RESULTS: Practice 1
| Pos | Car | Driver | From Lap | To Lap | Avg Speed |
| 1 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | 5 | 14 | 131.273 |
| 2 | 10 | Danica Patrick | 1 | 10 | 126.870 |
RESULTS: Practice 2
| Pos | Car | Driver | From Lap | To Lap | Avg Speed |
| 1 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | 2 | 11 | 131.139 |
| 2 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | 15 | 24 | 131.033 |
| 3 | 18 | Kyle Busch | 23 | 32 | 130.757 |
| 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | 24 | 33 | 130.754 |
| 5 | 24 | Chase Elliott # | 3 | 12 | 130.576 |
| 6 | 42 | Kyle Larson | 24 | 33 | 130.559 |
| 7 | 27 | Paul Menard | 2 | 11 | 130.472 |
| 8 | 31 | Ryan Newman | 2 | 11 | 130.462 |
| 9 | 88 | Alex Bowman(i) | 32 | 41 | 130.366 |
| 10 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | 3 | 12 | 130.334 |
| 11 | 19 | Carl Edwards | 8 | 17 | 130.316 |
| 12 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | 6 | 15 | 129.924 |
| 13 | 41 | Kurt Busch | 20 | 29 | 129.825 |
| 14 | 23 | David Ragan | 1 | 10 | 129.795 |
| 15 | 3 | Austin Dillon | 17 | 26 | 129.785 |
| 16 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | 20 | 29 | 129.499 |
| 17 | 43 | Aric Almirola | 13 | 22 | 129.476 |
| 18 | 44 | Brian Scott # | 27 | 36 | 128.899 |
| 19 | 95 | Michael McDowell | 6 | 15 | 128.823 |
| 20 | 21 | * Ryan Blaney # | 1 | 10 | 128.743 |
| 21 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | 9 | 18 | 128.458 |
| 22 | 34 | Chris Buescher # | 26 | 35 | 127.980 |
RESULTS: Practice 3
| Pos | Car | Driver | From Lap | To Lap | Avg Speed |
| 1 | 19 | Carl Edwards | 13 | 22 | 131.663 |
| 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | 28 | 37 | 131.401 |
| 3 | 42 | Kyle Larson | 24 | 33 | 131.342 |
| 4 | 18 | Kyle Busch | 35 | 44 | 131.337 |
| 5 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | 1 | 10 | 131.279 |
| 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | 2 | 11 | 131.167 |
| 7 | 24 | Chase Elliott # | 34 | 43 | 131.113 |
| 8 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | 1 | 10 | 131.069 |
| 9 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | 2 | 11 | 130.927 |
| 10 | 88 | Alex Bowman(i) | 1 | 10 | 130.902 |
| 11 | 41 | Kurt Busch | 23 | 32 | 130.869 |
| 12 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | 2 | 11 | 130.842 |
| 13 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | 34 | 43 | 130.761 |
| 14 | 22 | Joey Logano | 23 | 32 | 130.705 |
| 15 | 14 | Tony Stewart | 1 | 10 | 130.675 |
| 16 | 27 | Paul Menard | 3 | 12 | 130.561 |
| 17 | 31 | Ryan Newman | 1 | 10 | 130.411 |
| 18 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | 1 | 10 | 130.216 |
| 19 | 3 | Austin Dillon | 18 | 27 | 129.938 |
| 20 | 43 | Aric Almirola | 1 | 10 | 129.656 |
| 21 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | 1 | 10 | 129.645 |
| 22 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | 19 | 28 | 129.635 |
| 23 | 10 | Danica Patrick | 27 | 36 | 129.247 |
| 24 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 16 | 25 | 129.231 |
| 25 | 21 | * Ryan Blaney # | 22 | 31 | 129.058 |
| 26 | 44 | Brian Scott # | 20 | 29 | 128.788 |
| 27 | 7 | Regan Smith | 1 | 10 | 128.720 |
| 28 | 95 | Michael McDowell | 1 | 10 | 128.572 |
| 29 | 16 | Greg Biffle | 7 | 16 | 128.554 |
| 30 | 13 | Casey Mears | 16 | 25 | 128.542 |
| 31 | 34 | Chris Buescher # | 24 | 33 | 128.528 |
| 32 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | 22 | 31 | 128.318 |
| 33 | 23 | David Ragan | 1 | 10 | 128.176 |
| 34 | 38 | Landon Cassill | 30 | 39 | 127.961 |
*Car must run 10 consecutive laps on the track to be included in the above chart.
