RELATED: Full race results | Chase Grid | Updated standings
LEXINGTON, Ohio — Not even a caution with four laps remaining in Saturday’s Mid-Ohio Challenge could detour road course expert Justin Marks from scoring his first career NASCAR XFINITY Series victory at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Marks, driver of the No. 42 Katerra Chevrolet Camaro, withstood a rain-soaked challenge from Sam Hornish Jr on the final restart, but Marks showcased his road racing skills when it counted most and stretched his lead to 3.7 seconds when the checkered flag flew.
“These are as tough conditions as you can put drivers in,” said Marks from a makeshift Victory Lane. “It’s just really hard on everybody when it’s dry and wet and you don’t really know what to do, so strategy plays a big role in it. You know, my specialty is road racing in the rain in these stock cars and I don’t get much of an opportunity to do it so when that opportunity presents itself, you have to really take advantage of it and I about threw it away today.
“I knew if the race ended in the rain that we would have a real shot at winning it. I wish my family was here. I’m just really happy.”
Marks dedicated the win to former Chip Ganassi Racing driver Bryan Clauson who passed away last Sunday night from injuries in a sprint car accident during the Belleville Midget Nationals in Kansas.
“Bryan’s short career in stock car racing came with Chip Ganassi Racing, so it’s great to be able to put this thing in Victory Lane to honor him and think about him,” added Marks. “He’s a real American hero race car driver. Bryan was. They don’t make them like that anymore.”
RELATED: Drivers share thoughts, memories of Bryan Clauson
Hornish in a limited schedule driving the No. 2 Rheem Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing settled for second.
“All in all, a good day for the Rheem Chevrolet,” he said. “My hat’s off to Justin Marks. I generally held myself as a pretty decent rain racer and even given the opportunity there at the end, I couldn’t do anything with him. I would have had to take massive chances with our car to be able to do anything and you still gotta pass him to keep up with him.
“I’m proud of what the guys gave me on the No. 2 car today. I wish we would have gotten a little more out of it. In the dry, I feel like we could win, but Justin just went out there and was just a monster in the wet.”
Hornish won the pole on Friday in dry conditions, but as the field took the green at the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course, Mother Nature moved in and sent the team to pit road for an optional change of tires from slicks to wets on Lap 3.
Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Owen Kelly, in his XFINITY Series return, took the lead on the restart, but spun shortly thereafter in Turn 6 sending Hornish back to the top spot. Hornish, however, would get his first glimpse of Marks on Lap 12 when the Chip Ganassi Racing driver took the lead for the first time.
The Rocklin, California, native would maintain the lead through the halfway point where he pitted from the lead, cycling the top spot through a variety of drivers during green flag pit stops, as the race track began to transition back to dry.
A Lap 50 caution for debris, however, would be the starting point where the race would set the tone for the closing laps. While under the yellow, the skies opened up, soaking the road course and sending almost all the competitors back to pit road for wet tires and fuel for the end.
When the race restarted with 14 laps to go, Darrell Wallace Jr. found himself at the top. But with 12 laps to go, he went off course, giving the lead to Ty Dillon with a stalking Marks behind.
With rain continuing to fall, Marks used his experience to close the distance between Dillon and took advantage as Dillon himself went off course on Lap 65, giving the lead back to Marks on Lap 66 and never relinquishing.
Next up for the XFINITY Series is its annual summer trip to Bristol Motor Speedway for the running of the Food City 300 (7:30 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on Aug. 19. Kyle Busch is the defending champion.
Note: NASCAR Next driver Alon Day made his NASCAR XFINITY Series debut on Saturday, finishing 13th. With the start, Day — who ran as high as third — became the first driver from Israel to make a NASCAR national series start.
RELATED: Mid-Ohio results
LEXINGTON, Ohio — For Alon Day, sitting next to race runner-up Sam Hornish Jr. in a post-race press conference was a thrill.
Day received congratulations from one of his “childhood heroes” after a 13th-place finish in his NASCAR national series debut in the XFINITY Series’ Mid-Ohio Challenge Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The NASCAR Next driver was the first Israeli driver to make a NASCAR national series start as well.
