Team Penske appeal hearing set for April 12

Posted on April 12, 2017 by Staff Report

Team Penske’s appeal of a rules violation and subsequent penalties against driver Brad Keselowski, crew chief Paul Wolfe and the No. 2 team will be heard April 12 by three members of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel, according to a NASCAR official.

The No. 2 team failed post-race inspection following last month’s Camping World 500 at Phoenix Raceway. Wolfe was fined $65,000 and suspended for three races. Keselowski was assessed with the loss of 35 driver points and Penske lost 35 car owner points.

The organization, which fields entries in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series for Keselowski and teammate Joey Logano, delayed its request for an appeal until it had the opportunity to inspect the Phoenix entry at its Mooresville, North Carolina, headquarters. Wolfe was replaced by interim crew chief Brian Wilson at Auto Club Speedway for the Auto Club 400 the following week, where Keselowski finished second.

It subsequently filed notice of an appeal and requested the penalties be deferred until the results of the appeal were determined. That deferral was granted, and Wolfe returned to the pit box for last week’s STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway, where Keselowski scored his second win of the season.

MORE: Penske appeal allows Wolfe to lead Kes to victory | No. 2 team penalized

The team was penalized under Sections 20.17.3.2.1 of the NASCAR rule book for failing post-race rear steer on the Laser Inspection Station (LIS). The L1 level penalty calls for the finish to be encumbered, meaning any bonus points earned would not be eligible toward use in the playoffs. Keselowski finished fifth in the Phoenix race last month.

Team owner Roger Penske addressed the decision to file an appeal following Keselowski’s Martinsville victory.

"Look, I need him on that box every weekend," Penske said of Wolfe. "I told him I’d pay him to be on that box every weekend not to be sitting in his motor home looking at a bunch of monitors.

"But … really the strategy was that we’d take a race off last week (at ACS) and then make the appeal and I guess we’ll be coming back here (to Martinsville) so it was good to get the experience here on this track, obviously, because it’ll be in the (playoffs)."

Posted on April 12, 2017 by Staff Report

BUY TICKETS: See the action at Charlotte for All-Star Weekend and more

RELATED: All-Star Race FAQ | 2017 format

CONCORD, N.C. — Shorter stages and an elimination factor will almost certainly produce more intense competition when the 2017 Monster Energy All-Star Race takes place May 20 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

But there’s a new twist to the format introduced this year that is expected to be the real game-changer — the availability of an "Option" set of tires, to be used at each team’s discretion.

The softer compound tires are expected to be anywhere from three-to five-tenths of a second faster initially than the "Prime" tires that will also be used by teams.

"For dirt tracks, you have two or three different compounds you can choose from, different staggers to make your car work better," Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points leader Kyle Larson said during Tuesday’s All-Star format announcement at CMS. "Adding that little bit of tire game and strategy is exciting for the race teams and if you can hit on it, it’s really good."

But it’s not a guarantee, Larson, driver of the No. 42 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing, warned.

"They say it’s softer, but sometimes softer compounds can react differently when they mesh with a different rubber out on the race track," he said. "So you never really know how it’s going to be. We’re going to have to try to learn as much as we can in that short practice that we get."

The format for year’s event is modeled after the 1992 All-Star Race, and consists of 70 laps total, run in three 20-lap stages followed by a 10-lap shootout. The final segment will consist of 10 drivers — winners of the first three stages and the remainder determined based on average finishing position through the first three stages. Any ties would be broken by highest finishing position in the third stage.

Teams will be provided one set of the softer tires for practice only and one set for the All-Star Race. The tires must be installed as a set; also, any team waiting until the final stage of the race to install the softer tires must start behind any team or teams running the harder, prime tires.

The format for this year’s event is modeled after the 1992 All-Star Race, and consists of 70 laps total, run in three 20-lap stages followed by a final 10-lap shootout.

