Hemric looks to overcome early Chase setback

Posted on September 27, 2016 by Zack Albert

Daniel Hemric clinched his spot in the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase playoffs with remarkable consistency and a sizable nest egg of points. Now facing a significant deficit after a perilous postseason opener, stockpiling points may not be enough to keep his championship hopes intact.

Hemric enters Saturday night’s DC Solar 350 (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a much firmer focus on scoring his first victory of the season.

“At the end of the day, this deal rewards winning,” Hemric said last weekend after finishing a season-worst 28th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “Yeah, we did it the other way to get here, but I don’t know if with the day we had here, we’ll be able to salvage it on just points. We’ve got to go win.”

The 25-year-old driver for Brad Keselowski Racing spun early in last Saturday’s Chase opener, saying he believed he ran over a piece of debris that punctured his left-rear tire. The spent rubber became entangled in the brake assembly, triggering a small flash fire on pit road and eventually forcing his No. 19 Ford behind the wall for extended repairs.

The deficit Hemric faces is even more daunting based on the fact that his fellow Chase competitors enjoyed relatively trouble-free days at New Hampshire. Aside from Hemric, the remaining seven Chasers all finished in the top 11.

Two races — this weekend at Vegas and Oct. 22 at Talladega Superspeedway — remain before two of the eight drivers are eliminated from the playoff picture. Just 27 points separate New Hampshire winner and points leader William Byron and seventh-place Ben Kennedy, but Hemric sits another 20 points behind Kennedy and 21 points behind sixth-place Johnny Sauter.

Hemric’s regular-season run of reliability — with top-fives in half of the 16 races — had earned him a share of the top spot with Byron in the series standings before the points were reset for the postseason. The task of escaping the Chase’s bottom two on the basis of points isn’t mathematically impossible, but Hemric would rather convert an automatic transfer with a win.

“I believe we can,” said Hemric, who has come close with seven finishes in the top three this season. “Especially our mile and a half program’s been really solid and we’ve shown that time and time again. That’s it. We know what we have to do.”

While Hemric knows he has two opportunities to regain lost ground, there may extra urgency to find momentum at Las Vegas this weekend rather than roll the dice in the opening round’s elimination race at Talladega, where large crashes and wild-card winners are much more probable.

“That’s the thought,” Hemric said. “Nobody wants to go to Talladega knowing they’ve got to win when everybody has that mentality. The past has shown what happens. Now with the new format, we feel a lot more confident we can just go do our jobs at Vegas and not have to worry about it.”

Posted on September 27, 2016 by Pat DeCola

Martintruex jr

Truex finished seventh at Loudon, but had the dominant car most of the day. He nearly opened the Chase with a pair of home runs.

MORE: Truex impressive yet again

Kevinharvick

With a win in hand and the pressure off, look for Harvick to come out stomping at Dover, where he led 355 of 400 to win this race last year, albeit in do-or-die fashion.

MORE: Harvick closes for NH win

KyleBusch

Busch may not get the notoriety at Dover, but he’s one of a small handful of drivers to have double-digit top-five finishes, with 10.

JimmieJohnson

-1

Everyone knows Johnson is nearly (see: fall 2015) unstoppable at Dover, but how’s this for a stat? "Six-Time’s" all-time laps led at the track (3,003) are nearly as many as the next three active full-time drivers on the list combined (3,067).

MORE: Johnson looking to avoid recent history

BradKeselowski

Keselowski scraped together a great finish, but there are overall speed issues potentially plaguing the 2 team right now.

MORE: Kes grinds out top five

Mattkenseth

Kenseth nearly earned a wave of momentum by virtue of his third straight NH win ahead of going back to the track he won at earlier this year, but, alas — he finished second.

MORE: Kenseth takes blame for restarts

ChaseElliott

-5

Elliott should be in decent shape to move on, especially if he has another race at Dover like he did earlier this year (third).

Joeylogano

-4

Logano couldn’t get it going at his home track, and, while he should be fine to advance to the next round, he needs to find some speed to continue on.

