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RELATED: See the full lineup for Sunday’s race
MORE: Driver standings | Chase Grid

DOVER, Del. — The second-guessing began after Chicago and escalated a week later following New Hampshire.

Back-to-back finishes outside the top 20 have put defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick in a must-win situation heading into Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“Everybody’s an armchair quarterback on Monday morning,” Rodney Childers, crew chief for Harvick and the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 team, said Saturday prior to the start of practice at Dover. “I think you’re always going to have that.”

Contact with fellow driver Jimmie Johnson led to the blown tire at Chicagoland in the opening race of this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup; last weekend at Dover, Harvick had a dominant car and led for a total of 216 laps, but ran out of fuel while leading just three laps from the finish.

As a result, Harvick finds himself 15th among the 16 Chase drivers; only the top 12 remain in title contention following this weekend’s Challenger Round cutoff race.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth took the first two Chase races to guarantee they will be around for the Contender Round, which begins next weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“The deal at Chicago, it smoked that first corner and the next lap it didn’t smoke at all,” Childers said. “We had the rear bumper camera on our pit box; if there is anything coming out of the back of the car you can see it on that rear bumper camera. The second lap it didn’t smoke at all. Timmy (Fedewa) on the spotters’ stand said it didn’t smoke. I think really … (Kevin) ran the car easier that lap and we didn’t really know that. The next lap, when we told him it wasn’t smoking anymore, he ran it hard through (Turns) 1 and 2 and it smoked again and then blew the tire out.”

Running out of fuel at Loudon, he said, was tougher to swallow.

“There shouldn’t have been any issues,” he said. “But there were a few things during the pit stop that looked like the pit crew could have done differently to try and do more to get it full and it wasn’t.

“Most of the time you know. But to be honest, he never really ran hard all day so we didn’t have good readings on what it should be. Even that last run, our mileage was the best it had been all day. Everybody thought Matt (Kenseth) was pushing us but he really wasn’t, we were never really running hard the whole time he was behind us. It’s not too often you have a car like that. It was just so fast that he could do whatever he wanted.”

Harvick was fourth fastest in the opening, abbreviated practice Saturday at Dover. Rain had canceled all on-track activity on Friday.

Technically, Harvick can advance based on points, but the scenarios that would allow that to occur are a mathematician’s nightmare. “Really, those guys (ahead of us) would have to crash out early in the race,” Childers said.

Win the race and the rest will take care of itself.

Harvick has two wins, at Las Vegas and Phoenix earlier in the year, and 10 runner-up finishes. He’s never won at Dover, a high-banked 1-mile track.

“We try every week to win; if you don’t, that’s pretty much it,” Childers said. “You just hate that it comes down to that, to lead the points all year, have the consistency that we’ve had, just hate to see that it’s come down to this.

“But on the other hand I feel like we’ve got the team to do it and the driver to do it.

“I think if you’re going to back any team against the wall, this is the one to do it.”

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RELATED: Full race results from Dover | Updated Series standings

 

DOVER, Del. — Already dressed in street clothes, a disappointed Ty Dillon stood near the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing hauler, huddled with his crew following a tough 28th-place result in the XFINITY Series’ Hisense 300 at Dover International Speedway. The finish dropped Dillon from second to fourth in the championship standings, 39 points behind leader Chris Buescher.

Dillon’s grandfather and team owner Richard Childress stopped by to console his grandson with a few words and a pat on the back.

“I ain’t finishing fourth.” Dillon told Childress.

Dillon’s unfortunate day began when he blew a tire at Lap 25, taking his Chevrolet off the race track and into the garage for repairs. He returned to the track around Lap 88, finishing the race 85 laps down.

“Well, it started with a bang,” Dillon said after the race. “Kind of putting things together, I heard that — sounded like a car exploded, a brake rotor and the 43 might have ran over it and then we were one of the cars to come through. 

“Because I had no warning — the car was still handling great. Then all of a sudden I heard a ‘pow’ into the wall.”

The XFINITY Series hit the track Saturday for the 200-mile race without any practice or qualifying time due to inclement weather. And the lack of practice time, Dillon said, may have affected the way many of the cars were running.

“You can’t blame it on anybody,” Dillon said. “When you don’t have practice, some of these back marker cars, they aren’t able to prepare the race car from week to week like most teams are. It’s a bummer, it happens.”

With five races remaining on the XFINITY Series season, Dillon’s once-bright outlook for the championship title appears significantly dimmer. In addition to leader Buescher, Dillon’s No. 3 sits behind JR Motorsports’ Chase Elliott and Regan Smith, who won Saturday’s event at Dover.

Nonetheless, Dillon remains optimistic, siting the his team’s jump from 43 points down after Daytona in July to 20 points down four races later after Iowa.

“I’m proud of my guys — we’ve had some awesome race cars lately,” Dillon said. “… I know in my heart I can win some of these races and get back in this thing. We’re not going to give up, that’s for sure.”

