NASCAR NASCAR Wire Service

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Kevin Harvick Edges Alex Bowman for Charlotte pole

NASCAR NASCAR Wire Service Sprint Cup Series Track News
CHARLOTTE, NC - OCTOBER 06: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Busch Hunting Chevrolet, poses with a trophy after winning the pole position during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 6, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
CHARLOTTE, NC – OCTOBER 06: Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Busch Hunting Chevrolet, poses with a trophy after winning the pole position during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 6, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Kevin Harvick may have won the pole for Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (7 pm ET on NBC), but Alex Bowman continued to open eyes as a substitute driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Touring the 1.5-mile speedway in 27.547 seconds (196.029 mph), Harvick knocked Bowman (196.000 mph) off the pole by a scant 0.004 seconds in the final round of Thursday evening’s knockout qualifying.

The pole was Harvick’s first at Charlotte, his first of the 2016 season and the 16th of his career. Continue reading →

Ganassi Loses Two Drivers from Chase after Hard-Luck Dover Race

NASCAR NASCAR Wire Service Sprint Cup Series Track News
Photo - Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

It was a double-departure Chase day for Chip Ganassi Racing.

CGR drivers Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray entered Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400, the first elimination race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, riding on the ragged edge. Larson, 12th in the Chase standings, was five points above the cut line, and McMurray, in 13th, was five points below.

Long before the end of Sunday’s 400-lap marathon at Dover International Speedway, both drivers saw their hopes to advance to the Chase second round essentially evaporate. Continue reading →

Austin Dillon Advances in Chase with Peak Performance at Dover

NASCAR NASCAR Wire Service Sprint Cup Series Track News
Photo - Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
Photo – Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

A catastrophe at New Hampshire could have knocked Austin Dillon out of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup—if the driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing had let it.

But Dillon and crew chief Slugger Labbe came to the elimination race at Dover International Speedway with a fast car and the perseverance to score Dillon’s first finish of better than 20th at The Monster Mile.

In fact, Dillon ran eighth in the Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover, the second car one lap down in a race that ended with a 202-lap green-flag run and Martin Truex Jr. with a 7.527 winning margin. But for Dillon, who had to resort to a backup car a week earlier after a wreck in practice at New Hampshire, eighth was more than good enough. Continue reading →

Team Penske Fords Advance with Solid Runs

NASCAR NASCAR Wire Service Sprint Cup Series Track News
Photo - Drew Hallowell/Getty Images
Photo – Drew Hallowell/Getty Images

The No. 2 Fords of Brad Keselowski and the No. 22 of Joey Logano weren’t flashy, and they didn’t have the speed to challenge frontrunners Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson in Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway.

But Keselowski finished fourth and Logano sixth as the Team Penske drivers advanced comfortably into the Round of 12 of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. And now that all drivers start the round with 3,000 points after a reset, Keselowski and Logano are back on equal footing. Continue reading →