Posted on by Zack Albert

LONG POND, Pa. — Brad Keselowski drew an early penalty for his crew’s improper body modification. Teammate Joey Logano was punished by a different sort of body modification — improper or not — courtesy of Ryan Newman‘s front bumper.



Despite sustaining unexpected creases to their cars early on, both Team Penske drivers orchestrated massive comebacks and stretched their fuel mileage for top-five finishes in Monday’s rain-delayed Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 at Pocono Raceway. Keselowski stormed from the tail of the field to a third-place result, while Logano made gains from midpack to snare the fifth spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ first visit this season to the 2.5-mile track.



Both Penske Fords started on the front row, with Logano getting the jump on the 40-car field on the initial green flag. Pole-winner Keselowski lurked close behind, but NASCAR race officials cited the team on Lap 24 for unapproved body modifications. Video footage revealed that the No. 2’s jack man had pushed in the car’s right side, potentially providing it an aerodynamic edge.


“Of course it is frustrating. I don’t know what they saw so it is not really fair for me to say anything about that,” Keselowski said on pit road post-race. “I can tell you that every car I saw had some body modifications on it after pit stops out there today. I don’t know if ours was more egregious or even if we had one. That is for the team guys to really answer. Of course it is frustrating. You don’t want to have to come from the back.”


Officials ordered Keselowski’s crew to take extra time on pit road to fix the car’s side sheet metal. After a spirited debate with Penske crewmembers and the NASCAR official in the pit box, Keselowski returned to the race in 38th place. An additional pass-through penalty on the ensuing green flag put the No. 2 team even further back.



Paul Wolfe, Keselowski’s crew chief, said that after their initial protest of the ruling, video replays of the jackman throwing a shoulder block into the side panel were conclusive.



“That’s been clear to our guys from earlier in the year that we can’t do that. It was a mistake on his part for getting into it,” Wolfe told NASCAR.com. “Everyone builds their cars anymore aero-wise to be real flexible when air is on them to obviously get all they can downforce-wise, so it doesn’t take much if someone gets into them sometimes to bend it or crease it. Once I saw our footage and our pit crew coach went through it, there’s nothing to argue. He did get into it.



“At the end of the day, we know that can’t happen. That’s on our part and we’ve got to fix that moving forward.”



While Keselowski was mired well back in the pack, Logano was having his own issues nearer to the front during the third of many frenzied restarts in the 160-lap event. Logano’s No. 22 started behind Newman’s No. 31 Chevrolet and nudged into his rear bumper, taking the spot by the time the fanned-out field barreled into Turn 1 on Lap 27. Once there, Newman signaled his displeasure with a handful of raps on Logano’s back bumper, repeated contact that moved the No. 22 out of the groove and caused significant damage to the left-rear fender.



With the car’s aerodynamics compromised, Logano slipped back. Only after considerable patching was the No. 22 able to move back into contention.



“I get it. I misjudged it trying to cross him over to the bottom and caught his bumper and about crashed him,” Logano told NASCAR.com regarding the brush with Newman. “That was my fault. Obviously, he’s pissed about it. I can’t say I blame him, so he got me back. I’d say the score’s equal. I’ll talk to him.”



From there, both Team Penske drivers steadily climbed back up the running order, picking up spots on restarts and deftly playing the game of fuel strategy. Keselowski’s strength over the longer haul helped him during the 33-lap green-flag run to the checkered flag.



Both Penske Fords had just enough fuel to get to the end, but not enough oomph to overcome race winner Kurt Busch at the finish. Still, Wolfe was pleased with the effort that earned both Team Penske drivers top-fives for the first time since Las Vegas in March.



“It’s not the first time we’ve been able to come back for a good finish from something that’s happened early in the race,” Wolfe said. “I think it just shows I feel good about where our team is right now. We always can use more speed, but we had a car that was capable of winning today if we would’ve had the track position there at the end.”



Said Keselowski: “Almost got back to the front, just came up a little short. A lot of great effort for our team. We needed a tiny bit more left. I could have used a 500-mile race but that might not be the most popular opinion in the garage but it is for me today.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Complete results | SHOP: Winner gear

LONG POND, Pa. – Working with a substitute crew chief, and saving enough fuel to get to the finish line and complete a celebratory burnout, Kurt Busch won Monday’s rain-delayed Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 at Pocono Raceway.

 

Busch won for the first time this year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and for the third time at Pocono, a 2.5-mile speedway featuring three widely different corners. And Busch claimed his 28th victory in NASCAR’s premier series with race engineer John Klausmeier leading the team in place of crew chief Tony Gibson, who was serving a one-race suspension for a lug nut violation last week at Charlotte.

