Posted on by Adam Fenwick

Brenden Queen proved just how good he is at Langley Speedway on Saturday night.

Queen, the three-time and defending track champion at Langley in the headlining Late Model Stock Car division, powered past Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 winner Bobby McCarty to earn his second victory in the Hampton Heat 200.

The victory by Queen snapped an 11-race winning streak by Connor Hall, who had been undefeated at Langley this year entering Saturday’s race. Hall finished second Saturday night.

“This is big,” said Queen, who previously won the event in 2020. “It’s funny how the world works. This is the car that I knocked out of the way to win in 2020. To come back and drive it for Lee (Pulliam) and get him one that he was close to winning this year is a story you can’t make up.”

Queen made the race-winning move on Lap 148 when he overtook McCarty, who ultimately finished third behind Queen and Hall. Brandon Pierce and Sam Yarbrough completed the top-five.

The victory, combined with Queen’s runner-up finish in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway earlier this month, makes him the unofficial leader of the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown standings with only the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway on Sept. 23 remaining.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

LONG POND, Pa. — Pole position. Most laps led. In contention for the win at the white flag. Josh Berry appeared primed for a sorely-needed visit to Victory Lane in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway.

Instead, the driver of the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet took a trip to the infield care center, where he was evaluated and released after a cut tire on the final lap of NASCAR Overtime in the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 sent him into the Turn 2 wall.

RELATED: Austin Hill prevails at Pocono | At-track photos

The chaotic extra stanza of racing saw Berry restart on the outside of the front row with a rear bumper full of Austin Hill’s Chevrolet. The shove slid Berry’s car high and out of the groove, allowing Hill to escape with the lead. Berry fought back to second place on the final circuit, returning a nudge to Hill’s rear bumper through Turn 1. Hill maintained position, though, and as Berry swerved right to tuck in behind Hill, Sam Mayer — Berry’s teammate — and filled the gap and instead got door-slammed by Berry.

That contact was enough to flatten Berry’s right-front tire, sending the No. 8 car into the Turn 2 SAFER barrier and relegating its driver to a 24th-place finish, one lap down. All that after leading a race-high 51 of 92 laps in search of his first victory of the 2023 season.

“Honestly, I was trying to time it off of one there where I can pass him into two, and honestly, just caught him faster than I expected,” Berry said. “And it kind of just got us all jammed up there, and then, yeah, tried to get away from him on the straightaway and just was a little late. Sam must’ve had a huge run. It was hard to tell … I knew he had a run, but I thought I covered it quick enough and obviously didn’t. But yeah, tough way to end for sure.”

Berry and the No. 8 team, led by crew chief Taylor Moyer, entered the contest 105 points to the good of the NASCAR Playoffs elimination line for the Xfinity Series, which now has seven races left in its regular season. They remain the highest-ranked team in points (sixth) without a victory, but Saturday resulted in Berry’s fifth finish of 17th or worse in the last six races.

The difference this week: Berry was plenty pleased with the speed his JRM group found despite the DNF.

“We had a really fast car, which is what we’ve been lacking all year,” he said. “So if we keep bringing cars like this to the race track, we’ll win plenty of times.”

This year marks Berry’s final season in the Xfinity Series, affirmed in June when he announced he will drive the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford beginning in 2024 as 2014 Cup champion Kevin Harvick retires. With a string of results worse than performance has indicated, Berry believes the momentum found this weekend will still translate into the home stretch ahead of the postseason title hunt.

“Obviously had a phenomenal car and really was in great shape there a couple times to get the win and just ultimately just got beat on the last restart,” Berry said. “But you know, wish we could have finished in the top five like we deserve.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

Austin Hill survived an early race pit road speeding penalty, gambled on fuel strategy and prevailed in an incredible wheel-to-wheel run to the checkered flag in overtime to claim his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season in the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday.

As important as the victory for the 29-year old Georgia-native his good day combined with an uncharacteristic disappointing day for his closest rivals in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship standings gave him a huge boost in the points with only seven races remaining to set the 12-driver field. He trailed championship leader John Hunter Nemechek by 33 points before the green flag and took the checkered flag now only 13 behind.

