Gray makes history with NHRA win at Vegas

In a slight departure (OK...a big one) from what normally gets done around these parts of the blogosphere, it's time for me to clean out my notebook from the NHRA's DENSO Nationals stop that happened Sunday at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

For starters, the hot-rod, straight-line fans got a moment to savor when Tanner Gray became the youngest winner in NHRA history.

And the crowd asked..."how young is he?"

Tanner Gray is 17 years old. He's still two weeks shy of his 18th birthday (April 15), and he went out and piloted his Pro Stock car to one of the more awesome race victories in recent memory.

I've been covering drag racing since 2006, so that gives you a bit of an idea.

Gray didn't beat just anyone along the way after qualifying fifth for the final eliminations on the warmest day of the race weekend. He got by Summit Racing teammates Greg Anderson (quarterfinals) and Jason Line (semifinals) -- who are 1-2 in the current Pro Stock standings -- to get his chance at history.

Thanks to a near-perfect reaction time off the starting line (.010), Gray denied Bo Butner his first career win on a hole shot (Gray crossed in 6.681 to Butner's 6.678 with a .088 RT) and made history as the youngest winner of the NHRA Wally trophy.

Against Anderson in Round 2, Gray's reaction time was even better at .001.

The amazing part through all the excitement: Gray still has two more months of online course work before he graduates from high school.

Such is a racer's life. When you make a dream come true at that young an age, it only gets better from here. Well done.

-As for Sunday's Monster Energy Cup race at Martinsville, the STP 500 gave NASCAR's new stage-racing format another huge boost for the excitement level.

Case in point came at the end of Stage 2. With Kyle Busch leading, he was caught in race traffic as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. battled to stay ahead and on the lead lap.

When Stenhouse nudged Busch up the track -- not enough to cause a problem other than the one that blew up in Busch's brain -- it was the gift Chase Elliott ran with to take the Stage 2 win and the playoff point that goes with it.

Afterward, Busch sounded off. We shouldn't have expected anything less.

Busch claimed he was trying to be nice to Stenhouse.

“I actually was rolling into Turn 3 and was kind of going higher out of my way in order to let (Stenhouse) back by and give him the lap,’’ Busch said in an NBCSports.com story written by Dustin Long. “That was my intent. He just drove through me. Cost me my spot to (Elliott). I was hoping I could run off the corner side by side with (Stenhouse) and keep (Elliott) at bay and keep my nose in front of his and be able to score the segment. I was trying to be the nice guy but nice guys don’t finish first.’’

Stenhouse's take on the matter from the same story:

“I got sponsors, fans and a team to take care of,’’ he said. “I had to stay on the lead lap. That was a turning point in the race. If (Busch) laps (Dillon) and then we’re stuck a lap down, it could ruin our race. I drove as hard as I could, and it paid off for us.

“(It was) nothing to get him back for. Cars were hard to drive. We had a lot of laps on the tires. I saw he was going to try to get on the outside of (Dillon) and that’s where was good in (turns) 3 and 4. So I ran in there with him. I was just going to give him a nudge and make sure he didn’t get by (Dillon). I didn’t mean to give up the win there for him in that stage.’’

Thanks to his approach, Stenhouse finished 10th and earned a stage point.

Proving that the lost opportunity is already in Busch's head, he not only lost the race win to Brad Keselowski -- who became the first driver to earn a second win this season -- but isn't excited about the near future.

Joe Gibbs Racing has won three of the last 30 races in NASCAR's Chase/playoff, but this year's race to the title is still 21 races away.

Tell us how you really feel come September, Kyle. Maybe everything will be great by then.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @TommyZee81 or email tominator19@yahoo.com.

Truex Jr. catches break, wins Kobalt 400

Martin Truex Jr. knew the feeling. Cruising toward a win, bad luck – whether from late caution flags or a challenger with a better car – seemed to always find a way to leave him stranded without the winner’s trophy.

On a warm, sunny Sunday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, good fortune smiled down on the driver of the No. 78 Bass Pro Shops Toyota.

Truex surged to the lead when Brad Keselowski lost his momentum with two laps to go and won the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas. It was Toyota’s first win of the 2017 season and Truex was the first driver to sweep all three stages in a race under  NASCAR’s new scoring format.

“We had such a good car all day long and it felt like it slipped away from us there,” said Truex, who lost the lead to Keselowski on lap 244. “We got a little bit lucky with him having an issue and got the win. We’ve been on the other side of those things plenty of times and it definitely feels good to take advantage of someone else’s issue for once and go to Victory Lane.”

The winning sequence was set up following the longest green-flag run of the day at 86 laps when Danica Patrick’s car lost the engine at lap 253, setting off an impressive trail of smoke along the front stretch that bathed the grandstands. Keselowski, who won the pole and started with Truex Jr. on the front row, had no idea what happened with his car at the finish.

“It wouldn't turn and I lost brakes, so that’s a pretty good indicator,” said Keselowski, who was looking for his third win at Las Vegas in the last four years, but ended up fifth. “That’s racing, and that’s why you watch until the end and you never know what’s going to happen.”

Kyle Larson finished second for the second time on the weekend, beating out Chase Elliott and coming through with points for a second- and third-place run in the first two stages.

“The ends of the stages were really exciting because of the way the cautions fell and different pit strategies,” Larson said. “Hopefully we can keep the top-fives rolling and maybe get a win or two shortly.”

Adding to the finish, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano got into a brawl on pit road after the pair made contact on the final lap in a battle for fourth place. While Logano claimed fourth, Busch spun out and finished 22nd, the last car on the lead lap. Busch also left pit road with a cut on his forehead after he was separated from Logano by his adversary’s pit crew.

After two straight wins to open the season, Logano and Keselowski were the highest-finishing Fords on the day. Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer completed the top 10.

The race had six cautions for 34 laps, and the winning average speed was l36.032 mph. There were 14 lead changes among six drivers. Truex (150) and Keselowski (89) combined to lead 239 of the 267 laps.

Keselowski picks up where he left off, wins Vegas pole

After winning his second Kobalt 400 in the last three seasons, Brad Keselowski may have found a formula to keep the success going strong.

The defending race winner earned the pole for this year's Kobalt 400 on Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, blitzing through multiple corners at more than 200 mph before finishing in 27.881 seconds, a final speed of 193.680 mph.

Following his win at Atlanta last week, Keselowski said his first pole at Las Vegas came despite struggling to get his No. 2 Miller Lite Ford cleanly through turns 1 and 2.

"Every time I looked at the track, cars that were fast through 1 and 2 weren't in 3 and 4. We were the opposite," Keselowski said. "Matt Yocum asked me in the telecast what the key was here, and I told him you had to have a good 1 and 2. Boy, did I lie to him.

"It wasn't meant to be a lie, but we'll take it either way."

Keselowski said the success he's enjoyed of late at tracks like Las Vegas came together in the last five years.

"There are certain tracks that you go to where things kind of happen immediately, you understand the track, and you're good there," he said. "Vegas was this way where it took three or four times and takes having a good car and saying 'oh, that's how it should be.' You get trends, so to speak, learn the track nuances, and what you really need."

Truex, who beat Ryan Blaney by .007 seconds (193.458 mph) to join Keselowski on the front row for Sunday's race, said the lesser downforce has made a difference in the racing along with the presence of new Furniture Row Racing teammate Erik Jones, who qualified eighth.

