Posted on by Nascar

CONCORD, N.C. — NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Paul Menard hopes this week’s crew chief change for his No. 27 Richard Childress Racing team can provide a “spark” as the team battles to get into this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field.

 

With only six races remaining before the start of the Chase, RCR officials announced Monday that veteran Danny Stockman has assumed the crew chief duties, replacing Justin Alexander.

 

Stockman’s first race with the team will be this weekend’s Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway.

 

Alexander had been Menard’s crew chief since joining the team with five races remaining in the 2014 season.

 

“Justin is a great guy and extremely smart,” Menard told NASCAR.com Tuesday, adding that he expects his former crew chief to “remain within RCR in some role.”

 

“The biggest thing is we just haven’t run very good this year. We felt we had to do something to try and spark some results.”

 

Menard, who is closing in on his 350th career start in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, qualified for the Chase last season and finished a career-best 14th. But he’s yet to earn a top-five finish this year, has only two-top 10s and sits 23rd in points.

 

He was 13th in points after 20 races last season, and 15th at this time two years ago.

 

The 16-team Chase field consist of drivers inside the top-30 in points that have one or more wins; if fewer than 16 drivers have won through this year’s cutoff race at Richmond International Raceway in September, those 16th or higher in points without a win or wins will be awarded any remaining available spots in the field.

 

Thus far, 11 drivers have one or more wins, meaning only five spots are currently available via points. Menard trails Kyle Larson by 75 points for the final spot in the Chase Grid.

 

“At this point, we have to win a race to get in the Chase,” Menard said. “We’re going to shake things up and try to make that happen.”

 

Stockman guided Austin Dillon to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship in 2011 and the XFINITY Series championship in ’13 at RCR.

 

He also served as crew chief for Menard for a victory at Road America in the XFINITY Series last year.

 

This season, he has overseen the No. 2 XFINITY Series team for RCR, which has featured drivers Dillon, Menard and Ben Kennedy.

 

Gil Martin, RCR XFINITY Series director, will fill Stockton’s role.

 

Menard is coming off a 10th-place finish this past weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he scored his lone Sprint Cup victory in 2011.

 

“Danny has had a lot of success in the Truck and XFINITY Series,” Menard said. “We’re trying to get a spark for the team. We’re consistently in the top 20, top 15 but we just haven’t knocked out those top-10 and top-five finishes this season.”

 

In addition to Menard, RCR also fields Sprint Cup entries for drivers Dillon and Ryan Newman.

 

Full-time XFINITY Series teams for the organization feature drivers Ty Dillon, Brandon Jones and Brendan Gaughan, as well as the fourth now spearheaded by Martin.

Posted on by Holly Cain

Kyle Busch’s dominating performance at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon spoke enough volumes to fill a small library:

— He joins Jimmie Johnson as the only NASCAR drivers to win back-to-back races at the historic track.

— Busch’s 149 laps led in the caution-extended 170-lap race broke an event record and raised the mark all-time.

— He is the first driver to ever sweep both the XFINITY and Sprint Cup series races at Indy two seasons in a row.

— He is the first driver to win both of the weekend’s races from the pole position.

— The victory now ties Busch with Brad Keselowski for the most victories this season (four). 

— And no one has more top-five finishes (11) entering this week’s stop at Pocono than the reigning Sprint Cup champ.

“It’s fun to come out here and have such a dominant piece at Indy,” a grinning Busch, 31, said Sunday. “They don’t come along often, so I was just hoping I didn’t screw it up.”

Well, actually, they have come along — more than normal — this season. At least for the Camry camp.

And perhaps most important to Busch and his Toyota teammates is that Toyota continues to set itself up as the power-keg to reckon with come Chase time — which is only a little over a month away.

The two most dominating performances of the season — and frankly, recent seasons — came from Furniture Row Racing driver Martin Truex, whose No. 78 Toyota led a record 392 of the 400 laps in May at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Busch, who contributed another history-maker over the weekend.

Five Toyota drivers are among the top 10 in the points standings, and all of them have won this season — from Denny Hamlin’s dramatic photo finish over Truex in the Daytona 500 to Busch’s most recent showing at Indy.

In fact, three of the top-four finishers Sunday (Busch, runner-up Matt Kenseth and fourth-place finisher Hamlin) drove Toyotas.