The 24-year-old turned plenty of heads with a lengthy amount of time in the top 10 during a wet race at Mid-Ohio.
The No. 40 MBM Motorsports Dodge had a best finish of 30th this year at Talladega coming into Mid-Ohio, something that was not lost on Day.
“When the deal came, they told me you were going to drive the No. 40 car,” Day said. ” … My expectation wasn’t that high to be honest. I said if I would finish like 25th, I’d be super happy with that and to find myself fighting for the lead, that’s not bad.”
In road racing, it’s been said that rain is the great equalizer. Day, for one, was excited by that prospect — so much so that it came in conversation with Hornish earlier in the week.
“He said the other day, ‘I want it to rain,’ ” Hornish shared. “I said, ” ‘Be careful what you wish for.’ “
The wet weather, though, proved beneficial for Day, who started 22nd. A caution for weather came out quickly, leading teams to pit for rain tires on Lap 3.
“The moment the rain hit, I realized we were going to change to rain tires,” Day said. “I knew I had the speed to attack as soon as possible. Just on the first restart, I began attacking immediately.
“I knew some guys would be a bit slow on the rain. I have some experience in the rain in Europe, we’re used to driving in the rain all the time. I’m really happy. (You) can’t imagine how excited I am sitting here.”
Day has honed his skills in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, scoring a second-place overall in the championship run for the 2015 season. He has raised his game in 2016 in that series with two wins and four top-fives, en route to becoming the first driver outside of North America to be selected to NASCAR Next.
Day is set to drive for MBM again at another road course, Road America, on Aug. 27 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and hopes to do more beyond that.
“We expect to do five more races but it all depends on sponsorship and finding the budget,” Day said.
RELATED: Results
Sam Hornish Jr. won the Coors Light Pole Award Friday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, setting a track speed record as well.
Hornish Jr. wheeled his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet around the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course in Lexington, Ohio, at a track record-setting 96.755 mph in the opening session of qualifying. In the second and final session, with a fast lap of 96.374 mph, he sealed the first starting spot in the Mid-Ohio Challenge (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“The fact that we’re here. We’re as good as we have been really is hats off to RCR and all the people that work on the Rheem No. 2 car,” the polesitter said post-qualifying. “Right off the bat, this morning I was kind of worried about it being a little bit rusty. It’s been a little while since I’ve been on a road course.”
This marks Hornish’s eighth career pole and first of 2016.
Sharing the front row will be Owen Kelly, a road specialist who reached 95.877 mph in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Ryan Blaney, (95.739 mph in No. 22 Team Penske Ford), Elliott Sadler (95.675 mph, No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet) and Daniel Suarez (95.613 mph, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) completed the top five, respectively.
PRACTICE 2 | Results
Sam Hornish Jr. led the final XFINITY Series practice at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Friday afternoon, posting a speed of 95.977 mph.
Hornish was second-fastest in today’s opening session.
Ryan Reed came up short to the No. 2 driver, posting a high speed of 95.596 mph.
Nelson Piquet Jr. (95.255 mph), Ryan Blaney (95.225 mph) and series points leader Elliott Sadler (94.959 mph) complete the fastest five drivers on the leaderboard.
Friday’s first practice leader, Ty Dillon, brought out a caution during the final session when his No. 3 Chevrolet made contact with a tire barrier in Turn 9. Dillon finished the practice run sixth-fastest (94.845 mph).
The XFINITY Series returns to the road course one more time on Friday for Coors Light Pole Qualifying at 6:15 p.m. ET (USA/NBC Sports App).
PRACTICE 1 | RESULTS
Ty Dillon was the fastest in Friday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series opening practice at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with a speed of 96.087 mph.
The Richard Childress Racing driver’s fastest lap came on his 16th and final run on the road course.
Sam Hornish Jr. was second-fastest to Dillon with a speed of 94.865 mph.
Brandon Jones (94.564 mph), Brendan Gaughan (94.553 mph) and Ryan Blaney (94.207 mph) were the remaining of the top-five fastest, respectively.