"We qualified P2 with missing a little bit," he said. "I'm optimistic with the speed in our race cars. Two weeks is kind of hard to judge.

"Going to two cars has been seamless from my perspective. I don't feel we lost in any areas. (Crew chief) Chris (Gayle) and Erik have come out of the box strong, not making mistakes, being consistent and keeping speeds. For a brand-new team, rookie driver, rookie crew chief, that's been impressive. The two-team deal is working as good as we probably hoped it could."

After Blaney, the rest of the top 12 were Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Jones, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Daniel Suarez and Chase Elliott.

The cars of Truex, Jones and Kahne failed pre-qualifying inspection template station twice and lost 15 minutes of practice time. Jones' car also failed the weights and measures station three times and lost his pit selection for Sunday's race.

The Kobalt 400 will run two 80-lap stages and a 107-lap finish. The green flag drops just after 3:30 pm Eastern (12:30 Pacific) and airs live on Fox with radio coverage on Performance Racing Network.

Keselowski wins Atlanta, Harvick's lead foot hurts

For all the complaining Kevin Harvick did about his pit crew last season -- they allegedly cost him shots at several wins -- the 2014 Sprint Cup champion got his own dose of unfortunately bad karma Sunday afternoon at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Despite leading 292 of the first 311 laps -- including the first two stages with the 20-point bonus -- Harvick got a bad case of lead foot at the worst time, getting called for a pit-road speeding penalty with 12 laps to go. Brad Keselowski pounced on the break, drove underneath Kyle Larson with six laps remaining, and went on to win the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.

Right place, right time for the second week in a row. Keselowski has some mojo on his side as Ford made it 2-for-2 in the win column. The Penske Racing driver is the defending champion of the Kobalt 400, which happens next Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway,

File this in the memory bank: Stages for the Boyd Gaming 300 end at lap 45 and 90, leaving 110 to the finish. For the Kobalt 400, the breaks happen at laps 80 and 160, leaving 107 for the race to the checkered flag.

There's also major news brewing in Las Vegas, which we'll discuss in just a moment.

Among the other highlights from Atlanta:

Kyle Busch won another XFINITY race. Yay. It was the 87th of his career in NASCAR's No. 2 series, and about the only thing different was how it was done.

Busch led the first seven laps after qualifying on the pole, but didn't lead again until the final 19 of the Rinnai 250. It's slightly out of the ordinary -- think total domination from the start -- but it's another win, just the same.

And the highest-finishing XFINITY regular was Elliott Sadler, who came in fifth. After Ryan Reed's win at Daytona, the regulars are 1-for-2 in the win column. If we can get past last year's total of 11, at least there will be some progress made.

Statistical downer of note: the top four in the running order at Atlanta were all Cup regulars -- Busch, Keselowski, Larson and Harvick. They combined to lead all of the 163 laps between them.

For the first time in the stage-racing system, one driver carried the day and swept his way to the checkered flag. Christopher Bell -- a series regular -- led 99 of 130 laps and won the Active Pest Control 200 on Saturday.

His boss and car owner, Kyle Busch (yes...him. Again.), led 25 laps, but finished 26th. That left only two other drivers who spent time in front. Grant Enfinger led four laps and runner-up Matt Crafton led two.

And now for the breaking news coming out of Las Vegas. Insert your own theme music for this segment here...

Remember all the past big talk that came with little action on the possibilities of a second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race date at LVMS? Well, hang on to this. Everything is starting to come together.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Friday that the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is planning to hold a meeting with the 14-member board of directors Wednesday to consider a seven-year sponsorship at $2.5 million per year  add a "fall race" at the 1.5-mile oval.

And the best part is that when it's finalized with the LVCVA and NASCAR, the sponsorship would take full effect starting with the 2018 season.

In all likelihood, that means one track could lose a race date. Currently, 13 tracks have two race dates, and four -- Bristol, Charlotte, New Hampshire and Texas -- are owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which owns Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The big question comes in where a second race would fit in the fall. Call this a gut-instinct guess, but with LVMS already hosting a Camping World Truck Series race every October (Cup runs at Dover), that could be the ideal connection that makes the most sense.

Then again, I'm not Nostradamus, by any wild stretch of your imagination.

An even bigger question comes from the big picture, and that's whether or not two races at Vegas will work over the long haul. Auto Club Speedway tried it for several years, with its second date happening Labor Day weekend.

That turned out to be a big mistake, mainly since that time of year produces the warmest temperatures in Fontana, part of the inland part of Southern California where the 2-mile oval is located. Auto Club eventually dropped the second date, and it's made a difference in the quality of the events.

But never mind takes from me. Here's what Kevin Harvick, the 2016 Kobalt 400 winner, said on the matter of a second race date at Vegas in multiple stories, including espn.com and motorsport.com:

"I love Vegas and I think it's a great sponsor," Harvick said. "I think it would be good. But sometimes you can turn one great (race) into two mediocres. That's just something you have to be careful of and look at and really evaluate.

"Vegas is a great place to race. I enjoy going there. If it did wind up with a second race, I would be fine with that, but I would be cautious to look at a California-type situation where you have one great event that we had there and when we had two, it wasn't so great."

Any good thing worth doing is worth doing well, and Las Vegas can make two NASCAR Cup dates work. Once it's set, only the ticket-buying public will know if it was the right thing to do.

Tom Zulewski would be at a second Las Vegas NASCAR Cup weekend in a heartbeat and hopes it happens. Follow him on Twitter @TommyZee81 or email tominator19@yahoo.com.

While we were away...

Yeah, it's been two weeks since something's been posted on this blog. Between my high-school class reunion and real-life, gotta-get-paid-somehow responsibility (such a concept...I know), I've been a total slacker around here for you, the race fan. That sucks.

