Posted on by Staff Report

In a special video featuring select Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans, the Hendrick Motorsports driver revealed the No. 88 Nationwide paint scheme for races in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Watch the video below to see how fans helped unveil the new look.

Nationwide will be a primary sponsor for 21 races on the No. 88 in 2016.

 

Here is a look at what the primary scheme looked like in 2015.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR RETURNS TO AMS FEB. 26-28; SPEEDWAY INTRODUCES

‘PERFECT RACE WEATHER GUARANTEE’



Buy Tickets for 2016 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.


HAMPTON, Ga. (Oct. 13, 2015) – NASCAR racing will make its thunderous return to Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2016 with the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Weekend Feb. 26-28. The Speedway today announced several great new benefits for fans attending the weekend event.


The 2016 NASCAR Weekend has become more affordable and fan-friendly than ever. The majority of grandstand seat prices have been reduced, and no ticket to the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 is priced at more than $99, with seats starting as low as $39. The new ticket prices represent an overall average reduction of 15 percent from previous levels.


Along with reduced ticket prices, Atlanta Motor Speedway has introduced a “Perfect Race Weather Guarantee.” The all-new policy offers fans options in the event that inclement weather prevents them from attending the race. If the daytime high temperature in Hampton, Georgia on Saturday or Sunday of race weekend fails to reach at least 50 degrees as observed by the National Weather Service, or if weather issues postpone the day’s activities to a different day and fans are unable to attend on the rescheduled date, fans who do not enter the admission gates on the day the event is held will receive an account credit for the full price of their tickets. Credits can be applied to any future AMS event or events in 2016 or the 2017 NASCAR Weekend.


Also new in 2016, Atlanta Motor Speedway is rolling out the ultra-affordable “Good,” “Better” and “Best” ticket packages that offer unbeatable weekend deals.


•The “Good” ticket package, priced at $79, includes upper Petty Grandstand seating for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, plus general admission seating to Friday’s Sprint Cup Series qualifying day and Saturday’s doubleheader, a savings of $40 off the regular prices.


•The “Better” ticket package is priced at $139 and offers seating in the Winners, Earnhardt or Petty Grandstand for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, general admission seating to Friday’s Sprint Cup Series qualifying day and  Saturday’s doubleheader, a weekend FanVision rental and a Sunday pre-race pit pass, for a total savings of $125 off regular prices 


•The “Best” package, which offers the best value of all three deals, is priced at $179 and boasts an ultimate NASCAR weekend combination, including a seat in the Upper Champions Grandstand or the Upper Winners Grandstand chairback seats for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, general admission seating to Friday’s Sprint Cup Series qualifying day and Saturday’s doubleheader, a weekend FanVision scanner rental, a weekend pre-race pit pass, and $25 off a purchase of $50 or more in the AMS souvenir shop. In total, the “Best” package shaves a whopping $165 off normal pricing.


The Good, Better and Best packages are available for purchase now in addition to other traditional, price-friendly ticket packages. Those include the Two-for-$99 deal, the $159 Start/Finish Line Package, which includes both Saturday and Sunday tickets plus a Sunday pre-race pit pass, and the Jimmie Johnson package, which grants access to a pre-race Q&A session with the defending Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 winner for just $48 and half the price for kids.


Another fan-favorite experience available now is the Champions Suite, which offers an indoor, climate-controlled atmosphere, a pre-race pit pass, individual reserved seating, TVs, dedicated restrooms, a delicious food and beverage buffet and much more.


For the second consecutive year, AMS will host all three NASCAR national series on the same weekend. Saturday, Feb. 27 features a Camping World Truck Series and XFINITY Series same-day doubleheader unique to Atlanta, for a combined 450 miles of racing, while the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race headlines the weekend on Sunday, Feb. 28. Sprint Cup Series qualifying will open the weekend’s events on Friday, Feb. 26.


Fans are encouraged to secure their tickets early and take advantage of these 2016 NASCAR Weekend specials, as many are available for a limited time and only while supplies last.


