Posted on by Zack Albert

RELATED: Race results | Updated standings | Bubble watch

 

AVONDALE, Ariz. — An interesting jumble of personalities make up the last four drivers who will battle for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship next Sunday.

 

The only constant among the final four? Kevin Harvick, the man who may not have to hand over his crown after all.

Harvick wasn’t able to extend his streak of Phoenix International Raceway victories to five in a quirky, rain-shortened event in the desert, but he kept his title defense alive, punching his ticket on the basis of points as the only driver returning to the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“I feel like I don’t want to be greedy and be disappointed with how it went today when you look at the big picture,” said Harvick, who wound up second despite leading 143 of 219 laps. “I think it’s definitely been a Chase that’s been a little bit up and down for us, but the guys have battled through, and we’ve survived a lot of situations to be in contention for next week.

“You always want to win when you have a car like we did today, but I’ll take it again next week.”

Next weekend will mark a return to the 1.5-mile track where Harvick took the checkered flag and his first series title. But it will also come with the chance for a championship repeat after a topsy-turvy Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.

Harvick faced a major Chase hurdle before its first race was complete, crashing at Chicagoland and needing — and getting — a clutch victory at Dover to keep the championship push alive. Then came the strange ending at Talladega, with his No. 4 car advancing despite being at the center of a slow-speed crash.

The final three-race series went the smoothest, with finishes of eighth, third and second pushing Harvick into the championship pool. In Sunday’s season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM) at Homestead, he’ll have a chance to extend his reign.

 

“Well, I feel like we’ve overcome a lot of things throughout the Chase,” Harvick said. “We’ve survived and advanced. It hasn’t been 100 percent pretty from one end to the other, but I think as you look at the Chase, it’s been championship material and that’s proven by making it to the championship race. I’m just really proud of everybody and we’re going to go down there and just do like we’ve done and race as hard as we can.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

RELATED: Race results | See who advanced, who was eliminated post-Phoenix

 

AVONDALE, Ariz. — For Kurt Busch, the high hopes for a second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title were dented almost before they started Sunday, the result of a first-lap penalty for jumping the initial drop of the green flag at Phoenix International Raceway.

For the 2004 champ and three other drivers on an odd, rainy Sunday, there would be no sun in the Arizona desert and no safe passage to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship Round next Sunday. Rain brought an early halt to a NASCAR premier-series event for only the second time in 39 races at the 1-mile track, leaving 93 laps on the board and four drivers wondering what could have been over the final stretch.

Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski both entered the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 in essentially must-win situations to clinch a berth in the season finale next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway; Logano wound up two positions short and Keselowski missed it by eight. Edwards just needed a better points day than the three drivers ahead of him; he fell short by five points, telling his crew “they can’t let it end like this” as the curtain-closing showers intensified.

The sour taste was perhaps most pungent for Busch, who started in second place but was just inches ahead of pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson once the race started — nearly seven hours late and with Busch ruled just a split second too soon.

“That wasn’t a penalty,” said Busch, who wound up seventh of the eight title hopefuls after the Eliminator Round cutoff. “That’s a reason to start a survey and right now, I encourage everybody to go onto Twitter, my Facebook, my Instagram and follow it, and we’re all going to have a survey.”

Restarts — an increasingly intriguing topic in the second half of the season — were again on the front burner in the pre-race drivers’ meeting, with four-time champion Jeff Gordon asking if the second-place car could beat the leading “control” car to the start-finish line. The social media jury may still be out, but a NASCAR spokesperson said the ruling was a procedural penalty that race officials stand behind.

“Who knows, man?” said Tony Gibson, crew chief of Busch’s Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevy. “We’ve seen guys all year long do that, so it’s … I don’t know. It’s the most inconsistent thing I’ve ever seen, so it is what it is. We’ll just deal with it and go on.

“We definitely had a car to win. Just didn’t happen. We’ll be all right.”

Busch protested over the radio once the penalty was announced after a brief review, and he eventually served his penalty on Lap 8, stripped of leading the opening laps and left to rally from last place to an eventual seventh-place result. Despite his dismay, Busch was able to find positives in the way his scrappy team responded to its tumultuous season.

“I had a great season. We won two races, sat on three poles,” Busch said. “We did everything possible to put polish on a season like this and get out there with elbow grease and work hard at it. There’s some tarnish that’s sitting there. Polish and polish and polish — that’s all I kept doing this whole year.”