Time to get the car out of the garage from its repairs and get back in the game. Here's what I missed.
On the Sprint Cup side of the ledger, the Round of 12 opened with Jimmie Johnson -- you remember him, right? Mr. Six-time Champ? -- winning at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Bank of America 500, which became a daytime race due to the Hurricane Matthew rainout.
Johnson won for the 78th time in his career and earned his spot in the Round of 8 for the first time. In his quest to join Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt with title No. 7, the "new" Chase has been his undoing in the last two years.
In 2014, Johnson was 40th at Kansas, 17th at Charlotte, and 24th at Talladega and was gone in Round 2.
Last year, Johnson was gone after the opening round thanks to a 41st-place finish at Dover.
There are no worries now. So far, with the Chase halfway done, Johnson has been 12th, eighth, seventh, first at Charlotte (for the first time since the 2014 Coca-Cola 600) and fourth at Kansas.
Everything will start from zero at Martinsville next weekend, but there seems to be a sense that Johnson has finally gotten his Chase groove back. Be watchful of him the rest of the way.
Kevin Harvick is the second driver to join Johnson in the "semifinal" round of the Chase after he held on to win at Kansas.
In the weirdest of coincidence, both Johnson and Harvick qualified 11th and came away with victories. If it happens again Sunday at Talladega, we can say Halloween came a full week early because NASCAR's biggest track carries enough weirdness in it already.
Among those on the bubble, Joey Logano and Austin Dillon are in a flat-footed tie for the final transfer spot. Denny Hamlin is only six points behind and Brad Keselowski sits seven off the pace.
Will any of them break through and advance? I can honestly say I have no idea.
Logano, Hamlin and Keselowski all have wins at Talladega. If Dillon breaks through, the ghost of Dale Sr. will certainly rejoice.
And as for Chase Elliott, it's Victory Lane or bust. He's 25 points behind.
For the XFINITY Series, they're on a three-week break with the Chase field already down to the Round of 8.
The first two races had actual series regulars earn victories -- Elliott Sadler at Kentucky and Daniel Suarez at Dover -- but Cup regulars have won the last two since. Logano ruled Charlotte and Kyle Busch (yawn) dominated again at Kansas.
For the season, the owner of 85 wins in the No. 2 series has nine this season in 16 starts. Here are some more stats that have fans up in arms and thumbing their noses at Saturday races.
Busch has started from the pole in seven of the nine races he's won in 2016. He's led a mind-blowing 67 percent of the laps he's run -- 1,862 out of a possible 2,795.
In total, Sprint Cup regulars have won 19 of the 30 XFINITY races on the season.
While it's nice that no Cup regulars will be allowed to compete in the season finale at Homestead, NASCAR is taking a much harder look at how it can limit the number of XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series races they can compete in starting in 2017.
As NASCAR vice president Steve O'Donnell said on SiriusXM radio Monday, "We’ve heard the fans … They like seeing those drivers come up through the ranks and it’s our job to make sure that Xfinity is the name where names are made."
It's about time it's being addressed. O'Donnell added an announcement on any potential changes is still to come.
Kansas was the first race of the Round of 8 in the XFINITY Chase, and Sadler and Suarez are tied for the top spot. We'll talk about the rest of the field in greater depth after they run at Texas.
The Camping World Truck Series has been idle since Tyler Reddick denied BK Racing teammate Daniel Hemric and won at Las Vegas. Heading to Talladega, Hemric is in absolute must-win mode as he sits 15 points behind Johnny Sauter for the last transfer spot to the Round of 6.
John Hunter Nemechek is tied with Hemric, but the task isn't quite as daunting as it may seem. The distance to fourth-place Ben Kennedy is only 18 points, and it's 25 to second-place Christopher Bell.
The right moves will make all the difference. The wrong ones will lead to the end of a championship dream.
Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @TommyZee81 or @Tomzsports. Email tominator19@yahoo.com.
THIS WEEK'S RACES
Talladega Superspeedway (2.66-mile D-shaped oval), Talladega, Alabama
-SPRINT CUP: Alabama 500, Sunday, 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.
Race distance: 500 miles, 188 laps.
2015 champion: Joey Logano
-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Fred's 250 powered by Coca-Cola, Saturday, 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, Fox. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.
Race distance: 250 miles, 94 laps.
2015 champion: Timothy Peters.
-XFINITY SERIES: Off until Nov. 5 for the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway.

It's time for another Chase

After 26 races and what seemed like 26 million different story lines that ebbed and flowed faster than the stock market, NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup is officially on to determine the 2016 champion.

And for the first time in recent memory, in spite of dominance in the Toyota camp, it can be said that at least nine drivers could garner a realistic chance at holding the waved checkered flag trophy at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.

With exactly 10 races left in the season, here are a few good thoughts on the field, who will be talked about as they stand right now heading to Chicagoland Speedway. Please be kind and remember ... no wagering.

-Brad Keselowski: Four wins ... Las Vegas, Talladega, Daytona 2, Kentucky.

The 2012 champion hasn't been totally dominant in his wins this season, having led the most laps only at the Coke Zero 400 (115 of 160). Somehow, BK finds a way to get himself to the front at the times he's supposed to be there.

The No. 2 has no DNFs, and that will be a big key as the Chase moves forward. Don't put too much stock in the win at Talladega, though. When they go there again in six weeks, the fight for survival will be in high gear.

Prediction: Round of 8 

-Kyle Busch: Four wins ... Martinsville, Texas, Kansas, Indianapolis

Our defending champion is one of three drivers to win consecutive races, but the Toyota camp as a whole (read: Joe Gibbs Racing) finished with 13 wins in the regular season. There's no reason to believe Kyle won't be up there again.

Prediction: Championship Four...again.

-Denny Hamlin: Three wins ... Daytona 1, Watkins Glen, Richmond 2

He may have fallen just short in leading the most laps to Martin Truex Jr. (193-189), but Hamlin sent himself off to the Chase with huge momentum after his win at Richmond on Saturday night. Not only is he alone in third place, but the JGR driver is best in qualifying among the Chasers (average: 5.9). 

Remember, though: Starting well is one thing. Finishing well is totally different. Hamlin has a golden chance to prove himself as championship material here.

Prediction: Championship Four

-Kevin Harvick: Two wins ... Phoenix, Bristol 2

There are issues on this team with the pit crew -- he led 214 laps at Darlington, but had to rally back after a bad stop just to finish second -- but the 2014 champion hasn't let that deter him too much. 

Harvick's average finish is 8.5, best among the Chase field. Brad Keselowski is the only other driver in single digits (9.7). It will serve him well.

Prediction: Championship Four. Someone has to spoil the Toyota party, and Harvick is capable.

-Carl Edwards: Two wins ... Bristol 1, Richmond 1

The driver of the No. 19 Arris Toyota led the most laps in each of his wins, but they won't be returning to either track in the Chase. Those wins completed a three-week stretch where Edwards led the bulk of his laps on the season -- 551 of 742.

In the 10 races to the Chase, his average finish is 16.9, including 32nd at Richmond on Saturday. 

Prediction: Round of 8

-Martin Truex Jr.: Two wins ... Charlotte, Darlington

The No. 78 became part of the Toyota camp in 2016, and the difference has been clear in the first multi-win season of Truex Jr.'s career. We won't forget his other-worldly showing at Charlotte, and they return there to start the second round of the Chase.

Don't expect him to repeat that, but momentum is on the side of the 78 camp with a third at Richmond that nicely followed up the Darlington victory.

Prediction: Championship Four

-Jimmie Johnson: Two wins ... Atlanta, Auto Club

Since his wins that moved him past Dale Earnhardt on the all-time career list with 77, Johnson has fallen on seriously hard times. In the race to the Chase, Johnson not only has four finishes of 33rd or worse, but he finished last (40th at Watkins Glen) for the first time in his Cup career.

Over the last 10 races, the 48 is averaging a finish of 19.5. Title No. 7 will be waiting at least one more year.

Prediction: Round of 12

-Matt Kenseth: Two wins ... Dover, Loudon

Even though he's been part of a wildly successful season at JGR, Kenseth hasn't done much since his Loudon victory. Despite qualifying well at both Bristol 2 and Richmond 2, the finishes have been 37th and 38th, respectively. For the season, he's 13th out of the 16 Chasers in average finish (15.4).

With a return trip to both of his wins on tap, he'll need repeat performances just to keep going.

Prediction: Round of 8

-Joey Logano: One win ... Michigan 1

The second driver of the Penske camp hasn't been overly spectacular, but delivered solid finishes in the stretch drive. Logano has been consistent, finishing 10th in three of the last four races, sandwiched around a fifth at Darlington.

That's the kind of momentum that advances drivers through the Chase.

