will end their NASCAR careers as they began them — together.

Kenseth finished runner-up to Earnhardt in the XFINITY Series in 1998 and third place to him in 1999.

Kenseth then moved up into the Cup ranks in 2000 with the same Roush Fenway Racing team he drove for in the XFINITY ranks and quickly established himself of Cup championship caliber. He won five races in 2002 then the Cup championship trophy the following year. He was runner-up in 2006.

He moved from the Roush Ford team to Joe Gibbs Racing’s Toyota operation in 2013 and quickly flourished, earning a career-best seven victories that year and finishing runner-up in the Cup championship once again.

He is currently ranked 10th in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup standings after falling out of playoff contention two weeks ago in Kansas.

Kenseth said he had no specific plans after this race season, other than anticipating the birth of his fifth child — news he also revealed this week.

“I’m just going to take some time off, whatever that means, take a year or two … or three months, four months,” Kenseth said. “You never really know what happens. Something could come up that makes me excited and looks like a fit and I’m not going to rule that out.

“But I’m not making any plans for 2018 just going to take some time off.”

Kenseth conceded that at times his future plans seemed out of his hands and that before this month, he had genuinely not made a decision about his career.

“Obviously it’s not a situation I want to be in because I don’t really feel like I’m ready to retire or step away,” Kenseth said. “In other ways, I do. It’s been a really really long and frustrating season on a lot of levels.

“With the way everything ended up, I’m just going to take some time for me and my family.”

Posted on November 4, 2017November 5, 2017 by RJ Kraft

What: AAA Texas 500
Where: Texas Motor Speedway, 1.5-mile oval in Fort Worth, Texas
Green flag: 2:16 p.m. ET
TV/Radio: NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Forecast: 88 degrees at drop of green flag, according to Weather.com. South-southwest winds at 15 mph.
National Anthem: Air National Guard Band of the Southwest
Grand marshals: 60 AAA emergency roadside assistance techs that helped in Hurricane Harvey relief efforts
Honorary pace car driver: Chip Gaines, star of HGTV’s “Fixer Upper”
Race distance: 334 laps, 501 miles
Pit road speed: 45 mph
Caution car speed: 55 mph
Stage lengths: Stage 1 ends on Lap 85. Stage 2 ends on Lap 170. Final stage is scheduled to end on Lap 334.

Where the playoff drivers will line up:

Driver	Starting spot	Wins at Texas
Martin Truex Jr.	7th	0
Kyle Busch	5th	2
Brad Keselowski	10th	0
Kevin Harvick	3rd	0
Jimmie Johnson	9th	7
Ryan Blaney	8th	0
Denny Hamlin	2nd	2
Chase Elliott	34th	0

Posted on November 4, 2017November 4, 2017 by Staff Report

RELATED: Full schedule for Texas

A look at the drivers who ran 10 consecutive laps and their average speeds over that run at Texas Motor Speedway.

Final practice: Full results

Pos	Car	Driver	From Lap	To Lap	Avg Speed
1	42	Kyle Larson	1	10	189.145
2	77	Erik Jones #	1	10	189.009
3	4	Kevin Harvick (P)	13	22	188.967
4	11	Denny Hamlin (P)	1	10	188.699
5	78	Martin Truex Jr. (P)	4	13	188.688
6	5	Kasey Kahne	7	16	188.030
7	22	Joey Logano	5	14	187.483
8	1	Jamie McMurray	1	10	187.404
9	14	Clint Bowyer	16	25	187.311
10	2	Brad Keselowski (P)	16	25	187.270
11	24	Chase Elliott (P)	1	10	187.001
12	21	Ryan Blaney (P)	1	10	186.953
13	19	Daniel Suarez #	1	10	186.891
14	41	Kurt Busch	18	27	186.858
15	48	Jimmie Johnson (P)	22	31	186.487
16	10	Danica Patrick	1	10	186.037
17	95	Michael McDowell	1	10	185.603
18	34	Landon Cassill	23	32	185.319
19	37	Chris Buescher	23	32	185.068
20	31	Ryan Newman	19	28	185.027
21	38	David Ragan	13	22	184.689
22	27	Paul Menard	24	33	183.713
23	32	Matt DiBenedetto	1	10	182.593

