Playoff-bound drivers ready for Kentucky after warm-up at Chicago

Posted on September 18, 2017June 18, 2021 by @KESELOWSKI

JOLIET, Ill. — And then there were 12.

Saturday’s TheHouse.com 300 at Chicagoland Speedway set the stage for the 2017 XFINITY Series NASCAR Playoffs, solidifying the 12 drivers who will run for the series championship.

Leading that pack is JR Motorsports’ William Byron, who — despite a broken transmission that left him with a 33rd-place finish on Saturday — is seeded first with three wins in the regular season. All four JR Motorsports cars will compete for the title, with Elliott Sadler winning the regular season title and Justin Allgaier nabbing his second victory of the season at Chicago. Michael Annett squeezed into the playoffs on points as the final driver in the field.

The strength of the team as a whole bodes well for the six-race stretch leading up to the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“Our team has got a good amount of speed right now, so that’s encouraging,” Byron told NASCAR.com after the race. “Definitely in the races I think we keep getting better and get our cars faster. So, we’ll see what we can do with that. I think it’s going to be good for us toward the end of this year.”

“… Just have to make no mistakes the whole (Playoffs) and put ourselves in a good position.”

Richard Childress Racing will also have a substantial showing in the ’17 NASCAR Playoffs, with two of its full-time cars — Daniel Hemric and Brendan Gaughan — in championship contention. Saturday’s event was especially important for Gaughan, who hadn’t reached Victory Lane to lock in a spot and was seeded a precarious 12th entering the final race of the regular season. After battling back from an equalized right-rear tire midway through the race, a 13th-place finish earned Gaughan a coveted playoff spot — and a hug from team owner Richard Childress on pit road after the race.

“You keep digging and you don’t stop,” an always-enthusiastic Gaughan said. “That’s what (crew chief) Shane Wilson’s always been about and me and all my boys. I’m so proud of them for not stopping … nobody getting down, chasing down the problem, getting it fixed, getting the tire off, then just getting back in the race car and saying ‘OK we’re good now.’

“(I’m) excited now — now we can go back in race mode,” he continued later. “You saw what we can do at the end of the race when they finally take the handcuffs off. This SouthPoint Chevy’s fast — the handcuffs are back off now. We get to go play.”

While the Chevys of JR Motorsports and RCR will likely be strong and expected contenders, rookie Cole Custer could shake up the party; the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing driver battled hard with Monster Energy Series Playoffs driver Kyle Larson throughout Saturday’s 300-miler, putting together a seventh-place result even after contact with Ryan Blaney in the waning laps.

“That was probably the most fun I have ever had in a stock car, doing those crossover passes,” Custer said of his run with Larson. “I have respect for him racing me clean there. That was a lot of fun.”

“… I was happy with that today. That is the best speed we have had all year in the Haas Automation Mustang. It was really good. The four of us up front kind of gave it to the 7 car but that is how it is sometimes. I was happy with our run.

“I think we showed a lot of speed today.”

Ryan Reed, Jeremy Clements, Brennan Poole, Matt Tifft and Blake Koch also advanced to the 2017 XFINITY Series Playoffs. Dakota Armstrong missed the mark by 25 points.

MORE: Custer ready to run with the big boys

Posted on September 17, 2017 by

RELATED: Race results | Playoff standings

JOLIET, Ill. – If it hadn’t been for Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott might have been hoisting his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series trophy into the air — and getting covered in green slime — following Sunday’s NASCAR Playoffs opener at Chicagoland Speedway.

But for the No. 24 driver, a runner-up finish, one that may have dampened his mood last year during his rookie season, does more than just earn race points.

Elliott called it a “huge step in the right direction.”

“Days like this are the days we’re going to have to have,” he said. “There’s no way around that. So, I thought we had a solid day overall … and frankly it’s a lot better than we’ve been doing and we’ve got to have days like this moving forward.”

Having led 42 laps in Sunday’s 400-miler was a feat in itself for the No. 24 driver, who hasn’t paced the field for more than 20 laps since Phoenix back in March. In fact, his 42-lap total today was more than his entire laps-led total since then.