# denotes rookie
(i) denotes ineligible for points
RELATED: See the Chase Grid
LOUDON, N.H. — Jimmie Johnson felt certain he’d be facing a much larger deficit in the second event of the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. A points penalty for his Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet failing its post-race pass through the Laser Inspection Station (LIS) platform last week likely would have dropped him into the bottom four of the 16-driver postseason field.
But Johnson said he received a phone call Wednesday afternoon on his way back from his race shop that altered his outlook. NASCAR competition officials had just implemented a midweek update regarding minor LIS infractions, offering a reprieve for both himself and the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 team of last weekend’s race winner, Martin Truex Jr.
“I was just taking my lumps and going on with my business and then kind of Christmas showed up in September,” Johnson said Friday after qualifying fourth for Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM) at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “Just unexpected, but happy.”
NASCAR’s competition department announced Wednesday that P2 and P3-level penalties would be eliminated for lesser LIS violations found in post-race inspections, leaving the stricter P4-grade punishments in place for more egregious infractions. Truex, who automatically advanced to the Chase’s next round with his victory at Chicagoland Speedway, and Johnson were not penalized in the points standings.
Johnson said he was pleasantly surprised, though he knew his car was slightly outside of the allowable measurements for its rear axle offset, or “skew.”
“I really feel NASCAR was trying to create a penalty system that was more forgiving,” Johnson said. “Stuff bends, stuff moves, and they set those tolerances up to really help the garage area and then to keep cars failing out of the headlines. But it’s tough. There’s a lot of moving parts in these cars and of course we’re trying to get as much skew as we can and we failed.
“I’m sure directionally, it was an advantage. Everybody will take every hundredth of an inch they can get. I think we were four thousandths over. I don’t know how much of an advantage you can get in four thousandths. That’s awfully, awfully small, but we’re in a world now where it’s black or white.”
The non-penalty kept Johnson in the heart of the Chase’s opening round, slotted eighth with a 13-point spread behind series leader Truex. Four drivers will be eliminated from championship eligibility after next weekend’s race at Dover International Speedway, where Johnson has won a record 10 times.
Johnson’s current ranking could be worse had the penalty taken effect, but it could have been better as well. Johnson was solidly on the verge of a top-five finish last week at Chicagoland, but a pit-road speeding penalty on his penultimate stop bumped him outside the top 10.
Johnson said he began to accelerate just 2 feet too early at the pit-exit line, sending him over the speed limit for the final timing section and offsetting the performance strides the No. 48 team had made in recent weeks.
“We’ve definitely been showing speed over the last month and a half,” Johnson said. “That’s been something that’s very welcomed and it’s been a lot of hard work to get to that point. Unfortunately, mistakes still are continuing to happen and last week was on me.”
RELATED: Results | Standings | Chase Grid
SPARTA, KY – A huge push from Daniel Suárez on a restart with four laps to go in Saturday night’s eventful VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 sent Elliott Sadler ahead of Ryan Blaney to win the opening race of the NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase at Kentucky Speedway.
Sadler’s third win of the season and 13th of his XFINITY Series career was about more than just stamping his way into Round 2 of the Chase. The Emporia, Virginia, native fought for the win while thinking of his mother, Bell, who was released from the hospital Saturday, after a week of hospitalization and two surgeries.
“We fought through a lot tonight,” Sadler said in Victory Lane. “I’m going to get a little emotional on you, I’ve been in the hospital all week with my mom in ICU watching her fight and fight through a lot of pain and suffering. (She) made her way back home tonight to watch the race. Mom, I love you. She leads so much by example.”
