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.

Not always easy to be in right spot

As everyone is aware by now -- unless they hid under a rock all weekend -- there was a pretty tremendous race weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Not only did the SMI track sign on for a second Monster Energy Cup Series date starting next season, but the finish of the Kobalt 400 was a good precursor of what's to come.

Martin Truex Jr. won the race, the first for Toyota on the young 2017 season. He swept all three stages -- the first driver to so under NASCAR's new scoring format -- and it wasn't looking likely as the laps wound down.

The No. 78 Bass Pro Shops car was passed by Brad Keselowski at lap 244, but fortune smiled down on Truex when Keselowski lost his momentum and the lead just two laps short of the finish.

Truex beat Kyle Larson by just over 1.6 seconds, but the real excitement came afterward when Kyle Busch took out his frustration for spinning out as he battled with Joey Logano for fourth place on the final lap.

Before Truex could finish wheeling his car -- which had steam pouring out of it -- into Victory Lane, Busch made a beeline for Logano's pit and tried to take a few good swings at him. None connected before Logano's pit crew pulled Busch away and several NASCAR officials finished the job.

My friend and fellow reporter Jeff Gluck was in the right place at the right time and got 50 seconds of video of the fight that TV wasn't able to show. According to conversations I heard later, the video was viewed 1 million times on YouTube within nine hours.

As of today (2 pm Mountain time), that number has grown to nearly 1.9 million. While it's good to be around for something that went viral, there's something else that I chose to focus on.

Martin Truex Jr. won the Kobalt 400. He almost didn't. That's got to be worth something, even if it ended up flying just under the radar in the big picture and collection of story lines.

And after further review, I'm pleased with how everything turned out. You, the reader, not only knew who won, but knew of the unlikely sidebar of the "fight" between Kyle Busch and Joey Logano.

My pictures weren't half-bad, either.

It's just like Brad Keselowski said after his finish in Las Vegas. You have to stick around until the end because you just never know what's going to happen.

Even if more than one thing happens at the exact same time.

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.

Logano loves Las Vegas, wins Boyd Gaming 300

As he faced a stiff challenge from Kyle Larson, Joey Logano was almost baffled as to how to keep fellow driver Kyle Larson behind him during Saturday's XFINITY Series Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
After four restarts over the final 32 laps, Logano won the chess match and ended up with the checkered flag.
The Penske Racing driver led 106 of 200 laps and held off Larson by .602 seconds on a warm afternoon at the 1.5-mile oval. It was Logano's first win in his very first XFINITY race at LVMS and third straight win in the No. 12 Ford Fusion since Watkins Glen last season.
"It was hard to figure out what to do and what lane to pick for the restarts," Logano said. "We had a fast car and we were able to unload with a lot of speed. It's good to see the Penske cars coming back on the XFINITY side."
Logano led one lap off a restart in the early part of the 200-lap race, but didn't take control until his pit crew got him off pit road at the end of Stage 2. Larson was able to regain the lead briefly at lap 145, but Logano got back out in front one lap later and was able to hold on.
"Joey and I were pretty equal, but clean air was big," Larson said. "I had good restarts and almost cleared him, but he had the momentum in the end."
That momentum was well-earned, and Logano's crew chief, Brian Wilson, said past experience made the difference when the pressure picked up in the closing laps.
"For me, I was relying what had worked the past couple of times going in the high lane," Wilson said. "It's always tough. You have to look at who's pushing, what's been working, who's gonna be inside. We were fortunate because Joey's the best at restarts."
Logano, clearly in celebration mode, shrugged off his crew chief's praise with a chuckle.
"You wouldn't have said that if we didn't win today," he joked.
Larson was fourth after Stage 2, but lost several positions when he pitted for fuel.
"That was the change in our race," he said.
Defending race champion Kyle Busch, last week's winner at Atlanta, led the first 48 laps and barely held off Larson to win Stage 1, but finished seventh.
Justin Allgaier was the highest-finishing XFINITY regular, and he ended up fourth behind Daniel Suarez. Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, Elliott Sadler, Ryan Reed and Brad Keselowski completed the top 10.
The winning average speed was 118.525 mph, and there were nine cautions for 44 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.