 

Toyota has had at least three drivers finish among the top 10 in the past three races.

“I think any of us have a shot to win on any given week,” Busch said. “We all have a great communication and camaraderie and are able to work together, and that’s what makes this team so strong.”

The entire month of April races belonged to Toyota with Busch’s back-to-back wins at Martinsville and Texas and Carl Edwards’ two wins at Bristol and Richmond.

As impressive as Toyota’s 10 wins are, nine have come in the past 15 races. And the real statement is where the wins are: Chase tracks.

Six of Toyota’s victories have come among the 10 venues the series will visit during the Chase. Busch owns three of the wins (Martinsville, Texas and Kansas), Kenseth has two (Dover and New Hampshire) and Truex took the trophy at Charlotte.

Indianapolis may not be a Chase race, but Busch’s record-setting performance there shows Toyota is full-speed-ahead as the Chase approaches.

“At this level of motorsports and the competition level across the field, you can’t hit on one thing and beat people,” Busch’s crew chief Adam Stevens said after Sunday’s race.


“You have to hit on everything.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

ANALYSIS: Potential XFINITY drivers for SHR


WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Stewart-Haas Racing’s rapid rate of expansion received another significant add-on Monday with the announcement that it will field a single-car entry in the NASCAR XFINITY Series next season.

To hear Tony Gibson — the team’s most veteran crew chief — tell it, the move serves only to strengthen an already flourishing organization.

“I think there’s a lot of plusses to it,” Gibson, Kurt Busch’s crew chief, said during a break in Day 1 of a two-day organizational test at Watkins Glen International. “Obviously, it’s a lot more work and it’s just something else you’ve got to keep track of as a company, but I think in all, when you weigh out the pros and cons, there’s a lot more pros.”

The main positive to potentially emerge is the creation of a farm system for developmental drivers and crew personnel. On Monday, SHR said that the driver and sponsor lineup for the XFINITY Series campaign would be announced at a later date.

But for Gibson, the benefits extend beyond having a feeder system to cultivate the next star with his or her name on the windshield. It’s about developing all the parts and pieces that boost performance as well.

“You look at all these guys that are real successful on the (Sprint) Cup side like Penske and Gibbs, they learn a lot from their XFINITY programs,” Gibson said. “I know their drivers talk really highly about it, especially not so much on the car side of it. When we go to these race tracks where something’s changed or we’ve got a new tire, it helps those guys learn more about the tire and what it does throughout a run. That part’s a huge gain, but also it lets you experiment and bring up younger crew chiefs and crewmembers and the pit-stop side of it is huge.

“I’ve said the whole time that my guys on the 41 (team), they do way better on Sunday when they do the XFINITY car or trucks on Saturday. It seems to warm them up and they’re in that right frame of mind come Sunday.”


RELATED: Big moments in Stewart-Haas history


Stewart-Haas co-owner Gene Haas indicated in Monday’s news release that expanding into the XFINITY ranks had long been in the works. It’s the latest stage in the evolution of the group that he formed with owner-driver Tony Stewart ahead of the 2009 season. In the years following its debut as a modest two-car Sprint Cup outfit, SHR grew to a three-car operation for 2013 and reached the NASCAR-mandated four-car maximum the following year.

But the winds of change have turned gustier of late. Early this year, as Haas was preparing to expand his racing reach a first season in Formula One, SHR announced that it would switch its manufacturer affiliation from Chevrolet to Ford in 2017. Add the birth of an XFINITY Series entry to the mix and it makes for a busy stretch ahead at the team’s Kannapolis, North Carolina, headquarters.

Gibson said it’s a tricky balance to strike, forging ahead with progress while doing the best to buoy this season’s efforts with three of the organization’s four drivers virtually locked into Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoff berths.

“It’s difficult whenever you do that because you want to be the best at both,” Gibson said. “But right now as far as me and the rest of our guys, the four teams we have right now, we’re just focusing strictly on this year. We have a lot of resources there that are working on projects going forward. You have to do that. You have to structure it or you’ll burn everybody out and then you lose them. Keeping the guys focused on what we’ve got to get done this year is more important.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

Photo credit: @keselowski

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Brad Keselowski escaped uninjured — “still upright,” in his words — after a scary crash Tuesday during an organizational test for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams at Watkins Glen International.

