WELCOME, N.C. — Brandon Jones, 2016 NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase contender and Rookie of the Year candidate, has signed an agreement to remain with Richard Childress Racing (RCR) as the driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro in the XFINITY Series for the 2017 season.
“Brandon has shown he has the talent behind the wheel to run up front and compete for championships in the XFINITY Series, and we are pleased he will continue to do so in an RCR Chevrolet,” said Richard Childress, Chairman and CEO of RCR. “We are proud of everything he has accomplished this season, including leading laps, making the inaugural XFINITY Series Chase and contending for the Rookie of the Year title. Brandon has also been an excellent spokesman for our sponsors and does an exceptional job representing our brand. We can’t wait to see what Brandon can do in his second full XFINITY Series season.”
In his first full year with RCR, Jones has recorded 11 top-10 finishes through the first 26 races and earned a spot in the XFINITY Series Chase. The 19-year-old driver scored an impressive sixth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and also led 36 laps at Talladega Superspeedway in April.
“I am honored to return to Richard Childress Racing for the 2017 season,” Jones said. “RCR is such a storied NASCAR organization and it’s a great opportunity to be a part of the team. Racing full-time in the XFINITY Series this season has been a valuable learning experience. I believe we have what it takes to compete for the championship throughout the Chase this season and make another run at the title in 2017. The teamwork and support from RCR, ECR Engines and Chevrolet have been second to none and instrumental in my development as a driver. I’ve also enjoyed representing several partners including Menards, Nexteer, Chevrolet, Okuma, Cometic, Roland and Rain-X.”
Before joining RCR as a full-time driver in 2016, Jones ran five XFINITY Series races in 2015, earning one top-five and two top-10 finishes, along with 16 laps led. The Atlanta, Georgia, native, has 30 starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, recording five top-five and 11 top-10 finishes. He also has one NASCAR K&N East Series win and three ARCA Racing Series victories.
RELATED: XFINITY Chase Grid | Get to know the field
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It may not be a quintessential case of déjà vu, but Brendan Gaughan has been to Homestead-Miami Speedway before, under similar circumstances.
Now, as one of 12 drivers to qualify for the inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase that begins Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway (8 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Gaughan hopes he’ll have a chance to claim a prize that eluded him 13 years ago—a title in one of NASCAR’s top three touring series.
In 2003, Gaughan entered the final NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Homestead as the points leader in a four-driver race for the championship. In addition to Gaughan, Ted Musgrave, Travis Kvapil and Dennis Setzer had a shot at the title.
Musgrave’s truck owner, Jim Smith, had five entries in the final event, and one of those drivers, Marty Houston, tangled with Gaughan in a violent crash on Lap 100. After Musgrave was penalized for jumping a subsequent restart, Kvapil claimed the championship with a sixth-place finish.
Though Gaughan says he spends little time regretting the missed opportunity, he does crave another opportunity to compete for a title in the final race of the season, albeit under a different format in another series.
“I’ve been in a Homestead race where four drivers were racing for the championship, and sadly, I was not the one who won it—sadly for me, not for Travis (Kvapil),” Gaughan said on Tuesday during XFINITY Series Chase Media Day at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. “I would love to have all that pressure again and be in that situation again, and my goal is to get back to Homestead to be one of those four.
“I’ve always said to this day, that race that we ran at Homestead that day, we were the fastest truck on the race track that day. We were brilliant. One second of life—couldn’t have done anything different. It was just one second that you couldn’t change.
“And I would love a chance, not to change that one second, but to make a new one second and end up getting by that wreck and standing on that podium. … I would love to go back to Homestead and finish what I was trying to do 13 years ago and put a great cherry on top of a career for me.”
Not that Gaughan’s career is about to be over. The driver of the No. 62 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet said he’ll be back for another season next year, and the Chase format is a strong reason he’ll continue to compete.
“What made me want to keep racing was this Chase format, this excitement around this,” Gaughan said. “Now, instead of battling for fifth place, and we’re 89 points out of this championship—and we can get to maybe second or third if a guy has a bad race and we have a good ones, and you’re just watching points and going ‘Oh, man, let’s see how far we can get’—we’re racing for the championship.”
