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After Kyle Busch swept the weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, capturing wins in all three of NASCAR’s national series, that other really fast Kyle — Kyle Larson — tweeted respect for his elder and competitor.

 

 

So the question that Kelly Crandall and Kathy Sheldon are exploring on NASCAR.com today: Is Kyle Busch the GOAT?

Sheldon: Greatest at Bristol? Yes, and six wins, the most of any Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver, prove it. This past weekend? Absolutely. All time? We’ll see. If anyone currently active can catch seven wins, I’d say Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson are the best candidates.

Crandall: Larson’s goat emoji was a nice touch and Busch seemed appreciative to hear in his post-race press conference it had been included. But the greatest of all-time in NASCAR is not yet a discussion Busch or Larson is in, although performances like Bristol will certainly help Busch one day in that department. If this was a question of whether or not Busch is the GOAT when it comes to the top three national series, there’s no argument he has set himself apart from the competition. One can only wonder, though, what the sport would be like if Larson ran as many races as Busch does …

Sheldon: Good point, Kelly. I don’t think anyone is as sure a bet in a Camping World Truck Series event or XFINITY Series event as Busch. And he’s helping the sport grow the next generation of drivers, as well, through Kyle Busch Motorsports. Wouldn’t it be great to see Busch in a sprint car so he and Larson could do battle on dirt?

So let’s talk greatest of this season. Both Larson and Busch are in the playoffs, with Busch holding a slight, 2-point edge on Larson in playoff points coming out of Bristol. They’re both chasing Martin Truex Jr., whom I picked back in February to win the title this year. I still like that pick, but Busch seems like a better bet to knock off Truex in the playoffs among the pair of Kyles — a former champ in 2015 and runner-up in 2016 who is peaking at the right time.

Crandall: Just a few weeks ago I felt Larson was as sure a bet to be in the final four as Truex is. Then Busch won Pocono — to go along with his gazillion laps he’s led — and he’s also been knocking off stage wins left and right. Suddenly, the No. 18 team has come alive while the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 team is simmering. Good news for Busch, bad news for Larson.

Now, we all know once the playoffs start teams and drivers usually pick it up a notch, but Busch’s team looks really, really good right now. And I imagine they are only going to keep getting better as the weeks go on. However, the possibility of Larson making it to Homestead to battle Busch, as well as Truex and whomever the fourth contender may be, is hard not be excited about.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: NASCAR fan’s guide to solar eclipse | Samantha Busch cracks on Kyle’s celebration

Chase Elliot had plans to catch the solar eclipse from high in the sky, while others took to the ground to check out the celestial event.

Some drivers even got creative with their protective eyewear just to catch a glimpse of the solar eclipse passing by — looking at you Martin Truex Jr.

Here are some of the best social media reactions from around the NASCAR community:

Drivers like Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon made sure their views were family friendly.

While some, like Clint Bowyer, were not so impressed.

Maybe Bowyer was just looking at the wrong Eclipse, though.

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RELATED: Kyle Busch surprises fans after Bristol win | NASCAR drivers salute Busch’s trifecta win

Kyle Busch wanted to make sure the crowd at Bristol Motor Speedway remembered he didn’t just win one race, but all three so he pulled out a broom to clean the colorful confetti off his winning ride.

However, his wife Samantha Busch wasn’t about to let fans think the driver was a frequent helper around the house — especially when it comes to cleaning.

Among several comments on Toyota Racing’s Instagram, Samantha sneakily called out her husband’s celebration: “Funny he doesn’t know where the broom is at home.”

Maybe with the off weekend coming up for Busch, he can find some time to make good use of his newfound broom skills.

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The potential use of the “cone rule” at short tracks like Bristol Motor Speedway is something NASCAR executives have discussed, Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller said Monday during an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

The discussion was prevalent following some gamesmanship in Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Drivers preferred to restart in the outside lane, so some — like Denny Hamlin, who fessed up to it on Twitter — checked up coming off pit road to try and ensure a specific restart spot on the outside lane.

“As we do here at NASCAR, we’re constantly looking at ways to make the races and the action for the fans more interesting. That is a topic that we have discussed a little bit,” Miller said on The Morning Drive. “… But we talk about a lot of things and when the final decision comes, I’m not sure what that will be, but certainly it has been a topic of discussion.”

