Larson Holds Off Keselowski for NASCAR XFINITY Series Win at Texas

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Grabbing the lead after a restart on lap 171 of 200, Kyle Larson moved to the top of the track just in time to hold off polesitter Brad Keselowski for the victory in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway.

In a race that saw Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez open some breathing room in the inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase with respective fourth- and fifth-place finishes, Larson got a push from sixth-place finisher Elliott Sadler on the decisive restart and kept Keselowski behind him for the final 30 laps.

Despite brushing the outside wall in turn one with eight laps left, Larson’s No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet got to the finish line .385 seconds ahead of Keselowski’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford, as the winner worked traffic over the closing five laps. Continue reading

NASCAR XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Preview

Aside

OReillyChallenge_2011

NASCAR XFINITY Series teams are racing 300 miles over 200 laps in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, November 5th at 3:30 pm ET. Television coverage is on NBC with radio coverage on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

 

What to Watch For: Texas marks the penultimate race of the NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase Round of 8. Elliott Sadler (12 points above Erik Jones on the cutoff line) leads the Chase Grid, followed by Daniel Suarez (+12), Blake Koch (+5), Justin Allgaier (0, currently holds tiebreaker over Erik Jones), Erik Jones (0), Ryan Reed (-2), Brendan Gaughan (-17) and Darrell Wallace Jr. (-18).

The Round of 8 drivers’ career average finishes at Texas: Erik Jones (2.3), Elliott Sadler (12.1), Justin Allgaier (12.5), Daniel Suarez (13.3), Darrell Wallace Jr. (13.3), Ryan Reed (16.2), Brendan Gaughan (19.4) and Blake Koch (31.5). Jones is the lone Chase contender who has won at Texas Motor Speedway (2015). Continue reading

Roles are Different this Year for Penske Teammates

Photo - Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Last year, Joey Logano did all he could at Talladega Superspeedway to help Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski advance to the Chase’s Round of 8.

Then again, last year Logano was in a position to do so, given that he had won the first two races in the Round of 12. And with his help, Keselowski advanced to the penultimate round with a fourth-place finish.

But in the Hellman’s 500 on Sunday, both Logano and Keselowski will be fighting for their Chase lives. Heading into the Round of 12 cutoff race, Logano is tied for eighth, the final transfer position. After wrecking out of last Sunday’s Kansas race in 38th place, Keselowski is 11th in the Chase standings, seven points behind Logano and Austin Dillon. Continue reading

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Drivers Test at Homestead-Miami Speedway

Aside

Trevor Bayne, drives the #6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford during testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 18, 2016 in Homestead, Florida. Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Trevor Bayne, drives the #6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford during testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 18, 2016 in Homestead, Florida. Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 set for November 20, drivers in NASCAR’s top series made their way to Homestead-Miami Speedway on Tuesday to participate in the first of two scheduled team testing sessions. They are slated to conclude testing Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In Tuesday’s session, teams and their drivers took advantage of a full day’s worth of testing to prepare for November’s championship race. The 11 teams who took part in the tests had the opportunity to gain valuable racing data while experimenting on the Speedway’s 1.5-mile oval. Continue reading

Brad Keselowski Plans to Race for Wins Despite Wicked Kansas Finish

Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford, is involved in an on-track incident during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 16, 2016 in Kansas City, Kansas. - Photo - Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford, is involved in an on-track incident during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on October 16, 2016 in Kansas City, Kansas. – Photo – Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Brad Keselowski had a terrible day Sunday afternoon at Kansas Speedway, but the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion isn’t ready to count himself out of a championship yet.

While running inside the top-ten on lap 189 of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, Keselowski’s No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion drifted up the track and directly in front of fellow Chaser Denny Hamlin, but got loose in the process causing Hamlin to hit him from behind.

The contact sent Keselowski sliding wildly and uncontrollably spinning into the infield grass, where the splitter of his car tore into the sodded grass causing colossal front-end damage to his car. Continue reading