Sadler also credited his team, who helped Sadler battle from outside the top 15 earlier in the race.
“These guys are my heroes,” Sadler said. “We had a 10th or 15th place car at best. Still had to come in and really take our time and work on it. Great pit calls by Kevin (Meendering, crew chief) and the guys to get us in position. Got a good push there at the end. I do want to say thanks to Josh Berry for helping me a ton tonight. That kid did some cool things on the restarts. This OneMain Financial team has no quit in them. We just fight till the end. This is a great way to start the Chase.”
Suárez, who finished second, said he struggled with a tight condition all night but was best at the end of the race.
“Right at the end, we were pretty good, maybe just a little tight but we were strong,” he said. “I feel like we were the fastest car out there at the end. I just needed one or two laps more to get the win.”
The inaugural XFINITY Series Chase race offered plenty of excitement and drama. With the “win and advance” format putting a greater premium on victories, drivers found themselves on the edge of control at a track where the racing groove was extremely tight since undergoing a repave in May.
“At halfway, we were running 20th,” Sadler said. “By my calculations, we were probably 10th or 11th in points, so to fight back that last 100 laps to gain that kind of momentum probably means a lot for us and these guys. I’m so proud of these guys. Dale (Earnhardt Jr., team owner) and Kelley (Earnhardt-Miller, team manager) and all of our partners for Hunt Bros., and Chevrolet and everyone that does so much for us at JR Motorsports. This is a great way to start off the Chase and keeps the momentum on our side, we can relax and go to Dover and have fun there and Charlotte and get ready for the second round.”
XFINITY Chase drivers Ty Dillon, Brandon Jones and Erik Jones all found themselves in a deep hole after being collected in accidents throughout a caution-filled race. Dillon and Erik Jones tangled while racing for second with 12 laps remaining. The event was red-flagged for five minutes, 34 seconds for cleanup of the Turn 3 incident.
RELATED: See the wreck | Jones’ take | Dillon’s take
Jones, the pole sitter who led a race-high 100 laps, took responsibility for the crash.
“I just got sucked around,” Jones said after the incident. “I tried to slow down but Ty was holding me down there pretty tight on the restart, slamming doors through (Turns) 1 and 2. It was my fault but it’s a pretty tough aero situation to be in.
“I just couldn’t hang on to it. I tried to slow down but he kept slamming down on my door and I did all I could to hang on to it. It definitely looks like we’re going to have to run really well at Dover and Charlotte or even win.”
Behind Sadler and Suárez, Sprint Cup rookie Ryan Blaney finished third while Sam Hornish Jr. and Matt Tifft completed the top five. Tifft, a NASCAR Next alumnus made his XFINITY Series return after undergoing brain surgery in July to remove a remove a benign, low-grade glioma.
Sadler leaves Kentucky Speedway with an eight-point lead in the standings and guaranteed admission to the next round of the Chase at Kansas Speedway in three weeks. Suárez (+27 points above the cutoff line) is second in the Chase standings, followed by Brendan Gaughan (+21), Ryan Reed (+19), Darrell Wallace Jr. (+19), Justin Allgaier (+17), Brennan Poole (+16), Blake Koch (+15), Erik Jones (-3), Ryan Sieg (-5), Brandon Jones (-15) and Ty Dillon (-15).
RELATED: Race results | Series standings | Updated Chase Grid
LOUDON, N. H. – William Byron stole a page from his mentor and team owner, Kyle Busch.
Leading 161 of 175 laps in Saturday’s UNOH 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway – the first race in the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase – Byron cruised to victory, the way Busch has done so many times before, and punched his ticket into the Chase’s Round of 6.
Not that runner-up Christopher Bell, Byron’s stablemate at Kyle Busch Motorsports, didn’t make it interesting in the closing laps. As Byron worked traffic in the late going, Bell closed from 1.325 seconds behind with five laps left to .430 seconds down on the next-to-last lap.
But Bell ran out of time and crossed the finish line .446 seconds behind his No. 1-seeded teammate, who won for a series-best sixth time.