Practice 2: Full results

Pos	Car	Driver	From Lap	To Lap	Avg Speed
1	42	Kyle Larson	20	29	189.152
2	77	Erik Jones #	1	10	188.864
3	18	Kyle Busch (P)	1	10	188.629
4	11	Denny Hamlin (P)	1	10	188.511
5	20	Matt Kenseth	20	29	187.206
6	5	Kasey Kahne	25	34	187.010
7	41	Kurt Busch	15	24	186.725
8	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	1	10	186.429
9	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	16	25	186.223
10	24	Chase Elliott (P)	12	21	186.022
11	3	Austin Dillon	21	30	185.682
12	34	Landon Cassill	23	32	183.391

Practice 1: Full results

Pos	Car	Driver	From Lap	To Lap	Avg Speed
1	14	Clint Bowyer	1	10	190.653
2	27	Daniel Hemric (i)	11	20	187.642
3	10	Danica Patrick	2	11	186.615

* Car must run 10 consecutive laps on the track to be included in the above chart.
(#) Driver is running as a Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate.
(i) Driver is not eligible for points in this series.
(P) Driver is running in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Posted on November 4, 2017November 4, 2017 by Staff Report

Denny Hamlin landed atop the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series leaderboard in Saturday’s final practice at Texas Motor Speedway.

Hamlin drove the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota to a best lap of 191.469 mph around the 1.5-mile track. He was also second-fastest in Saturday’s earlier practice.

Rookie Erik Jones captured the second-fastest lap at 190.860 mph in the Furniture Row Racing No. 77 Toyota. Ryan Blaney was third-fastest, rookie Daniel Suarez fourth and points leader Martin Truex Jr. fifth in the 50-minute session.

Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM) is the middle event in the three-race Round of 8 in the series’ playoffs, bookended by last week’s race at Martinsville Speedway and next weekend’s event at Phoenix Raceway. After the Phoenix race, the field will be trimmed to the final four drivers who will compete for the championship.

Several Monster Energy Series teams had time deducted from Saturday practice because of failed inspections from Friday’s qualifying at Texas and last weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway. That list included 30-minute holds from each practice for the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 (Hamlin) and No. 18 (Kyle Busch) Toyota teams.

No other teams were held out of Saturday’s early practice. The full list of teams with 30-minute deductions from final practice:

Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota of Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota of Kyle Busch
Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota of Matt Kenseth
Furniture Row Racing No. 77 Toyota of Erik Jones

The following teams sat out 15 minutes in final practice:

Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford of Kevin Harvick
Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet of Kasey Kahne
Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford of Trevor Bayne
Premium Motorsports No. 15 Chevrolet of Reed Sorenson
Team Penske No. 22 Ford of Joey Logano
BK Racing No. 23 Toyota of Corey LaJoie
Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet of Chase Elliott
BK Racing No. 83 Toyota of Gray Gaulding

Kurt Busch stays fast in first Saturday practice

RELATED: Practice 2 results

Kurt Busch backed up his show of speed in qualifying by leading Saturday’s first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Texas Motor Speedway.

Busch powered the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Ford to a lap of 191.768 mph in the 55-minute session. He’ll start Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM) from the first spot after winning the Coors Light Pole Award in Friday qualifying.

Denny Hamlin was second-fastest at 191.110 mph in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota. Erik Jones, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five on the 1.5-mile track.

Playoff contenders took five of the first eight spots in the series’ second practice of the weekend. In addition to Hamlin’s and Elliott’s performances in the top five, the rest of the postseason-eligible drivers were: Kyle Busch (sixth), Martin Truex Jr. (seventh), Ryan Blaney (eighth), Kevin Harvick (12th), Jimmie Johnson (16th) and Brad Keselowski (23rd).

