Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Qualifying results | Full weekend schedule

Kyle Larson scooted to the Coors Light Pole Award in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying Saturday at Sonoma Raceway.

Larson posted a best lap of 95.295 mph around the 1.99-mile road course in California wine country. The series points leader’s Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet will start first in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM).

“It feels good,” Larson said of his final qualifying lap, which secured his third pole of the season, his first at Sonoma and the fourth of his premier-series career. “This is my home track, I grew up about an hour and a half from here. So, I spent a lot of time in Napa Valley hanging out with (fellow racer) Rico Abreu and the Abreu family, so, always love coming to Sonoma. It’s a fun place and our race cars are always fast.

“I felt like I’ve had a shot at the pole every time I’ve qualified here and just haven’t gotten the job done.”

Jamie McMurray, Larson’s Ganassi teammate, will share the front row on the starting grid after notching the second-fastest lap at 95.204 mph in the No. 1 Chevrolet. Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top five in qualifying.

Chase Elliott, who spun and later crashed his primary Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet in Friday’s practices, reversed his fortunes Saturday. He registered the fastest lap in the opening 25-minute round of qualifying, driving his backup car. Elliott will start eighth Sunday.

Clint Bowyer, a former Sonoma winner, wound up on the short end of the first round of qualifying, missing the 12-driver cut to advance to the last of two rounds of qualifying by .002 seconds. He’ll start 13th in the first of two road-course events of the season.

Five drivers will be making their first premier-series start in Sunday’s 110-lap race. Billy Johnson was the fastest of the newbies, logging the 26th-fastest lap in the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Ford. The sports-car ace will be this weekend’s interim driver in place of the injured Aric Almirola, who is still recovering from a broken back suffered last month in a crash at Kansas Speedway.

Alon Day, set to be the first Israeli-born driver to make a Monster Energy Series start, was 32nd-fastest in the BK Racing No. 23 Toyota. Newcomers Josh Bilicki (33rd), Kevin O’Connell (36th) and Tommy Regan (37th) will occupy spots near the back of the field.

Matt Kenseth did not post a qualifying speed and will start last in the 38-car field. Kenseth’s Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota was already scheduled to start at the back of the pack after a broken oil pump belt required an engine change in Friday practice.

 

Posted on by RJ Kraft

RELATED: Race results | Standings | Detailed breakdown

NEWTON, Iowa — The caution comes out with 13 laps to go. Chase Briscoe holds the lead, having just passed Johnny Sauter for the point position four laps earlier in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series M&M’s 200 Presented by Casey’s General Stores at Iowa Speedway.

What do you do? Strategy decisions abound with the race victory and five precious playoff points on the line, not to mention potentially locking yourself into the playoff with a win if you’re Briscoe.

Briscoe comes for two tires and is first off pit road, but is in second because Sauter elected to stay out on older tires. Thickening the plot is that John Hunter Nemechek lines up behind Sauter in fourth as the first truck with four new tires, and several others behind Nemechek have four fresh Goodyears.

Nemechek’s crew chief Gere Kennon says that the Briscoe team’s decision to pit last week for four tires late at Gateway — a race Nemechek won, as well — was on the team’s mind. In that race, Briscoe drove up from just outside the top 10 to second in the final eight laps.

“The race track changed enough that it (was) rough and wearing all four tires out on our truck, and so that was the only call to make with only 10 laps to go,” Kennon says about Friday’s Iowa race. “It was the thing to do.”

The tires paid off for Nemechek who took the lead from Sauter with six to go and scored his second win of the year. Sauter was able to hang onto second place, while Briscoe dropped back a bit and would hit the wall from what he described as “overdriving” a loose truck to finish seventh.

But what went into those calls? For GMS Racing’s Sauter, it was something he learned from Briscoe, as the rookie caught the veteran for the lead.

RELATED: Sauter thanks Briscoe for the lesson

“Chase Briscoe took me to school pretty good running the top,” Sauter said after his runner-up finish. “He found me some grip up there. Obviously, when he passed me, I moved up there and our lap times went back to tit for tat.”

Sauter elaborated on the decision to stay out, which crew chief Joe Shear Jr. took the blame for during an interview on FS1 following the round of pit stops.

“To be honest with you, I really wasn’t that nervous not having tires having moved up to the third groove there,” Sauter said. “It felt like we put sticker tires on when I moved up there. There was just so much grip up there I couldn’t believe it. Obviously, I kind of knew when they told me the 8 truck (Nemechek) was lining up right behind us there … he had four tires. You are in a rough spot there. Good job to those guys. Not a whole lot of deliberating. I find it best when I just be quiet and drive.”