Cruz Pedregon's wild ride

As the first round of Funny Car eliminations unfolded in the NHRA Toyota Nationals at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, Cruz Pedregon wasn’t really going anywhere. No chance at the championship, just going out and giving his best to win rounds.
Pedregon would have no idea what he was up against when he faced Robert Hight.
While Hight had issues of his own as he smoked the tires at the starting line, Pedregon’s Snap-on Tools car inexplicably decided to become airborne.
At about 300 feet, the car turned into a motorcycle and popped its entire front end into a “wheelie” position. Somehow, the back tires held on to the ground until after Pedregon crossed the finish line to earn the round win.
Pedregon was OK afterwards, but there were moments where his life certainly flashed before his eyes as the front end of his car lifted toward the Las Vegas sky.
“I was thinking two thoughts,” Pedregon said. “Maybe this is what it’s like to go to the other side … it’s quiet, it’s blue, it’s pretty, silent, peaceful, then I thought I might be doing a wheel stand right now.
“Then I was thinking I hope I don’t land pointed in the wrong direction.”
Fortunately, he didn’t. Pedregon landed straight and safely, but the wheelie bar broke on the car and he couldn’t continue in spite of winning the round.
NHRA rules don’t allow drivers to use backup cars if the primary one wrecks.
“I’m just happy I didn’t get into Robert’s lane and I’m sitting here talking about it,” Pedregon said. “As much as I love these cars and I love racing, they go fast and things can happen in a hurry.”
The total run in a Funny Car is four seconds and less. That’s lightning-quick time to react when things happen.
Afterwards, Pedregon walked along the return road to salute the fans and let him know he came out of the moment in one piece and still standing. They responded with a standing ovation.
“These cars are built right, but I wanted the fans to know I was OK,” Pedregon said. “The car stood longer than the Wright brothers first flew in the air. I had to think about what might happen for 600, 700 feet. Even though it was a few seconds, I was thinking ‘please, land right.’”
For those of us who witnessed it at the track, the moment was a thrill we’ll never forget.
Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @TommyZee81 or @Tomzsports. Email him at tominator19@yahoo.com.

Reddick rules roost, wins Trucks race at Vegas

It had been 16 months since 20-year-old Tyler Reddick found his way to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. As the calendar turned to October at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it took holding off a teammate with championship dreams to make sure the winning feeling could finally return.

Reddick led 70 laps and kept Brad Keselowski Racing teammate Daniel Hemric at bay to win the DC Solar 350 on the 1.5-mile oval, his first since Dover last May. Hemric, who was looking for a victory to push himself into the next round of the inaugural Chase, finished second, 1.4 seconds behind.
“We really didn’t qualify like I thought we were going to,” said Reddick, who started 16th and got to the front for the first time at Lap 33. “The wind was moving around quite a bit and gusting the wrong way for us. … It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
Reddick lost the lead briefly to Cole Custer – another non-Chase driver – after the race’s third and final restart at Lap 99, but quickly regained it and stayed on the point for the final 44 laps. Crew chief Doug Randolph said the 1-2 showing for Reddick and Hemric was invaluable.
“It was a big boost for our organization,” Randolph said. “We haven’t gotten the finishes we’ve wanted all year, but both trucks have run very well and led laps. The wins and top-5s haven’t quite been there, but Tyler and his whole team just don’t give up.”
Reddick failed to qualify for the Chase, but it never showed as the No. 29 truck got a clutch effort from the pit crew that was fastest in the field throughout the night.

“The pit crew really shined tonight and got us good pit stops for track position,” Reddick said. “Even when they struggled, they bounced back. They knew they were going to do really good, had the confidence, and performed well.”
Between Reddick and Hemric, the pair combined to lead 108 of the 146 laps. With one race left before the first elimination happens at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 22, Hemric is tied with John Hunter Nemechek, 15 points behind Johnny Sauter, who holds the final transfer spot into the next Chase round.
Custer, Ben Kennedy and points leader William Byron – who won the opening race of the Chase at New Hampshire last week and has six victories on the season – completed the top five.
NOTES: Of the race’s three cautions, two were used as a result of the 20-minute caution clock expiring. The winner’s average speed was 143.163 mph. … Reddick came from the second-deepest starting position to win a Camping World Truck Series race at Las Vegas. Shane Hmiel started from 21st when he won in 2004. … Timothy Peters won the pole and Matt Crafton started outside on the front row after qualifying held earlier in the day as temperatures hit the low 90s. Crafton ended up eighth and Peters finished ninth. … Among the drivers in the Chase, Nemechek was the worst finisher in 16th.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @TommyZee81 or @Tomzsports. Email him at tominator19@yahoo.com.