The others dealt with a mixed bag of misfortune, either coming out on the wrong end of a final caution flag that interrupted a green-flag cycle of pit stops and ultimately propelled Dale Earnhardt Jr. to victory, or failing to make up ground on runner-up Kevin Harvick, whose dominance during a four-race Phoenix win streak ended despite leading 143 of the 219 laps.

Logano spent the majority of his day among the top five, but couldn’t escape the deficit caused by Matt Kenseth‘s intentional crash at Martinsville in the round opener. He left Phoenix last among the final eight, but still able to savor a six-win season.

“I’m proud of what this team’s done,” Logano said moments before the race was abbreviated. “We’ve had amazing runs throughout the year, we’ve been consistently fast. We showed it again tonight that we’ve got really good speed in our cars. Our team doesn’t make mistakes and it’s something I’m very proud of. Today is obviously a high-pressure situation for everyone, and everyone’s just been loose and acting like it was a normal day. Couldn’t be more proud of this team either way, no matter what happens. I really wanted to get another shot, so we can wait and see.”

Keselowski, also caught up in one of the Martinsville run-ins, was sixth among the final eight — a distant 13 points behind final championship qualifier Martin Truex Jr.

“I don’t think it matters what’s fair,” Keselowski said when asked about the early end to the next-to-last race of the season. “What matters is what entertains the fans, and if the fans are happy, that’s what it’s all about.”

Edwards was vocal on his team radio in his desire to restart the race, potentially waiting out another delay under the lights. The ending left him 12th in the race and fifth in the Eliminator Round standings, five points behind Truex.

“How hard they’ve worked all year to come down to something as simple as a rainout,” said Grubb, in his fourth year with Joe Gibbs Racing. “We feel like we could have raced our way back in there and had a shot at it. We were still five points out, just like we were five points coming in. We knew that was going to be a tough situation, but it ended up that it bit us and I just hate it for these guys. I’m very proud to have had a championship in the past and I wanted to help bring one to these guys who have worked so hard for it.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Full race results from Phoenix

AVONDALE, Ariz. — A serendipitous sequence of pit stops and a drizzle that turned into a downpour made a winner of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Sunday night’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, the start of which was delayed from day to night by rain in the afternoon.
 
But the race that was halted by the rain 93 laps short of its scheduled distance of 312 laps was hardly the satisfying conclusion for which Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch or Joey Logano had hoped.
 
Those four drivers were eliminated from the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, as defending champion Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. joined Jeff Gordon in next Sunday’s Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM).
 
Earnhardt came to pit road for fuel and tires one lap before Joey Gase and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. crashed in Turn 3 to bring out the second caution of the race on Lap 196. While on pit road, Earnhardt crossed the scoring line at the flag stand before Harvick, who had dominated with 143 laps led.
 
And when other lead-lap cars came to pit road under the yellow, Earnhardt inherited the top spot, with Harvick second and Logano third. Before track workers could complete clean-up from the accident, rain began to fall, and NASCAR called the race after the light precipitation became a deluge.
 
“We had an idea that the rain was in the area, but all the circumstances that played out at the end of the race are just kind of luck, I think,” said Earnhardt, who won for the third time at Phoenix, the third time this season and the 26th time in his career. “I want to give (crew chief) Greg (Ives) a lot of credit, and the guys.
 
“They gave us a good enough car to come here and qualify well (third). I think the reason why we won this race is because of the way we qualified to give ourselves a position to be up front all night. When something like this quirky happens we were able to capitalize. It’s a rain-shortened win, but my guys are very proud of it because of how the car ran all weekend and we put ourselves in this position.”
 
The third-place qualifying effort also gave the No. 88 team third pick of pit stalls, and that choice also proved crucial because it put Earnhardt in position to take the lead when NASCAR called the caution.
 
Harvick had mixed feelings about his second-place result. The caution likely cost him a victory, but it also assured his eligibility to defend his title at Homestead.
 
“Yeah, it’s kind of bittersweet,” Harvick acknowledged. “The car just really performed well today, and we were able to lead a lot of laps, and just really proud of the guys for the decisions that they made overnight to get that last little bit out of the car today, and how it performed was really good.
 