DennyHamlin

-2

Hamlin’s run of consistent strong finishes ended at New Hampshire by virtue of his crew’s late, costly pit road penalty. He was not pleased.

Carledwards

Unlike his teammate, Edwards recovered from a penalty on the same stop as Hamlin for a good finish. He still needs to bring it at Dover, however.

More: Edwards rallies to salvage finish

Kurtbusch

Busch really needed that top-five finish at Loudon. His No. 41 team hadn’t been running extraordinarily well of late.

Kylelarson

-2

Based on his first five races at Dover, he looks like the next Jimmie Johnson-type monster tamer, with an average finish of 6.2. He nearly won the spring race, but fell to second.

MORE: Larson back on track

AustinDillon

Dillon still has some work to do at Dover, as he’s still on the outside looking in with one race left before the cutoff.

MORE: Dillon on the bubble

Jamiemcmurray

McMurray finds himself on the bubble, right behind his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate. He is one of six Chevrolet drivers ninth or worse in the Chase standings.

Tonystewart

-2

Stewart will need a small miracle or a win to advance. He has some recent success at Dover (2013 win) and three victories overall.

Chrisbuescher

Buescher, however, needs a miracle of the grandest variety. He may have used up his one for the season with his Pocono win that put him into the Chase in the first place.

MORE: Crunch time for Buescher

Posted on September 26, 2016 by

The Citizen Soldier 400 (Sunday, 2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Dover International Speedway marks the first elimination of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup as the field shrinks from 16 drivers to 12. How can drivers advance to the Round of 12? Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick are already locked into the next round with victories at Chicagoland and New Hampshire, respectively. Here’s a look at how drivers can clinch spots in the next round.

Possible to Clinch:

—Brad Keselowski (0 Wins, 2087 Points) – Would clinch on points with 12 Points (29th and no laps led, 30th and led at least one lap, 31st and led most laps) and a new winner. If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 7 Points (34th and no laps led, 35th and led at least one lap, 36th and led most laps). With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.

—Kyle Busch (0 Wins, 2085 Points) – Would clinch on points with 14 Points (27th and no laps led, 28th and led at least one lap, 29th and led most laps) and a new winner. If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 9 Points (32nd and no laps led, 33rd and led at least one lap, 34th and led most laps). With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.

—Matt Kenseth (0 Wins, 2078 Points) – Would clinch on points with 20 Points (21st and no laps led, 22nd and led at least one lap, 23rd and led most laps) and a new winner. If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 15 Points (26th and no laps led, 27th and led at least one lap, 28th and led most laps). With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.

—Joey Logano (0 Wins, 2073 Points) – Would clinch on points with 26 Points (15th and no laps led, 16th and led at least one lap, 17th and led most laps) and a new winner. If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 21 Points (20th and no laps led, 21st and led at least one lap, 22nd and led most laps). With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.

—Denny Hamlin (0 Wins, 2071 Points) – Would clinch on points with 28 Points (13th and no laps led, 14th and led at least one lap, 15th and led most laps) and a new winner. If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 23 Points (18th and no laps led, 19th and led at least one lap, 20th and led most laps). With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.

—Jimmie Johnson (0 Wins, 2070 Points) – Would clinch on points with 29 Points (12th and no laps led, 13th and led at least one lap, 14th and led most laps) and a new winner. If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 24 Points (17th and no laps led, 18th and led at least one lap, 19th and led most laps). With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.

—Chase Elliott (0 Wins, 2068 Points) – Would clinch on points with 31 Points (10th and no laps led, 11th and led at least one lap, 12th and led most laps) and a new winner. If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 26 Points (15th and no laps led, 16th and led at least one lap, 17th and led most laps). With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.

—Carl Edwards (0 Wins, 2068 Points) – Would clinch on points with 31 Points (10th and no laps led, 11th and led at least one lap, 12th and led most laps) and a new winner. If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 26 Points (15th and no laps led, 16th and led at least one lap, 17th and led most laps). With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.