Call it a much-needed shot in the arm.

“To me, I think we all needed it; we all needed the realization that if we do have the car driving right, if we do have the right pit stops on pit road, restarts go good, we can run with those guys,” Elliott said. “We didn’t have anything for (race winner) Martin (Truex Jr.) today by any means but I thought we made the most with what we had. I thought we were better than about everybody else.

“To me, I think that’s something to be proud of.”

RELATED: Analyzing the playoff field

Crew chief Alan Gustafson echoed that sentiment later in the garage.

“Any time you can lead laps and compete with the best of the best, it’s a big deal,” Gustafson said. “So, I think it’s good for his confidence. I have confidence in the team and what we can accomplish. … I think it’s good for him. Any time you perform like that, you know you can do it.

Winning Stage 2 — which earned Elliott a valuable playoff point and 10 race points — certainly didn’t hurt either.

“Those stage points we gained today – those were really significant, that was a goal of ours,” Gustafson said. “Starting the race, we wanted to get as many stage points as we could and that would help us close the gap on those guys who had a pretty big bonus point advantage. …

“The one stage point isn’t going to hurt – we’ll take it. I’d like to have five more — unfortunately the 78 didn’t cooperate,” he joked.

Team owner Rick Hendrick paid a visit to the No. 24 car after the race to congratulate his young driver’s strong performance, one that comes just in time for the remaining nine-race NASCAR Playoffs stretch.

“If you’re going to get hot or fix things or take a step in the right direction, now is certainly the time to do it,” Elliott said. “So, I’m glad we had the run we did today. Like I said, we needed that – we all needed that and we haven’t been running to our potential each week. It’s just always nice to show up and know that if things are driving right, if pit stops are good, then you can run with them.

“And I think we just kind of proved to ourselves and everybody else that we can.”

Posted on September 17, 2017September 18, 2017 by Nascar

RELATED: Race results | Playoff standings

JOLIET, Ill. — Martin Truex Jr., the driver with the briefcase full of bonus points and the fastest black Toyota Camry in the country, proved for the umpteenth time this year why his No. 78 team is a favorite to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship.

The Furniture Row Racing pilot won Sunday’s Tales of the Turtles 400, the opening race of this year’s 10-race Playoffs.

He won it convincingly, 7.179 seconds ahead of runner-up Chase Elliott.

He won it after an early pit-road penalty for speeding dropped him from what had been second to what’s referred to as “the tail end of the field.”

Back country, in other words. The back of the field is so far removed from the front they don’t have electricity there.

But to the surprise of no one, Truex and his team, led by crew chief Cole Pearn, flogged away at the competition until, hey whaddya know, ol’ Martin’s right back in the mix.

RELATED: Analyzing the playoff field

Truex wasn’t the only one to run afoul of NASCAR’s pit-road “radar” on a cloudy day here southwest of Chicago.

Six others were ticketed for speeding as well, including fellow playoffs drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon and Kurt Busch.

If there was any consolation for Truex and his group, it was that the infraction occurred on Lap 39 of the 267-lap race, giving them plenty of time to try and overcome the setback. But it wasn’t the only setback.

“We were lucky enough to stay on the lead lap,” Pearn said of the speeding penalty. “That was really the key there. Then we left lugs off on the next stop, had to come back, which was kind of just poor execution on our part.”

It also helped, Truex said, that it took place at the Chicago track, a venue that features an old and worn surface. That makes for options when searching for the fastest way around the track.

If the beginning seemed a trifle mess, by the time the first two stages had ended, Truex and the team appeared to have all issues resolved. From that point, they did what they’ve done much of the year.

Hammer down.

At Lap 190, he passed then-leader Kevin Harvick to take the lead for the first time in the race. He gave it up briefly, for one lap, under caution, before restarting out front and leading the final 55 laps.

It was impressive but it wasn’t unexpected. Still, there were mixed messages in the garage afterward.