Daniel Hemric was 29th-fastest as a fill-in driver for the Richard Childress Racing No. 27 Chevrolet. Regular driver Paul Menard is expected back in the cockpit for final practice, having taken time off for the birth of his second child this week.

Posted on November 4, 2017November 4, 2017 by Staff Report

RELATED: Starting lineup

See where your favorite driver will pit for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 from Texas Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on November 3, 2017November 5, 2017 by RJ Kraft

FORT WORTH, Texas — It was a night of good fortune for Austin Cindric, but the opposite held true for fellow playoff drivers Ben Rhodes and John Hunter Nemechek.

Cindric scored a second-place finish to vault past Rhodes for the final provisional transfer spot into the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 17, and the Brad Keselowski Racing driver holds a five-point lead. The Round of 6 finale is next Friday night at Phoenix Raceway.

“It’s personally my best mile-and-a-half race to date,” Cindric said. “Not just finishing position but how we worked through the weekend. … We weren’t the best off the truck and I felt like we were one of the best trucks by the end of the practice so I’m proud of that and proud of my guys.

“I think it was youth vs. experience tonight and experience won. Johnny (Sauter, eventual race winner) taught me a few things, but at the same time he basically passed me for the race win.”

Cindric led a race-high 36 laps thanks to a pit strategy that saw him stay out with Sauter at the end of Stage 2. From there, the race ran green and Sauter passed Cindric for the lead on Lap 109. As pit stops cycled through, Sauter regained the lead but Cindric couldn’t quite reel him in for the pass.

During that sequence of stops, Nemechek tried to gamble for the race win and stay out on a fuel strategy play as he inherited the lead on Lap 127. The driver of the No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet was already in a points hole in the playoffs following a 30th-place finish due to a crash at Martinsville last week. A team representative confirmed that Nemechek had been told they were a gallon short, but he ran dry on Lap 135 and suffered a pit-road penalty on the ensuing stop.

“Can you say deja vu all over again?” Nemcheck said. “We’re pretty much in the same spot we were going into Talladega before we advanced to the Round of 6. We just have a deeper hole to dig ourselves out of now.”

Nemechek’s 19th-place finish leaves him 39 points outside the fourth-place position in the standings heading to Phoenix.

For Rhodes, it was shaping up to be a solid run before a slow green-flag stop on Lap 126. The driver of the No. 27 ThorSport Racing Toyota had to come back down pit road for an apparent lug nut issue on the right front tire and finished the race in 18th-place, two laps down.

“Everything that we could control we’re doing right,” Rhodes said. “The stuff that is outside our control seems to be hindering us on speed. Tonight, we had a couple bad pit stops, we had a loose wheel, a pit gun broke and then a miscommunication on pit road. We took off and we had to come back in.

“… Just a tough night and now we’re outside the playoffs looking in. We’ll have to make something happen at Phoenix.”

Posted on November 3, 2017November 10, 2017 by Reid Spencer

FORT WORTH, Tex. – It was a case of déjà vu for Johnny Sauter on Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway.

Now the defending NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion hopes history repeats itself two weeks hence, when he races for his second straight title at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

After taking over the lead on Lap 135 of 147 of the JAG Metals 350 Driving Hurricane Harvey Relief, when John Hunter Nemechek ran out of gas while leading at the end of a cycle of green-flag pit stops, Sauter kept fellow Round of 6 Playoff driver Austin Cindric behind him and crossed the finish line .170 seconds ahead of his closest pursuer.

Sauter had passed Cindric for the lead on Lap 109, charging around the outside of the No. 19 Ford into Turn 1. The drivers ran 1-2 until they pitted on Lap 117 to start the pit stop cycle. Attempting to stretch fuel mileage, Nemechek ran out of gas 12 laps short and saw his championship hopes dim considerably.

