Posted on by Staff Report

Moments that changed the course of the 27th race of the 2014 season

KESELOWSKI SPLITS HARVICK, LARSON FOR WINNING PASS

Brad Keselowski won the first race of the 2014 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, splitting leader Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick with 16 laps left before going on to claim the MyAFibStory.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday.

Keselowski’s win of the first race of the Challenger Round assures him a spot in the Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Keselowski, who entered the Chase as the top seed, worked his way up from a 25th-place start. He led 62 laps for his fifth win of 2014 and his second straight win in the Sprint Cup Series.

Jeff Gordon finished second and Larson, a rookie who started at the back of the field after going to a backup car, took third; Joey Logano and Harvick rounded out the top five.

Harvick, who started 12th, led a race-high 79 laps (out of 267) on the 1.5-mile tri-oval track.

Chicagoland is the start of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, a 10-race playoff between the 16 qualifying teams.

UPS

ALMIROLA’S ENGINE BLOWS WHILE RUNNING IN TOP 10

A promising day for Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup underdog Aric Almirola was cut short at Chicagoland by an engine blowing up.

Almirola spent part of the race running in the top 10 and even led two laps of the MyAFibStory.com 400.

The Richard Petty Motorsports driver suffered an engine issue on Lap 231 that sent him and his No. 43 team to the garage.

When asked to describe how he was feeling after the incident, Almirola said, "Heartbroken I think is the easiest way to describe it. I am really proud of my guys. We have nothing to hang our heads about. They brought me an awesome race car. We drove from 23rd up to the top-10, running sixth with just over 30 to go and it just wasn’t meant to be. We will regroup and go to Loudon and Dover and try to be spectacular." 

Almirola had two straight top-10 finishes entering the Chase and was looking strong at Chicagoland.

"I think the motor just let go," Almirola said. "My hat goes off to Trent Owens and all the guys on the Eckrich team. Our Fusion was really fast and it just wasn’t meant to be today. The motor let go. Doug Yates builds awesome horsepower for us every week and we rarely have any engine issues at all. It happened but we had a lot of horsepower while it lasted."

PATRICK, STENHOUSE JR. COLLIDE, HIT WALL

With 10 laps to go in the MyAFibStory.com 400, the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup opener at Chicagoland Speedway, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and his girlfriend, Danica Patrick, made contact and both got into the Turn 4 wall.

Stenhouse Jr., Patrick and Tony Stewart were running three-wide when Stenhouse got into Patrick’s left rear quarterpanel, bringing out the sixth caution of the race on Lap 257.

"The 17 hit me," Patrick said on her radio as she and Stenhouse Jr. came to pit road. Stenhouse Jr. finished 17th, and Patrick finished 19th, the last car on the lead lap.

"I heard my spotter (Brandon Benesch) say that the 14 (Stewart) was below me on track, and I didn’t know the 17 (Stenhouse Jr.) was there on the high side of the track," Patrick said. "My spotter took the blame on that one. I just didn’t know Ricky was up there, and I obviously don’t want to hit his car or anyone else with 10 laps to go.

"I talked with Ricky afterward and we’re fine. It’s just a tough deal. We finished 19th even with the damage so it was a decent run. We just had a tight car all day."

The caution benefitted Chase driver Ryan Newman, who returned to the lead lap as the beneficiary of the free pass.
 
"That was our best effort," he said.  "That’s all I had. That’s all we had as a race team. We put it all out there, and still, we were just third best."

Posted on by Staff Report

Tasmanian native heads home to a series he’s won twice

RELATED: Ambrose to leave Richard Petty Motorsports

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A day after Richard Petty Motorsports announced that Marcos Ambrose would leave the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series organization at season’s end, Team Penske hired Ambrose to run a No. 17 Ford in his return to Australia’s V8 Supercars Championship, beginning in 2015.

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Ambrose, the 2003 and 2004 V8 Supercars champion from Launceston, Tasmania, will return to his homeland as part of a partnership between Team Penske and Dick Johnson Racing, the longest-established motor racing team in Australia. DJR Team Penske will run Ford Falcons.

