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

Team Penske Fords Advance with Solid Runs

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

“Best in Class” isn’t where Kyle Busch Wants to Be

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Core Toyota, is introduced prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Citizen Solider 400 at Dover International Speedway on October 2, 2016 in Dover, Delaware. Photo - Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Core Toyota, is introduced prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Citizen Solider 400 at Dover International Speedway on October 2, 2016 in Dover, Delaware. Photo – Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Runner-up Kyle Busch finished a whopping 7.527 seconds behind Martin Truex Jr., winner of Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway.

Though the Joe Gibbs Racing organization that fields Busch’s cars gets its engines from Toyota Racing Development (TRD), as does Truex’s Furniture Row Racing, and though the organizations maintain a technical partnership, Truex’s team has enjoyed an edge in speed of late, winning two of the first three races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Don’t think Busch hasn’t noticed. 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