For event information and to purchase tickets today, fans are encouraged to contact the Atlanta Motor Speedway ticket office at (770) 946-4211, (877) 9-AMS-TIX or visit www.atlantamotorspeedway.com. 

-AMS-



Buy Tickets for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Now!

Posted on by Pat DeCola
Logano scored about as no-doubt of a win as a driver can hope for at Charlotte, out-running Kevin Harvick. If the 22 is faster than the 4, it’s faster than everyone. Oh, and he’s the defending race-winner.

MORE: Logano on to Eliminator Round

Harvick remained exceptional at Charlotte, but his main title competition came into focus in Joey Logano. They have a history, so we’re in for a battle.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/denny-hamlin/
DennyHamlin
2
Joe Gibbs Racing
Hamlin wasn’t a major win factor in Charlotte, but he was strong. Top-fives just seem to be in Hamlin’s arsenal right now.
Truex showing strength on an intermediate bodes well for the 78 team, with three of the remaining six races coming on 1.5-mile tracks.

MORE: Truex encouraged after Charlotte

Edwards has come a long way since his early-season struggles and has slowly built himself to a level just below the elites — while also establishing himself as a title contender.
Running poorly at Kansas runs in the Busch family, where even Kurt averages a dismal finish of 18.4. Luckily, a solid Charlotte result gives him a slight cushion.
Gordon’s Kansas stats are quite impressive — and better than just about any other driver — so the four-time champ’s first win of 2015 could certainly come this weekend.

MORE: Gordon still chasing first 2015 win

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/brad-keselowski/
BradKeselowski
3
Team Penske
Overall, Charlotte was a successful venture for Keselowski — he finished in the top 10 and he didn’t get tackled by Matt Kenseth in the garage area after the race.
Newman’s 15th-place finish isn’t excellent, but with so many heavy hitters stumbling out of the Contender Round gate, it might be enough.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/kyle-busch/
KyleBusch
-6
Joe Gibbs Racing
If anybody can overcome a 20th-place finish to start the round, it’s Kyle Busch. Just as long as he and Kasey Kahne can stay out of each others’ way. And Kyle Larson, for that matter.

MORE: A history of Kahne-Busch incidents

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/dale-earnhardt-jr/
DaleEarnhardt Jr.
-4
Hendrick Motorsports
Whether it was caused by oil on the track or not, Junior hit the wall several times at Charlotte and struggled to a 28th-place finish to land in a hole before Kansas, where he is winless.

MORE: Junior questions NASCAR clean-up efforts

Kenseth didn’t seem too stressed after multiple issues caused a 42nd-place finish, so there’s reason to think the 2003 champ can dig himself out — but it won’t be easy.

MORE: JGR favorites take tumble

Even after being eliminated from the Chase, McMurray still ran well at Charlotte. No reason to think this team will lay down the rest of the way.
https://www.nascar.com/drivers/jimmie-johnson/
JimmieJohnson
-2
Hendrick Motorsports
For the second consecutive week, Johnson struggled with mechanical issues. At least this time, it actually meant he benefitted from it — in one way.

MORE: Johnson benefits from early race exit

https://www.nascar.com/drivers/clint-bowyer/
ClintBowyer
1
Stewart-Haas Racing
Just like McMurray, Bowyer followed up being eliminated with a solid Charlotte run. A win in the closing races of 2015 would be a nice note for the MWR team to hang its hat on, but it isn’t likely.
Nothing noteworthy from Menard’s Charlotte race, but it could improve at Kansas, where the RCR driver hasn’t finished worse than 19th since 2009.
Posted on by RJ Kraft

RELATED: Podcast: Is Truex lying in wait?

CONCORD, N.C. — After a tough run of races over the summer heading into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Martin Truex Jr. came into the postseason a bit under the radar. 



 

The Furniture Row Racing driver’s stealth run toward a possible championship continued at Charlotte Motor Speedway on a day that saw Joey Logano dominate his way to victory and several title contenders find trouble. Truex scored a third-place finish in the Bank of America 500 that puts him third in the standings and 12 points above the cutline to be one of eight drivers to advance to the Eliminator Round.