"Team Penske is excited to partner with Dick Johnson Racing to compete in the V8 Supercars Championship starting next season," Roger Penske said. "We believe in building our businesses through racing and our success on the track. With our new business ventures in Australia, it makes sense to showcase our brands through the V8 Supercars Championship and the opportunity to work with DJR and Marcos Ambrose convinced us to go forward."

Over the past nine seasons competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, Ambrose has earned seven wins and eight poles, including two Sprint Cup victories at Watkins Glen. From 2001 to 2005, he won 15 rounds in the V8 series, or 23 percent of the races run, and finished on the podium in 30 races, or 46 percent of the events.

"This is a great opportunity to return home to a place that I love in a Series where I’ve experienced a lot of success," Ambrose said. "It will be an honor to race for two motorsport legends in Roger Penske and Dick Johnson."

Johnson, who earned five Australian Touring Car Championships and the Bathurst 1000 three times before his retirement in 1999, is anxious to team with Penske.

"We are certainly looking forward to this new challenge," Johnson said. "I have always admired what Roger Penske has accomplished in business and with his racing teams, and it will be a thrill to work with Team Penske and Marcos in 2015."

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Posted on by Staff Report

Racing pair go three-wide with Tony Stewart

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With 10 laps to go in the MyAFibStory.com 400, the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup opener at Chicagoland Speedway, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and his girlfriend, Danica Patrick, made contact and both got into the Turn 4 wall.

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Stenhouse Jr., Patrick and Tony Stewart were running three-wide when Stenhouse got into Patrick’s left rear quarterpanel, bringing out the sixth caution of the race on Lap 257.

"The 17 hit me," Patrick said on her radio as she and Stenhouse Jr. came to pit road. Stenhouse Jr. finished 17th, and Patrick finished 19th, the last car on the lead lap.

"I heard my spotter (Brandon Benesch) say that the 14 (Stewart) was below me on track, and I didn’t know the 17 (Stenhouse Jr.) was there on the high side of the track," Patrick said. "My spotter took the blame on that one. I just didn’t know Ricky was up there, and I obviously don’t want to hit his car or anyone else with 10 laps to go.

"I talked with Ricky afterward and we’re fine. It’s just a tough deal. We finished 19th even with the damage so it was a decent run. We just had a tight car all day."

The caution benefitted Chase driver Ryan Newman, who returned to the lead lap as the beneficiary of the free pass.

Below is a list of problems that plagued half of the Chase Grid field, finding four a lap down at the checkered flag:

No. Chase driver Issue
41 Kurt Busch Lap 46: Spun entering pit road
5 Kasey Kahne Two pit-road speeding penalties
4 Kevin Harvick Lap 70: Loose left rear tire
31 Ryan Newman Lap 99: Blown left rear tire
20 Matt Kenseth Lap 148: Spun entering pit road
2 Brad Keselowski Lap 183: Right front loose tire
99 Carl Edwards Lap 231: Blown left rear tire
43 Aric Almirola Lap 231: Blown engine

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Get the on-track times for all the NASCAR action

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All times ET

TV LISTINGS / BUY TICKETS FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE/ BUY TICKETS FOR KENTUCKY /WEEKEND TRACK EVENTS

This week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series head to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, while the NASCAR Nationwide Series returns to Kentucky Speedway.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21:

RACE-DAY RUNDOWN
— 1:16 p.m.: Official Welcome by Jerry Gappens, executive vice president & general manager of NHMS
— 1:19 p.m.: Intro Honorary Pace Car Driver: Brad Park, retired ice hockey defenseman of the Boston Bruins
— 1:22:30 p.m.: Intro Honorary Starter: Chris Hagestad, VP, Advance Auto Parts
— 1:23 p.m.: Intro Grand Marshal: Jes Hansen, President & CEO, OSRAM Sylvania
— 1:23:30 p.m.: Intro Miss Sprint Cup: Madison Martin
— 1:24 p.m.: Intro Miss zMax: Christina Davidson
— 1:24:30 p.m.: Intro: Milo the Moose
— 1:25 p.m.: NSCS Driver Introductions with NASCAR Special Awards
— 1:45 p.m.: Team Fastrax jumps with large flag
— 1:54:45 p.m.: Intro Canadian National Anthem
— 1:55 p.m.: Canadian National Anthem by: Kirk Young, Music Teacher from Tilton, NH
— 1:57 p.m.: Presentation of Colors by: Combined Services Color Guard
— 1:57:20 p.m.: Invocation by: Graham Siemon, Worship Pastor from Crossway Christian Church
— 1:57:45 p.m.: Intro National Anthem
— 1:58 p.m.: National Anthem by Whitney Doucet, Speedway Star Contest Winner
— 1:59:30 p.m.: Fly-by TOT: B-17 provided by the Collings Foundation
— 2:04:30 p.m.: "Drivers, Start Your Engines" by: Jes Hansen, President & CEO, OSRAM Sylvania
— 2:12 p.m.: Start of the Sylvania 300 (300 laps, 317.4 miles)