 

Keselowski had just turned a session-topping 124.572 mph on his 18th lap of the day, best of the 14 drivers participating on the freshly repaved 2.45-mile road course. But just after registering that speed, the rear brakes on his Team Penske No. 2 Ford failed, sending Keselowski’s car nose-first into the tire-pack barrier in Turn 1 at the end of the long frontstretch.

 

“Just the pedal went to the floor,” Keselowski said. “It means that you’ve lost brakes on one of the corners. At a track like this, you’re already on the edge. You don’t have any room or margin for something to fail. That’s the way it is.”

 

The wreck occurred midway through Tuesday’s afternoon session on the first day of a two-day organizational test before the series’ Aug. 7 Cheez-It 355 at the Glen. Keselowski was evaluated and released from the infield care center, no worse for wear, but crew chief Paul Wolfe still lamented the circumstances.

 

“Frustrating. You hate to put Brad in that situation,” Wolfe said. “Lost rear brakes there. The fronts locked up; once you lose rear brakes like that, there’s nothing you can do. Just pumping the pedal and it’s not going to come back. It’s unacceptable. Just got to see how we can prevent it from happening again.”

Keselowski tweeted video of the heavy crash and a photo of his bent steering wheel on social media to illustrate the wreck’s severity.  

 

 

 

Team Penske unloaded a reserve No. 2 Ford — a car that’s been a backup at several events this season — which it planned to put on the track Wednesday.  

“We’ll get it ready and we’ll see how Brad feels,” Wolfe said. “He obviously wants to get back out there, but it’s not the end of the world. Fortunately we had a good test going. We were really fast, so I’m not concerned if we don’t get out again. We’ll get this prepared and sleep on this tonight and evaluate in the morning.”  

Said Keselowski: “That was a test car. This is a race car. You hate to run your race cars, but we came all the way out here and not very often you get to test here, so you don’t want to waste it. We’ll make it work.”

 

The situation was reminiscent of a 2011 incident in which Keselowski lost his brakes during a test at Road Atlanta and broke his left ankle in the ensuing impact. He was not injured in the Watkins Glen wreck.
 

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

RELATED: Shop for NASCAR gear

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — This race weekend at Pocono Raceway marks the first anniversary of the Fanatics Trackside Superstore — the reimagined and improved at-track shopping experience. The Trackside Superstore offers fans a one-stop-shop every race weekend with the largest selection of in-store NASCAR merchandise in the world — bar none.

 

Halfway through 2016, photo finishes, side-by-side racing and record passing as the Chase spots are clinched has not only driven interest in the telecast and engagement on digital and social, but also in driver merchandise sales. NASCAR fans take pride in flying the colors of their favorite drivers and the first-half merchandise sales results are officially tallied. The top three drivers are no surprise with Dale Earnhardt Jr. leading the rankings, followed by six-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and defending champion Kyle Busch.

 

With rising stars like Austin Dillon, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Sunoco Rookie of the Year contenders Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney, there are currently five drivers in the top-20 list that are 26 years of age or younger.

 

With six top-five finishes and two poles this season, Elliott continues to be one of the top three drivers in sales increases each race weekend and ranks fourth overall in full-time driver sales. Elliott’s sales have nearly quadrupled in his rookie year, making him the youngest driver in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history to rank among the top-five in trackside merchandise sales. Also up from last season is Blaney, who is now a top-20 selling full-time driver and has more demand than ever racing in the iconic No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford Fusion.

 

“I see more fans wearing No. 21 gear than ever before and it’s cool to see them cheering on our team,” said Blaney, driver of the No. 21 Ford Fusion. “There is nothing like seeing someone wearing your shirt or your hat and knowing they bought that because they are a fan.  And the Trackside Superstore makes it an easy, one-stop shop for everyone to find your gear. It’s been a great addition to our sport.”

 

With its flexible footprint, Fanatics has capitalized on defining moments from Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Tony Stewart — all with positive sales trends in 2016. Kyle Busch also experienced substantial gains of nearly 80 percent in sales since his comeback last summer and subsequent championship run.

 

The most popular products available at the Trackside Superstore include apparel, headwear and novelty items. Lionel’s 1:64 scale die-casts are up 77 percent year-over-year, one of the largest growth trends across all categories at the Trackside Superstore.

