See how the postseason picture looks after 15 races
No. 18 smacks wall after restart, crumpling right-front fender
RELATED: Busch’s recovery timeline | Race leaderboard
Kyle Busch crashed in Turn 4 on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, bringing out the caution flag on Lap 53 and damaging the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint hopes for the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing driver.
Busch’s crash came after a restart from a lengthy red-flag delay because of weather.
This was Busch’s fourth Sprint Cup start since returning to action after injuries he sustained in the NASCAR XFINITY Series opener at Daytona International Speedway that caused him to miss the first 11 Cup races.
Busch drove the No. 18 to the garage with extensive damage to the right-front fender. Busch left his window net up, indicating he did not want to comment to TV reporters after the wreck.
This is the second time Busch has wrecked in his four races since his return. After his first wreck at Dover, which led to a 36th-place finish, crew chief Adam Stevens said the team might have used up its mulligan in its attempt to make the Chase.
"It was raining when we came to the green," Kevin Harvick said over the radio, indicating conditions might have had something to do with Busch’s outcome. "I mean, they (spotters) can see the freakin’ sky, you know what I mean?"
"That sucks (for the 18), that should have never happened." says @KevinHarvick
— DeLana Harvick (@DeLanaHarvick) June 14, 2015
Kyle Busch to the garage. Right-side damage. pic.twitter.com/tUCYqnKdwB
— Joe Gibbs Racing (@JoeGibbsRacing) June 14, 2015
Showers at Michigan halt Quicken Loans 400 four times
RELATED: Track live weather updates | Leaderboard
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 is being delayed by rain yet again, with the fourth red flag of the afternoon being displayed on Lap 139.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event took the green flag at 1:06 p.m. ET, but showers moved into the area approximately 10 minutes later, bringing out first a yellow flag then the first red flag.
The flag moved from red to yellow around 2:30 p.m. ET, but rain returned to the area and the cars were brought back down pit road. A second red flag for weather was displayed at 2:34 p.m. ET.
Racing resumed with a green flag at approximately 3:26 p.m. ET following the lengthy delay. But at 3:42 p.m. ET the red flag came out again.
At 4:28 p.m. ET, the race went green, ending the third red-flag period, and the track was clear until 5:40 p.m. ET, at which point the red flag was displayed when a large storm moved in.
Kurt Busch is the current leader, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in second, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano.
There are 16 of the NASCAR Air Titan dryers on site, plus 10 conventional jet dryers. They began circulating at 10 a.m. ET, shortly after the morning drizzle had stopped.
The Quicken Loans 400 (FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM) is the 15th of 36 points races on this year’s schedule.
Sunday’s delay marked the fifth time this season inclement weather has impacted a Sprint Cup event. Three of the four were completed on the originally scheduled date.
Get on-track times for everything at Chicagoland and Iowa
The NASCAR XFINITY Series will race at Chicagoland Speedway, and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will race at Iowa Speedway this weekend. Check out the full schedule below.
