Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Results | Standings


BROOKLYN, Mich. — Spencer Gallagher said he didn’t know how fast he was going when his No. 23 Chevrolet collided with the No. 4 Toyota of Christopher Bell.


“I don’t want to know,” a shaken Gallagher said after exiting the care center Saturday, the Careers for Veterans 200 under caution and workers clearing debris from the hard two-truck crash.


Bell, his No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota running second, had charged inside of leader Cole Custer (JR Motorsports) in Turn 3 on Lap 75 of the 100-lap NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event. But the back end of the vehicle tried to pass the front end — spinning up the track and into the path of the oncoming entry of Gallagher.


The impact was frightening. So much so that Gallagher, after exiting his truck, quickly made his way back to Bell’s damaged vehicle.


“That was a vicious hit for me so I had to see that he was fine,” Gallagher, battling for fourth at the time, said. “Everyone is jockeying so hard for position and it’s so easy to pull another guy around, not even trying to, just racing hard. …


“Poor Christopher got sucked around on the bottom there; I tried to get up and away from him as quickly as I could and couldn’t get it done in time. After I came to rest, I didn’t know where I hit him but I didn’t think I got him in any kind of a good place. I got out and took off running to him because I was afraid for the safety of a fellow competitor.


“I was just hoping so much in my heart he was all right. It put the fear of God in me, seeing how that unfolded. Apologies to the safety officials for having to chase after my dumb ass but I needed to see with my own eyes that he was OK.”


The race, delayed by rain, was won by Brett Moffitt with a last-lap pass. Bell, who was also was not injured, was credited with a 24th-place finish; Gallagher was scored in 25th.


“Just really bummed for everybody who works on this (truck),” Bell said afterward, “because we had a really fast Tundra today. I felt like I did a really good job all race just kind of biding my time.


“I knew I had a fast truck and was just trying to take care of it. I got the opportunity there late in the race … maybe should have waited a little bit but had the opportunity. I tried to take it and it didn’t work out.”


Bell fell to seventh in points but with a win at St. Louis earlier this season, is basically assured of a spot in this year’s inaugural Chase for the series.


“Kind of frustrated with myself there,” he said. “Still had a lot of race to go. … Maybe it was a little too early to go for it.”


Gallagher dropped two spots to 14th.


Officials called Gallagher to the hauler after the race for exiting his truck and approaching another vehicle.


“They’re going to want to talk to me,” he said. “I understand it’s against … policy but in that moment I was concerned about Christopher. … There were plenty of safety officials around me, there were no active race cars around so I took off running; I needed to see him with my own eyes.”

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Standings heading into Sunday


BROOKLYN, Mich. — It’s an unfortunate yet familiar position for Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

Unfortunate because with only three races remaining before the 16-team field is set for this year’s NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup, Kahne finds himself winless on the season and 17th in points.

Familiar because the 36-year-old has been here before.

Kahne slid into the Chase field in 2014, the inaugural season of the format awarding positions to full-time competitors that managed at least one victory through the season’s first 26 races, with a late victory at Atlanta, just one stop from the cutoff event.

Three races remain before this year’s field is set, beginning with Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 here at Michigan International Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Then it’s on to Darlington and Richmond to determine the remainder of this year’s Chase field before the playoff opener at Chicagoland Speedway.

Two years ago, the final three-race run consisted of stops at Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond.

“I don’t think that was anything like this year; I think this is a lot different,” Kahne said Saturday at Michigan. “That was a great night for us and we were right there all night, got in the right position on restarts … we were fast all night. I think restarts were big for us. I could run really fast for 15 laps. It’s been a while since we’ve been like that.”

Indeed. The Atlanta win was Kahne’s 17th but it was also his last. He enters Sunday’s race shadowed by a 70-race winless streak. In the meantime, Kahne’s Hendrick teammates have won 14 times since his Atlanta victory.

“For us, I think it’s been so many areas, so many little things that add up to being four-tenths (of a second) off per lap often,” he said. “I don’t think it’s from a lack of effort because the effort is there. But it’s maybe working in the right areas or trying to understand things that will make it easier for me to drive for my driving style. That’s been a huge part of the last couple of years.

“It doesn’t matter what other guys are doing, (it’s) ‘what will help Kasey? What will help him with his car because he drives a little different?’ I feel like this weekend we’ve kind of done our thing and it seems to be working pretty well so car.”