“I wore myself out passing some lappers,” Byron said. “But with the amount of laps we had left, I thought I’d be OK. I was afraid the 4 (Bell) was going to catch us there at the end. We started to get tight, but that’s what happens sometimes when you get out front.
“It was really good – just a great race for us. I can’t thank these guys enough. Everyone at KBM, (sponsor) Liberty University – it’s just really cool to get a win here in the Chase. It feels awesome.”
Two-time series champion Matt Crafton came home third, followed by Tyler Reddick and Timothy Peters.
With the Chase field to be trimmed from eight to six drivers two races hence at Talladega Superspeedway, Ben Kennedy and Daniel Hemric fell below the provisional cut line. Kennedy finished 11th and trails Johnny Sauter (10th on Saturday and sixth in the standings) by one point.
If Kennedy’s result was only mildly disappointing, Hemric’s was a catastrophe. With his left rear tire cut down to the rim, Hemric spun in Turn 1 on Lap 25 to bring out the third caution of the race. His truck suffered a cut brake line and consequent fire in the left rear wheel well.
Hemric lost 33 laps under repairs, finished 28th and fell to last in the Chase standings, 21 points behind Sauter with two races left in the Round of 8. In all probability, Hemric will have to win one of those two events, at Las Vegas and Talladega, to advance to the Round of 6.
After leading the first 54 laps, Byron lost the top spot briefly when Cody Coughlin stayed out under the fourth caution and Bell, Kennedy, Crafton and Spencer Gallagher leap-frogged ahead of Byron with two-tire and fuel-only calls in the pits.
But Byron regained the lead from Bell on Lap 69 and held it the rest of the way. As Bell gained ground in the final laps, Byron was trying to save his equipment to prepare for a possible late caution.
“I was expecting it, so I didn’t push too hard,” Byron said. “I was expecting to get a caution, hopefully save something, but we gave it all we had there the whole race, and I just can’t thank these guys enough.”
Byron leaves New Hampshire with a 16-point lead in the standings and guaranteed admission to the next round of the Chase. Crafton (+11 points above the cutoff line) is second in the Chase standings, followed by Bell (+10), John Hunter Nemechek (ninth on Saturday, +5), Peters (+3), Sauter (+1), Kennedy (-1) and Hemric (-21).
Note: Nemechek’s No. 8 Chevrolet failed the post-race heights inspection. Any potential pnelaties will be announced next week.
RELATED: Full race results | Current Truck Series Chase Grid
LOUDON, N.H. – Following the conclusion of Saturday’s UNOH 175 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series inaugural Chase race, NASCAR officials announced that the No. 8 Chevrolet of John Hunter Nemechek failed the post-race heights inspection.
Nemechek brought out the fourth caution of the day, spinning on Lap 53 after slight contact with Kaz Grala, but rallied to finish ninth.
The driver currently sits fourth on the Chase Grid.
Any penalties would be announced later in the week.
MORE: Full driver standings
RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Truck Chase Grid
LOUDON, N.H. – Christopher Bell had what he described as a “good … no, great” truck after his second-place finish in Saturday’s UNOH 175 Camping World Truck Chase opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
If Bell’s No. 4 Toyota Tundra was “good … no, great,” his Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate William Byron’s race-winning No. 9 entry was great … no, incredible.
“All day long, we couldn’t run with him and we had 175 (laps) to get it done and we didn’t,” Byron told NASCAR.com on pit road after the race. “I think he was fading there at the end and lapped traffic was not doing him any favors, so open race track (I probably couldn’t have caught him), but the way it was, I maybe had a shot at it.”
The dominant showing in which KBM trucks led every single lap — 161 for Byron, 11 for Bell and three for Cody Coughlin‘s No. 51, which ran out of gas late – may very well clue us into half the battle contestants we’ll be looking at in less than two months at Homestead-Miami Speedway when four drivers compete for the inaugural Camping World Truck Series Chase crown. Based on what we saw Saturday, you’d be hard-pressed to find a reason to not include the streaking Byron and Bell tag-team among the quartet.
