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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.”

Posted on by Nascar

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:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. earned a 23rd-place finish in his final race at Bristol Motor Speedway as a full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver. That brings his average finish this season to 21.7.

But for those who were looking to place blame for this season’s struggles on Greg Ives, crew chief of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Earnhardt had some strong words to say on Twitter following Saturday night’s race.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Results | Standings | Playoff standings | Detailed recap | At-track photos
SHOP: Kyle Busch gear | VIP TICKETS

BRISTOL, Tenn. – In a race fraught with tension, and with a pack of drivers with desperate agendas chasing him to the finish line, Kyle Busch held off Erik Jones to complete a sweep of all three NASCAR touring series with Saturday night’s keystone victory in the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

In winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series main event at the .533-mile concrete track, Busch capped a long weekend that saw him win Wednesday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event and Friday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race.

Having accomplished the same feat at Bristol in 2010, Busch was the only driver in NASCAR history to achieve the three-series sweep in the same week at the same track. Now he’s the only driver to have done it twice.

Dicing through traffic on the final 79-lap green-flag run, Busch crossed the finish line 1.422 seconds ahead of Jones, a Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender, who will join the race winner as a teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing next year.

“Man, Erik Jones put up a whale of a fight,” said Busch, who won for the second time this season, the sixth time at Bristol (most among active drivers) and the 40th time in his career. “That’s all I had. I was running with my tongue hanging out. My arms were Jello and my throat hurts, but man that’s awesome.

“Can’t say enough about everybody on my Joe Gibbs Racing team. Adam Stevens (crew chief) and the guys are phenomenal. Car might not have been perfect, but I’m never perfect. I never feel like we’re perfect, but this Caramel Camry was fast. So proud of these guys, so proud of my team, so proud of Joe Gibbs Racing. So proud of Rowdy Nation, this one’s for you.”

One bobble by Busch in the closing laps, however, and Jones could have usurped a playoff spot and made the lives of playoff hopefuls Matt Kenseth, Chase Elliott, Jamie McMurray and Clint Bowyer much more stressful.

RELATED: Busch battles Jones for victory

When the final green-flag run commenced on Lap 422 after the eighth caution of the race for Landon Cassill’s hard crash into the Turn 1 wall, Jones took off, with Busch and Kenseth trailing him. Kenseth grabbed the second spot on Lap 428, but Busch soon regained the position and made what proved to be the winning pass of Jones on Lap 445.

On the same lap, Kenseth slipped past Jones into second, but with a deft touch with his front bumper on lap 465, Jones broke Kenseth’s momentum and regained the second spot.

On the playoff bubble with two races left, Kenseth had two hopes: to win for himself to clinch a playoff berth, and to keep Jones out of Victory Lane to keep the number of unique winners this season at 13, leaving three playoff spots open on points.

Kenseth, who will cede his ride in the No. 20 JGR Toyota to Jones in 2018, slipped to fourth at the finish but solidified his playoff position, moving past Jamie McMurray to eighth in the standings.

But Kenseth provided the line of the night in the media center, after he was reminded that Jones had bumped him in the closing run.

“Takes my ride — and runs into me,” Kenseth quipped.

Jones, on the other hand, left the track thinking about what might have been.

RELATED: Second is a ‘bummer’ for Jones

“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,” said Jones, who started on the pole and led 260 of 500 laps before posting a career-best finish. “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 racetrack for myself. Thought we had a shot at it all night, led a ton of laps. It’s Kyle Busch. He won all three races here this weekend. So I feel like I’m close to him here—just trying to find that last little bit.”

Notes: With Denny Hamlin finishing third, Toyotas swept the top four finishing positions. … Dale Earnhardt Jr. started 31st, struggled to find speed in his car and finished 23rd, three laps down, in his final ride at Bristol in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. … Chafing from the current absence of a contract extension despite his victory in the Daytona 500, Kurt Busch got fresh tires on Lap 417 and drove like a man with something to prove. In his 600th Cup race, Busch restarted 12th on Lap 422 and charged into fourth place before coming home fifth at the finish. … The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Daniel Suarez was found to have one lug nut unsecured in post-race inspection. Any potential penalty would be announced next week by NASCAR.

