Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, was involved in a multi-car accident on Lap 199 during Saturday night’s race.
Almirola was alert after the accident as safety professionals removed him from the car. He was transported by helicopter to a local medical facility for evaluation. He is in stable condition and will be held overnight for further observation.
Richard Petty Motorsports will provide further updates when appropriate.
RELATED: Race results
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — For the second week in a row, it looked like the race polesitter would find Victory Lane and earn his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series triumph.
A string of cautions and restarts in the Go Bowling 400’s waning laps, however, quickly changed the tune for fourth-place finisher Ryan Blaney and his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing team Saturday evening at Kansas Speedway.
“I felt that we had a great short-run car tonight and I thought that was going to play right into our hands at the end,” the 23-year-old driver said following the race.
Blaney, who topped the leaderboard for 83 circuits and won Stage 2, was unable to keep pace with eventual race winner Martin Truex Jr. and the blistering speeds his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota was setting, particularly on a trio of late-race restarts. The No. 2 of Brad Keselowski and the No. 4 of Kevin Harvick were able to catch up as well, claiming second and third, respectively.
“The 78 got us on that (last) restart somehow. I don’t know. I was super loose there on the last restarts and the 78 got me spinning my tires a little bit,” Blaney said, referencing the restarts on Laps 249, 263 and 266.
“It kind of stinks. I think that it says a lot about this team to go out and lead some laps and go have a shot and win races.”
The North Carolina native — who earned his first premier series pole Friday night — is no stranger to post-race disappointment and being frustratingly close to that elusive first career win. He left the April Texas race with 148 laps led and two stage wins, but only a 12th-place finish to show for it. And the three races that followed produced no finishes better than 33rd — Bristol (33rd), Richmond (36th) and Talladega (39th).
“The last three races have been really, really bad, and it’s just an extra kind of slap to the face that we’ve had really fast cars in all those races we had troubles in,” he said. “We should have had top 10s in all of them.”
With his home track Charlotte Motor Speedway next up on the Monster Energy Series agenda, Blaney hopes his team can bounce back and piggyback on the momentum developed during the Kansas weekend.
“(I) look at the gains we made all weekend and really being fast all weekend, that puts us back to where we need to be for sure,” he said.
He’s now gained two spots in standings, sitting just outside the top 10, in 11th.
An excellent spot to be in while he waits his turn to land in Victory Lane.
RELATED: Full race results | Detailed breakdown
SHOP: Truex gear
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Martin Truex Jr. finally ended his Kansas hex.
Truex streaked away on the final restart with two laps left in Saturday night’s Go Bowling 400 to win his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.
Truex led a race-high 104 of 267 laps to win for the ninth time in his career and for the second time this season. Three times in the past, Truex had led the most laps in a Kansas race — without winning.
But on this Saturday, Truex had the speed and the closing power. On successive restarts at the end of the race, which produced an event-record-tying 15 cautions, Truex jumped in front of polesitter Ryan Blaney and stayed at the head of the pack.
Brad Keselowski rallied from two laps down to finish second, followed by Kevin Harvick, Blaney and Kyle Busch. Series leader Kyle Larson came home sixth.
“It feels great,” Truex said. “It’s definitely been a thorn in our side. That’s for sure. You know for years and years even, before I was with this (Furniture Row) team, for whatever reason we always ran good here and never could close the deal.
“Proud to get these guys back in Victory Lane. This is our home race track — the guys from Colorado. Appreciate all the fans. We got a lot of fans from Colorado here today. I met a bunch of them before the race and hopefully they’re all psyched.”
But the race wasn’t just about elation. There was a sobering aspect, too. One lap after Truex took the lead from Blaney on a restart following the 10th caution, a Lap 200 wreck stopped the action.
As Joey Logano and Danica Patrick were racing through Turns 1 and 2, battling for the 12th position, Logano’s No. 22 Ford suddenly snapped to the left, turning Patrick’s No. 10 Ford hard into the outside wall.
Patrick’s car erupted in flames, and she and Logano rode the outside wall until, a moment later, Aric Almirola’s No. 43 Ford barreled into the wreck.
RELATED: Watch video of the incident
NASCAR stopped the race while safety workers cut the roof off Almirola’s Fusion and extricated him from the car. They placed Almirola on a backboard and rolled him to a waiting ambulance on a gurney. Almirola was airlifted to the University of Kansas Medical Center for observation.