Ten Sprint Cup drivers have one or more wins this season and sit inside the top 16, virtually assuring themselves of a slot in the Chase. Tony Stewart and Chris Buescher also have one win each, and while further back in points, their status likely leaves only four Chase positions up for grabs.

Seventeen others are still mathematically alive, should they earn a win in one of the next three races. If no different winners emerge, points will be used to determine the remaining spots.

Kahne trails the holder of the last spot in the Chase Grid, Ryan Newman by 39 points, with Trevor Bayne and Kyle Larson sandwiched between the two and chasing one of the final playoff spots as well. Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott and Jamie McMurray and Newman are just on the right side of the Chase bubble as of now.

Hendrick drivers qualified second (Johnson), fifth (Elliott), sixth (Alex Bowman driving in place of Dale Earnhardt Jr.) and 11th (Kahne) at Michigan. It is the seventh time this season Kahne will start from the No. 11 spot on the 40-car grid.

“We run 13th to 18th every week; we qualify there and we race there,” Kahne said. “That’s just the speed we have. And then we do the same thing the next week. It’s nice to do something a little different this week and to have speed to show it’s helping.”

Kahne, 10th in Saturday’s morning practice and fourth in the weather-shortened final session, has qualified for the Chase five times, the last coming in ’14.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Race leaderboard | Live weather, radar updates

The start of Saturday’s Careers for Veterans 200 Presented by Cooper Standard and Brad Keselowski‘s Checkered Flag Foundation has been delayed by inclement weather in the area of Michigan International Speedway. The 100-lap race was originally scheduled to get underway at 1:13 p.m. ET on FS1, but that was before rain and thunderstorms moved across the 2-mile track.

After about a two-and-a-half hour delay, the green flag for the race came at 3:47 p.m. ET.

John Wes Townley won the pole position in his No. 05 Jive Communications/Zaxby’s Chevrolet. Alongside Townley on the front row is two-time Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton in the No. 88 Great Lakes Flooring/Menards Toyota for ThorSport Racing.

Five-time Truck Series winner William Byron starts third in the No. 9 Liberty University Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Alongisde Byron in Row 2 is the No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota of Timothy Peters, who holds the eighth and final spot in the Chase Grid.

The Michigan race is the 14th of the season and third-to-last before the Chase field is set after the Chicagoland race on Sept. 16

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: All the 2016 throwback paint schemes | Buy tickets | Vote now


HScott Motorsports unveiled the throwback paint schemes that Clint Bowyer (No. 15 Chevrolet) and Michael Annett (No. 46 Chevrolet) will sport at Darlington Raceway for next week’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 (Sept. 4, 6 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Bowyer’s car honors 2017 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Benny Parsons. The paint scheme sponsored by 5-hour Energy features Parsons’ name just below the net opening and photos of the racer on the hood. The scheme itself is a tribute to the L.G. DeWitt deep-orange with blue wheels ride from Parsons’ championship season of 1973. 

Parsons compiled 21 premier series wins over a 21-year career. Parsons was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998. Parsons also transitioned into television work following his NASCAR career, commentating for NBC and TNT until his passing in 2007, at the age of 65.




Annett’s car pays tribute to the logos of sponsor Pilot Flying J.


Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Full practice results | Top 10 consecutive lap averages

Denny Hamlin set the pace in final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, but damaged his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota in a spin midway through the session.


Hamlin, who qualified third in Friday’s Coors Light Pole Qualifying, clocked a lap of 197.878 mph in Saturday’s final practice. The session, originally scheduled for 50 minutes, was halted with approximately 27 minutes left because of lightning in the area of the 2-mile track.


Hamlin told NBCSN that the car got loose “out of the blue” as he navigated Turn 4. He avoided contact with the wall, but did slight damage when the nose of his car dug into the grass bordering the frontstretch. Hamlin indicated the team did not expect to deploy the reserve car.


RELATED: All the cars at Michigan as they’ll line up


Rookie Chase Elliott was second-fastest at 197.786 mph in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet. He was followed by two Hendrick teammates on the leaderboard — third-fastest Jimmie Johnson (197.694 mph) and fourth-best Kasey Kahne (197.455 mph).


Michigan native Brad Keselowski completed the top five in the final prep for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM). Team Penske teammate Joey Logano, who secured the Coors Light Pole Award in Friday qualifying, was seventh-fastest.


Alex Bowman, subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet, was 10th-fastest at 196.969 mph.