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
Martin Truex Jr. gets slimed after winning in Chicago.

At least one long-timer said the rest of the field had a ways to go to catch the No. 78.

Another, however, said the 78 was good, but that the No. 18 of Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing) was probably the better car Sunday.

Busch was felled by a series of incidents, including problems by his newly anointed pit crew, that kept the 2015 champion a lap down for much of the race. Had that not been the case …

“I like those guys, so I don’t want to wish them ill will,” Pearn said. “I was pretty happy we weren’t racing them. Even when they were back in there, they were really strong, had good speed.”

WATCH: Kyle Busch’s pit road woes

JGR supplies Furniture Row with its chassis as well as technical information. It’s a popular alliance out in Denver, Colorado, where the Barney Visser-owned team is based. How it’s going over inside the walls of JGR up in Huntersville, North Carolina, is anyone’s guess.

The five wins for Truex on the season is a career best and one better than a year ago. He was fast then, too, but not fortunate. A blown engine at Talladega took him out of the playoffs picture.

Now, he is the first to qualify for the Round of 12 no matter how he fares next week at New Hampshire or the week after at Dover.

And the bonus points, well, those continue to grow as well.

“From our standpoint, really our outlook, our approach doesn’t change from what it was in the regular season,” Truex said. “We go every single week to try to win both stages and try to win the race, try to get as many of those points as we can in case we have something happen like we did last year at Talladega.”

It stopped them last year. But it doesn’t appear the competition will be as fortunate this time around.

Posted on September 17, 2017September 20, 2017 by

RELATED: Race results | Playoff standings

JOLIET, Ill. – Sunday’s third-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway earned a smile-and-handshake exchange between Kevin Harvick and crew chief Rodney Childers on pit road following the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs opener.

It wasn’t a trip to Victory Lane — but for the usually dominant No. 4 team, it was what it needed in a season that has only seen one win.

“It was a really nice execution all weekend long,” Childers told NASCAR.com. “I felt like we were bringing a good car here and really did a good job through every practice. Everybody worked well together and really made no mistakes the whole weekend.

“That’s what we needed to do. We don’t feel like we’re fast enough to win races right now but we showed that we have better speed.”

Execution was key for the whole team Sunday — and that’s what they did, Harvick said.

“We just had to execute and take what they’ll give you and not finish any worse than that,” Harvick said. “I think we did that today. I felt like the 24 and the 78 were a little better than us and we finished right where we should have.”

RELATED: A look at the playoff picture

Indeed, Harvick’s third-place run was his best playoffs-opening result since 2013, having notched 42nd- and 20th-place finishes the past two years.

But this year’s a bit different, Childers noted. In 2015, Harvick followed up his 42nd-place result with a victory at Dover International Speedway two weeks later. Last season, he rebounded from the subpar 20th-place result at the Illinois track with a trip to Victory Lane the very next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“In years past, we felt like ‘He-Men’ in a way – we felt like we always had enough speed to where if we made a mistake, we would just come back the next week and win,” Childers said. “And we don’t feel that way anymore. So, we have to be really smart about what we do, make sure that we make the right calls throughout the weekend and during the race. And he’s got to be smart driving the car and just try to points-race a little bit and get our way through a couple rounds and then hopefully we can get our cars better by then.”

The smooth, mistake-free run for Harvick in a race that saw many playoff contenders falter gave the No. 4 driver solace moving forward.

“Everyone did a great job today,” Harvick said. “That is what we have to do to compete for the championship. I know we can do that as a team because we have done that before and executed whether our backs have been against the wall or we have been off, we have always figured a way out.

“That is the plan. We will keep doing that. Today we made it happen.”

Posted on September 17, 2017September 17, 2017 by Staff Report

Kyle Busch led a race-high 85 laps in the opener for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, but a pair of early miscues left the pole-starter with a lackluster finish Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.

Busch placed 15th in the Tales of the Turtles 400, unable to overcome an unscheduled stop and a pit-road penalty — all in rapid succession. The former series champ was able to regain one of two laps lost, but he wound up one lap down to eventual winner Martin Truex Jr. He sits fifth in the standings one race into the three-race Round of 16.