 

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will hit the track this weekend at Pocono Raceway for the Pennsylvania 400 on Sunday, July 31 at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and MRN.

Top 20 driver merchandise sales rankings

Rank Driver
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Kyle Busch
4. Chase Elliott
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Tony Stewart
7. Danica Patrick
8. Carl Edwards
9. Brad Keselowski
10. Kasey Kahne
11. Joey Logano
12. Denny Hamlin
13. Matt Kenseth
14. Martin Truex Jr.
15. Kurt Busch
16. Kyle Larson
17. Ryan Newman
18. Austin Dillon
19. Ryan Blaney
20. Jamie McMurray
Posted on by Team Release

Concord, N.C. (July 26, 2016) – John Wes Townley received medical clearance earlier today to resume racing in NASCAR and ARCA. He will compete in this weekend’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and ARCA events at Pocono Raceway.

Townley had been sidelined for the past four weeks while being treated for mild concussion-like symptoms.

“I’d like to thank Parker Kligerman, Cole Custer and Brady Boswell for filling in for me,” Townley said. “I feel great and I’m looking forward to racing at Pocono this week.”

Posted on by Pat DeCola

A case can be made for Kyle Busch (four wins to Harvick’s one) here, but the Stewart-Haas Racing driver’s season as a whole has been more consistently dominant, perhaps the most important ingredient in the recipe to advancing in the Chase.

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/kyle-busch/
KyleBusch
1
Joe Gibbs Racing

"Rowdy" was on another level at Indy this past weekend, and that could continue at Pocono where he is the defending pole-winner of the race.

More: Busch dominates for Brickyard sweep

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/brad-keselowski/
BradKeselowski
-2
Team Penske

A 17th-place finish came as a result of Keselowski’s No. 2 being involved in a late-race "Big One," but he didn’t fall any spots in the points standings.

More: Kes involved in ‘Big One’

Logano couldn’t bring his team owner a Brickyard 400, but how ’bout a Pennsylvania 400? Logano led a race-high 97 laps in this event last year.

More: Team Penkse still chasing Indy

A winner at Pocono not even two months ago, Busch’s consistency and his recent Victory Lane visit make him one of the race favorites.

Coming in as the defending race-winner, Kenseth and his JGR-powered No. 20 have an excellent shot at the "Tricky Triangle."


More: Kenseth clinches Chase berth

Edwards dropped two spots in the standings and now stands as one of just three drivers in the top 20 in points to have four DNFs.

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/jimmie-johnson/
JimmieJohnson
1
Hendrick Motorsports

Not only did Johnson potentially end a "slump" (by his standards), he’s officially locked up a Chase spot and can breathe a little.

More: Johnson officially in Chase

While he struggled in the spring event (19th), it wasn’t that long ago that Truex Jr. won at Pocono (June, 2015). Good chance his team comes better prepared this time around.

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/denny-hamlin/
DennyHamlin
0
Joe Gibbs Racing

Denny Hamlin’s winless drought of 19 races is the longest of any driver in the top 10 in points.

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/chase-elliott/
ChaseElliott
0
Hendrick Motorsports

Elliott had a solid top-five run at Pocono earlier this season during his best streak of the year. Perhaps he can re-ignite the spark this weekend?

Stewart had another solid run in what was possibly a dizzying weekend of attention and fanfare for his last Brickyard race. He’s still trending in the right direction.


More: Tony talks special moment with Gordon

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/austin-dillon/
AustinDillon
4
Richard Childress Racing

Dillon could double his 2015 top-10 total (five) with one such result at Pocono. Only problem? He’s yet to complete the task at the "Tricky Triangle."


More: Dillon on good side of RCR’s luck

Heading into one of his best tracks (9.4 average Pocono finish), Larson is on the right side of the Chase bubble.


More: Larson sneaks into Chase picture

Newman had a rough day in his home state, matching his car number (31) with his finishing position. That’s usually not a good thing, unless you’re Jamie McMurray.

McMurray’s No. 1 Chevrolet was a mid-pack car most of the way at Indy, but he’s still solidly in Chase contention as the regular season winds down.


More: Ganassi duo chasing Chase

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/dale-earnhardt-jr/
DaleEarnhardt Jr.
-2
Hendrick Motorsports

Junior will remain out at least through the weekend, but his season is on the line now as he’s quickly losing ground in the standings.