All times are ET
FRIDAY, JUNE 19:
ON TRACK
— 11 a.m.-1:25 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice, FOX Sports 2 (Get results)
— 3:30-4:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, FOX Sports 2 (Get results)
— 5:45 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying, FOX Sports 2 (Get results)
— 7-7:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice, FOX Sports 2 (Get results)
— 8:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series American Ethanol 200 (200 laps, 175 miles), FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
SATURDAY, JUNE 20:
ON TRACK
— 5:15 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series qualifying, FOX Sports 2 (Get results)
SUNDAY, JUNE 21:
ON TRACK
— Noon ET: NASCAR XFINITY Series Owens Corning AttiCat 300 (200 laps, 300 miles), FOX Sports 2 (Follow live)
Get full lineup of NASCAR programming for the week
RELATED: See the full weekend schedule
All times ET
Monday, June 15
10 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400 (re-air), FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
Tuesday, June 16
10 a.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Michigan race (re-air), FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
5:30 p.m., NASCAR America: States of NASCAR #5 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
6 p.m., NASCAR America: States of NASCAR #6 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
6:30 p.m., NASCAR America: Scan All 43 Special 2015 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
Wednesday, June 17
7 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
7:30 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
8 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
8:30 a.m., NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
4:30 p.m., NASCAR America: States of NASCAR #5 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
5:30 p.m., NASCAR America: States of NASCAR #6 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
2 a.m., NASCAR America: States of NASCAR #5 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
2:30 a.m., NASCAR America: States of NASCAR #6 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
Thursday, June 18
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: Thompson Speedway (tape), NBC Sports Network
6:30 p.m., NASCAR America: States of NASCAR #6 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
7 p.m., NASCAR America: Scan All 43 2015 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
7:30 p.m., NASCAR America: Scan All 43 2015 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
8 p.m., NASCAR America: States of NASCAR #5 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
8:30 p.m., NASCAR America: States of NASCAR #6 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
11 p.m., NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: Thompson Speedway (re-air), NBC Sports Network
Midnight, NASCAR America: States of NASCAR #5 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
12:30 a.m., NASCAR America: States of NASCAR #6 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
Friday, June 19
11 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice, FOX Sports 2
3:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, FOX Sports 2
4:30 p.m., NASCAR America: Scan All 43 2015 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Weekend Edition, FOX Sports 2
5:30 p.m., NASCAR America: States of NASCAR #5 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 2
7 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice, FOX Sports 2
8 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Setup, FOX Sports 1
8:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series American Ethanol 200, FOX Sports 1
Saturday, June 20
5 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 2
Sunday, June 21
Noon, NASCAR XFINITY Series Owens Corning AttiCat 300, FOX Sports 2
7 p.m., NASCAR America: Scan All 43 2015 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
7:30 p.m., NASCAR America: Scan All 43 2015 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
8 p.m., NASCAR America: Scan All 43 2015 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
8:30 p.m., NASCAR America: States of NASCAR #5 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
9 p.m., NASCAR America: States of NASCAR #6 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
9:30 p.m., NASCAR America: Scan All 43 2015 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
10 p.m., NASCAR America: Scan All 43 2015 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
10:30 p.m., NASCAR America: Scan All 43 2015 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
11 p.m., NASCAR America: States of NASCAR #5 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
11:30 p.m., NASCAR America: States of NASCAR #6 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
No. 42 driver ran out of gas from lead minutes before race called
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Crew chief Chris Heroy’s impromptu rain dance may have been a solid one on artistic merit, but the technical scores were fittingly low on the basis of timing alone.
Had the Chip Ganassi Racing crew chief been able to coax the drain-clogging rain storm to hit Michigan International Speedway just three laps earlier Sunday, Kyle Larson might’ve been sitting pretty in Victory Lane for the first time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career.
With severe weather bearing down on the 2-mile track ahead of what wound up being the final restart, Heroy elected to leave Larson on the race track with precious little fuel sloshing in the tank of the No. 42 Chevrolet. The move propelled Larson from 10th place into the lead and within grasp of a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoff spot.
When the car ran dry on Lap 133, just three laps before precipitation brought out another weather-related caution period, Heroy could only shrug and smile. While Larson lamented what might’ve been, he also lauded his crew chief’s plucky late-race decision.
"I was extremely happy that he made that call," Larson said after settling for 17th in the Quicken Loans 400. "That was our only shot of getting a win and really about our only shot at making the Chase at this point. I was happy with it, just wish the rain would’ve come a little bit sooner. I could see it coming off (Turn) Four, just only a matter of time before it got here. I just ran out of fuel there and had to come and pit. Man, so close."
Heroy wasn’t doing any second-guessing, either. After the yellow flag flew for debris in the 125th lap, the veteran crew chief opted for track position, hoping that the lively activity and red splotches looming on the weather radar would be his best friends. The gamble was mistimed by just a matter of minutes.
"I mean, we were running 10th and we knew the rain was coming and we knew it was intense," Heroy said. "I’ll give up 10th to have a chance to win any day. So, no question on my end."