Prediction: Round of 8

-Kurt Busch: One win ... Pocono 1

The driver of the No. 41 for Stewart-Haas Racing hasn't been running well since his Pocono win. Busch the Elder has just one top-5 run since then (fourth at Kentucky), and his average finish is 16.5. It's made worse with crashes at Bristol 2 (38th) and Darlington (34th) in the last four weeks.

Prediction: Round of 12

-Kyle Larson: One win ... Michigan 2

Once he finally got his first career win three weeks ago, Larson has followed up with a third at Darlington and second at Richmond. He's led laps in all three (101 total) and it's a building block for good things ahead.

Prediction: Round of 12

-Tony Stewart: One win ... Sonoma

In his final season as a full-time driver, Stewart left all of us with a beautiful memory when he won for the third time in Northern California. Two passes on the final lap in a duel with Hamlin doesn't normally happen there.

Stewart's stuck on 49 career wins. I'm sorry to say he's not going to make 50 or get a shot at title No. 4, not with three finishes in the 30s in the last four weeks.

Prediction: Round of 16

-Chris Buescher: One win ... Pocono 2

Let's get him out of the way. Buescher deserves hearty congratulations for making the Chase field.

He has a fifth at Bristol 2 on his season resume, but runs like the last three -- 35th at Michigan, 17th at Darlington and 24th at Richmond 2 will not advance him very far. He's with the big boys now.

Prediction: Round of 16

-Austin Dillon: No wins

In his third season as a full-time Cup driver, Dillon is starting to come into his own. He has four top-5 runs on the season, the most in his career. That includes a career-best third at Talladega and fourth at Martinsville, which will both be run in the Chase.

Prediction: Round of 12 with potential to go one more as long as the top-10s are there.

-Jamie McMurray: No wins

He has only one top-5 all year, but it was a fourth at Talladega. McMurray has won there before, but will need to go rounds to get a shot at a deeper run.

His last three races: Eighth, 15th, seventh. 

Prediction: Round of 16

And finally...

Chase Elliott: No wins

The heralded rookie started the year with a bang by winning the pole for the Daytona 500, but wrecked early and finished 37th. 

Elliott's problem: He's way too hard on himself at times, and it's shown up on track. In the 10 races to the Chase, his average finish is 20.4 with four coming 31st or worse.

He's only a rookie, though. He'll get much better.

Prediction: Round of 16.

Next week, we'll look at the XFINITY and Trucks Chase fields.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Chicagoland Speedway (1.5-mile D-shaped oval), Joliet, Illinois

-SPRINT CUP: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400, Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 400.5 miles, 267 laps.

2015 champion: Denny Hamlin

-XFINITY SERIES: Drive for Safety 300, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT, NBC. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.

2015 champion: Kyle Busch

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: American Ethanol E15 225, Friday, 8:30 p.m. ET/5;30 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 225 miles, 150 laps,

2015 champion: John Hunter Nemechek.

Hamlin comes through chaos, wins at Glen

For race fans who found a way to watch NASCAR’s second and final road course race of the 2016 season, the Cheez-It 355 at the Glen – the 2.45-mile, 10-turn bit of mayhem that was Watkins Glen – the trip over to USA Network was well worth the time.

After all, NBC’s Olympic coverage was only in its second day, so all the good stuff from Rio hasn’t happened yet, right?
Let’s grab a grip on our collective steering wheels for a minute. The 90-lap tilt at the Glen had plenty of prize-fight punch and enough twists and turns that made slipping away from swimming qualifiers an easy choice.
In the end, Denny Hamlin kept himself free from the trouble and put himself in Victory Lane for the second time this season, first since the memorable run past Martin Truex Jr. at the Daytona 500.
There were plenty of potential pitfalls Hamlin had to dodge along the way, including seven of the race’s eight cautions that happened over the final 40 laps. Two yellow flags came inside 10 to go, and the field couldn’t complete a full lap each time, including a seven-car wreck that collected Chris Buescher and David Ragan.
Oh, yes. Even guys well back in the field were part of the race drama, as we’ll discuss in a moment.
As for those who were up front most of the way, Brad Keselowski had the lead from Lap 54 until Hamlin took it away on a restart at Lap 81. With Martin Truex Jr. trying to pressure Hamlin at the front, Keselowski got into the No. 78 Toyota and sent him into a spin.
Keselowski’s Penske Racing teammate, Joey Logano, took advantage of the fracas and finished second, while Keselowski finished third, which was where he started at the white-flag lap. Truex somehow held on to his sanity and ended up seventh.
With no new addition to the race winners list, Kyle Larson may be the one thanking his good-luck charms he still has his spot in the Chase with four races left. Larson – who qualified on the outside pole – got tangled up with A.J. Allmendinger in the late-race chaos and finished 29th.
Larson’s cushion: Eight points over Trevor Bayne, but only three in front of Buescher, and it could have been worse.
Buescher, who won last week at Pocono, had a golden opportunity to slip into the top 30 and become eligible for the Chase, but lost it when he was in the wrong place at the wrong time only five laps shy of the finish.
Helped by a 17-minute red flag, Buescher’s crew on the No. 34 Ford worked furiously and got him back on track to finish 30th, one of three cars one lap down. Ragan wasn’t as fortunate, ending up seven laps down in 33rd.
As we head to Bristol in two weeks, Buescher still has to make up three points to get into the top 30 and get into the Chase. Once he gets in, that will leave only four non-winner spots left to claim.
After Bayne, Kasey Kahne – who is closing in on the two-year anniversary of his last win – is 11 points behind Larson. The sad part for all three drivers is once Buescher becomes Chase-eligible, that leaves them with a huge climb. Jamie McMurray is the next driver in front of Larson in the standings, and he’s up by 30 points.
With the high drama of two excellent road-course races in the rear-view mirror for another year, the final off week of the season couldn’t have come at a better time. Those with championship aspirations know that the final four races before the Chase will make or break their seasons.
We’ll definitely need some time to make sense of it all.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports or email tominator19@yahoo.com.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

-XFINITY SERIES: Mid-Ohio 200, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (2.258-mile road course), Lexington, Ohio, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT, USA Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 203.2 miles, 90 laps.

2015 champion: Regan Smith

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Off until Aug. 17 for the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

-SPRINT CUP: Off until Aug. 20 for the Bass Pro Shops/NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Keselowski outplays, outlasts at Kentucky