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RELATED: Complete Dover schedule | Live weather updates

 

Quick race facts

 

What: AAA 400

Where: Dover International Speedway, 1-mile oval in Dover, Delaware.

Green flag time: 2:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Forecast: Breezy and cloudy with a slight chance of rain after noon; High of 66 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

National anthem: Sam Harris, X Ambassadors.

Grand marshal: Rosie Perez, Academy Award-nominated actress, choreographer.

Distance: 400 laps, 400 miles.

Pit road speed: 35 mph

Caution car speed: 45 mph

On the front row

1. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (No time trials).

2. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (No time trials).

Fastest in practice

First practice: Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet., 160.506 mph. (Results)  

Final practice: Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, 156.033 mph. (Results)

Key story lines


1. Many scenarios for Chase elimination race

2. Drivers applaud newly expanded restart zone

3. Harvick says he ‘likes these situations’

4. Bowyer to drive for HScott in 2016

Former winners in the field

Jimmie Johnson (10); Jeff Gordon (5); Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman (3); Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth (2); Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr. (1)

They said it

“There’s been no give-up in this 18 all year long and there’s none right now. We’re just going to power on through and do what we need to do to get to the next round.” Kyle Busch, on facing adversity to make it past the Challenger Round.

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DOVER, Del. — Greg Biffle has a new face atop his pit box this weekend as Roush Fenway Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team manager Kevin Kidd is temporaily serving as crew chief the No. 16 team at Dover International Speedway. Biffle’s standard crew chief Matt Puccia and his wife Alyssa welcomed baby girl Kennedy Harper Puccia on Friday.

Upon hearing the news that his wife was in labor on Thursday evening, Puccia drove from Dover, Delaware — where he was staying ahead of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA 400 on Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) — to Mooresville, North Carolina for the delivery.

Kidd will call the race for Biffle, although it was initially uncertain if Puccia would make the trip back to Dover.

“It will probably be a Sunday morning game-time decision and I’m leaving it completely in Matt’s hands,” Kidd said on Saturday at the track. “If he wants to come up and do the race tomorrow, then we’ll certainly welcome him. As a company, we’d love to have him back, but we also want to be respectful and do the right thing as an employer and give him some time to be with his family right now.”
 
Puccia has served as crew chief for Greg Biffle since 2011, and has been a part of three wins for the No. 16 team. Biffle is 20th in the point standings and is coming off his third top-five finish of the season, a fourth-place result at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last weekend.

Biffle was 17th in opening practice on Saturday at Dover.

Kidd came to Roush Fenway from Joe Gibbs Racing after last season. In his role as team manager, Kidd supervises at-track operations for the team. Prior to joining Roush, Kidd was a crew chief in the XFINITY Series for JGR since 2010 with four wins atop the pit box.


He filled in as a crew chief for one Sprint Cup Series race with Elliott Sadler and Gillett Evernham Motorsports in 2008.

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RELATED: Theriault airlifted after Vegas wreck


Kyle Busch broke his right leg and left foot in a season-opening NASCAR XFINITY Series crash when his car went head-on into a wall not protected by a SAFER barrier.

When Austin Theriault was in a similar wreck Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event, Busch was quick to offer support on Twitter — and to fire back at those who questioned his motives.

 

RELATED: Watch Busch’s season-opening wreck at Daytona

Check out ‘Rowdy’s’ reaction to both the incident, and the feedback:

 

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Austin Theriault hit the wall head-on during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ Rhino Linings 350 on Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and had to be airlifted to University Medical Center for further observation.

According to Brad Keselowski Racing, Theriault “underwent a comprehensive CT scan of the upper body, which showed a 10 percent compression fracture of the lower back. Theriault was released and will travel back to North Carolina, where he will follow up with an orthopedic specialist for further treatment.”

On Sunday, Theriault tweeted out the following:

Theriault, who was driving the No. 29 Ford for Brad Keselowski Racing, made contact with teammate Tyler Reddick‘s No. 19 Ford in Turn 4 before the wreck, which happened in a section of the track not protected by a SAFER barrier.

Theriault was helped from the vehicle and stood briefly before sitting down next to his heavily damaged truck. Theriault was put on a stretcher but gave a thumbs-up sign before being taken away in an ambulance.

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RELATED: Qualifying results



Matt Crafton earned himself his second Keystone Light pole of the season, and the ninth of his career, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during Saturday’s qualifying session.


Crafton wheeled his No. 88 Chevrolet around the 1.5-mile track with a fastest lap of 176.396 mph during the final minute of qualifying.


Joining Crafton on the front row for Saturday night’s race is John Wes Townley. Townley drove his No. 05 Chevrolet to a quick lap of 175.758 mph.


And rounding out the top three was the No. 33 Chevrolet of Brandon Jones, who had a fastest lap of 175.678 mph.