"The more tractive compounds used in this combination of left and right-side tires will showcase the strategy of the event, and will give teams the ability to choose exactly when to use this set-up to give them the best chance to win," Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing, said in a release from the tire supplier.

The prime tires will carry the traditional yellow lettering on the sidewalls while the option tires will feature bold green lettering, allowing fans to tell at a glance which teams are running which type of tire during the event.

Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Ford) called the tire equation "huge."

"We’ll have a set in practice and that will allow the teams to adjust to the car according to that set, or (find out) that it’s not that much of an advantage" said Busch, the 2010 All-Star winner said. "That’s something we’ll have to find out through practice.

"But that makes it that much more fun, going into a race where there’s a million bucks on the line, no points and the format is very crisp and clean this year … if these tires, if they’re soft and they go, I’ll run them all 70 laps."

Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, said having tire options in points-paying events in the future was possible.

"We want to see how this plays out but when you look at one of the levers we can look to pull from a competitive standpoint, this is certainly one of those and one we’re excited about," O’Donnell said.

"We’re positive on what could happen here on Saturday night; it’s something we would look at for sure."

Having two tire choices isn’t new for NASCAR. In the late 1980s and early ’90s, teams had the option of running tires produced by either Goodyear or Hoosier. But as both companies used softer and softer compounds in an effort to provide the most speed, durability suffered. Tire failures became common and drivers paid the price.

With Goodyear being the sole supplier today, such concerns no longer exist.

"We know these tires are going to be safe," former crew chief Jeff Hammond said. "They may wear out; they may give up. But (drivers are) not going to have to worry about going down through there and (the tires) not being able to handle the pressure."

Hammond, now a NASCAR analyst for FOX, won the Daytona 500 as crew chief for Darrell Waltrip in 1989. Hammond said the team qualified "on Goodyear tires and then we wound up switching to Hoosiers (for the race)."

"These (softer) tires could wind up being the magic to upset some other guys that have been fast all year long," he said. "We may have a very unique final 10-lap field … for that final segment."

Fifteen drivers have already qualified for this year’s All-Star Race, 12 for having won one or more Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races since the start of the 2016 season and three as former All-Star Race winners.

RELATED: All-Star Race drivers so far

Those drivers are: Race winners Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr. Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Kyle Larson and Ryan Newman; Jamie McMurray, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne are eligible as previous All-Star Race winners.

Up to three additional drivers can advance out of the Monster Energy Open, a 50-lap qualifying race also scheduled for May 20. That 50-lap race will feature three segments (20 laps, 20 laps, 10 laps) with segment winners advancing to the All-Star Race. Once a driver wins a stage during the open, he or she is not required to compete in the remaining stages.

One team will qualify for the All-Star Race based on fan vote. Details of that program have yet to be released.

Programming info for the Monster Energy All-Star Race

When: Saturday, May 20, events start at 6 p.m. ET with the Monster Energy Open followed by the Monster Energy All-Star Race
Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway
TV: FS1
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

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Posted on April 12, 2017 by Staff Report

BUY TICKETS: See the action at Charlotte for All-Star Weekend and more

RELATED: All-Star Race FAQ | 2017 format

CONCORD, N.C. — There was a heavy nod toward tradition in Tuesday’s announcement of the format for the Monster Energy All-Star Race, an acknowledgement of a pivotal point in its history and a NASCAR highlight for all times.

After seven runnings in the 1980s into the ’90s, the exhibition event already had many memorable moments but was still searching for a foothold on the NASCAR schedule. The outlandish idea to give the race an identity was either ridiculed as a gimmick or dismissed as something that couldn’t be done. Yet in 1992, the All-Star event found a place among stock-car racing’s grandest stages at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and remarkably, that stage was illuminated.

NASCAR and the track ushered in another age Tuesday, introducing a four-segment format, a tire-strategy option and a field-thinning elimination before the final 10-lap dash planned for the May 20 exhibition. But the 33rd running of the event will also coincide with the 25th anniversary of the sport-altering race billed as "One Hot Night." It will also feature the same number of laps — 70.