Byron no longer has to sweat the Chase wild card that looms at Talladega next month in the Round of 8 as he’s clinched his berth to the next series of races, while Bell’s next-best result puts him in good position to move on should a rare – for him – hiccup occur. In the following Round of 6, it could be the No. 4 driver’s time to land in Victory Lane for the second time this season.
Bell picked up his second career Camping World Truck Series victory earlier this season at Gateway Motorsports Park and showed his strength at the “Magic Mile,” two tracks similar in length and build to the penultimate race at Phoenix International Raceway.
“(The similarities between here and Gateway) kind of, maybe (helped),” Bell said. “Gateway was not a race track that I had circled on my schedule that I thought I would have a possible win at, so to come here and be as good as we were, I think it’s just a testimony to my crew chief, Jerry (Baxter). He does an awesome job, especially at these flat tracks where he has it all figured out.”
And don’t expect the nerves to get in the way, as the 21-year-old was unfazed by any pressure that came along with Saturday marking the landmark first-ever Chase for the series, approaching it like any other race.
“I think it was probably pretty similar (to what I was expecting). You just gotta treat these things the same,” Bell said. “All these races are important; you never come out here to finish second.
“Just gotta keep digging and pay attention and not make mistakes.”
RELATED: Meet the XFINITY Chase field
SPARTA, Ky. – Sam Hornish may not be a threat in the NASCAR XFINITY Series inaugural Chase, but that doesn’t mean the Richard Childress Racing driver isn’t a concern.
Saturday night’s VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 at Kentucky Speedway (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) officially kicks off the series’ seven-race Chase.
Hornish is making just his fourth start of the season, therefore he was not eligible for the 12-team Chase field.
That hasn’t keep him out of the winner’s circle, however as he wheeled the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing to the win at Iowa. And in two subsequent starts with the No. 2 team for RCR, Hornish has finished sixth and second.
He’s making start No. 3 in the No. 2 Chevrolet for RCR here at Kentucky.
And the 37-year-old was once again fast here Friday, clocking the third-fastest lap in each of the day’s two practice sessions.
Qualifying is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. ET on Saturday. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Erik Jones was quickest in both practice sessions.
“It was pretty good,” Hornish said of the results at day’s end. “The car started off a little bit free in the afternoon, but it was so hot. I felt like we got just a little bit behind there in the last practice but our car is good, it’s got decent balance; we just need a little bit to be able to run with the JGR cars.”
Hornish has four top-10 finishes in five XFINITY Series starts at the 1.5-mile Kentucky track. His racing career, which includes three IndyCar championships, got a major boost here in 2000 when he finished ninth after running out of fuel late in the race. That effort opened eyes and doors, and soon his open-wheel career was off and running.
His NASCAR career has included stints in Sprint Cup and the XFINITY Series; he also has one start in the Camping World Truck Series.
“Right now this is the last (race) I have scheduled … we’ve had a good run,” he said of the RCR arrangement. “It’s a good car, they’ve got some wins and they continue to build momentum. I’d like to go to Victory Lane for them for sure.
“They’re running for an owners’ championship so we have to be smart about everything we do as well.”
JGR teammates Jones and Daniel Suarez are seeded first and third in the Chase, respectively, with veteran Elliott Sadler (JR Motorsports) wedged in between.
Ty Dillon, teammate to Hornish, is seeded fourth while Justin Allgaier (JRM) is fifth.
Darrell Wallace (Roush Fenway Racing), Brendan Gaughan (RCR), Brennan Poole (Chip Ganassi Racing), Ryan Sieg (RSS Racing), Ryan Reed (RFR), Brandon Jones (RCR) and Blake Koch (Kaulig Racing) round out the 12-team Chase field.
“We were able to make some good gains mostly in race conditions,” said Jones, who will be seeking his fifth win of the season on Saturday. “It wasn’t so much that we needed the speed, we needed to find some drivability in it and I think we (did). …
“It’s going to change a lot once it cools all the way down and we get into race conditions but I feel pretty good about it.”
Except for the number of races, the XFINITY Series Chase mirrors that of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, with three-race segments leading up to a one-race finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