Next was the No. 17 of Timothy Peters (175.490 mph), followed by the No. 54 of Christopher Bell (175.308 mph) coming in fourth and fifth, respectively.


Defending race winner, Erik Jones, failed to advance to the second, and final, round and qualified 15th (174.531 mph), but will start at the rear of the field due to an engine change.

On-track action picks back up at Las Vegas at 10 p.m. ET for the Rhino Linings 350 (146 laps, 219 miles), FOX Sports 1. 

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RELATED: Full practice results
Matt Crafton topped the lone NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice from Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Crafton paced the 150-minute practice session with a fast lap of 177.719 mph. The two-time defending series champion enters the 18th race of the season just seven points back of championship leader Erik Jones. Jones placed 13th in the practice session and is the defending race winner.

Crafton’s ThorSport Racing teammate Johnny Sauter was second (177.556 mph), followed by Timothy Peters (177.369 mph), Brandon Jones (177.003 mph) and Austin Theriault (176.829 mph).

Travis Pastrana, who is making his first NASCAR start since 2013, placed 17th in the session.

Keystone Light Pole Qualifying is set for 7:05 p.m. ET with coverage on FS2. The Rhino Linings 350 is set for 10 p.m. ET with coverage on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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RELATED: Full final practice results

Kevin Harvick topped the speed chart in final practice for Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Raceway (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR). He wheeled the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet around Dover’s 1-mile track at a top speed of 156.033 mph in the 14 laps he ran before rain resumed, ending the session.

Carl Edwards was second-fastest in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs racing Toyota at 156.013 mph, followed by Kasey Kahne in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at 155.783 mph.

Harvick’s teammate Kurt Busch and the No. 41 Chevrolet posted the fourth-fastest speed in the final Sprint Cup practice session at 155.588 mph.

Sitting on the Chase bubble going into Sunday’s race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. got the fifth-quickest speed out of his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at 155.434 mph.

Amid a schedule compressed by rain that wiped out all of Friday’s on-track activities and cut into Saturday’s first practice, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers lost the track to rain again about 15 minutes into the second session. 

 

RELATED: First practice results

 

After more rain doused Dover International Speedway Saturday morning, canceling NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series got a 25-minute practice in and Kasey Kahne made the most of it.

Kahne wheeled his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet around Dover’s 1-mile track at 160.506 mph, topping the speed chart.

Carl Edwards was second quickest in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at 160.442 mph. JGR teammate Denny Hamlin was right behind Edwards at 160.285 mph.

 

It was the first time Sprint Cup cars had been on track after rain washed out Friday’s practice and qualifying.

Kevin Harvick was fourth on the leaderboard at 159.964 mph in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. The No. 4 team and No. 2 team of Brad Keselowski had been docked 15 minutes of practice time for infractions at New Hampshire in the inspection process. Given the amended schedule, neither the Stewart-Haas entry nor the Team Penske entry was required to serve the time — it will instead carry over to the next race at Charlotte.

Aric Almirola rounded out the top five with a speed of 159.943 mph in the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford.

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RELATED: Live weather updates from Dover

Saturday morning started out the same way Friday ended, with wet weather canceling NASCAR XFINITY Series opening practice at Dover International Speedway.

Practice was scheduled to run from 8:35 a.m. to 9:20 a.m. ET, but Mother Nature had other ideas. Practice for the K&N Pro Series East was also canceled on Saturday morning.

Track drying was underway to try to get the K&N race, the Drive Sober 125, on track for a 9:30 a.m. ET start but rain returned shortly after 9 a.m. ET to hinder those efforts and delay the start of that race. The K&N Pro Series East race will now run at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Rain returned about 15 minutes into the final practice for the Sprint Cup Series causing that practice to be abbreviated. Final practice ended up running from about 2:05-2:20 p.m. ET before the red flag was displayed for moisture and practice was eventually called.
 
The first Sprint Cup practice was initially scheduled to begin as soon as the track was available from the K&N Pro Series East race and run until 11:55 a.m. ET. That practice was initially scheduled for 11-11:55 a.m. ET with final practice set for 12:30-2:45 p.m. ET. The revised schedule will see cars on track as soon as its ready (close to 11:30 a.m. ET) until 12:15 p.m. ET, and then final practice going from 2-2:45 p.m. ET.

The Hisense 200 XFINITY Series race, 3:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), will be run with no practice time for those drivers. There will be two competition cautions for that race at Lap 25 and Lap 65, because of the lack of practice time.


RELATED: How rain could impact Challenger Round

This came after all of Friday’s on-track activity for the Sprint Cup Series, XFINITY Series and K&N Pro Series East was wiped out by rain as Hurricane Joaquin churns away from the East Coast.

Saturday’s Coors Light Pole Qualifying in the XFINITY Series was canceled on Friday to provide the Sprint Cup Series with additional practice time.