RELATED: See how the entire 43-car field fared at Charlotte

“Third is great and all, but it’s no guarantee,” Truex said after the race. “I felt like this round would be good for us. Charlotte and Kansas, we ran so good here in the first race this year, and then after practice I was like, ‘oh my God, we’re struggling.’ This was honestly the worst weekend we’ve had all season long as far as how I felt about the race car.
 
“So I was like, ok, kind of damage control. Let’s just hopefully get a top 10 out of this thing, and to do ‑‑ to get third out of it was a huge step for us.”

Truex qualified 15th for the Bank of America 500 and finished 16th, 4th and 15th in the three practice sessions.



”From the time practice was over on Friday until this morning, we were texting about the set-up and what we were going to do and what we had to do and what to focus on,” Truex said of his single-car team’s efforts to improve the No. 78 Chevrolet this weekend. 


“
I’m just proud of those guys for what they did. It was a true team effort and a testament to this team and their fight.”

DIRTY AIR PODCAST: Truex lying in wait?

The run was Truex’s best result since a third-place finish at Michigan in August and was his best career finish at Charlotte. The finish also gave Truex a career-high in top-fives for a single season (eight) and matched his career-high in top 10s (19).


And now the 35-year-old turns his attention to the next race of the Contender Round at Kansas. Truex led a race-high 95 laps in the spring race at Kansas, the SpongeBob SquarePants 400 , en route to a ninth-place finish. Prior to that, he had four top-four finishes in his past six starts at the 1.5-mile track.



”Honestly, I think going to Kansas, a win is huge,” Truex said. “It would be so huge. It’s so critical to try to get that win out of the way. Logano is the only one that’s going to sleep for the next two weeks. You know what I mean?  



“Kansas has been one of my best race tracks, and certainly one of my best since I went to Furniture Row. Honestly, we’re going there as hard as we can go with everything we have to try to win just because we know Talladega is that wild card.”

Add in his 6.7 average finish in the seven intermediate track races that have used the 2015 rules package and its easy to see why Truex feels confident heading into Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (2:15 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM).



“Talladega still looms. It still makes us nervous,” Truex said. “But next week could be a really good race for us and we’re looking forward to getting that win that’s been eluding me at Kansas for a couple of years.”

Posted on by

RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid

Below is a breakdown of how the full 43-car field fared at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the rain-delayed Bank of America 500:

1. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. Logano led a career-high 227 laps on Sunday en route to his first Charlotte victory. He advances to the next round of the Chase. | 1-on-1: Logano discusses victory, locking in Eliminator Round spot

2. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick was quiet on the radio with 22 laps to go Sunday as he continually tried to chip away at Logano’s lead.

3. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Chevrolet, Furniture Row Racing. Truex held on to notch his best Charlotte result despite brushing the wall and developing a front-end handling issue with 52 laps to go. | RELATED: Truex discusses Charlotte run

4. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin flipped to his backup battery with about 100 laps left in Sunday’s race and outran concern that even his backup battery was experiencing issues.

5. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Kurt Busch spent most of Sunday quietly running inside the top 10 and keeping himself in contention for the next round of the Chase.

6. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards started eighth and was a steady presence in the top 10 en route to his 12th top-10 of the season.

7. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Dillon won Friday’s XFINITY race at Charlotte and then on Sunday posted his best Cup performance at the 1.5-mile track.

8. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Gordon held steady in his final race at Charlotte, site of his first career Cup victory in 1994.

9. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Keselowski held ninth during the last 19 laps despite a loose wheel.

10. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola used his best Charlotte finish to score his fifth top-10 of the year.

11. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. Bowyer stayed out during green-flag stops to lead Lap 234 before settling back into the top 15.

12. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Under caution on Lap 195, McMurray told his team that his car was pretty good until it got into oil and he lost position on a track where passing was difficult.

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse earned the beneficiary pass during the final caution period and rolled on to match his second-best finish at Charlotte.

14. Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Ford. Wood Brothers Racing. A native of nearby High Point, North Carolina, Blaney scored his best Charlotte result and third top-15 of the year.

15. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Just prior to the sixth caution flag, Newman sustained right-side damage after Matt Kenseth cut across his nose on his way into the wall. | RELATED: Is Newman in bubble trouble?

16. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Allmendinger overcame early damage sustained when he made contact with another car on Lap 193 and knocked in his right-side fenders.

17. Sam Hornish Jr., No. 9 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Hornish stretched his pit window in the closing 100 laps when he stayed out during green-flag stops to lead twice for 22 laps around Charlotte.

18. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears held on after a tight-handling condition developed late in Sunday’s race and sent him into the fence.

19. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick worked with her team on the handling of her car and benefited from long green-flag runs en route to her best Charlotte finish.

20. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. “He was never going to make the commitment cone anyway,” Busch said said after making contact with Kyle Larson near the entrance of pit road. Busch, then running in the top five, made a late decision to skip pit road, while Larson did just the opposite. | RELATED: Busch disappointed after rough day at Charlotte

21. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. “Please apologize as much as you can,” Larson radioed his crew after making a late decision to hit pit road during the eighth caution period and collecting Chase contender Kyle Busch in the process. | For more in-car audio, sign up for RaceView and/or Scanner today

22. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne made an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 71 just prior to the fourth caution flag for a right-front wheel vibration.

23. Landon Cassill, No. 40 Chevrolet, Hillman Smith Motorsports. Cassill held out during green-flag stops and ran as high as third on Lap 131 before finally making his green-flag stop.

24. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle struggled to recover track position after making an unscheduled stop on Lap 90 for a loose wheel.

25. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. In his fourth Charlotte outing, Annett picked up his best finish at the 1.5-mile speedway.

26. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart grazed the wall on Lap 115 and had to pit 12 laps later with a flat tire.

27. David Gilliland, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Carrying the #SCStrong on his decklid in support of the recent flooding in South Carolina, Gilliland did his best to avoid trouble on Sunday.

28. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt lost his right-front tire and faded through the field before hitting the wall to bring out the fourth caution period. | RELATED: Junior says ‘it ain’t over’ for the 88 team

29. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. It was a promising day for DiBenedetto who turned in his best Charlotte result.

30. Brett Moffitt, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Moffitt recorded his best Charlotte finish after lining up 37th Sunday.

31. Michael McDowell, No. 95 Ford, Leavine Family Racing. McDowell bounced off the wall in the closing third of Sunday’s race, but survived without picking up a tire rub.

32. Alex Bowman, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. A puncture in the left-rear tire prompted Bowman to make an unscheduled stop during the first 115 laps, but a subsequent tire rub put the No. 7 Chevy back on pit road for repairs.

33. J.J. Yeley, No. 26 Toyota, BK Racing. Yeley was black-flagged on Lap 35 after one of his crew members kneed-in his right-rear quarter panel.

34. Alex Kennedy, No. 33 Chevrolet, Circle Sport Racing. Kennedy survived a messy start to Sunday’s race, but very quickly found himself fighting for the beneficiary pass.

35. Reed Sorenson, No. 98 Ford, Premium Motorsports. Sorenson earned the beneficiary pass during the competition caution, but struggled to stay on the lead lap.

36. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing.  Menard brushed the wall on Lap 133 but held on to keep the caution flag from coming out and made his scheduled stop three laps later.

37. David Ragan, No. 55 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. On Lap 291, Ragan told his team the engine was out of water and he brought his car to pit road.

38. Cole Whitt, No. 35 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Stacked up on the first green flag, Whitt received contact from behind and had to spend an extended amount of time on pit road during the first caution flag to patch his bumper.

39. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson’s strong day was stalled by an engine issue (oil pump) that sent him to the garage with 77 laps to go on Sunday. | RELATED: Silver lining to early exit

40. Justin Allgaier, No. 51 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Allgaier radioed that he just “killed the radiator” after he made contact with Michael McDowell on the Lap 182 restart. | For more in-car audio, sign up for RaceView and/or Scanner today

41. Jeb Burton, No. 26 Toyota, BK Racing. As he took the green flag at the start, Burton ran into the back of slowing competitors, incurring significant left-front damage and bringing out the caution flag on Lap 1.

42. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth’s day “snowballed” after a couple pit road mistakes combined with tire rub and then on-track contact with Ryan Newman. Kenseth ultimately broke something on the right-front of his car and retreated to the garage. | RELATED: Multiple incidents ruin Kenseth’s day

43. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne cut a tire twice inside the first 61 laps on Sunday; the second one sent him hard into the wall and brought out the third caution flag.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Just a few days prior to Kasey Kahne‘s annual 5K, organized by the Kasey Kahne Foundation, the Hendrick Motorsports driver announced that for every person that beat him in the 3.1-mile road race, he would then donate an additional $105 to the Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital.

As an avid runner and slightly — OK, very — competitive individual, I gladly accepted the challenge to beat Kasey Kahne, all in the name of charity, of course. The “Five Kahne” 5K felt like the perfect assignment, an intersection of my line of work — NASCAR — and a passion of mine — running.


The perfect assignment it was. 


At first it was unclear whether or not Kahne would end up racing after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway was postponed, thanks to rain, from Saturday, Oct. 10th to Sunday, Oct. 11th. This happened to be the same day as the 5K in which only two-and-a-half hours separated the pair of events.


But the driver of the No. 5 promised, via Twitter, that he would be in attendance. Though it still was unclear if he would merely just be there to witness the festivities or if he would actually lace up his sneakers for some cardio.


It was confirmed to me in the most incredible way that he would, indeed, fulfill his promise and actually race.


Kahne lined up around 9:55 a.m., right outside the NASCAR Hall of Fame, about five rows back from the starting line and directly in front of me. So my question was easily answered.


It left me with roughly five minutes till the race’s start to strategize a plan to beat him, but I managed.


Keeping it short, I beat the NASCAR driver by roughly 54 seconds (but who’s counting?) and I was more than happy that he could give an additional $105 check to the Charlotte-based children’s hospital. I’m going to be honest, it felt pretty great to beat a professional athlete, feeding the competitive beast that, admittedly, lies within me.


A total of 39 runners outran Kahne’s time of 22:39, making the total donation an additional $4,095. 


Kahne also had a special guest, Braylon Beam, join him for the morning’s events. Click here to learn more about the incredible Beam. 


To find our more about the Kasey Kahne Foundation check out the website.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Watch the live stream here


From 8-11 a.m. ET on Tuesday, NASCAR.com will live stream the post-race inspection process at the Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C.


The three-hour look takes you behind the scenes as NASCAR officials inspect NASCAR Sprint Cup Series vehicles following Sunday’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.


The cars at the R&D Center this week are: the No. 22 Ford of Joey Logano (won Sunday’s race), the No. 4 Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick (finished second in Sunday’s race) and the No. 3 Chevrolet of Austin Dillon (the random car selected).


For more information on what the inspection process entails, click here.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Full race results | Updated series standings after Charlotte

 

NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s “The Morning Drive” that he and other NASCAR officials “did not see oil” on the track during Sunday’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway


“I can’t debate Kyle (Busch) and (Dale Earnhardt) Junior,” O’Donnell said, referencing the drivers’ stating there was oil on the track. “They’re in the race car, they say they hit it. It’s not something we saw out there. We’ll continue to talk to them and see what we can maybe improve on in the future.

RELATED: Dale Jr., Busch question NASCAR clean-up efforts


“We had personnel even out of the truck almost on their hands and knees out there to make sure there wasn’t any (oil),” O’Donnell said.


Both Busch and Earnhardt Jr. were adamant after the race that oil that wasn’t cleaned up from a previous incident led to each of them hitting the wall in separate incidents.


“We all hit the wall,” Earnhardt Jr. said after the Hendrick Motorsports driver finished 28th in the opening race of the Contender Round of this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. “I hit the wall, the 2 (of Brad Keselowski) hit the wall, then we went another lap. I pitted, a bunch of other guys hit the wall.
 
“There was oil down there. It wasn’t speedy dry (used to absorb fluids put down on the racing surface). I’ve raced this (expletive) for 20 years, I know what oil and speedy dry is. We hit fluid, flew into the freaking wall hard. That’s not speedy dry. There was oil up there.”