More: Junior offers health update

Kahne has won at Pocono as recently as 2013 and could really use another solid performance, as a driver just on the outside of Chase contention and looking in. 


More: Kahne on Chase bubble line

A late-race mixup with Clint Bowyer relegated Bayne to a 30th-place finish, bringing him down to 18th place in the driver standings.

More: Bayne, Bowyer tangle late

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/ricky-stenhouse-jr/
RickyStenhouse Jr.
2
Roush Fenway Racing

Stenhouse’s near-top 10 at Indy (12th) shouldn’t be overlooked — but neither should his Pocono history. The Roush driver’s 27.3 average finish could make his bump a short-lived one.

Posted on by

NEW YORK — Nickelodeon today announced that it is has teamed up with NASCAR XFINITY Series star “Bubba” Wallace to drive a special No. 6 Shredder Ford Mustang in the XFINITY 300 on Saturday, September 17. Nickelodeon is the entitlement sponsor of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday, Sept. 18, dubbed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. The track will feature a weekend of action, activities and fun for the entire family with the iconic Heroes in a Half Shell.


Wallace is in his second full-time season in the NASCAR XFINITY Series for Roush Fenway Racing. His unique race car at Chicagoland will feature Shredder in his iconic helmet on the hood, rear bumper and left rear quarter-panel. The Foot Clan is right there with him, standing watch on the right rear quarter-panel, ready to do battle.


Shredder is the commander of an evil ninja army called the Foot Clan, and is one of the deadliest martial artists in the world. He is cold, cunning, ruthless, and obsessed with destroying Splinter, whom he blames for the death of his true love. Shredder’s thirst for revenge has drained him of all compassion, warmth and connection to humanity.


Wallace will join a number of other drivers with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles paint schemes for the Sept. 17-18 race weekend. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star Danica Patrick has already been announced to drive the No. 10 April O’Neil/Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet SS in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400. Additional drivers will be announced this summer.


“I grew up watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Shredder was always a cool character,” said Wallace. “It’s an honor to partner with Nickelodeon on this program. Hopefully Shredder and the Foot Clan will lead the way to Victory Lane.”


This Sept. 15-18 marks the sixth consecutive year that Chicagoland Speedway will kick off the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. The Nickelodeon partnership will include sponsorship of the 2017 kick off race, as well.


“We are excited to partner with Bubba Wallace and Roush Fenway Racing to showcase Shredder and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the NASCAR XFINITY race,” said Anthony DiCosmo, Senior Vice President, Sports Marketing and Development, Nickelodeon. “Just as we did with last season’s SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas Speedway, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 will continue to expand our relationship with NASCAR, while working with another best-in-class ISC track to give fans a unique and engaging race experience that the whole family can enjoy.”


Nickelodeon has a long-standing relationship with NASCAR, teaming up with the motorsports giant on several programming and racing events. On the track, the network has sponsored the SpongeBob SquarePants 400 at Kansas Speedway in 2015; brought the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in 2014; participated in the Bank of America 500 week in 2012; and the SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, NC in 2004. NASCAR has also contributed talent and content to Nickelodeon programming such as the Kids’ Choice Awards ( Danica Patrick , 2012 and 2013), Kids’ Choice Sports Awards ( Danica Patrick , 2014, Ben Kennedy , 2015), Team Umizoomi ( Jeff Gordon , 2012), Hammer Down (2014), which aired on Nicktoon’s NickSports block, and an upcoming Bubble Guppies episode ( Jimmie Johnson , 2015). 


Currently in its fourth season, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is seen in over 170 countries and territories and translated in 50+ languages. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles follows four mutant turtles — Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo — trained in the art of ninjutsu by their mutant rat sensei, Master Splinter, who teaches the turtles to battle evil from the New York City sewers. Executive produced by Ciro Nieli and Brandon Auman, the series is created at Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, Calif. 