With results of third and eighth in his previous two Sprint Cup races, Larson and Co. seemed poised to gain momentum at Michigan after a season marked by uneven finishes. But the on-again, off-again rain that forced four red flags over the course of 138 laps made for an especially quirky and abbreviated event.
"It was super-frustrating to get in your cars, go out there, run a lap, come in, sit for half an hour, go back out, knowing the rain’s coming," Larson said. "We did that a few times, so I know we were all antsy getting ready to go racing, but NASCAR, you’ve got to applaud them for trying and we did actually get a lot of racing in there, too."
The scattershot nature of the race, run in fits and starts, could’ve made it a difficult one for Heroy to call from atop the No. 42 pit box. Instead, he welcomed the challenge — one that would’ve worked out perfectly if not for a faster-moving storm and another gallon of gas.
"Yeah, but it’s also one of those things where we really like that," Heroy said of the sporadic periods of green-flag racing. "We’re really on each other about focusing and staying on top of what’s going on around us. We knew it was going to be a rain-shortened race, so we started going for it right away.
"It was fun, something different. Better than watching us run in circles for four hours. It was cool. Too bad we didn’t win it, but we’ll get the next one."
Tire issue derails champ’s chances at win No. 3 of 2015
BROOKLYN, Mich. — The road to the championship wasn’t exactly a smooth one for Kevin Harvick and his Stewart-Haas Racing team in 2014.
Early-season issues often stymied the team. Fast cars were sidelined by funky occurrences, broken parts, flat tires.
But Harvick and the team persevered. When the issues didn’t surface, there was no one better, no car faster.
The end result was the 2014 Sprint Cup Series championship, Harvick’s first and the second for SHR.
The momentum from last year’s title run hasn’t subsided. Heading into Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Harvick already had two wins (at Las Vegas and Phoenix) and an incredible eight runner-up finishes.
No one else has been so close so often to the checkered flag, yet so far.
But on Sunday, the gremlins returned. Although he led a race-high 63 laps in a race shortened by rain to only 138 of its scheduled 200, a flat tire caused by an errant lug nut buried the No. 4 Chevrolet deep in the field.
Smashed them all day damn proud of my boys. Lug nut knocked the valve stem off and the tire went flat. #dumbluck
— Kevin Harvick (@KevinHarvick) June 14, 2015
Bummer day for the 4 team…. A big, big shoutout to all the fans who weathered the storms. Y’all are the most loyal fans ever!!
— DeLana Harvick (@DeLanaHarvick) June 14, 2015
Teammate Kurt Busch was out front when the skies opened up again, and took home the trophy.
Who knows? Had the race run its scheduled distance, with a couple of well-timed cautions it’s possible the team could have found itself back in the hunt. But it didn’t, the team didn’t and at the soggy end of a long day, the scoreboard in the infield showed the No. 4 29th in the final rundown.
Harvick’s fared worse this year — he finished 38th at Bristol in April after being collected in a chain-reaction accident shortly after a restart. He led a race-best 184 laps at Bristol before the incident. It rained in that race as well.
“Once we were in front we were basically just cruising the entire day,” Childers said of Sunday’s effort. “We had a good car and the guys at the shop did a really good job. Really didn’t have any issues all weekend.
“It’s aggravating to give them away like that. I felt like we had the best car. When we pitted, there were some guys that stayed out … maybe it would have worked out for us but it’s hard to say.”
Harvick, who had qualified No. 2 on Friday, was out front at Lap 119 when he hit pit road under a round of green-flag pit stops. But after returning to the track, a flat right front tire caused when a lug nut knocked the valve stem off the wheel sent him back to the pits.
Childers said the team found the cause of the problem after going back and looking at video of the initial pit stop.
“One of the lug nuts that had come off the first wheel bounced off the changer’s leg and right when the other wheel was going in, (the lug nut) was in mid-air and he caught it (with the wheel),” he said.
“We’ve changed all kinds of stuff to keep it from happening and haven’t had it happen since Dover (last year). … I don’t even know how to fix it. Definitely got to do something though.”