Sauter won the Playoff race at Texas for the second year in a row and the fourth time overall. With his third win of the season, he raised his career victory total to 16 in the series and guaranteed a run for the title at Homestead.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Sauter, who celebrated the birth of a daughter, his third child, earlier in the week. “I was actually pretty worried about our truck after qualifying — it was pretty loose. And all we did was lower the track bar a half-round.”

Series leader Christopher Bell ran third, followed by Chase Briscoe and polesitter Justin Haley.

Sauter said after the race he would like to think the season is following the same course as last year, but he’d prefer to stay in the moment.

“I’m a realist, and I know you have to execute,” Sauter said. “Yes, this is looking a lot like it did last year, shaping up like it is. Honestly, this is our third win this year. I think we should have six or seven right now …

“We’ve got to be humble and stay nose to the grindstone, so to speak. You can’t let your guard down.”

The 19-year-old Cindric felt he ran the best race of his career on a mile-and-a-half track, but he couldn’t find a way around the 39-year-old Sauter at the end.

“I think it was youth versus experience tonight, and experience won, in more ways than one,” said Cindric, who moved into fourth place in the standings with the cut to four Championship 4 drivers looming next Friday at Phoenix.

“Johnny taught me a few things, but he basically taught me while he passed me for the race win.”

Bell owns a four-point lead over Sauter in the series standings, with two-time champion Matt Crafton 31 points back in third.

Trouble on a late pit stop dropped Ben Rhodes to 18th at the finish and out of the top four in the standings. Nemechek ran 19th and, for practical purposes, must win next Friday at Phoenix to advance to the Championship 4 race.

In postrace inspection, the No. 24 truck was determined to be too low, and the No. 4 truck was missing one lug nut.

Posted on November 3, 2017November 5, 2017 by RJ Kraft

FORT WORTH, Texas — Fresh off his Coors Light Pole Award-winning run at Texas Motor Speedway, Kurt Busch offered a short statement on his contract status for beyond 2017.

“No updates from me,” Busch said. “We’re in negotiations so days like today help quite a bit.”

Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner Tony Stewart chimed in on the ongoing talks about the future of the No. 41 team on Sunday after SHR’s Kevin Harvick prevailed in the AAA Texas 500. Stewart noted that the organization plans to announce Tuesday the 2018 replacement for Danica Patrick in its No. 10 Ford; SHR has fielded Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series entries for Harvick, Busch, Patrick and Clint Bowyer in its four-car campaign this year.

“We’re still working through all that, but obviously it’s pretty busy right now,” Stewart said. “Obviously, we’re going to have a big announcement next week for the 10 car and we’re still working on the 41 right now. But that’s our goal is to have Kurt back in that car for next year.”

Busch posted a fast lap of 200.915 mph in the final round of group qualifying to notch his 22nd pole of his career. The 39-year-old Las Vegas native, who won the season-opening Daytona 500 in Ford’s first race with SHR in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, qualified for the 2017 Playoffs but failed to advance past the Round of 16.

Busch confirmed that he was a free agent in August after SHR reportedly declined his contract option. The team tweeted out at the time that Busch was expected to return to the organization in 2018.

In 18 seasons thus far, Busch won the 2004 championship and has 29 wins at the sport’s top level. In four seasons at SHR, Busch has five wins and has qualified for NASCAR’s postseason in each season with the Tony Stewart-Gene Haas owned organization.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on November 3, 2017November 3, 2017 by Reid Spencer

FORT WORTH, Tex. – A driver without a signed contract for 2018 won the pole position for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN) with a record lap — giving a timely birthday present to his crew chief.

In the final round of Friday’s knockout qualifying session, Kurt Busch covered the 1.5-mile distance in 26.877 seconds (200.915 mph) to top the previous record lap of 200.111 mph posted by Tony Stewart in 2014.