—Kurt Busch (0 Wins, 2067 Points) – Would clinch on points with 32 Points (9th and no laps led, 10th and led at least one lap, 11th and led most laps) and a new winner. If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 27 Points (14th and no laps led, 15th and led at least one lap, 16th and led most laps). With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins.

—Kyle Larson (0 Wins, 2057 Points) – If there is a repeat winner, he would clinch on points with 37 Points (4th and no laps led, 5th and led at least one lap, 6th and led most laps). With a win, he would clinch a next round spot on wins. Could clinch on points with a new winner and help.

For the following, the only guaranteed clinch would be with a win. Each could clinch without a win, but would need varying levels of help, however:

—Jamie McMurray (0 Wins, 2052 Points)

—Austin Dillon (0 Wins, 2052 Points)

—Tony Stewart (0 Wins, 2046 Points)

—Chris Buescher (0 Wins, 2027 Points)

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Nascar

RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid

SPARTA, Ky. — Was Saturday night’s opening Chase race for NASCAR’s XFINITY Series an example of good, hard racing or a case of folks driving over their heads?

That depends on who one asked afterward.

Race winner Elliott Sadler wasn’t pointing fingers, and race winners have rarely been heard to utter a discouraging word. But the JR Motorsports driver said he did notice an uptick in intensity during the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

“About halfway through the race, it was ‘note to self; you can tell it’s the Chase because it was caution after caution after caution,” Sadler said afterward. “People were tense, eager, frustrated, nervous. A lot of different things going on with drivers right now … trying to make it to the second (round).

“I think people are giving each other less room. Restarts are crazy in the back.”

They were crazy up front, too. The race, which kicked off a seven-race, two-round elimination playoff for the series, saw the caution flag fly a track record 12 times. More than one-fourth of the race (64 laps) was run under the yellow. Yes, there was even a brief (5 min., 34 sec.) red-flag period.

Erik Jones, the top seed and regular-season leader in race wins, got crossed up while racing with Ty Dillon and both the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet ended up in the wall.

Each is now outside eighth place in points with two races to try and improve their standing; only the top eight (with the exception of a Chase race winner that might be 9th-12th) advance to the second round.

Not surprisingly, Jones wasn’t particularly pleased with the early ending to his night and said later that the aggressive driving does cause one to approach the race differently.

“Yeah, it makes me try to stay out of trouble,” he said. “I didn’t want to have something like that happen. … You try to play defense some. I was for sure.”

Of course, there was the matter of a reconfigured track that sports new asphalt and distinctly different turns. That, too, played a role in the difficulties for some.

And that was to be expected, said Brendan Gaughan, driver of the No. 62 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.

“It didn’t seem like it was any more aggressive than normal,” Gaughan said after finishing sixth.

“It’s a very narrow race track here right now. That Turn 3 is treacherous, man. There’s no grip on the entry, there’s no width on the entry. It’s a treacherous, treacherous place at the moment. …

“It’s still Kentucky. I love it.”

The fight to advance into the next round began early, but it’s not the only battle going on and Saturday night’s race brought some of that to light.

In addition to the driver’s championship, there’s an owners title at stake and a couple of teams didn’t forget about that.

At the end of the regular season, the No. 2 team of RCR was atop the owners’ standings, followed by the No. 18 of Joe Gibbs Racing, the No. 1 of JRM with Sadler behind the wheel, and the No. 22 of Team Penske.

Chevy, Toyota, Chevy and Ford. You think those folks aren’t paying close attention?

RCR brought in Sam Hornish Jr. to keep the No. 2 team in the hunt; Penske handed the reins to Sprint Cup driver Ryan Blaney.

Sadler got the win, but a solid fifth-place run by Matt Tifft put the JGR No. 18 atop the owners’ standings. JRM (No. 1) now sits second thanks to the victory while Hornish, who finished fourth, kept the RCR entry in the mix — it’s now third.

Blaney did not fare badly but the way it all shook out left him third on the track and the team now fifth in the owners’ battle.