Briscoe came into Iowa fresh off back-to-back runner-up finishes and was running in second for much of the night prior to taking the lead on Lap 183. And then that final caution came out.

The Brad Keselowski Racing driver told NASCAR.com after the race that he felt like he was in a really tricky spot.

“That’s just the tough part of when you’re leading,” Briscoe said on pit road after the race. “It’s one of those deals where it’s how do you want to lose it. We had to take tires. I don’t know how many guys were on two and how many were on four.

“I was really tight firing in and I was way loose off. I just hate it for my guys. This has been a long time coming seems like for a win every week, but we just haven’t been able to pull it off.”

MORE: See the final laps unfold at Iowa

Posted on by NASCAR Wire Service

RELATED: Race results | Standings | Detailed breakdown

NEWTON, Iowa — With six laps to go, John Hunter Nemechek made his bold, last-gasp move.

Again.

Nemechek, who charged to a Father’s Day win for his dad, Joe, last week at Gateway Motorsports Park, reprised his stirring comeback role in Friday’s pulse-pounding NASCAR Camping World Series M&M’s 200 presented by Casey’s General Store at Iowa Speedway.

“Every one of these guys who works on this team, this is awesome,” said Nemechek, who passed Johnny Sauter on the high-side with six circuits left.

The dramatic ending to a race that ran remarkably clean for most of the first two stages was set up by an incident involving ThorSport teammates Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton with 15 laps to go.

RELATED: Crafton makes heavy contact

Nemechek and all the other contenders — except for Sauter — used the caution to head to pit road. Nemechek’s crew chief, Gere Kennon, outfitted the No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet with four fresh tires.

Sound strategy?

Sure.

The reason the team won?

Not necessarily.

“He drove his butt off tonight,” Kennon said of Nemechek, who had notched one top-10 finish previously at Iowa. “He was awesome. It’s awesome for the (Nemechek) family.”

Sauter settled for second after leading for 72 laps. The series points leader said being passed by Chase Briscoe — who led seven laps before sliding to seventh — had likely already relegated him to a second-at-best finish.

“I got taken to school by Chase Briscoe,” Sauter said. “I think tonight was a second-place finish regardless.”

RELATED: Sauter ‘thanks’ Briscoe

Sauter retains a 42-point lead over Christopher Bell, who finished fifth after dominating roughly two-thirds of the race.

Nemechek notched his fifth career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win. He stood in the fourth position when he and several others emerged from that final, fateful pit stop.

“Somehow it all worked out,” Nemechek said. “The last strategy call, taking four tires instead of two, there at the end, we kind of had that strategy if a caution came out towards the end we were going to come no matter what, and no matter who came, just because tires were such a big factor.”

Noah Gragson earned the pole — his second of the season — and held off Bell for the first 16 laps. Bell rode the high-line to surge ahead one lap later. The Kyle Busch Motorsports teammates remained 1-2 the remainder of the 60-lap opening stage, which Bell won by building a 3.2-second lead by the time the stint ended.

“Drove like a dream,” Bell said at the time.

That blissful state lingered for the 22-year-old Oklahoman — until it was interrupted.

While the trucks directly behind Bell shuffled, his No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota continued to shine.

But dreams of any type rarely last long and Bell saw his diminished by a gamble that didn’t pay off.

With eight laps remaining in the second stage, Bell stayed on the race track while most of the other leaders pitted and added fresh tires following a caution precipitated by Mike Senica’s spin in Turn 2.

The gamble cost him. Sauter swept high to pass Bell with five laps remaining in Stage 2, but another caution waved after an incident involving Kaz Grala, Cody Coughlin and Ben Rhodes.

Bell remained optimistic despite his rapid drop to 12th that preceded the final stage.

“It wouldn’t be fun if it was easy,” Bell said shortly before the race resumed.

Friday proved to be anything but — for everyone but the Nemecheks, who reveled in another dream-like Victory Lane celebration after spending all night getting the truck ready.

“It feels really good,” said Nemechek, who earned the pole at Iowa last season and felt a measure of redemption after surging to the win this time. “This is unbelievable for sure. … Restarting fourth there and pushing Johnny into Turn 1, I was kind of in the catbird seat.”

MORE: Nemechek gets emotional in Victory Lane

— By Rob Gray, NASCAR Wire Service

 

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RELATED: Updated Truck Series schedule

FOX Sports announced today that the July 19 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway is moving from FS1 to FOX Business Network at 9:30 p.m. ET.

The move is being made to accommodate a CONCACAF Gold Cup Quarterfinal double-header match expected to feature the U.S. Men’s National team on FS1 that evening. FOX Business Network and FS1 currently are in the same number of U.S. homes. FOX Sports GO, now accessible to more than 95 million users in the U.S. through their participating pay-TV providers, offers uninterrupted coverage from Eldora.