RELATED: Official results | Weekend schedule

On a dramatic – and at times chaotic – overtime restart, Hill had to get around the day’s most dominant driver, JR Motorsports’ Josh Berry. His No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was behind Berry on the restart and gave him a big push at the green flag, but Berry got loose, and Hill got around him to lead his first lap on the afternoon.

Both Berry and JRM teammate Justin Allgaier hit the wall in separate accidents on the final lap bringing out the yellow flag, and the race ultimately ended under caution with Hill out front.

“We didn’t have the best car all day,’’ Hill said. “Andy [Petree] and all the guys back at RCR engines worked really hard. We got the car better. I thought we were maybe a top-five or top-seven car. I didn’t think we had anything for the leader today.

“On that restart, he drove into one and got really loose into the entry. … we drag-raced down the backstretch, and once I cleared him [Berry] I knew I just had to hit my marks.

WATCH: Hill discusses thrilling Pocono win

“Such a special win,’’ Hill added. “Obviously with fuel saving, we didn’t know if we were going to make it and it was on my mind going into the ‘Tunnel Turn’ (Turn 2) that I had to get back to the start-finish line. I had enough fuel to do a burnout so we saved enough.’’

It was especially heartbreaking for Berry, who dominated all the race’s major statistics. For the first time in his career, he swept both stages. And he started from pole position for the first time this year, leading a race-high 51 of the 92 laps. He finished 24th after his No. 8 JRM Chevrolet trailed up the track and into the wall racing Hill – bringing out the final caution that ended the race.

“Just a wild restart there,’’ said Berry, who will take over for retiring NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford next year.

“The 21 [Hill] was behind me and gave me a really good push but pushed me a little longer and harder than I wanted into Turn 1 and got me into the marbles … I was able to battle back and race with him. Tried to time the run, but got there a little quicker.

“Just a racing deal,’’ Berry added. “Hate we didn’t get the finish we deserved today. Just really proud of the car we brought today and I know if we continue to have that kind of speed we’ll win plenty of races. Just a tough way to end but still a lot of positives from the day.’’

His JR Motorsports teammate Sam Mayer finished second to Hill, followed by former NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott, who was competing in his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race in two years – driving the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in a paint scheme honoring his team owner Rick Hendrick’s late son, Ricky Hendrick.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst finished fourth, also coming out on the right side of a fuel-save gamble. Kaulig Racing’s Daniel Hemric was fifth.

“We finished fourth, and that’s what we needed at a track I don’t particularly love,’’ Herbst said “Lucky to get out of here with a top five.’’

The effort was good enough to keep Herbst in the points picture for the championship. He is ranked 12th – the final playoff transfer position – 26 points ahead of Parker Kligerman, who finished ninth Saturday.

WATCH: Custer, Nemechek collide on frontstretch 

Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones, Brett Moffitt, Kligerman and another NASCAR Cup Series regular, Daniel Suárez, who drove for Kaulig Racing rounded out the top 10.

A mid-race incident with two of the three championship leaders – Nemechek and third-place Cole Custer – changed the complexion of the regular season title chase. On a restart just over halfway through the race  – with both Nemechek and Custer running inside the Top-10 – Nemechek hit the wall and washed back across the track, his Toyota hitting Cole Custer’s Ford. Custer was third in the championship entering the race.

Both teams made quick repairs to the cars, but they were non-competitive for the remainder of the race. Nemechek finished 32nd and Custer, 33rd.

Seven races remain to set the 12-driver championship field. Next week the NASCAR Xfinity Series resumes action next Saturday in the Henry 180 on the Road America road course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: Post-race inspection in the Xfinity Series garage at Pocono concluded without issue, confirming Hill as the race winner.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

LONG POND, Pa. – With six regular-season races remaining, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott are running out of chances to win their respective ways into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Bowman sits 20th in the points standings, 42 points beneath the elimination line, while Hendrick Motorsports teammate Elliott is 23rd, 60 points outside the 16-driver playoff grid entering Sunday’s HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono Raceway (2:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

MORE: Cup standings | Playoff Watch in full force

Hendrick has historically been exceptional at the “Tricky Triangle,” claiming 19 wins around the 2.5-mile Pennsylvanian oddity, fourth-most in team history. The 19th, of course, was an oddity of its own – Elliott was deemed the winner after first-place finisher Denny Hamlin and second-place Kyle Busch were disqualified following post-race technical inspection.

