Posted on by Staff Report

Get on-track times for everything at Loudon

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series will race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this week. Sprint Cup Series and XFINITY Series practices, qualifying sessions and races can be watched on NBC Sports Live Extra. Check out the full schedule below.

All times are ET

SUNDAY, JULY 19:

PRE-RACE SCHEDULE
— 11:30:00 a.m.: NSCS Driver/Crew Chief Meeting (NXS Garage)
— 12:50:00 p.m.: NSCS Drivers Introductions with NASCAR Special Awards
— 1:05:00 p.m.: Team Fastrax jumps with flag
— 1:18:15 p.m.: Intro Canadian National Anthem
— 1:18:30 p.m.: Canadian National Anthem by: Rene Rancourt
— 1:20:00 p.m.: Presentation of Colors by: Combined Services Color Guard
— 1:20:20 p.m.: Invocation by: Rico Petrocelli, Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame Shortstop and a longstanding resident of New Hampshire
— 1:20:45 p.m.: Intro National Anthem
— 1:21:00 p.m.: National Anthem: Nicole Pelletier, Winner of Speedway Star Competition
— 1:22:40 p.m.: Flyover TOT: Cessna L-19  Bird Dog Sponsored by Bubba Burger and displaying large American flag  (Turn 4 to Turn 1)
— 1:27:30 p.m.: "Drivers, Start Your Engines" by: Adam Sandler, Manchester, NH-native, and Star of the new movie, "Pixels" in theatres July 24
— 1:35:30 p.m.: Start of the 5 Hour Energy 301 (301 laps, 318.46 miles)

ON TRACK
— 1:30 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 5-hour ENERGY 301 (301 laps, 318.46 miles), NBC Sports Network (Follow live)

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 4:45 p.m. (approx.): Post-NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race press conference

FRIDAY, JULY 17:

ON TRACK
— 11:30 a.m.-12:55 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, NBC Sports Network (Get results)
— 1-1:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, NBC Sports Network (Get results)
— 3-4:25 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice, NBC Sports Network (Get results)
— 4:45 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, NBC Sports Network (Get results)
— 6 p.m.: NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Granite State 70 (70 laps, 74.06 miles)

GARAGECAM (Watch live)
— 11 a.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
— 2:30 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 9:25 a.m.: Joey Logano
— 10:15 a.m.: Greg Biffle
— 10:30 a.m.: Chris Buescher
— 10:45 a.m.: Kyle Busch
— 11 a.m.: Anthony Kumpen
— 6:15 p.m. (approx.): Post-NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying press conference

SATURDAY, JULY 18:

ON TRACK
— 10-10:55 a.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, CNBC (Get results)
— 11:15 a.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series qualifying, NBC Sports Network (Get results)
— 12:30-1:25 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, NBC Sports Network (Get results)
— 2 p.m.: NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour New England 100 (100 laps, 105.8 miles)
— 4 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Lakes Region 200 (200 laps, 211.6 miles), NBC Sports Network (Get results)

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 9:15 a.m.: Kyle Larson
— 9:30 a.m.: Daniel Suarez
— 6:15 p.m. (approx.): Post-NASCAR XFINITY Series race press conference

 
Posted on by Zack Albert

Buck: ‘All crew members to not come over the wall’ at accident scene

RELATED: 88 crew recalls frenzy to check on Dillon

SPARTA, Ky. — NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Director Richard Buck reiterated safety rules in Saturday’s drivers’ meeting at Kentucky Speedway, reminding teams not to go over the wall to help at an accident scene.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

Buck’s reminder came in answer to a question posed by Brad Keselowski, defending race winner of Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM).
 
Members of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 and Germain Racing No. 13 crews came over the wall last weekend at Daytona International Speedway when Austin Dillon‘s No. 3 Chevrolet vaulted into the catch fencing and came to rest near their pit stalls at the end of the Coke Zero 400. Both teams rushed to Dillon’s aid as safety crews arrived.
 
Dillon, sore but without significant injuries, emerged from the crash under his own power. After the incident, NASCAR officials said they would not penalize or reprimand the teams involved, but would remind them about protocol surrounding post-crash procedures.
 
"Last week was obviously a really unique situation with the wreck there at the end," Keselowski said during the Q&A portion of the drivers’ meeting. "I was just curious, some guys were jumping over the wall and getting out of the car. I’m not sure if you’re supposed to do that, is that OK or not OK? If you’re in a car and you see a wreck and you think the guy might be hurt, you kind of want to get out and go look at him. Is that OK? Not OK?"
 