Speedway Motorsports president Marcus Smith was just finishing up high school when the lighting project — unheard of at the time for a track of its size — began to take shape ahead of the race that was then known as "The Winston." Night races were frequent at NASCAR’s local and weekly bullrings, but rare in NASCAR’s top division with only Bristol and Richmond conducting their races under the lights at that time.

Smith, who celebrated his 44th birthday Tuesday, was working summers as an intern during the advent of "One Hot Night." while his father — NASCAR Hall of Famer and track mogul Bruton Smith — helped guide the track into the next century. Even then, as the event came under such scrutiny and suspense, Marcus Smith knew the advent of permanent lights at a 1.5-mile track had the potential to tilt the direction of the sport.

"It was tremendous. It was absolutely stunning for a big superspeedway to be lit and to run a NASCAR race at night," the younger Smith said. "Of course, some people said, ‘Hey, we grew up racing on a Saturday night under the lights,’ but it was a big adjustment. There was a lot of controversy. There were a lot of drivers who weren’t sure about it, and so it was not something that was just a common occurrence like it is today."

The trepidation ahead of the full-moon Saturday night in May 1992 was real. Engineers with Iowa-based company Musco Lighting conducted multiple tests before the event, hoping to allay the concerns about potential shadows, dark spots, gaps in drivers’ depth perception — all valid worries when lapping a high-banked oval after nightfall at 180-mph-plus.

"You’re worried about the unknown," said Jeff Hammond, who paired with Darrell Waltrip to win the inaugural All-Star Race in 1985 and was atop the pit box for the NASCAR Hall of Famer again in ’92. "These were just some of the things going through my mind that night, but it turned out to be the wave of the future. It was well executed and couldn’t have been any better. Bruton did an excellent job and the people at Musco that worked with them on the lights for the race track, they did their homework.

"In the end, I think the fans were just blown away with the fireworks that were going on. … We all got educated in a lot of different ways because of that one big, I guess you might say leap of faith that happened that night. You saw the end result that evening."

That closing act was one of the sport’s greatest. Dale Earnhardt was nudged from the top spot on the final lap, leaving Davey Allison and Kyle Petty to settle it in a fender-scraping duel to the finish line. Allison prevailed, crashing after the checkered flag in a deluge of sparks that lit up the night.

What was once novelty is now the norm. Six of the eight tracks in SMI’s speedway empire and 15 of the 23 tracks on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule have permanent lights — a radiance owed to a crazy idea that hatched more than 25 years ago.

"It was definitely a night that I remember like it was yesterday," Smith says, "and I love that Charlotte Motor Speedway has played such a key role in NASCAR history and the highlights of the sport."

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Posted on April 12, 2017 by Staff Report

Photo credit: Richmond International Raceway
BUY TICKETS: See the races at Richmond

Richmond International Raceway announced Wednesday a retro look ahead of its first NASCAR weekend of 2017 on April 28-30, painting the exterior walls with red and white stripes.

The classic look will pay homage to the roots of the Virginia facility, which hosted its first race on the .75-mile track in September 1988. Before that, NASCAR series competed on the .542-mile fairgrounds oval with alternating red and white paint adorning the metal guardrails.

"I’ve always been fascinated by the historical racing images of the red and white on the wall at Richmond," track president Dennis Bickmeier said in a news release. "Our longtime fans have often shared their fond memories of the red stripes, so it is a great day when we can reconnect with our history on the track. The red stripes unite our past with our future. We hope fans will have an awe-inspiring moment as they walk into the track for our Toyota race weekend."

Sherwin-Williams, the official paint of NASCAR, is providing materials for the track makeover. The look will be in place in time for the Richmond’s first NASCAR weekend of the year, with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ Toyota Owners 400 on Sunday, April 30, and the ToyotaCare 250 for the NASCAR XFINITY Series the preceding day.