Daniel Suarez sustained major damage to the right-rear of his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota after getting into the wall during first practice. Suarez posted a top speed of 93.927 mph, making him ninth-fastest for the first session.
Owen Kelly, driving the No. 18 JGR Toyota, appeared to have engine issues during the opening session. Kelly clocked in 11th-fastest (93.819 mph).
All times ET
Monday, August 8
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
Tuesday, August 9
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
Wednesday, August 10
4:30 a.m., WeatherTech SportsCar Championship: Road America (re-air), FS1
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
Friday, August 12
6 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, USA
Saturday, August 13
3 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Countdown, USA
3:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Mid-Ohio Challenge, USA
6:15 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Post-Race, USA
Sunday, August 14
11 a.m., Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge: Road America (taped), FS1
Midnight, Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge: Road America (re-air), FS2
RELATED: Road to 100: All of Team Penske’s Sprint Cup wins
MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Coming off of their first NASCAR XFINITY Series win of the season last weekend at Watkins Glen International with driver Joey Logano, Team Penske today announced plans to return their XFINITY Series operation to a two-car Ford Mustang effort in 2017. The second Team Penske entry also clears the way for Ford Performance to use this entry as an extension of their new driver development program as both organizations continue to build for the future.
“Our NASCAR XFINITY Series program has been one of the best in the series since we started running full-time in 2009,” said team owner Roger Penske. “For several years, we ran it as a two-car operation and then decided to focus primarily on the No. 22 for the last few years. Along the way, we developed a lot of people that have moved into our Cup programs, including all of our current NASCAR Sprint Cup crew chiefs. We want to win another XFINITY Series Championship while continuing to utilize our program to build human capital.”
Team Penske‘s NXS program ran sparingly between 2001 and 2008, winning nine races with drivers Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch. The team began competing full-time in 2009 and earned the NXS Driver’s Championship with Brad Keselowski in 2010. Since joining Ford in 2013, Team Penske has earned 29 XFINITY Series wins and has won back-to-back-to-back NXS Owners’ Championships.
“Obviously, we’ve really enjoyed our relationship with Team Penske and the success that they’ve brought to the Ford family in the NASCAR XFINITY Series,” said Dave Pericak, Director of Ford Performance. “The addition of a second Team Penske XFINITY Series car will allow all of us to work on developing talent behind the wheel and across the board.
A driver and sponsorship on the second Ford Mustang will be announced at a later date.
Since its inception, Team Penske has earned 55 NASCAR XFINITY Series wins, 53 pole positions and four championships. Newman, Busch, Justin Allgaier, Keselowski, Sam Hornish Jr., Logano, AJ Allmendinger and Ryan Blaney have all visited victory lane for Team Penske in the XFINITY Series.
LEXINGTON, Ohio — Coming to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course brings back childhood memories for Sam Hornish Jr.
“For me, it means a lot to get to race in my home state,” Hornish told NASCAR.com. “I’m just glad to be here first and foremost because I had the opportunity to be a kid and sit right across the track from us here in Turn 1, riding down and spend the day with my dad watching the IndyCar race and Trans-Am and stuff like that.”
Hornish, who hails from Defiance, Ohio, and now lives in Napoleon, Ohio, is just about two hours from home for Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series Mid-Ohio Challenge (3:30 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The veteran driver is off to a strong start this weekend behind the wheel of the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet as he led final practice and was second in Friday’s opening practice.
Hornish has raced before at the road course, running an IndyCar race here in 2007 and finishing 14th, driving for Roger Penske. The 37-year-old also has two XFINITY starts at Mid-Ohio, with a third-place finish in the inaugural event in 2013 and a pole in 2014 (before engine issues sent him to a 30th-place finish).
Besides being close to home, Hornish has a general affection for the 2.258-mile track.
“I love this track because you have elevation changes, you have some high speed corners, where it requires a lot of brakes,” Hornish said.
“And to me this is a little bit of a mix of what you would get in the (Sprint) Cup Series with having Sonoma and Watkins Glen (as road courses). You have some high speed but you also have some things where you are pressed to the hills and you got to keep the tires on the car.”
