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Truck Series Race To The Chase Heading Down The Stretch

The 2016 season marks the first time the “Chase” format that’s been used by the Sprint Cup Series the past two seasons will also be implemented in the Camping World Truck Series, with the final month of the regular season set to open next week in Bristol, Tennessee.  Eight drivers will qualify and if the post-season began today, the field would include rookies Christopher Bell and William Byron, who are teammates at Kyle Busch Motorsports … two-time champion Matt Crafton, John Hunter Nemechek, Johnny Sauter, Timothy Peters and Daniel Hemric.  The battle for the eighth and final “playoff” spot is fierce with four drivers within five points of each other: Cameron Hayley, Ben Kennedy, Tyler Reddick and rookie Cole Custer.  After Bristol on August 17th, remaining races in the regular season will be run at Michigan International Speedway, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Chicagoland Speedway.  The Chase will open September 24th in Loudon, New Hampshire.

Denny Hamlin Takes The Win At Watkins Glen International

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 1st 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

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.

NASCAR X-FINITY Series Competes At The Zippo 200

THE NASCAR X-FINITY SERIES … also competes at Watkins Glen with Saturday’s Zippo 200.  Teams got two practice sessions on the newly paved road course on Thursday with Kyle Busch posting the fastest overall speed, 123.006 miles per hour.  Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski and defending race winner Joey Logano followed on the speed chart as Sprint Cup drivers took the top four spots.  Justin Allgaier completed the top five … Larson had the fastest average speed over ten consecutive laps, 122.552 miles per hour.  Allgaier, Trevor Bayne, rookie Erik Jones and Darrell Wallace Junior took positions two through five.

Forty For The Glen

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.

X-FINITY Series Race To The Chase Heads For Watkins Glen

With the 2016 season now well into its second half, X-FINITY Series drivers are heading into their first road-course weekend of the season as they set their sights on Saturday’s Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International.  This year marks the first time the elimination-style “Chase” format that’s been used by the Sprint Cup Series the past two seasons will also be implemented in the X-FINITY Series.  Twelve drivers will qualify and if the post-season began today, the field would consist of rookies Erik Jones, Brandon Jones and Brennan Poole … Elliott Sadler, Daniel Suarez, Ty Dillon, Justin Allgaier, Brendan Gaughan, Darrell Wallace Junior, Ryan Reed, Ryan Sieg and Blake Koch … who leads Ross Chastain and Jeremy Clements by twenty-four points in the fight for the final “playoff” spot with seven races remaining in the regular season.   The post-season Chase will begin September 24th in Sparta, Kentucky … Erik Jones leads all series regulars with three wins while Sadler currently sits atop the regular-season standings, fourteen points ahead of second-place Suarez.

Chris Buescher Scores His First Career Sprint Cup Win

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.

Erik Jones Takes U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway

Forty drivers started Saturday’s U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway, but it was just a two-horse race with rookie Erik Jones and Ty Dillon combining to lead all but thirteen of the laps run.  When the dust settled, it was Jones parked in Victory Lane with his Number-20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.  He passed Dillon for his final lead of the night sixteen laps from the finish and stayed there the rest of the way, notching his third victory of the season and giving J-G-R a sweep of the two 2016 races run on the Newton oval.  Sam Hornish Junior won the front half of the Midwestern twin bill last month.  Jones’ margin of victory over Dillon was three-and-a-half seconds with Elliott Sadler, rookie Brennan Poole and Dakoda Armstrong completing the top five.  Jones started second, jumped past pole sitter Daniel Suarez at the drop of the green flag and led a race-high 154 laps.  Suarez failed to lead a lap and retired with engine failure in the second half of the race, finishing thirtieth.  As a result, he slipped to second in the regular-season standings and is now fourteen points behind Sadler.

Next Stop Pocono Raceway

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.

NASCAR X-FINITY Runs Its Second “Stand-Alone” Race Of The Season

NASCAR X-Finity Series will run its second “stand-alone” race of the season, Saturday night’s U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway.  Sam Hornish Junior won the first one on June 19th – also at Iowa, driving a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.  This weekend, he’s entered in a Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet … Ryan Blaney won last year’s race  but is not entered this weekend.  Brad Keselowski will drive the Number-22 Team Penske Ford.

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