While a NASCAR race never before has been scheduled for FOX Business Network, last year’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from Iowa Speedway began on FOX Business Network when live coverage of the weather-impacted U.S. Open Championship ran long.  In May 2016, FOX Business Network aired NASCAR RACEDAY and pre-race ceremonies for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race from Kansas Speedway when an MLB game ran long. However, FS1 took over before the green flag waved to begin the race.

With the exception of the July 29 (1 p.m. ET) race from Pocono Raceway and the Oct. 14 (1 p.m. ET) race from Talladega Superspeedway, which air live on the FOX broadcast network, the remainder of the NCWTS season airs live on FS1. The entire FOX NASCAR schedule is available live on FOX Sports GO.

A complete Eldora schedule is below (all times ET and subject to change):

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES single-truck qualifying (5-6 p.m. ET) (FS1)

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES qualifying races (7:30-9 p.m. ET) (FS2)

NCWTS SETUP (9-9:30 p.m. ET) (FOX Business Network)

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES Racing (9:30 p.m. ET) (FOX Business Network)

 Visit www.FOXSports.com/NASCAR/Schedule for updated versions of all three NASCAR national series schedules.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Junior open to TV job

SONOMA, Calif. – As he retires from full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series racing, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has two Daytona 500 victories to credit.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t ever have a third.

During a question-and-answer session with reporters after opening practice at Sonoma Raceway, Earnhardt allowed he might consider an encore appearance in NASCAR’s most prestigious race — under the right circumstances. 

True, next week Earnhardt will compete for the last time at Daytona as the driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. But that doesn’t mean it’s the last time he’ll compete at Daytona.

“Well, you never say never,” Earnhardt said. “I’m just retiring from full-time racing. I’m going to run some XFINITY races next year. I don’t know that I won’t ever run the Daytona 500 again, if the right deal comes along. All these tracks you have memories at, all of them, Daytona included.

“I’m going to be coming back to these tracks, and I want to continue to be part of the sport. I don’t know how it’s going to affect me really. It’s hard for me to put that into words, because I don’t know what that is going to feel like. It will be pretty weird, I think, to come back to the 500. I’m going to go to the 500 whether I’ve got any work to do or not. It will be pretty weird to be there and not race.”  

To some degree, Earnhardt can draw on the experience of his former crew chief, Steve Letarte, who left the pit box for a perch in the NBC Sports television booth.

“When he wasn’t working a race he had a hard time being there,” Earnhardt said. “He had a hard time watching it and not wanting to be a part of it. … It will be interesting I guess when we get to the 500 next year and see how that all feels emotionally.”

Earnhardt also addressed reports that he, too, might be under consideration for a broadcasting role.

“We are certainly open to discussing the possibility of seeing what options I have,” Earnhardt said. “Who wanted us, what kind of job they want me for, and we are sort of in the middle of understanding that, and that just goes along the lines of doing due diligence on everything. I’m not retiring from work. I want to keep seeking out opportunities to make a living and make money and be relevant and be a value to my partners. 

“I want to continue to be a part of the sport, and not just as an owner in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. I want to be a valuable asset to the growth of the sport and continue to help raise the bar and raise the awareness of the sport and promote the sport as much as I can. So we were just kind of looking at what opportunities there are out there for me.”

Posted on by Staff Report

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

Practice 1: Full Practice 1 results

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 18 Kyle Busch 19 28 91.852
2 41 Kurt Busch 16 25 91.609
3 5 Kasey Kahne 18 27 91.509
4 22 Joey Logano 16 25 91.430
5 48 Jimmie Johnson 20 29 91.301
6 51 Josh Bilicki 4 13 87.314

Practice 2: Full Practice 2 results

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 42 Kyle Larson 17 26 91.817
2 4 Kevin Harvick 3 12 91.728
3 18 Kyle Busch 1 10 91.728
4 1 Jamie McMurray 3 12 91.633
5 2 Brad Keselowski 10 19 91.555
6 95 Michael McDowell 1 10 91.175
7 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1 10 90.754
8 37 Chris Buescher 1 10 90.697
9 13 Ty Dillon 1 10 90.245

 

Posted on by RJ Kraft

RELATED: Full schedule for Iowa

NEWTON, Iowa – Four days ago, Sam Hornish Jr. was teaching Vacation Bible School. On Saturday, he hopes to school the NASCAR XFINITY Series field at Iowa Speedway in the American Ethanol E15 250 presented by Enogen (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Hornish will make his first NASCAR national series start of 2017 at a track where he has two wins and is the defending race winner. He’s making the start in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, which is the car atop the owner standings in the XFINITY Series. While he has been out of the car, Hornish has been keeping himself busy with his family — his wife and three kids road tripped with him from Ohio to Iowa for this weekend’s race.

