Threat of rain looms over Sprint Cup finale

Posted on November 21, 2015 by Zack Albert

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Sunday’s NASCAR finale has four drivers vying for the championship in what NASCAR officials like to refer to as a Game 7 moment. There have already been plenty of pivotal points during this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs, but what if Sunday’s showdown is shortened into a Game 5 1/2 moment?

The threat of a damp forecast at Homestead-Miami Speedway has raised plenty of questions about how a potentially rain-altered Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM) could play out, especially with so much on the line in the season-ending race. The National Weather Service rates the chances of precipitation on Sunday at 60 percent, with thunderstorms especially likely in the morning.

The possibilities come on the heels of the championship field being settled in a rain-abbreviated race the previous weekend at Phoenix International Raceway. The stakes will be even higher Sunday, but the procedures for declaring a race official will remain the same.

“It’s not a new rule. It’s not something different,” said three-time series champion Tony Stewart. “Is it ideal, no. Is it OK, yes. I mean, we don’t have a choice. We can’t control the weather. It’s not ideal by any means. I don’t think anybody wants to have that scenario and have to race in that scenario, but as well, at the same time, we’ve all raced under those circumstances, and if it has to end that way, that’s the way it’ll end.”

NASCAR has maintained long-standing procedures that a race becomes officials once it passes the halfway point, but the sanctioning body has also historically made every effort to run its races on the scheduled date. Advancements in technology have helped competition officials make more informed decisions about the weather, but the considerations — for fans, teams and broadcast partners — make those decisions even more critical, especially when the outcome of the race or the season-long championship weighs in the balance.

To help combat the effects of rain this weekend, NASCAR can employ 17 Air Titan track dryers, 12 conventional jet dryers, and four vacuum trucks — an armada that NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France touted as a record number of resources. But France also mentioned in his State of the Sport address on Friday that watching the skies and planning for inclement weather was a necessary angle for teams to work around.

“We’re looking at everything,” France said. “Our view now is that like a lot of things that aren’t necessarily perfect, so to speak, that’s part of the game. That’s part of racing that it’s part of the strategy. You saw that last week in Phoenix. That you have to anticipate weather as being a factor in deciding things, as unfortunate as that is. Hopefully it won’t be a factor on Sunday.”

Carl Edwards was among the unfortunate ones last weekend, missing out on his Championship 4 bid by just five points when rain escalated with 93 laps remaining. Edwards told his crew “they can’t let it end like this” over the team radio as the race went to red-flag conditions, but NASCAR officials did, leaving Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. to join Jeff Gordon among the final quartet.

Busch was among those on the plus side of the rain at Phoenix, a situation he wouldn’t mind being in Sunday if circumstances cut things short.

“I think it would be very unfortunate, you know, but it is what it is,” Busch said. “I mean, the rules have been the way the rules are for a long, long time and everybody ridicules NASCAR for changing the rules whenever they want, and this time they’re sticking to it. Like Jeff said earlier, I hope I’m the guy leading when it’s raining, and if it’s raining we’re going to be doing a heck of a rain dance.”

Posted on November 21, 2015 by

RELATED: Race results | 2015 final standings

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Team owner Joe Gibbs sees Daniel Suárez as a big part of the future — not only for NASCAR but for his team.

Part of the equation is about the 23-year-old’s talents as the driver who just earned Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Suárez moved up to fifth in the final series standings with his sixth-place effort in Saturday’s Ford EcoBoost 300 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

But a lot of it is about how Suárez got to that point, advancing through NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program to become a factor in both the XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series this year.

“It’s exciting for our sport,” Gibbs said. “I don’t think I’ve been in any business meeting the last five years where (somebody) didn’t say ‘We’ve got to reach the Hispanic market.’ It’s a big deal for us to have Daniel on board.

“It helps me from the standpoint that I want to be a good partner in every part of NASCAR. We’ve been heavily involved in the (Drive for) Diversity program with a number of different guys. We think it’s good for our sport. I know it is. I think our sport belongs in every part of the market in America and I think this is a big step.”