Harvick rules Loudon, takes pressure off

He needed to work some magic at Dover a year ago to get to the second round of the Chase, but Kevin Harvick won't have to worry this time around.

Harvick didn't lead a lot of laps at the Magic Mile, but he held on and held off Matt Kenseth to win the Bad Boy Off Road 300 on Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and earn his ticket into the second round of the Chase.
After a 20th-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway in last week's Chase opener, Harvick made sure there wouldn't be a repeat of last year's New Hampshire race, where he ran out of fuel while leading in the late stages.
Harvick pulled a win out of the fire at Dover and advanced back then. He won't need to worry about it this time around.
The driver of the No. 4 that had ditech.com on the hood qualified 19th and didn't get to the front until lap 232 during a green-flag pit stop cycle. But when the race's sixth and last caution came out at lap 292 when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Reed Sorenson got together, Harvick didn't miss his opportunity.
With Matt Kenseth alongside, Harvick timed his restart to perfection and led the final six circuits around the 1.058-mile track, denying Kenseth his third straight Cup win at Loudon.
And the lobster was probably extra-tasty for him, especially with title hopes still alive.
As for the rest of the standings, it's time to get into survival mode with the first elimination of four lurking at the Monster Mile at Dover next week.
Kyle Larson, who finished 10th on Sunday, has the final transfer spot. His cushion is slim and he has company knocking hard on the door. Austin Dillon (16th) and Jamie McMurray (19th) are only five points behind heading to Dover.
Heck, even Tony Stewart -- who was the first car a lap down in 23rd -- still has a shot. He's only 11 points off the pace.
We know it's not the most relevant thing to point it out, but hey, it's fun to mention. Here's how those on the edge did at Dover on May 15th.
-Larson finished second after qualifying 23rd. He led 85 laps in the AAA Drive for Autism 400, but Kenseth won.
-McMurray was five laps down in 21st.
-Dillon was involved in an accident at lap 185 and finished 33rd.
-Stewart had suspension issues and ended up 34th.
And as we suspected -- and probably just about everyone else did, too -- when the Chase started, it's win or else for Chris Buescher. He's 30 points behind Larson.
In the historic first Chase races of the lower series, the XFINITY VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 at Kentucky Speedway was a surprising, entertaining affair that Elliott Sadler found a way to win.
The radio broadcast on Performance Racing Network mentioned Sadler was none too pleased he didn't receive any extra bonuses for being the points leader in the regular season -- he was 59 ahead of second-place Daniel Suarez -- so he took out his frustration in the best way possible.
Sadler only led 11 laps, but held on to beat Suarez by just .243 seconds and advance to the second round.
From starting six points behind Erik Jones -- who had four wins to Sadler's two in the regular season -- Sadler can relax and go all-out now at Dover and Charlotte to add to the momentum.
Jones, despite leading 100 laps, got caught up in a wreck with Ty Dillon at lap 189 and went from the penthouse to a 28th-place finish. He's on the outside looking in as they head to Dover, but only three points behind Blake Koch, who was 11th at Kentucky.
For its first official Chase race, the Camping World Truck Series showed us why William Byron should be taken seriously as a likely holder of the championship trophy at Homestead in November. The driver for Kyle Busch Motorsports led 161 of the 175 laps and held off teammate Christopher Bell by less than a half-second to win the UNOH 175 at New Hampshire. It was Byron's sixth victory of the year.
As for the rest of the Chasers, the separation after Loudon is paper-thin. Matt Crafton was third behind Byron and Bell and is second in points. Add in Bell, John Hunter Nemechek, Timothy Peters, Johnny Sauter and Ben Kennedy, and the whole group -- second through seventh -- is separated by just 11 points total.
Only Daniel Hemric is in must-win mode now after he finished 28th due to an early-race spin and brake issues. Two drivers will be eliminated after Talladega on Oct. 22.
But in between comes my favorite truck race of the year. The DC Solar 350 is coming to Las Vegas on Saturday night, and if Matt Crafton can break his hex that we discussed here last week, it will push him to the second round and end a big-time hex that's going on its ninth season.
In case you missed it, Crafton has finished second three times (2009, 2011, 2012) and third twice (2008, 2014) at Las Vegas. He won the pole a year ago, but finished eighth.
All the more reason to get your tickets and get down there for the race.
Tom Zulewski will be reporting live from the DC Solar 350 at Las Vegas. Follow him on Twitter @TommyZee81 or @Tomzsports. Email also welcome to tominator19@yahoo.com.
NEXT WEEK'S RACES
Dover International Speedway (1-mile oval), Dover, Delaware.
-SPRINT CUP: Citizen Soldier 400, Sunday, 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.
Race distance: 400 miles, 400 laps.
2015 champion: Kevin Harvick
-XFINITY SERIES: Drive Sober 300, Saturday, 3 p.m. ET/Noon PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.
Race distance: 200 miles, 200 laps.
2015 champion: Regan Smith
-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: DC Solar 350, Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile, D-shaped oval), Saturday, 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: 350 kilometers (219 miles), 146 laps.
2015 champion: John Wes Townley.