Dover, a fast, unforgiving mile of concrete, is up next. Some folks will be looking to rebound, some looking to continue to ride a hot start.

If Kentucky was any indication, they better hope they can just hang on.

Posted on September 26, 2016 by

RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid

Breaking down the full field for the Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway:

1. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. “The Closer” gets it done again, punching his ticket into the Round of 12 of the Chase. He has five top-five finishes in the past six races. Fear the 4. Grade: A+

2. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Just as all those cautions benefited Kevin Harvick, they proved to be the undoing of Kenseth, who was not strong on restarts. He’s 26 points above the Chase cut line, but a win would have been sweet. Grade: A

3. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch was charging and was a threat to grab the lead before the final caution came out with nine laps to go. Busch is 33 points to the good. Grade: A

4. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Keselowski did not have a top-five car (12.37 average running position) but still snagged his third straight top five and sixth in the past eight races. Grade: A

5. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. During a yellow-flag pit stop on Lap 243, the jackman dropped the jack with no tires on the left side of the No. 41. Busch came into the pits 11th and came out 16th. Quite the save, finishing fifth. Busch is 11th in the standings, 15 points above the cut line. Grade: A-

6. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards is another Chase driver that got away with one at New Hampshire. Edwards started from the pole but had a commitment line violation on Lap 265 (fourth caution), which dropped him to 20th on the restart. Edwards is 16 points above the cut line. Grade: A-

7. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Toyota, Furniture Row Racing. Truex led a race-high 141 laps, but his shot at a second straight win ended on the restart on Lap 290 when he spun his tires and dropped like a piece of granite from second to fifth. Grade: A

8. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson spent time last week practicing not speeding on pit road. It paid off. No penalties, and he scored his first top 10 since last month at Michigan. Grade: A

9. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Hats off to Kahne, who snaked through the field after starting in the rear for unapproved adjustments. His finish was his fourth top 10 in a row. The last time he did that: 2013. Grade: A+

10. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Larson did exactly what he needed to do Sunday. He went from two points below the cut line to five points above heading into Dover, where he finished second in May and has a 6.2 average finish in five starts. Grade: A

11. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. The setup on the No. 22 simply wasn’t working, and Logano was running 23rd with 60 laps to go and 19th with five to go. He finished seven spots ahead of his 18.3 average running position. Without those seven extra points (difference from an 18th- and 11th-place finish), Logano would be 11th in the Chase standings, 14 points above the cut line. Grade: B+

12. Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Ford, Wood Brothers Racing. Blaney made the most of getting the free pass back to the lead lap on the third caution on Lap 241. Grade: B

13. Chase Elliott, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. All those cautions forced Elliott to play defense, and the driver who spent most of the day in the top five (5.4 averaging running position) settled for a top 15. Big picture: He is 16 points above the cut line heading into Dover. Grade: B+

14. Alex Bowman, No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Bowman produced another strong run in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s car. Grade: B+

15. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. The 21st pit road penalty for Hamlin and the No. 11 team on the season, this one for an uncontrolled tire during the fourth caution, effectively pulled the plug on Hamlin’s career-best top-10 streak at nine. Grade: D

16. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Dillon nailed his day when he said, “It was looking bleak at times.” To borrow a hockey saying, the No. 3 team “stole” one. Considering where Dillon ran for most of the day — including only one lap in the top 15 — 16th is a win. If he advances to the next round of the Chase — he’s five points below the cut line — his team made it happen Sunday at Loudon. Grade: B

17. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Not that turning 21 laps in the top 15 is a great achievement, but Almirola had seven total in the previous four races. Grade: B

18. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick led nine laps, the second most in her career (11 at Watkins Glen last month). And when she restarted eighth on Lap 249, it appeared her first top 10 since April 2015 (Bristol) might be in reach. Pit stops on the two subsequent cautions took care of that. Grade: B

19. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Loudon was a dud for McMurray. Despite an average running position of 10.05, he barely finished in the top 20. Pit stops for tires on the final two cautions didn’t help matters. McMurray is five points below the cut line. Grade: C

20. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Despite starting third, Newman posted his third-worst finish at New Hampshire in his past 15 starts at the track. Grade: B-

21. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Almendinger started 17th, was 17th at the halfway point, had an average running position of 17.3 and turned 17 laps in the top 15. Alas, he finished 21st. Grade: C

22. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Sticking with Numerology for $200, Alex: Bowyer kept his improbable streak alive by finishing 22nd for the fourth straight race. If you are looking ahead, he finished 12th at Dover in May, so yes, the streak would appear to be in jeopardy. Grade: C

23. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart told his team he was “trying every trick in the book I know” to produce a better finish Sunday. He might need to do the same at Dover: He is 15th in the Chase standings, 11 points below the cut line. And he hasn’t exactly been on fire lately: Stewart’s last top 10 was seven weeks ago at Watkins Glen. Grade: C

24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse’s nondescript day was punctuated by being spun out by Paul Menard with less than 10 laps to go. Grade: C-

25. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Menard brought out the sixth and final caution when he hit the left rear of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and sent him spinning. It likely sent Kevin Harvick to Victory Lane as well. Grade: D

26. Michael McDowell, No. 95 Chevrolet, Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing. McDowell brought out the fourth caution when his left rear tire blew several laps after contact with Clint Bowyer. Grade: C

27. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Since his seven consecutive top-25 finishes — he hadn’t had a longer streak since 2009 — Mears has finished 34th and 27th in the past two races. Grade: C-

28. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. DiBenedetto produced his best finish at New Hampshire in four starts. Grade: C

29. Landon Cassill, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Cassill finished in the top 30 in both races at Loudon for the second time in his career (2012 was the other). Grade: C-

30. Chris Buescher, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. His team couldn’t nail the setup, and now Buescher needs a win or a miracle at Dover to advance to the Round of 12. He is 16th in the Chase standings, 30 points below the cut off. Grade: D

31. Brian Scott, No. 44 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Scott finished in the 30s for the fourth straight race. Grade: D

32. David Ragan, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. Ragan finished three laps back. Grade: D

33. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle posted his worst finish at New Hampshire since finishing 35th in 2004. Grade: D

34. Regan Smith, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. After missing last week’s race because of the birth of his daughter, Smith finished three laps back Sunday. Grade: D

35. Cole Whitt, No. 98 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Whitt has finished 34th or worse in his past five starts. Grade: F

36. Reed Sorenson, No. 55 Toyota, Premium Motorsports. Sorenson finished seven laps off the pace. Grade: F

37. Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 32 Ford, Go Fas Racing. In his first start since posting the best finish of his young Sprint Cup career (27th at Richmond), Earnhardt finished 10 laps back. Grade: F

38. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Fifth caution: Bayne was running 25th, one lap down, when he hit the wall hard in Turn 3 on Lap 285. Grade: F

39. Josh Wise, No. 30 Chevrolet, The Motorsports Group. Wise completed 268 laps and was running at the finish, a much better result than his DNF (crash) and 94 laps run at Loudon in July. Grade: F

40. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett hit the wall in Turn 2 to bring out the third caution and finished with his fourth DNF of the season. Grade: F

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Staff Report

Jeff Gordon isn’t the only member of Hendrick Motorsports returning to the track this weekend. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will also be at Dover International Speedway, but in a much different capacity.

Earnhardt Jr. said Monday on “The Dale Jr. Download” podcast on Dirty Mo Radio that he would be at Dover on Saturday and Sunday, and would sit on the No. 88 pit box on race day. Gordon returns as the substitute driver.

“It’s going to be kind of different, tough, maybe not a ton of fun,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It’s a bit weird to be not in the car but at the track when you’re a driver. You don’t know what to do with yourself. But I’m going to try to support the guys and maybe learn a thing or two.

“It’s going to be different, but we’ll see how it goes.”

Gordon, who retired following the 2015 season, has driven in six races this year in place of Earnhardt Jr. The four-time premier series champion will split time with Alex Bowman in the No. 88 for the remainder of the season.