Suárez is the first Mexican driver and second Drive for Diversity product to win Sunoco Rookie of the Year in one of NASCAR’s national series. Although he didn’t win an XFINITY race, he won three Coors Light Pole Awards, recorded 18 top-10 finishes and placed second to Joey Logano at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“It’s been a long journey so far, but a very fun one,” Suárez says. “We had a goal early in the year to get the Rookie of the Year, be strong and try to contend for some wins. We didn’t win, but we were close several times. We ran in the front. I don’t think it was a surprise to see the ARRIS No. 18 in the front, which for me was something really good.”

Suárez, has been fast ever since arriving on the scene from Monterrey, Mexico, where he was accustomed to open-wheel racing and road courses, not ovals. He was Rookie of the Year in NASCAR’s Mexico Series in 2010. Advancing to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East for Rev Racing, he placed third in the 2013 standings with nine top-10 finishes.

But he’s also had a lot to learn [[ from mastering the English language to mastering how to handle NASCAR’s race cars and tracks.

“These cars are different,” he says. “They are so aero-dependent and to move around the race track, ‘’m not used to that. When I was racing in Mexico, you used to start in one line and I was used to staying in that lane. So, all this is new to me.”

Saturday’s race was a tribute to how far Suárez has come. After qualifying on the front row, he dropped all the way to 16th, a lap down, after his team was penalized for a loose tire in the pits. Clawing his way back into contention, he was one of only 10 finishers on the lead lap. His sixth-place finish enabled him to bump veteran Elliott Sadler (13th) from the fifth and final seat at Monday night’s XFINITY championship banquet.

Still, Suárez, who gained additional experience by driving 13 races for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series, knows he has a long way to go.

“There is a huge difference between racing fast, racing in the front and winning a race,” he says. “And this is one of the steps I have to make for next year. This was one of my goals for this year. I didn’t get that one. So in the offseason I am looking forward to working as hard as possible with my team to take that next step and win races.”

As for a chance to drive in the Sprint Cup Series, Suárez believes that will come in due time.

“I feel if I’m in the right place and with the right people to make that step at the right time,” he said, “But for now we need to focus on what we’re doing right now.”

His owner will be watching closely.

“We are really proud of Daniel,” Gibbs said. “He has done a fantastic job both on and off the track and I know ARRIS and Toyota are extremely excited to have him earn this honor.

“He has been consistent throughout the year but also showed improvement each week and that really showed up as he returned to tracks for a second time. He has put a lot into this and I’m just thrilled for him and his family, the team, and everyone that supports him, both here and back in Mexico.

Posted on November 21, 2015 by

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Kyle Larson took out a season of frustration on the NASCAR XFINITY Series field Saturday in the season finale, tracking down Austin Dillon in the closing laps to win the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway by slightly less than a second.

Despite Larson’s dominance in leading 118 of 200 laps, Chris Buescher ran a clean race, finishing 11th to clinch his first XFINITY Series title. Buescher came into the race needing to finish 13th or better to guarantee himself the championship.

After winning a pair of XFINITY Series races last season, Larson, 23, had visions of qualifying for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup this year. Those hopes failed to materialize. He sits 20th in Sprint Cup points heading into Sunday’s season finale (3 p.m. ET on NBC). And prior to Saturday, although managing three top-five finishes, the NASCAR Drive for Diversity alum had gone winless in 13 XFINITY starts.

But Larson’s No. 42 Chevrolet out of the Harry Scott Jr. shop was so strong on Saturday that by Lap 97, only three other cars were chasing him on the lead lap. Larson had opened a 6.7-second lead over early-race leader Kyle Busch (who led 62 of the first 79 laps from the Coors Light Pole) when the race’s third caution flag waved on Lap 117.