It’s the second track this year to adopt a vintage look for its retaining walls. Atlanta Motor Speedway debuted a red, white and blue striped appearance ahead of its NASCAR tripleheader weekend last month. Darlington Raceway reintroduced the red and white stripes — an initiative first promoted by longtime series sponsor R.J. Reynolds — ahead of the 2009 Southern 500.

Below is a look at the red striped walls in 1988. (Photo credit: ISC Images & Archives/Getty Images)

Posted on April 12, 2017 by Staff Report

A three-member appeals panel upheld L1-grade penalties Wednesday against Team Penske’s No. 2 Ford team for failing technical inspection after the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on March 19 at Phoenix Raceway.

The ruling by the National Motorsports Appeal Panel confirms the penalty issued by NASCAR on March 22, fining the team $65,000, handing a three-race suspension to crew chief Paul Wolfe, and docking Brad Keselowski 35 points in the drivers’ standings and Roger Penske an equal point total in the team owners’ standings.

Wednesday afternoon, Team Penske issued a statement saying that it will exercise its right to appeal the ruling to the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer, Bryan Moss. NASCAR representatives said that a date for the final appeal hearing has not been set.

"While we are disappointed in today’s results, we plan to immediately request a final appeal hearing as outlined in the NASCAR rulebook," the team said in its statement. "While the appeals process runs its course, we will continue to move forward and our focus will remain on getting prepared for the upcoming Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event at Bristol Motor Speedway."

Wolfe has already served one race of his three-race ban, sitting out the March 26 event at Auto Club Speedway. Team Penske had delayed its appeal request until after the Auto Club race to provide an opportunity to further inspect its Phoenix vehicle at its Mooresville, North Carolina, shop.

Brian Wilson replaced Wolfe at Auto Club, leading the No. 2 team to a second-place finish. Wolfe returned — with the appeal pending — the following weekend at Martinsville Speedway, where Keselowski scored his second victory of the season.

A representative for Team Penske said that Wolfe would continue in his current role as the organization awaited a final appeal date to be determined. The Monster Energy Series is off this weekend, with the next scheduled event on April 23 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Team Penske’s penalty fell under the heading of Section 20.17.3.1.2 of the 2017 NASCAR Rule Book, which addresses general measurements (in this instance, rear steer) in the team’s post-race pass through the Laser Inspection Station (LIS).

The three members of the National Motorsports Appeal Panel attending Wednesday’s hearing were:

— Rick Crawford, former driver in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
— Hunter Nickell, former president of the SPEED Channel
— Dale Pinilis, longtime operator of Bowman Gray Stadium

Posted on April 12, 2017 by Staff Report

BUY TICKETS: See the races at Pocono | See the races at Dover

SEE: Inaugural event in photos

PHILADELPHIA — Pocono Raceway, Dover International Speedway and Comcast are coming together for the second year in a row to bring NASCAR to the city in a major way for the NASCAR XFINITY Philadelphia Takeover. For the entire day of Tuesday, May 9, fans are invited to join the NASCAR stakeholders for numerous events at key locations across Philadelphia, celebrating the sport in advance of upcoming races near Comcast headquarters, the NASCAR XFINITY Series entitlement partner, at Pocono and Dover.

Most notably among the day’s festivities, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series cars from participating teams JR Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing and Richard Childress Racing will be taking over the city streets during the midday hours, making a pit stop in front of Philadelphia City Hall and putting on a show for fans along the way. A large cast of drivers from the NASCAR XFINITY Series will be spread across the city throughout the day, visiting the Franklin Institute, Reading Terminal Market, Thomas Edison High School and Philadelphia Phillies game that evening.

A star-studded lineup of drivers is expected to be in attendance for the day, including Ryan Reed, Darrell "Bubba" Wallace, Jr., William Byron, Michael Annett, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Daniel Hemric, Ben Kennedy, Brennan Poole, Cole Custer and Blake Koch.