Logano was unhurt but visibly shaken when he exited the infield care center.
“Yeah, I’m OK,” Logano said. “Just saying a lot of prayers for Aric right now. A lot of us took a hard hit. Something broke on my car. I don’t know what it was. I noticed it as I was trying to go in (to Turn 1). I tried to back it off but you’re going 215 (mph) and it’s hard to check up. The car just took a big step sideways into the corner and I hooked Danica.
“You can see the right front (tire) popped,” Logano added as he watched a video replay. “I just hope everyone is OK. I hope Aric is all right. That’s the last thing you want to see, a big hit like that for anyone. It’s unfortunate for everyone. Let’s hope that Aric is all right.”
After the accident, the race was red-flagged for 27 minutes, 41 seconds for track cleanup, and Truex and Blaney subsequently traded the lead. Blaney liked his chances after beating Truex off pit road under the 13th caution on Lap 245.
But Truex got a huge launch to the outside of the polesitter and quickly pulled ahead.
“I felt that we had a great short run car tonight, and I thought that was going to play right into our hands at the end,” said Blaney, who led 83 laps. “The 78 (Truex) got us on that restart somehow. I don’t know.
“I was super loose there on the last restarts, and the 78 got me spinning my tires a little bit. It kind of stinks. I think that it says a lot about this team to go out and lead some laps and go have a shot at winning races.”
Note: Larson left Kansas with a 44-point edge over Truex in the series standings, with Keselowski 67 points back in third.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Aric Almirola was airlifted to a local hospital after a severe crash late in Saturday night’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.
Almirola’s Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Ford was the third car involved in the multicar stack-up, triggered when a breakage on Joey Logano’s No. 22 forced contact with Danica Patrick’s No. 10 entering Turn 1 on the 1.5-mile track. Both cars hit hard, with Almirola’s entry sliding into the melee, its rear end lifting off the ground.
The crash produced a red flag with 200 of the 267 laps complete in the Go Bowling 400, giving safety workers time to extract Almirola by cutting through the roof of his car. The 33-year-old driver was described as alert and awake as he was removed from the car onto a backboard, his neck stabilized by a brace.
Almirola was airlifted to the University of Kansas Medical Center. The nature of any potential injuries were not released, but Richard Petty Motorsports provided an update nearly two hours after the checkered flag, confirming that Almirola was in stable condition and that he would be held overnight for further observation. The team indicated that it would “provide further updates when appropriate.”
“I just hope everyone is OK,” said Logano, who was uninjured. “I hope Aric is all right. That’s the last thing you want to see, a big hit like that for anyone. It’s unfortunate for everyone.”
Logano and Patrick were evaluated and released from the track’s infield care center. The two had a spirited conversation before taking the mandatory ambulance ride to the infield, but Logano explained that an unknown parts failure on his car’s right-front had caused his car to break loose.
“I just told here something broke. There’s nothing I could have done,” Logano said. “I don’t know what happened. Like I said, something broke and tore up a bunch of really good cars.”
Patrick was saddled with her fifth failure to finish in 11 races this season. Four of those have been crash-related. Logano’s explanation was small consolation, she said.
“When he said he had a failure I can’t say it made me feel that much better in the moment,” Patrick said. “I am just frustrated for the lack of breaks I get. It seems like every time things are going better and something happens I get crashed or am in a crash.”
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.
RELATED: Find NBCSN in your area | See Charlotte All-Star weekend races
All times ET
Monday, May 15
6:30 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series: Go Bowling 400 (re-air), FS1
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7 p.m., One Hot Night: The NASCAR 1992 All-Star Race, FS1
Tuesday, May 16
7:30 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: Toyota Tundra 250 (re-air), FS1
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series: Go Bowling 400 (re-air), FS2
Wednesday, May 17
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
Thursday, May 18
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
Friday, May 19
1 a.m., K&N Pro Series West: Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 150, NBCSN
3:30 a.m., One Hot Night: The NASCAR 1992 All-Star Race, FS1
4:30 a.m., Empty Cup: Quest for the 1992 NASCAR Championship, FS1
5 a.m., The 600: History of NASCAR’s Toughest Race, FS1
1 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, FS1 (Canada: TSN 5)
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub Weekend Edition, FS1
3 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, FS1 (Canada: TSN 5)
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FS1
6 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FS1 (Canada: TSN 5)
8 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Setup, FS1
8:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: North Carolina Education Lottery 200, FS1
Saturday, May 20
12:30 p.m., Empty Cup: Quest for the 1992 NASCAR Championship, FS1
1 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: North Carolina Education Lottery 200, (re-air) FS1
4 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay, FS1
4:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FS1 (Canada: TSN 2)
5:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay, FS1
6 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Open Race, FS1 (Canada: TSN 2)
7:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay, FS1
8 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race, FS1 (Canada: TSN 2)
Sunday, May 21
12 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race (re-air), FS1
RELATED: FAQ for race format
Polesitter Ryan Blaney grabbed the Stage 2 win in the Go Bowling 400 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday after leading the final 18 laps of the 80-lap stage.