ON TRACK
— 2 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 (300 laps, 317.4 miles), ESPN (Follow live)

PRESS CONFERENCES (Follow live)
— Approx. 5:15 p.m.: Post-NSCS race

————–

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19:

ON TRACK
— 9:30-10:50 a.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice (Get results)
— Noon-1:20 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 1:30-2:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 3-4:25 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice, FOX Sports 2/FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 3:30-4:30 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series practice (Get results)
— 4:40 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 6:30-7:30 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series final practice, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)

GARAGECAM (Watch live)
— 11:30 a.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series GarageCam
— 2:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series GarageCam

PRESS CONFERENCES (Follow live)
— 10:30 a.m.: Kyle Larson
— 10:45 a.m.: Jimmie Johnson
— 11 a.m.: Aric Almirola
— 11:15 a.m.: Brad Keselowski
— 2 p.m.: Ryan Newman
— 2:15 p.m.: Jeff Gordon
— 2:30 p.m.: Denny Hamlin
— Approx. 6 p.m.: Post-NSCS qualifying

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20:

ON TRACK
— 9-9:50 a.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 10:10 a.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 11:30 a.m-12:20 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 1 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 175 (175 laps, 185.15 miles), FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 4:10 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying (Get results)
— 7:30 p.m.: NASCAR Nationwide Series VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 (200 laps, 300 miles), ESPNEWS (Get results)

PRESS CONFERENCES (Follow live)
— Approx. 4:15 p.m.: Post-Truck Series race

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Posted on by George Winkler

No. 4 gets fifth-place result after making pit crew change

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JOLIET, Ill. — Kevin Harvick didn’t win the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup opener on Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway, but he did nothing to hurt his chances of advancing past the Challenger Round in the Chase Grid, either.

And that might be half the battle in NASCAR’s new playoff format, as driver after driver emphasized the importance of consistency from here on out.

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Harvick’s fifth-place finish marked his ninth top-five in 27 races this season, and it came on the heels of a fifth-place run at Richmond. And although Brad Keselowski shot through the gap between Harvick and Kyle Larson with 16 laps to go in a bold move that helped the No. 2 take the checkered flag, Harvick still picked up two important bonus points for leading the most laps (79) and leading a lap.

As a result, Harvick was fourth in the point standings coming out of Chicagoland, with an 18-point cushion between himself and the 13th-place driver Ryan Newman. The No. 4 team got a positive result after making a pit crew change during the week and moved on to New Hampshire in good shape.

"We led a bunch of laps and finished top five so that’s not terrible by our standards," Harvick said. "The 42 (Larson) just was better on that next-to-last run and got in front of us, and I struggled for whatever reason on used tires on those restarts to make the car turn up off the corners."

Because Larson got ahead he was able to restart on the bottom with 18 laps to go, and Harvick said that was one of the keys to Larson holding him off on the restart while Keselowski bolted past both of them two laps later.

"On the restarts, for whatever reason I was tight those last several restarts up on exit, so I had to kind of go into defensive mode," Harvick said. "Obviously, Kyle wants to win a race and that’s how you’re supposed to race and everybody was going after it pretty hard. It was a fun day. I’m proud of all my guys on my Jimmy John’s Chevrolet for the job that they did, and it’s a solid start to the Chase."