New for this year, fans are invited to participate in an expanded fan fest, located at the Comcast Center on the front plaza. Amidst activities for all ages, they can meet with the top NASCAR XFINITY Series stars and celebrate NASCAR’s takeover of the city for the day. Throughout the entire day, families will have the opportunity to receive free tickets to the upcoming NASCAR XFINITY Series races at Dover International Speedway and Pocono Raceway. In fact, kids ages 12 and younger are admitted free to all NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races, making it easier for families to create memories at the racetrack.

"We’re thrilled to bring together so many valuable partnerships within NASCAR for one big celebration at Comcast headquarters," said Matt Lederer, Executive Director, Sports Brand Strategy, Comcast. "Our involvement in the sport is something we take great pride in at Comcast, and pulling off another major event like this with Dover, Pocono and NASCAR is a testament to the health of this sport and all who are involved. We know that our local economy benefits from fans coming to the area for this day, and for the upcoming events at Pocono and Dover."

Back-to-back race weekends at nearby venues in the month of June will give fans from the Philadelphia area and beyond the opportunity to see their racing heroes following the NASCAR XFINITY Philadelphia Takeover. First, the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Dover International Speedway on June 3, followed by the Pocono Green 250 at Pocono Raceway on June 10.

"We are looking forward to making a splash in Philadelphia with our friends from Comcast and Pocono Raceway in advance of our upcoming race weekend," said Mike Tatoian, president and CEO of Dover International Speedway. "We know that the NASCAR fanbase in Philadelphia is sizeable, and passionate, and we are thrilled to bring the stars of the NASCAR XFINITY Series to town before they hit the track."

"We are really excited about our second takeover of my hometown of Philadelphia," said Pocono Raceway President and CEO Brandon Igdalsky. "Between all of the visits to area places, the laps around the city and the live pit stops at City Hall it will be an incredible day. We started a great event last year with Comcast and now with the help of Dover, we have made it even better, including a fan event. We hope to see everyone May 9th in Philadelphia."

Fans are encouraged to follow along with the events of the day via social media and use #XFINITYTakeover to join the conversation. On Twitter, @XFINITYRacing, @PoconoRaceway, @MonsterMile and @NASCAR_XFINITY will all carry updates, along with Pocono Raceway and Dover International Speedway on Facebook.

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Posted on April 12, 2017 by Staff Report

BUY TICKETS: See the races at Bristol

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Joey Logano was his typical smiles and optimism at Daytona International Speedway on a sunny Wednesday afternoon, where five Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams tested for both NASCAR and Goodyear before enjoying the first off weekend of the 2017 season.

"Obviously, tests are hard to come by these days, there aren’t many of them," Logano said. "Yesterday (Tuesday) was interesting with a lot of different packages coming from NASCAR and today a Goodyear test. We did four 25-lap runs in a five-car pack to give them some data this morning and help them make decisions on their tire selections.

"Now this afternoon we get to play a little bit. The fun part’s about to start for me."

NASCAR had the drivers — also including Alex Bowman (in Jimmie Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevy), Stewart-Haas Racing’s Danica Patrick, Richard Childress Racing’s Ryan Newman and Furniture Row Racing rookie Erik Jones — try out various packages.

Specifically on Tuesday they tried variations of a new NASCAR design to keep the race cars from going airborne easily or frequently.

Wednesday morning the drivers worked on tire feedback for Goodyear and then the afternoon was dedicated to more individual team-centric goals.

It’s been an accomplished early portion of the season for the 2015 Daytona 500 winner Logano, who said he was glad the teams had this test on the 2.5-mile high banks. As good as his Team Penske group has performed this year, he hasn’t won a race yet.

Yet.