Intermediate master Martin Truex Jr. once again rose to the occasion on the big stage. Expect that to continue throughout the 1.5-mile heavy Chase.
9
Hendrick Motorsports
If not for a blown Michael McDowell tire, we’d be asking today — will there be a NASCAR Sprint Cup for the Chase? Still might happen.
10
Hendrick Motorsports
Possible that Hendrick Motorsports was slow-playing it a bit toward the end of the regular season and saving their best stuff for the Chase? Ask Johnson’s race-high 118 laps led what they think.
There are two teams that have excelled at NHMS lately: Joe Gibbs Racing — and Team Penske, home of native New Englander Joey Logano.
1
Joe Gibbs Racing
You’d be hard pressed to find a better driver than Kyle Busch at Loudon since 2013, when he began a five-race run that included four top-two finishes.
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Team Penske
Keselowski has three poles at New Hampshire, best among Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers.
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Joe Gibbs Racing
Tough break when you finish as well as Hamlin did and still drop this far, but he could certainly be back on top after Loudon — a track that he and his organization excel at.
As the defending race-winner — and the July Loudon winner — look for Kenseth to punch his ticket to the next round or put himself in excellent position to do so ahead of Dover.
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After not living up to his standards at Chicago, look for a zoned-in Harvick at Loudon, where he’s finished in the top four in three of the past four races.
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Expect Larson’s run this weekend to look more like his first two NHMS runs (3rd, 2nd) than his last three (31st, 17th, 17th) as he puts himself back into good position.
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We know now that Edwards really wants to check Loudon off his bucket list. With two poles in his last three starts there, look for him to start up front again as his search continues this weekend.
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As his performance has dwindled throughout the season, Busch is in serious trouble of not escaping the first round of the Chase.
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Stewart isn’t in great shape after one race, but he has a great history at Loudon (series-best 15 top fives) and was a runner-up in July.
Apart from Chris Buescher and Chase Elliott (who only have one Loudon start each), McMurray’s NHMS average finishing position is easily the worst among Chase contenders at 19.9.
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Richard Childress Racing
On the whole, Dillon’s NHMS resume is above average (13.6 avg. finish), but his 22nd-place finish in this race last year is cause for concern.
Buescher absolutely met expectations in the Chase opener in Chicago. Only problem? Expectations weren’t high to begin with.
RELATED: Inside the western rise of Furniture Row | Denver embraces its team
JOLIET, Ill. — How sincere was Martin Truex Jr. in his desire to stay with Furniture Row Racing during contract talks with team officials?
Enough that the 36-year-old NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver agreed to work for less than he likely could have earned elsewhere.
“There were other opportunities that were out there,” Truex said Sunday after winning the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. “I believe this is the best team I’ve ever had. This is my best opportunity to win races. We’ve proven that. It’s my best opportunity, and really only my second opportunity, since last year, to go for a championship. That wasn’t something I was willing to get rid of or throw away.”
While Furniture Row officials were in the midst of making the switch from Chevrolet to Toyota a year ago, a contract extension with Truex was also wrapping up. In late September, officials announced both agreements were in place.
Then, in August of this year, the team announced a new, two-year extension for Truex.
RELATED: Truex inks new deal at Furniture Row
“I made the commitment to Barney we were going to do it, we were going to work together and make it work for everybody,” Truex said of the arrangement. “Barney has put a lot into his race team over the years obviously. Seeing Furniture Row on that race car each and every year, that’s Barney’s race car and Barney is the one funding it.
“He had to change some things in the way he was running his race team. He asked me if I would kind of, not take the hit but be the one that took a little bit of a hit for the team to make sure we could keep the competition up and make sure we could continue to get the things we needed to be competitive and win races and hopefully go after a championship.”
Visser started the Denver-based team from scratch in 2005, and has funded the single-car outfit for much of its existence through his own businesses.