Buck replied: "As the rule is, it’s not OK to come over the wall. Last week was an extreme circumstance in the proximity of it. We’d ask all crew members to not come over the wall, drivers to stay with your cars, stay buckled in if you’re in an incident until the safety worker gets there and gives you the information, the direction to get out. Also, spotters, if you will remain in contact with your driver in the spotter stand so you have communication and can direct him in situations like that."

Posted on by Nascar

Read the notes NASCAR provides during the drivers’ meeting

Play: NASCAR Fantasy Live

NASCAR SPECIAL AWARDS

Award Driver
Coors Light Pole Award N/A
3M Lap Leader Dale Earnhardt Jr.
American Ethanol "Green Flag Restart" Award Carl Edwards
Duralast Brakes "Brake in the Race" Award Austin Dillon
Freescale "Wide Open" Award Carl Edwards
Ingersoll Rand Power Mover Award Kurt Busch
Mahle Engine Builder of the Race Award Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race Award Denny Hamlin
Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race Award Austin Dillon
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap Award Casey Mears
Sunoco Rookie of the Race Award Matt DiBenedetto

RACE TIME

Event Time (ET)
Driver Introductions 6:55 p.m.
Pre-race prep: Tires, interior & remove generators 7:10 p.m.
Line up crews — facing the flag 7:26 p.m.
Invocation 7:30 p.m.
National Anthem 7:31 p.m.
Command to start engines 7:37 p.m.

SPECIAL INFORMATION

Number of Laps 267 laps
Competition yellow Lap 25
Pit Road Speed 45 mph
Caution Car Speed 55 mph
Pit Road Speed Begins 237 feet before the first pit box
Pit Road Speed Ends 187 feet past the last pit box
Minimum Speed 35.56 seconds
Exiting the Pits (Blend Line) Keep all 4 tires below the yellow line until the exit of Turn 2
Fuel Pit Stalls 1-22 NXS Sunoco pumps
Fuel Pit Stalls 23-43 NSCS Sunoco pumps
Post-Race 2-5 stop in pit stalls 31-35
All Others/Two crew members per car Double file, against the grass across from pit stall 35

NEXT RACE

Event Track/Day/Time (ET)
Next week New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Hauler parking 6 p.m. ET, Thursday, July 16
Garage opens 6:30 a.m. ET, Friday, July 17
First practice 11:30 a.m. ET, Friday, July 17
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No. 24 driver has won at every other Sprint Cup track

RELATED: Full race lineup | Complete Kentucky preview

SPARTA, Ky. — Jeff Gordon has recorded 92 wins in his storied NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career and has celebrated in Victory Lane at every track — except one.

Kentucky Speedway.

"It wouldn’t mean so much to me if I hadn’t won on all the other ones," Gordon said with a smile on Friday after NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at Kentucky. "It’s the newest track that has been added on the schedule, so we haven’t been able to come here for a long time. It would just mean a lot to win it."

Sunday’s Quaker State 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, Sirius XM) is Gordon’s final chance to seal the deal at the asphalt oval before his retirement at the end of the 2015 season. In four starts at Kentucky, the No. 24 Chevrolet has put on strong performances, pulling off four top-10 finishes.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

But for Gordon, close just isn’t good enough in his final Kentucky foray.

"It’s not if we don’t win that I’m going to be super disappointed," Gordon said. "I’m going to be disappointed if we finish second. To come that close, yeah, that would be a little disappointing as far as the stats go. But I would like to have a good, strong finish here and just have a shot at it."

For the No. 24 team, making it to the front will be its biggest battle. Despite Gordon’s solid finishes, he’s yet to lead a lap around the 1.5-mile track.

The zero in his "Laps Led" column puzzles the Hendrick Motorsports driver, as he has paced the field at every track for at least 182 laps, his best track being Martinsville with an impressive 3,744 laps led.

"This is just a tough race track," Gordon said. "I’m not really sure. I feel like we have always run well toward the end of the race, but maybe didn’t always start off as strong. Maybe it’s a qualifying thing, too. We just haven’t qualified up front.

"Hopefully, that changes this weekend."

Gordon’s third-place starting position, set by opening practice times due to inclement weather, could give him the leverage he needs to make a strong run to the front. And while growing pains may come with the new rules package debuting this weekend — which Gordon reserves most opinions about until he runs a little more — bumpy Kentucky already causes Gordon physical pain.

Perhaps it’s a good pain — it takes him back to the early days.