"I just wanna win, that’s me, I’m not happy unless I win and I’ll be mad if I finish second," said Logano, who drives the Team Penske No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford. "That’s just the 22 team. We have one goal, to win. And everything short of that isn’t failure, but it’s not achieving our goal.

"That’s our strategy, our approach. And we have better days than others. We know that."

He’s coming off a "better day" — a season-best third-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday and has six top-six finishes through the first seven races of 2017. And yet for all that, Logano is ranked sixth in the standings, which are topped by several new faces of excellence.

"We haven’t put the whole race together in all honesty," Logano said. "When we’ve had fast race cars, we’ve had pit road penalties or weird things happen that we don’t score the stage points and we don’t put ourselves in position to win. We put ourselves in position to get a top-five again.

"Last week we had a 10th-place car and put ourselves in position to win, but we weren’t fast enough to win the race.

"We have to take both of those things and put ourselves in Victory Lane, which I feel is just around the corner. Our cars aren’t far off."

Logano, the defending Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race winner, told reporters he was good with the changes announced Tuesday to the May 20 invitational. But he deferred to his veteran crew chief Todd Gordon about the new tire strategy — including a softer, green-lettered "option" tire available to teams for the first time ever.

"It’s interesting," Logano said. "It will change it up for sure with a tire like that and change the strategy. You should probably talk to Todd. For me, it’s pretty basic, pass the car in front of me."

Speaking about the early season to date, Logano grinned in replying to questions about the "young guns" charging through the points standings. Kyle Larson, 24, currently leads 21-year-old Chase Elliott by 17 points atop the standings. Including Logano (ranked fifth, 72 points behind Larson) and 23-year-old Ryan Blaney, right behind in sixth place – four drivers 26 or younger leading the way.

MORE: Monster Energy Series driver points standings

Logano remains confident his first victory of 2017 is imminent. He’s a two-time winner at tiny Bristol Motor Speedway, where the series visits April 23 after the off week, and he’s also a winner at the following venue, Richmond International Raceway.

And while Logano recognizes he’s on the "upside" of the youth movement, the 17-time Cup winner was quick to remind that he has big boy trump cards in experience and confidence. And success.

"I don’t think I’m old. I’m 26, for crying out loud," he said smiling. "I do like that I have more experience than all of them. And that plays in my hand that I have nine years of experience, plus I’m 26 so I have plenty of youth, too. … I’m in a very good spot.

"Those first three or four years of sucking are paying off now, so that’s good," he said with a laugh.

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Posted on April 12, 2017 by Staff Report

NASCAR issued penalties Wednesday to the Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 team for post-race infractions after last weekend’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. drove the No. 17 Ford to a 14th-place finish in last Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, but NASCAR officials found one of the car’s 20 lug nuts was improperly installed in a post-race check. Wednesday, RFR crew chief Brian Pattie was fined $10,000 for the safety violation.

Pattie, who has been atop the pit box for four victories in NASCAR’s premier series, is in his second season with the Jack Roush-owned organization. It’s his first season paired with Stenhouse, who is currently ranked 19th in the drivers’ standings after the year’s first seven races.

The penalty is the lightest for post-race lug-nut violations, under the updated deterrence system that NASCAR competition officials released Feb. 16. The penalty for two improperly fastened lug nuts rises to a $20,000 fine and one-race crew chief suspension. Three or more unsecured lug nuts results in a L1-grade penalty with a three-race ban for the crew chief, a $65,000 fine and the loss of 35 championship points in both the drivers’ and team owners’ standings.

Posted on April 12, 2017 by Staff Report

RELATED: Read more Inside Groove

READ UP ON All-STAR NEWS: RELEASE | FAQs | Upping the ante

NASCAR revealed Tuesday a revamped format for the 2017 All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Part of this update includes tire strategy, with different colored lettering to identify the varied rubber.

Each team will be granted one set of softer "option" tires to use, which provide more grip and thus, speed. The catch, however, is teams who choose the soft tires for the fourth and final stage must start behind drivers who choose regular tires, which do not wear out as quickly. Decisions, decisions.