Others have come on board to help the cause and the switch from Chevrolet to Toyota has paid tremendous dividends. Sunday’s victory was the third of the season for Truex and more importantly it came in the opening race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. He and the No. 78 team, run by crew chief Cole Pearn, are guaranteed to advance to the Round of 12 in the Chase.
Prior to this season, Truex had three career wins. Furniture Row had two.
The organization, which now receives technical support from Joe Gibbs Racing, will expand in 2017 with the addition of a second team and driver Erik Jones.
RELATED: Furniture Row adds Jones to growing team
The rise from a struggling single-car outfit to a championship contender didn’t happen overnight.
“Yeah, I do feel like I’m living a dream,” Visser, a Vietnam veteran, said. “But that’s why we do it. Most of the other things that I’ve done in life have been a little bit like this, but nothing right to the very top of the best racing in the world here. (It’s) very exciting.
“I have to thank Toyota and Martin. Like I said, I think he’s a pure athlete. He drove for a little bit less this year than I think a lot of the drivers in his class have, and he did it because he wanted to be here. I can’t thank him enough for all that.”
RELATED: Full race results | Standings | Chase Grid
Breaking down the full field for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway:
1. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Toyota, Furniture Row Racing. This season’s most-dominant driver on 1.5-mile tracks overcomes a tire issue in the first half of the race and then roars to the victory in overtime after his team gets him off pit road one spot ahead of Chase Elliott on the final stop. Grade: A+
2. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. Logano lined up sixth on the final restart and did the next-best thing to winning the race. And in the Chase, that’s huge. Grade: A
3. Chase Elliott, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Sooo close. If not for the caution with four laps to go, we’d likely be toasting Elliott. And blaming his pit crew for not getting him out ahead of Martin Truex Jr. on the final stop? Not here. As Elliott said after the race, you don’t know how many drivers are going to stay out. If Carl Edwards pits, it’s Elliott on the outside of Row 2, not Truex. Grade: A
4. Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Ford, Wood Brothers Racing. All the issues the No. 21 team had on pit road vanished when Michael McDowell’s right-front tire exploded and littered the track with debris with four laps to go, setting up NASCAR overtime. Blaney stayed out and restarted first. He was no match for Truex and his four new tires — but no one else was, either. Grade: A
5. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Keselowski’s average running position of 3.2 was second only to Chase Elliott’s 3.1. Grade: A
6. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Another top-10 finish — his ninth in a row — also ties Hamlin with Geoff Bodine for 36th all time with 190 top 10s. Grade: A
7. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne stayed out for the final restart and lined up second, but his old tires were no match for the competition. Still the right call, and Kahne now has three consecutive top 10s for the first time since 2014. Grade: A
8. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch started from the pole, led the first 21 laps and was a mainstay in the top five until a pit-road speeding penalty Lap 172. Grade: A-
9. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth was running 10th when he was caught speeding on pit road during the second caution. Grade: A-
10. Alex Bowman, No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. In his third start in place of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bowman earned his first career top 10 (74th start). Grade: A
11. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. McMurray hung around the top 10 all day and moved up five spots in the Chase standings to 11th. That’s a good start and would put him in position to advance to the next round if he can maintain that spot. Grade: B
12. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson caught the break of the day when he pitted just before the first caution came out and exited the pits right before race leader Martin Truex Jr. crossed the start-finish line (enabling Johnson to not only stay on the lead lap, but also restart first). Then he squandered it all, including a race-high 118 laps led, when he was caught speeding on pit road during a green-flag pit stop on Lap 234. Grade: C-
13. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Busch’s average finish in the first 18 races was 9.1 (15 top 10s). In the next nine it’s double — 18.2 (two top 10s). If Busch has any chance at a second Sprint Cup championship, he needs to turn things around. On the other hand, he did improve two spots in the standings to 10th. Grade: B
14. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Dillon finished a respectable 14th Sunday. But in Chaseland, that’s not going to cut it. The No. 3 team needs to find more speed. Grade: B
15. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards stayed out on the final caution and restarted third … and in the two-lap sprint to the finish dropped 12 spots. Ouch. Grade: B
16. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart caught a break when he got the free pass back to the lead lap on the last caution. No one knows better than Stewart — other than Carl Edwards, perhaps (see 2011 Chase) — how important every point is in the Chase. Grade: B
17. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Allmendinger scored his best finish at Chicagoland since finishing 14th in 2010. Grade: B
18. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Larson started in the rear of the field (transmission change) but had worked his way into the top 10 and was looking at a remarkable day when he had to make a green-flag pit stop on Lap 260 because of an issue with his right front tire. Tough break. But it was the right call. Had it gone flat and exploded (like Michael McDowell’s), it would have been disastrous to his Chase chances. Instead, he’s only two points behind 12th-place Tony Stewart. Grade: B-
19. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Newman’s finish was his worst at Chicagoland since a 22nd-place effort in 2010. He’d had seven top 10s in his previous nine starts at the track. Grade: B-
20. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. About two feet separated Harvick from an awesome day and the mediocre one he experienced. Harvick was in the pits when the first caution came out, but unlike Jimmie Johnson, Harvick didn’t reach the end of pit road before leader Martin Truex Jr. crossed the start-finish line. Harvick was about two feet short. Instead of restarting second, he restarted 20th, the first car a lap down — and he never made it back to the lead lap. And this was the driver who had started in the rear of the field (unapproved adjustments) and was putting on a show zipping his way into the top 10 in less than 40 laps. Tough, tough break. Grade: A
21. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Not a competitive day for Menard, who started 26th and ran only eight laps in the top 15, his fewest at Chicagoland since he had zero in his first race at the track in 2007. Grade: C
22. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. It’s OK to try this at home, kids: Bowyer finished 22nd for the third straight week. Grade: C
23. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne’s finish was in line with his three previous finishes at Chicagoland — 23rd, 20th and 28th. Grade: C
24. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick turned only three laps in the top 15, but it was three more than last year at Chicagoland. In her five starts at Chicagoland, Patrick has raced in the top 15 in only 25 of her 1,332 laps. Grade: C-
25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse posted his worst finish at Chicagoland in four starts. Grade: C-
26. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Chicagoland was Biffle’s worst track when he arrived (one top 10 in 13 starts), and his 14th start didn’t change anything. Grade: C-
27. Ty Dillon, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Dillon was making his ninth start of the season and 16th of his career — but first subbing for Regan Smith, who was home awaiting the birth of his second child. Good call by Smith. Regan and his wife, Megan, had a girl Sunday, Eliza Grace Smith. Congrats. Grade: B (as in baby)
28. Chris Buescher, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Lack of speed, including the inability to make the car faster as the race progressed, was the culprit in the rookie’s first Chase race. Grade: C-
29. Landon Cassill, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Cassill finished three laps back, aided by a pit-road speeding penalty on Lap 53. Grade: C-
30. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. DiBenedetto finished three laps off the pace. Grade: D
31. Brian Scott, No. 44 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Scott brought out the second caution when he lost control in Turn 4 and went for a spin. Grade: D-
32. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola had to start in the rear of the field (unapproved adjustments), and then his team caused the first caution when one of the car’s tires got loose during a pit stop and rolled across pit road and onto the grass. Grade: F
33. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett finished five laps off the pace. Grade D
34. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears was penalized for speeding on pit road on Lap 103 and then penalized again for speeding while serving the pass-through penalty. Grade: D-
35. David Ragan, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. Ragan nailed his day in his tweet: “Had too many speeding penalties and not enough time to make up ground.” He had two. Grade: F
36. Cole Whitt, No. 98 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Whitt finished seven laps back. Grade: F
37. Michael McDowell, No. 95 Chevrolet, Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing. McDowell changed the outcome of the race when his right-front tire exploded, spewing debris across the track and bringing out the fourth and final caution with four laps left in regulation. Grade: F
38. Josh Wise, No. 30 Chevrolet, The Motorsports Group. Wise was already seven laps down when the No. 30 team was penalized for an uncontrolled tire during the third caution on Lap 194. Grade: F
39. Reed Sorenson, No. 55 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. One week after getting his second-best finish over the past two seasons (26th at Richmond), Sorenson finished 13 laps back. Grade: F
40. Joey Gase, No. 32 Ford, Go Fas Racing. Gase finished 16 laps back in his fourth start of the season and 11th of his career. Grade: F
RELATED: Watch the live stream here | Chicagoland results | Standings
NASCAR.com will live stream post-race inspection Tuesday from 8-11:30 a.m. ET at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.