But past success doesn’t mean much to Elliott right now. The 2020 Cup champion took the checkered flag third a season ago and then spun during his qualifying attempt Saturday, relegating him to a 35th-place starting position.

“We were credited with the win (in 2022), but I don’t feel like we had a stellar run,” Elliott said Friday. “We were decent, but certainly not like we came up here and dominated the race like you want to have happen. So, a little bit of a different vibe and I am not sure that I … certainly not in (my) NASCAR time, I never remember being gifted a win like that.”

That’s not to say he wouldn’t take another one like it. Both past Pocono winners, Elliott and Bowman (2021, Pocono-1) know a trip to Victory Lane would secure a spot in the postseason push for a championship.

This is unfamiliar territory for either driver during their tenures at Hendrick Motorsports. Elliott has never missed the playoffs since joining the team in 2016, nor has Bowman since 2018.

Elliott has also scored multiple victories per season since 2018, including five in 2022, yet remains winless through 13 starts in 2023, with seven missed races putting him in this predicament.

“It’s certainly different from last year, but I think it has been in some ways enjoyable to find new challenges and kind of push yourself in different areas,” Elliott said. “It doesn’t really feel a ton different, I guess, than like a playoff run, like in the final 10. … Like last year, when we had a good year, we had a lot of playoff points going into the postseason, and I am glad we did because that got us to Phoenix (as part of the Championship 4).

“But in years that we didn’t, it was about that you had to show up every week and really get it in those last 10 if you wanted to advance, and that is really kind of how it feels now.  I have always enjoyed those final 10 weeks just because of that.

“You show up to the race track every week, and there was something on the line. There always is, don’t take me wrong. To me, it’s a little more fun knowing that it’s kind of make or break. You either get in or you don’t. It’s up to us to go and try to achieve that.”

Bowman will take the green flag from the 20th position Sunday afternoon, a “frustrating” qualifying performance for the No. 48 Chevrolet after entering the day with bigger expectations — emphasized by teammate William Byron’s pole-winning run. Hanging on to a top-20 spot in points, the season’s one-time points leader is growing impatient with his playoff circumstances.

“We (had) a 60-point penalty, and I missed four races. I really shouldn’t even be in the conversation,” Bowman said. “So, just need to go and execute. That’s really the biggest thing is just to go run how we’re supposed to. And we’ve had good runs. Obviously, Atlanta, we were really good. Chicago, we were going to be good. (It) just seems like every week, something happens. So hopefully, we can overcome that this weekend.”

Byron’s pole position, which will allow him to lead the field to green for Sunday’s 160-lap contest, highlights the tale of two goals existing inside Hendrick Motorsports. Byron, with a series-high four wins, sits 17 points behind Martin Truex Jr. in the battle for the regular-season championship. Kyle Larson, the 2021 champion and driver of the team’s No. 5 Chevrolet, sits eighth in the points standings with two victories.

“Obviously, they are trying to get the best finishes possible each week, and a win would be nice,” Larson said. “I hadn’t really looked at it too much, to be honest with you or thought about it a whole lot here until lately, but they both have some really good tracks coming up for them. You know, Chase’s spin (Saturday) doesn’t help things, but I feel like Pocono’s a great track for him. And a lot of times when you start — really anywhere here — you can find your way to the front easily with strategy, so that’s something that I feel like (No. 9 crew chief) Alan (Gustafson) excels at and their team and I wouldn’t count them out for (Sunday).

“Same with Alex. (No. 48 crew chief) Blake’s (Harris) got a lot of experience winning here with Truex. But yeah, I mean, obviously it’s getting close to the end of the regular season, and it looks like they may have to win.”