 

Told he was two laps short at the start of the final 33-lap green-flag run, Busch saved enough fuel to get to the finish while keeping race runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr. behind him.

 

“We just had to balance everything,” said Busch, who got to the stripe 1.126 seconds ahead of Earnhardt. “We had a fast car, a (suspended) crew chief, and the way the fuel mileage played out, I didn’t know if we would have enough fuel.

 

“It’s a wonderful win for us. We have been so close all year. It was just a matter of putting it all together – pit crew, engines and everybody who works on these bodies, chassis, you name it. It was so much fun to drive and be competitive and be up front.”

 

Busch, however, was taken aback when told how much fuel he had to save.

 

“I was like, ‘Whoa, how many laps shy are we?'” Busch said. “They said two. These are really long straightaways at Pocono, and you have to manage saving fuel as well as maintaining lap time. So many thoughts can go through your head, but I just stuck with the checklist.

 

“I just stuck with saving fuel and watching the No. 88 (Earnhardt) behind us.”

 

Polesitter Brad Keseslowki ran third, followed by Chase Elliott and Joey Logano. Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney completed the top 10.

 

A series of mistakes and divergent strategies scrambled the running order almost from the drop of the green flag. On Lap 23, under caution for Brian Scott‘s spin in Turn 1, Keselowski was nabbed by NASCAR for unapproved body modifications when his jackman threw his shoulder into the right side of the No. 2 Ford during a pit stop.

 

Keselowski had to serve a pass-through after the Lap 27 restart as part of the penalty for the infraction.

WATCH: Keselowski forced to pit for body modifications

Logano, who started on the front row beside his Team Penske teammate, got shuffled to the back by the front bumper of Ryan Newman‘s Chevrolet. Taking umbrage at contact from Logano’s Ford on the frontstretch, Newman pounded a series of dents in the left rear of Logano’s car, knocking him up the track in Turn 1 as half the field passed him to the inside.

WATCH: Newman bumps Logano out of the way

Harvick was forced to pass cars – repeatedly – because of an early speeding penalty and a pair of inopportune cautions that occurred right before he was to make planned green-flag pit stops.

 

Harvick, however, had plenty of muscle under the hood of his No. 4 Chevrolet and was able to fight his way back into contention with relative ease.

 

Keselowski and Logano also recovered, but it took longer stints on track and a succession of three cautions between Lap 88 and Lap 102. By the time the field restarted on Lap 109, Logano, with the left rear of his car heavily taped, was fifth, and Keselowski had climbed to 10th.

 

But three more quick cautions and an array of different strategies once again altered the complexion of the race. Ty Dillon stayed out under the ninth caution (called for brother Austin Dillon‘s wreck) and led the field to green on Lap 123, trailed by Casey Mears, who took fuel only under the yellow.

 

Moments after the restart, Jimmie Johnson, who had been running in the top five for most of the afternoon, spun in Turn 1 and clipped the inside wall, sending the No. 48 Chevrolet to the garage.

 

When the field restarted on Lap 127, Earnhardt had the lead, trailed by Elliott, Mears, Busch and Keselowski. At that point, Harvick was 20th, having pitted under the ninth caution to top off with fuel with 39 laps left.

 

As Elliott and Earnhardt battled for the top spot entering Turn 2, Busch surged past both cars, and that was the move that decided the race. Thirty-two laps later Busch was doing donuts on the frontstretch after taking the checkered flag.


The Sprint Cup Series returns to the track next weekend at Michigan International Speedway for the FireKeepers Casino 400 (June 12, 1 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). 

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Today’s photos at rainy Pocono | Updated schedule for Monday


The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ Axalta ‘We Paint Winners’ 400 at Pocono Raceway has been postponed due to inclement weather.

The race, originally scheduled for a 1 p.m. ET start time on Sunday, was delayed for weather initially. Equipped with 20 Air Titan dryers and 10 conventional jet dryers, NASCAR officials were prepared to dry the track, but were unable to find a dry window through persistent rain, fog and mist.

Officials eventually made the decision to call the race and the series will run the 400-miler on Monday, June 6 at noon ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“We kind of anticipated that it might be a rainout today,” said Jason Ratcliff, crew chief for the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota driven by third-place starter Matt Kenseth. “Right now, the forecast that we had for tomorrow looks very similar to what we had in practice yesterday, so we kind of based our set-up on what we thought we needed, thinking that the chances of racing on a Monday afternoon — mid-70s, partly sunny — were probably greater than racing on Sunday.