“Whenever anybody asks me what I’ve been up to especially when I’m around home, I say, ‘If I told you, you probably wouldn’t think it takes up that much time, but I never seem to have a free second,'” Hornish said Friday at Iowa.

“It’s just been a lot of fun to be able to spend time with my kids and make some memories with them,” he continued. “I know without putting the time in with them now, I won’t have that opportunity somewhere down the line because they are constantly changing, learning new things and growing up a little more each day.”

Last week, Team Penske announced that Hornish will drive for the team in both Iowa races as well as at Mid-Ohio, near Hornish’s home in Defiance, Ohio.

RELATED: Hornish to drive for Penske in several XFINITY races

“We talked all the way back in December about it,” Hornish said of returning to the Team Penske fold, an organization for which he drove in both NASCAR and IndyCar from 2004 to 2013. “Kind of went back and forth — not so much back and forth on whether we were going to do it but what races it might be and things like that. Hopefully, this is just the first of some things to come.”

The 37-year-old (who turns 38 on July 2) has been selective in his rides in recent years. Outside of a full time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season with Richard Petty Motorsports in 2015, Hornish has run partial schedules in the XFINITY Series for Joe Gibbs Racing and Richard Childress Racing — and now Penske.

“I want to give myself the opportunity that if I’m in the race car, to be in stuff that can at least run in the top 10,” Hornish explained. “I wouldn’t say I was really selective this year. This was an opportunity that presented itself with a team and a bunch of people that I know, as well as the team owners all the way down to the crew chief. …

“I know that at 37, I might be a little bit past that age of getting a full-time Cup ride to compete in the playoffs.”

History says that big things could happen for Hornish at Iowa. Last June, he hopped in the seat of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for a sidelined Matt Tifft and piloted the car to Victory Lane – leading 183 of the 250 laps. On top of that, Penske has three wins here, as well.

“Iowa is a special place for me. … We always tend to run pretty good here,” Hornish said. “I like this track. I like tracks that have character and are little bit bumpier. Being a short track fits in my wheelhouse. I’m pumped up for the opportunity and for what tomorrow brings.”

One thing that Hornish has yet to experience firsthand is stage racing. Introduced this year, stage racing breaks up the race into three stages – Saturday’s race will see the first two stages last 60 laps each, with the last segment scheduled for 130 laps. Hornish said he likes the added element that stage racing brings to the table but admitted he may be in for a little learning curve.

RELATED: Stage lengths for Iowa

“In the past, how it plays out here, is you generally get some short runs, some long runs,” Hornish said. “But knowing when the stages end, when they are going to play out, that definitely changes some things. That probably allows some guys who are in the third-, fourth-range to be able to take advantage of times when there is a yellow. There’s just a lot of little intricacies to be able to figure out with that. …

“I feel like that is going to be a big thing for me to manage. The good thing is I’ve got a crew that has done very well with it so far this year, as far as how to gain those stage points but also put yourself in position to win the race. That’s what we are here for ultimately is to get the trophy at the end of it.”

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Practice 1 results | Practice 2 results | Weekend schedule

Kyle Larson zoomed to the top of the leaderboard in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Sonoma Raceway on Friday.

Larson, the series points leader, pushed the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet to a best lap of 94.389 mph in the 90-minute final session, which was extended five minutes because of an early lengthy red flag. The practice was marked by significant crashes for Chase Elliott and Erik Jones, who will compete in their back-up cars the rest of the weekend.

VIDEO: Elliott wreck | Jones hits tire barrier

Kyle Busch posted the second-fastest lap around the 1.99-mile road course at 94.344 mph in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota. Dale Earnhardt Jr., AJ Allmendinger and Jamie McMurray finished out the top five in final prep for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM).

The final session had an eventful start. Cole Whitt spun in Turn 2 in the opening five minutes, sliding off course when his TriStar Motorsports No. 72 Chevrolet leaked fluid from a broken oil cooler. Moments later, Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Jones skidded into the tire barrier in Turn 11, prompting his Furniture Row Racing team to unload its reserve No. 77 Toyota.

“I just got some wheel-hop, got loose and into the fence,” said Jones, set for his first Sonoma start this weekend. “I’ve been frustrated all day, and this just kind of compounds that.”