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

LONG POND, Pa. — Justin Haley will be driving for Rick Ware Racing in 2024, a move away from Kaulig Racing, where’s spent the majority of his NASCAR career.

The decisions behind Haley’s departure were made mutually by Haley and Kaulig leadership, Haley and team president Chris Rice said Saturday at Pocono Raceway. Ultimately, sponsorship was the overriding factor that led Haley away from the No. 31 Chevrolet at year’s end and into one of RWR’s two Ford as a full-time competitor beginning in 2024.

MORE: Full details on Haley’s signing | Pocono schedule

“Everyone was working on getting a deal done,” Haley said of Kaulig Racing. “None of us gave up on each other and we won’t the rest of the year. It’s just where the sport’s at. You know, I think that it’ll probably work out for the better for them to have a driver with a little bit more backing behind them and help them out in that way. And I think Rick took an opportunity on me and I took an opportunity on him.

“And honestly, it’ll probably work out for the best. But I’m excited to stay with Kaulig for the rest of the season and finish it off. I mean, there’s absolutely no bad blood. You know, it’s just not like I left on bad terms or they fired me or anything. I mean, it’s just business.”

Haley, 24, has won four races with Kaulig Racing, all in the Xfinity Series and all at superspeedways — two each at Daytona and Talladega. His lone Cup triumph came in a rain-shortened race at Daytona in 2019 while driving for Spire Motorsports.

Entering Sunday’s HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono (2:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), Haley sits 21st in points, 46 points beneath the elimination line to qualify for the 16-driver playoff grid with six races remaining in the regular season. Full-time in Cup for just the second year, Haley has totaled four top fives and nine top 10s in his past 56 starts dating back to the start of the 2022 season.

“We love Justin. Justin has done a really good job for us, won a lot of races for us, and we’re gonna miss him for sure,” Rice said. “But he’s still a part of the Kaulig family. We look at Ross Chastain in the same way. We feel like he’s still part of the family. So happy for Justin to continue his tenure in Cup racing. And you never know what, down the road, he might be back with us.

“We’ve had (sponsor) Leaf Filter Gutter Protection for so long, and they’ve done a lot of races and been a big supporter of Justin Haley’s and still are. So yeah, the door wasn’t closed. It wasn’t like, hey, anybody got fired or anything like that. It was just we both had to make a tough decision, Hey, we’ve gotta move a different direction and looking at things for partners in different avenues. So yeah, I think him making his move was because of us telling him that.”

MORE: What to Watch: Pocono | At-track photos

Haley emphasized his relationships with Rice and team owner Matt Kaulig are still well intact. And while he’s moving on from a team he’s plenty familiar with, a new opportunity has the Indiana native ready for a fresh start at a Rick Ware Racing team in the midst of its own revamp.

“Obviously, he’s a businessman and he’s making business decisions,” Haley said of Kaulig. “And I think we were close to doing a deal. I feel like it was a probable option. I feel like I had a few deals. And Rick just kept coming and calling and just gave me a really good deal. And I believe in what they’ve been able to do, especially with the RFK (Racing) alliance.”

Indeed, RWR moved not just onto RFK Racing’s campus for the 2023 season but into its shop. RFK co-owner and driver Brad Keselowski and team president Steve Newmark were present during Haley’s conversations with RWR as well.

“Brad Keselowski and Steve over at RFK were very helpful in my decision process. They were convincing as well,” Haley said. “So I think with our alliance with RFK, Rick Ware … I think maybe on the surface, it might look like an odd move. But there’s a lot more depth to it than you might think.”

Rick Ware Racing has long paid its dues as an underfunded team with an array of drivers behind the wheel, looking to gain experience as a team with its two chartered entries. Team president Robby Benton brought in former car owner and Daytona 500 winning crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr. earlier this year as the team’s competition director, and the results seem to be paying off. JJ Yeley scored a seventh-place finish two weeks ago at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and Cole Custer was battling inside the top 20 last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway — marked improvements after years of struggling to break into the top 30.