“Just caution came out at the wrong time, and we didn’t get to make up the ground on the race track under green, where Dale was pitted, and the way that they came out of the pits just didn’t time out well. But still proud of our group, and sometimes you win some of those things, sometimes you don’t, but in the end, the big picture is what it’s all about.”
 
Kyle Busch finished fourth to advance to the season finale. Gordon ran sixth, followed by Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin and Keselowski. Truex came home 14th but edged 12th-place finisher Edwards for the final spot in the Championship Round by five points.
 
Kyle Busch continued his improbable run toward a first series title. Having suffered a broken right leg and left foot in the season-opening NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Daytona, Busch missed the first 11 Sprint Cup events of the year but came back to win four times shortly after his return.
 
With the wins and a top-30 points finish, Busch qualified for the Chase.
 
“When I returned, we did a good job and we won four out of five and put ourselves in a position to make the Chase, and the rules are the way the rules are, and we’re going to make the most of it,” Busch said. “We’re playing with house money, and we’re rolling to Homestead.”
 
Truex, who entered Sunday’s race with a seven-point lead over Edwards, lost a lap during the same sequence of pit stops that put Earnhardt in the lead, but he regained it under the caution on a wave-around and finished two spots behind Edwards to clinch his place in the finals.
 
Driving for single-car Furniture Row Racing, Truex goes to Homestead with confidence.
 
“With the way our stuff has been running here lately, it’s been really good, and we were really strong at Texas (last week),” he said. “I feel like what we’re taking there (to Homestead) might be a little bit better.
 
“Excited to get to Homestead, which has been a really good track for me over the years, and get a chance to pull off our first win there.”
 
The highest finisher among the four eligible drivers wins the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title.
 
Logano, Keselowski and Kurt Busch (who was hit with a pass-through penalty for jumping the start of the race) needed to win on Sunday to make the finals. But the rain made sure they never got a chance at another restart.
 
Logano took the disappointment with grace.
 
“It’s hard to play the race with rain in the area,” Logano said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen, but you just hope there’s another shot. You hope that there’s a restart and if two of them slip up and you’re able to put it three-wide on the bottom, or do something like that — but just didn’t ever have the opportunity there at the end.
 
“We had plenty of opportunities to try to get ourselves to the front, we just weren’t as fast as the 4 (Harvick). We were a solid second-place car, but Junior timed it out really well when they pitted to that caution, and it worked out really well for them.”
 
Note: Chevrolet clinched its 13th straight manufacturer’s championship in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, 39th overall … Hendrick Motorsports swept the Eliminator Round of the Chase with Gordon winning at Martinsville, Jimmie Johnson at Texas and Earnhardt at Phoenix.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid

Below is a breakdown of how the full 43-car field fared at Phoenix International Raceway:

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Junior fans that waited out the rain delay were rewarded with the HMS driver’s third win of the season.

2. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Phoenix ace Harvick led a race-high 143 laps despite battling a “loose in” race car and a spotty radio. On to Homestead to defend his title.

3. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. Logano failed to make the Championship 4 for the second year in a row, despite his solid finish. He needed to win, but failed to lead a lap.

4. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch also battled radio issues and got too close to the wall on a pit stall that resulted in his team not being able to jack his car up, but the JGR driver came away with a top five and Championship 4 spot, nonetheless.

5. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson was hit with a pit road speeding penalty while leading the race early on, but recovered for his 14th top-five finish of the season.

 

6. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Gordon waded through handling issues in one area of the track but found himself in a favorable spot when the race was called on Lap 219.

 

7. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Busch had one of the fastest cars but was black-flagged after jumping the start of the race. He never got back to the lead and was eliminated from the Chase.

 

8. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin will ride a top-10 finish into Homestead, where he won’t get a shot at a title for the second straight year, but has a chance at his third win of the season.

9. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Keselowski needed to win to advance but fell short despite leading four laps.

10. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola has been consistently above average in the Chase and picked up his sixth top 10 of the season at Phoenix.

11. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Newman clinched his Championship 4 berth with a thrilling move at Phoenix last year, but not much stood out about his 2015 fall race.

12. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards received the free pass on Lap 196 to get back on the lead lap, but didn’t have enough time to get to the front, where he needed to be if he wanted to advance.