“Oh well. We’ll move on,” Busch said in a post-race interview with NBC Sports.

Busch was competing in his first race with a new pit crew, days after Joe Gibbs Racing swapped in the crew members of the No. 19 Toyota for rookie teammate Daniel Suarez. Busch handily won the race’s first stage, but stopped on Lap 94 to tighten the lug nuts on a loose right-rear wheel.

The extra pit stop was harmful enough, but the No. 18 crew was also docked for coming over the pit wall too soon, an infraction that required a pass-through penalty.

That knocked Busch down to 30th place early in Stage 2, an obstacle that kept him from contending again.

“It’s just disappointing that we had trouble on pit road like that. We just never had the opportunity with how the cautions fell to get back on the lead lap.

“We’ll get back to the shop and talk about it, and really all we can do is move on and put it behind us.”

Contributing: NASCAR Wire Service

Posted on September 17, 2017September 20, 2017 by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Race results | Stage recaps | Detailed breakdown
SHOP: Truex Jr. gear

JOLIET, Ill. – Remember all those playoff points that were supposed to carry regular-season champion Martin Truex Jr. through the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs?

He didn’t need them — not after what turned out to be a dominating victory in Sunday’s Tales of the Turtles 400, the Playoff opener at Chicagoland Speedway. Truex’s fifth victory of the season, his second straight at Chicagoland and the 12th of his career was hardly a cakewalk, even though the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota took the checkered flag 7.179 seconds ahead of runner-up Chase Elliott.

In earning automatic advancement to the Round of 12, Truex had to overcome a speeding penalty incurred on a green-flag pit stop on Lap 39 and loose lug nuts that forced him to return to pit road and restart deep in the field after the end of Stage 1.

Though the victory eased Truex’s progress through the NASCAR Playoffs — increasing his playoff point total to 58 — the winning driver didn’t consider it a statement to his fellow competitors.

RELATED: Analyzing the playoff field

“I don’t care much about statements,” Truex said. “I’m just having fun. I’m proud of our pit crew for doing what they did and everyone on this team. It’s important to come here and not let the pressure get to you, and I think we did a good job of that.

“Every time you go to Victory Lane, it’s special. There’s just so many people to thank. I’m kind of speechless, but (team owner) Barney (Visser), and everyone at TRD (Toyota Racing Development) in Costa Mesa building great engines and TRD Salisbury – (sponsors) Bass Pro, Tracker Boats – just everyone, thank you so much. It’s a dream come true, and we’re having the time of our lives.”

Playoff drivers claimed the top six positions in the final running order. Kevin Harvick was at or near the front all afternoon and ran third. Denny Hamlin was fourth, followed by Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski.

Behind Joey Logano, who missed the Playoffs, seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson soldiered home in eighth in a No. 48 Chevrolet that lacked the speed to compete with the contenders. Playoff drivers Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray and Ryan Blaney claimed positions nine through 11, respectively.

Elliott was pleased with his best run since Michigan in June. His 42 laps led were Elliott’s most since he was out front for 106 circuits at Phoenix in March. But the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet couldn’t challenge Truex, who led 77 laps and was pulling away at the finish.

“Obviously, it would have been great to battle with Martin a little bit more,” Elliott said. “We didn’t have anything for him. (But) from where we’ve been to where we ran today was a major, major step in the right direction, frankly where we need to be, where we deserve to be, to the potential we can run.”

Truex had the speed to overcome his problems on pit road. Others weren’t at fortunate. Polesitter Kyle Busch, who won the first stage handily, caught a double whammy after taking the green/checkered flag at the end of the first 80-lap segment. Eight laps after a restart on Lap 88, Busch returned to pit road because of a loose wheel. On the stop, one of his crewman — from the crew he had acquired from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Daniel Suarez’s team to start the Playoffs — was flagged for stepping over the wall too soon.

