Posted on by Staff Report

Three teams lost their pit-stall selections and had a crew member ejected after failing pre-race inspection twice ahead of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota and the No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet each lost pit selection as a result. Car chiefs Clay Alexander of the No. 8 and Zachary Marquardt of the No. 23 were ejected from the event, in addition to No. 31 engineer Garrett Peterson.

MORE: Starting lineup | Pit stalls for Sunday’s race

RCR’s Kyle Busch, 23XI’s Bubba Wallace and Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley will retain their starting positions for Sunday’s Quaker State 400 available at Walmart (7 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

Busch will roll off from 22nd position while Haley will start 17th. Wallace aborted his qualifying lap and will start 37th.

Race-day update: Chris Sherwood, the car chief of the No. 20 Toyota of Christopher Bell, was ejected Sunday afternoon due to unapproved adjustments to the race car.

Posted on by Adam Fenwick

WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Modifieds have front bumpers for a reason, and Ron Silk put his to good use Saturday night at Wall Stadium Speedway.

The 40-year-old racing veteran used the chrome horn to move friend and rival Justin Bonsignore out of his way with fewer than five laps to go in the Jersey Shore 150 to earn his third NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory of the season.

“I think we were all pretty much sliding around there at the end,” Silk said in Victory Lane after his 20th career Modified Tour victory. “It seemed like I had maybe a little bit better car than Justin, but he fought hard on the restart before that. Luckily I was able to get him back there at the end.”

RELATED: Complete results from the Jersey Shore 150

The day didn’t start off on the right foot for Silk, who qualified 11th in the 23-car field. That meant he had a lot of work to do if he wanted to race for the victory at the third-mile oval, but he was up to the task.

Silk was in the top five before Lap 50 and took the lead for the first time on Lap 90 from pole-sitter Austin Beers.

Six-time Modified Tour champion Doug Coby appeared to have a faster car than that of Silk and nearly got by him with 42 laps to go, but contact with the slower car of Anthony Nocella took Coby out of contention just as he was making the pass for the lead.

With Coby out of the picture, it was down to Silk and Bonsignore, the latter of whom was making his 200th Modified Tour start.

Bonsignore was able to get around Silk on a restart with 21 laps left, but the race was slowed multiple times by cautions, one of which took out Beers and Eric Goodale on the backstretch.

The final caution of the evening waved with 10 laps left with Bonsignore still leading Silk, setting up a five-lap dash to the checkered flag.

Bonsignore was able to pull clear of Silk through Turns 1-2, but Silk used his bumper to move Silk out of the way entering Turn 3 to regain the race lead.

Silk led the remainder of the race, though Bonsignore did everything in his power to return the favor. He gave Silk a big shot to the bumper with three laps left in Turn 3, but it wasn’t enough to regain the lead.

“We were throwing haymakers at each other,” Bonsignore said. “It’s been like that all year. We’ve been really putting on a lot of good battles. Nobody has crashed; it’s about as aggressive as you can get without crashing each other.

“I used him up down in [Turn] 1, and I thought I got him maybe far enough back. He just lined my bumper up getting into [Turn] 3, and that was it. He just drove me up the hill, and I couldn’t get back to him.”

Silk’s victory allows him to further pad his advantage at the top of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour standings as he continues his pursuit of his second series championship.

“It’s always good to be on a little bit of a win streak, and while you’re leading the points, it’s good,” Silk said. “It’s really early for points. We just want to keep trying to get some wins.”

Eddie McCarthy earned a career-best finish in third, with Anthony Sesely and Andrew Krause completing the top five.

Coby finished sixth, followed by Matt Hirschman, Blake Barney, Beers and Dave Sapienza.

A replay of the Jersey Shore 150 will broadcast on Saturday, July 15 at 11 a.m. ET on CNBC.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to action next Saturday, July 15 with the running of the Mohegan Sun 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The green flag is scheduled to wave shortly after 6 p.m. ET, with every lap available live on FloRacing.