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.

Kyle Busch gets first XFINITY win at Vegas

Prior to Saturday afternoon, Kyle Busch had never visited Victory Lane in any XFINITY Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With 77 career wins in NASCAR’s No. 2 series already in place on the resume, it would only be a matter of time.
After 11 prior misses, Busch put his foot down and delivered another dominating effort.
The Las Vegas native led all but one of the 200 laps and held off hard-charging teammate Daniel Suarez down the stretch to win the Boyd Gaming 300 on a windy, cloudy day at LVMS. Busch won his 78th XFINITY race in just his 313th start.
“Today was pretty special to finally get a win in the hometown and check that one off the list,” said Busch, who was runner-up in his two previous starts at Vegas. “I’m really excited to be able to accomplish that.”
Busch qualified on the pole earlier in the day with a speed of 182.698 mph, just ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Erik Jones – who overcame two pit-road speeding penalties to finish third – and Suarez. He wasted little time staying out front and only fell out of the lead during the race’s initial green-flag pit stop at lap 55.
“I think you saw this coming toward the end of last year when you look at JGR as a whole, how we started running on the XFINITY side,” crew chief Chris Gayle said. “It’s a big tribute to all the guys at the shop and all the work that was started last year, how it’s come over. It’s a lot of work by a lot of guys to make it happen.”
Suarez had a top-five car through most of the race and was able to chop off most of Busch’s lead after a red-flag period of 19 minutes at lap 138 for a wreck that involved Darrell Wallace, Cody Ware and Justin Marks in Turn 2. When the race resumed five laps later, the need to save fuel hit high gear.
“The fuel was a concern before the red flag,” Gayle said. “We didn’t know how close we were until we pitted on the last green-flag stop. At that point, after the red flag was lifted, the priority was keeping the lead. You never know how the cautions are going to fall.”
As it turned out, the red flag was the third and final caution of the race. Suarez closed within six-tenths of a second inside of 15 laps to go, but Busch had more than enough in his tank to close the deal and get the hometown win.
“Certainly there’s been a lot more following through the garage area after the (Cup) championship,” Busch said. “Typically this isn’t much different than the others. I know I didn’t make many friends when I was winning in the Bullring days, either.”
Suarez added: “It’s fun to drive fast race cars like that. Everyone worked hard the whole winter, and now it’s paying off slowly. It took me a while to figure out how to be fast with a loose race car.”
Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon completed the top five. Only 11 cars finished on the lead lap and the winning average speed was 145.415 mph.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports.