The stage win is Blaney’s third of the season. In all, he led 28 laps through the first 160 laps.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson was second in the stage. Martin Truex Jr., Jamie McMurray and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five.
Truex led a race-high 59 laps through the first two stages, followed closely by Busch’s 58 laps led.
Defending race winner Kyle Busch captured his second stage win of the season when he was first to the green-and-white-checkered flag on Lap 80 in the Go Bowling 400 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday night.
Busch led 18 of the first 80 laps in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for the Stage 1 win, which also earns him a playoff point.
Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., who led a stage-high 43 laps, was second.
Polesitter Ryan Blaney was third, followed by Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski in the top five.
The top 10 finishers in both Stage 1 and Stage 2 receive race points. The race winner will receive 40 points and five playoff points at the conclusion of the Final Stage.
STAGE 2 RESULTS
| Finish | Driver | Team | Race points |
| 1 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | 10 |
| 2 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | 9 |
| 3 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | 8 |
| 4 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | 7 |
| 5 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | 6 |
| 6 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | 5 |
| 7 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | 4 |
| 8 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | 3 |
| 9 | Erik Jones | Furniture Row Racing | 2 |
| 10 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | 1 |
STAGE 1 RESULTS
| Finish | Driver | Team | Race points |
| 1 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | 10 |
| 2 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | 9 |
| 3 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | 8 |
| 4 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | 7 |
| 5 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | 6 |
| 6 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | 5 |
| 7 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | 4 |
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | 3 |
| 9 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | 2 |
| 10 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | 1 |
NASCAR heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events. Check out the full weekend schedule below.
Note: All times are ET
ON TRACK
— 4:35 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying (Open; multi-vehicle, two rounds), FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN 2)
— 6 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Monster Energy Open (20 laps, 20 laps, 10 laps), FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN 2)
— 8 p.m. (approx): Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race (20 laps, 20 laps, 20 laps, 10 laps), FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN 2)
LIVE STREAM (Watch live)
— 12:45-1:45 p.m.: Trackside Live pre-race show
PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— Approx 11 p.m.: Post-All-Star Race press conference
ON TRACK
— 5-5:55 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice (Results)
— 7-7:55 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice (Results)
PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 4 p.m.: Christopher Bell, John Hunter Nemechek, Ben Rhodes
— 6:15 p.m.: Austin Cindric
ON TRACK
— 1-2:10 p.m.: NASCAR Monster Energy Series practice (Monster Energy All-Star), FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN 5)
— 2:10-2:25 p.m.: NASCAR Monster Energy Series pit road speed practice (Monster Energy All-Star), FS1 (Canada: TSN 5)
— 3-4:25 p.m.: NASCAR Monster Energy Series practice (Monster Energy Open), FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN 5)
— 4:45 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FS1 (Results)
— 6:05 p.m.: NASCAR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying (All-Star Race), FS1 (Results) (Canada: TSN 5)
— 8:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series North Carolina Education Lottery 200 (134 laps, 201 miles), FS1 (Results)
PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 11 a.m.: Richard Petty Motorsports announcement
— 11:30 a.m.: FOX NASCAR announcement
— 12 p.m.: Martin Truex Jr.
— 12:30 p.m.: Ty Dillon
— Approx 8 p.m.: Post-qualifying press conferences
— Approx 11 p.m.: Post-race press conference
GARAGECAM (Watch live)
— 12:30 p.m.: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
RELATED: Junior to retire after ’17 season | How to make the banana-mayo sandwich
Fishing, hiking, surfing, honey-do lists and trips to the grocery store for mayonnaise.
