Kevin Harvick, the driver of the #4 Busch Light/Mobil 1 Ford, celebrates with the trophy in Victory Lane after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway on August 12, 2018, in Brooklyn, Michigan. Photo – Jerry Markland/Getty Images
BROOKLYN, Mich. – Last week at Watkins Glen, Chase Elliott’s maiden victory on the road course interrupted the season of the Big Three. Continue reading
Derek Thorn is our guest on Fan4Racing NASCAR & Race Talk, Monday, August 13, 2018, at 9:30 pm ET. Call 929-477-1790 or tweet @Fan4RacingSite with any questions or comments during our LIVE broadcast.
Takes NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Victory, Adds To Points Lead
MONROE, Wash. — Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good.
Derek Thorn was both those things on Saturday night in the NAPA Auto Parts 175 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame at Evergreen Speedway, as he earned his second NASCAR K&N Pro Series West victory of the season and seventh of his career.
But the No. 6 Sunrise Ford/Lucas Oil/Eibach Springs Ford wasn’t the class of the field. That honor belonged to pole sitter Derek Kraus, who led every circuit up until Lap 116, when he ran out of fuel and was forced to pit from the top spot. Kraus went on to finish ninth, three laps down.
“We were second best to the No. 16 (Kraus) most of the night,” Thorn said following the win. “He had one of those cars that he would put a straightaway on us in maybe ten laps. He had a car that was a dominant one. But as often happens, the dominant car just runs into bad luck and tonight just wasn’t his night and we were there to capitalize on it.”
“I’ve been snake-bit here for the last six or seven years in the last dozen starts, and it was nice to finally be on the right side of the good luck this weekend.”
Cole Rouse was forced to start in the rear of the field after crashing his primary car in qualifying, but was consistently one of, if not the quickest car throughout the 175-lap event.
“It was definitely a tough day,” Rouse said following his best finish of the season. “We wrecked our primary car in qualifying, but we got the back-up out and the guys did a really good job. I didn’t expect to be that fast at all. We probably
has the fastest car at the end, we were catching Thorn there just a little bit. It was a good day for abackup car. We’re getting better each and every week. Coming from the back to finish second, that’s not too bad of a day.”
Thorn’s Sunrise Ford teammate Ryan Partridge came home third, but admitted that he never really had a shot at the victory.
“It’s one thing to finish third and be mixing it up and feel like you had a shot at the win,” Partridge said. “That’s not quite as disappointing as finishing third and … we didn’t even have a shot. We weren’t even close. Derek Kraus had the fastest car by a long shot. It is what it is, We’re going to take our car over to Gateway next and try to improve our program, make our stuff a little better.”
Kraus was visibly disappointed upon completion of the race. Despite his fourth top-ten finish of the season, anything short of a win was a failure for the No. 16 Bill McAnally Racing team.
“We had ’em covered, but we ran out of fuel,” Kraus said post-race. “We can’t take any momentum out of here because the finish was not what we wanted or what we for sure deserved. We’ll have to go get ’em at Gateway.”
Kody Vanderwal and Tyler Tanner rounded out the top five, with Cole Keatts, Hailie Deegan, Matt Levin, Kraus and Trevor Huddleston completing the top-ten.
The win extends Thorn’s championship points lead by six to 18 over his Sunrise Ford teammate Partridge. Rouse is third, 34 points back, with Kraus fourth, 36 back.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will take one week off before heading to Gateway Motorsports Park for the Monaco Cocktails Gateway Classic presented by West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame on Friday, August 24, the second of two combination races between the K&N East and West Series.
The NAPA Auto Parts 175 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame is scheduled to air Wednesday
Lap length: 0.646 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 51 minutes 10 seconds
Margin of Victory: 1.629 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: D.Kraus (99.820 mph, 23.298 seconds)
Caution Flags: 3 for 21 laps.
Lead Changes: 1 among 2 drivers.
Lap Leaders: D. Kraus 1-115; D. Thorn 116-175.
Standings: 1. D. Thorn, 382; 2. R. Partridge, 364; 3. C. Rouse, 348; 4. D. Kraus, 346; 5. H. Deegan, 327; 6. K. Vanderwal, 325; 7. T. Huddleston, 318; 8. M. Levin, 282; 9. T. Koga, 251; 10. W. Rodgers, 212.
LEXINGTON, OHIO – Justin Allgaier pulled off the NASCAR version of a ‘spin and win’ to take the Xfinity Series victory in Saturday’s Rock N Roll Tequila 170 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
The JR Motorsports driver of the No. 7 Brandt Chevrolet rallied from late-race contact and a spin to pass Austin Cindric with eight laps remaining, claiming his third win of the season and first at the famed 2.4-mile road course.
Cindric’s No. 22 Penske Racing Ford won the pole position and led a dominant 59 of the race’s 75 laps but his track position gamble out front on old tires couldn’t hold off a hard-charging Allgaier, who pitted for new rubber in the race’s final caution period with nine laps remaining.
Cindric held on for second place. Richard Childress Racing driver Daniel Hemric finished third, followed by teammate and Ohio native Matt Tifft. Ryan Truex rounded out the top-five. Allgaier beomes the sixth different winner in as many Xfinity races at Mid-Ohio.
The race was
“I thought we gave it away when I went off (course),’’ Allgaier said of his mid-race collision with Ford’s Cole Custer. “But that pit call (for tires) at the end is what did it. …We’ve been good this year, but to do it (win) at a road course is even better.”
And, he added with a smile, “it was a real barn-burner at the end.’’