“I don’t wanna speak (for) Rick, but I think he wants to kind of change the narrative of where he is at on the NASCAR side of things,” Haley said. “And signing a driver like me full-time I think is going to be great for the organization. Obviously, he mentioned that I take care of race cars to the best of my ability and don’t cause a lot of on-track collisions, and that’s big for smaller team. … I just think I think it’s a good fit over there.”

Posted on by Staff Report

A driver feud that bubbled up years ago at Pocono Raceway found a happy resolution in the same place Saturday, benefiting both goodwill in the NASCAR Cup Series garage and a pair of good causes.

Kevin Harvick presented Joey Logano with a $12,000 donation from one driver’s foundation to the other’s on Saturday. The gift came from T-shirt sales from Harvick’s merch store, with proceeds going to — it turns out — both charitable groups.

The shirts read: “I wear the fire suit in this family,” a play on Logano’s jab toward Harvick and his wife, DeLana, after the two drivers had an on-track run-in during the 2010 season at Pocono. At the time, DeLana Harvick was regularly seen atop her husband’s team’s pit box with a team fire suit, something that the 20-year-old Logano made light of in his remarks after a fiery post-race confrontation.

RELATED: Inside Logano-Harvick rift from 2010

The Harvicks made T-shirts to mark the occasion back in 2010 and recently brought them back in recognition of memorable moments from Kevin Harvick’s career as he navigates his final Cup Series season. The two drivers have become Cup Series champions since then and have long since overcome their differences.

When Logano ran a Shell/Pennzoil throwback to a former Harvick paint scheme from that era, Logano’s wife, Brittany, wore a fire suit in the design’s reveal and on pit road at Darlington Raceway in 2019. Earlier this week, Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing team had its own take on the remembrance, putting the driver’s 5-year-old daughter, Piper, in charge of the No. 4 car at the team’s shop.

Both were able to again share a laugh in looking back on their dust-up Saturday while raising funds for their philanthropic efforts. Fittingly, the Logano family was decked out in matching shirts when Harvick made the presentation.

Sunday’s HighPoint.com 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is set to be Harvick’s final Pocono start. Harvick is scheduled to start fourth in the No. 4 Mustang, with Logano sixth in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

Logano reflected on the gesture from Harvick and his foundation before his qualifying effort.

“Well, I’m glad we figured it all out,” Logano said, looking back to what was just his second full year of Cup Series competition. “So here’s the thing, you sometimes grow up in front of everybody. And yeah, Kevin wrecked me that day, and I was mad about it. I probably shouldn’t have brought his wife into the middle of it or made it that personal, but the fact that they made a joke out of it and Kevin and I get along really well now, and to see his kids all involved, they just came over to our bus and gave us a donation to our foundation, the Joey Logano Foundation, and he gave the kids all the ‘I wear the fire suit in the family’ T-shirts and all. So it’s become a fun joke between us now. I still regret saying it, but at least some good things came out of it. They raised a bunch of money for their foundation, and they paid it forward to us, so that’s pretty special. That’s cool.”

Said Harvick: “Joey and I have a good relationship. The thing that I like about Joey is he’s so involved in the sport, he’s all-in. Really since we’ve gotten to know each other over the past several years and having to work on a lot of the same things to help him improve the sport, and as we went down the list of races, that ‘I wear the firesuit’ moment obviously came up. And I talked to Joey before we did everything, and I said, ‘Hey, would you want to play along?’ and he’s always game for stuff like that. We just felt like it would be the right thing to do after all these years to make a nice donation to his foundation.

“He’s always, if there’s something going on, he’s gonna call me, and I’m gonna call him, and we’ll race each other hard, but I think as you look at that, it was just a good moment to look back on something that we all laugh at, and I think as we go forward, a good opportunity to donate to his foundation.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron earned his third pole position of the year Saturday at Pocono Raceway and will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to green in Sunday’s HighPoint.com 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Byron’s time of 57.746 (170.235 mph) in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was .122-second quicker than his championship rival Martin Truex Jr. in Busch Light Pole Qualifying at the unique three-turn, 2.5-mile Pocono track and places the current two title leaders alongside one another for the race start.