Check out the speedy, soft tires set to make its debut May 20 (8:15 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), compared to the regular "prime" tires.

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Posted on April 12, 2017 by Staff Report

Allen Boes scored his first NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series win of the 2017 season at Texas Motor Speedway, ending Ryan Luza’s two-race winning streak as the erstwhile championship leader found trouble late in the going. Boes held off Cody Byus after a restart with seven laps to go. Byus was keeping pace with Boes, but a caution with three laps remaining ended his shot at making a late-race move for the win. Kenny Humpe was third, followed by teammates Bobby Zalenski and Chris Overland.

Boes and Luza had the best cars for much of the event with Luza leading 73 of 167 laps while Boes led 72. However, Luza’s chance to win evaporated when he got caught back in traffic after a pit stop and had a run-in with Kenny Humpe. The collision with Humpe, and then the wall, caused significant damaged to Luza’s car and he wound-up nineteenth.

The night began with Michael Conti leading the field to the green flag but the yellow was back out before the field made it to Turn 3. Phillip Diaz got sideways off Turn 2 before being hooked into the wall, causing a huge stack-up halfway back in the field. While most of the pack saw the crash, a couple drivers further back seemed not to and collected nearly a dozen cars.

When the dust cleared and the green waved again the lead was hotly contested among several sim racers. Byus wasted little time passing Conti for the lead on Lap Seven only to see Logan Clampitt take the lead for himself one lap later. By Lap 20 the groove had widened and Boes, who was running the middle lane, took his first turn at the front after getting by Clampitt off Turn 4. Boes could not lead for long either as Luza took the top spot on Lap 26, right as the second yellow of the race slowed the action.

Luza won the race off pit road and build a decent lead once the race went green. Boes and Byus were quick enough to keep in touch, but not quite quick enough to challenge Luza for the top spot. The field would get another shot at him though, as a caution on Lap 65 slowed the pace right before many of the leaders were planning to pit under green.

Once again, Luza was first off pit road and held the lead as the laps wore on after the restart. Byus kept in closer contact this time, never letting Luza get more than a few car lengths ahead. The two ran in the same fashion until both hit pit road under green on Lap 100 for tires and fuel. Boes inherited the lead and before he could pit Bryan Blackford was spun by Nick Ottinger, causing the yellow to fly which trapped many drivers a lap down, necessitating a wave-around.

Although he was not among those trapped, Luza did pit again under the caution and restarted third behind Boes and Brian Schoenburg with Byus to his outside in fourth. Boes held off Luza who had fallen to fifth before a crash involving Schoenburg, Ray Alfalla, and several others brought the leaders to the pits again on Lap 120, putting them well within their fuel window.

Boes maintained the lead off pit road but it was Luza who was on the move when the race returned to green. Luza quickly moved from fifth to second and looked a bit quicker than Boes on the long run but on Lap 144 yet another caution stopped his progress. The two pitted and maintained their positions, leading to a 19-lap shootout.

Luza did not have the best short-run speed and lost second position to Byus after the restart. On Lap 155 Humpe tried to move around Luza in Turn 4 which is when the two got together, sending Luza for a spin and setting up the final dash to the finish.

Luza’s poor finish cost him the championship lead, as Clampitt now leads by seven points over Luza as the regular season has reached the one-third mark. Zalenski is now third, 18 points behind and three in front of Alfalla, who like Luza, finished mid-pack as the result of his crash. Darik Bourdeau recovered from an early spin to finish and holds down fifth in the standings.

After three races at tracks 1.5 mile or more, the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series returns to a shorter track as the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway plays host for Week Five. Phoenix takes a much different setup than the downforce tracks, making it somewhat of a sim racing wildcard. Can Luza rebound for his third win, or can Alfalla or Clampitt visit Victory Lane for the first time in 2017? Find out in two weeks on iRacing Live!