Posted on by Staff Report

Kenseth finishes on high note heading into AAA Texas 500

RELATED: Full practice results and lineup

FORT WORTH, Texas — The reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion may not have finished on the lead lap in Friday night’s Camping World Truck Series event, but he dominated in a pair of practice sessions in his full-time ride on Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Brad Keselowski followed up a third-place showing in the morning Cup practice by tying Matt Kenseth atop the leaderboard in the final session ahead of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (3 p.m. ET, ESPN). Keselowski bettered his early speed of 188.107 mph, running his No. 2 Penske Racing Ford at a clip of 189.434 mph on the first of his 48 laps around the 1.5-mile facility.

Points leader Matt Kenseth also improved from session to session, placing tied for first in the later practice after finishing 15th earlier in the day. His speed matched Keselowski’s at 189.434 mph, and Kenseth finished on a high note as he heads into another showdown with Chase co-leader Jimmie Johnson. Paul Menard (189.168), Kyle Busch (188.937) and Martin Truex Jr. (188.818) completed the top five.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (188.232) and Jeff Gordon (187.793) were sixth and seventh, respectively, improving upon a rough early session in which they were 20th and 23rd. Coors Light Pole Award-winner Carl Edwards (187.182) was 10th.

Johnson dealt with a throttle pedal issue and was forced to the garage mid-practice to work on it. He placed 16th in the session after being sixth earlier in the day.

A day after qualifying 26th, any adjustments made to Clint Bowyer‘s No. 15 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota are paying off, as the driver paced the field in the first of the two practices. He was 12th in the second.

In the early session, Bowyer’s 188.422 mph, achieved on his second of 18 laps, bested Kyle Busch (188.350) and Keselowski (188.107). Truex Jr. (187.885) and two-time Texas winner Greg Biffle (187.859) completed the top five in that session.

 

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Posted on by Staff Report

Second one this year at Texas for 20-year-old; Hornish Jr., Dillon will both start in top five

RELATED: Race lineup

Alex Bowman sped to his second 21 Means 21 Pole of the season Saturday, posting the fastest speed at Texas Motor Speedway in advance of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

Bowman, in his No. 99 RAB Racing Toyota, posted a speed of 186.194 mph. He was the only driver to break 186 mph. His previous pole also came at Texas in the spring race.

Penske Racing teammates Brad Keselowski and Sam Hornish Jr. will start second and third, respectively, with speeds of 185.982 mph and 185.682 mph.

With three races to go, Hornish is eight points behind Austin Dillon for the points lead. Dillon, in his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, qualified fifth (184.685 mph).

Trevor Bayne, the last driver on the track during the qualifying session, will start fourth. His best qualifying lap came in at 184.919 mph.

Rounding out the top 10 are Kyle Busch (184.622) in sixth, then Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (184.363), Regan Smith (184.162), Brian Scott (184.062) and Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner, Ty Dillon (183.786) in the No. 33 Chevrolet.

Stenhouse Jr., the two-time series champion who was promoted to the Sprint Cup level for 2013, is driving in his first Nationwide race of the season.

Morgan Shepherd failed to qualify for the 40-car field.

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Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Busch, Keselowski place 2-3 after racing in Truck Series

Related: Full practice results

FORT WORTH, Texas — A day after qualifying 26th for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event, adjustments made to Clint Bowyer‘s No. 15 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota paid off as the driver paced the field in the first of two Saturday practices at Texas Motor Speedway.

Bowyer’s 188.422 mph, achieved on his second of 18 laps, bested Kyle Busch (188.350) and Brad Keselowski (188.107), who both struggled to finishes outside of the top 20 in Friday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event. Martin Truex Jr. (187.878) and two-time Texas winner Greg Biffle (187.859) completed the top five.

Points leaders Jimmie Johnson (187.578) and Matt Kenseth (186.929) were sixth and 15th, respectively.

Kurt Busch (187.513), Kevin Harvick (187.298), Coors Light Pole Award-winner Carl Edwards (187.311) and Aric Almirola (187.233) filled out positions six through 10.

Apart from Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports struggled in the morning session. Kasey Kahne (186.548), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (186.329) and last week’s race winner Jeff Gordon (186.047) place 19th, 20th and 23rd, respectively.