The Mid-Ohio start comes as a little bit of a surprise as AJ Allmendinger, who won the first XFINITY race here in 2013, had been announced as the driver for this race back in June. However, a scheduling conflict for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular led to Hornish getting the start.
Saturday’s race marks the third start of the year for Hornish with a fourth start (third with RCR) coming at Kentucky in September. Hornish has one win on the season as he piloted the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to Victory Lane at Iowa in June (filling in for the sidelined Matt Tifft). His second 2016 showing, also at Iowa, resulted in a sixth-place effort.
“The fact that I got added for this one when they had the opportunity to be able to do it, that’s great,” Hornish said. “We knew that it was a limited schedule for this year. Hopefully, there will be some more stuff I’ll be able to do next year.”
LEXINGTON, Ohio — The NASCAR world continues to mourn the loss of Bryan Clauson, a sprint car driver who died Sunday at the age of 27.
Clauson crashed Saturday night during a U.S. Auto Club (USAC) midget car race at the Belleville High Banks, a half-mile dirt track in Belleville, Kansas, and was airlifted to a hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he was pronounced dead late Sunday.
Clauson was an accomplished sprint-car driver, who also made 26 starts in what is now the NASCAR XFINITY Series, will be remembered by teams this weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with a special decal. The Indiana native had several friends and acquaintances in the NASCAR garage including Justin Marks, who is a part-time driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet in the XFINITY Series.
“It’s incredibly sad,” Marks told NASCAR.com. “I met Bryan in 2007 when he was at Chip Ganassi Racing in Nationwide (now XFINITY.) He came through ARCA when I was in ARCA in ’06 and ’07, so I’ve known him for a long time. And really just in the last two years, got to know him better just because I got involved in the sport, World of Outlaws and he was around that.”
Marks co-owns a sprint-car organization, Larson Marks Racing, with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver and Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Kyle Larson. After Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series Mid-Ohio Challenge (3:30 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Marks is heading out to the Knoxville Nationals in Iowa. Clauson would have competed in the sprint-car event this weekend.
“Bryan’s a racer, Lauren (his fiancée) is a racer and Tim’s (his father) a racer,” Marks said. “They’re just a racing family. It’s all they’ve ever known.”
Sam Hornish Jr. (driver of the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet at Mid-Ohio) said the loss is one you never want to hear about.
“Racing is such a tight knit community of people,” Hornish said. “There’s always people that are there even though we are competing against each other, they want to see good things happen to other people if they can. So whenever there is a loss like that, you take it hard regardless of how well you were friends, not friends. Everybody’s definitely been thinking about it for quite a bit this week.”
Ty Dillon (driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet), who has dabbled in some racing outside of NASCAR, called Clauson “a highly admired person” who is “going to be missed.”
“Everybody’s got heavy hearts for the Clauson family,” Dillon said. “… It’s just sad. You feel for his family and you pray for them to be able to get through.”
Clauson had set a preseason goal of competing in 200 open-wheel races this year. That schedule included a start in the 100th Indianapolis 500, where he placed 23rd in his third effort at the famed Brickyard. According to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Clauson had accumulated 27 wins in 116 races this season.
“Bryan Clauson is the only guy in history to lead the Indy 500 (led three laps in the 2016 race) and win a 4/10 sprint car feature in the same day,” Marks said.
“That’s a racer. They don’t make them like that very much anymore.”
MORE: ‘Smoke’ gets hot in the summer once again
With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series having an off week, it’s time to answer some hard-hitting questions, such as: Is Tony Stewart a legitimate title contender? Which winless driver this season is most likely to get one next? And can Chris Buescher crack the top 30 in the points standings? If so, whom might he boot out of Chase contention?
There are just four races left until the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field is set, so NASCAR.com editors Pat DeCola and Taylor Nunnally tackle these questions in a quick roundtable.
1. Is Tony Stewart a legitimate title contender?
TN: I’d like to start off by saying that I think it’s awesome to see a driver find such great success in their final full-time season. Tony Stewart‘s win at Sonoma and his performance since has been better than his last two seasons combined, and the No. 14 driver currently sits 26th in the Sprint Cup Series standings. If the Chase field were set today, he’d be in it.