The cone rule is popular in short-track racing. A cone is placed on the race track under caution and drivers have the option to choose which lane they want to restart in, driving to either the inside of the cone or the outside. This lends itself to different strategy plays as a driver deeper in the field could restart in the first few rows should he or see choose the lane opposite competitors.

NASCAR is aware of what happened on pit road in Bristol and Miller said the sanctioning body will look into it.

“That’s something we don’t want because we don’t need accidents at the end of the pit road with people checking up,” Miller said. “We’ll figure out how we’re going to address that one and try to move on. Really it kind of only comes into play at a few places. We know when it’s possibly going to happen, so we’ll try to address that.”

“Ironically, it didn’t quite work out,” Miller added.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Officials with Chip Ganassi Racing and driver Kyle Larson announced a two-race sponsorship with credit card processor First Data on Monday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

First Data, whose corporate headquarters are located in Atlanta, will be the primary sponsor on Larson’s No. 42 Chevrolet for upcoming Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Talladega Superspeedway and Martinsville Speedway.

First Data and Martinsville Speedway officials recently announced the company would hold the naming rights to the track’s fall Monster Energy Series race, which will now be known as the First Data 500. That agreement is for three years, according to First Data.

The company served as a sponsor on the No. 1 Chevrolet of teammate Jamie McMurray at Martinsville last season. It will return in an associate role with McMurray at Martinsville this year.

Larson, 25, has three wins this season and is currently third in points.

“Last year we got a little bit of Chip’s car,” First Data chairman and CEO Frank Bisignano said. “This year we’ve got two cars. It’s all about forward trajectory. They are great guys to be in business with.”

Larson’s team currently carries primary sponsorship from Target and its related partners, however the retailer has said it will not return after the completion of the ’17 season.

Ganassi indicated First Data could be a partner in ’18 as well. Larson said he was confident funding would be in place, adding, “We have a lot of important things to worry about the rest of this year, a championship being one of them.

“Obviously with Target leaving a lot of people are probably looking at what we have for the future and I think this (First Data relationship) is a great step.”

Ganassi, a former racer, has been a NASCAR team owner since 2001 and open-wheel owner since the late ’80s. The current sponsorship climate is nothing new to the veteran car owner.

“I guess in some respects its more difficult than it’s ever been and in other respects it’s never been easy,” Ganassi said. “It’s just part of the business. You have to go with the flow.

“We’re going to be here; this is the only business I have. We’re going to be in business. … I think (the current climate) presents opportunities for us, more than anything, to go find new businesses, new partners, new people that are interested in the sport.”

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RELATED: The NASCAR fan’s guide to the eclipse

Chase Elliott may be up in his plane. Trevor Bayne joked that he may ride around wearing “a welding helmet.”

Monday’s solar eclipse is big news among scientists, astronomers and others interested in what goes on in the universe.

It has its place among folks in NASCAR as well.

“I didn’t know about it until about a week and a half ago,” Elliott, driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports said Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway. “I was at a friend’s house and he was telling me about it and telling me what he was going to do. He’s like ‘This is this huge deal.’ I’m like ‘What is?’ I didn’t know anything about it.”

Now that he’s been brought up to speed about the celestial occurrence, Elliott thinks he might have just the solution to avoid the crowded highways and eclipse-watching spots in the northeast corner of Georgia where the total solar eclipse can be seen. Those outside the path of totality will see varying portions of a partial solar eclipse, depending on their location.

“Yeah, I’m interested; I think it’s kind of cool,” said Elliott, who has his pilot’s license. “I feel like what would be really neat would be to go fly; go take off and be flying while it happens. So, I was going to go do that, possibly, if the weather was good on Monday.

“I do have a flight to catch Monday night, so if I can make the timing work I’d like to go fly and see it from the air if we can do that.”

Fellow Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Bayne joked that he would head out during the eclipse wearing a welding helmet to avoid damaging his eyes while watching the eclipse.

“I’ll be in Knoxville, so I’m going to go put myself in the traffic and drive around with a welding helmet and see if I can’t look at the sun a little bit,” the Roush Fenway Racing driver said. “That’s what everybody says to do.