"When I think of this track, I just think of how challenging it is and how rough it is, how much my back hurts and how much I’d like to win here because we never have," Gordon said. "I love that fact that when we came here, especially the first time, the way that racing is supported in this part of the country.

"It reminded me of Indiana. I used to race in Evansville — not to far from here — I raced sprint cars, and it just didn’t surprise me how when we come here, there’s a lot of huge race fans, not just NASCAR fans, but just huge race fans, that want to see a great race and came out to support us here."

That’s just what Gordon will look to do on Sunday, as he climbs into his No. 24 for the last time at Kentucky: Give fans a great race. No matter the outcome, to Gordon’s longtime fans, he’ll always be celebrated.

"When I heard the crowd applaud on race day (at Sonoma) for driver introductions, it really hit me and stuck with me, and it was cool," Gordon said. "The cheers and the support have been overwhelming everywhere we’ve gone.

"Other than that, the only place that I think it’s really going to hit me like, ‘Wow, this is really happening,’ is (his final race) in Homestead."

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But RPM driver is shooting for a playoff-clinching win instead

SPARTA, Ky. — Aric Almirola was in a comfortable place this time last season. The No. 43 driver was on the heels of his first Sprint Cup Series win at Daytona International Speedway, a victory that locked him into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

The scenario looks much different for the No. 43 driver this year heading into Kentucky Speedway for the Quaker State 400 (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN). Winless in 2015 and ranked 16th in the standings, Almirola sits on the delicate bubble of making the Chase — or falling just short.
 
"We just need to run like we’ve been running," Almirola said Friday before the rain-shortened Sprint Cup Series practice at Kentucky. "We’ve got to execute and we’ve got to take advantage of everything we can.
 
"We’ve got to be more consistent like we have been and run top 15, and we can’t have any more mistakes from here to Richmond. We’ve got to finish races and can’t have any DNFs. We’ve got to put pressure on some of the guys ahead of us in points to hope they make mistakes."
 
Almirola’s to-do list for the No. 43 team in the nine races before the Chase cut-off is long, but doesn’t vary too much from what they’ve already been doing. The Richard Petty Motorsports driver currently boasts an average finish of 18.1 and nine top-15 results, including a fifth-place finish at Dover. His consistency alone has given him an opportunity to earn a spot in the Chase on points — but a solidifying win would certainly ease the pressure for Almirola & Co.
 
However, Victory Lane will be a tall order this weekend, as the rough-and-bumpy Kentucky isn’t the easiest place to take the checkered.
 
"Having the bumps be as aggressive as they are here, you have to run your car higher or else the car bottoms out a lot," Almirola said. "So with running the car higher it becomes a little bit more of a balance for the crew chiefs and engineers to get the car to ride across the bumps smoothly enough without being too harsh, but then to be able to get the car down and low to the race track in the corners, where it’s not as bumpy.
 
"The crew chiefs and engineers fight that and pull their hair out trying to figure out a good setup for here."
 
Mother Nature has provided the teams with another hair-pulling situation, as rain has canceled and shortened practices for all three series since Wednesday. With limited practice sessions, the ever-growing possibility of "weepers" and the unknown of the new aero package that is debuting this weekend, Sprint Cup drivers will have their hands full come Saturday evening.
 
Almirola isn’t worried.
 
"At the end of the day we’re all professionals," Almirola said. "Race car drivers will get in anything and go drive it, so we’ll adapt. That’s what we do. We adapt to however the car is driving from weekend to weekend or whatever rules package we’ve got. I think it’s important for the crew chiefs and engineers to get some laps and understand where their travels are gonna be, to understand how the car is gonna react to different changes compared to the different rules packages we’ve had in the past.
 
"I’m anxious. I’m excited to go drive it and I’m excited to see how the race is gonna play out, to be honest with you. I know the hope is that we’ll be able to race more side-by-side and pass each other, so I’m looking forward to seeing if that’s the case."
 
As Almirola and the No. 43 team work to earn their first win this season, they’ll have the aid of a new sponsor: Armour Meats, a family brand of primary sponsor Smithfield Foods. The company will also host a sweepstakes in which a fan will win a trip for four to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Sprint Cup Series season finale.

Click here to enter for a chance to win.

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No. 22 driver holds off Erik Jones and Kyle Busch

RELATED: Complete Kentucky race results | Updated series standings

SPARTA, Ky. — Brad Keselowski said before Friday night’s Kentucky 300 that he thought the Crosley jukebox trophy was ‘cool’ and he wanted one. He got it.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

A late two-tire call put Keselowski in front for a restart on Lap 170, and though the No. 22 Team Penske Ford ceded the lead to Jones for 22 circuits, Keselowski regained the top spot with a daring move to the inside through traffic entering the tri-oval on Lap 92 and held on to win by less than a quarter-second.