 

13. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Menard spent a good amount of time in the top 10 and was on pace to top his best career finish (ninth) at the 1-mile track before fading a bit.

14. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Chevrolet, Furniture Row Racing. Truex got caught a lap down when the caution came out on Lap 196, but his finish was enough to help him advance to the Championship 4.

 

15. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. McMurray finished in the top 15 for the third consecutive race and will look to make it four in a row to close the season at Homestead.

 

16. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Solid finish for Patrick, who overcame a penalty for having crew members over the wall too soon.

 

17. Justin Allgaier, No. 51 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. For the third time this season, Allgaier finished in the top 20 in two of three races.

 

18. David Ragan, No. 55 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. Ragan finished in the top 20 and got a bonus point for leading a lap — not too shabby.

19. Erik Jones, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Jones closes out his substitute driver run for Matt Kenseth with his second consecutive top-20 finish.

20. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Dillon has finished in the top 20 for four consecutive races, his longest such streak of the season.

21. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Larson came away disappointed with his finish after sporting a top-five car all weekend.

22. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears’ brakes weren’t flowing well, but crew chief Bootie Barker said they looked fine when he brought the car in for a pit stop.

23. Clint Bowyer, No. 15, Michael Waltrip Racing. Since his infamous run-in with Jeff Gordon at Phoenix in 2012, Bowyer has just one top-10 at the track.

24. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Allmendinger reported that his car had no forward drive on Lap 162 in P24, and he stayed right there.

25. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle is still searching for his second top 10 since August and only has one race left to accomplish it.

26. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. A disappointing season for Kahne continued at Phoenix, where he failed to lead a lap and picked up his worst finish since 2012.

27. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Hard to believe, but Stewart has just three top-10s in 2015 — and he didn’t come close to sniffing one at Phoenix.

28. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. DiBenedetto got hit by Kasey Kahne on pit road but still managed his best finish since Darlington.

29. J.J. Yeley, No. 26 Toyota, BK Racing. Yeley had a great save early in the race and likely salvaged a better finish than he would’ve if he hadn’t.

30. David Gilliland, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Gilliland had a vibration in his brakes that plagued him to a finish just inside the top 30.

31. Sam Hornish Jr., No. 9 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Hornish had to make an unscheduled pit stop with slight damage on his left rear and came home 31st.

32. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett’s 32nd-place finish is his second best at the 1-mile track in his career.

33. Cole Whitt, No. 35 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Whitt’s finish broke a string of three consecutive finishes inside the top 30.

34. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne was penalized for being too fast on pit road and never recovered.


35. Landon Cassill, No. 40 Chevrolet, Hillman Smith Motorsports. Cassill’s finish was his worst showing in the Phoenix fall race since 2010.

36. Brett Moffitt, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Moffitt struggled with his No. 34 Ford, which had “no front grip in the tires.”

37. Ryan Preece, No. 98 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Preece improved on his starting position by four places, which is a positive sign for a driver in just his fourth career Cup race.

38. Alex Bowman, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Bowman struggled with the electric system of his ride, telling his team, “Got power voltage, but it does not crank at all.”

39. Jeb Burton, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. Burton’s Phoenix showing was his worst finish since Charlotte.

40. Ryan Ellis, No. 33 Chevrolet, Circle Sport. Ryan Ellis finished 40th in his Sprint Cup Series debut, but finished two spots higher than where he started.

41. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse went to the garage after a brake issue caused a wreck with Joey Gase on Lap 196.

42. Joey Gase, No. 32 Ford, GoFAS Racing. Gase took significant damage to his No. 32 Ford after a wreck with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on Lap 196.

43. Timmy Hill, No. 62 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Hill dropped a valve and eventually had his ride let the motor go.

Posted on by

The No. 11 pit crew of Denny Hamlin will be without rear tire changer Mike Hicks for the remaining two races in 2015. Earlier this week Hicks broke a bone in his right foot — it doesn’t seem like it will pose any problems for next year, though.


“It was a weird deal,” Hicks told PitTalks. “It happened Wednesday at practice and I was just walking backwards. My ankle kind of gave out and my foot rolled over and popped a bone. Thankfully it’s not bad and I should be walking in two weeks and good to go in about four.”



JGR had previously hired longtime tire changer David Mayo from Hendrick Motorsports as the team’s backup. Mayo will now change rear tires for the No. 11 team at Phoenix and Homestead.  