Tune in for a three-hour view of the inspection floor of the 61,000-square-foot shop, bringing you behind the scenes as NASCAR officials tear down and inspect Sprint Cup Series vehicles following Sunday’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
The cars selected for further evaluation at the R&D Center this week are:
— The No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota of race-winner Martin Truex Jr.
— The No. 22 Team Penske Ford of second-place finisher Joey Logano.
— The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of third-place finisher Chase Elliott.
For more details about the inspection process, click here.
Weather has impacted Texas Motor Speedway before, but never like this.
Lightning struck the facility’s infield road course during a weekend storm, creating a large hole that sent asphalt spraying — some as far as 150 feet, a TMS spokesman told the Star-Telegram of Fort Worth.
This is why we don’t race with lightning in the area, folks! Our road was struck in a lightning storm last night. pic.twitter.com/jxBzC33yug
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Texas Motor Speedway (@TXMotorSpeedway)
September 16, 2016
Crews were busy at work Monday morning patching it. The infield road was the only area of the track hit during the deluge — “Bog Hoss,” the massive, 10-story tall video screen, was unaffected.
The infield road course sits on the inside of the track’s 1.5-mile oval, which was not struck by lightning. The track will host the second race in the Round of 8 of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup on Nov. 6.
The track’s Twitter account had a bit of fun with the incident, too.
Where there’s lightning, there’s … ‘Smoke?’
Initially we thought it was a lightning strike but we’re unable to confirm the whereabouts of Lil’ Smoke last night. pic.twitter.com/vqGEWbAgbq
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Texas Motor Speedway (@TXMotorSpeedway)
September 16, 2016
Furniture Row Racing said in a team release Monday that it accepts NASCAR’s failed post-race inspection ruling, while also citing on-track contact with the No. 4 Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick as the likely reason for being out of compliance.
“The right rear of our car was well within the tolerance margin, which showed that we were trying to be conservative,” the statement read. “However, the left rear wheel alignment was off by approximately ten-thousandths of an inch, which in high probability was due to damage in that area as a result of being hit by the No. 4 car.
“We believe the laser inspection numbers were correct and accept NASCAR’s decision that was made following Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.”
Truex Jr.’s race-winning No. 78 Toyota, along with the No. 48 Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson, failed post-race inspection after Sunday’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series opener at Chicagoland Speedway.
NASCAR recently updated its rules for “encumbered” victory penalties during the postseason, but those are not be in effect for Truex Jr. because it was the lowest grade of failure for the LIS platform.
Any penalties will be announced later in the week, according to NASCAR.
Following the release of NASCAR Heat Evolution, BK Racing announced Monday that it has teamed with game developer Dusenberry Martin Racing to sponsor Matt DiBenedetto‘s No. 83 Toyota Camry at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend.
“We are proud to showcase the NASCAR Heat Evolution game on Matt’s car this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway,” said BK Racing CMO Doug Fritz in a team release. “Dusenberry Martin Racing is a great partner for everyone in NASCAR and we’re excited to feature three BK Racing cars in the game.”
NASCAR Heat Evolution will adorn DiBenedetto’s ride for Sunday’s New England 300 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at the “Magic Mile.”
NASCAR Heat Evolution connects fans more than ever before. A new online competitive multiplayer feature supports a full field of up to 40 racers, a NASCAR video game first. Gamers can race as and against the top drivers and teams of today. Users can enter their rookie season and race for a spot in The Chase, relive classic NASCAR moments, or make new ones.