RELATED: Sunday’s starting lineup | Weekend schedule

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Truex – the 2017 series champion – has two previous wins (2015 and 2018) at Pocono while the 25-year-old Charlotte native Byron is still racing for his first.

“Big thanks to all the guys back at the shop for working hard and getting our cars close, I’m proud of this one,’’ said Byron, who leads the series with four wins and is currently 17 points behind Truex for the regular season championship. “Definitely tomorrow’s a long day so re-hydrate and re-group. I’ve had a long week of racing so hopefully tomorrow is a good result for us. It would be nice to get a win.’’

Tyler Reddick set the NASCAR Cup Series pace all day in his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota – fastest overall in practice and first-round qualifying – but he will start seventh on the grid. His teammate Bubba Wallace was quickest in Group A qualifying but brushed the wall during his final-round qualifying lap and will start 10th.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick will start on the second row, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell and Team Penske’s Joey Logano, the reigning series champion.

Reddick will line up alongside his team co-owner, JGR driver Denny Hamlin on Row 4. Team Penske’s Austin Cindric and Wallace comprise Row 5, rounding out the top-10 qualifiers.

Chase Elliott and Todd Gilliland each spun during their opening-round qualifying laps, with both drivers losing control through Turn 2. Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet escaped without any barrier contact, but Gilliland grazed the outside retaining wall with the left-rear corner of his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford. Elliott, last year’s Pocono winner, will join Gilliland in starting at the rear of the field trying to defend his trophy and more importantly, earn a position in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

There are six races remaining to set that 16-driver playoff field. Elliott missed six races due to a combination of injury and a one-race NASCAR suspension and is 60 points behind Michael McDowell in that 16th-place transfer position.

Hamlin is tied with NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon for most wins (six) in Pocono history. There has not been a repeat winner in the last six Pocono races.

Reddick sets pace in Pocono practice

Tyler Reddick was fastest in NASCAR Cup Series practice at Pocono Raceway, rolling to the top of the leaderboard in Saturday afternoon’s preliminary session.

Reddick’s No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota posted a best lap of 168.596 mph in the second of two 20-minute sessions, which divided the 36-car field into two groups.

MORE: At-track photos: Pocono

Kyle Busch registered the second-fastest lap at 168.483 mph in the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. William Byron was third, followed by Kyle Larson and points leader Martin Truex Jr. in the top five of the practice leaderboard. Denny Hamlin, a six-time Pocono winner, was fastest in Group A and seventh-fast overall.

Chris Buescher caused the only stoppage of the combined practice runs when his No. 17 RFK Racing Ford spun through Turn 1 early in Group B action. He ended up with the sixth-fastest speed overall.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Sean Montgomery

Only one race remains before the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs begin at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park — and only 10 drivers will be in contention for the title.

So far, through the season’s first 15 races, there have been six winners who claim points in the Truck Series, meaning that at least three of the playoff spots will be earned via the points path. Drivers on the outside looking in or just above the elimination line will have a huge test next Saturday at Richmond Raceway (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) that could make or break their championship hopes.

Take a look at the current playoff picture below to see who is in and who is out after the results from Pocono Raceway.

DRIVERPLAYOFF STATUSPROJECTED POINTSLAST RICHMOND FINISH
Corey HeimLocked in (two wins)20305th (2022)
Zane SmithLocked in (two wins)20249th (2022)
Christian EckesLocked in (two wins)20198th (2022)
Grant EnfingerLocked in (two wins)20194th (2022)
Carson HocevarLocked in (two wins)201610th (2022)
Ben RhodesLocked in (one win)201318th (2022)
Ty MajeskiLocked in (points)20083rd (2022)
Nick SanchezNot locked in2004First Truck Series start
Matt DiBenedettoNot locked in200317th (2022)
Matt CraftonNot locked in20027th (2022)
ELIMINATION LINE
Stewart FriesenOutside looking inMissing the playoffs11th (2022)
Tanner GrayOutside looking inMissing the playoffs16th (2022)