However, Harvick’s day wasn’t without some challenges that the No. 4 team needed to overcome. Harvick started 12th, but dropped to 21st after he had to come back to pit road to check on a loose wheel after a round of pit stops following a debris caution on Lap 68.

After another round of pit stops during a Lap 100 debris caution, Harvick moved up to 11th place. And by Lap 125, he had worked his way into the top three, which is where he stood at the halfway point of the race.

Then, after a round of green-flag stops during Laps 146-149, Harvick managed to grab the lead on Lap 151. He held that lead until Larson passed him on Lap 228. Harvick and Larson traded the lead on Laps 249-251, before Keselowski made the daring move that captured the lead on Lap 252 that he took all the way to the finish.

In the end, Harvick dropped not only behind Keselowski and Larson, but also fell in back of Jeff Gordon and Joey Logano. But considering what happened to some of the other Chase drivers in the opener at Chicagoland, it was not a cause for concern.

Harvick ran among the top-five drivers from Lap 120 till the end, and Keselowski gave a nod to the No. 4 as one of the fastest, if not the fastest, car out there. And chances are we haven’t heard the last from the No. 4 in this Chase.

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Posted on by George Winkler

Catch up quickly before Sunday’s MyAFibStory.com 400 (2 p.m. ET, ESPN)

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What: 14th Annual MyAFibStory.com 400 (Race No. 1 in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup).
Where: Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Ill.
When: Sunday, Sept. 14.
TV/Radio: ESPN, MRN/Sirius XM Radio Ch. 90.

Time: 2 p.m. ET (ESPN on air at 1 p.m. ET).
Distance: 267 laps (400.5 miles).

Pit road speed: 45 mph
Caution car speed: 55 mph

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On the front row | Full race lineup (set by practice times due to weather)
1. Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 18 Toyota (191.442 mph).
2. Ryan Newman, Richard Childress Racing, No. 31 Chevrolet (191.042 mph).

Fastest in practice | Full practice results
First practice: Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 18 Toyota (191.442 mph).
Second practice: Paul Menard, Richard Childress Racing, No. 27 Chevrolet (188.772 mph).
Final practice: Carl Edwards, Roush Fenway Racing, No. 99 Ford (186.413 mph).

Best 10 consecutive lap average in practice
Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 24 Chevrolet (184.500 mph-came in second practice)

Defending race champion: Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 20 Toyota.

Rain factor: Because Coors Light Pole qualifying was rained out on Friday, the lineup was set by practice times. Some of the Chase drivers affected by that outcome included Joey Logano, who will be the one furthest back in the field at 28th. Brad Keselowski (25th), Denny Hamlin (24th), Aric Almirola (23rd) and Greg Biffle (20th) are other Chase drivers starting 20th or worse.

TRD’s pre-Chase tweaks: "Practice for us went pretty well. It started out slow, but the guys did a real nice job on the M&M’s Camry today to get us to where we needed to be. Everybody back at the shop is building some great stuff and TRD (Toyota Racing Development) making some improvements for the Chase here this weekend and whatnot. Having a good time there in practice means a lot, but there’s obviously a lot of things that need to happen in the race this weekend for us and getting off to a good start and being able to carry that into the next 10 weeks." — Kyle Busch, after Friday’s first Sprint Cup practice.

Top driver ratings
(Based on past nine races at Chicagoland Speedway)
1. Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 48 Chevrolet (117.1).
2. Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing, No. 14 Chevrolet (109.8).
3. Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 20 Toyota (105.4).

Who to watch: Besides Driver Rating, Johnson is first in several other Loop Data categories at Chicagoland Speedway, including number of fast laps, percentage of laps run in the top 15 and percentage of laps led. Johnson enters Sunday’s race with four straight top-10 finishes after a 28th-place finish at Watkins Glen International.

Two-team race? "I guess the only twist to that is the Stewart-Haas thing, but obviously they are Hendrick cars. Yes, I would kind of feel that way when I go through my favorites and pick out my top four or five cars, they are Hendrick vehicles and Penske vehicles." — Jimmie Johnson, on whether this Chase is Hendrick vs. Penske.

