Race To The Chase Resumes At Bristol Motor Speedway

Posted on August 16, 2016 by KBOE Administrator

Four Sprint Cup Series races remain in the regular season and five spots on The Chase Grid are still open heading into Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops

N-R-A Night Race in Bristol, Tennessee. Twelve drivers have been victorious thus far in 2016: Matt Kenseth, Kyle and Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Junior, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart and Chris Buescher. All are within the requisite top thirty of the standings with the exception of Buescher, currently just three points below the cutoff … Assuming he will climb into the top thirty over the next four weeks, that leaves a maximum of four post-season spots available based on the point standings. Jamie McMurray holds a thirty-point lead over Kyle Larson, his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, in the fight for what would be the final “playoff” spot. In this year’s first race at Bristol on April 17^th, neither McMurray nor Larson cracked the top ten, but McMurray had the better of it – finishing thirteenth, twenty-two spots ahead of his teammate … If the Chase began today, Ryan Newman, Austin Dillon and rookie Chase Elliott would hold the three other spots. Any driver who hasn’t yet won but reaches Victory Lane in one of the next four races would qualify for the post-season, provided that driver was among the top thirty in points, and would reduce the number of spots available based on the regular-season standings.

Darlington Named 3 Grand Marshals For Bojangles’ Southern 500

Posted on August 11, 2016 by KBOE Administrator

Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick and Mark Martin – all of whom will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame next year – will serve as grand marshals for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, September 4th. They’ll give the command to start engines for the race, which will again feature throwback paint schemes honoring NASCAR’s history and heritage. Childress and Hendrick are two of the most successful owners in Cup Series history. Childress’ teams have posted 105 victories since 1969 and won twelve championships across NASCAR’s three national series – second all-time. Richard Childress Racing is the first organization to win titles in all three national series. Much of his success came with driver Dale Earnhardt, who won sixty-seven races for R-C-R including eight at Darlington … Hendrick, who founded Hendrick Motorsports in 1984, owns an all-time-record eleven Cup Series championships among car owners: six with Jimmie Johnson, four with Jeff Gordon and one with Terry Labonte. His drivers have won 242 Cup Series races with one thousand top-five finishes. Hendrick’s teams have fourteen Cup Series wins at Darlington Raceway, including seven with Gordon. Johnson’s victory there in 2012 gave the organization its two hundredth win … Martin, in a thirty-one-year career, won forty Cup Series races including the 1993 and 2009 Southern 500s. He also won eight XFINITY races at Darlington, the most in series history.

Denny Hamlin Takes The Win At Watkins Glen International

Posted on August 8, 2016 by KBOE Administrator

Denny Hamlin darted away from the field on Sunday’s final restart and then held his ground over the last four laps to win at Watkins Glen International, notching his second victory of the season and clinching a spot in the post-season Chase. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver started sixth and led just ten laps all day … but they were the ten that counted most, at the end of the race. Martin Truex Junior closed in on Hamlin’s rear bumper on the final lap. But Brad Keselowski – who led a race-high twenty-eight laps – pushed Truex out of the way in the final turn and motored on to grab third place behind Hamlin and Joey Logano, who took advantage of the contact between Truex and Keselowski to advance two spots. A-J Allmendinger finished fourth with Tony Stewart completing the top five. Pole sitter Carl Edwards led the first twenty-five laps but none after that and labored to a fifteenth-place finish … With his third-place run, Keselowski unseated Kevin Harvick at the top of the regular-season point standings. Harvick was involved in a late-race accident Sunday that left him with a thirty-second-place finish. He had been Number-1 since a fifteenth-place finish on May 1^st at Talladega Superspeedway lifted him into the top spot … Stewart, who won the season’s first road race at Sonoma, California, settled for fifth place in his bid to become the first driver to sweep both road-course events in a single season since Kyle Busch doubled up in 2008.

Next Stop Is Watkins Glen International For The Cheez-It 355 At The Glen

Posted on August 5, 2016 by KBOE Administrator

Next Stop Is Watkins Glen International for Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen. With just five races remaining in the regular season, it appears that twelve of the sixteen spots on The Chase Grid will be filled by race-winning drivers: Matt Kenseth, Kyle and Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Junior, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart and Chris Buescher. That would leave four post-season spots available based on the point standings. Jamie McMurray currently holds a nine-point lead over Kyle Larson, his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, in the fight for what would be the final “playoff” spot … Six drivers are presently in the mix for those final four spots: Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman, rookie Chase Elliott, McMurray, Larson and Kasey Kahne … Jeff Gordon will make the eight hundredth start of his career at the Glen and his third in the Number-88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, still subbing for Dale Earnhardt Junior who remains sidelined while recovering from a concussion.

Forty For The Glen

Posted on August 4, 2016 by KBOE Administrator

There are forty drivers on the preliminary entry list for Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen Sprint Cup Series race led by defending winner Joey Logano and regular-season points leader Kevin Harvick. With just five races remaining in the regular season, five drivers have clinched spots on The Chase Grid – Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski. Those five account for fourteen wins through the first twenty-one races of the year … Logano, Harvick, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Junior, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart and Chris Buescher have one win apiece – leaving four post-season spots that will be available based on the point standings. Jamie McMurray currently holds a nine-point lead over Kyle Larson, his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, in the fight for what would be the final “playoff” spot.