Stewart atop Saturday’s early practice


Tony Stewart topped the speed chart in Saturday’s morning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice session at Michigan International Speedway ahead of Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Stewart circled the 2-mile track in his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with a fast time of 202.122 mph to pace the 55-minute practice session. “Smoke” has one win in the Irish Hills in 33 starts there.

Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders Ryan Blaney (No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford, 201.427 mph) and Chase Elliott (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, 201.196 mph) came in second and third, respectively. Both drivers are in search of their first win in the sport’s top series.

Kurt Busch (No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, 201.089 mph) and Kyle Larson (No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Chevrolet, 200.932 mph) completed the top five.

Alex Bowman, who will pilot the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for the sidelined Dale Earnhardt Jr. this weekend, placed eighth in practice. All told, 12 drivers crossed the 200 mph mark on their laps Saturday morning.

Polesitter Joey Logano placed 16th in the session.


Posted on by Staff Report

RESULTS: Practice 1 | Practice 2 | Practice 3

 

Average speeds for drivers running 10 or more consecutive laps in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at Michigan International Speedway:

Practice 1

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 42   Kyle Larson 1 10 194.178
2 14     Tony Stewart 1 10 193.710

Practice 2

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 18 Kyle Busch 2 11 199.713
2 48 Jimmie Johnson 1 10 199.578
3 88 Alex Bowman(i) 2 11 199.403
4 5 Kasey Kahne 1 10 198.817
5 1 Jamie McMurray 10 19 198.165
6 19 Carl Edwards 10 19 198.115
7 24 Chase Elliott # 2 11 197.939
8 4 Kevin Harvick 10 19 197.802
9 2 Brad Keselowski 14 23 197.462
10 15 Clint Bowyer 1 10 197.177
11 83 Matt DiBenedetto 1 10 192.298

 

Practice 3

Pos Car Driver From Lap To Lap Avg Speed
1 42 Kyle Larson 1 10 196.346
2 24 Chase Elliott 1 10 196.015
3 48 Jimmie Johnson 1 10 195.995
4 5 Kasey Kahne 1 10 195.789
5 47 AJ Allmendinger 1 10 195.703
6 1 Jamie McMurray 1 10 195.514
7 41 Kurt Busch 1 10 195.442
8 31 Ryan Newman 1 10 195.322
9 20 Matt Kenseth 1 10 194.883

*Required to qualify on time, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, #Rookie

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Full race results | Standings


BROOKLYN, Mich. — In five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts, Brett Moffitt had never led a lap.

But in Saturday’s Careers for Veterans 200 at Michigan International Speedway, Moffitt picked the perfect time to take the point for the first time.

Powering around Red Horse Racing teammate Timothy Peters and five-time series winner William Byron off the second corner of the final lap at the two-mile track, Moffitt held off Peters by .098 seconds to win a NASCAR national series race for the first time.

Moffitt’s victory, however, left Shane Huffman, Peters’ crew chief, slapping his seat on the pit box in frustration. Peters, who led a race-high 42 laps, could have locked himself into the inaugural Camping World Truck Series Chase with a victory. Running a limited schedule this season, Moffitt is ineligible for the championship this year.

But Moffitt made no apologies for taking advantage of the opportunity that presented itself when Byron pushed Peters into Turn 3 on the white-flag lap, cut to the inside and slowed both trucks down. Moffitt cruised around the outside off Turn 2 on the final lap and kept Peters behind him.

“I’m here to win,” Moffitt said. “I said it earlier and I’ll say it again. I’m not going to wreck him (Peters) for it. I’m going to race him clean because I know he needs to get in the Chase, but this team needs to win and these guys deserve to win.

“That’s what we come to do, and our partners at Toyota want to do the same, and we got it.”

Daniel Hemric passed Byron on the last lap to come home third, with Byron following in fourth and Cameron Hayley in fifth.

The good news for both Peters and Hemric was the wide margin both drivers opened over their closest pursuers in the race to make the Chase. Though winless this year, Hemric and Peters lead Cameron Hayley by 55 and 47 points, respectively, in the battle for the last two Chase spots.

If no new winner surfaces in the final two regular-season races, both Hemric and Peters are highly likely to qualify on points.

“It’s a good day for Red Horse Racing,” Peters said. “Congrats to Brett Moffitt. One-two finish. I wish we were ‘one,’ but all in all, the company brings the trophy back. The 9 (Byron) locked onto our bumper there in Turn 2 and pushed us really hard down into Turn 3.

“We had to do all we had to do to stay in front. … Tough to swallow right there, but it felt good to run the way we did all day.”