Playing catch-up: "You take anyone out of their work for six weeks and have them come to work, there’s a few things you have to have them do when they get there Monday morning. We’re definitely behind. I feel like we’re working really hard on trying to make a lot of things better, so I was able to put a little more effort into some of those things maybe. But, not being at the race track and working with the race team and especially working with Denny (Hamlin) is something I feel like I lost a lot of ground on. — No. 11 crew chief Darian Grubb, on being away during a six-week suspension.

Ambrose’s Chicago swan song: "I never thought I would achieve what I have at the Sprint Cup level. I have survived here for years and I have had some wins but not enough, and I feel like I was up against it early on from my background. I came from a country (Australia) that doesn’t have any asphalt oval racing at all and so I feel like I have achieved a lot and am really satisfied." — Marcos Ambrose, who announced he is leaving NASCAR in 2015

Former Chicagoland Speedway winners in the field: Tony Stewart (3), Kevin Harvick (2), Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon (1).

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Posted on by Brad Norman

Edwards, Kenseth and more experience Chase woes

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JOLIET, Ill. — His broken No. 43 Ford parked in front of the team hauler, Aric Almirola climbed out of the window net with his afternoon finished 37 laps before he wanted it to. Team owner Richard Petty was there to great his driver, and ‘The King’ wore a smile.

Almirola did not. At least not at first.

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After Petty put his arm around the driver’s shoulders and pulled him in for a brief hug, Almirola was able to flash some whites. Meanwhile, his No. 43 team popped the hood and tried to diagnose a busted engine that had previously shown no problematic signs, and was in fact healthy enough for Almirola to be in sixth place when it suddenly let go following a pit stop.

It all contributed to an aura that was equal parts desolation and optimism, with one of the biggest underdogs in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup balancing the feeling of knowing he was one of the best cars on the track with the reality that was his 41st-place finish.

"Heartbroken I think is the easiest way to describe it," Almirola said, before saying in the next breath the team had "nothing to hang our heads about. We drove from 23rd up to the top 10, running sixth with just over 30 to go and it just wasn’t meant to be. We will regroup and go to Loudon and Dover and try to be spectacular." 

The team will have to be. Following his four-point day, Almirola is last on the 16-driver Chase Grid with 2,007 points. He is 23 points behind 12th-place Carl Edwards. 

New Hampshire and Dover are the final two races of the Challenger Round, before the Chase field gets trimmed to 12 for the Contender Round.

"We know we are capable of running in the top-10," Almirola said. "Everyone else might not think so, the rest of the world thinks we are underdogs and we will gladly accept that tag, but what we’ve shown today and these last two weeks is exactly what we are capable of.

"We have to win. That is it. There is no other option. We have to go and figure out how we can win one of the next two races." 

Almirola and crew aren’t the only ones looking for a win — or the very least, to be in contention for a win — following Sunday’s postseason opener at Chicagoland Speedway. 

Here’s who else ran into trouble, and what it meant for them: 

• Ryan Newman. Two laps down late in the race, Newman somehow rallied for a lead-lap finish and crossed the start/finish line in 15th place.

A blown tire on Lap 99 necessitated two stops down pit road and put Newman 23rd as the final car on the lead lap. A tire rub on Lap 155 brought him down pit road again and put the No. 31 two laps down.

"Find out why that tire started rubbing again and make sure it doesn’t happen again, please," Newman said tersely over the radio. 

Three cautions in the final 35 laps were enough to get Newman back on the lead lap by virtue of being the beneficiary. He restarted 19th on Lap 259 and finished 15th.

He is 13th in the standings, one point behind Edwards. 

• Carl Edwards. Edwards started third but finished 20th, thanks in part to a shredded tire that brought out the yellow flag on Lap 232. Even before that incident, though, Edwards simply had a slow No. 99 Ford.

He consistently fell throughout the race and finished 20th, one lap down.

"We had a flat tire and got fortunate that didn’t hurt us," Edwards said. "Our day was not good. We’ve got to be a little faster and we have to continue to have good luck. For us to advance we are going to have to rely on other people making some mistakes." 

• Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch. Both of these drivers had the exact same error, and both recovered. 