Come playoff time I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw “Smoke” slip back into the shadows of elimination. Yes, he’s a champion driver with wins at all but two tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule (Darlington and Kentucky), but if we’re looking at recent performances at the Chase-designated circuits that lie ahead, he’s only got one win (at Dover in 2013) and three top-five finishes in the last three years. I’d be as pumped as anyone if Stewart made it to the Championship 4 this year, but stats don’t lie, Pat.
PD: Stats don’t lie, but they don’t always tell the whole story. I’ve come to learn that a determined Tony Stewart behind the wheel is not something to doubt. Based on the turmoil of his past few seasons, it’d be easy to just ride it out, collect his checks (signed by him, as the team owner and all) and focus on Porkchop’s agility training. But this show pig ain’t done yet.
Stewart isn’t that far removed from his miraculous 2011 Chase run, when he deemed his team unfit to win a Sprint Cup Series title … then went out and won half the playoff races to secure his third title. He told NASCAR.com’s Jonathan Merryman after his Sonoma win that he’s “going to stick with my approach from 2011. I said we couldn’t win it then and we ended up winning it. I feel like we’re just starting to get going.”
Based on his recent spate of consistently strong runs, I don’t see why he isn’t in the title conversation — especially given how far we saw an under-performing Jeff Gordon make it in 2015.
2. Which winless driver this is season is most likely to end up in Victory Lane?
TN: I love a race that brings a season’s first-time winner. In 22 Sprint Cup Series-scored races this year there have been 12 different winners, and I’d say it’s time for a new face in that mix. Who, you ask? I’ve got my eyes on Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Chase Elliott.
The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports driver has already put up impressive numbers in his rookie season, with six top-five and 11 top-10 finishes, Elliott knows how to run with the big dogs. His best finish of this year came at Michigan where he was runner-up to 2015 Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano, so I’m banking that on the return to the Irish Hills in a couple weeks, the 20-year-old will turn that second-place finish into a first-time trip to Victory Lane.
PD: You know, at first I actually had Elliott targeted at Michigan, as well, for that reason. But who was third in that race? My real pick: Kyle Larson.
Elliott has been more consistent on the whole this season — as evidenced by his 12th place to Larson’s 15th in the standings — but just based on the “feel test,” it seems like Larson has been thisclose to a win a handful of times this season. In contrast, there aren’t any races that jump out as real missed opportunities for a win for Elliott, despite his high finishes. At some point, it feels like Larson is just going to break through, whereas it wouldn’t surprise me if we don’t see Chase win until next year.
3. Can Chris Buescher crack the top 30?
TN: I’m probably not alone in saying that I’m surprised Chris Buescher was the first rookie to score a Sprint Cup Series win this season. Yes, he’s the 2015 XFINITY Series champion, but the Sprint Cup Series is another animal and his performance behind the wheel of the No. 34 this year has been less-than exhilarating. Buescher is currently sitting 31st in the point standings and needs to be in 30th place come Richmond (Sept. 10) to be Chase-eligible. Given his track record (literally), Buescher’s best performance at the last four circuits before the Chase field is set doesn’t seem too promising, with his best finish of 20th coming at Michigan earlier this year; he’s yet to try the “Lady in Black” that is Darlington.
Long story short, although he seems close right now, I don’t see Buescher cracking the top 30 and knocking another Chase contender out.
PD: Sure, it’s a bit of a longshot, but it seems more likely that he makes the leap from 31st to at least 30th (only three points at this … point) than his win was, so it certainly isn’t out of the equation.
Looking at the drivers directly ahead of him in the standings — David Ragan, Landon Cassill, Casey Mears, Aric Almirola — they have zero top-10s combined. I expect the Chase-determined No. 34 team to be grinding for every point, and don’t expect the respective performance of each of those other teams to suddenly improve. Plus, neither Cassill nor Ragan has a DNF this season, so if either winds up with one it opens the door a little more for Buescher.