NASCAR Sprint Cup Series News & Notes – March 2016

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F4R-SCS-News-NotesThe NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will return to action next weekend for the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Teams will race 263 laps for 500 miles on Sunday, April 3rd. FOX Sports 1 will begin their pre-race show at 2 pm ET with the green flag at around 2:30 pm ET. Fans can also listen to the race on MRN or SiriusXM, channel 90.

Thrilling Competition Continues at Fontana with

Track-Record 51 Passes for the Lead

The high quality of racing produced in the first four races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season continued at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday, where drivers tallied a total of 51 green flag passes for the lead, a high at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana since loop date began in 2005.

That marks the second time in the first five races this season for setting a new track record of green flag passes for the lead, as Atlanta had 44 green flag passes for the lead. Continue reading

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam 500 at Phoenix Preview

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Next Race: Good Sam 500

The Place: Phoenix International Raceway

The Date: Sunday, March 13

The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET

TV: FOX, 3 p.m. ET

Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 312 miles (312 laps)

 

Breaking Brad: Keselowski, Crew Chief Wolfe Cook Up Victory at Las Vegas

Fans at Las Vegas Motor Speedway got to see episodes of ‘Breaking Brad’ and ‘Better Call Paul’ all packed into one on Sunday.

Brad Keselowski darted past Kyle Busch with five laps remaining to win the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – his first victory in 33 races since Auto Club in 2015. Continue reading

Keselowski Overcomes Penalty to Win at Las Vegas

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Overcoming a pit road speeding penalty with daring late-race strategy, Brad Keselowski broke a 33-race drought with a victory in Sunday’s Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.Keselowski passed Las Vegas native Kyle Busch with five laps left to win for the first time since the fifth race of 2015 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion beat Team Penske teammate Joey Logano to the finish line by 0.675 seconds, as Busch lost ground over the closing laps.

Rain delayed the start of the race, and high winds and a late-race dust storm made visibility a challenge, but the bizarre conditions left Keselowski undeterred. Nor did a pit road speeding penalty under caution on lap 180 prove catastrophic, thanks to a series of astute pit calls by crew chief Paul Wolfe.

“This is really, really great,” said Keselowski, who lauded the lower-downforce aerodynamic package in place for the 2016 season. “It seemed like there were plenty of challenges, whether it was pit road or the weather or cautions.

“They threw everything they had at us today but this Miller Lite Ford team was too strong, and we were able to fight them off and get to victory lane.”

Relative to the field, Keselowski picked up speed toward the end of a run with a car that was eminently maneuverable. Busch’s car took off early but couldn’t maintain its pace late in a fuel run.

“He (Busch) had a really good short-run car, but it fell off on the long run,” Keselowski said. “That’s part of this new package. Some are good on short runs and some are good on long runs, and we had a really good long-run car today.”

Six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson beat Busch to the finish line by 0.018 seconds to secure third place. Austin Dillon ran fifth, and rookie Ryan Blaney came home sixth, posting a career-best finish on an open-motor race track.

The victory was Keselowski’s second at Las Vegas and the 18th of his career, but it wouldn’t have been possible if Wolfe hadn’t elected to keep the No. 2 Ford on the track on lap 217 when all but Keselowski, Logano and Dillon pitted for tires and fuel under the fifth caution of the race.

It took 38 laps, however, for the benefits of the strategy to become clear — thanks to Busch’s remarkable restart on lap 224. From the sixth position, Busch powered his No. 18 Toyota to the outside of Johnson’s Chevrolet, picked up huge momentum off the second corner, dived to the inside and shot past both Logano and Keselowski entering turn three.

One lap later, a multi-car wreck in turn one ended strong runs by Matt Kenseth and rookie Chase Elliott, but the seven laps run under the resulting sixth and last caution enabled Keselowski, Logano and Dillon to stretch their fuel supplies to the end of the race.

Busch streaked away on the lap 233 restart but developed a pronounced vibration in the right front of this car, and the chase group of Keselowski, Logano and Johnson closed in. Keselowski passed Logano for the second spot on lap 259 of 267 and streaked past Busch three laps later.

“I tried to hold him off as long as I could, but he showed how fast he was getting by me and Kyle and checking out,” Logano said after the 1-2 finish. “Congratulations to Team Penske. It’s something to be very proud of for our team.

“We have a lot of second-place finishes already this year. I know we’re only three races in, but I’m getting antsy. We have good speed in our cars — we’ll be all right.”

The call to stay out on lap 217 proved decisive for the Penske Fords, but the decision to sacrifice track position for four tires on lap 199 (when most others opted for right sides only), made the strategy possible.

“The way I look at it, if you’re going to do two tires, you got to get that clean air,” Wolfe said. “Otherwise, we’ll take four all day long. It gives you opportunities at the end to do some different strategies to get that track position back.

“Obviously we knew when the caution fell there, we were still short on fuel. At that point it was worth the risk to take the gamble and hope for the cautions. Obviously, we got those and were able to get to Victory Lane.”

Busch retained the top spot in the series standings and leads Johnson and seventh-place finisher Kevin Harvick by seven points. Logano is fourth, 11 points back.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Folds of Honor Quik Trip 500 at Atlanta Preview

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Next Race: Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500

The Place: Atlanta Motor Speedway

The Date: Sunday, Feb. 28

The Time: 1 p.m. ET

TV: FOX, 12:30 p.m. ET

Radio: PRN, SiriusXM Ch. 90

Distance: 500.5 miles (325 laps)

 

Daytona Drama: Hamlin Wins Great American Race by Closest Margin in its History

Denny Hamlin provided viewers more drama in the closing moments of the Daytona 500 than fans have seen in the race’s history. Literally and statistically.

The No. 11 Toyota driver made a move from his fourth position with less than two laps remaining in Sunday’s Daytona 500, dove between Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr., then beat Truex to the start/finish line by 0.010 seconds – the closest margin of victory (MOV) in the history of The Great American Race.

Read – Joe Gibbs Racing Pumped for Atlanta Motor Speedway

Hamlin’s MOV on Sunday also ranks tied for the seventh closest in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history.

Don’t be surprised to see another tight finish in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Two of the top-ten closest finishes in NASCAR history are at the Georgia track. Continue reading

Chase Elliott Holds Off Logano for XFINITY Series Win at Daytona

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The finish of Saturday’s Powershares QQQ 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Daytona International Speedway left winner Chase Elliott out of gas on the cool-down lap and runner-up Joey Logano pounding his steering wheel in frustration.

But it was the high-speed chess game seconds before the first and second-place cars crossed the finish line that made all the difference. Continue reading