On Lap 46, Busch spun entering pit road and lost lots of position. He also knocked over the commitment cone and had to serve a pass-through penalty, but later got back on the lead lap and finished eighth. 

Kenseth, too, took a solo spin when coming fast into pit road. His snafu was on Lap 148, but he rallied to finish 10th. 

"I’ll never fault you for being aggressive," crew chief Jason Ratcliff said over the radio. 

Busch is ninth in the standings (2,039 points) and Kenseth is 10th (2,034 points). 

• Greg Biffle, AJ Allmendinger. Like Kenseth and Busch, these two had related issues. Unlike Kenseth and Busch, neither driver recovered.

The problem? Being slow.

Allmendinger continually used the word "hate" to describe his No. 47 Chevrolet over the radio, and Biffle’s No. 16 Ford underscored that Roush Fenway Racing is still off on speed. Allmendinger finished 22nd and Biffle was 23rd, both two laps down.

Allmendinger is 14th in the standings (2,025 points) and Biffle is 15th, four points behind him.

No. Chase driver Issue
41 Kurt Busch Lap 46: Spun entering pit road
5 Kasey Kahne Two pit-road speeding penalties
4 Kevin Harvick Lap 70: Loose left rear tire
31 Ryan Newman Lap 99: Blown left rear tire
20 Matt Kenseth Lap 148: Spun entering pit road
2 Brad Keselowski Lap 183: Right front loose tire
99 Carl Edwards Lap 231: Blown left rear tire
43 Aric Almirola Lap 231: Blown engine

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‘Rowdy’ scores fourth career Chicagoland Truck Series victory

MORE: Full race results | Updated series standings

JOLIET, Ill. — Kyle Busch overcame more than his share of adversity Saturday night in winning the rain-postponed Lucas Oil 225 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.
 
Busch came from the rear of the field twice and overcame a caution that put him on the wrong end of a cycle of pit stops to win in his own Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota for the sixth time this year and the 41st time in his career.

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In a race rescheduled because of a Friday rainout, Busch finished 1.130 seconds ahead of Matt Crafton, who snatched the series lead from ThorSport teammate Johnny Sauter. Crafton leads Sauter by five points and Ryan Blaney by 16.
 
Austin Dillon surrendered second place to Crafton in the closing laps and came home third, followed by Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Tyler Reddick and Jeb Burton.
 
Busch led 66 of the 150 laps at the 1.5-mile track and made what turned out to be the winning pass with 16 laps left, ducking to the inside of Dillon and squeezing him behind the lapped truck of Michael Affarano.
 
"When I was chasing the 20 truck (Dillon) there for the lead, I was just getting really tight behind him," Busch said. "The aero on these things is hurting, and I hate that, but fortunately I got through on a lapped truck, and we were able to win this thing."
 
Busch started from the rear, in 32nd place, because Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup media activities kept him away from NCWTS practice on Thursday, and qualifying was rained out on Friday. Before NASCAR called a scheduled competition caution on Lap 31, Busch had climbed to fourth, passing Crafton for that position on Lap 29.
 
But a pit road speeding penalty under the caution sent Busch to the back again. He restarted 27th on Lap 36 (with attrition having reduced the field by five trucks) and began another relentless march through the field.
 
On Lap 52 he took the lead for the first time, passing Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Darrell Wallace Jr. for the top spot. A small piece of tape, however, adhered to the grille of Busch’s No. 51 Tundra and raised his water temperature to a dangerously high level.
 
Busch surrendered the lead to Wallace, shortly before Norm Benning’s impact with the Turn 4 wall caused the second caution of the evening and gave Busch a chance to come to pit road, where his crew removed the tape.
 
"Early on I was being patient, trying to get everybody acclimated to not being on the track at all (Friday)," Busch said. "I was getting acclimated, too. I knew we had a good truck. I was just trying to pace myself early.
 
"But I knew what I had, and when I had that pit road penalty and got stuck back behind, I tried to charge back through a little harder."
 
After a restart on Lap 67, Busch pulled away to a lead of more than four seconds, but his travails were far from over. Busch had come to the pits under green on Lap 110 when Todd Shafer missed the entrance to pit road and plowed through the infield grass on Lap 112 to cause the third caution.
 