As if there wasn’t already enough change going on for NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers at Kentucky Speedway, they had a freshly repaved racing surface heaped into their collective mental notebooks.
By the time they raced 267 laps at the Quaker State 400 on Saturday night, a familiar sight ended up in Victory Lane and proved that fuel mileage isn’t the easiest art form to master.
Brad Keselowski certainly found a way, stretching out his fuel to the absolute maximum and barely holding off Carl Edwards at the line to earn his second win in a row and fourth of the 2016 season.
And when we say barely, the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion got to the line only .175 seconds in front of Edwards’ No. 19 Toyota. With the field trying to stretch fuel up to five laps – 7.5 miles total – beyond the normal fuel window, it was telling when Keselowski couldn’t do the celebratory burnout and needed a push from the tow truck to the Victory Lane celebration.
Trust us when we say it wasn’t a problem, especially if you’re a fan of the Michigan native and 2012 champion. Keselowski has won three of the six Cup races at Kentucky, and with the new lower-downforce package on the cars, it was a load of work from start to finish.
To set the stage, the race’s last pit stop came at lap 196, and the restart was four laps later. That meant those who pitted were right at the top end of the fuel window, 67 laps.
In total, that meant Keselowski and his challengers were trying to stretch the fuel over more than 100 miles (Kentucky Speedway is a 1.5-mile oval). As most of the leaders put on two tires, the NBC voices in the booth thought none of them put enough fuel in to get safely to the end.
Somehow, Keselowski made his fuel work, even having enough to hold off Edwards, who was on his back bumper through most of the white-flag lap.
As the saying of a certain long-running reality show goes, Keselowski outplayed, outwitted and outlasted everyone. After getting Cup win No. 100 for Team Penske, it didn’t take long to get No. 101.
With the season now officially at halfway and only eight races remaining until the Chase, there are still 11 race winners and five open slots available for those still in search of the elusive checkered flag.
Among them, Tony Stewart was impressive in his 600th career start. He didn’t lead laps, but kept moving forward from his 22nd starting position and ended up fifth. The three-time champion is still 30th in points, but 31 clear of Brian Scott.
Rookie Ryan Blaney’s hopes took a bit of a hit as he got into a wreck with fellow rookie Chase Elliott and ended up 35th. He sits 24 points behind Jamie McMurray.
The other three drivers who have Chase spots at the moment are, in order: Ryan Newman (who ended up third at Kentucky), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (13th) and Austin Dillon (16th).
There are no more mile-and-a-half tracks left until the Chase starts, so the time to get the mental and physical adjustments made is now. Short track like Bristol, intermediate like New Hampshire, road course like Watkins Glen, superspeedway like Pocono and Indy, it doesn’t matter. Those who would be ready to run for a title need their A-game on point from this point forward.
And a little thank you to the gods of Gasoline Alley will certainly help. Brad Keselowski knows that feeling.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports or email tominator19@yahoo.com.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.058-mile oval), Loudon, N.H.

-SPRINT CUP: New Hampshire 301, Sunday, 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 318.45 miles, 301 laps.

2015 champion: Kyle Busch

-XFINITY SERIES: AutoLotto 200, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 211.6 miles, 200 laps.

2015 champion: Denny Hamlin.

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Off until July 20 for the Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby at Eldora Speedway.

Keselowski gets breakthrough win at Daytona

For Brad Keselowski, restrictor-plate racing at NASCAR’s two main tracks has been a mixed bag of success. More like polar opposites, in fact.

At Talladega Superspeedway, Keselowski earned his first career Sprint Cup win in 2009 and has added three more since. At Daytona, he had managed only three top-10 finishes in 14 prior starts.
Everything changed for the better on a night when the rain stayed away.
Keselowski was finally able to answer any and all challenges as he won the Coke Zero 400 on Saturday night on the 2.5-mile oval. It’s not the 500, but it certainly doesn’t matter, especially when it gave team owner Roger Penske his 100th win in the Sprint Cup Series.
The driver of the No. 2 Ford Fusion was so good, he led 115 of the 161 laps, almost three times as many as in his previous Daytona starts combined (38). What likely helped was his ability to stay away from trouble.
More than half the field – 22 of the 40 cars – got involved in a huge pileup at lap 90. Keselowski, who qualified fifth, was in front at the time and stayed there. Not only that, it was just the second time he started inside the top 10.
In the 2012 July race, BK qualified ninth and finished eighth. Considering his average finish in 14 prior trips was 22.1, it’s no coincidence that starting near the front makes a difference when any mistake, no matter how small, can take out a lot of cars.
Case in point was the Lap 90 mishap. Jamie McMurray got loose as Jimmie Johnson closed in, made contact with teammate Kyle Larson, and ignited the chain reaction.
Such is the fact of life at Daytona and Talladega. Restrictor plates keep the field in big packs, and any politeness the drivers may have had in the earlier stages of the race goes away when it’s go time.
The perfect symbol of what the big wreck does came when Brian Scott’s No. 44 car ended up on top of the hood of Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 for a short period of time. Better that than in the fence like Austin Dillon at last year’s rain-delayed Coke Zero 400, but we digress.
“You really think it’s going to happen from Lap 1,” said Harvick in a NASCAR Wire Service story. “It’s hard to make ground, so you have to be pretty aggressive when you start making ground.”
There are now nine races to go until the Chase field is set. Tony Stewart, who won a week ago at Sonoma Raceway to end a three-year drought, wrecked with 11 laps left and finished 26th. In spite of the bad break, Smoke is officially in the top 30 in points and eligible for his last title shot.
Stewart is only three points in front of Scott, and as we said last week, backsliding isn’t an option. The No. 14 car got as high as fifth by lap 140, but couldn’t hold on to the momentum.
As for the race broadcast, NBC Sports took over the coverage for its second season of work. Let’s just say they need to shake the rust off a little bit.
We get there is a need for commercials on a broadcast. What we don’t need is commercial breaks that don’t allow the storylines to truly develop.
According to the web site cawsnjaws.com, there was 47 minutes of commercial time out of 190 minutes that were measured during the Coke Zero 400. Race fans didn’t get to see nearly a full quarter of the race so the advertisers could make their money.
In total, there were 124 commercials, up from 96 last year. That’s way too much.
It’s another part of a big puzzle as to why NASCAR is struggling to regain the foothold it had on the fan base through the early part of the last decade. Fans aren’t buying seats at tracks with the voracity they once did, and when they can’t see the good parts of a race on TV, it only adds to the problems.
New drivers like Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney are giving fans hope for a brighter future for the sport. It’s time for the broadcast partners – TV or radio – to ensure it remains vibrant for generations to come.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports or email tominator19@yahoo.com.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Kentucky Speedway (1.5-mile oval), Sparta, Kentucky.

-SPRINT CUP: Quaker State 400, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 400.5 miles, 267 laps.

2015 champion: Kyle Busch

-XFINITY SERIES: Alsco 300, Friday, 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.

2015 champion: Brad Keselowski

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Buckle Up in Your Truck 225, Thursday, 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 225 miles, 150 laps.

2015 champion: Matt Crafton.

Understanding Talladega can be challenge

When the time comes for the 10th race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season, it means a trip to the biggest track in Talladega Superspeedway.