Earnhardt Jr. also provided an update on his recovery from a concussion. He said he had another evaluation with his doctor last week and continues to make progress.

“The only thing that triggers the symptoms is going somewhere I’m unfamiliar, somewhere I’ve never been … somewhere where it’s busy,” Earnhardt said. “If I can find a busy place, if I go with (fiancée) Amy (Reimann) to the grocery store … that’s basically rehab.

“(But) it’s getting better. My doctors talk about getting me back to where I can be a normal person, and then there’s getting me back to being a race car driver. I’m almost back … to being a normal, functioning person with no issues. To become that guy I need to be inside the car, we really have to train my senses to be perfect.”

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Posted on September 26, 2016 by Pat DeCola

LOUDON, N.H. — As one of the resident wizards of the “Magic Mile” over the past five years, it was a little curious to see Brad Keselowski — who sports a 6.27 average finish at the track since the fall race of 2011 – come out a little flat in Sunday’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

For his latest trick, the Team Penske driver entered the top 10 for good at Lap 270 of 300 and continued to rise from there, sticking the landing with a fourth-place finish that was nearly a third, save for a late pass from Kyle Busch.

“We caught a couple breaks on the restarts that helped out. Pleasantly surprised (at how this race turned out),” Keselowski said on pit road following the race. ” … It was just a good call there towards the end to put tires on and then just being smooth and keeping it in one piece driving through traffic. … Sometimes you catch some good breaks in this sport. … It was just a really great finish to kind of just a so-so day.”

While the recovery portends well for Keselowski’s hopes of advancing into the Round of 12, the speed that his car lacked at New Hampshire should be of some concern for the 2 team as the Chase continues.

The 2012 champ pins it on this week’s rules update for post-race inspection that eliminated P2 and P3-level penalties for infractions resulting from the laser inspection system.

“I think that rules change at the last minute was certainly not very favorable to our team,” said Keselowski, in search of his first win since early July at Kentucky. “We’ve got to work to find a little more speed for sure.”

The No. 2 crew chief, Paul Wolfe, pins the lack of performance on a swing-and-a-miss setup after they couldn’t quite nail down what they were looking for in Saturday’s practice sessions.

“The car never drove like what we’ve had here in the past. We were kind of on the fence about where we wanted to be today as far as set-up wise. There were a couple things we went through in practice yesterday and we picked a direction that obviously wasn’t good,” Wolfe told NASCAR.com.

“So we just really struggled to get any speed out of the car all day. Just tried to stay calm, get what we could and not get in trouble. Brad was doing a good job of that. There at the end, the position we were in I felt it was worth putting tires on it and it was really the new tires and a couple of good restarts that got us to the front.

“Definitely not the performance or the speed in the car that we were hoping for today, but we were able to get a good finish out of it and at this point of the Chase, that’s obviously the important part.”

Keselowski now heads to the Dover International Speedway with a little more of a cushion — he’s the overall points leader, though second and sixth-place (in the point standings) drivers Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick, respectively, have clinched their Round of 12 berths — than it looked like he’d have for most of the race, and should be a lock to advance save for a major, catastrophic mishap.

“It feels good to go to Dover and be able to sleep easy knowing that if you have a part failure or get caught up in a wreck or any of those silly things that can happen that aren’t you fault, you don’t have to worry about them so that’s good,” he said.

“But we still have some work to do to get a little faster.”

Posted on September 25, 2016 by Nascar

RELATED: Results | Chase Grid | Standings

MORE: Watch the incident | Dillon talks about the wreck

SPARTA, Ky. — Erik Jones looked every bit the part of a pre-Chase favorite Saturday at Kentucky Speedway until a crash with barely more than 10 laps remaining took the Joe Gibbs Racing driver out of contention.

Jones led exactly one-half of the 200 laps that made up the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300. But the field had barely gone back to green-flag racing on Lap 188 when the back end of Jones’ No. 20 Toyota came around as he found himself three-wide in Turn 3 with Ty Dillon (Richard Childress Racing) on his outside and JGR teammate Daniel Suarez underneath.