The victory was Keselowski’s third at Kentucky and the 33rd of his career. Behind Keselowski, Jones and Busch, Daniel Suarez ran fourth, followed by Elliott Sadler and Paul Menard.

Over the final run, Jones injected himself into what had been a two-way battle between Keselowski and Busch for the majority of the race.

Keselowski made the winning move after Jones’ progress was impeded by a lapped car in Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 92.

"I just caught a little break, to be honest," Keselowski said. “One of the lapped cars locked in Erik. He had done a heck of job and still was doing a heck of a job, and sometimes things don’t go your way.

"I kind of thought it might happen and went into the corner high, just ready for something to happen, and it did, and I was able to make the most of it coming off Turn 4 and make the pass for the lead.

"This team, the 22 team since it started in 2010, has been really a dream ride and an honor for me to be a part of it."

Jones got the lead on the final restart when Busch shoved Keselowski and caused the No. 22 Ford to spin its tires.

"I wish I would have known the lapped car was going to the bottom and he would have went to the top," Jones said. “Getting the lead on the restart, we had a shot at it at that point. It was good enough to maintain, and it’s a bummer it didn’t work out.

"But it’s nice to be running with those guys, with Kyle and Brad, and to be mixing it up with ’em. We’ll keep building and see what we can do next time."

At the outset, it didn’t take Busch long to move up from his sixth starting position to the lead. On Lap 16, the No. 54 Toyota shot past Ty Dillon through Turns 1 and 2 and took over the top spot for the first time in the race.

With the exception of the restart lap after a competition caution on Lap 2 — with Paul Menard surging ahead by a nose at the stripe to lead Lap 3 — Busch stayed firmly in control of the proceedings until a caution for Ryan Sieg’s spin in Turn 4 on Lap 71 slowed the field for the third time.

After pit stops under yellow, Keselowski wrestled the lead from Busch on Lap 79, moments before the No. 13 of Derek White clobbered the outside wall between Turns 3 and 4 to cause the fourth caution.

Undeterred by the yellow, Keselowski sped away after the subsequent restart on Lap 85 as Busch fell back to third behind Suarez. Busch, however, regained the second position on Lap 97 and narrowed his gap to the leader to a half-second before Keselowski pulled away to a 1.8-second advantage when Busch ran afoul of lapped traffic.

But Busch grabbed the top spot from Keselowski during an exchange of green-flag pit stops on Laps 136 and 137, leaving Keselowski at a half-second disadvantage. With both drivers saving fuel in the event of a green-flag run to the finish, Busch opened a one-second edge and maintained it until John Wes Townley’s brush with the wall on Lap 163 brought out the fifth caution.

Busch and Keselowski led the top cars to pit road on Lap 165, with Busch opting for four tires and Keselowski, Jones and Suarez for right sides only.

That left Keselowski in the lead and Busch in fourth for a restart on Lap 170. And on this night, two tires won the day, as Keselowski led Jones to the stripe by .241 seconds.

Note: Eleventh-place finisher Chris Buescher extended his series lead to 36 points over Chase Elliott, who ran 13th, the first driver one lap down.

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Qualifying rained out; field set by practice results

RELATED: Complete lineup | Practice results | Live Kentucky weather updates

SPARTA, Ky. — Kyle Larson got good news Friday afternoon when NASCAR canceled Sprint Cup Series qualifying for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 race at Kentucky Speedway.

With the field set by rainout rules, Larson will start on the pole for the 18th Cup race of the season because he posted the fastest time in the only practice the elements have allowed so far this week.

Larson ran a lap at 182.537 mph in a truncated 50-minute practice session that was halted by rain at 11:20 a.m. on Friday. Defending race winner Brad Keselowski will start beside Larson on the front row after posting a practice lap at 181.641 mph.

Taking the green flag from the third position will be Jeff Gordon, who has won a Sprint Cup race at every active track with the exception of Kentucky. Joey Logano will start fourth, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray and Denny Hamlin.

Kyle Busch is ninth, with last week’s Daytona race winner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., starting 10th.

NASCAR opted to cancel qualifying in favor of giving Cup teams additional practice time with the low-downforce aerodynamic package introduced for the Kentucky race.

NASCAR XFINITY Series qualifying also was canceled, putting JJ Yeley on the pole for Friday night’s scheduled Kentucky 300.