“Dusenberry Martin Racing is proud to partner with Toyota Racing and BK Racing with our brand new NASCAR Heat Evolution video game,” said Tom Dusenberry, DMR Chief Executive Officer. “Matt DiBenedetto is an authentic gamer, talented driver, and we are excited to have him represent the NASCAR Heat Evolution game on track at Loudon. Fans can race the with the No. 83 Toyota Camry in NASCAR Heat Evolution on Xbox One, PlayStation®4, and PC. Pick up your copy today!”
.@dmrnascarheat to sponsor @mattdracing @NHMS –> https://t.co/l6F4fIMHiQ pic.twitter.com/6lDjIIMhH5
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BK Racing (@BKRacing_2383)
September 19, 2016
NASCAR Heat Evolution is now available in North American stores for $59.99 as a retail and digital release on the PlayStation®4 system, Xbox One and Windows PC. This title is rated E (Everyone) by the ESRB.
RELATED: Full race results | Updated Chase Grid
JOLIET, Ill. — With the laps winding down and Chase Elliott out front, NASCAR’s opening race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup appeared to be headed to a surprising start.
Was Elliott, the son of a former champion and the future of Hendrick Motorsports thinking about victory? About win No. 1 in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series and a sure-fire ticket into the next round of eliminations, perhaps?
No way.
Instead, as he leaned against his No. 24 Chevrolet afterward, a soft drink upside down in his hand and its contents leaking slowly onto pit road, he said he was thinking “that a caution was probably going to come out.”
It did.
And in the scramble on and off pit road, mixed in with the calls by some to stay out and risk worn tires versus fresh ones, Elliott, 20, emerged fifth instead of first.
With only two laps — three miles — to try and get back into the lead.
He didn’t.
“That’s a fact of life,” said Elliott, who finished third, of the late caution. “I guess fortunately and unfortunately I’ve raced long enough to know that these races don’t go green for that long period of time.
“We see more late-race cautions than we do not; that’s just the world we live in. It was expected; it’s going to happen.”
Elliott led three times, his blue Chevrolet out front for 75 of the race’s 270 laps. It was not the first time victory had seemingly been stripped from his grasp.
Martin Truex Jr., Sunday’s winner of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, said he knew what Elliott must be feeling. The Furniture Row Racing driver has had his share of dominating runs end in disappointment.
“First off, I want to say I feel for Chase,” Truex said. “I know what he’s going through. He did a great job. I wasn’t going to catch him. I was catching him, but I was not catching him enough to pass him in five more laps.
“So I know what he’s going through. But obviously he did a good job and they were really fast today. We had to come from behind.”
Elliott, who started 14th on the 40-car grid when rain forced officials to cancel qualifying on Friday, wasn’t out of the top 10 for long. Or the top five, for that matter, settling in for the duration after only a little more than 40 laps had been completed.
He gave notice of his car’s speed with a 57-lap stint out front (from laps 178-234), and lost the spot only during a final round of green-flag stops. By Lap 249, he was back on top and keeping a manageable advantage on the rest of the field.
But when Michael McDowell blew a tire to put the race under caution just four laps from the end of regulation, Elliott’s lead suddenly evaporated.
“They had no choice,” crew chief Alan Gustafson said of the call by NASCAR officials to display the yellow flag.
“It’s just frustrating because it’s not determined by the people who should determine the outcome of the race,” Gustafson continued. “It’s racing. It’s why this is one of the most humbling sports in the world. You can do everything right — there are some things we could have done better, that we have to clean up. But at the end of the day it’s frustrating to have it won and … whatever. It’s over.
“We didn’t execute the last pit stop and (the 78 of Truex) beat us out. We can work on that. (Our) guys did an awesome job today; I’m really proud of their pit stops. A little hiccup; obviously it came at the wrong time, but we’ll work on it.”
After the first of three Chase races that make up the Round of 16, Elliott sits sixth in points. The series moves on to New Hampshire and then Dover before the bottom four drivers are eliminated and the Round of 12 begins.
There were positives to take away from the almost-win.
“I feel like we did a good job trying to control the things that we could control today,” Elliott said. “We had a good car, something to be proud of. We can’t control when they’re (yellow flags) going to come out or who is going to stay out on tires or where you’re going to line up on restarts. That stuff is just life; (you) move on.”