“I got sucked around,” a disappointed Jones said after exiting the infield care center. “I slammed on the brakes trying to slow down but Ty had been holding me really tight there on the restart, slamming doors in (Turns) 1 and 2. He was on me pretty tight down there.

“It was my fault, but it’s tough when you’re in that situation.”

The pole winner for the NASCAR XFINITY Series’ inaugural opening Chase race, Jones came into the race as the No. 1 seed thanks to four wins during the regular season. The 28th-place finish dropped him from first to ninth in the standings with two races remaining in the opening Chase segment.

“It definitely looks like we’re going to have to run really well at Dover and Charlotte, if not get a win,” jones said. “Getting knocked out there is not a good situation for us. I thought we could probably get a win tonight and get locked in (to the next round), but we’ll have to do pretty good here the next two (races) to move on.”

The race, won by JR Motorsports driver Elliott Sadler, was slowed by a track-record 12 cautions for 64 laps. Aggressive maneuvers saw the field flare out three-and four-wide on numerous restarts.

“I was definitely playing more defense on restarts than I ever have been in my career, just trying to guard and make sure I was in one piece,” Jones said, “but there’s only so much you can do before one of those times you run out of luck.”

Dillon, who led 47 laps around the 1.5-mile track, finished one positon ahead of Jones in 27th and fell eight spots, from fourth to 12th in points, with the setback. Only eight of the 12 Chase drivers will advance to the second round.

“I had a pretty good restart there and had a good run on the 20,” Dillon said of the incident with Jones. “I heard him get loose and he had to lift and there was nowhere I can go.

“It just sucks to start off the Chase like that we’re in a hole but we had speed tonight so we can win races. It just hurts and then you see the 1 (Sadler) win; we were better than him all night.”

“It’s so fast around here but one groove and things like that are going to happen, especially when everybody is trying to get locked into that Chase.”

Jones and Dillon weren’t the only Chase drivers to find themselves involved in on-track incidents — toss Justin Allgaier (P9), Ryan Sieg (P16), runner-up Daniel Suarez (P2) into the mix as well. Most, if not all, were able to recover, however.

“I think we can win anytime we come to the race track,” Jones said, “but we beat ourselves a lot this year and we did it again tonight and that’s unfortunate.”

Posted on September 25, 2016 by Staff Report

RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid
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Joe Gibbs Racing driver Matt Kenseth put the blame squarely on his own shoulders after his second-place finish Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Kenseth — who led 105 of 300 laps, including from Laps 243-294 — ceded the lead on the final restart to eventual race winner Kevin Harvick. Kenseth held on for second place, .442 seconds behind at the checkered flag, but expressed regret as he emerged from his No. 20 Toyota post-race.

“The last restart was my fault,” said Kenseth, who had his modest win streak at the 1.058-mile track snapped at two. “The one before that I thought I did right and we heard from the (race control) tower down that they thought I slowed up before I restarted or something. So the last one I let Kevin lay back on me, which we’re supposed to be side-by-side.

“I should have known better. I should have just went really late in the (restart) zone and waited until he had to get up to my nose because he anticipated it just right and laid back. Plus, I spun the tires and I got beat through (Turns) 1 and 2 and then it was over.”

The late-race slip-up paralleled a restart miscue by Martin Truex Jr., last week’s winner and the driver of the JGR-affiliated Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota. Truex lost ground with a sluggish jump on the next-to-last restart after leading a race-high 141 laps. He wound up seventh.

Kenseth sits fourth in the 16-driver Chase standings with one race remaining until the Round of 12 is set. A New Hampshire win would have removed any guesswork for the 44-year-old driver ahead of next Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Dover International Speedway.

“You always want to win,” Kenseth said. “I thought we had a top-two or -three car today, but we didn’t win. They put me in position to do that and I let them down there so I feel bad about that. We ran good last week and we ran decent today, too, so we’ll just go to Dover and try to race them there.”