Chris Buescher Scores His First Career Sprint Cup Win

Posted on August 2, 2016 by KBOE Administrator

Chris Buescher scored his first career Sprint Cup Series win in Monday’s rain-delayed Pennsylvania 400 when the race was called due to fog and an approaching storm on lap 138. Buescher battled back from a cut tire under green that put him in the back and opened up the need for pit strategy on a day that every team was racing the weather as hard as any competitor. As a green flag cycle of pit stops was nearing its end, Buescher and his Front Row Motorsports team chose to stay out as fog begin to build around the track hopeful for a stoppage. That stoppage came when spotters no longer could see turn 1. The race was then called after an hour and 20 minute red flag where the cars ended up being covered up on pit road because of weather in the area. Brad Keselowski who had been on an off-sequence pit strategy all afternoon, finished second. Regan Smith, who also had yet to pit, finished third for his first top five since 2012, and first since joining Tommy Baldwin Racing at the start of the season. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart rounded out the top five. Joey Logano led a race high thirty-eight laps, but was forced to the garage for repairs on lap 106 after contact with Chase Elliott. Kyle Larson led thirty-seven laps and looked to have a car that would have competed for the win but fell back after contact with Austin Dillon while battling for the lead around the halfway mark. Larson would eventually work pit strategy to race back to finish sixth, while Dillon would finish thirteenth. The fast and furious racing to halfway and then to beat the impending weather produced nineteen lead changes among eleven drivers, and was slowed for caution seven times for thirty-one laps.

Next Stop Pocono Raceway

Posted on July 29, 2016 by KBOE Administrator

Next Stop is Pocono Raceway for Sunday’s Pennsylvania 400. With just six events remaining in the regular season, defending race winner Matt Kenseth is one of five drivers who’ve clinched spots on The Chase Grid – joining Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski in the sixteen-driver title field. Those five account for fourteen wins through the first twenty races of the year … Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Junior, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart have one win apiece – leaving five post-season spots available based on the point standings. Kyle Larson currently holds a ten-point lead over Kasey Kahne in the fight for what would be the final “playoff” spot.

Harvick’s Crew Chief Suspended

Posted on July 28, 2016 by KBOE Administrator

Rodney Childers, Kevin Harvick’s Sprint Cup Series crew chief at Stewart-Haas Racing, has drawn a one-race suspension after NASCAR discovered improperly secured lug nuts on their Number-4 Chevrolet following last weekend’s race at Indianapolis. Childers has also been fined twenty thousand dollars and placed on probation through December 31^st. Harvick started seventh and finished sixth in the Crown Royal 400 … In addition, five teams received written warnings from the sanctioning body for a variety of inspection-related violations at Indy including Paul Menard’s Number-27 Richard Childress Racing team, which finished tenth at “The Brickyard.”

Dale Earnhardt Junior’s Condition Improves

Posted on July 26, 2016 by KBOE Administrator

Dale Earnhardt Junior was held out of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday and it was already announced that Jeff Gordon will once again drive the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet SS at Pocono Raceway this coming weekend. Although there is no official timetable for his return to the track, Earnhardt Jr. posted to Twitter over the weekend that he sees ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ and that gains were seen during physical therapy. Once Earnhardt Jr. returns to racing, he will have an uphill battle to make The Chase for the Sprint Cup on points alone. Following Indianapolis Earnhardt Jr. has fallen outside the cutoff to seventeenth in points and will likely fall further after not competing in Pocono.

Kyle Busch Makes NASCAR History

Posted on July 25, 2016 by KBOE Administrator

Kyle Busch made NASCAR history with his dominating performance at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway winning the Crown Royal 400 at the Brickyard Sunday afternoon. Busch’s bid for history started Saturday when he won the NASCAR Xfinity Series Lilly Diabetes 250 from the pole leading all but one lap in the sixty-lap main event. Taking the green flag on the pole Sunday afternoon was the next step. History would be made three hours later when Kyle Busch took the checkered flag and became the first driver in NASCAR history to sweep a weekend’s races from the pole position. However, the win was not without a little late race drama as the Joe Gibbs Racing driver had to survive several late race restarts including the first double overtime since NASCAR’s new rules went into effect this year. Matt Kenseth restarted on the outside of Busch on the final restart but quickly settled into the runner-up position to give JGR a one-two finish. Jimmie Johnson battled back from an early speeding penalty to finish third. Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-5. In his final race at the speedway, Tony Stewart raced up front in the early portion of the race. A pit road speeding penalty that put him a lap down looked to spoil the Columbus, Indiana native’s last race at his “home track.” Stewart battled back to finish eleventh and took a special lap around the track with Jeff Gordon, who finished thirteenth filling in for Dale Earnhardt Jr., saluting the fans on their final race at the famed speedway together. The race featured four lead changes among three drivers and eight cautions for thirty-four laps.

TAG SEARCH RESULTS FOR: "NASCAR Sprint Cup Series"

NEWSLETTER