After a week off, the Sprint Cup Series rolls back into action at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway for the season’s first road-course stop on June 28.
Childers said his driver and team are more than up to the task.
“We’re just going there to win,” he said. “We had the best car there last year … so I feel good about it. We’ll do the best job we can and hopefully it’s good enough.
“Kevin and all the guys are on it. If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’ll be alright.”
Read the notes NASCAR provides during the drivers’ meeting
Play: NASCAR Fantasy Live
NASCAR SPECIAL AWARDS
RACE TIME
| Event | Time (ET) |
|---|---|
| Driver Introductions | 12:20 p.m. |
| Pre-race prep: Tires, interior & remove generators | 12:30 p.m. |
| Line up crews — facing the flag | 12:47 p.m. |
| Canadian National Anthem | 12:48 p.m. |
| Invocation | 12:50 p.m. |
| National Anthem | 12:51 p.m. |
| Command to start engines | 12:57 p.m. |
SPECIAL INFORMATION
| Number of Laps | 200 laps |
| Competition yellow | Lap 30 |
| Pit Road Speed | 55 mph |
| Caution Car Speed | 65 mph |
| Pit Road Speed Begins | 171 feet before the first pit box |
| Pit Road Speed Ends | 95 feet past the last pit box |
| Minimum Speed | 41.69 seconds |
| Exiting the Pits (Blend Line) | Keep all four tires below the yellow line until the exit of Turn 2 |
| Fuel Pit Stalls 1-43 | Sunoco pumps |
| Post-Race | 2-5 in the race stop in pit stalls 25-29 |
| All Others/Two crew members per car | Double-file near yellow line, across from pit stall 25 |
NEXT RACE
| Event | Track/Day/Time (ET) |
|---|---|
| Next week | Sonoma Raceway |
| Hauler parking | 6 p.m. ET, Thursday, June 25 (updated) |
| Garage opens | 10 a.m. ET, Friday, June 26 |
| First practice | 3 p.m. ET, Friday, June 26 |
See where drivers finished in the race at Gateway Motorsports Park
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race – American Ethanol presents the Drivin’ for Linemen 200 brought to you by Ameren
Gateway Motorsports Park
Madison, Illinois
Saturday, June 13, 2015
1. (2) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 160
2. (14) Spencer Gallagher #, Chevrolet, 160
3. (4) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 160
4. (12) John H. Nemechek #, Chevrolet, 160
5. (9) Cameron Hayley #, Toyota, 160
6. (13) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 160
7. (15) Ben Kennedy, Toyota, 160
8. (6) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 160
9. (7) Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 160
10. (10) Austin Theriault #, Ford, 160
11. (11) John Wes Townley, Chevrolet, 160
12. (5) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 160
13. (18) Ray Black Jr. #, Chevrolet, 160
14. (20) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 160
15. (17) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 160
16. (21) Tyler Tanner, Chevrolet, 159
17. (28) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 157
18. (23) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, 157
19. (27) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 156
20. (25) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 156
21. (3) Matt Crafton, Toyota, Accident, 151
22. (24) Korbin Forrister #, Chevrolet, 148
23. (1) Erik Jones #, Toyota, Electrical, 145
24. (26) Tommy Regan, Chevrolet, Electrical, 108
25. (8) Matt Tifft, Toyota, Accident, 92
26. (29) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, Brakes, 56
27. (19) Justin Boston #, Toyota, Accident, 51
28. (16) Mason Mingus, Chevrolet, Accident, 51
29. (22) Justin Jennings, Chevrolet, Brakes, 26
30. (31) Michael Affarano(i), Chevrolet, Brakes, 13
31. (30) Adam Edwards, Chevrolet, Brakes, 6
32. (32) Joey Gattina, Chevrolet, Engine, 0
Average Speed of Race Winner: 96.97 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 03 Mins, 45 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.871 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 35 laps.