WATCH: Busch’s pit road woes

Busch served a pass-through penalty under green, never got back to the lead lap and finished 15th in one of the fastest cars in the race.

But Busch’s travails paled in comparison with those of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who scraped the wall early, incurred a penalty for a commitment line violation and finished 25th, deepest in the field of all the playoff drivers.

Kasey Kahne simply lacked speed. He ran 21st, three laps down and put himself in dire peril of elimination after the Round of 16.

Kurt Busch, who had shown a decided uptick in performance of late, pitted on Lap 200 with a vibration shaking his No. 41 Ford and promptly incurred a pit road speeding penalty. The Daytona 500 winner finished a disappointing 19th, two laps down and will head for next Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with ground to make up.

Austin Dillon sped on pit road on the same lap Truex was busted on but couldn’t overcome the mistake. He finished 16th in the No. 3 Richard Childress racing Chevrolet, seven spots ahead of teammate Ryan Newman, who ended the race three laps in arrears.

Note: The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota driven by Matt Kenseth was found with one unsecured lug nut in a post-race check. Penalties will be announced later this week, but such infractions typically result in fines only.

Posted on September 17, 2017September 19, 2017 by Staff Report

RELATED: Full race results | Playoffs standings

After the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race, here’s a brief look at the playoffs picture. There are two races remaining in the Round of 16 before the field is whittled to 12, with four drivers eliminated from the postseason following Dover (Oct. 1).

Winner

Martin Truex Jr. won on Sept. 17 at Chicagoland Speedway, clinching a spot in the second round of the playoffs. The win also gives him five playoff points to add to his total, which now sits at 58.

Who’s hot

Chase Elliott. Elliott’s 42 laps led were his most since Phoenix, the fourth race of the season, and he ran in the top five with the big dogs all day. However, his second-place finish was ruled encumbered for a post-race inspection violation, costing the No. 24 team the playoff point for a stage win. The team also loses 15 driver points. | More on L1 penalty for No. 24

Kevin Harvick. Harvick led four times for 59 laps, the third-most in the race and the most for the No. 4 team since leading 77 at Texas in April. His short-run speed and restart launch both were impressive, as was his third-place finish.

Who’s not

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Stenhouse Jr.’s first race as a playoffs driver couldn’t have gone worse early. An ill-handling condition saw his No. 17 Ford get into the wall early in Stage 1, an issue compounded when Stenhouse Jr. was issued a commitment line violation when he came to pit road for service. It put Stenhouse two laps down and he never recovered, finishing 25th.

Ryan Newman. Contact with Jamie McMurray didn’t help matters, but Newman’s No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was off all day. His 23rd-place showing drops him to the bottom of the Playoffs Grid.

PHOTOS: All the best images from Chicago

BUBBLE WATCH

Rank	Driver	Points to cutoff
9.	Matt Kenseth	+13
10.	Ryan Blaney	+8
11.	Jamie McMurray	+5
12.	Austin Dillon	0
—————	CUT-OFF LINE	—————
13.	Kurt Busch	0
14.	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	-4
15.	Kasey Kahne	-5
16.	Ryan Newman	-7

Next race

The Monster Energy Series travels to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for a Sunday afternoon race on Sept. 24 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Who it favors

Wins: Kurt Busch (3), Denny Hamlin (3), Jimmie Johnson (3), Matt Kenseth (3), Ryan Newman (3)
Average Finish: Denny Hamlin (10.0), Brad Keselowski (10.2), Jimmie Johnson (11.1), Kyle Larson (11.7)
Driver Rating: Denny Hamlin (104.0), Jimmie Johnson (100.8), Kyle Busch (98.8), Brad Keselowski (98.7), Kevin Harvick (98.0)

Who it hurts

Fewest Top-10s: Ryan Blaney (0), Chase Elliott (0), Austin Dillon (1)
Worst Average Finish: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (20.4), Jamie McMurray (19.8), Chase Elliott (19.3)
Worst Driver Rating: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (69.0), Austin Dillon (71.1), Jamie McMurray (73.1)

Posted on September 17, 2017September 24, 2017 by Staff Report

MORE: BUY TICKETS FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE | SEE THE ACTION AT KENTUCKY

All three NASCAR national series are in action this weekend, but at two different venues. The second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race in the Round of 16 and the opening race of the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs will take place at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The NASCAR XFINITY Series playoffs will kick off at Kentucky Speedway with the first race in the Round of 12.