Posted on by Staff Report

Jersey Shore 150

Wall Stadium Speedway

Wall New Logo Jpeg

  • Race results
Finish Pos. Starting Pos. Car No. Driver Sponsor (Car owner) Laps Status Led Points
1 11 16    Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes   (Tyler Haydt) 150 running 47 47
2 4 51    Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc.   (Ken Massa) 150 running 26 43
3 5 20    Eddie McCarthy McCarthy’s Marine Sales   (Ed McCarthy) 150 running 0 41
4 8 19    Anthony Sesely Wanick Construction Inc.   (Tommy Wanick) 150 running 0 40
5 9 24    Andrew Krause Supreme Manufacturing   (Diane Krause) 150 running 0 39
6 6 7    Doug Coby Mayhew Tools   (Tommy Baldwin) 150 running 0 38
7 2 60    Matt Hirschman Pee Dee Motorsports / Colyer Trucking   (Roy Hall) 150 running 0 37
8 15 14    Blake Barney Atlantic Sprinkler Co / County Line Auto Body   (Richard Barney) 150 running 0 36
9 1 64    Austin Beers Lumiere Electric / Andrew James Interior / De   (Mike Murphy) 150 running 77 37
10 16 36    Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises / Eastport Feeds   (Judy Thilberg) 150 running 0 34
11 12 22    Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance / MTT / Munn’s Auto   (Kyle Bonsignore) 150 running 0 33
12 19 46    Anthony Nocella Riverhead Building Supply   (Russell Goodale) 150 running 0 32
13 21 18    Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood and Restaurant   (Robert Pollifrone) 150 running 0 31
14 17 32    Tyler Rypkema Northeast Drilling / MUSCO Lighting   (Dean Rypkema) 149 running 0 30
15 22 9    Tommy Wanick * Wanick Construction Inc.   (Tommy Wanick) 148 running 0 29
16 23 01    Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales   (Kenneth Fifield) 148 running 0 28
17 13 8    Tom Martino, Jr. * Martino Racing Engines   (Tom Martino, Jr.) 145 running 0 27
18 10 3    Jake Johnson * Propane Plus / Lins Propane Trucks   (Michael Boehler) 145 running 0 26
19 20 34    J.B. Fortin A&R Materials / John’s Fuel Oil / Rapid Recov   (Nicole Fortin) 139 crash 0 25
20 18 26    Max Zachem Lakeland Landscape Supply   (Sean McDonald) 139 dnf 0 24
21 7 58    Eric Goodale GAF Roofing / Riverhead Building Supply   (Edgar Goodale) 131 crash 0 23
22 3 76    Jimmy Blewett Garden State Honda / John Blewett Inc / FX Ca   (Jimmy Blewett) 76 engine 0 22
23 14 82    Craig Lutz Horton Ave Materials   (Danny Watts Jr.) 53 radiator 0 21
Posted on by Staff Report

Although Austin Cindric will be racing the No. 2 Team Penske Ford during Sunday evening’s bout at Atlanta Motor Speedway as normal, the 24-year-old will have a different look, with the Columbus, Ohio native preparing to don glasses inside the car during Sunday’s Quaker State 400 (7 p.m. ET, USA, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

The new eyewear came in handy in Saturday’s qualifying session as Cindric will start 10th under the lights Sunday evening.

“I’ve been telling everybody it makes pretty things look prettier and ugly things look uglier,” a glasses-adorned Cindric said to Tyler Reddick during Saturday’s pre-qualifying media session with the No. 45 driver noticing the different look.

RELATED: Atlanta schedule | Cup lineup for Sunday

One reason for the change came at Nashville Superspeedway on June 25, where he finished 27th during the evening contest. The change became official on Wednesday when Cindric had an eye appointment and immediately sprinted to the mall to have a pair made within the hour.

While the change could initially bring fear, it is the opposite in the case of Cindric, who looks forward to the opportunity.

“One of my motivators was Nashville,” Cindric said. “I couldn’t see very well by the end of the race. Here I am with glasses before the next night race, so it’s not fear at all. I would say I’m gonna have a great improvement come Sunday night.”

Cindric plans to wear glasses as opposed to contacts in the car and additionally asked Joey Logano — another fellow glass-wearer — about the intricacies of where glasses inside the machine with the helmet and additional gear taken into account.

“I didn’t take any much time to decide whether or not this was the right thing for me to do as far as getting glasses, especially for me,” Cindric said. “I guess I’m nearsighted, and I have trouble seeing things far away. My profession requires me to identify things that are far away at a high rate of speed, so I would identify that as significantly important to eliminate a weakness.”

Cindric currently sits 22nd in the season points standings and has three top-10 finishes in 18 starts this season.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

HAMPTON, Ga. – The NASCAR Cup Series races at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday evening, so it should come as no surprise that Aric Almirola would lead an armada of Ford drivers in time trials for the Quaker State 400 (7 p.m. ET on USA, NBC Sports App, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Almirola claimed the fifth Busch Light Pole Award of his career with a lap at 177.346 mph (31.261 seconds), running the fastest lap of the day in the final round of time trials.

MORE: Sunday’s starting lineup | At-track photos

Almirola edged Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney (177.266 mph) by 0.035 seconds for the top starting spot in Sunday’s race, as Ford drivers claimed the first six positions on the grid. In March, Ford’s grabbed the top-eight starting spots.