Busch’s threat fizzled when he was penalized for having a loose tire in the pits, then crashed after contact with NASCAR Drive for Diversity alum Darrell Wallace Jr. on Lap 182. On the final restart, however, Larson slipped to fourth and had to recover with a late race charge to catch Dillon. Both Larson and Dillon, seeking the speed of the outside line at Homestead-Miami Speedway, brushed the wall in the final laps.

“To win is really special, especially when you haven’t won in over a year in a NASCAR national series,” said Larson, admitting he wasn’t sure he could catch Dillon, who led laps 180-195. “There’s no other track that suits me like this track. I’m just really comfortable running up against the wall. I seem to always have good race cars when I come here.

“We’ve been frustrated a number of times this year. Some races, we haven’t had the speed we had last year. Also, we’ve had a lot of races where we were pretty fast, then had something happen to us in the last run of the races. It’s just been a really inconsistent year.”

When it came time to celebrate, however, Larson drove directly to Victory Lane, respectfully leaving the burnout to the XFINITY Series champ.

“This is championship week, so congratulations to Chris Buescher,” Larson said. “I wanted Chris to have his moment there.”

Buescher, who won races at Iowa and Dover this season, came into the race with a string of nine consecutive top-10 finishes, but played it safe throughout the day at HMS. Crew chief Scott Graves did make a pivotal call, electing to pit while other title contenders remained on the track for the final 21 laps. That put Buescher in position to claim the free pass, which he did moments later when Busch hit the wall. “We thought having fresh tires on it was going to put us in a better position,” Graves said. “We knew if we could be in the ‘Lucky Dog’ situation … we were basically going to be on even ground (with our competitors). With the number of laps that was left, we felt that was going to be our best option.”

“Our Fastenal Mustang had good speed in it, but we just had to be careful out there,” Buescher said. “It’s unbelievable for us to be able to pull it off. I’m not a ‘points’ racer. I don’t like it. But it was important (to finish) what we’ve been fighting for since February and Daytona.”

Chase Elliott, the defending series champion who is poised to take over the No. 24 Sprint Cup car for Hendrick Motorsports in 2016, finished eighth in the race and 15 points behind Buescher. Ty Dillon, seventh on Saturday, finished 18 points behind Buescher, and Regan Smith, ninth on Saturday, settled for fourth in points, 22 points back.

“We had an up-and-down season,” said Elliott, who won three XFINITY Series races in 2014 but lamented his ability to win just once this year (at Richmond). “They just outran us, fair and square. No reason to be upset about that. We just need to do a better job.”

Dillon recorded his 25th top-10 finish of the season but failed to win a race. He did finish in the top 10 in eight of his last nine races. Smith, runner-up to Elliott last season, ended the season with 13 consecutive top-10 finishes.

While Buescher gave Roush Fenway Racing Owner Jack Roush his fifth XFINITY Series title, the owner’s championship went to Team Penske‘s No. 22 Ford for a third consecutive season. Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Alex Tagliani and Ryan Blaney — who finished fifth behind Erik Jones (Toyota) and Brian Scott (Chevrolet) in the Ford EcoBoost 300 — all made starts in the No. 22 this season.

Posted on November 21, 2015 by Reid Spencer

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — As it turned out, the final step in Chris Buescher ‘s march to the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship was almost pedestrian.

None of his closest pursuers could mount a serious challenge for the victory in Saturday’s Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In fact, Buescher, title runner-up Chase Elliott and fellow contenders Ty Dillon and Regan Smith all went a lap down to race winner Kyle Larson during a long green-flag run in the middle of the race.

Ultimately, Buescher got a free pass back to the lead lap and finished 11th, leaving him with a 15-point edge in the standings over Elliott, the defending series champion, and 18 over third-place Dillon, who finished seventh on Saturday.

With no real pressure from his competition, and with 18 points in hand entering the race, Buescher’s primary task was to keep his No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford out of trouble, and the 23-year-old Texan did exactly that.

RELATED: Buescher’s path to becoming a champion

If the pressure of an impending first NASCAR national series championship was weighing on him, Buescher didn’t show it.

