Kevin Harvick was between a rock and a hard place with three laps left in Saturday’s Hisense 4K TV 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Ryan Blaney took full advantage of the veteran driver’s conundrum.
Passing Harvick for the lead after a restart on lap 198 and 200, Blaney crossed the finish line 0.244 seconds ahead of the driver of the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. Continue reading
Ryan Blaney, driver of the #21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 25, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo – Sarah Crabill/Getty Images
Ryan Blaney topped the speed chart in Saturday morning’s first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a best lap at 188.055 mph, but Blaney’s No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford wasn’t the only fast Fusion in the session.
The Fords from the much-improved Roush Fenway Racing stable appear poised to mount a challenge in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR’s longest race. Trevor Bayne (186.239 mph) was fifth fastest on Saturday morning, with teammate and recent Talladega winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. close behind at 186.207 mph.
“We unloaded pretty good today, but we know that off-the-truck speed isn’t what matters,” Bayne said. “It’s being able to go on the long runs as the day gets hotter and the track slicks up. I actually felt like we held on to our speed pretty well at the end of practice, so I think both of us have made huge gains.
“I need to give a big shout out to these guys for working their butts off this last week after (last Saturday’s) All-Star Race, when we didn’t have the performance that we wanted. They’ve dialed our cars in a lot.”
After a few weeks off, the NASCAR XFINITY Series returns to action at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Hisense 4K TV 300 at 1 pm ET on FOX Sports 1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio this Saturday, May 27.
Drivers will race 300 miles over 200 laps with Stage 1 ending on lap 45 and Stage 2 on lap 90. The last Stage will end on lap 200. Continue reading
The addition of a VHT traction compound worked in the bottom lane on the concrete surface at Bristol Motor Speedway.
But the use of the TrackBite in the top lane on the asphalt at Charlotte Motor Speedway remains an unknown, as the track tries to widen the groove to give drivers racing options for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 on FOX at 6 pm ET. Continue reading
Photo – Todd Warshaw/Getty Images
‘600 Miles of Remembrance’ Windshield Tribute at Coca-Cola 600 Launches Industry Platform
For the third consecutive year, windshield headers on all 40 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series™ cars will be replaced with the names of fallen military service members during Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (6 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), NASCAR announced today. Continue reading