Posted on by Staff Report

Jersey Shore 150

Wall Stadium Speedway

Wall New Logo Jpeg

  • Qualifying Results
Pos No. Name Sponsor Best Tm Best Speed
1 64 Austin Beers AP Marquadt & Sons/Andrew James Interiors 12.47 95.269
2 60 Matt Hirschman Pee Dee Motorsports 12.496 95.07
3 76 Jimmy Blewett Garden State Honda/John Blewett, Inc./FX Caprara 12.497 95.063
4 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc. 12.513 94.941
5 20 Edward McCarthy, Jr. McCarthy’s Marine Sales 12.538 94.752
6 7 Doug Coby Mayhew Tools 12.543 94.714
7 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 12.547 94.684
8 19 Anthony Sesely* Wanick Construction, Inc. 12.575 94.473
9 24 Andrew Krause Supreme Manufacturing Company 12.576 94.466
10 3 Jake Johnson* Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks 12.6 94.286
11 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes 12.612 94.196
12 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto 12.612 94.196
13 8 Thomas Martino, Jr.* Martino Racing Engines 12.649 93.92
14 82 Craig Lutz Horton Ave Materials 12.651 93.906
15 14 Blake Barney Atlantic Sprinkler Co/County Line Auto Body 12.683 93.669
16 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises 12.7 93.543
17 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting 12.705 93.506
18 26 Max Zachem Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat 12.739 93.257
19 46 Anthony Nocella Riverhead Building Supply 12.773 93.009
20 34 J.B. Fortin A&R Materials/CYA Screen Printing/Queens Concrete 12.797 92.834
21 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 12.823 92.646
22 9 Tommy Wanick* Wanick Construction Inc. 13.272 89.512
23 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 13.315 89.223
Posted on by Reid Spencer

Corey Heim started on the pole and finished with his second victory of the year in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 150 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

What happened between the green flag and the checkered flag was pure chaos.

In a race that started in a deluge and ended in bright sunshine, cars were spinning like tops on a Skittles Board and landing in gravel traps that required tow trucks to pull them to freedom.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

Teammates collided at the front of the field, and frequent contact between trucks produced 10 cautions for 23 of the 67 laps and stretched the race from a projected two hours 17 minutes to nearly four hours.

But in the end, the best truck won. Heim powered his No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota past Ty Majeski on Lap 42 and held the top spot for the final 26 laps to claim his first-ever road course victory at the 2.258-mile, 13-turn circuit.

Heim beat reigning series champion Zane Smith to the finish line by 0.947 seconds as Smith had to settle for the runner-up spot for the second straight year.

“It’s just unbelievable,” Heim said. “We came here with high expectations. I felt like I did a good job last year of staying up front, but I put in the work to go from being a third-place truck to a winning truck.

“This thing was good ever since we unloaded. I felt like we were the fastest truck in practice, qualified on the pole, of course, and came here and won the race. It’s just awesome. Hats off to everybody.”

Smith had to start from the rear of the field after his team made repairs to the transmission in his No. 38 Ford. He sustained minor damage to the truck while charging forward through heavy traffic.

“Yeah, brutal to finish second here again,” Smith said. “Such a fun road course. Our (truck) lacked turn, especially on the right-handers, all day long and struggled in first gear. Some things to improve on, but I just felt like we needed a little bit more.

“I don’t know how much our damage here was slowing us down, but those things happen when you start in the back. Frustrating to finish second again, but our road course program has been outstanding.”

Winless drivers immediately above and below the playoff bubble remained closely bunched, with Stewart Friesen finishing fourth, Matt Crafton sixth, Matt DiBenedetto eighth and Nick Sanchez ninth.

WATCH: Heim’s full post-race interview | Rajah Caruth spins late

Ben Rhodes won the first stage, and ThorSport Racing teammate Majeski took the second, but their two Fords collided and slid off-course on Lap 43 while running second and third behind Heim. Rhodes recovered to finish fifth, and Majeski salvaged a seventh-place result.

Christian Eckes, a two-time winner this year, ran a solid race and came home third behind Smith.

Just two races remain in the regular season for the Craftsman Truck Series. The circuit shifts to the “Tricky Triangle” of Pocono Raceway on July 22 (noon ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR radio).

Note: Post-race inspection concluded without issue, confirming Corey Heim as the race winner.