Mayo practiced with the No. 11 crew for a few days this week, so he has reps. Mayo had previously pitted with the No. 88 crew of Dale Earnhardt Jr. this year.


For more pit crew news, visit PitTalks.com.

Posted on by

Eric Wilson stepped down as head coach of Richard Childress Racing‘s pit crews, effective immediately, PitTalks.com has learned. Wilson took over the coaching job three years ago, replacing Matt Clark.

Wilson’s plans are unclear at this time, but what is clear is Ray Wright will be the new coach. Wright has been the strength-and-conditioning coach for the past seven years.

Wright was also the rear tire carrier for the No. 27 Chevrolet SS of Paul Menard. Taking his place over the wall will be Adam Mestemacher.

As far as the strength-conditioning role, Tyler Rader will likely take over the void for the foreseeable future. Rader also fuels the No. 3 Chevrolet SS of Austin Dillon for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

RCR officials declined comment.

For more pit crew news, visit PitTalks.com.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: 24Ever: Honor Gordon’s career


Want to get your message across to Jeff Gordon? You can, thanks to NBC.



Go to nbcsports.com/24ever to send your best wishes to the Hendrick Motorsports veteran, who will be one of four drivers competing for a championship next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway. You can include videos or images with your note, too.



Submissions will show up in this gallery, and NBC may use yours on social media or on the race telecast itself — it’s scheduled for a 3 p.m. ET start and will be televised on NBC.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: See the full results

 

The Championship 4 has been determined following the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, which ended at Lap 219 of a scheduled 312 due to rain. 

 

Four in, four out: Here’s the bubble picture following Phoenix. The four drivers below the line failed to advance to the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway while the four drivers above the line will be racing on Sunday, Nov. 22 for the title in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

 

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Jeff Gordon

3. Kyle Busch

4. Martin Truex Jr.

—————

5. Carl Edwards

6. Brad Keselowski

7. Kurt Busch

8. Joey Logano

 

Reason for hope: As the defending race winner, Kevin Harvick is looking to defend his title. Out of the Championship 4, “Happy” has the best average finish at 7.6 at Homestead.

 

Reason for worry: In 10 starts, Kyle Busch only has three top 10 finishes at the Florida track and finished 39th last year. To add to that, “Rowdy” has an average finish 23.1 and hasn’t led any laps there since 2012.

 

Up next: Ford EcoBoost 400, 3 p.m. ET, Nov. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (NBC/Live Extra, MRN, Sirius XM)

 

Who it favors

Most wins: Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick (one win each)

Best driver rating: Martin Truex Jr., 106.6

Best average finish: Kevin Harvick, 7.6

 

Who it hurts

Fewest top 10s: Kyle Busch, 3

Worst driver rating: Kyle Busch, 91.5

Worst average finish: Kyle Busch, 23.1

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Full race results

 

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Rain shortened Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, with the next-to-last race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs ending in a red-flag situation after the completion of 219 of 312 laps and with Dale Earnhardt Jr. leading the field — and thereby getting the win.

 

Kevin Harvick was behind Junior in second place, followed by Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson.

With the race called due to inclement weather, Jeff Gordon, Harvick, Busch and Martin Truex Jr. advanced to the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

It was the second delay of the day because of weather conditions — the start of the race was delayed for nearly seven hours. Engines were fired at approximately 9 p.m. ET with the green flag being displayed at 9:27 p.m. ET, putting the event under the lights at Phoenix International Raceway, which underwent a ceremonial race-day name change to Jeff Gordon Raceway to honor the four-time series champion. A competition caution was called at Lap 40. 

Earlier Sunday, rain began falling around 1:25 p.m. ET and a fleet of NASCAR Air Titan track dryers began circulating the 1-mile track approximately 20 minutes later as precipitation began to taper off.

The race was initially scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. ET. Due to the delayed start, race coverage moved to NBCSN. Coverage is also on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Race officials had seven Air Titans; six conventional jet dryers and two vacuum trucks that assisted with the drying process.




RELATED: Best photos from Phoenix

There has been just one rain-shortened race among the 38 premier-series events in the track’s history. NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace prevailed here in October 1998 in a race cut from 312 to 257 laps. The last night race at the track was in 2010.