RELATED: Projected Truck Series Round of 10 | Remaining schedule, tickets

CURRENT LAST IN

Matt Crafton. The three-time Truck Series champion has been a part of the playoffs every year since its inception in 2016. Missing out on the postseason could be a sign of the surging youth movement in the lower series and perhaps a changing of the guard. Crafton has finished the season top-six in points six times in the last eight seasons, including his 2019 championship run. But over the last three seasons, the wins have eluded him. His last trip to Victory Lane came in July 2020 at Kansas Speedway, leaving him fending for his life on points during his last three runs to the postseason. While impressive, it is clearly getting harder for him to sustain this success without reaching Victory Lane. Only nine points above the elimination line, one shaky performance could leave him on the outside for the first time in his career.

CURRENT FIRST OUT

Stewart Friesen. One of the longest-tenured veterans of the series, Friesen won his way into the playoffs last year with a phenomenal performance at Texas Motor Speedway. And though he has yet to rekindle that winning flame, he sits within striking distance of Crafton for the final spot in the Round of 10. That has to be nerve-wracking for both drivers to be so close. That means every single position on the track matters. Friesen got off to a slightly shaky start this season but found nice form with two top four-finishes in a stretch of three races, both coming at pretty difficult tracks in World Wide Technology Raceway and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. But he lost some ground after a 32nd-place result at Pocono Raceway, leaving him still on the outside of the picture. But he can still make up the points.

CURRENT NEXT DRIVER OUT

Tanner Gray. Gray was in prime position with a strong truck Saturday at Pocono but faltered on Lap 4 and had an early exit after a big crash. On the bright side, that clears up the goal for Gray and the team next week in Virginia: they need to win. But that’s easier said than done. Gray now sits 47 points below the elimination line and will need to pull off the best performance of his career next weekend. It’s not completely out of reach if they can start with the speed they flashed early at the “Tricky Triangle.”

THE REIGNING CHAMP

Zane Smith. Compared to Smith’s pretty dominant title run a season ago, his numbers have been down a bit in the regular season. Nonetheless, he is locked in and is in a comfortable position to defend his Truck Series championship. The rising star and high-value prospect turned it on last year at IRP, the site of this year’s Round of 10 opening race. Jumpstarted by a third-place run in Indianapolis, Smith went on to finish six of the final seven races inside the top 10 — a remarkable run. He has already proven that he knows how to perform when the pressure is on, so he will be among the top contenders and attempt to be the one who earns back-to-back titles in the Truck Series for the first time since Matt Crafton in 2014.

HEY, ROOKIE

Nick Sanchez. If you look back at the above standings, you’ll see only one rookie in the projected playoff field. That tells you everything you need to know about Sanchez’s talent and consistency. Despite narrowly missing out on Victory Lane a couple of times this season, seven top-10 finishes in the first 14 races — including four straight — had him sitting nicely in the playoff picture on points. But an unfortunate error at Pocono left him with damage after starting on the pole position, going on to finish outside the top 15. If he can bounce back at Richmond, the 22-year-old ARCA Menards Series champion could be a serious contender to make the Championship 4 in Phoenix. But just 21 points above the daunting elimination line, one more slip-up could mean the end of his title opportunity.

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MORE: See every Truck Series winner in 2023 | List of past series champions

Looking at the current standings, Chase Purdy is the third driver out, 54 points below the elimination line. It is all but guaranteed that he and the swarm of other hopefuls below him will have to find their way to the Winner’s Circle in the final competition of the regular season, and it will be a tight race to the finish.

Posted on by Holly Cain

In what was both a thrilling and historic afternoon at Pocono Raceway, Kyle Busch earned a hard-fought win in Saturday’s CRC Brakleen 150 with a last-lap pass for his Kyle Busch Motorsports team’s milestone 100th series victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Busch made a daring move low on series championship leader Corey Heim in Turn 2 — “The Tunnel Turn” — of the 2.5-mile track, got around cleanly and motored off to a 0.604-second win in the No. 51 KBM Chevrolet to at last secure that unprecedented 100th victory for his decorated team. It marks the second win of the year in five truck starts for Busch, 38, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion.