 

Posted on by Staff Report

What channel is NASCAR programming on this week? We answer that and provide all the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

All Monster Energy Series and XFINITY Series events are also live streamed online on the NBC Sports App, which can be accessed here. Events that are only available on NBC Sports App are noted below.

RELATED: Watch on the NBC Sports App |  How to find CNBC on your TV

Monday, August 21
6 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

Tuesday, August 22
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

Wednesday, August 23
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

Thursday, August 24
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR The Decades: The 1980s, NBCSN
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1

Saturday, August 26
2 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series practice at Road America, NBCSN (Canada: TSN GO)
3 p.m., NASCAR Whelen Series Bush’s Beans 150, NBCSN
4 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice at Road America, NBCSN (Canada: TSN GO)

Sunday, August 27
11:30 a.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying at Road America, CNBC (Canada: TSN GO) CANCELED
2:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Countdown to Green, NBC
3 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Johnsonville 180 at Road America, NBC (Canada: TSN 2)

 


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BUY TICKETS: See the Road America action 

RELATED: How to find CNBC on your TV

This week, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series enjoy an off week, while the XFINITY Series goes road-course racing at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Check out the full weekend schedule below.

XFINITY Series events are also live streamed online on the NBC Sports App, which can be accessed here. Events that are only available on the NBC Sports App are noted below.

Note: All times are ET

SATURDAY, August 26
2-2:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series practice at Road America, NBCSN (Results)
4-4:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice at Road America, NBCSN (Results)

SUNDAY, August 27
11:45 a.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, CNBC (Results)
3 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Johnsonville 180 (45 laps, 182.16 miles), NBC (Results)

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MORE: Full Stage 2 results

Matt Kenseth collected 10 much-needed race points when he grabbed his third stage victory of the season by winning Stage 2 at Bristol Motor Speedway’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race on Saturday.

Kenseth was one of a handful of cars not to come to pit road after a caution on Lap 231, clearing the way for the playoff-bubble driver to nab the stage win when it ended on Lap 250.

Kyle Busch, who led 37 laps beginning on Lap 204, surrendered the lead to come to pit road just before the end of Stage 2. Busch is attempting to win all three NASCAR series races this weekend after also winning the Camping World Truck and XFINITY Series races in Bristol.

Martin Truex Jr. went two laps down in Stage 2 after he was forced to return to pit road after stops on Lap 202. He then was levied with an uncontrolled tire penalty, and the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota dropped from fifth to 29th by the time it was over.

The No. 3 of Austin Dillon and the No. 33 of Jeffrey Earnhardt collided on Lap 231, causing significant damage to both cars.

 

Finish Driver Team Race points
1. Matt Kenseth  Joe Gibbs Racing 10
2. Jimmie Johnson  Hendrick Motorsports 9
3. Kevin Harvick  Stewart-Haas Racing 8
4. Ryan Newman  Richard Childress Racing 7
5. Erik Jones  Furniture Row Racing 6
6. Kyle Larson  Chip Ganassi Racing 5
7. Denny Hamlin  Joe Gibbs Racing 4
8. Kyle Busch  Joe Gibbs Racing 3
9. Paul Menard  Richard Childress Racing 2
10. Clint Bowyer  Stewart-Haas Racing 1


MORE: Full Stage 1 results

Kyle Busch collected his 10th stage win of the season by winning Stage 1 of Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Busch, who is attempting to sweep all three NASCAR series races this weekend, nudged leader Kyle Larson out of the way just before Stage 1 ended on Lap 125 to nab the stage win.