Lead Changes: 9 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: E. Jones # 1-55; M. Crafton 56-62; E. Jones # 63-82; M. Crafton 83-93; J. Sauter 94-97; C. Custer 98-110; E. Jones # 111-119; M. Crafton 120-150; T. Reddick 151-154; C. Custer 155-160.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): E. Jones # 3 times for 84 laps; M. Crafton 3 times for 49 laps; C. Custer 2 times for 19 laps; T. Reddick 1 time for 4 laps; J. Sauter 1 time for 4 laps.
Top 10 in Points: M. Crafton – 329; T. Reddick – 317; J. Sauter – 299; E. Jones # – 296; J. Townley – 260; C. Hayley # – 254; S. Gallagher # – 251; D. Hemric # – 246; T. Peters – 245; B. Kennedy – 238.
Race marked Busch’s first start in XFINITY competition since Daytona injury
RELATED: Full race results | Updated series standings
BROOKLYN, Mich. – In his first NASCAR XFINITY Series race back from a broken right leg and left foot, Kyle Busch proved conclusively that he hasn’t lost a step.
Taking advantage of contact between the Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick and the Ford of polesitter Joey Logano—as those two drivers were battling for the lead—Busch passed Chase Elliott for the lead on Lap 122 of 125 and held on to win Saturday’s Great Clips 250 at Michigan International Speedway.
Busch’s series-best 71st victory, his second at the two-mile track, came nearly two months after the driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was sidelined by a brutal Feb. 21 crash into a concrete wall in Turn 1 at Daytona International Speedway.
Busch returned to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series action in the Sprint All-Star Race in May, but deferred his XFINITY Series comeback to Saturday’s race at Michigan.
"It feels good," Busch said after climbing from his car in Victory Lane. "This is only a preliminary for what we’ve got to do on Sundays (in the Sprint Cup Series), but it’s a start. You’ve got to start somewhere, right?
"I can’t say enough about this team. (Crew chief) Chris Gayle did an awesome job today with this race car. We messed up a little bit today on a pit call, but we made up for it. Hard racing today, man. It was crazy, the side-by-side action we got here. The track’s kind of widening out, lending itself to some cool action."
After a restart on Lap 116, the race unraveled for Logano and Harvick. As the two drivers fought for the lead in Turn 3, with Logano to the outside, Harvick’s Chevrolet got loose and washed up the track into Logano’s Ford.
WATCH: Harvick, Logano discuss late contact at Michigan
The right rear of Logano’s Ford brushed the outside wall, but both drivers were able to continue, albeit after losing several positions. Harvick finished sixth, and Logano, who led a race-high 54 laps came home seventh.
Harvick took responsibility for the incident.
"I just got loose underneath him," Harvick explained. "I had a huge run down the back straightaway. That late in the race, I figured I need to try to win the race, and I got in there, and he was on the outside of me, but it was too late to not have contact at that point.
"So totally my fault. I just got loose under him going for the win."
Harvick’s mea culpa was little consolation for Logano, who had the race’s dominant car for most of the day.
"We were racing for a win here, and it just seems like he drove in there
pretty hard trying to slide me," Logano said. "I drove up in there,
too, and he got loose underneath me and got into my left rear and up we
both went into the race track.
"It’s unfortunate. I had a fast
Discount Tire Ford, obviously the winning car, leading a ton of laps and
up there at the end of the race. I was racing hard, and he just drove
over his head a little bit."
Despite his runner-up finish, Elliott left Michigan disappointed he couldn’t find a way to keep Busch behind him in the closing laps.
"I’ll be honest—second does not feel good, to me at least," Elliott said. "I thought we had a car good enough to compete today… We finally got ourselves in position there. We had two even-numbered restarts where we were six and fourth (in the preferred outside lane) that put us in position there to have an opportunity on that last restart.
"Obviously, the 22 (Logano) would have been really hard to beat, and Kevin got into him by accident and moved him up the race track. Obviously, that opened up our opportunity to have a shot at the win… (Kyle) is really good at what he does, and I don’t really have an excuse for it. So, yeah, he outran me."
Kyle Larson finished third, followed by Chris Buescher, who extended his series lead to 25 points over Ty Dillon, who came home 13th. Elliott is third in the standings, 35 points back.