For those who make the trek to the huge 2.66-mile oval that features pre-race parties, restrictor plates, packs of cars inches apart and wrecks that would make Los Angeles freeway drivers look like masters of safety, the visuals are crazy and indescribably entertaining.
The Sunday running of the Geico 500 was no different. He who keeps his race car away from the most trouble usually wins.
By the time 188 laps were run, Brad Keselowski came through with the help of two big pushes off the race’s final restart with two laps left that secured his fourth career victory at Talladega and second of 2016 (Las Vegas).
But it was what happened during the race itself that made Talladega a hair-pulling, maddening, and ultimately entertaining exercise.
Buoyed by the threat of rain that ultimately stayed away, drivers worked the steering wheel with much more urgency than normal in the early stages of the race. There wasn’t just one “big one” (a term that’s become an overused cliché), but three major wrecks that left plenty of sheet metal bent out of whack and egos bruised and battered at the end.
Big One Part One came at lap 96 – just past halfway – when Chris Buescher did three barrel rolls as his No. 34 car got caught in a seven-car wreck that involved Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards, among others.
Big One Deux happened at lap 161 and involved 21 cars. It was triggered when Kurt Busch got his car into Johnson’s bumper in the wrong place. Mistake made, carnage ensued.
When Johnson got turned, he hit Paul Menard, and more than half the field couldn’t escape damage.
But the capper of the crash trilogy came just 20 laps later. Matt Kenseth, who had led 39 laps, got the worst of it and let Joey Logano know about it afterwards. As it turned out, the feud from Martinsville last fall was reignited with the incident.
In the end, Keselowski emerged as the winner with another wreck involving seven more cars happening behind him and runner-up Kyle Busch. In total, only 28 of the 40 cars were running in the final finishing order, 21 on the lead lap.
That’s a fact of life at Talladega. Craziness can happen at any moment and lead changes are found in abundance, which makes the racing entertaining and not for those who don’t like the thrill of speed. There were 37 lead changes among 17 drivers at the Geico 500.
And if that wasn’t insane enough, the finish of Saturday’s Sparks Energy 300 XFINITY race got everyone talking just as loudly.
On the final lap, Logano and Elliott Sadler were dueling for the win when Logano got turned as he tried to block with the finish line in sight.
As Logano’s car plowed nose-first into the SAFER barrier, Brennan Poole thought he got by and got himself a victory.
But when the tape was reviewed, Sadler was awarded the win. The video shown on social media sites had the clear answer, showing the moment when the yellow caution light came on and how Sadler was ahead of the field.
It wasn’t the cleanest way to win, but it didn’t change the outcome. The right call was made, no matter who got angry.
And it all came on NASCAR’s biggest, baddest and most infuriating track. That’s why it’s a weekend that’s always worth looking forward to for any race fan.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports and email him at tominator19@yahoo.com.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Kansas Speedway (1.5-mile oval), Kansas City, Kansas

-SPRINT CUP: GoBowling.com 400, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN affiliate.

Race distance: 400.5 miles, 267 laps.

2015 champion: Jimmie Johnson

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Toyota Tundra 250, Friday, 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN affiliate.

Race distance: 250.5 miles, 167 laps.

2015 champion: Matt Crafton

-XFINITY SERIES: Off until May 14 at Dover International Speedway. 

Keselowski rallies, wins at Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS – Brad Keselowski hadn’t seen Victory Lane for a long time. Complicating the moment just a little bit more, his Penske Racing teammate was holding up his progress as the pair worked on chasing down Kyle Busch.

Once the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion got past Joey Logano and into clean air,, the drought would finally come to an end.
Keselowski got past Kyle Busch with just six laps remaining and held on to win the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, a day  that had a little bit of everything in the weather department – from rain to gusty winds to a sandstorm.
Not only was it the first win for the Penske Racing driver since last year at Auto Club Speedway, but it was his second in the last three years at LVMS that locked him into the 2016 Chase.
“We’re thrilled to be locked into the Chase this early in the season,” Keselowski said. “It’s a tremendous feeling for our team, and I wouldn’t trade my guys on pit road. They were a large part of our success this week.”
Things looked bleak for Keselowski as Kyle Busch, who had won the previous day’s XFINITY Series Boyd Gaming 300 in dominating fashion, looked to be heading for a weekend sweep when he took the lead from Logano with 44 laps to go.
But when the race’s sixth and final caution came out at lap 226, Busch took only left-side tires on his pit stop. Keselowski took four and once he got past his teammate into second place, the race to the finish was on.
With Busch struggling with a vibration on the right front tire of his No. 18 M&Ms Toyota Camry, it wouldn’t take long for Keselowski to take control.
“I knew when I was watching, as soon as I passed Joey, I focused on the 18,” said Keselowski, who had a momentary setback when he received a pit-road speeding penalty at lap 180.. “When I saw his car, the way it was sliding and the line he was running, I knew after that first lap we could win the race.”
Paul Wolfe, Keselowski’s crew chief, added, “At that point, listening to Kyle, he pretty much used up everything he had. I can't say it was probably much of a fight getting by him.”
For Keselowski, the second race with the new low-downforce package was even better than the first – a ninth-place effort at Atlanta.
“I think you saw, because of the new rules package, the cars fell off a lot at the end of a run and you really had to drive them sideways,” Keselowski said. “Took a lot of balance as a driver, a lot of precise footwork and accuracy with where you put your car and how you place it.
“This shouldn’t be easy. This is the Sprint Cup Series. These cars should be very hard to drive. At the end of the run, they were a challenge. It’s nice to be a part of that.”
Logano was not only second in the race, but second to Jimmie Johnson in laps led with 70. Like his teammate, Logano gave the new package rave reviews.
“I’ve never seen the leader really check out and go away,” Logano said. “It was pretty cool to be able to see some more racing.”
Johnson, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon rounded out the top five finishers. Ryan Blaney was the highest-finishing rookie in sixth. The start of the race was delayed for about 25 minutes due to rain, and a sandstorm forced a shorter delay in the later stages.

Followers welcome on Twitter @Tomzsports.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Phoenix International Raceway (1-mile oval), Avondale, Arizona.

-SPRINT CUP: Good Sam 500, Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT, Fox (check listings). Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 500 kilometers (312 miles), 312 laps.

2015 champion: Kevin Harvick.

-XFINITY SERIES: Axalta Faster, Tougher, Brighter 200, Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT, Fox  (check listings). Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 200 miles, 200 laps.

2015 champion: Joey Logano

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Off until April 2 at Martinsville Speedway.

Kurt Busch wins pole at Las Vegas

Las Vegas may be home to Kurt Busch, but his hometown track was just as welcoming in qualifying for the Kobalt 400 on Friday.
For the second straight week, Busch won the pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after turning in a speed of 196.328 mph and time of 27.505 seconds in the final round of qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Busch broke the track record in the opening round, kicking up the speed to 196.378 mph and lowering the time to 27.498.
Even with the success, Busch nearly missed out on having a shot at the pole during the second round of three-round qualifying.
“I overdrove the car in Turn 2 in the second round,” said Busch, who also won the pole at LVMS in 2010. “We had to do an extra run, and it made for an extra pressure-cooker situation. All in all, you just have to play it cool and rely on your team members.
“The way the session unfolded for us, we were in perfect position by the time we got to Round 3.”
With only five minutes available to make the best possible lap in the final round, Busch made his count, beating Joey Logano by nearly seven-hundredths of a second. Logano ran his lap around the 1.5-mile oval in 27.572 seconds and 195.851 mph.
“Two poles in a row is reason to celebrate,” Busch said. “It symbolizes our hard work during the offseason to come out of the box and sit on two poles at two mile-and-a-halves right away.”
Logano rebounded from a 26th-place qualifying run at Atlanta last week, the first with NASCAR’s new low-downforce package. The driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion said any falloff with the tires is to be determined when the 267-lap race gets under way Sunday.
“We saw some falloff yesterday when we were in race trim,” Logano said. “Today we never came out of qualifying trim. It was one lap, one lap, one lap.
“I think there will be more (tire) falloff than there was last year. It won’t be huge like last week, but there will be some, for sure.”
Matt Kenseth, a three-time race winner at Las Vegas, just missed passing Logano’s time, but still qualified third with a 27.582 at 195.780. Logano’s Penske Racing teammate, Brad Keselowski, will join Kenseth in Row 2 after qualifying fourth (27.598,195.666).
“We had a pretty decent day, just didn’t have enough at the end,” said Keselowski, looking for his second Vegas win in three years (2014). “I tried too hard to get the last little bit of pickup, and it wasn’t quite there.”
Austin Dillon and defending Kobalt 400 race winner Kevin Harvick will make up the third row. Aric Almirola, Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson and A.J. Allmendinger completed the top 12 starters.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports..

