Hendrick Motorsports strengthens organization with eight leadership team promotions

Posted on August 15, 2017 by

CONCORD, N.C. (Aug. 15, 2017) – Hendrick Motorsports has elevated eight senior leaders into new positions designed to strengthen the 12-time and defending NASCAR Cup Series champions and enhance the team’s overall management structure. The eight executives, who will assume their new roles immediately, have more than 150 combined years of service with the organization.

“I believe the best leaders serve their teammates, not the other way around,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “Servant leadership is an approach that’s been successful for us in both racing and the automobile business, and it’s something our organization has wholeheartedly embraced. These people have grown in our culture and are trusted throughout our company. I’m proud to see them expand their responsibilities as we look toward the future together.”

Vice president and chief financial officer Scott Lampe has been promoted to executive vice president, making him Hendrick Motorsports’ third-ranking officer after owner Hendrick and team president Marshall Carlson. The Appalachian State University graduate will continue as CFO with responsibility for core business functions that include accounting, aviation, human resources, information technology, legal affairs, purchasing, and real estate. The Durham, North Carolina, native has been with the company for 18 years.

Veteran racer Ken Howes, who has 32 years of service with Hendrick Motorsports, has been named vice president and chief of staff to provide leadership, coordination and support across the organization’s senior executive team and all racing operations. The Johannesburg, South Africa, native previously was vice president of competition and is the company’s most experienced team executive with a decorated auto racing career that spans NASCAR, Formula 1 and IMSA.

Director of engine operations Jeff Andrews has been elevated to vice president of competition. With 25 years of experience with Hendrick Motorsports, Andrews is now the organization’s senior competition executive supporting its crew chiefs and four NASCAR Cup Series teams. His responsibilities include oversight of the company’s engine operation and the newly formed competition systems group. The Fresno, California, native will be the organization’s representative on the NASCAR competition committee and serve as its co-chair representing Chevrolet teams.

Nos. 5 and 24 team manager Brian Whitesell has been promoted to the new position of vice president of operations. He will oversee the organization’s vehicle engineering group and direct all vehicle-related production, including chassis, bodies, composites and other unified vehicle production functions. The Stuarts Draft, Virginia, native holds a mechanical engineering degree from Virginia Tech and has 25 years of service with Hendrick Motorsports.

Lampe, Howes, Andrews, Whitesell and longtime vice president of marketing Patrick Perkins will report to Carlson, along with crew chiefs Alan Gustafson, Greg Ives, Chad Knaus and Keith Rodden.

“Without question, our greatest strength is the more than 600 people working at every level inside Hendrick Motorsports,” Carlson said. “We’ve spent a great deal of time listening to team members throughout the organization, front to back, and identified ways to better align management and organize capabilities to take full advantage of our talent. The first priority is our people, and the best way we can serve them is to continue winning races and competing for championships for many years to come. We believe these decisions will help to ensure we meet that goal.”

Other new assignments include:

· Longtime director of engine engineering Jim Wall has been promoted to director of powertrain. In conjunction with Andrews, Wall will continue managing the development and delivery of championship-caliber engines with the added responsibility of overseeing the gear and transmission unit, which will be integrated with the engine operation. The Concord native holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University. He has more than 30 years of service with Hendrick Motorsports.

· Vehicle production director Darian Grubb has been promoted to director of competition systems, reporting to Andrews. The Floyd, Virginia, native will work to enhance team capabilities that directly support at-track competition with day-to-day oversight of the new competition systems group, which includes the organization’s simulation programs, analytics platforms, data acquisition and communication technologies, and at-track research and development.

· Manager of aerodynamics Diane Holl, a former principle engineer at the McLaren Formula 1 team, has been promoted to director of vehicle engineering, reporting to Whitesell. The Guildford, England, native will lead the vehicle engineering group and integrate the design-and-build processes employed in race car development and production.

· Nos. 48 and 88 team manager Michael Landis has been promoted to director of operational support, reporting to Lampe. The New York City native will provide responsive business services to the competition and operations units with oversight of essential support functions including purchasing, apparel, travel, and logistics and transport.

Posted on August 15, 2017March 9, 2022 by Holly Cain

The bold move Kyle Larson made to win Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway is distinctly reminiscent of the kind of audacious from-the-gut maneuver you might have expected to see former NASCAR stars such as the late Dale Earnhardt or recently-retired Tony Stewart pull off.

Coming from the second row on an overtime restart, 25-year old Larson stuck the nose of his No. 42 Target Chevrolet between the front row cars — Furniture Row Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Erik Jones — boldly pushed it forward and frankly, just took off to win the race. They were the only two laps he led on the day.

But it was Larson’s third consecutive win at the Michigan 2-miler located in the backyard of the nation’s automobile headquarters — and the feat tied a mark of three straight wins set by NASCAR Hall of Famers David Pearson and Bill Elliott.

Perspective is necessary. Larson is in only his fourth full-time season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series ranks, so it’s a little early to straight up compare him to the sport’s Hall of Famers.

But there’s no denying he drives like a lot of them.

In three decades covering Larson’s team owner Chip Ganassi in NASCAR, sports cars and IndyCars, I can’t remember many times when Ganassi was so happy and so effusive with a victory as he was on Sunday.

And this is a champion team owner who has already collected a lot of trophies — 195 exactly — and a lot of championships for the organization. Ganassi has Rolex 24 of Daytona winning watches, sports car season trophies, Indy 500 trophies, and IndyCar Series championships.

And, now perhaps Ganassi feels one of his two drivers — Larson or former Daytona 500-winning veteran Jamie McMurray — may finally deliver NASCAR’s season title.

WATCH: Chip Ganassi celebrates with exuberance | @nascarcasm on Ganassi’s celebrating

Certainly Ganassi’s “energetic” embrace of Larson’s crew chief Chad Johnston on pit road as the checkered flag waved and then his bear hug, high five and head tap for Larson afterward were fun to watch whether you’re a fan of that team or not.

Johnston joked this week that maybe he should wear a HANS device on to make sure he doesn’t suffer a celebratory injury.

Of course there are worse ways to get hurt.

It was all a reminder of why we love to watch racing — a thrilling finish followed by genuine emotion.

“My hat’s off to everybody on the team because the countless hours and the hard work and having to listen to the media and having to listen to everybody the last few weeks, that it’s all falling apart and we’re no good anymore, we were below 23rd or whatever for three races in a row,” Ganassi said. “So my hats off to the team for just hanging in there and not listening to the critics.”

Truex and Jones put up a great fight, and even as gutted as he had to be, the always stand-up Truex answered questions following the race.

“We got beat fair and square, that’s the way it goes sometimes,” said Truex, who explained he spun his tires on the restart and was unable to hold off Larson.

The tight racing for the trophy was still good for NASCAR, which may well be hosting a long playoff battle between Truex and Larson — the classes of the field for much of the regular season.

Twice — at Las Vegas and Kentucky — Larson has finished runner-up to Truex, who essentially has spread out his series-best four victories and led the points for all but three weeks since late May. Larson, on the other hand, had only led 10 laps in the seven races between Michigan trophies this summer.

Yet two laps out front and a trophy hoist last weekend show that Larson and his Chip Ganassi Racing team are primed to join Truex in what looks like another compelling playoff run that may well be decided by these potential first-time title winners.

For many long-time NASCAR fans, Larson’s style is reminiscent of Stewart — willing, able and proficient in an assortment of race cars, competing all week, not just on the NASCAR calendar.

Just last weekend, for example, on a much-viewed social media video post, Ganassi gave Larson “permission” to race sprint cars in the historic Knoxville Nationals on Saturday night.

After winning his heat race earlier in the week, Larson finished runner-up to sprint car great –- and Stewart’s team driver — Donny Schatz in the championship A Main.

It appears that was a great momentum builder for Larson, who has clearly demonstrated he is a “racer’s racer” driving for a “racer’s owner” in Ganassi.

WATCH: Larson says it ‘feels amazing to steal one’

“I woke up this morning extremely confident about today, just being able to race last night and have a lot of fun and get close to winning,” Larson said Sunday.

“I felt like I was going to win when I woke up this morning, and then we got to one point in the race, and I’m like, man, I don’t feel like I’m going to win now, but we just kept fighting and got it done.

“So your mind and your positive thoughts and everything is so important in life, in general, and today we had some not so positive thoughts, I guess, when I kept lining up on the bottom, but we got to think positive and line up at the top at the end.”

Larson predicted the kind of excitement and thrill fans enjoyed at the end of Sunday’s race may be only a taste of what’s to come. For a sport in a sort of generational transition, that’s good on top of good.

“I think it’s an exciting time,” Larson said. “I think a lot of fans right now are kind of sad that we’re losing (Dale) Junior and some other veterans and stuff that are out of rides right now. But I think it’s a great opportunity for our sport to take advantage of that and build on it, market us young guys and try and bring in younger fans, more fans.

“It’s some exciting times for sure because there’s a lot of young guys that are in the XFINITY or Truck Series that are well capable of being Cup drivers in the future if everything goes right. It’ll be interesting to see, though, how the next handful of years play out, but I think it’s going to be great.”

Posted on August 15, 2017June 21, 2021 by @KESELOWSKI

SHOP: Darlington gear

Denny Hamlin remembers going to Southside Speedway every Friday night growing up in the 1980s. The short track was Hamlin’s “home” track, located a short distance from Hamlin’s childhood Chesterfield, Virginia, home. There, he would watch Roy Hendrick put on a show on the .333-mile oval.

And it would be Roy’s father, Ray Hendrick, known as “Mr. Modified” who piloted the iconic Flying 11, who would serve as the inspiration for Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota’s throwback scheme this year at Darlington Raceway.

“I never know a whole lot about the history of his dad and him being “Mr. Modified,” so I was thinking, ‘Well I need to find out a little more about his dad,’ ” Hamlin told NASCAR.com on his choice to use the Flying 11 as his throwback scheme for Darlington. “So, I did a little bit of research; (he was) Mr. Modified, (with) over 700 victories on the short tracks. Got to thinking that, ‘hey, I’m a short track guy myself’ — why not throw it back to someone that I idolized … and bring back the Flying 11.”

A red coupe with a signature wing on the side panels, Ray Hendrick piloted the iconic Flying 11 in the 60s, recording more than 700 wins on primarily modified and late model sportsman racing tracks. A multi-faceted driver, Hendrick also dipped his toe into both the NASCAR XFINITY and Monster Energy Series, notching two top fives in the premier series and three top-five finishes in the XFINITY Series. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2007, 17 years after passing away in 1990.

For Hamlin, getting this throwback scheme right was of the upmost importance; he even requested that Joe Gibbs Racing send him vinyl before wrapping the car to make sure it was up to par. The design process is something Hamlin has been a part of every year for Darlington since the track began hosting its throwback weekend.

“I think it was great that Sports Clips has allowed me to help out with the design process and pick out which car I want to throw back to each and every year,” Hamlin said. “Not a whole lot of sponsors allow you to do that. For me, this one’s extra special because it involves my roots in racing and where I grew up …

“Getting every detail is what’s important, all the way to making sure your fire suit looks the same to what the throwback scheme was. That was important.”

For that, Hamlin enlisted the help of Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick, who also has a connection to Hamlin’s throwback scheme; Rick and his father Papa Joe Hendrick (no relation to Roy or Ray Hendrick) both served as volunteer crew members for Ray Hendrick in the 1960s.

“I actually had Rick Hendrick send me a picture of Ray’s suit to make sure that it was exactly correct.” Hamlin said.

Hendrick is also helping him with another facet in the throwback project, as Hamlin is working on getting the restored Flying 11 coupe to Darlington on Labor Day weekend. Adding another historical element to the mix, Hamlin has invited all the winning No. 11 drivers to attend the race for a photo opportunity. With a record-setting 210 victories, the No. 11 remains the winningest car number in NASCAR, its list of drivers including Junior Johnson, Cale Yarborough, Bill Elliott, Buddy Baker and Bobby Allison.

“When I think about all the historic drivers and Hall of Fame drivers that have driven the No. 11 — I mean, 210 wins is amazing — and to me, to be able to have the opportunity to have all those race winners in the 11 go to the race track and have a photo opp with them … listen, I’m just the small guy in the corner,” Hamlin said with a smile. “I won’t be front and center in that photo because there’s so many historic great drivers and champions that have driven the 11 before me.

“…We have a long list and we’re trying to get probably the last two guys to be there. Trust me, when you’re trying to get Mario Andretti to a race track, it’s pretty tough. But knowing the company and the drivers that have driven it, it’s the who’s who of all racing.”

For Hamlin, getting a win in this special paint scheme with a group of elite No. 11 drivers watching would be the perfect ending to his throwback weekend. He’s certainly got the stats to boot at “The Track Too Tough to Tame;” the 36-year-old has one win at Darlington (2010) and has finished nine of his 11 races there in the top 10.

This car “needs to be” in Victory Lane, he said.

“It would mean a lot to me,” Hamlin said. “For me to have the input and wanting to throw it back particularly to the short track days and the short track roots, it would (be) extra special to me.

“It’s a race track that we’ve had a lot of success at over the last few years and throughout my career. It’s where I got my first start with JGR in the early 2000s, and so it’s a special weekend, one that we will definitely focus on.”

Posted on August 14, 2017August 15, 2017 by Nascar

Ten Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams are scheduled to take part in a two-day organizational test Tuesday and Wednesday at Chicagoland Speedway in preparation for this season’s playoff opener, set for Sunday, Sept. 17.

Expected to be on hand to represent their respective organizations are seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports), Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing), Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing), Ty Dillon (Germain Racing), Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing), Brad Keselowski (Team Penske), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing), Aric Almirola (Richard Petty Motorsports), Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing) and Ryan Blaney (Wood Brothers Racing).

According to the NASCAR National Series Master Unified Test policy, no more than one team from each company may take part in an organizational test.

In addition to the teams testing, Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota will have their respective wheel force cars on hand at the 1.5-mile track to gather data. Alex Bowman is scheduled to drive the Chevrolet WFT car while David Ragan (Ford) and Drew Herring (Toyota) will handle the testing work for their respective manufacturers.

Among those currently not scheduled to test at Chicago are Furniture Row Racing, JTG Daugherty Racing and Front Row Motorsports. Furniture Row fields the No. 78 Toyota of points leader Martin Truex Jr., in addition to the No. 77 of Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Erik Jones. Truex is the defending race winner at Chicago.

The Tales of the Turtles 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR) is the first of 10 races that make up this year’s playoffs.

Fans can watch the test from 1-4 p.m. for a donation of $10 to Racing Advocate for Community Enrichment, the track’s charitable entity. Admission for children 12 and under is a $5 donation. Fans who have purchased tickets to next month’s races at Chicagoland will be admitted free of charge.

Thursday, Aug. 17 is scheduled as a rain day in case of inclement weather during the test.

This week’s test is the third organizational test of the season. Two more remain, Oct. 10-11 at Martinsville Speedway and Oct. 24-25 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Posted on August 14, 2017August 22, 2017 by Staff Report

BUY TICKETS: See the Southern 500 live
SHOP: Darlington gear

Stewart-Haas Racing driver Danica Patrick will honor 2018 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Robert Yates with a throwback paint scheme on her No. 10 Ford Fusion during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Southern 500 race at Darlington Raceway next month.

“The throwback race at Darlington is such a cool event,” said Patrick, in a team release. “The track has done such a great job of getting the teams and drivers involved. I’m excited to run a true throwback scheme this year. It’s great that we’re able to honor Robert Yates and all he’s done for our sport.”

MORE: Robert Yates headlines NASCAR Hall of Fame class

After working in the sport for more than two decades, Yates launched his own team, Robert Yates Racing (RYR), in the late 1980s. In 1996, RYR expanded to a two-car operation, fielding the No. 88 Quality Care/Ford Credit Ford with Dale Jarrett. The decision by Yates to add a second car to the stable resulted in Jarrett winning the 1999 championship in a paint scheme that Patrick’s No. 10 Ford Credit Ford Fusion will emulate at Darlington.

“The No. 88 Quality Care/Ford Credit Ford was definitely a memorable program for our team,” Yates said in the release. “We won the Daytona 500 in Dale’s very first race in that scheme in 1996 and went on to win many more races and the championship in 1999. It was incredibly gratifying to have Ford as my sponsor and manufacturer, especially when we beat the competition. Getting to see this scheme run again will bring back many great memories. I can’t thank everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing enough for honoring me and everyone that was on the team during those years.”

In addition to the championship Jarrett earned in 1999, RYR amassed an impressive 57 wins, including three in the Daytona 500.

As the series returns to Darlington for the 68th Southern 500, the chance to honor Yates will be a special one for crew chief Billy Scott.

“It’s really an honor to race a paint scheme that has so much history,” Scott said. “Robert Yates Racing gave me my first job in the NASCAR Cup Series, so to take our No. 10 Ford Fusion to Darlington in tribute of Robert and all that he’s accomplished makes me extremely proud.”

Ford Motor Credit Company is the financial services arm of Ford Motor Company. The brand was first seen on a NASCAR racecar in 1994 when it sponsored Elton Sawyer in what is now the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The sponsorship was very successful, so much so that in 1996 it expanded into the NASCAR Cup Series, which allowed RYR to become a two-car team.

Jarrett ran the No. 88 Quality Care/Ford Credit Ford paint scheme from 1996 through 2000, earning 20 wins, nine poles and leading more than 5,000 laps. That tally includes wins at Darlington in the 1997 and 1998 TranSouth Financial 400.

“We are very proud of our part in the heritage of NASCAR and particularly the success of RYR,” said Dale Jones, Ford Credit executive vice president of the Americas. “The Ford Credit throwback paint scheme brings back great memories of victory at the racetrack. We are thrilled that Danica will be in the driver’s seat representing that history.”

The 1.366-mile Darlington track and its Labor Day race weekend host “The Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR” when the industry honors the sport’s history. The Southern 500 can be seen live on NBCSN beginning at 6 p.m. EDT and heard live on MRN Radio.

Posted on August 14, 2017 by NASCAR Wire Service

Of course Erik Jones thought about it. How could he not?

With the race halted by a red flag for a little over five minutes with just two green flag laps left in the Pure Michigan 400 on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, Jones let his mind wander to what it would be like to win the race.

Not only would it have been the first win of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career and lock him into the postseason, but it would have come at his hometown track. A native of Byron, Michigan, Jones grew up 99 miles from the racetrack.

“(The red flag) gives you a lot of time to play through scenarios on the restart and how you want it to work out. It’s very rare it ever works out the way you picture it in your head,” he said. And this one didn’t, either. Instead, Jones settled for third.

He would have had to beat his teammate to get that win. Jones was second on the final restart alongside his Furniture Row Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr.

WATCH: Larson passes Jones, Truex Jr. on final restart

Before the question could even be asked, Truex said flatly that Furniture Row Racing does not have so-called “team orders” and that there was no chance he would let Jones win.

Jones cannot make the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs on points, and will have to win one of the next three races to make the postseason.

Posted on August 14, 2017 by NASCAR Wire Service

BROOKLYN, Mich. — With three races left before the NASCAR playoffs start, Joey Logano is on the outside looking in. His failure to qualify so far is arguably the biggest surprise of the Monster Energy Series season in terms of performance.

He admitted at Michigan International Speedway to feeling desperate, but he sees the closing stretch of regular-season races as really good for him, particularly Bristol and Richmond.

“Bristol is probably one of our best racetracks, especially in the fall race,” said Logano, driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Fusion.

RELATED: Joey Logano’s career starts

He has two career wins at Bristol in 17 starts. He also has two wins at Richmond. He won there in the spring, but a rules violation meant the win was declared encumbered, so it does not lock him into the playoffs. Darlington is the only weak spot in the group. His average finish there is 18.4, and he has just two top-5 finishes in eight starts.

“I don’t look at that race track (Darlington) and say we don’t have a chance,” he said. “I feel like we’ll still be fine there, it just might be a little bit different.”

Logano is too far back to points-race his way in, so his team is likely to take aggressive chances to try to grab a win.

“Every moment becomes more and more important on the racetrack, and that’s OK,” he says. “That’s where you find out what you’re made of, so I’m all right with that.”

Posted on August 13, 2017 by Brad Norman

RELATED: Full race results | Updated standings

How often have you heard a driver start whooping in celebration with half a lap to go in a race? That was Kyle Larson on Sunday, and it was hard to blame him — even if spotter Derek Kneeland had to urge him to stay calm through the final two turns.

Yes, Kyle Larson won Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400, and perhaps no one was more surprised than he was to win his third consecutive race at the 2-mile track.

“We didn’t have the best car,” crew chief Chad Johnston said, “and you usually don’t win without the best car at Michigan.”

But there was Larson at the end, launching the most perfect restart of his career, vaulting from fourth to first in NASCAR Overtime and somehow driving past prohibitive title contender, championship favorite and race leader Martin Truex Jr.

MORE: Ganassi’s joyous celebration | Larson burns it down

All of this came one day after Larson finished second at the prestigious Knoxville Nationals dirt race — which Ganassi OK’d, a rare sprint car race the day before a Monster Energy Series event. The “drive anything, anywhere” mentality has endeared Larson to both longtime fans of NASCAR and longtime fans of dirt racing, and perhaps helped sharpen his prodigious skill behind the wheel.

MORE: Larson places second at Knoxville

Larson came into Michigan in a “slump” by his lofty standards, finishing outside the top 20 for three consecutive races from a variety of issues. Truex Jr. won twice during that stretch, opening up a massive lead in playoff points.

That black No. 78 Furniture Row Toyota appeared poised to claim its fifth win this year. One final restart rewrites the entire story.

And that restart. It was championship-caliber. Judging by the pomp surrounding the victory — Larson hooting and hollering, that epic burnout, Ganassi pounding members of his own team in jubilation — this is a win that feels like it will have a lasting impact on the entire team.

The grin on Larson’s face says don’t ship that championship to Colorado just yet.

Posted on August 13, 2017August 13, 2017 by Staff Report

Kyle Larson steamed to his third victory of the season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday, making a bold move in an overtime restart for his third straight Michigan International Speedway win.

Larson led only the last two laps of the 202-lap event in the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet, diving past Martin Truex Jr. in a major jumble near the front of the pack on the final green-flag stint. His third win on the 2-mile track was the fourth of his career in NASCAR’s top division.

“This win feels amazing to steal one in a way,” Larson said, “and my other three wins I felt like we had the first- or second-best car, but today at times I didn’t think we were a top-10 car. But to get the win that way is awesome.”

Truex came home in second place, his Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota just .310 seconds behind at the end of the Pure Michigan 400. Truex led three times for 57 laps, but was bitten when a late-race incident forced a red flag and sent the race past regulation.

“We got beat fair and square,” Truex said. “That’s the way it goes sometimes. Double‑file restarts are tricky, and I had good restarts all day I felt like, and we had that red flag for the first time and really just sat there while I got the tires cold and then only had one lap to come to the green and get some heat back in them, and I just struggled getting going, just spun the tires. I didn’t really expect it because I hadn’t had any trouble with that all day.”

That late caution period — for a Lap 196 wreck involving Paul Menard and Michael McDowell — sent the race past its scheduled distance, giving NASCAR’s new rules governing overtime their first field test. Competition officials made the switch Aug. 2, indicating that the start-finish line would replace the former overtime line near a track’s midpoint to rule a race complete.

Rookie Erik Jones, Truex’s teammate, led five laps and matched a career-best finish in third. Ryan Newman was fourth with Trevor Bayne and Chris Buescher both posting season-best finishes to round out the top six.

Pole-starter Brad Keselowski, an early dominator who led 103 of the first 110 laps and 105 laps overall, faded to a 17th-place finish in the Team Penske No. 2 Ford. He also added a playoff point to his tally with his fourth stage win of the year in the opening 60-lap stretch.

“It just didn’t come together there at the end, but it was nice to lead a bunch of laps,” Keselowski said. “That was good and something I was really proud of, but I just didn’t have enough to really run with the 77 (Jones) and the 78 (Truex).”

Truex also added to his playoff point stockpile with his 15th stage win of the year at the Lap 120 break.

The race was incident-free until a Lap 139 crack-up involving Kasey Kahne and Daniel Suarez. Kahne’s Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet slid up into the path of Suarez’s Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota, and both cars made heavy contact with the outside retaining wall.

MORE: Suarez, Kahne crash out early

Suarez finished 37th in the 39-car field, with Kahne 38th.

The series’ next race is scheduled Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM) at Bristol Motor Speedway. Just three regular-season races remain before the playoff field of 16 drivers is set.

Posted on August 13, 2017August 13, 2017 by Staff Report

RELATED: Race results | Stage recaps

A heavy crash brought an early end to the day for Kasey Kahne and Daniel Suarez in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event at Michigan International Speedway.

Kahne’s Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet drifted up into the path of Suarez’s No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in Turn 2 on the 138th of a scheduled 200 laps. The two cars then slid into the 2-mile track’s retaining wall, causing severe damage to both.

Suarez, a Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate, led three laps early in the Pure Michigan 400. Both cars were forced to the garage with heavy damage.

Kahne said he had committed to the bottom lane before the two cars collided.

“I expected we could be close off the corner, and I was just coming off and then we hit,” Kahne said after leaving the track’s infield car center. “So, I don’t know. I expected to run side-by-side down the backstretch, but not give a lot of room, because you don’t. Nobody does. But I was making the pass and I don’t know how we hit. Ruined it. It’s over.”

Suarez, who saw his streak of top-10 finishes snapped at four races, had his own version. It was particularly a blow for the rookie, who is on the playoff bubble.

“I don’t really know,” Suarez said. “I was very, very tight and I was just trying to hold my line. I think the 5 (Kahne), he was passing me obviously and he went up a little too soon for me. I was trying to give him some room, but actually I got out of the throttle at that point, but I don’t know if he was told it was already time to go up. I don’t know. It’s just unfortunate because we came from a streak of top fives and now this is going to be the end of it. We’re going to regroup and come back stronger next week.”