"Looking at all the factors and variables involved, including the fact that we are running a new rules package for the Sprint Cup Series here at Kentucky Speedway, we have determined that this schedule is in the best interests of safety and in the best interests of putting on the most competitive events that we possibly can Friday and Saturday evenings," NASCAR spokesperson Kerry Tharp said.

Larson was happy that teams got a chance to practice with the new package, even though the session was abbreviated.

"I was glad we got a little bit of track time there," Larson said. "We were quick off the truck, which I was really proud of my team for, just because we haven’t had any laps on this new package, unlike some other teams that have gotten to do some testing.

"So I was happy with that. We were quick in race trim off the truck, and then we went to mock qualifying trim, and we were really fast. I was able to lay down a really fast lap."

If the rainout was good news for Larson, it was another blow for Wood Brothers Racing and driver Ryan Blaney, who was one of three competitors (along with Michael McDowell and Travis Kvapil) who failed to make the field based on a lower number of qualifying attempts this year.

Blaney was knocked out of the race by rain for the second straight week.

"The rules are the rules," said team co-owner Eddie Wood. "In the event of a rainout, they set the field by attempts, which means how many races you’ve attempted to race this year. So us and the 95 (McDowell) have attempted less races than 43 other guys, so we’re the ones that are out, but that’s not a new rule. It’s been that way for as long as I can remember, and then they set the field by the practice speeds.

"A lot of times people get it confused with how it works, but we’ve gone a long time and not missed a race with weather. Missing races, if you’re slow and you miss a race because you’re not fast enough, is a bad deal. That just kills your soul, but you can’t do anything about the weather. We’ve been really lucky for the past seven years and haven’t missed one, but now the numbers seem to be leveling out. I’ve always heard that numbers always level out, and that’s kind of what’s going on.

"We’re going to run next week at Loudon, so we’ll head up that way and hope we don’t get rained out. I’m going to stop looking at weather apps, I tell you that. I’m done as far as that is concerned."

Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Larson gets prime pick after qualifying is rained out

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying was rained out Friday at Kentucky Speedway, so practice speeds were used to set the starting order, putting Kyle Larson on the pole and giving him the pick of pit boxes.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
• Schedule

The No. 42 Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates Chevrolet will be serviced in the first pit stall leading into Turn 1. Second-place qualifier Brad Keselowski chose the second pit stall with a front exit for the No. 2 Team Penske Ford, the No. 14 pit stall midway between the start/finish line and Turn 1.

Starting in third place for Saturday’s Quaker State 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN/Live Extra, PRN, Sirius XM), Jeff Gordon‘s No. 24 team will use the pit box with a front exit in the first section of pit stalls coming off of Turn 4. Hendrick Motosports teammate Jimmie Johnson chose the first pit box coming off of Turn 4, the last pit box.

Joining Gordon on the second row Saturday is Joey Logano, who will pit the No. 22 Team Penske Ford in the middle of the first set of pits heading into Turn 1. Martin Truex Jr. rounds out the top five starting positions forthe Quaker State 400, and he chose the pit box with an open rear entry in the first set of pit stalls, claiming pit stall No. 13.


Posted on by Staff Report

See where every driver will pit in race at 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

RELATED: Full starting lineup

When the XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying was cancled due to rain at Kentucky Speedway, the lineup for Friday’s race (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM) was set by practice speeds from Thursday’s session. 

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

J.J. Yeley claimed the Coors Light Pole for Friday night’s race and also selected the 14th pit stall. 

Ty Dillon driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, lines up second and chose the first pit stall off pit road with an empty space in front of him.

Erik Jones also chose a pit stall with an empty space in front of him. Jones will start the race seventh.

Ryan Reed, who is starting the race 12th, chose the first stall onto pit road with an open box behind his stall.

Posted on by Staff Report

Coors Light Pole Qualifying canceled; lineup set by practice speeds

RELATED: Full starting lineup

With rain continuing to fall at Kentucky Speedway, NASCAR officially canceled the XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying event scheduled for 3:45 p.m. ET, and the lineup for Friday’s Kentucky 300 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network) was set according to Thursday’s practice times. 

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

This put No. 28 J.J. Yeley on the pole for Friday night’s event with Richard Childress Racing driver Ty Dillon lining up next to him in second. 

Brendan Gaughan, Brad Keselowski and Paul Menard completed the top five.

The XFINITY Series has had only an hour and 10 minutes on the track for one practice on Thursday due to the weather in Kentucky. The XFINITY Series was supposed to have two practices on Thursday, but the first was canceled due to rain.