Larson led a race-high 70 laps after taking the top spot from pole-sitter Erik Jones on Lap 65. Jones led 49 of the first 64 laps.

The No. 2 Team Penske Ford of Brad Keselowski suffered an early issue in Stage 1 when the left front tire went down on Lap 5. After stopping to make repairs, Keselowski was three laps down at the end of the first stage.

Stage 2 ends at Lap 250; the final stage is scheduled to conclude at Lap 500.

Finish Driver Team Race points
1.  Kyle Busch  Joe Gibbs Racing 10
2.  Erik Jones  Furniture Row Racing 9
3.  Kyle Larson  Chip Ganassi Racing 8
4.  Chase Elliott  Hendrick Motorsports 7
5.  Matt Kenseth  Joe Gibbs Racing 6
6.  Denny Hamlin  Joe Gibbs Racing 5
7.  Ryan Blaney  Wood Brothers Racing 4
8.  Joey Logano  Team Penske 3
9.  Martin Truex Jr.  Furniture Row Racing 2
10.  Jimmie Johnson  Hendrick Motorsports 1

 

Posted on by Track Release

As the electricity builds towards the green flag of the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, Bristol Motor Speedway’s fan-favorite driver introductions feature a musical lineup unlike any other.

The combination of hard rock, rap and country showcase the diverse personalities of the stars of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series before they strap in to conquer The Last Great Colosseum.

Erik Jones, who claimed his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole, will salute his Furniture Row Racing team’s pole-winning effort with DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win.” He’s hoping to use that phrase to claim his first Cup Series victory.

Kyle Larson, who has been one of the strongest competitors this season, starts second and is still searching for his first career Bristol win. He pays homage to his dirt tracking days with Kenny Montgomery’s “Dirt Track Thang.”

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne decided to take a risk and chose each other’s songs. Earnhardt Jr. will walk out to “Stuntin’ Like My Daddy” and Kahne’s will be “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone” by Brooks & Dunn.

Defending race winner Kevin Harvick is channeling his nickname of “Happy Harvick” with “Happy” by Pharrell while April’s Food City 500 winner Jimmie Johnson is using Snoop Dogg’s “What’s My Name.”

Five-time Bristol winner Kyle Busch is going for the sweep this weekend (after winning the UNOH 200 and Food City 300) and is using the popular hit “Thunder” by Imagine Dragons.

Here is the list of the 2017 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race driver introduction song choices:

Starting
Position		 Driver Artist Song
1 Erik Jones DJ Khaled All I Do Is Win
2 Kyle Larson Kenny Montgomery Dirt Track Thing
3 Kasey Kahne Brooks & Dunn You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone
4 Chase Elliott Jeff Bates Chevy Don’t Let Me Down
5 Matt Kenseth Metallica Halo on Fire
6 Martin Truex Jr. Florida Georgia Line That’s How We Do Around Here
7 Denny Hamlin Drake Jumpman
8 Joey Logano Drake Energy
9 Clint Bowyer Randy Houser How Country Feels
10 Ryan Blaney Sturgill Simpson Life Ain’t Fair and The World is Mean
11 Jamie McMurray Imagine Dragons Believer
12 Daniel Suarez El Mariachi Loco
13 Ryan Newman Luke Bryan Huntin, Fishin & Lovin Everyday
14 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Alan Jackson Chattahoochee
15 Chris Buescher Matt Mason E
16 Austin Dillon Rick Ross Ain’t No Mercy
17 Brad Keselowski Van Halen Right Now
18 Kyle Busch Imagine Dragons Thunder
19 David Ragan Tracey Byrd I’m From the Country
20 Trevor Bayne KB Ft. Lecrae Sideways
21 Jimmie Johnson Snoop Dogg What’s My Name
22 Ty Dillon Petey Pablo Rise Up
23 AJ Allmendinger Linkin Park Paper Cut
24 Danica Patrick Warren G Regulate
25 Kurt Busch Aerosmith Sweet Emotion
26 Michael McDowell Thi’sl Dream Team
27 Paul Menard Lamb of God 512
28 Aric Almirola Pitbull Green Light
29 Kevin Harvick Pharrell Happy
30 JJ Yeley Sonny & Cher I Got You Babe
31 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Birdman & Little Wayne Stuntin’ Like My Daddy
32 Cole Whitt Sir Mix-A-Lot Baby Got Back
33 Landon Cassill Hawthorne Heights Silver Nights
34 Matt DiBenedetto X Gon Give It To Ya
35 Corey LaJoie Jason Aldean Lights Come On
36 BJ McLeod Motley Crue Kickstart My Heart
37 Gray Gaulding Bon Jovi Wanted Dead or Alive
38 Jeffrey Earnhardt Tyler Hatley & the Little Mountain Band Good Life
39 Reed Sorenson Five Finger Death Punch Over and Under It
40 Joey Gase Black Eyed Peas I Gotta Feeling
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RELATED: Playoff standings | Logano, Bowyer perched on playoff bubble