RELATED: Race results | Weekend schedule

“It’s pretty cool, we’ve been around for a long time, but it’s been fun,” said Busch, who now has 64 Truck Series wins, including three at Pocono. “A great ride. Obviously, this [Chevrolet] Silverado today was really, really fast, just mired in traffic. Couldn’t find a way to make a clean move, so had to make a little bit of a racey one, a little bit of a dicey one there at the end, getting into (turn) two. Heim ran a great race. We just needed this hundredth win to get it over with.

“Really proud of the guys and everybody at KBM,’’ he said, adding, “It’s a monumental day, a century mark of being able to win a hundred truck races. We’re a small team, just one that performs in the truck series.’’

WATCH: Kyle Busch discusses milestone win for KBM

Eighteen drivers contributed to that grand win total for Kyle Busch Motorsports – including Heim, who finished runner-up to his former boss on Saturday after leading a race-best 27 of the 60 laps.

“Just unreal,’’ said Heim, who holds a 42-point lead over Zane Smith atop the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship heading into the regular-season finale next week at Richmond Raceway.

“I felt like I did everything right,’’ continued Heim, who drives the No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota. “Seemed like we had about five laps in the truck before it started tightening up really bad on me. I really did get the run I wanted out of (Turn) 1 and knew his straightaway speed was really good. I was a little upset initially, but realistically, I would have done the exact same thing. Heat of the moment deal there.

“Looking back on it, I’ve just got a lot of respect for Kyle. I raced for him for two years, and he was really good to me and raced me with respect today. He’s a hard racer and didn’t wreck us for the win, and I probably would have done the same thing. Really sucks, really thought we had it there.’’

Heim’s Tricon Garage teammate Taylor Gray finished a career-best third place with another NASCAR Cup Series full-timer, Christopher Bell, in fourth place in the Hattori Racing Enterprises No. 61 Toyota. Grant Enfinger rounded out the top five in the No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet.

Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes, Dean Thompson, 2021 series champion Ben Rhodes and Matt DiBenedetto completed the top 10 on Saturday.

It was Heim’s closest championship challenger who dominated early at Pocono. Zane Smith, whose 19 laps led was second only to Heim, won both stages (his third and fourth of the season), giving him bonus points to seemingly narrow the championship gap.

That pit strategy, however, left him vulnerable in the rear of the field during that final stage, and he was among 10 trucks involved in an incident with eight laps remaining that brought out a 13-minute red flag period.

MORE: At-track photos: Pocono

Smith’s truck was too damaged to finish the race, as was another playoff hopeful, Stewart Friesen. The reigning series champion now shows up at Richmond, a longshot to claim the regular season trophy; he is one of five drivers with two wins on the season.

“I don’t really know who wrecked in front of me,” Smith said. “It was obviously just a matter of time with those weapons, but it’s just unfortunate. I got hit right into it, and it just caught on fire. Our First Gold Ford was really fast. We won both stages, so fortunately, we had that. It’s just a bummer we got put back there with those guys where we don’t belong.”

Pole winner, 22-year-old Nick Sanchez, was involved in an accident just before the “Big One” and took out his fellow front-row starter and rookie Jake Garcia in a crash with 15 laps remaining.

Tanner Gray was the race’s first retiree, finishing last in the 36-truck field. The 24-year-old driver completed just three laps before losing control of his No. 15 Tricon Garage Toyota and making heavy contact with the inside retaining wall.

Front-row starters Nick Sanchez and Jake Garcia collided with 15 laps remaining. Sanchez, the pole winner, continued on to a 19th-place result while Garcia was sidelined in 35th.

The Craftsman Truck Series’ next race is the Worldwide Express 250, scheduled for Saturday, July 29 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Richmond. The event is the series’ regular-season finale, which will set the 10-driver playoff field. Heading into Richmond, three-time former series champion Matt Crafton holds a one-point advantage over Friesen for that final 10th-place playoff transfer spot.

Note: Post-race inspection in the Craftsman Truck Series garage is complete with no issues, confirming Busch as the winner.

Contributing: Staff reports