“I did a good job masking it didn’t I?” Buescher said after the race. “I was a little nervous. All things considered, that was exactly what we needed to do, and we knew that and knew we were capable of doing it.

“I’m glad we could pull it off for all the people that were on board all year, AdvoCare, Roush Performance, Cheez-It and all the fans. I know the weather wasn’t ideal today (rain caused the fourth caution), but they hung in there with us and we made it through this thing and get to celebrate.”

More than seven years earlier, Buescher left home to pursue a racing career, despite the reservations of his parents.

“I’m glad (my mother) let me,” Buescher said. “I think she’s OK with it now. I have to thank my parents so much for the opportunity to be here and leave home and do this. That was such an amazing race, just being careful.

“Our Fastenal Mustang had good speed in it. We just had to be careful out there… It’s pretty amazing to be in this position.”

Keeping his desire to race for victories in check, however, has been a difficult proposition for the young champion.

“I am not a points racer,” Buescher said. “I don’t like it. It’s not the most fun way to run the last 10 races of the season, but it is important.

“This is what we have been fighting for since February at Daytona, and these guys (the team) have done such a great job and stuck in there with us all year and had no mechanical failures or DNFs. It’s a huge accomplishment for our team.”

Austin Dillon, who finished second to Larson on Saturday, wasn’t surprised Buescher and his team exhibited that sort of race management.

“Chris is a smart race car driver,” Dillon said. I think that’s what won him a championship. I noticed it earlier on in the year. I’ve noticed it from when he was driving ARCA against Ty (Dillon, Austin’s brother). Him and Ty had good battles then, and Chris is always smart with his equipment.

“I think he knows the ability of the equipment, uses it to its ability every time, and finishes races well. So I think Chris is going to be good. He’s smart. He doesn’t tear up stuff. He’s raced with less before, and it teaches you what you have in the car, so I think he’s very good at managing his equipment and getting the best out of it.”

Interestingly, even with a championship to his credit, Buescher hasn’t settled his plans for next season.

“I’m optimistic about it,” Buescher said. “I feel like we’ll have something … I just don’t have anything right now. We don’t have everything planned out at the moment. It will be a couple weeks, I’m sure, before we get everything lined up and get a little bit closer – not that I’m worried about it.

“I feel pretty confident that the guys back at the shop are doing everything they can to get sponsors on board and to try to put together a 2016 season, wherever that may be.”

Team owner Jack Roush indicated Buescher would run some NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races next season. What’s unknown is how many.

“We’re still not sure what his arrangement is going to be next year,” Roush said. “He will be involved in a Cup car to some extent, but whether it’s a part-time program or a full program, we’re still in the midst of finalizing the conditions.

“We’ve got a number of possibilities, but we’re not ready to announce that today.”

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Nascar

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — It’s Ford Championship Weekend and the automotive manufacturer has its name on all three NASCAR races this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

A champion in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will be crowned Friday, where Brad Keselowski Racing driver Tyler Reddick trails Erik Jones by 19 points.

On the XFINITY Series side, Roush Fenway Racing‘s Chris Buescher has his Ford out front by 18 points over Chase Elliott (JR Motorsports).

Sunday, the Sprint Cup championship will be decided among four teams that have survived a nine-race, elimination-style playoff to get here. None of the entries among those four title-contending teams preparing for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 carry the Ford nameplate.

“It’s tough. I’m not going to mince words,” Edsel Ford II said Friday. “We’re very disappointed that we don’t have a car in the Chase, especially (for) Ford Championship Weekend.”

Two Ford drivers, Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, qualified for the 16-team Chase for the Sprint Cup. Roush Fenway Racing, the last Ford team to win the Sprint Cup title (with Kurt Busch in ’04) failed to place one of its drivers in the Chase for the first time since the format debuted that same season.

But Keselowski, who won the championship in 2012 with Penske and Dodge, failed to advance out of the final eight this season to earn a berth in this weekend’s Championship Round.