With just under 15 minutes remaining in the session, Elliott lost control of his Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet in Turn 10. Elliott’s car looped and made heavy front-end contact with the retaining wall, further damaging the vehicle as it pivoted off the barrier.

“Just made a mistake. It was really my fault,” Elliott said. “I hate it for my teammates on the No. 24 team. They sure don’t deserve it. They worked hard this past week to get this car ready to come out here a long way from home. So, made a mistake and we shouldn’t be having that.”

Alon Day was the fastest of the five drivers making their first Monster Energy Series start this weekend. Day, who will become the first Israeli-born driver to compete in NASCAR’s top division, was 23rd-fastest in the BK Racing No. 23 Toyota.

Billy Johnson, subbing for the injured Aric Almirola in the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Ford, was 29th-fastest on the board. Josh Bilicki (36th), Kevin O’Connell (37th) and Tommy Regan (38th) rounded out the final-practice efforts by series newcomers.

Coors Light Pole Qualifying is scheduled Saturday at 2:45 p.m. ET (FS1).

Truex atop the heap in first practice

Martin Truex Jr. set the fastest lap in opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice Friday at Sonoma Raceway.

Truex turned a lap of 94.587 mph in the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota on the 1.99-mile road course. The 1-hour, 55-minute session was the first on-track preparation for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM), the first of two road races for the series this year.

Denny Hamlin pushed the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota to the second-fastest lap at 94.068 mph. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Clint Bowyer and Dale Earnhardt Jr. completed the top five, respectively.

Series points leader Kyle Larson, last week’s winner in the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet, registered the 14th-fastest lap at 93.118 mph.

Five drivers are set for their Monster Energy Series debuts this weekend. Billy Johnson, this week’s fill-in for Aric Almirola in the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Ford, was the fastest of the quintet, recovering from an early spin to post the 22nd-fastest time.

Alon Day, a product of the NASCAR Next youth initiative, was 31st-fastest in the BK Racing No. 23 Toyota. He is set to become the first Israeli-born driver in a NASCAR premier series event.

Other series newcomers Josh Bilicki (36th), Kevin O’Connell (37th) and Tommy Regan (38th) completed the bottom of the speed chart.

There were no major incidents in the nearly two-hour practice, but several drivers continued after relatively harmless solo spins or off-course excursions. Among those were Chase Elliott, and Ty and Austin Dillon.

Matt Kenseth’s practice was cut short when his No. 20 Toyota suffered mechanical failure entering Turn 7 in the latter stages of opening practice. Kenseth limped back to the garage for his Joe Gibbs Racing crew to investigate, discovering what FS1 reported as a broken oil pump belt.

Three teams were docked 15 minutes of practice time because of multiple pre-race inspection failures during last weekend’s event at Michigan International Speedway: The Germain Racing No. 13 Chevrolet of Ty Dillon, the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Ford of Kurt Busch, and the Furniture Row Racing No. 77 Toyota of Erik Jones.

Posted on by Staff Report

The Associated Press reported Friday that a laptop belonging to Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Chad Knaus was stolen from his rental car ahead of this weekend’s NASCAR event at Sonoma Raceway.

Knaus has been atop the pit box for the No. 48 Chevrolet driven by seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson since 2002. The AP reported that race notes — which are encrypted — for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM) were on the computer. Knaus told the AP other members of the team had similar-type notes.

Knaus and his wife were dining in San Francisco when the theft occurred, according to the report. After parking near the popular Fisherman’s Wharf tourist area, the couple returned from dinner to find a window smashed on their rental SUV and their briefcases stolen.

Knaus said the luggage remained untouched, but the thieves took two laptops, a significant amount of cash and his wife’s art supplies. “If anybody in the garage just randomly takes up water colors, we’ll know who it was,” Knaus told the AP.

Posted on by Staff Report

Team Penske crew chief Paul Wolfe and his wife, Aleah, welcomed their second child to the world Friday, with the team announcing the birth of a daughter, Halle Lane.

A team spokesperson said Wolfe, who oversees the Roger Penske-owned No. 2 Ford driven by Brad Keselowski, will not attend this weekend’s race at Sonoma Raceway. Brian Wilson will serve as interim crew chief for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM). Wilson is the former race engineer of the No. 2 car and the current Team Penske XFINITY Series Competition Director.

Wolfe, 40, also missed a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event in March 2014 for the birth of his son, Caden Paul. Team Penske reported Friday afternoon that both mother and daughter were doing well after the delivery.

Wolfe was suspended for three races this season because of an L1-grade penalty found in post-race inspection at Phoenix Raceway in March. Wilson served as interim crew chief during those events, guiding Keselowski to a pair of runner-up finishes (Auto Club, Kansas) in Wolfe’s place.