“I don’t know how my retinas are going to like it. I was expecting it to be like complete dark, you just look up at it and everybody is like, ‘No, you cannot stare at the sun.’ I’ll get out a welding helmet, I guess.”

While NASCAR-sanctioned tracks are spread across the nation, only Kansas Speedway appears to be inside the 70-mile wide path across the country where the total eclipse can be seen.

According to track officials, however, there are no eclipse-watching plans in place.

Nashville’s Fairgrounds Speedway is in the path of totality but hasn’t hosted NASCAR’s top series since 1984.

Meanwhile, Texas Motor Speedway, which is located approximately 550 miles from the path of totality, isn’t letting that distance keep officials there from throwing a party.

The Speedway Motorsports Inc.-owned property is hosting a Monday watch party for fans as well as a “celestial-themed pre-event luncheon for its staff.”

The partial eclipse seen there will be shown on Big Hoss, the world’s largest TV and streamed on the tracks’ Facebook Live page.

Darlington Raceway is a bit closer to the path, 99.1 percent of the sun will be eclipsed in that region, and is offering a Monday only, Total Eclipse weekend ticket package.

The special ticket pricing will be available from midnight Sunday, Aug. 20 until midnight Monday Aug. 21.

Posted on by George Winkler

How sweet it is for some Kyle Busch fans on the morning after ‘Rowdy’s ‘Take that!’ moment at Bristol Motor Speedway when he swept the weekend.

Busch literally stood up for these fans by climbing on the door of his car to autograph their No. 18 flag.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Busch has ‘swept away’ his fans following a dominant performance. Remember this after he swept the Martinsville races in April 2016?

Note: Video contains language some might consider explicit

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RELATED: Results | Stage recaps | At-track photo gallery

BRISTOL, Tenn. – As he battled with Erik Jones on track Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, Matt Kenseth wasn’t worrying about the fact that a Jones win could potentially knock him out of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Rather, he couldn’t help but think about the rookie that he was racing hard with for the lead.

That it was the 21-year-old Furniture Row Racing driver who would be piloting his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota next season.

“I was more thinking about ‘That’s my replacement, I better run him down and pass him and show him that I can still do it better than he can,’” Kenseth said on pit road with a laugh after finishing fourth.

“It’s human nature,” he elaborated. “Whoever you’re catching for the lead, you always think something about them, right? If you’re catching Kyle, you’re thinking ‘Oh he won those two races, I hope I can beat him, he’s the best,’ or whatever. You’re always thinking something. At least I do.

RELATED: Jones on career-best finish: ‘It’s a bummer’

“When you get when you can sniff the victory, your mindset changes a little bit. It’s not just other cars, it’s the leader, so you (think) things like that every once in a while.”

In a sense, it was almost symbolic of the changing of the guard, the way the pair was racing one another hard — especially when Jones lightly bumped Kenseth’s No. 20 Toyota, nudging him for the lead.

Almost to say, “I’m here now.”

“I think it was a spirited battle,” Joe Gibbs Racing team owner Joe Gibbs said on Kenseth-Jones fight for the lead. “I think tonight was a big night for both of them. I think they fought extremely hard.”

After the race, the two were together again – this time seated side-by-side in a post-race press conference.

And the bumping was brought up.

“Did you hit me?” Kenseth asked Jones.

“Just barely,” Jones replied.

“Didn’t remember,” Kenseth said lightheartedly. “Shouldn’t have brought it up. Now I’m mad. You guys laugh, wait till we leave here.

“Takes my ride and runs into me,” he then quipped.

 RELATED: Kenseth ‘not concerned’ about future

But while Kenseth wants to be competitive and continue racing, he also seems to have come to terms with the fact that Jones will be the one driving the No. 20 Toyota next season.

Kenseth’s exact future in racing is uncertain, yes. But he’s OK with that.

“I don’t really have anything to be unhappy about,” Kenseth said with Jones still sitting beside him. “I mean, I should say, ‘Knock on wood,’ because things can turn on dime. But my life couldn’t be much better. I’ve never really been in a better place. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier. There’s more to life than racing.

“Yeah, I wish it kind of maybe would have went down a different way or maybe I had another year or two there. That’s not the way it worked out. I think everything happens or doesn’t happen for a reason. It will all become clear.”