Posted on September 25, 2016 by Staff Report

The NASCAR Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series will gather for a doubleheader showing at Dover International Speedway this weekend. The Camping World Truck Series will race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Check out the full schedule below.

Note: All times are ET

SUNDAY, OCT. 2:

ON TRACK: XFINITY Series at Dover

— 10 a.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive Sober 200 (200 laps, 200 miles), CNBC (Results)

ON TRACK: Sprint Cup Series at Dover

–1:30 p.m.: NCSC Driver Introductions with NASCAR Special Awards

–2:00 p.m.: Presentation of Colors by Dover Air Force Base Color Guard

–2:00:20 p.m.: Invocation by Pastor Dan Schafer, Calvary Assembly of God in Heightstown, NJ

–2:01 p.m.: National Anthem by Easton Corbin

–2:02:30 p.m.: (2) F-16’s of the 149th Fighter Wing of the Texas Air National Guard (Turns 3 – 2)

–2:07:30 p.m.: “Drivers, Start Your Engines” by Grammy Award Winner & Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, Joe Walsh

— 2:15 p.m.: Start of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Citizen Soldier 400 (400 laps, 400 miles), NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Results)

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 5:30 p.m. approx.: Post-NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race

DAILY ROUNDUP

— Suarez wins delayed Dover race

— At-track photos: Sunday, Dover

— Larson, McMurray in Chase trouble

— Chase Round of 12: Who’s in, who’s out

— Truex scores second win of Chase; Round of 12 set

— As career winds down, Stewart eliminated from Chase

— Dillon on Chase advancement: ‘Man, we got it done’

— Before and after photos: Dover

FRIDAY, SEPT. 30:

ON TRACK: Dover

— 10-11:25 a.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series first practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Results)

— 11:30 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series first practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Results)

— 1:30-2:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App (Results)

— 3:40 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, NBCSN/NBC Sports App ***CANCELED DUE TO RAIN*** (Results)

GARAGECAM (Watch live)
— 1 p.m. NASCAR XFINITY Series

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 8:30 a.m.: Chris Buescher
— 8:45 a.m.: Chase Elliott
— 9 a.m.: Jamie McMurray
— 9:15 a.m.: Jimmie Johnson
— 9:45 a.m.: Erik Jones
— 12:30 p.m.: Martin Truex Jr.
— 12:45 p.m.: Regan Smith
— 4:40 p.m. approx.: Post-NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying

DAILY ROUNDUP
— Larson tops practice speeds in opening round at Dover
— Hendrick Chase surge a group effort

SATURDAY, OCT. 1:

ON TRACK: Dover

— 10:30-11:25 a.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series second practice, CNBC/NBC Sports App (Results)

— 11:45 a.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, CNBC/NBC Sports App (Results)

— 1:30-2:20 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, NBCSN/NBC Sports App ***CANCELED DUE TO RAIN***

— 3 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive Sober 200 (200 laps, 200 miles), NBCSN/NBC Sports App ***POSTPONED DUE TO RAIN***

GARAGECAM (Watch live)
— 10 a.m.: NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series

PRESS CONFERENCES (
Watch live
)

— 5 p.m. approx.: Post-NASCAR
XFINITY Series race

ON TRACK: Las Vegas

— 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series first practice (Results)

— 1-2 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice (Results)

— 6:10 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FS2 (Results)

— 8:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series DC Solar 350 (146 laps, 219 miles), FS1 (Results)

DAILY ROUNDUP

— Johnson on Dover: You can’t take a track for granted

— Gordon tops rain-shortened practice

— Dale Jr. returns to Dover

— Jones tops rain-shortened qualifying at Dover

— Weather delays Saturday’s action

— Chase challenge? Lack of practice time could impact the field

— At-track photos: Dover and Las Vegas

— Weather cancels on-track events

— Snapshot: Dover

— Peters on the pole at Las Vegas

— Reddick captures first win of season

— Fear, faith and racing: How NASCAR began to heal in September 2001