“The biggest thing for us is just the hassle, having to adjust your schedule, which is part of it. Now what you’d typically do on a Monday, you’re going to try to cram into this afternoon or it’s going to be a long Tuesday. But it’s the same for everyone. We’ll just have to adjust.”

Weather has created hurdles for the teams throughout the weekend, as rain and fog ended Friday Cup practice prematurely and canceled a pair of XFINITY Series practices the same day. The XFINITY Series Pocono Green 250 was called just past the halfway point at Lap 53 of the 250-mile event, as rain continued to fall during a red flag. Kyle Larson, who was leading at the time of the red flag, was declared the winner.

This race, the 14th of 36 races on the Sprint Cup circuit, marks the first Cup event of the season that been postponed to the following day.


It’s also the first Sprint Cup postponement at Pocono Raceway since August 2009, a Monday race won by Denny Hamlin.



MORE: Larson wins rain-shortened Pocono XFINITY race

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Live radar, weather updates from Pocono


LONG POND, Pa. — Rain has delayed the start of Sunday’s Axalta ‘We Paint Winners’ 400 race for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Pocono Raceway.



Sunday’s forecast called for a high percentage of rain, potentially heavy at times with possible thunderstorms. To combat the damp conditions, race officials have a total of 20 NASCAR Air Titan dryers and 10 conventional jet dryers on hand at the triangular 2.5-mile track.


But NASCAR officials are also up against periodic fog, which has shrouded the speedway in spurts through the morning and into the afternoon. Two brief, heavy showers drenched the track Sunday morning, but a lingering mist has persisted after each downpour.


Brad Keselowski is on the pole for the race after slipping past Team Penske teammate Joey Logano late in qualifying on Friday. It’s his first Coors Light Pole Award of the season and the 12th of his Sprint Cup career.



Martin Truex Jr., who won last week’s Coca-Cola 600 in dominating fashion at Charlotte, also is the defending winner of this race. Fellow Toyota driver Matt Kenseth won the August race at Pocono in 2015.


Rain also abbreviated Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race and shuffled Friday’s on-track schedule, causing limited practice time for the Cup series. Truex said he was eager to see how the race played out as conditions change.



“I’m interested to see what the tire’s going to do just because of what I felt in the tire test and pretty optimistic about it,” said Truex, one of four drivers who participated in a Goodyear tire test at Pocono in April, “but until we get everybody out there it’s hard to say. I’m good either way. I just hope we get it in sometime Sunday and we’ll see what happens.”



Sunday’s 160-lap, 400-mile race is the 14th of 36 events this season for the Sprint Cup Series.

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Full race results | Post-Pocono standings

LONG POND, Pa. — Justin Allgaier was patiently waiting out Saturday’s rain-interrupted Pocono Green NASCAR XFINITY Series race in his JR Motorsports team hauler.



Crew members wandered back and forth between the hauler and the garage stall, where the No. 7 Chevrolet was in a state of mid-repair.



The red flag was out, putting work on the car on hold.



And then rain-interrupted became rain-shortened.



“Honestly, I’m hoping we can get back out there,” Allgaier said before the inaugural XFINITY Series race at Pocono Raceway was called with 53 of 100 laps completed. “If we don’t, we won’t be able to get back out there and get those points.



“But that’s how racing goes, right?”



Rain showers came and went, negating constant attempts to return the track to race-ready conditions.



Finally the decision was made to call the race officially completed.



And Allgaier found himself saddled with a 39th-place finish in a 40-car field, only the second result outside the top-12 this season.

MORE: Relive the day in photos

Just moments after a restart following a competition caution (Laps 17-19), Allgaier’s Chevrolet had slid up into the outside wall in the Tunnel Turn. There was no contact from another vehicle but both the car and Larson’s expectations suffered heavy damage.



“When I went to turn down into Turn 2, I started wrecking as soon as I turned off the wall and ultimately ended up crashing more toward the exit,” he said. “It was one of those crashes that seemed like it was never going to end.



“It was just one of those situations where maybe it was just aero. Get behind two cars, having a car behind me just unhooked the car that much.



“The part that’s frustrating is this is one of those race tracks on our schedule that I had circled, that I couldn’t be more excited to come to. I’d been asking (track president) Brandon Igdalsky if he could make it happen for like the last six years.



“The fact that we finally got it here and then here we are making, what, 16, 17, 18 laps, something like that? A frustrating day for sure.”



The frustrations have been few and far between this season for the soon-to-be 30-year-old.



In his first start with the team this year at Daytona, he finished 12th. He finished 10th or better in the next six races and the previous three heading into Saturday’s event. The only bump came at Richmond, where Allgaier raced off pit road with the lead only to crash after contact with Brennan Poole on the restart and wound up 35th.