Logano, meanwhile, swept one of the three-race rounds and appeared to be one of the title favorites before a run-in with Matt Kenseth escalated, eventually ending when Kenseth wrecked the No. 22 earlier this month at Martinsville.

Thus, this weekend’s four Chase contenders represent two of the three automotive manufacturers competing in NASCAR — defending series champion Kevin Harvick (Chevrolet), Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet), Martin Truex Jr. (Chevrolet) and Kyle Busch (Toyota).

“We would have loved to have had a car in the Chase, frankly. But it is what it is. That’s racing I guess,” said Ford, a member of the Ford Motor Company Board of Directors. This was a chance we could win a Ford Championship — we’ve got good trucks, we’ve got good XFINITY cars, we’ve got very good (Sprint) Cup cars so who knows?”

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Nascar

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Wood Brothers Racing, one of the longest tenured teams competing in NASCAR’s premier series, will return to full-time competition beginning in 2016.

Officials with the team and Ford Motor Co. made the announcement Friday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway, site of this weekend’s Ford EcoBoost 400 (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM) season-ending event.

Ryan Blaney will handle the driving duties, embarking upon his first full season after making 15 starts for the team this year heading into Sunday’s race. Weather issues kept the team from attempting to qualify at Daytona, Kentucky and Chicago earlier this year.

“These are the guys that made it happen, Ford Motor Company,” co-team owner Eddie Wood said. “It is just a lot of people that have been working on this for a long time and we are really proud of our association and heritage with Ford Motor Company. We have been racing Ford Motor Company products for 65 years and we are really looking forward to next year and getting started with that.”

The team will continue to have a technical alliance with Team Penske, which fields Sprint Cup entries for drivers Joey Logano and 2012 champion Brad Keselowski.

“It is what you dream of as a kid,” Blaney, 21, said. “I have been fortunate enough to get great opportunities and meet great people being with Team Penske in 2012 which led to the Wood Brothers this year and then beyond for next year.

“Obviously it is a little overwhelming right now … knowing what is going to come but I am excited for it. I don’t get excited about a lot of things and maybe I don’t show it but I am really excited about this program for next year and having the opportunity.”

It will be the first time since 2008 that the Wood Brothers organization, founded by team owner Glen Wood in 1953, has attempted to run the entire NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule. That season, three drivers — Bill Elliott, Marcos Ambrose and Jon Wood — split the driving duties, although Johnny Sauter made one attempt, failing to qualify at Las Vegas. The last full season with a single-driver for the team came in 2006 with veteran Ken Schrader.

“We were in Pocono … testing for the Pocono race on May 28, 2008,” Wood said. “At about noon that day Mr. Ford called me looking for a phone number. I hadn’t talked to him in a while and he said, ‘I haven’t heard from you in a while, why haven’t you called?’ I told him we had been running so poorly that I had really just been ashamed. He says, ‘So, you are saying this 21 is broken?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, it is broken right now.’

“So he said we were going to see about that, that we would fix that. From that day until now, it has been just like this. He put some things in motion that started to help like increased engineering and just more of everything. There were some Ford Motor Company people that … moved in with us and helped get us straightened out and three years later we win the Daytona 500 (with driver Trevor Bayne). You can never give up.”

Wood Brothers entries have visited Victory Lane 98 times, sixth most among active teams and seventh overall. The list of drivers who have won for the team includes NASCAR Hall of Fame members Wood, Curtis Turner (a 2016 inductee), Cale Yarborough, David Pearson and Dale Jarrett. Leonard Wood, younger brother of Glen and crew chief for the majority of the team’s victories, is also in the Hall of Fame.

Despite often running a limited schedule, the organization has finished in the top 10 in points 13 times and won the series’ premier event, the Daytona 500, five times.

“I think the timing was perfect for this to all come together,” Edsel Ford II said. “I think with Team Penske‘s help, that kind of motivated us to sort of talk to the Wood Brothers internally … and find out if this was possible. It just all came together this year and fit. It fit perfectly. So why not do it.”

NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series schedule consists of 36 points races and two non-points event and runs from February through mid-November. Entering this weekend’s event, 35 teams have competed in all points races contested thus far this season.

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Holly Cain

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — NASCAR Chairman & CEO Brian France held his annual year-ending question-and-answer session with the NASCAR media on Friday, sharing his thoughts on the Matt Kenseth suspension, the high quality of competition in 2015 and his expectations for what’s to come.

France began the discussion by reiterating the remarkable season-ending run for the sport, which will conclude in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 with Kevin Harvick defending his 2014 title against impending retiree, four-time champ Jeff Gordon and new championship challengers Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr.

While France was candid and sincere when answering questions from the assembled national and local media, he was prepared for questions about NASCAR’s handling of the two-race Matt Kenseth suspension for intentionally wrecking Joey Logano at Martinsville, Virginia. It was the first question from the floor.

Asked whether he should have perhaps spoken to Logano and Kenseth to discuss the escalated situation, France said that at the time, he didn’t think it necessary. Kenseth was suspended for two races after NASCAR ruled he intentionally crashed Logano out in the Martinsville race.

“Obviously, if I thought that would have helped we would have definitely sat down,” France said.

He said he met with Kenseth and team owner Joe Gibbs to talk earlier in the week and make sure everyone was on the same level with Kenseth returning to competition this week.

“We were very disappointed, as you know, with what happened in Martinsville, we reacted to that,” France said. “What we were coming down here to a championship weekend, and I wanted to make sure that that matter was behind us with Matt, with Joe Gibbs and so on. I’m assured that it is. We had a good conversation about what had happened and what the thinking was or whatever you want to call Matt’s actions, and we talked about that. And it was a good conversation.

“Those kind of conversations happen with us more frequently than not, so that’s not a surprising thing. I felt good coming out of those meetings.”

France was also asked where “the line” was in accessing whether a penalty should come down. He smiled broadly and told the room he was “glad” someone asked.

“Do you know how many drivers have come to see (Sprint Cup Series Managing Director) Richard Buck in the last two weeks, three weeks, four weeks? Zero,” France said. “Zero drivers have asked us for a clarification on the so-called line. And the reason that they don’t ask is they know. And they know that circumstances late in a race, blocking, although I’m not a fan of blocking, that’s part of racing. Blocking, contact, the short end of some of those exchanges that happen, are all part of it and do not look to NASCAR to deal with that, they are part of racing.

“So the line is … if somebody is just intentionally banzaiing into some situation with the sole purpose of taking somebody out, we’ll deal with that. We dealt with that in Martinsville, as a matter of fact. We’ll deal with that at all times.”

Again, France said he has nothing but good feelings about the new elimination-style Chase format that was introduced last year and will feature three new title-contenders among the accomplished group of four and give Harvick an opportunity to be the first driver since Jimmie Johnson to win Cup titles in consecutive years.

“I am excited we’ve got four drivers, including Jeff Gordon that are storybook endings in their own right,” France said. “The level of competition the Chase format has delivered has exceeded everything we have envisioned.

“The stakes are higher on any given weekend … and you’re seeing the drivers and teams react to that.”

France spoke about the possibility, however, that the 2015 Chase could end in a controversial way — hard-racing and high contact. In acknowledging the possibility existed, he reminded the room that NASCAR has developed a good reputation for the tussle form of competitiveness, too.

“Gentlemen drivers exist,” France said. “I don’t see one in those four guys remaining. And if there’s contact and they’re going for position … it’s not always that somebody just turns somebody around.

“I don’t know what will happen. But contact late in the race, that’s just part of it and we got to have an understanding of that and not be so surprised when that happens in a NASCAR race.”

Certainly the new format has created an even higher level of excitement.

Asked if NASCAR is considering implementing the Chase format in the Camping World Truck and XFINITY series, France was non-committal, yet not opposed.