Posted on by Staff Report

Jersey Shore 150

Wall Stadium Speedway

Wall New Logo Png

  • Practice results
Pos. Car No. Driver Sponsor Best Time Best Speed In Lap Laps Diff.
1 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 12.47 95.269 47 47  –
2 60 Matt Hirschman Pee Dee Motorsports 12.491 95.108 36 47 0.021
3 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes 12.496 95.07 44 46 0.026
4 19 Anthony Sesely* Wanick Construction, Inc. 12.529 94.82 35 46 0.059
5 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc. 12.533 94.79 28 48 0.063
6 64 Austin Beers AP Marquadt & Sons/Andrew James Interiors 12.543 94.714 63 70 0.073
7 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto 12.543 94.714 36 48 0.073
8 20 Edward McCarthy, Jr. McCarthy’s Marine Sales 12.591 94.353 9 45 0.121
9 46 Anthony Nocella Riverhead Building Supply 12.615 94.174 36 39 0.145
10 7 Doug Coby Mayhew Tools 12.626 94.092 41 51 0.156
11 14 Blake Barney Atlantic Sprinkler Co/County Line Auto Body 12.629 94.069 40 51 0.159
12 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting 12.643 93.965 37 47 0.173
13 24 Andrew Krause Supreme Manufacturing Company 12.656 93.869 31 48 0.186
14 34 J.B. Fortin A&R Materials/CYA Screen Printing/Queens Concrete 12.663 93.817 21 52 0.193
15 3 Jake Johnson* Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks 12.672 93.75 7 45 0.202
16 26 Max Zachem Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat 12.678 93.706 28 31 0.208
17 82 Craig Lutz Horton Ave Materials 12.689 93.624 9 49 0.219
18 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises 12.713 93.448 39 39 0.243
19 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 12.968 91.61 29 30 0.498
20 9 Tommy Wanick* Wanick Construction Inc. 13.056 90.993 40 41 0.586
21 1 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 13.216 89.891 17 34 0.746
22 8 Thomas Martino, Jr.* Martino Racing Engines 14.83 80.108 5 7 2.36
Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

Chase Elliott’s journey to the NASCAR Playoffs continues to dominate the top story lines down the Cup Series regular-season stretch — and for good reason.

The 2020 Cup champion and five-time defending most popular driver has never missed NASCAR’s postseason in each of his seven full-time seasons since making the jump to the sport’s top level in 2016. Eight races remain in the regular season, including Sunday’s feature at Elliott’s home track of Atlanta Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). Heading into Hampton, Georgia, Elliott sits 24th in points, 55 markers beneath the elimination line, separating the 16-driver playoff field from those who miss out.

MORE: Cup standings | See the latest Playoff Watch

This time last year, Elliott was in the midst of an extraordinary run in which he finished first or second in five consecutive races, producing three wins that helped inch him closer to the regular-season championship. And while that’s nice to reflect on, last year’s debut season of the Next Gen vehicle meant teams were still adapting to the new cars. As more data became available, Elliott’s competition closed the gap, a trend that he says continued into 2023.

“We had a good summer stretch, but a lot has changed since then too,” Elliott said during a media teleconference Thursday. “And I think a lot changed really last fall. When we started running not as good there in the fall, I think personally, the setups and just the direction that the garage area went in was a pretty large departure from what we had success with through the early stages of the season and through those summer months.

“Changes with the tire and all kinds of little things that I think added up, and we, the group and me personally as a driver, just (were) not doing very well with that. And I think some of those same struggles have rolled over into this season too.”

Chase Elliott drives at the NASCAR Chicago Street Race
Michael Reaves | Getty Images

The genesis of Elliott’s points predicament stems, of course, from the seven races he has missed in 2023 — six due to a broken leg suffered in a March snowboarding accident and one due to suspension. But there are plenty of reasons for fans of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to be optimistic as NASCAR crests into the second half of the 2023 season. In 11 starts, Elliott has scored five top-five finishes and seven top 10s, including three straight top fives and four in the last five races.

“I feel like the good news is we’ve been trending in a good direction,” Elliott said. “And I feel like the areas that I’ve struggled in, I’ve made a little progress over the last month or so. And we’ve had some solid runs at tracks that I was expecting to remind me more of our struggles last year.

“I feel like we’ve been executing races at a high level over the last month or so, which I think is a really, really good thing. And I think our team is in a really good place. We just need a little bit of pace. And I’ve been saying that over the last couple of weeks. But I think a lot of that falls on me to extract that pace to know in the early stages of the event or even in our short practice session to say, ‘hey, I need this and this to go better.’

“I think all those things are on me and to make sure that I’m giving the information that needs to be given to help lead our team in a better direction in those crucial moments.”

Up next is Atlanta, which Elliott conquered for the first time last summer in a thrilling battle against Corey LaJoie. That triumph carries significant weight for Elliott one year later and is bound to for quite a while to come.

RELATED: Weekend schedule | Preview the Atlanta action

“It was a very special race for me,” said Elliott, son of 1988 Cup champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott. “I think any time any driver who over the course of their career has had the privilege of not only racing at their home track or a place that they grew up racing at in some capacity, but then to go and win? Yeah, it was a really big deal for me.

“I spent a ton of time at AMS as a kid on the quarter mile and racing down there so I thought it was super cool. That’s something that I’ll always, always remember and hope I can add to that and hope we can have a run like we had a year ago. But yeah, it was a special, special moment, one I’m very proud of. And I hope we can do it again. It was a lot of fun. It was a good time. It was really cool to check that box and to add that one to the win column.”