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Tab Boyd was grinning from ear-to-ear.

The No. 22 spotter has spent his weekends for the last five years perched atop hills and high-as-the-sky towers at race tracks across the country and guiding Joey Logano’s Shell-Pennzoil Ford on track.

But he had never seen Bristol Motor Speedway from a hot air balloon until Saturday afternoon – nor did he ever think he ever would.

“That’s one thing about this job,” Boyd told NASCAR.com with a laugh, while airborne. “It’s never dull and it’s always full of surprises.”

The Pensacola, Florida, native is no stranger to racing; he grew up around the sport and has memories going to tracks around the Southeast with his father. The tiny Tennessee short track known as Bristol was always a place he looked forward to seeing.

Being able to spot for a living at this special place is “pretty much a dream come true.”

“It’s a very unique place, it’s always been,” Boyd said. “Bristol’s always been somewhere I’ve loved to come since I was a little kid, so it’s neat to come here and help be part of the show.”

But the Bristol show is one that isn’t so seamless; the small track equates to small spaces to move and even smaller tempers from drivers as they bump and rub one another’s cars.

It makes a spotter’s job even more crucial.

“It’s very challenging here at Bristol,” he said. “Being in this hot air balloon is a pretty cool experience to see a different perspective of the speedway rather than the spotter’s stand, but it’s so intense; everybody’s doing everything they can to pass each other every second they can around the track. So, just being alert and being on the game is the hard part at Bristol.”

RELATED: Who’s on the bubble entering Bristol?

Boyd points out the spotter’s stand from the hot air balloon, an area to the right of the Bass Pro Shops-emblazoned tower. He shows a picture that he took from the spotter’s stand looking at the hot air balloon.

“So that was from there to here. As a matter of fact, I’m going to take one from here to there,” he said, snapping a photo of the iconic colosseum.

“The view from the Bristol spotter stand is really good, but I tell you what, I’d like to get this A11 to bring this thing to Watkins Glen or something like that,” he said later with a grin. “To go way above a road course, that would be pretty handy.”

Tonight’s race (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will present an additional challenge for the No. 22 team, as it marks one of three races left for Logano to win his way into NASCAR’s playoffs. With his win at Richmond encumbered, Logano currently sits 18th in the playoff standings, two spots out from the 16-car field.

But while that creates pressure for the team, some of that goes away when the green flag is dropped, Boyd said. 

Because, after all, it’s Bristol, baby.

“It’s really important to do well each and every week but knowing that we’re about to wrap up the regular season, it’s more important for us to be able to get a win,” Boyd said.  “Once the race starts, that kind of all goes out the window and you get in your zone and you do the best you can to get in good positions and be up front.

“So, that’s the fun part about Bristol, is being here and the intensity and the crowd and hearing them roar whenever a big pass is made, so that’s what it’s all about.”