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 ties Earnhardt on career win list

On the first official race of 2016 under NASCAR’s new low-downforce package, there weren’t a lot of drivers leading the field at the Folds of Honor Quik Trip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
But when those who did were engaged in the battle, it proved worthy of the race fan’s attention.
Try to ride comfortably? You risk getting blown away by the rest of the field. Mash the gas, risk losing your tires a lot sooner in a race run.
In the end, Jimmie Johnson made history in a wild finish, coming away with his 76th career victory to tie Dale Earnhardt for seventh on the all-time career list. And in the most appropriate moment of the season so far, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the runner-up.
Johnson’s teammate at Hendrick Motorsports tweeted: “Congrats to my friend and teammate @JimmieJohnson on tying my father today in Cup wins. Proud to have ran 2nd on this momentous occasion.”
Not only was Johnson’s win momentous, but the racing was pretty darn awesome, too.
Although only eight drivers led laps at Atlanta, there were 28 lead changes among them. Passing was plentiful and caution flags were few, requiring pit crews to be on their quickest with the stops and crew chiefs to pay close attention to tire wear.
No yellow flags came out until lap 211. The second caution wasn’t until lap 324 for a Ryan Newman spinout, one lap short of the official distance.
Enter NASCAR’s new overtime rule. Once Johnson got past the official overtime line off the final restart, the race was over.
And the field didn’t get to the checkered flag before Johnson could take the white flag due to a four-car accident back in the pack. It left some fans up in arms, but the rule had to be put in place mainly because of the controversy surrounding restart issues on the green-white-checkered attempts of last season.
With Johnson’s win putting him in more elite company than ever before, it begs for truly legitimate questions. Will he get a seventh championship? Will he reach 100 wins?
Under the new Chase format, winning titles is the most difficult it’s been in NASCAR history. It’s not about riding around for maximum points anymore. Winning is rewarded handsomely, as Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick can certainly attest with their Sprint Cup crowns of the last two seasons.
There’s also good news and bad news about Johnson’s quest for 100 wins. The good: He got to No. 76 in his 509th career start, and that averages out to a win every 6.6 times Johnson gets in a race car.
The bad: Johnson is 40 years old and will hit 41 in September.
While the native of El Cajon, Calif., hasn’t gone winless in any of his 15 seasons as a Sprint Cup driver, time and normal wear and tear have a way of catching up to everyone.
Look no further than now-retired Jeff Gordon. Gordon may have 93 career wins, but he was shut out of the win column three times in his 23 seasons (1993, 2008, 2010) and was 44 when he stepped out of the car for the final time in 2015.
There haven’t been any rumblings about Johnson’s future yet or any signs he’s slowed his competitive pace. He led the fewest laps (558) of his career since 2005, but still won five races last season.
But none of us know what will really happen. As long as Johnson keeps winning, what’s to stop him from reaching for the highest heights possible?
Only Johnson himself – not fans, not social media, not media who cover the sport – will determine his place in the history of the sport.
Right now, Johnson’s place is heading toward the stratosphere. Let’s sit back, watch and enjoy it.

Tom Zulewski will be at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the 12th consecutive year starting Friday for the Boyd Gaming 300 and Kobalt 400. Follow him on Twitter @Tomzsports.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile D-shaped oval).

-SPRINT CUP: Kobalt 400, Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT, Fox (check local listings). Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 400.5 miles, 267 laps.

2015 champion: Kevin Harvick

-XFINITY SERIES: Boyd Gaming 300, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1 (check local listings). Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.

2015 champion: Austin Dillon

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

Surprise for Gordon caps memorable night at Sprint Cup awards

For the seventh straight year, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion’s Week celebration happened in various locations around Las Vegas, from the FanFest on Fremont Street in the downtown area to the official crowning of Kyle Busch as the 2015 champion Dec. 4 at the Wynn Hotel and Casino resort.