Busch had to take a wave-around for a restart on Lap 119 and was eighth for the restart behind leader Dillon. Though Dillon adroitly blocked Busch for 15 laps, the driver of the No. 51 finally got past Dillon near the entrance to the tri-oval on Lap 134, using the truck of Affarano as a pick.
 
"We were just too tight," Dillon said. "I was doing everything I could. Man, Kyle’s truck was so fast — it was unbelievable."
 
From that point — finally — it was smooth sailing for the race winner.

Note: Dillon’s No. 20 truck was found to be too low in the front during post-race inspection.
 
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JR Motorsports driver earns fourth win of the season

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JOLIET, Ill.—Kevin Harvick got the track position he needed with a two-tire call under caution late in Saturday’s Jimmy John’s Freaky Fast 300.
 
Then he and crew chief Ernie Cope got the victory they deserved for choosing the right strategy at the right time.
 
Harvick beat Kyle Larson to the finish line by 2.108 seconds to win for the fourth time this season and the 44th time in his career—a numerologist’s delight for those who favor Harvick’s No. 4 Chevrolet in Sunday’s MyAFibStory.com 400, the first race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

Larson held off third-place finisher Kyle Busch in the closing laps. Ryan Blaney ran fourth, followed by Trevor Bayne. Series leader Chase Elliott came home 10th and now holds an 18-point lead in the standings over second-place Regan Smith, his JR Motorsports teammate.
 
For Harvick, the tipping point came on Lap 154, when Cope called for the two-tire stop while race leader Busch took four fresh tires and got mired in traffic.
 
"Well, we didn’t have many laps on the tires, but that’s the call that won us the race," Harvick said. "Ernie won the race for us, and the car was fast, but when we got out front and the tires not having many laps, and the 54 (Busch) being buried in the field—that’s what won us this race today."
 
Busch, who led every lap in a dominating win last week at Richmond, looked to make Saturday’s race a runaway, too, but a caution for Jeremy Clements‘ blown engine on Lap 153 created an opportunity for divergent strategies and scrambled the field.
 
By the time the field restarted on Lap 160, Busch had led 141 laps, but after a four-tire stop under the yellow, he restarted 16th in the No. 54 Toyota and made up eight positions before the engine in teammate Denny Hamlin‘s No. 20 Camry erupted on Lap 165.
 
Harvick, who had changed right-side tires only under the caution on Lap 154, made short work of four cars that stayed out under the yellow and surged into the lead past Aric Almirola and polesitter Brian Scott on Lap 161. But the caution for Hamlin’s engine failure bunched the field for a restart on Lap 174, with Busch taking the green flag from the eighth spot.
 
Harvick drove away after the restart, while Busch advanced quickly to third in the running order. But the No. 54 Toyota stalled behind Larson’s No. 42 Chevy, as Harvick cruised to the comfortable win.
 
"I fought my butt off the last run of the race," Busch said. "It sucks not being in Victory Lane where we should be. This car was fast—but can’t get through traffic."

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Scott was also the pole winner for the July race

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Related: Jimmy John’s Freaky Fast 300 powered by Coca-Cola lineup

Brian Scott soared to the top of the leaderboard on his first lap on Saturday to win the Coors Light Pole Award for the NASCAR Nationwide Series Jimmy John’s Freaky Fast 300 powered by Coca-Cola.

Scott won the pole for the July race at Chicago earlier this season, making this his third pole at the track and his third of 2014.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

Lining up next to Scott on the front row will be No. 22 part-timer Ryan Blaney. Blaney’s best Nationwide Series finish at this track was ninth in July of this year.

Defending race winner Kyle Busch, Nationwide Series points leader and winner of the July race Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson round out the top-five starters. 

Notable drivers that did not advance to the final round were Trevor Bayne, Brendan Gaughan, Denny Hamlin, James Buescher and Dylan Kwasniewski.

A caution was brought out in the first session, dropping the red flag for debris on the track.

The Jimmy John’s Freaky Fast 300 powered by Coca-Cola will run Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET with TV coverage on ESPN2.

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