Johnson wins at Texas, shakes up Chase

After all the chaos from a crazy week of NASCAR discussion, from so-called “driver codes” to debate over Matt Kenseth’s two-race suspension, Sunday finally arrived and a key race happened at Texas Motor Speedway.
Brad Keselowski looked like he’d be a lock to join Jeff Gordon in the championship four at Homestead-Miami Speedway, leading 312 of 334 laps in the AAA Texas 500. There was one small problem at the end, though.

Jimmie Johnson made sure Keselowski didn’t lead the last one.
Johnson bided his time after a restart, survived several block attempts, and took the lead from Keselowski with four laps to go to win at Texas, his 75th Sprint Cup victory. The effects were felt far and wide for Keselowski, who now finds himself on the outside looking in instead of getting ready to race at Homestead for his second championship in four seasons.
Keselowski is 19 points behind Martin Truex Jr., who holds the last coveted transfer spot to be in the Championship 4. His Penske Racing teammate, Joey Logano – the man who initiated all the hubbub and discussion after getting wrecked by Kenseth at Martinsville last week – had a far worse day, blowing out a left-rear tire nine laps in, wrecking and finishing 40th.
With only next week’s race at Phoenix left to settle the quartet who will run for the championship, the mission is crystal-clear for Keselowski and Logano.
Win on the 1-mile oval in the desert or watch title aspirations disappear. And the odds of either one getting it at Phoenix are long, mainly because Kevin Harvick has won four in a row and five of the last six there.
As I sifted through the radio chatter, social media ranting, and general white noise over the Logano vs. Kenseth incident, two very large thoughts popped into my head.
First, there were still 47 laps left at Martinsville when Logano’s No. 22 car was deposited into the Turn 4 wall by Kenseth. Logano had led 207 laps up to that point, but Jeff Gordon had a strong car that was better on longer runs.
It was far from a lock that Logano would have gotten to Victory Lane if Kenseth didn’t get to him first, which he did.
Second, NASCAR’s punishment of Kenseth wasn’t surprising, yet left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. Logano took out Kenseth as both drivers were racing for a win at Kansas, and Kenseth was none too pleased, calling the 25-year-old a “liar” when Logano was quoted as saying he didn’t wreck him on purpose.
NASCAR chairman Brian France weighed in and said he didn’t see any problems with that incident, calling it “quintessential NASCAR” on the “SiriusXM Speedway” show the day after it happened.
Fast forward to Kenseth’s revenge, and the reactions from the big bosses did a flip-flop of sorts, depending on which side of the fence the fans felt was theirs to take.
But there was one major difference in Kenseth’s approach at Martinsville. He was nowhere near in contention for a victory, so NASCAR had no real choice but to hand down the punishment it did.
Kenseth had a right to feel the way he did after what happened at Kansas. He went from a realistic shot at a victory – something NASCAR put a premium on with the revised version of the Chase – to getting eliminated from contention at Talladega the following week.
But his takeout of Logano at Martinsville stepped far over the line of competition and moved into the “eye-for-an-eye” category.
You take me out? That’s fine. But I’ll make darn sure you don’t get a title shot yourself, no matter where I’m at in the running order.
Consequences be damned, I guess.
With Logano’s misfortune at Texas, it was the final capper to one of the sadder stories in recent NASCAR history. The sport has been losing fans at the track and on television, and wild-west style justice incidents haven’t helped.
It’s about time someone took a stand for sanity. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat like this ever again.

Followers and comments welcome on Twitter @Tomzsports.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Phoenix International Raceway (1-mile oval), Avondale, Arizona.

-SPRINT CUP: Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. PT, NBC. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 500 kilometers (312 miles), 312 laps.

2014 champion: Kevin Harvick

-XFINITY SERIES: DAV 200, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 200 miles, 200 laps.

2014 champion: Brad Keselowski

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Lucas Oil 150, Friday, 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 150 miles, 150 laps.

2014 champion: Erik Jones

Side note on the NCWTS race: Jones has his championship fate firmly in his own hands. He leads two-time defending champion Matt Crafton by 17 points and Tyler Reddick by 21 heading to Phoenix.

Southern 500 race lineup and other goodness

Not sure what's going on at my local paper, but it seems to every so often forget to publish the Sprint Cup race lineup so race fans -- and there are plenty of them in my little corner of the world -- can see where their favorite driver will be starting for races like tonight's Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Have no fear, my friends. Your intrepid gearhead/Gear Box blogger is on the case. There are just under nine hours -- as of the time of writing this sentence on the screen -- until the green flag drops on a race that will be awesome to watch. Retro paint schemes, retro wardrobe for the broadcasters, and legends of the booth (read: Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett) will bring even more excitement once their microphones are turned on and they go to work describing the action of 367 laps of racing.
The low-downforce package used at Kentucky has been tweaked to fit for Darlington. The racing was great in June, and it could be sensational tonight.
Or awesome, spectacular, marvelous. Hey, I'm not picky. Whichever superlative works for you, go for it.
And if you have a favorite food you'll be enjoying on race day tonight, feel free to share it. I'm part of the NASCAR Happy Hour and NASCAR History - 2003 to Present groups on Facebook and it'll make for interesting conversation. I could always use a few good ideas for cooking, but that's a longer story for another time.
In the meantime, here's your link to the race lineup for the Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway: https://www.nascarmedia.com/news/stat_packages.aspx?LinkId=121981
Followers and comments welcome on Twitter @Tomzsports.

High-drag race package was drag at Indy

Let’s get the essential preliminaries out of the way first. Kyle Busch dominated at the Brickyard. He swept the weekend with a last-lap pass that beat Ryan Blaney and gave him the XFINITY Series victory in the Lilly Diabetes 250, then raised the restart to an art form over the closing laps as he won the Jeff Kyle 400.
Busch has four wins in the last five weeks and became the first driver to win three straight races since Jimmie Johnson did it in 2007 on the way to his second of six Sprint Cup titles.
But after the essential, well-deserved platitudes for Busch – who may bust my previous prediction of making the top 30 in points by Bristol on Aug. 22 a lot sooner now – there was a deeper issue for those who raced and those who watched.
The new high-drag race package for Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a drag on the joy and the emotion of what’s supposed to be the second-most popular race of the Sprint Cup season.
Look no further than the closing laps for the best case why. Despite the field’s best efforts, no one could complete a pass on anyone who was in the lead. A total of six drivers led at Indianapolis on Sunday.
The more clean air the driver had, the better the car behaved. Less clean air, the only real passing zones were at the exits of the corners. It’s back to the drawing board – not only for the tech geeks in NASCAR, but for the non-fans of the driver of the No. 18.
Busch is a Rembrandt when it comes to restarts. When the win was on the line, he proved it to perfection Sunday. But if you read the Facebook posts from various pages discussing his win, the respect is nowhere close to being there, not even in begrudging form.
“NASCAR handed him another one,” cried one poster.
“NASCAR will make sure he gets (in the Chase), one way or another,” howled a second.
And there’s this gem that’s so ridiculous, you can’t help but laugh.
“Anybody who says Kyle Busch is doing a good job is in denial. He's getting a lot of help from NASCAR, that's why nobody's coming to the races.”
The stands looked pretty empty at Indy, but suffering a broken leg and fractured bone in a foot and trying to heal from it as fast as possible doesn’t matter, I guess.
It certainly does to Busch. Through all the pain, all the physical therapy, all the weeks watching David Ragan run as the relief driver of the M&Ms Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, getting back to doing what he loved was all that mattered.
News flash: Busch returned to the 18 in the space of exactly three months. He raced in the All-Star Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway, then raced for points for the first time in Cup in 2015 at the Coca-Cola 600.
To borrow a line from one Sprint Cup sponsor, that’s freaky fast. Even freaky faster, Busch was in Victory Lane at Sonoma just five races later.
And the momentum hasn’t stopped.
Bottom line here: Even with this seriously on-fire streak, Busch is still not in the top 30 in points. Bad news for those who’d rather not be a fan of the 18: All of the winning is cutting up the deficit like a machete through a tire. With six races still to run before the Chase, Busch is only 23 points behind Justin Allgaier, who sits in the cutoff spot.
And like it or not, Busch will make the top 30 and could very easily do it after this weekend’s race at Pocono.
I am not a fan of particular drivers, but I am a fan of a good story. Busch’s run of success is one of the best stories we’ve seen in NASCAR in a long, long time.
It’s time for those who choose to hate to embrace and respect what we’re seeing or find something else to spend the emotion on.