O’Donnell also thanked fans for sticking it out until Sunday as, “we did not see a window at all,” to get the race in during the rainy Saturday night for which the event was originally scheduled for.


And as far as that long-awaited 2016 schedule, O’Donnell mentioned it’s coming “very, very soon.”

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Charlotte race results | Updated series standings

 

CONCORD, N.C. — The conversation was brief and casual, a “congratulations” of sorts for how well his Toyota teams appeared to be performing this season, particularly as NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup rolled ahead.

 

“We said all along we hoped to have as many as five teams in the Chase, and hopefully to still have at least two when we go to Homestead,” David Wilson, President and General Manager for Toyota Racing Development, USA, said before Sunday’s rescheduled Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway got underway.

But, he cautioned, with the elimination-style Chase format, officials don’t look any further ahead than the race at hand. “You just never know what can happen,” he said.

Hours later, the fortunes for two of the more dominant Toyota entries, both from Joe Gibbs Racing, had taken a turn for the worse.

Matt Kenseth, five times a winner this season, was in the garage, his day undone by multiple issues in the opening race of the Contender Round of the Chase.

His 42nd-place finish left Kenseth, the pole winner at CMS, 12th in the Chase standings. Two opportunities remain — at Kansas and Talladega — to win or climb back inside the top eight and advance to the next round, which is the Eliminator Round.

“These are never the kind of days you want to have,” said Kenseth, who led 72 laps in the 334-lap race. “We’re real fast up front and we’re real tight in traffic.”

A four-tire stop dropped Kenseth from the lead to 13th for a Lap 81 restart while contact with Ryan Newman (Richard Childress Racing) sent him into the wall following a later restart. The team made numerous pit stops under ensuing caution periods to make repairs, but when Kenseth bounced off the wall at lap 240, his day was done.

“We got behind on that first pit deal and then didn’t catch the cautions right … I overshot my pit (stall) and put us in the back so it’s just like one thing led to another and led to another,” he said. “We shouldn’t have been back there to start with. My mistakes cost us today so we’ll just move on from this and get ready for Kansas.”


RELATED: Watch Kenseth, Newman make contact

Teammate Kyle Busch had a day worth forgetting as well, but the winner of four races this season was still on the track when the checkered flag waved.

Busch had qualified second, ran in the top five for much of the race, and was third when contact with Kyle Larson during a Lap 195 caution occurred.

“What the (expletive) was he thinking?? Busch asked crew chief Adam Stevens via radio after the incident. “He was never going to make the commitment cone anyway.”

RELATED: Busch disappointed after rough day at Charlotte

 

Busch had dropped low as if to enter pit road, then made a move back toward the track. Larson, running second, had made a late decision to dive onto pit road, and the two cars collided.

Larson said afterward that his team had instructed him to “do what everybody around me was doing, and the No. 22 (of race leader Joey Logano) was staying out, so I was committed to staying out.”

At the last minute, he said, his crew instructed him to pit.

“I hung a left and Kyle was there,” Larson (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates) said. “I feel really terrible to ruin their day and hopefully it didn’t hurt their chances of transferring through this round. I know they deserve a top-three finish for sure. I felt awful immediately and still do. I hate it.”

While Kenseth and Busch had their issues, JGR drivers Denny Hamlin (fourth) and Carl Edwards (sixth) escaped the opening race of the second round relatively unscathed.

Hamlin’s No. 11 survived battery issues that threatened to take him out of contention.

“I ran on the wrong battery all day,” he said. “… My mistake.”

Edwards said track position was the key at CMS, noting that, “I tried everything I possibly could there at the end. I got about 35 feet from the 41 car (of fifth-place Kurt Busch) and that was as close as I could get.”

In spite of the turn of events for his teammates, Edwards said JGR is as strong as ever.

“I feel like any one of us could win at Kansas, and any one of us could win at Talladega,” he said. “There’s no telling what could happen. We all ran well (at times) and that’s the key, having that little bit of speed.”