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Posted on by Staff Report

Follow the Texas Nationwide race with live Lap-by-Lap reports

Click here to follow the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge.

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21 Means 21 Pole Award winner Alex Bowman gets first pick

Winning his second pole of the sason at Texas Motor Speedway, Alex Bowman earned the first stall off at pit-road exit for his No. 99 Toyota. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender will lead the field to green in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

NASCAR Nationwide Series championship contenders Austin Dillon and Sam Hornish Jr. will be four stalls away from each other. Dillon chose the eighth stall for his No. 3 Chevrolet; Hornish chose the fourth stall for his No. 12 Ford.

Running all three national series races this weekend, Brad Keselowski has an opening in front of him at stall 14 for his No. 22 Ford while Kyle Busch will pit in the sixth stall with his No. 54 Toyota.

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Posted on by Staff Report

Ford drivers to appear live from Texas

Watch the video below for today’s USO Google Hangout at Texas Motor Speedway.

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Posted on by Staff Report

Coors Light Pole Award-winner Carl Edwards has first stall for Sunday’s race, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN

RELATED: Full Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage

After winning the Coors Light Pole Award, Carl Edwards had first choice of pit stalls and chose the No. 1 box at the exit of pit road, heading into Turn 1.

Brad Keselowski is in the 14th pit stall with an opening in front of him, and Paul Menard has the last pit stall with a front opening in the 35th box, eight stalls from the entrance to pit road out of Turn 4.

Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup co-leader Jimmie Johnson is in the 43rd stall at the entrance of pit road. His fellow co-leader, Matt Kenseth, is in the 34th stall with an opening behind him.

Kenseth’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Kyle Busch, is in the 13th stall, also with an opening behind him. Kevin Harvick is in the 18th stall, five off of the start/finish line.

Watch the AAA Texas 500 on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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Sauter finishes second, Busch with a DNF

FORT WORTH, Tex. — Dominating the action from start to finish, Ty Dillon ran away with Friday night’s WinStar World Casino 350 at Texas Motor Speedway, leading 130 of the 147 laps in the 20th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race of the season.

The driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet pulled away from Johnny Sauter after taking the lead for the final time on Lap 117. Dillon was shuffled back to third after a restart on Lap 107, but overtook Ryan Blaney for the top-spot 10 laps later.

Sauter passed Blaney for the second spot on Lap 121, and Blaney subsequently faded to 15th at the finish. Ron Hornaday Jr. ran third, followed by Brendan Gaughan and Justin Lofton.

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"I wasn’t going to let this race get away from me," said Dillon, who rallied from a rough week at Martinsville, where he and Kevin Harvick wrecked during close racing and exchanged pointed barbs thereafter. "Its happened too many times this year, and I was going to do whatever it takes."

The victory was Dillon’s second of the season and the third of his career. He finished 2.663 seconds ahead of Sauter after holding a lead of more than three seconds during the closing laps.

About the only anxious moment for Dillon had come on Lap 99, when the engine in Kyle Busch‘s No. 51 Toyota blew as Dillon ran right behind him.

"I didn’t know if I was heading for the wall or what was going to happen," Dillon said. "But, luckily, I don’t think he put down too much oil, and I was just below him, just to keep from getting in it."

After small air-pressure adjustments throughout the race, Sauter’s No. 98 Toyota loosened up a bit too much during the final 41-lap green-flag run.

"Ten laps into that last run we were just a tick too free," Sauter said. "I don’t know if we ever had anything for the 3 truck, though. We’ve won here before, and I was running a harder, faster pace than I ever have. So their truck must have been phenomenal."

Series leader Matt Crafton came home 10th and holds a 46-point edge over sixth-place finisher James Buescher and 47 points over Dillon with two races left in the season. Crafton can wrap up his first series title with finishes of 18th or better in the final two races.

Crafton can lock up the championship next Friday at Phoenix if he finishes the race with a lead of 49 points or more. He needs only a 41-point edge if he takes the green flag the following week at Homestead.

Rookie Darrell Wallace Jr., last week’s winner at Martinsville, finished seventh, followed by Miguel Paludo, John Wes Townley and Crafton.

The victory was the 100th across all three of NASCAR’s top touring series for No. 3 vehicles fielded by Richard Childress Racing.

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