Both Cole Custer and Tyler Reddick entered the race needing to win to make the Chase. Reddick’s Ford bounced off the side of Johhny Sauter’s Chevrolet on Lap 70 and sustained heavy damage during contact with the Turn 3 wall.

Custer, however, had the lead for a restart on Lap 84, only to lose control and spin into the Turn 4 wall, grazing the left rear of Moffitt’s No. 11 Toyota in the process.

“We didn’t have the raw speed of the guys up front, but it drove pretty well, and it was hard to keep those guys off of me,” Custer said. “The 11 (Moffitt) stopped pushing me — which it’s his right to do that.

“We were kind of losing the 17 (Peters) there. He (Moffitt) went to the outside and I started getting tight. Once he got on my door, I got loose and over-corrected it. I just hate it for my guys that brought a great truck.”

Like Hayley, Custer and Reddick will have two more chances to force their way into the Chase by winning one of the final two regular-season races.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Alex Tagliani has made a handful of NASCAR starts across the XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series over the past several years, remaining winless despite often, if not always, looking like the man to beat.

 

Being the accomplished road course ace that he is — along with the horsepower and backing from Team Penske/Brad Keselowski Racing that he’s enjoyed since 2014 — you can typically count on the 42-year-old to start up front, and stay there.

 

A third career Coors Light Pole for Saturday’s Road America 180 Fired Up by Johnsonville at Road America — in just his eighth XFINITY start — once again put Tagliani in prime position to compete for his first NASCAR national series victory, but once again he came up short.

 

For the second consecutive year, his sole XFINITY start was foiled by contact from the eventual race winner. Last year it was Regan Smith at Mid-Ohio; Michael McDowell was Saturday’s culprit.

 

With 17 laps remaining in the 48-lap event (extended three laps by overtime), Tagliani — who’d led a dominating 17 laps already at that point — retook the lead from Erik Jones, only to be spun after left-rear contact from the No. 2 of McDowell in Turn 5. He was relegated to 30th place after the contact, having to battle back to salvage a seventh-place finish.

 

“I could basically say what I want to say, but I don’t know if it’s going to matter at the end,” Tagliani told NASCAR.com on pit road following the race. “I think the 2 realized that we were the car to beat and it’s unfortunate he presents himself to take us out, and he did it to take away some competition from him. In those instances, I’m a firm believer that you have to resist the temptation of doing it, but it seems in this world, in this series, in this sport, everything goes.

 

“I think I should try to play smarter and drive him that way. At that time, instead of trying to fight clean with the 2 and give him a hard time and try to be creative and try to go around me, I should’ve let him go by and do what he did to me and take away the competition. It crossed my mind, but I said ‘Walk, man.’ Because other than the 2, there was nobody else that could touch us. After what I saw, I should’ve. Should’ve, could’ve, but it’s not the way you win races.”

 

Looking at the replay, it’s tough to tell whether or not McDowell should’ve lifted, or Tagliani shouldn’t have dove into the corner, but it was evident neither driver was willing to budge. Particularly after some prior in-race contact between the two.

 

Regardless, McDowell — while implying in his post-race press conference that he was in a bit of a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t situation — stands by his declaration that the spin was not intentional.

 

“No, it wasn’t intentional; I wasn’t intentionally doing it, but at the same time I was clearly in there and I wasn’t really sure what he was doing when he came across the nose … ” the Richard Childress Racing driver said. “… I don’t know. I didn’t see the replay yet. The 22 and I had a little run-in earlier in the race and basically I kept putting my nose in and he kept slamming the door. He went wide in Turn 5 and I got underneath the 42 (Justin Marks) and 22 and I was alongside of him and he decided just to turn in. Once we made contact, I just came off the brake and pushed him out of the way. The reason I did that is because had I not, I would’ve been stuck there, too, and I would’ve gotten ran over. Once he committed to turn in and I was on the inside, we already made the contact.

 

“But I haven’t seen a replay. A lot of times, I watch the replay and I go, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was right.’ And a lot of times I go, ‘Oh, gosh … ‘ I hope it’s not an ‘Oh, gosh’ moment. But by no means did I come out of Turn 5 and be like ‘Here’s my shot. I’m going to wipe him out.’ That wasn’t the case at all. I got a run and went underneath him and when he slammed his door, I wasn’t expecting him to slam the door.”

 

McDowell now heads to Michigan International Speedway, where he will race in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race.