Monster Energy Series and XFINITY Series events are also live streamed online on the NBC Sports App, which can be accessed here. Check out the full on-track weekend schedule below.

Note: All times are ET

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
PRE-RACE SCHEDULE
12:00:00 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Driver/Crew Chief Meeting (NCWTS Garage)
1:30:00 p.m.: Driver Introductions
1:58:45 p.m.: Canadian Anthem by: Janet Poission, Boston Conservatory Graduate
2:00:00 p.m.: Moment of Silence
2:00:45 p.m.: Presentation of Colors: New Hampshire Air Guard and Active Duty Air Force
2:01:05 p.m.: Invocation: Pastor Joshua Johnson
2:01:35 p.m.: National Anthem by: Marine Corps Veteran, “The Singing Trooper,” Daniel. M. Clark
2:03:05 p.m.: Flyover TOT by: 2 F-15C Eagles from the 104th Fighter Wing, Barnes Air National Guard Base -Westfield, Massachusetts
2:08:05 p.m.: “Drivers, Start Your Engines” by: Marc Del Vecchio, Chief Technology Officer, ISM Connect
2:15:35 p.m.: Green Flag ISM Connect 300 – (300 laps, 317.4 miles)

ON TRACK: NEW HAMPSHIRE
2 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series ISM Connect 300 (300 laps, 317.4 miles), NBCSN (Results) (Canada: TSN 5)

PRESS PASS (Watch live)
5 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
ON TRACK: NEW HAMPSHIRE
11:30 a.m.-12:55 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, NBCSN (Results) (Canada: TSN 2)
1:30-2:25 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice, FS1 (Results)
3:30-4:25 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice, FS1 (Results)
5:15 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, NBCSN (Results) (Canada: TSN 2)

GARAGECAM (Watch live)
11 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
1 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

PRESS PASS (Watch live)
10:30 a.m.: Jimmie Johnson
10:45 a.m.: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
11 a.m.: Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Kaz Grala
1 p.m.: New Hampshire Motor Speedway announcement
1:30 p.m.: Ryan Newman
1:45 p.m.: Denny Hamlin
4:30 p.m.: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
6:15 p.m.: Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying

ON TRACK: KENTUCKY
4-4:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, NBCSN (Results) (Canada: TSN GO)
6:30-7:25 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice, NBCSN (Results) (Canada: TSN GO)

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
ON TRACK: NEW HAMPSHIRE
9-9:55 a.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, CNBC (Results) (Canada: TSN GO)
10:05 a.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FS1 (Results)
11:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, NBC Sports App (Results) (Canada: TSN GO)
1 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 175 (175 laps, 185.15 miles), FS1 (Results)

PRESS PASS (Watch live)
3 p.m.: Post-NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race

ON TRACK: KENTUCKY
5:35 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, NBCSN (Results) (Canada: TSN GO)
8 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 (200 laps, 300 miles), NBCSN (Results) (Canada: TSN 2)

Posted on September 17, 2017September 17, 2017 by Staff Report

MORE: Stage 2 results

Chase Elliott took advantage of a fast pit stop to jump to the lead on Lap 125 and cruised to the Stage 2 victory in Sunday’s Tales of the Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. For Elliot, it was his third stage win of the 2017 season and earned him a playoff point to carry with him in the NASCAR Playoffs.

Elliott brought his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to pit road trailing Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, but a quick stop vaulted Elliott into the lead, which he held for the remainder of the stage.

The second stage began with Harvick jumping past Kyle Busch for the lead thanks to a strong restart. The stage only got worse for Busch, who had to bring the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to pit road because of a loose wheel, then was penalized on that stop for a crewmember over the wall too soon.