For his part, Cindric was understandably disappointed to come home runner-up because he had clearly been the class of the field all weekend. The 19-year old Indiana-native came just two-seconds away from claiming his first Xfinity Series win, but did lead the most laps and earned a stage win as well.
“It was a big points day for me. .. but too bad we couldn’t capitalize with a dominant car,’’ Cindric said.
Four-time race winner and series points leader Christopher Bell ran as high as second place at one point, but heavy contact between him and veteran Elliott Sadler in the closing laps spun Bell’s No. 20 Toyota around and caused a final lap catch-up session. He ended up 11th and still holds a 17-point advantage over Hemric and Elliott in the standings with four races left to set the Playoff field.
Former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year, Andy Lally led seven laps and finished 15th – leading the road racing contingent to a good showing on the afternoon.
IMSA standout and former IndyCar driver Katherine Legge finished 30th, having to retire her car ten laps from the end with engine problems. She is scheduled to compete with the Xfinity Series again at Road America in two weeks – as is NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, who is coming out of retirement for that race.
The Xfinity Series races the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway next Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 73.312 mph.
Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 18 Mins, 36 Secs. The Margin of Victory: 2.095 Seconds.
Caution Flags: Six for 18 laps.
Lead Changes: Seven among four drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Cindric # 1-17; J. Allgaier 18-21; A. Cindric # 22-42; A. Lally 43-49; A. Cindric # 50-63; C. Bell # 64; A. Cindric # 65-71; J. Allgaier 72-75.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): A. Cindric # four times for 59 laps; J. Allgaier two times for eight laps; A. Lally one time for seven laps; C. Bell # one time for one lap.
Stage #1 Top-Ten: 7,1,11,4,22,61,23,15,60,2
Stage #2 Top-Ten: 22,2,20,00,21,9,51,1,3,7
BROOKLYN, Mich. – Talk about perfect timing.
With a huge run through the final two corners, Brett Moffitt surged past Johnny Sauter right before the finish line at Michigan International Speedway to win Saturday’s Corrigan Oil 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race by 0.025 seconds.
Trailing Sauter at the white flag, Moffitt backed off in turn one to create a gap between his No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota and the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet of Sauter. Moffitt charged into
Moffitt picked up his second victory at Michigan, his fourth of the season—tying Sauter for the series lead—and the fifth of his career.
“Pretty amazing this little team’s gone to Victory Lane four times this year,” Moffitt said. “The whole last however many laps I was behind (Sauter), I would get to him, but I would push him with that air bubble between our bumpers.
“So I tried to back up (turn) one, let him get out there a little bit, and I knew the 8 (Polesitter and third-place finisher John Hunter Nemechek
was behind us—I was hoping he would actually get to us and be able to push us. But we were able to play it right and time it right, and, man, it’s just great to get here.”
Sauter had taken the lead on lap 88 of 100 when he surged past both Moffitt and eventual fifth-place finisher Todd Gilliland. The disappointing finish left Sauter second-guessing himself.
“They said ‘Clear by three (car-lengths)’ coming off (turn) two, and I kept watching the mirror,” Sauter said. “I just felt like, if I ran the middle, I’d keep momentum up. I felt like when I went to the bottom, I was bogging a little bit.
“But I screwed up. No ‘ifs,’ ‘ands’ or ‘buts’ about it. I should have run the bottom, but I do feel like maybe he would have squirted to the top. Sitting duck, kind of—for sure. You know he’s planning a run, but you just don’t know when… Pretty ticked at
myself for giving away a win.”
Sauter wasn’t the only one. Stewart Friesen led 12 laps in a strong No. 52 Chevrolet, but his fueler drew a penalty for pushing the truck after handling the fuel can during the final pit stop under caution on Lap 80, sending Friesen to the rear for a lap 84 restart.
Friesen fought his way back to eighth at the finish.
Noah Gragson ran fourth, followed by Gilliland. Ben Rhodes, Grant Enfinger, Friesen, Justin Haley and Matt Crafton completed the top-ten. Sauter retained the series lead by 56 points over Gragson.
Moffitt’s victory ensures that at least two drivers will qualify for the NCTWS Playoffs on points—good news for Enfinger and Friesen, who are third and fourth in the standings, respectively. Crafton, who is sixth, will clinch a Playoff berth if no one outside the top eight in the standings wins next Thursday at Bristol.
Given his 53-point edge over Crafton, Enfinger can clinch a Playoff spot simply by starting the race at Bristol.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 130.175 mph.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 32 Mins, 11 Secs. The Margin of Victory: 0.025 Seconds.
Caution Flags: Five for 22 laps.
Lead Changes: 16 among nine drivers.
Lap Leaders: J. Nemechek(i) 1-4; N. Gragson 5-6; T. Gilliland # 7-11; J. Nemechek(i) 12-13; S. Friesen 14-22; B. Moffitt 23-26; G. Enfinger 27-42; N. Gragson 43-45; M. Crafton 46-63; N. Gragson 64-73; S. Friesen 74-76; J. Sauter 77-80; W. Chavous 81; N. Gragson 82-84; T. Gilliland # 85-87; J. Sauter 88-99; B. Moffitt 100;.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): N. Gragson four times for 18 laps; M. Crafton one time for 18 laps; G. Enfinger one time for 16 laps; J. Sauter two times for 16 laps; S. Friesen two times for 12 laps; T. Gilliland # two times for eight laps; J. Nemechek(i) two times for six laps; B. Moffitt two times for five laps; W. Chavous one time for one lap.
Stage #1 Top-Ten: 52,8,4,18,98,41,13,21,02,2
Stage #2 Top-Ten: 98,13,16,18,22,88,24,4,52,25