Tag Archives: Brendan Gaughan

Ryan Reed Gets Second NASCAR XFINITY Win where he Got the First–Daytona

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For Ryan Reed, there’s magic in the air at the Birthplace of Speed.

Reed went to Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway in February 2015 and hadn’t won since—until Saturday night, when he held off Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran Kasey Kahne in overtime to claim victory in the Powershares QQQ 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series season opener.

With the race going four laps past its scheduled distance of 120 laps, and with the series running NASCAR’s new three-stage event format for the first time, Reed blocked Kahne in turn two on the first of two overtime laps and stalled his momentum. Continue reading →

Heading to the Rear for the Daytona 500

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Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, practices for the 59th Annual DAYTONA 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 24, 2017 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Photo – Jared C Tilton/Getty Images

With their primary cars damaged in Thursday night’s Can-Am Duel 150-mile qualifying races, Jimmie Johnson, Paul Menard and Ryan Blaney will start the Daytona 500 from the rear of the field in backup race cars.

They’ll be joined at the rear by three cars that failed to meet the minimum ride height requirement during inspection after the Duels. The two cars of JTG/Daugherty Racing—the No. 37 of Chris Buescher and the No. 47 of AJ Allmendinger—were demoted to the back of the field in their respective Duels, as was the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota of Martin Truex Jr.

Allmendinger lost the seven points he would have scored for his fourth-place finish in the second Duel, and Truex lost the four points he would have earned for finishing seventh in the first Duel. Continue reading →

Chase Elliott edges Dale Earnhardt Jr. for Daytona 500 pole

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Chase Elliott, driver of the #24 NAPA Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after qualifying for pole position for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 59th Annual DAYTONA 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2017 in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Photo – Jared C Tilton/Getty Images

Winning back-to-back Daytona 500 poles is something of a family tradition, as Chase Elliott proved by the skin of his teeth on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.

The last driver to take a lap in the second and final round of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, Elliott covered the distance in 46.663 seconds (192.872 mph) to edge Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. by 0.002 seconds.

The pole was the second straight for Elliott, who led the field to green last year as a Sunoco rookie. It was the third straight for Elliott’s crew chief, Alan Gustafson, who won the pole with driver Jeff Gordon in 2015 in Gordon’s last year as a full-time driver.

With three straight poles as a crew, Gustafson shares a record previously held solely by Ernie Elliott, Chase Elliott’s uncle, who fielded cars driven by former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Bill Elliott, Chase’s father. Continue reading →

What it Takes to Make the Daytona 500

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Photo – Getty Images

Christmas comes but once a year. The same is true of the unique qualifying format for the Daytona 500.

Unlike Christmas, however, the setting and ordering of the field for the Great American Race takes five days, from single-car qualifying on Sunday through the Can-Am Duel at Daytona twin 150-mile races on Thursday.

The basics are straightforward. Only two cars in Sunday’s time trails are locked into their starting positions for the Daytona 500—the pole winner and the car that qualifies on the outside of the front row.

Of the 42 entries for the race, 36 hold Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series charters and are guaranteed to compete on Feb. 26. That leaves six drivers fighting for the four remaining positions in the 500. Those drivers are Elliott Sadler, Timmy Hill, Reed Sorenson, Brendan Gaughan, Corey LaJoie and DJ Kennington.

Qualifying on Sunday sets the starting order for the Can-Am Duel races on Thursday, with the odd-number qualifiers (positions 1-3-5, etc.) running the first Duel, and even numbers competing in the second Duel.

The finishing positions in the Thursday races determine the starting positions for the 500, with the exception of the front row. The winner of the first Duel, which forms the inside row, starts third in the Great American Race, with the winner of the second Duel starting fourth, on the outside of the second row.

If either of the front row starters wins a Duel, then the second-row position goes to second place finisher in that particular Duel.

Open drivers, those competing without charters, have two avenues into the 500. The highest-finishing driver in each of the Can-Am Duels earns a starting position on Feb. 26. The final two positions go to the two fastest among the open drivers in Sunday’s time trials, if not already qualified through the Duels.

Aside from determining who’s fastest in single-car runs, this year’s qualifying session will provide several story lines of keen interest to NASCAR fans.

Bret Holmes Confident in 2017 ARCA Racing Series Season

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Bret Holmes at 9 pm ET on Monday, January 23, 2017
Photo – ARS

Bret Holmes is our guest on Fan4Racing NASCAR & Race Talk, Monday, January 23, 2017 at 9 pm ET. Call 929-477-1790 or tweet @Fan4RacingSite or @Sal_Sigala with any questions or comments during our LIVE broadcast. 

Earlier this month, Bret Holmes Racing announced their intention to race the full 2017 season in the ARCA Racing Series with driver Bret Holmes and veteran crew chief Bryan Barry.  Holmes raced seven ARCA events last year with 2015 series’ champion Grant Enfinger as his crew chief. Together they earned three top-five and six top-ten finishes with an average finish of 8.6.

That success was enough encouragement for Bret Holmes Racing to move forward in committing to 20 ARCA races this season. With Enfinger moving his efforts to NASCAR this season to advance his own racing career, the team looked to Bryan Barry to fill the crew chief role this year.  Continue reading →