Third in points coming into the series’ 12th stop, the Pocono result dropped him four spots to seventh and he now trails points leader Daniel Suarez by 53.



The team’s consistency hasn’t been surprising, he said, but that it came so quickly was somewhat unexpected.



Former XFINITY Series driver Regan Smith won twice with the team just last year and finished fourth in points before making the move back into the Sprint Cup Series garage.



The driver change was significant; the crew, headed up by crew chief Jason Burdett, for the most part has been left intact.



“I knew that the group at JR Motorsports that I was getting was a great group,” Allgaier said. “I knew they worked really well together, that things would be pretty seamless as far as how well they worked … a few changes from what they had last year but for the most part pretty similar.



“Obviously, the communication between the crew chief and driver and all that takes time to figure out if it’s going to work or not. That’s probably the part that surprised me. … I’m not surprised that we’ve had the season we’ve had, but I am surprised that we did it as early as we did.”


Sprint Cup Series regular Kyle Larson, who led 27 of the 53 completed laps, won Saturday’s inaugural event — his first XFINITY Series win of 2016.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Full schedule for NXS

 

Danica Patrick is the latest NASCAR star to join FOX Sports’ NASCAR XFINITY Series coverage in 2016. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver will be in the booth for the Pocono Green 250 (1 p.m. ET today, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) for the inaugural XFINITY Series race at the 2.5-mile “Tricky Triangle.”

 

Earlier this year, FOX announced that Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski and Patrick would join Kevin Harvick in returning to serve as rotating race analysts for XFINITY Series coverage in 2016. Also joining the mix this year was Carl Edwards.


Bowyer served as an analyst for the two XFINITY races at Atlanta and Las Vegas, as well as the Charlotte race over Memorial Day weekend. Keselowski served as an analyst for the races at Fontana, Bristol and Dover while Edwards was in the booth for Texas.

Former crew chief Larry McReynolds, who is also part of FOX Sports’ NASCAR Sprint Cup Series coverage, will be in the broadcast booth for the Iowa race, FOX’s final XFINITY telecast of the season.

FOX will air 14 XFINITY Series races in 2016, with FS1 telecasting 10 races and FOX televising four.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Results


Defending Sprint Cup Series champion Kyle Busch topped final practice at Pocono Raceway Saturday afternoon, landing a quickest lap of 176.901 mph in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. “The Tricky Triangle” is one of two tracks where “Rowdy” remains winless — Charlotte Motor Speedway is the other. 


Kyle’s old brother Kurt Busch was next on the speed charts (176.800 mph) in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.


Jimmie Johnson showed speed during the final minutes of the session in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to earn a top-three speed (176.710 mph).


Martin Truex Jr. , the defending race winner and last week’s Coca-Cola 600 victor, was fourth-quickest (176.291 mph) in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota while current series leader Kevin Harvick took fifth in the 55-minute session (176.125 mph) in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.


Sunday’s pole-sitter Brad Keselowski ended practice in the sixth spot, wheeling his No. 2 Team Penske Ford around the 2.5-mile track at 175.792 mph.


The 40-car field returns to the track Sunday for the Axalta ‘We Paint Winners’ 400 (1 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Drivers pay respects to Ali


Boxing and cultural icon Muhammad Ali, who passed away Friday at age 74, has a direct connection to NASCAR — specifically, to Hall of Famer Bill Elliott.


Yes, “The Greatest” and “Awesome Bill” have a history that dates back to 2001 when Elliott sported a likeness of Ali on his No. 9 Dodge while driving for Ray Evernham.


The special paint scheme was revealed at historic Bristol Motor Speedway, and then run June 10, 2001, at Michigan International Speedway. Ali lived in Michigan at the time.


The scheme partnered Ali and NASCAR in a promotion of the Special Olympics, and also to support a new diversity scholarship program that Dodge had implemented and NASCAR was supporting.


Ali thrilled drivers that day when he unexpectedly walked into the drivers’ meeting and earned a standing ovation.


“If I had a fast car, I’d be out there racing against you,” Ali said, according to a 2001 report in the Daily Press (Virginia) newspaper. The legendary boxer later gave the command to start the race.


The partnership certainly left a mark on Chase Elliott who, like Ali’s daughter Laila, followed in his father’s footsteps.


Posted on by Staff Report

All-time great and boxing champion Muhammad Ali passed away Friday at the age of 74.


A transcendent sports and cultural icon who inspired many, drivers, teams and track all paid tribute to “The Greatest.”