Posted on by

RELATED: Complete race results | Updated Chase Grid

Breaking down the full field for the Crown Royal Presents The Combat Wounded Coalition 400 At The Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway:

1. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Total domination. Busch won Saturday’s and Sunday’s races from the pole and led a record 149 laps Sunday. His average running position Sunday was 1.2, and his lowest position was third. Seriously? Busch’s hammerlock on the field was on par with what Martin Truex Jr. did in the Coca-Cola 600 . Thus the same mark. Grade: AAA+


2. Matt Kenseth , No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth is still winless at the Brickyard but has now finished second three times. More numbers: In Kenseth’s first four starts at Indianapolis for JGR, his finishes are 5th, 4th, 7th and 2nd. Grade: A


3. Jimmie Johnson , No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson had to do a pass-through on Lap 86 for a pit-road speeding penalty, dropping him to 23rd. Attrition and persistence led to Johnson’s first top 10 since he finished third at Charlotte two months ago. Nice finish, but this team still needs to clean up its mistakes. Grade: A-


4. Denny Hamlin , No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Ditto the No. 11 team. Hamlin was assessed his seventh pit-road speeding penalty of the season one lap after Jimmie Johnson (same round of green-flag stops). Hamlin was running third at the time and fell back to 18th. Nice recovery, but … Grade: A-


5. Kyle Larson , No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing. Larson was the second-biggest winner of the afternoon, moving up four spots in the standings to 15th. Grade: A


6. Kevin Harvick , No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick upped his points lead to 24. Two races ago it was down to four. If you don’t think that’s important, remember this: If qualifying is rained out, the field is set by the standings — as is the order of selecting a pit stall. So, yes, the standings still matter. Grade: A


7. Joey Logano , No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. Logano restarted second on the final restart but couldn’t hold the position or make a run at Kyle Busch. Logano, by the way, finished second to Busch in last year’s Brickyard. Grade: A


8. Martin Truex Jr. , No. 78 Toyota, Furniture Row Racing. Truex was strong all afternoon – his 5.6 average running position was second to Kyle Busch’s – but he was no match for the winner. Grade: A


9. Austin Dillon , No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Sunday’s top 10 was Dillon’s ninth of the season (20 starts), equaling his total for the first 85 starts of his Sprint Cup career. Grade: A


10. Paul Menard , No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Menard benefited from accidents in front of him that he was able to avoid to score his second top 10 of the season. Grade: A-


11. Tony Stewart , No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart started third and was running with the leaders when he was caught speeding on pit road just before the third caution and had to restart at the tail end of the field, one lap down. He was still back in the pack (20th) with 25 laps to go in regulation. But then came all the cautions. “Smoke” finally got his lap back with a free pass on the fifth caution, survived contact with Jamie McMurray on Lap 166 and salvaged a decent finish on his last go-round at Indy. Grade: B


12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. , No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse survived the big Carl Edwards – Ryan Newman wreck that brought out the red flag to get a finish that belied his day. He turned 14 laps in the top 15 and had an average running positon of 20.1. Grade: B-


13. Jeff Gordon , No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Despite problems with restarts, Gordon was able to post his best finish of the season and overcome the incredible pressure of replacing Alex Bowman in the No. 88. … Yes, I’m kidding. Except for the restarts part. Vive Monsieur Gordon! Grade: A


14. Chris Buescher , No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Buescher recorded the best finish of his Sprint Cup career on a day in which he turned all of two laps in the top 15 and had a 23.7 average running position. Grade: B


15. Chase Elliott , No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Elliott registered his best finish since a second-place finish at Michigan more than a month ago. Grade: B


16. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. For only the second time this season, Busch failed to finish in the top 10 in back-to-back races. Grade: B-


17. Brad Keselowski , No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Keselowski was the rage early on with his team’s bold pit strategy, but the second half of the race bore zero resemblance to the first half. Getting caught up in the Carl Edwards – Ryan Newman wreck didn’t help, either. Grade: B


18. Kasey Kahne , No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Despite a fourth-straight finish outside the top 10, Kahne moved up two spots in the standings to 16th, 10 points behind Kyle Larson . He jumped one driver who missed the race ( Dale Earnhardt Jr. ) and one who didn’t use the best judgment and crashed with 10 laps to go ( Trevor Bayne ). Grade: C


19. Jamie McMurray , No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing. McMurray’s nice run came to a screeching halt on the restart on Lap 165 when he moved down in front of Tony Stewart but hadn’t cleared the No. 14. Stewart wasn’t about to lift, and the No. 1 went for a slide onto the access road before returning to the track and smacking Ryan Newman . Worse, the caution gave the free pass to Chase-cutoff competitor Kasey Kahne . Grade: B-