Yes, that’s what Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s retirement will look like following the 2017 season.
At least that’s the picture he painted in his latest Nationwide commercial, which will premier during Saturday night’s Go Bowling 400 at Kansas Speedway.
Say goodbye to “Water cooler Dale” and hello to “Golden years Dale.”
RELATED: Set your NASCAR Fantasy Live lineups
Clint Bowyer, No. 14, Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, $20.50: Bowyer has only five top-10 finishes in 17 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Kansas Speedway, but he figures to move up in the field for tonight’s Go Bowling 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1). He is starting 30th because of inspection issues, but his 10-lap averages in practice suggest he has a fast car that will help you in place-differential points.
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet,$26.75: It’s nearly the same advice for Johnson, who will start 29th because of inspection problems. He had a fast car in practice and is a three-time winner at Kansas. Even if he doesn’t rack up another win, he likely will move up in the field and give you plenty of place-differential points, and perhaps even lead some laps.
Kevin Harvick, No. 4, Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, $27.50: In the last five races at Kansas, Harvick has three top-five finishes and a victory (Fall, 2016), to go with the best average finish among active drivers (6.6). He’s starting eighth Saturday night and figures to be in the hunt for a win.
MORE: 10-lap averages | Full starting lineup
RELATED: Full race results | Kyle Busch wins at Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kansas — Ben Rhodes said he never felt the debris that hit the front of his dominant ThorSport Racing No. 27 Toyota. A close inspection showed why.
Rhodes’ path to a seemingly in-hand breakthrough victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series came undone seven laps shy of the finish with engine failure Friday night at Kansas Speedway. The setback allowed Kyle Busch to inherit the lead and drive to victory in the Toyota Tundra 250.
The cause of Rhodes’ demise was almost imperceptible — debris that pierced the grill left just a coin-sized hole in the front end, but it was enough to puncture the radiator and gradually drain the water from his truck’s powerplant.
“We hit something,” Rhodes said after his 23rd-place finish. “It’s just strange that it had to happen like that and had to happen to us.”
Rhodes was ever-so-close to avenging his difficult loss in last year’s 250-miler at Kansas, when he crashed battling Johnny Sauter for the lead in an overtime finish. This time, the defeat left Rhodes feeling snakebitten as he remained winless in 31 career truck starts.
“It’s always been something throughout my racing career,” Rhodes said. “I know everybody says it’s never easy, but I’ve lost way more than I’ve ever won leading races, or something always happens. It just seems like we can never overcome it. This whole season, we’ve done everything right and contended for wins every single race, and it’s just been bad luck. We’ve just got to overcome this somehow. I don’t know how that is.”
Rhodes led four times for 25 laps, grabbing the top spot for the final time on the 142nd of 167 laps. After racing hard alongside Busch to take command, he began to put some distance on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular.
“He drove a flawless race,” Busch said of Rhodes. “He was doing an awesome job. There were times when I had to pull a lot of tricks out of my bag in order to keep him behind me, and I think he learned a little bit from that.”
Rhodes learned plenty, but the team was still shaking its head after the late-race turn of events. Crew chief Eddie Troconis snapped a quick picture of the slight damage to the grill before the No. 27 was loaded up to head home.
“We were just sailing to the checkers,” Troconis said. “We were like 10 laps to go, no mistakes. We were just cruising. There was no reason why we were not going win this thing. But like you always say, you don’t get the checkered flag until you cross the last lap. Unfortunately, it’s out of our control.”
Rhodes’ dejection was evident in post-race interviews, but so was the support from his team and other well-wishers. Encouragement came from multiple sources — hugs from his ThorSport crew, a pat on the back from fellow driver Brett Moffitt, and reassuring words from Toyota Racing Development’s David Wilson.
“It’s what you need to hear. It’s what you like to hear. It’d be a lot better seeing that in Victory Lane,” Rhodes said. “I’m glad that I have the support of everybody behind me because if you don’t have that, then you have nothing. It probably feels like we have nothing, but I know that our guys are still battling tooth and nail. I’m giving it 150 billion percent and I know they are, too. I’m going as hard as I can go, and as I told everybody else, if Ben Rhodes don’t make it in this game, it’s not from lack of effort.”
