Kevin Harvick Edges Alex Bowman for Charlotte pole

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

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

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

Martin Truex Jr. Makes Statement in Dover Elimination Race

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It was a Martin Truex Jr. blowout, a Jamie McMurray blow-up and a Jimmie Johnson…

“We blew it again.”

Truex cruised to a decisive victory in Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway, a race that pared the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field from 16 drivers to 12.

Winning for a fourth time this season, a second time at Dover and the seventh time in his career, Truex was without peer after a pit road snafu on lap 279 of 400 knocked Johnson off the lead lap and out of contention for the win. Continue reading

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover Preview

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will race 400 miles in 400 laps in the Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway on Sunday, October 2nd at 2 pm ET. Television coverage is on NBC Sports Network with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

What to Watch For: Sunday marks the cutoff race for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup’s Round of 16. Right now, Jamie McMurray (five points below Kyle Larson on the cutoff line), Austin Dillon (-5), Tony Stewart (-11) and Chris Buescher (-30) will all be eliminated from the Chase if they can’t improve their positions.

Kevin Harvick goes for his second straight win after visiting Victory Lane at New Hampshire. He is the defending fall Dover winner. Continue reading