I was blessed beyond measure to bring the moments from Champion’s Week to everything from social media to radio, and now to print for an inside look at my favorites, starting with the NMPA Myers Brothers Awards luncheon. It’s why making the trip, even on my own dime, is worth it every single time.
-Busch was given a 24-carat gold 1/12th diecast model of his No. 18 M&Ms Toyota Camry. He gave credit to tire provider Goodyear, saying “it was a lot of fun to burn up and rip apart tires on the way to the checkered flag.”
Then came William Clement, who accepted the Champion Sponsor Award for the Mars candy company, primary sponsor for Busch.
After looking at the gold car for a moment, Clement turned toward the audience and said “the only thing better than one of those cars in gold is one made out of chocolate.”
Love the synergy that comes from something like that.
-One of the better underdog stories of the year came with Martin Truex Jr., who drives for the Furniture Row Racing team based out of Denver. Truex finished fourth in the final standings and spoke of how girlfriend Sherry Pollex’s fight against ovarian cancer shaped his attitude.
“With her determination, her fight and her spirit, she never let (her illness) get her down,” he said. “She never asked ‘why me?,’ never had a pity party. It was all about ‘what do I gotta do to beat this? I learned a lot from her that I was able to translate into making this season a successful one. Having a positive mental attitude is very important, and watching her go through what she did the way she did really helped me with that.”
-The red-carpet arrivals for the ceremony to honor Busch were loaded with celebrities, from show host Drew Carey (“The Price is Right”) to Sabrina Carpenter (“Girl Meets World”), Rachel Platten (who closed the show in awesome fashion with her hit “Fight Song.”) and even the red and yellow M&Ms characters.
Best wardrobe choice of the night belonged to Rutledge Wood of NBC Sports Network, who handled the pre-show interviews dressed in a red plaid suit with black-and-gold trim. It looked like something crossed between Bobby Knight’s 1970s wardrobe when he coached at Indiana to a test pattern on a TV screen.
I laughed openly when I got my first look at it, and that’s not a bad thing.
-As for the ceremony itself, the top 16 finishers from the Chase were all there except for Denny Hamlin, who is recovering from surgery. The favorite early highlight came from Clint Bowyer, who finished 16th.
“I’ve never finished last at anything in my life,” Bowyer lamented half-heartedly, calling the trophy a “participation award.”
When asked what he thought the family reaction would be like, good-natured humor was on the agenda.
“Even grandma’s gonna give me grief for this,” Bowyer said with a chuckle.
-Several Green Bay Packers fans are in the NASCAR garage, including Wisconsin natives Paul Menard and Matt Kenseth. As a Michigan native, Brad Keselowski counts himself – albeit quietly (a good call, by the way) as a Detroit Lions fan.
Following the Packers’ Hail Mary miracle on the final play Thursday night that beat the Lions, Kenseth related his reaction to it.
“I was looking at my phone and saw double-zero on the clock and thought the Lions had won,” Kenseth said. “My wife (Katie) came up to me and said ‘you know the Packers actually won, right?’”
Of course, Kenseth got to see the winning play soon after.
As for Keselowski, he described how he couldn’t find the CBS station that carried the game on the TV in his hotel room until he saw the fateful play.
“It was my fault,” he joked about the Lions’ loss.
-But clearly the biggest moment that made this ceremony so special came with the surprise introduction of Jeff Gordon by none other than actor Tom Cruise, who starred in a little racing movie in 1990 called “Days of Thunder,” two full years before Gordon had his first Sprint Cup start.
It was a moment to relish and savor. All that was needed was to see the tears in Gordon’s eyes and the genuine emotion that poured out in his speech.
At that point, the reality of the end of a sensational 23-year NASCAR Sprint Cup driving career settled in. We’ll always have Gordon’s 93 career wins – third on the all-time list – and four championships, but I got so much more from his work in the long-term.
There’s passion and joy that comes from bringing racing to readers each week. Racers like Gordon have helped make my passion come to life, and saying “thank you” for an amazing adventure in simple words isn’t nearly enough.
I may be writing in a small town for a publication that prints only once a week, but I know my heart for motor sports is in the right place every single day.
Thanks, Jeff. #24ever.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports.

Townley shocks world with truck win at Vegas

John Wes Townley had heard the critics. He didn’t lead laps very often, if at all, and fans gave him the derisive nickname “John Wrecks Weekly” for his alleged propensity for crashing at strange times.
In his fourth full-time year and his 87th career start overall in the Camping World Truck Series,