In a third round that saw five drivers exceed Stewart’s record, Busch set the fastest qualifying lap ever recorded on a 1.5-mile intermediate speedway. The Coors Light Pole Award was Busch’s first of the season, second at Texas and the 22nd of his career.

Busch edged Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs driver Denny Hamlin (200.617 mph) by .040 seconds. Playoff driver Kevin Harvick (200.378 mph) will start third, followed by Erik Jones (200.326 mph) and Playoff driver Kyle Busch (200.252 mph).

“It’s something when you set a new qualifying record, and it’s above 200 mph on the scoring pylon,” Busch said. “I told a couple buddies that we were going to go above 200 mph today — and that’s average speed.

“When you have a car that goes that fast, it comes with a lot of hard work from (crew chief) Tony Gibson and the guys on this No. 41 car. It’s neat to have that feeling — you drive down into the corner and just mat the gas and have it stick.”

Busch had been fighting tight handling conditions in the final rounds of time trials this season. For the final round Busch asked Gibson, who turned 53 on Friday, to do everything he could to free up the chassis.

“We’ve struggled a little bit in the third round this year and this time around I said, ‘Throw everything at it.'”

Hamlin, who comes to Texas fresh from controversy at Martinsville, where he wrecked then-leader Chase Elliott with four laps left in last Sunday’s race, held the top starting spot until Busch made his run late in the final round.

“I thought it would definitely have a chance,” Hamlin said of his lap. “We improved with our time each round, and we were top five each round, as well. So I definitely thought once I ran it, it was going to be very close.

“Some of the guys that were up front, we dodged those bullets early in the third round, but the 41 (Busch) was the last one that I knew could give us trouble, and they got us right there off of Turn 4.”

Series leader Martin Truex Jr. qualified seventh, followed by fellow Playoff drivers Ryan Blaney, Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski.

Busch doesn’t have a contract for next season, though Stewart-Haas Racing has expressed a desire to re-sign him.

“No updates from me,” Busch said in response to a question about his 2018 status. “We’re in negotiations. Days like today help.”

Elliott, eighth in the series standings, will start deep in the field on Sunday, along with six other drivers whose cars failed to clear inspection in time to make a run in the first round of qualifying. Elliott is the only Playoff driver who failed to advance to the second round of knockout time trials.

The other seven Playoff drivers also advanced to the final round, ensuring Elliott will start the race in a Texas-sized hole as he tries to claw his way into the top four by the end of next Sunday’s race in Phoenix.

Posted on November 3, 2017November 3, 2017 by Holly Cain

FORT WORTH, Texas – Chase Elliott did not make it through qualifying inspection at Texas Motor Speedway Friday evening and will start his No. 24 Hooters Chevrolet from near the rear of the field in 34th for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) as a result.

Elliott was one of seven cars — also including Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth — that didn’t turn a qualifying lap because they didn’t pass inspection in time.

While obviously disappointed in having to start from the rear on Sunday, Elliott was still hopeful, even confident, that he will be able to make his way forward. Perhaps challenge for the win.

“As you all know, qualifying well is important for stage points so I think for us now it puts the emphasis on having to compete for a win,’’ Elliott said. “It keeps it simple. [April winner] Jimmie [Johnson] did it in the spring and I think if we have our car driving good tomorrow afternoon, it’s definitely doable.’’

In fact, it’s the second consecutive time Elliott’s car did not pass qualifying here at Texas. He was among nine drivers forced to start the race from the rear.

“I don’t know why teams fail qualifying tech here more than other places,’’ Elliott said. “I think if you get your car driving good tomorrow, you can pass. Jimmie proved that here in the spring. I think it’s doable. We’ll see.

“Everybody’s pushing it. You don’t want to get in position you’re not qualifying. Everybody’s doing everything they can to go fast.’’

Elliott is currently eighth in the playoff rankings — 26 points behind fourth place Kevin Harvick with two races remaining to set the four-driver championship grid for the Homestead-Miami Speedway finale.