Tom Zulewski is passionate about auto racing and welcomes new followers and comments on Twitter @Tomzsports.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Pocono Raceway (2.5-mile tri-oval), Long Pond, Pa.

SPRINT CUP: Windows 10 400, Sunday, 1:30 p.m. ET/10:30 a.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 400 miles, 160 laps.

2014 champion: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Pocono Mountains 150, Saturday, 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 150 miles, 60 laps

2014 champion: Austin Dillon

XFINITY SERIES: US Cellular 250 presented by New Holland, Iowa Speedway (.875-mile oval), Newton, Iowa, Saturday, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 250 laps, 218.75 miles

2014 champion: Brad Keselowski.

Stat book at the Brickyard

With Carl Edwards on the pole for Sunday's Crown Royal presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard -- his second in a row -- the statistical gurus (mainly just me, but that's OK) have decided to go to work. Here are some highlights to get a sense of Edwards' chances for another victory in 2015, Kyle Busch's charge up the points chart, and other miscellaneous stuff from Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
--This is the 22nd edition of NASCAR's trip to the place where the Indy 500 still carries the day. In his final start, Indiana native son (at least from age 15 on) Jeff Gordon is the defending champ and looking for his sixth Brickyard win.
None of Gordon's five previous Indy wins have been from the pole, and he started 27th for his 2001 Indy triumph. That's the furthest through the field a race winner has come from, and he'll start 19th on Sunday.
--Only three Brickyard winners have won from the pole: Kevin Harvick (2003), Jimmie Johnson (2008) and Ryan Newman (2013).
--Johnson won the Brickyard 400 in three of his championship seasons -- 2006, 2008 and 2009. From 1998 through 2001, the Brickyard 400 winner went on to win the Winston Cup title: Jeff Gordon (1998, 2001), Dale Jarrett (1999) and Bobby Labonte (2000).
--For all of his other successes at Indianapolis, Roger Penske has never won a Brickyard 400 as an owner. Joey Logano starts from second Sunday, but Brad Keselowski goes off 31st.
--Should Logano win, he'll join Jimmie Johnson (2006) and Jamie McMurray (2010) as the only Sprint Cup drivers to win the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same season.
--Problem for Logano, though...a Chevrolet has won the last 12 Brickyard 400s. Bill Elliott was the last non-Chevy driver in Victory Lane at Indy in 2002. The last Ford to win was Dale Jarrett in 1999.
--If you're thinking the new higher-drag rules package will mess with passing for the lead, it could produce a few more than normal. The record for fewest lead changes is nine, and it's happened three times -- 2000, 2004 and 2009. There were 26 lead changes in the 2008 Brickyard 400, but that one featured the tire disaster from Goodyear, so take it for what it's worth.
Since 2008, the caution count has been three, six, five, five, three and four, so that can be considered progress. We'll see if it produces a formula for winning racing that keeps eyes watching.
Tom Zulewski has covered everything in motor sports from World of Outlaws to NASCAR and the American LeMans Series in an 18-year journalism career. Follow him on Twitter @Tomzsports.

Trophies and the NASCAR drivers who love them

Among the things I've noticed in having covered motor sports over the last 18 years, NASCAR Sprint Cup winners get some pretty awesome trophies for their wins.
At Sonoma Raceway, for instance, the victor of the Toyota/SaveMart 350 gets to drink from a goblet filled with wine. Here's a pic of what it looks like that I took when Martin Truex Jr. won there in 2013:

The main part of Sonoma's trophy, true to the spirit of its location, is an oak barrel motif with a wine bottle around it. Seeing wine in a trophy may be a little too obvious to some, but it can happen anywhere. Richard Childress owns a vineyard in his native North Carolina in addition to his race team, so there you go.
But as we go down the list, the mix of things race winners get in Victory Lane is pretty outstanding.
Let's start with Sunday's 5-Hour Energy 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Yes, the winner gets to hold a live lobster as part of the celebration. Here's last year's July winner, Brad Keselowski, with his crabby crustacean (pun almost intended!):

And as we move on through some of the other notable trophies, I have to stop at one of my favorites after 11 years. Before Kobalt Tools took over as the title sponsor of the Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the winner used to receive a boxer-style belt. Seemed appropriate after the 267-lap endurance test he had to endure.
But with Kobalt's arrival, the winner gets to hold a very cool oversized wrench in Victory Lane.
Unique, special, and something worth keeping in the trophy case for the grandkids to see.
Martinsville Speedway has its own special trophy, and it takes preparation to take it home. For 51 years, the race winner has received a grandfather clock made by Ridgeway Clocks. The company, appropriately enough, is based only a few miles from the "paper clip." In 2009, the clock, which stands about 7 feet tall (a good half-foot higher than me, even!), was valued at around $10,000. Here's a piece that tells the story behind how the clocks became trophies, written in 2013.
Here's a random thought: Jimmie Johnson has won eight grandfather clocks from Martinsville. Where in heaven's name does he keep them all?
Of course, there are other legendary trophies every Cup driver strives to win, especially the Harley J. Earl Trophy that goes to the Daytona 500 champ. It's no grandfather clock, but it's just as priceless.
I saw Keselowski ringing the bell for his win at Auto Club Speedway in March. And of course, there was the absolutely hysterical presence of SpongeBob on the race that had his name at Kansas Speedway back in May. Couldn't resist closing this post with a shot of Jimmie Johnson and that trophy:

So there you go. Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief, once said trophies were one of the big things that drove his team's competitive fire (OK, the paychecks aren't bad, either...seriously!). With the collection that's out there now, from the traditional to the new, they're a big part of why NASCAR always has my attention.
Tom Zulewski has covered motor sports in many forms, from World of Outlaws to NASCAR, the NHRA and American LeMans Series, through an 18-year journalism career. Follow him on Twitter @Tomzsports.