Busch, who dominated Stage 1, finished 16th in Stage 2.

The start of Stage 2 also was tough on fellow playoff contender Martin Truex Jr., who had to return to pit road after he emerged with two unsecure lug nuts during the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team’s stop between Stages 1 and 2.

Truex rallied to finish third in Stage 2.

Finish	Driver	Team	Race points
1.	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	10
2.	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	9
3.	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	8
4.	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	7
5.	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	6
6.	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	5
7.	Joey Logano	Team Penske	4
8.	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	3
9.	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	2
10.	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	1

Kyle Busch opens NASCAR Playoffs with Stage 1 win at Chicago
MORE: Stage 1 results

Kyle Busch led 78 of the first 80 laps in winning Stage 1 in the Tales of the Turtles 400 on Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway, the opener to the 10-race NASCAR Playoffs. The only time the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota didn’t lead was when Landon Cassill went to the front during a round of pit stops. Busch picked up one playoff point.

The opening stage featured key mistakes for some playoff drivers. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. scraped the wall with the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, then got a commitment line violation when entering pit road.

Stenhouse finished the stage in 30th place, the lowest spot among playoff drivers.

Martin Truex Jr. and Austin Dillon also received pit-road penalties, theirs for speeding as a group of drivers were too fast. Truex finished the stage in 10th place, while Dillon was 22nd.

Finish	Driver	Team	Race points
1.	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	10
2.	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	9
3.	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	8
4.	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	7
5.	Joey Logano	Team Penske	6
6.	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	5
7.	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	4
8.	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	3
9.	Daniel Suarez	Joe Gibbs Racing	2
10.	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	1

Posted on September 17, 2017 by Nascar

JOLIET, Ill. – In most ways, Wyatt Zender is your typical 9-year-old. Quiet and a bit shy around strangers, but not opposed to answering a question or two. And just as likely to pause midway through a response, gaze up from underneath his ball cap and ask, “Wait. What?”

Wyatt is also a cancer patient. Not so typical.

But he is, and he’s now off chemotherapy. He and his family are here this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, celebrating their first trip to a NASCAR race and, oh yeah, by the way, that paint scheme on Kasey Kahne’s car this weekend? Wyatt came up with the design.

“I just thought it looked lucky,” he said of the paint scheme that features sponsor Great Clips, crayon-looking blues and yellows with red numerals. Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, certainly hopes that’s the case. He’s one of 16 drivers in this year’s Playoffs and today is the Tales of the Turtles 400, Race No. 1 in the Round of 16.

With the typical honesty of a kid, Wyatt adds that, “No, they’re not my favorite colors,” when asked about the scheme.

Wyatt was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma earlier this year after his mom noticed a lump on his neck. He underwent treatment at Seattle Children’s Hospital and recently was able to stop chemo treatments. While in the hospital, he entered a Great Clips contest to design the paint scheme for Kahne’s car; the contest is helping to recognize the Strong Against Cancer platform at Chicagoland this weekend.

When he found out his design had been chosen, Wyatt said, “I was like ‘Holy cow! I can’t believe I won!’ I was so excited I won and I was just wondering, ‘Do I get to go to Chicago?'”

Kahne, 37, is making his sixth Playoff appearance and his first since 2014.

“I designed some Sprint cars (when I was a kid); they didn’t look that good,” Kahne admitted.

“I thought he did a great job with the look of the car. I thought it was really cool and I know he put a lot of time into it.”

Kahne became involved in the Strong Against Cancer program through Seattle Children’s while partnering with Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson to raise funds for charity.

“He’s (Wilson) always been a huge advocate of Seattle Children’s so when we did a golf tournament, we worked on it together,” Kahne said. “At that point I understood a lot more about the hospital and what it did for kids. … Our tournament, The Drive, worked well and we were able to make some great donations.

“To do a program like this with Great Clips is unbelievable. It’s unbelievable for Wyatt and his family to be able to come and hang out, and get to see his car.”