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RELATED: Results | Stage recaps | At-track photo gallery

BRISTOL, Tenn. – It was a career-best finish for Erik Jones but it wasn’t a career-first win so the youngster from Michigan still has much to accomplish in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

But he’s getting there.

During Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Jones led more than half the 500 laps after starting from the pole, clearly had the better car at times and was chasing down fellow Toyota driver Kyle Busch in the closing laps.

Then the race ended, time expired, Busch proved uncatchable.

Second place never seemed so good and yet so bad at the same time.

RELATED: Finishing second a ‘bummer’

“You don’t want to sound like you’re whining or being a sore loser by saying it sucks to run second, but it’s a bummer,” Jones said of his runner-up finish in his No. 77 Furniture Row Racing entry. “It hurts. You know you want to win every race you’re in. This was the first shot that I really had to come really close to it in the Cup Series.

“Bristol is a really good race track for myself. I thought we had a shot at it all night, led a ton of laps.”

“A ton” being 260 and they came, for the most part, in big chunks – 45 here, 37 there, and 107 toward the end. His laps led total for this season before Saturday night? Fifty.

His final pass for the lead came on pit road when he went from second to first during a yellow flag following a spin by Chase Elliott.

Busch returned the favor on the track with 56 laps remaining, overtaking Jones for the 21st and final lead change.

RELATED: Busch fends off Jones

Jones’ last four starts have resulted in top-10 finishes of eighth, 10th, third and now second. First can’t be too far off, can it?

“I think we had this one circled,” crew chief Chris Gayle said. “We knew this one was probably our best attempt at getting into the (playoffs).

“We can still go to Richmond and do it, we just didn’t get any laps at Richmond (in the spring race). We wrecked on Lap 3 so we don’t really know what we have there.

“This was one where we felt like we had a great race car the first race, we could go back, work hard and we could contend to win. We did, just unfortunately one spot short, right?”

Jones is 16th in points, but without a win he might as well be 26th. Three drivers lower in points have been to Victory Lane, meaning they will qualify for one of the 16 available playoff spots and keep those without wins, such as Jones, out of the postseason picture.

Bristol was an opportunity to change that outlook.

“I felt like we had a really strong car in the spring,” Jones said of a top-20 run at BMS earlier this year. “Felt like I could improve myself and improve what we had in the race car compared to what we had there.

“We did that. We qualified on the pole … led a ton of laps. We just didn’t quite keep up with it.

“Yeah, this was our best shot to win. Did I feel any pressure? No. I was just actually really calm this week. I really had a sense we were going to run really well. I had a really good feeling about it.”

Jones’ stay in the No. 77 is coming to an end; he’ll move over to the No. 20 at JGR in 2018 where he will replace 2003 series champ Matt Kenseth. Saturday night, he found himself battling Kenseth on numerous occasions for position on the track.

Afterward, the two were seated side-by-side in the media center. It could have been awkward. It wasn’t.

In two weeks when the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to action at Darlington Raceway, Jones will renew his attempt to earn that first career victory.

The disappointment of Bristol will be forgotten.

Saturday night, it was still fresh.

“It’s more disappointing just because you saw him drive his guts out all day,” Gayle said of his driver. “I feel like we had the best car and I think we had the best driver. Just got a little snookered there at the end. …

“I’m proud of him. It’s disappointing but I think it just shows the talent level he has. They always tell you that you have to lose one or two before you win one and I guess this was the first one we had to lose. I guess that’s why it stings a little bit.”

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RELATED: Kyle Busch cops Bristol triple | At-track photos

Kyle Busch admits that he has his share of detractors on social media, but after his sweeping Saturday night victory at Bristol Motor Speedway, some of NASCAR’s top drivers and personalities praised him for his latest accomplishment.

Busch prevailed in all three NASCAR national series this week, equaling the rare tripleheader sweep he achieved at the .533-mile track in 2010. He is the only driver to complete the three-race sweep at Bristol, and that prompted superlatives and applause from fellow competitor Kyle Larson and from NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip, a 12-time Bristol winner.

“It’s awesome. I appreciate that,” Busch said after learning of Larson’s compliment. “It’s an honor, a humbling statement. Larson is obviously arguably one of the most talented guys as well, too, to hit our sport in a long, long time and people will continue to say that about him as well.”

The rest of the NASCAR community had similarly kind words: