Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Race results | Series standings | Detailed breakdown

LONG POND, Pa. — With a dramatic last-lap pass — the first of the season in the NASCAR XFINITY Series — Brad Keselowski won Saturday’s Pocono Green 250 at Pocono Raceway, ending a 46-race drought for the No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

Keselowski swept the stages in the 100-lap event but couldn’t get past leader Kyle Larson until he reached the Long Pond straightaway on the final circuit. Keselowski powered off the first turn, down-shifted and blew past Larson before the cars reached the Tunnel Turn.

Justin Allgaier followed Keselowski past Larson and finished second, .615 seconds behind the race winner. Larson came home third, followed by Elliott Sadler and Daniel Suarez.

WATCH: Blaney interviews Keselowski in Victory Lane

Keselowski’s victory didn’t come without a fight. On a restart with 16 laps left, after caution for Brandon Jones’ blown left rear tire and frontstetch wreck on Lap 78, Keselowski was on the inside of the front row, taking the green flag beside race leader Cole Custer.

A push from Elliott Sadler got Keselowski to the front, but Sadler continued the shove into Turn 1. Keselowski sailed high in the corner, narrowly keeping the no. 22 Mustang off the wall.

“I got a good push, but the push didn’t stop, and I found myself in the third lane in Turn 1, which is somewhere you don’t want to be,” said Keselowski, who fell back to 13th in the running order. “I got down there and my rear tires were off the ground and went straight, trying not to back it into the wall. With fewer than 16 laps to get back to the front, Keselowski began to bull his way through the field. He split the two cars of Brendan Gaughan and polesitter Kyle Benjamin, bouncing off both in the process.

By Lap 97 he had reeled in Allgaier, and when the No. 7 Chevrolet slipped slightly, Keselowski charged past and took off after Larson. Then came the winning pass in Turn 1.

“I drove by a bunch of cars and just pushed as hard as I could,” Keselowski said of his closing. “It looked like Kyle’s car was struggling just a little bit and he was getting tight in the middle, loose off. He was doing a really good job holding it low so I couldn’t get a run. Just on the last lap, I got on his bumper and got him loose.

“He was trying to do the side draft thing down the backstretch and all the way down the apron. That had to look pretty cool. Hell of a race. Really happy for the 22 team. It’s been a while.”

RACE RECAP: Catch up on the action in 77 seconds

When Keselowski dropped back on the final restart, Larson found himself in a surprising position.

“I was not expecting to get the lead on that restart,” Larson said. “Elliott gave Brad too good a push in Turn 1, and then Elliott overshot the Tunnel Turn.”

After charging past Sadler on the restart lap, Larson protected his position until the first corner of the last lap.

“I couldn’t get back to the gas as quick as I wanted to — my car was just plowing — and Brad got a great run off the corner,” Larson said.

Allgaier was disappointed with second place, but he had the consolation of assuming the series lead by one point over Sadler. Those two drivers are light years ahead of their JR Motorsports teammate, William Byron, who stands third, 62 points behind Allgaier.

On the eve of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut in the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. finished 11th in his last scheduled ride in the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Mustang.

Wallace finishes his stint with RFR fourth in the series standings, 88 points behind the leader.

Benjamin led 28 laps in his second NASCAR XFINITY Series race – one fewer than Keselowski’s 29 – but fell back to 16th at the finish after the late contact with the eventual racer winner.

Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED: Starting lineup | Bubba’s first laps in the 43

LONG POND, Pa. — Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. entered the Pocono Raceway garage early Friday morning walking alongside and chatting with NASCAR’s biggest superstar, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

As always, a huge crowd of adoring NASCAR fans excitedly made their way toward the pair.

Only this time, they didn’t just make a beeline to Earnhardt. They surrounded Wallace — offering him congratulatory back slaps and good luck wishes as he prepared to make his first ever Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start Sunday, driving for Richard Petty Motorsports as a substitute for the injured Aric Almirola.

Wallace, 23, will be the fourth African-American to compete in NASCAR’s marquee division and the first since 2006 when Bill Lester made two starts for Bill Davis Racing with a best showing of 32nd at Michigan.

But the prevailing good feeling here toward Wallace isn’t only about this important history — it’s about important opportunity.

“I was talking about this the other day and it’s pretty cool to see how many people are in my corner,” Wallace said. “You don’t think about that on a normal basis. This is a big opportunity to prove myself and make them all very happy.”

The reality is most people are already pleased for Wallace, one of the most popular and outgoing drivers in the sport. The support inside and outside the garage has been tremendous on all levels.

“Jimmie Johnson reached out pretty much as soon as we announced it,” Wallace said of the sport’s reigning seven-time champion. “He said, ‘See you on Sundays now, bro.’ I was like, ‘All right, that’s cool. That’s really cool.’

“He said that if I needed anything to reach out to him. … At the end of the day it’s just a race car with a little bit more horsepower, a little bit bigger venue, a little bit bigger crowd, but at the end of the day I’ve been waiting for this moment for 15 years or however long I’ve been racing — a long time. Now it’s finally here, so it’s just another stroll in the park.”

Perhaps more of a jog, Wallace conceded Friday after qualifying the No. 43 Smithfield Foods Ford 16th on Sunday’s starting grid. This is the big time. And the sport’s Drive for Diversity graduate and Rev Racing product has spent a lifetime preparing himself for this moment.

MORE: Inside Wallace’s rise from Rev Racing

Almost immediately after his family moved from Alabama to the Charlotte area to better position Wallace in the sport, he established himself as a driver to watch.

He won his first start in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East at Greenville, South Carolina, at age 16.

In his first four NASCAR XFINITY starts in 2012 — at the age of 18 — he had three top-10 finishes and won the pole position at Dover International Speedway.

A year later, Wallace won his first NASCAR national series event, a Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville, only weeks after his 19th birthday. Since then he has collected four more truck series victories and 34 top-10 finishes in 84 XFINITY Series starts.

He was ranked fourth in the XFINITY Series championship before his Roush Fenway Racing team announced this week it will withdraw from full-time competition to pursue sponsorship following his start at Pocono on Saturday.

It all makes the timing of Wallace’s ride in the No. 43 serendipitous. And Wallace intends to make full use of his “big chance,” hoping to parlay this part-time opportunity in the big leagues into a full-time job in the Monster Energy Series next year.

That starts this weekend in Pocono, where Wallace is determined to turn in a good effort. Aside from preparing for the XFINITY Series race on Saturday, Wallace joked about his lack of time on track — only two hour-long Monster Energy Series practice sessions — saying “We decided to pick the weekend where I get the least amount of practice possible.”

The goal for Wallace is in doing well enough in these starts (Almirola is expected to be out 5-9 more weeks) that he gets a chance to race full time in the series. It may start with big results this weekend, or it may be a combination of his efforts in the next few weeks.

Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Daniel Suarez was quick to offer support and encouragement. He also got a rather sudden and unexpected opportunity in the Monster Energy Series ranks, taking over the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota after veteran Carl Edward’s unanticipated retirement this past offseason.

“It’s a lot going on, a lot of interviews. … But it’s a lot of opportunity,” Suarez said, adding, “When we’re 8 or 10 years old, we dream to be in this position and luckily we get this opportunity. I’m very happy for him. I’ve known him since racing in the K&N Series.”

Wallace’s new boss, NASCAR’s “King” Richard Petty is optimistic about his new driver and sympathetic to all the attention being directed toward his young driver.

“Well, it’s going to be different, especially since this is his first race in the Cup Series and there’s a lot of pressure on him, not a lot of pressure on us,” Petty said. “It really comes down to how he adapts to the Cup Series deal, and we’re willing to give him a chance.”

Petty smiled and conceded there’s only so much the 200-time race winner could do to help Wallace behind the wheel.

“We’ve talked a little bit about what the car’s doing but I can’t help him. … It’s been so long since I’ve been in the car,” Petty said. “He’s got a lot of attention, so maybe being bolted down in the car he’ll settle down. He’s got it handled.”

WATCH: Wallace talks about Wendell Scott, his goals

Wallace was 19th fastest in his first Monster Energy Series practice Friday, and only Trevor Bayne ran more laps (22 laps to Wallace’s 21). He advanced to the second round of qualifying and will start 16th on the grid — ahead of his friend Johnson (19th).

“I don’t know what more I could ask for,” Wallace said. “These guys are awesome, all pumped up to be here and it’s a good showing for our Smithfield Ford. Hopefully, RP (Richard Petty) likes it, the King’s been smiling about it. He gave me a little fist pump earlier.’

“It’s a big moment for me and a big moment for the sport. Sunday is all about driving a clean race. Don’t make anybody mad, try to gain and earn respect and prove myself to everybody. I’m looking just for a good, solid race and gaining respect from the veterans here and to prove to everybody that I belong in the series.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Take a look at the stats from drivers that attempted a run of 10 consecutive laps in practices at Pocono Raceway this weekend.

RELATED: Practice 2 results

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 4 Kevin Harvick 11 20 172.442
2 41 Kurt Busch 1 10 172.196
3 5 Kasey Kahne 8 17 172.019
4 1 Jamie McMurray 6 15 172.010
5 19 Daniel Suarez 1 10 170.769
6 95 Michael McDowell 7 16 170.333
7 10 Danica Patrick 18 27 169.904

RELATED: Practice 1 results

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 6 Trevor Bayne 9 18 168.195
2 51 Cody Ware 1 10 157.871

* Car must run 10 consecutive laps on the track to be included in the above charts.

Posted on by Staff Report

MORE: Final practice results | Best 10-lap averages

Polesitter Kyle Busch logged the fastest lap in Saturday’s final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Pocono Raceway, whirling his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota around the track at 175.421 mph.

Busch, who on Friday evening won the Coors Light Pole Award for Sunday’s Axalta presents the Pocono 400, also brushed the wall in Turn 3 with about seven minutes left in the practice session but his No. 18 did not appear to sustain any damage.

Brad Keselowski was next fastest, urging his No. 2 Team Penske Ford around the track at 175.285 mph. Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.

Larson spun about 15 minutes into the practice session, sliding through Turn 2 when he appeared to get loose. The No. 42 Chevrolet did not make contact with anything, though the red flag came out briefly while NASCAR officials checked for fluid or debris on the track.

RELATED: Watch Larson spin

There were four practice holds for final practice at the 2.5-mile track. Derrike Cope (No. 55) and Erik Jones (No. 77) were assessed 15-minute practice holds due to their cars being late to pre-qualifying inspection, while Daniel Suarez (No. 19) and Kurt Busch (No. 41) were assessed 15-minute practice holds for failing pre-qualifying inspection twice.

This was the final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice before Sunday’s Axalta presents the Pocono 400 at 3 p.m. ET (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Pat DeCola

RELATED: Gragson learns the hard way what happens when @DaleJr retweets you

Friday night was a pretty good night for Noah Gragson.

The Camping World Truck Series rookie picked up his first career 21 Means 21 Pole Award for the winstaronlinegaming.com 400 at Texas Motor Speedway en route to a seventh-place finish — the second-best result of his young career.

That alone constitutes a solid evening, but the 18-year-old Gragson also received his high school diploma from track president Eddie Gossage — a la Erik Jones — during driver intros. Pretty cool!

But Gragson wasn’t done.

Moments after receiving his diploma, the Kyle Busch Motorsports driver decided to pull from the Michael “Squints” Palladorous book of tricks and Wendy Peffercorn (verb) a couple of unsuspecting Texas Motor Speedway girls, who were shocked at first but laughed and took it in stride.

 

Bold move, young man.

(Hey — it worked for Squints. As you may recall, he and Peffercorn wound up getting married in “The Sandlot.”)

We’re not entirely sure who Gragson’s favorite musician is, but there’s a pretty solid chance it’s Ben Harper.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

RELATED: See all of Jimmie’s wins

A week after tying one of his NASCAR heroes in career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series wins, Jimmie Johnson has his sights set on tying a new set of legends in the sport at Pocono Raceway.

For Sunday’s Axalta presents the Pocono 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Johnson will have the chance to tie another set of Hall of Famers in Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison, who each scored 84 career wins.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver’s win at Dover International Speedway last Sunday — his 83rd — matched him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough.

Johnson carried the three-time series champion along with him on his helmet en route to his 11th “Monster Mile” win to tie Yarborough for sixth-most victories all-time.

MORE: Johnson honors Cale Yarborough with helmet

The seven-time champion will have Waltrip and Allison along for Sunday’s ride, as well.

 

Posted on by Holly Cain

RELATED: Starting lineup | Full schedule for Pocono | Why Junior will start from the rear

At a Glance

What: Axalta Presents the Pocono 400; Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race No. 14
Where: Pocono Raceway, 2.5-mile tri-oval in Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Green flag: 3:18:30 p.m. ET
TV/Radio: FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Forecast: Mostly sunny with high of 87 and morning winds 5-10 mph out of the West. Chance of precipitation is 10 percent. — Weather.com
National anthem: Lauren Hart
Grand Marshal: Joe McDougall, Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer at Axalta Coating Systems
Race distance: 160 laps, 400 miles
Pit road speed: 55 mph
Caution car speed: 70 mph
Stage lengths: Stage 1 ends on Lap 50; Stage 2 ends on Lap 100; Final stage ends on Lap 160

 

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Race recap | See the finish as it unfolded

NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell took to Twitter after Friday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway to explain the finish, which was completed under caution, and provide proof of victory.

Race-winner Christopher Bell was declared the victor, picking up his second win of the year, by being ahead of runner-up Chase Briscoe at the time of the 10th and final caution.

The photo NASCAR officials used in making the decision:

 

In a Monday morning appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s “The Morning Drive,” O’Donnell elaborated on how NASCAR ruled on the finish of that race.

“In terms of that race, any time we take the white flag or we end the race on a caution, we’ll use any and all means possible to determine the winner,” O’Donnell said. ” So first and foremost, we’ll go to video and we’ll match that up with the exact time of the caution and then how does that match up to the video frames.

“In this case, I think where some of the confusion came about was it was a challenge to get that over to our television partners. They had to get off the air fairly quickly, so I think if you had some more time, that photo would have gone out across the broadcast partners as well and would have saved some of the confusion.

“… We make sure that there is a time stamp and we sync all that up. There’s a number of people up in race control that confirm that. We had the dialogue with Chase and his team and they all agreed on Christopher Bell being the winner as well.”

Posted on by NASCAR Wire Service

RELATED: Race results | Series standings | Detailed breakdown

FORT WORTH, Texas – Christopher Bell, a self-described “dirt track kid” from Oklahoma, continued to show he’s pretty good on pavement Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway.

Bell edged Chase Briscoe after a side-by-side, closing-laps battle to win the 21st annual winstaronlinegaming.com 400 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Bell, who started 21st in the 28-truck field, won under caution after a white-flag wreck involving Timothy Peters, Austin Self and Johnny Sauter on TMS’ repaved and re-profiled 1.5-mile oval.

A 22-year-old native of Norman, Oklahoma, who calls TMS his home track, Bell earned his first win at TMS, second of 2017 and fourth of his 37-race NCWTS career.

“First off, I want to make sure everyone is OK,” said Bell, driver of the No. 4 JBL Toyota Tundra fielded by Kyle Busch Motorsports. “It’s kind of a sorrowful victory here in Victory Lane. That was a pretty bad flip and I’ve taken my fair share of flips and it hurts a lot worse whenever it’s in the grass like that one was, so I hope he’s (Peters) OK. That’s the most important part.

“But second of all, we’re in Victory Lane, so it’s just a dream come true to be able to win here in Texas – my hometown. All of the Tundras are built right here in Texas (San Antonio), so it’s a huge win for us, everybody at Toyota and Toyota Racing Development. Man, our JBL Tundra was super, super good.”

RELATED: Watch Bell’s Victory Lane interview

As Bell and Briscoe raced side-by-side for the win after a restart on Lap 166, Self’s No. 22 Toyota spun and initiated contact with Peters exiting the dogleg and heading down the track’s frontstretch. Peters’ No. 99 Chevrolet Silverado spun and caught the infield grass, sending it tumbling and bouncing on the pavement. The No. 99 wound up on its top, with track safety workers needing several minutes to extricate Peters once the wreckage was turned over.

Peters was evaluated at the track’s infield care center and released.

RELATED: Watch Peters’ truck flipped back over

Briscoe was seeking his first series win and first for Ford this season. It appeared he was going to accomplish both after he took the lead from Bell on a restart following the night’s eighth caution from Laps 155-159. NASCAR’s scoring system determined Briscoe was in the lead on Lap 160 of 167 and when the yellow again flew on Lap 161 for a three-truck incident in Turn 4. When the green flew on Lap 166, Bell was able to edge Briscoe for the lead by inches as the wreck unfolded behind them.

“I never saw the white flag,” said Bell, who led a race-high 92 laps. “I was concentrating on making him (Briscoe) slow down as much as I can. I didn’t think he had the lead whenever he got it and then I didn’t think I had the lead whenever I got it, so it’s just so tight, man. Me and Chase have known each other for a long time – we’re really good friends and met each other racing online whenever we were in our teens and now here we are racing in the Camping World Truck Series together.”

Briscoe didn’t question the scoring outcome involving his friendly rival.

“It was close, I enjoyed it,” said Briscoe, driver of the No. 29 Ford F-150. “I definitely wanted to get the win. But I was sleeping on couches two years ago and never imagined I’d be here.”

Grant Enfinger finished third, followed by Ryan Truex in fourth and fifth-place Ben Rhodes.

Bell began the night 52 points behind Sauter in the championship standings. The reigning series champion, Sauter finished eighth and saw his lead over Bell trimmed to 40 points. Accompanied by crew chief Rudy Fugle and wearing the winner’s white cowboy hat, Bell exited Texas with a smile after his second win and sixth top-10 of 2017.

“This place has a special place in my heart,” Bell said of TMS. “We raced down here a lot with Micro Sprints at Devil’s Bowl Speedway (in Mesquite) and Kennedale (Raceway Park) but never at TMS. I was just a dirt track kid from Oklahoma, so to race here is a dream come true.”

The Camping World Truck Series races next at Gateway Motorsports Park on June 17 in the Gateway 200 (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1).

— John Sturbin, NASCAR Wire Service