“It has been successful,” France said. “Our partners in XFINITY and Camping World would like for us to explore what’s possible to have a, their own version of it. And we’re going to look at that. We’re going to look at that in the off-season. We have looked at that before, haven’t quite found the perfect thing for each one of those divisions. But we’ll work at it. It’s worth looking at.”

France did concede there is a chance of rain on all three days of scheduled championship-crowning racing at Homestead, but he assured the room and the readers that there are a “record number” of Air Titan dryers on site in case.

“We are going to go through the weekend as we traditionally would, looking at all of our options trying to get all of the laps in a given race on a certain race day,” France said.

“That’s been our policy and philosophy. We go further and try harder, I think, than any other motor sport division to accomplish that because we want it to be settled on track.”

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Staff Report

RELATED: Race lineup

Matt Crafton posted the fastest lap (167.551 mph) in the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota, earning the two-time champion his 11th Keystone Ligth Pole award of his career — and fourth of the season.

Joining Crafton on the front row will be the No. 8 of John Hunter Nemechek after posting a fastest lap of 167.002 mph.

Rounding out the top three was the No. 11 of Ben Kennedy, who propelled his Ford around the 1.5-mile track at 166.919 mph.

The No. 11 of Tyler Reddick (166.888 mph) and the No. 54 of Erik Jones (166.857 mph) were fourth and fifth, respectively.

Norm Benning, Ross Kenseth, Bobby Pierce and Todd Peck failed to qualify for the Ford EcoBoost 200 (8 p.m. ET, FS1).

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Staff Report

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Rivals Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano met with NASCAR officials Friday morning before opening Sprint Cup Series practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Kenseth, returning from a two-race suspension for NASCAR’s season-ending weekend, told a small group of reporters that the two drivers met in the hopes of moving past their escalated feud during this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. NASCAR.com independently confirmed that such a meeting took place.

“Everything will be fine there,” Kenseth told reporters, making his first remarks since two penalties appeals were denied Nov. 5. “I wish none of it would have happened obviously. There’s probably certain things we’ll never totally agree on, but I think long term it probably will be fine, and I think we will work it all out.”

Logano, who landed the second starting spot for the season finale in Friday’s Coors Light Pole Qualifying, was brief in his comments about the meeting, joking, “We haven’t had enough of this yet?”

“It was good,” Logano added. “NASCAR had us sit down and talk it out a little bit and I thought that was good for us to do.”

Friday’s practice session marked the first time that Kenseth and Logano shared the same race track since their Nov. 1 altercation at Martinsville Speedway. During that event, a laps-down Kenseth intentionally wrecked race leader Logano in the late stages, a run-in that ended his three-race win streak and dealt a serious blow to Logano’s bid for his first premier-series championship. Logano was eliminated from title contention two weeks later at Phoenix International Raceway.

Kenseth was unapologetic for his actions during a phone interview with the Associated Press last weekend, saying he couldn’t recall a heightened rivalry in the sport where NASCAR officials did not intervene before it reached a tipping point. NASCAR Chairman & CEO Brian France touched on the topic during Friday’s State of the Sport address, just four days after meeting with Kenseth and car owner Joe Gibbs at the team’s Huntersville, North Carolina, race shop.

“What we were coming down here to a championship weekend, and I wanted to make sure that that matter was behind us with Matt, with Joe Gibbs and so on,” France said. “I’m assured that it is. We had a good conversation about what had happened and what the thinking was or whatever you want to call Matt’s actions, and we talked about that. And it was a good conversation.”

Gibbs, speaking Thursday during media availabilities ahead of Sunday’s season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM), said that he also found the conversations productive.

“I think going forward, we had good meetings,” Gibbs said. “I think we’re all in a good place right now. I think Matt is, too, and I appreciated getting a chance to meet with Brian, and I think Matt did, too, and I think we’re going to put all that behind us, and we’re going to go racing.”