20. Landon Cassill , No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Cassill avoided calamity to get his fourth-best finish of the season. Grade: B


21. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Bowyer contributed to the caution-fest at the end of the race when he got into the back of Trevor Bayne , who inexplicably went for the block with so much on the line (Chase standings) and running so far back in the field. Grade: C


22. Danica Patrick , No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Wrong place, wrong time. Again. Patrick had nothing to do with the Carl Edwards – Ryan Newman wreck but still ended up a part of it. On the other hand, she finished right where she spent most of the race. Grade: C


23. Michael McDowell , No. 95 Chevrolet, Circle Sport-Leavine Family. McDowell posted his best finish at the Brickyard in seven starts. Grade: B-


24. Casey Mears , No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears finished in the top 25 for the 10th time this season. Grade: C


25. Aric Almirola , No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola, who is still looking for his first top 10 of the year, is on pace to have his worst season with RPM, for which he has been driving full time since 2010. Grade: C


26. Regan Smith , No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Smith posted his best finish since a 22nd at Pocono in early June. Grade: C


27. Brian Scott , No. 44 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Despite being collected in the last wreck of the day, Scott picked up his best finish in his past eight starts. Grade: C


28. Michael Annett , No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. After posting four top-30 finishes in his first 14 starts, Annett has four in his past six. Grade: C


29. Cole Whitt , No. 98 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Since a 37.3 average finish in his first three starts of the season, Whitt has an average finish of 27.5 over his next 14 races. Grade: C


30. Trevor Bayne , No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne’s move to block Clint Bowyer on the backstretch on Lap 158 was as costly as it was ill-advised. Bayne spun all the way to his worst finish of the season and to 18th in the standings, 14 points behind 15th-place Kyle Larson . Grade: D


31. Ryan Newman , No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Newman’s day began to unravel on the restart on Lap 154. He restarted sixth, outside of Carl Edwards . On the first turn, Edwards drifted up into Newman and the No. 31 suffered major damage. With Newman sitting near the Chase cut-off line, it was important for him to coax the car home. He returned to the track but couldn’t make it to the finish when Jamie McMurray ran up the track into him on the Lap 165 restart after contact with Tony Stewart . Bottom line: Valiant effort but a DNF and 10-point day. Grade: C


32. Ryan Ellis , No. 93 Toyota, BK Racing. Ellis picked up a career-best finish in his fourth Sprint Cup Series start. Grade: C


33. Reed Sorenson , No. 55 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Sorenson ran to form, and his 33.8 average finish is third-worst in the Sprint Cup Series among drivers with at least 10 starts. Grade: D


34. Patrick Carpentier, No. 32 Ford, GO FAS Racing. After not starting a Sprint Cup Series race since 2011, Carpentier made his second start of 2016. He finished 37th last month at Sonoma. Grade: D


35. Carl Edwards , No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards was part of the strong JGR contingent all afternoon – 6.6 averaging running position – until his mishap on Lap 154. Whether it was a tight car or dirty tires, the outcome was costly as he dropped two spots in the standings. Grade: F


36. Ryan Blaney , No. 21 Ford, Wood Brothers Racing. Blaney was collected and knocked out of the race in the Carl Edwards -initiated wreckage that resulted in a red flag. Blaney dropped two spots in the standings to 19th, and is now 22 points behind 15th-place Kyle Larson . Blaney began the day nine points ahead of Larson. Grade: C


37. David Ragan , No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. Ragan brought out the third caution on Lap 120 when his left-rear tire went down and he slammed the wall. It was his third DNF and second-worst finish of the season. Grade: F


38. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Allmendinger was running 11th when his car lost water pressure. Moments later it overheated with less than 100 laps to go. It was Allmendinger’s second DNF in the past three races. Grade: F


39. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle’s day ended after 53 laps when his right-front tire went down and he slammed into the outside wall. His streak of top 10s – three – ended as well. Grade: F


40. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. His engine didn’t even make through five laps, leaving DiBenedetto with his seventh DNF of the season. “How is that even possible?” DiBenedetto tweeted. “Who has the voodoo doll of me that severely dislikes me?” Grade: F