Townley was finally able to silence the negative vibes for good by winning the Rhino Linings 350 on Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
When two-time defending series champion Matt Crafton was forced to pit for fuel with six laps to go in the 146-lap race, Townley made his fuel last just long enough as he beat runner-up Timothy Peters by 3.842 seconds. It was the 25-year-old Georgia native’s first career victory in the series and only his fourth top-5 finish.
“When I saw Crafton run out of fuel, I remember thinking this was my race to lose,” said Townley, who led the most laps (23) in any race of his career. “I was really, really trying to be conservative, and I don’t think I would have been able to be conservative if it hadn’t been for my spotter (Terry Cook). It was the hardest five laps of my life.”
Crafton, who had three runner-up and two third-place finishes among his previous seven trips to Las Vegas, took the lead at lap 101, but his fuel window fell short as he finished eighth. It was the beginning of a chaotic sequence in a fuel-mileage fight to the finish as points leader Erik Jones and Canadian Cameron Hayley (10th) also saw their fuel tanks run dry in the closing laps.
Jones finished behind Crafton in ninth and saw his lead shrink to four points with five races remaining in the 2015 season. Tyler Reddick, who won the season-opening race at Daytona and followed up with one at Dover in May, finished seventh and is 16 points behind the leaders.
In addition to his first win, Townley also had the best qualifying effort of his career at Las Vegas, joining Crafton on the outside of the front row with a speed of 175.758 mph around the 1.5-mile oval. Crew chief Mike Shelton said the fuel was good to the end for Townley as long as the race didn’t extend beyond the scheduled distance.
“We were a half-lap to the good on fuel,” Shelton said. “We were hearing the 88 (Crafton) and 13 (Hayley) were talking about pitting, and I didn’t know if they were serious or not. We kept the pressure on the 88, and once we heard he was pitting, we backed it down as a precautionary measure.”
Once Townley took the checkered flag, he was able to do a victory burnout near the fence at the start-finish line. It was an appropriate moment that gave him a sense of relief in addition to the elation.
“Looking back, there were a lot of hardships I had to overcome, hurdles I had to jump over,” Townley said. “It was building myself back up, and it was really tough at times. I’m so glad I stuck with it because it’s definitely been worth it.”
Townley said he’ll be running the XFINITY Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 10 for Athenian Motorsports before returning to his 05 Zaxby’s Chevrolet truck at Talladega on Oct. 24.
After Peters, his Red Horse Racing teammate Ben Kennedy finished third. John Hunter Nemechek and Brandon Jones completed the top five.
The race had only three cautions for 19 laps, and the final 94 laps were run under green. … Austin Theriault suffered a compression fracture in his lower back after hitting the wall head-on in Turn 4 in a lap 15 wreck involving teammate Tyler Reddick. Theriault had to be airlifted to University Medical Center in Las Vegas for observation.

---

On the Cup side of the ledger, you just had a feeling something was going to give Sunday at Dover. With the first eliminations on the line at the AAA 400, Kevin Harvick was one of the four who knew a win would be a holy grail moment to preserve his chances of repeating as Sprint Cup champion.

For the third straight elimination round, Harvick got it done. After a dominating performance where he led 355 of the 400 laps, Harvick did exactly what he needed to do.

Just win, baby. It certainly kept hope alive and gave sponsor Outback Steakhouse another Monday of giving away free Bloomin' Onion appetizers with a meal purchase.

Last year at Phoenix, Harvick needed a win to advance. Done. 

At Homestead, he needed a win to win the title. Mission accomplished.

After going 0-for-29 in his previous trips to the Monster Mile, Harvick basically beat Miles at his own game and got to put him in his trophy case as a result.

Let's give credit where it's due, though. Harvick was runner-up to Jimmie Johnson at the May race, so the timing of this win couldn't have been more perfect.

While Harvick's win got him to the next round, it provided an added impact to those on the Chase bubble. Since Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr. ended up tied for the last transfer spot to the Contender round, the tie had to be settled.

The first tiebreaker is wins, and Earnhardt Jr. has two to none for McMurray. Because Harvick won, McMurray is eliminated.

The same thing would have happened if any of the other drivers who were outside the bubble -- Paul Menard, Clint Bowyer or Kyle Busch -- had won Sunday.

Busch managed to advance on points with his runner-up finish to Harvick, but just barely. The margin was exactly one point better than Dale Jr., who finished behind Busch in third. The one point came from Busch having led 19 laps at Dover.

But the clear shocker of the eliminations came as Jimmie Johnson finished 41st in his 500th career start. The reason wasn't so much for an accident on the track as it was for a simple parts failure.

When a rear axle seal broke early in the AAA 400, Johnson's chances for a title went away with it. By the time his crew completed the necessary repairs, Johnson was 37 laps down and couldn't recover.

Such are the highs and lows of NASCAR's playoff system. Even when you think everything's in working order, you always have to stay on guard against anything that could go wrong.

When championship dreams are at stake, one misstep could easily lead to major disappointment. One bold leap forward toward the front of the pack could lead to championship immortality.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-mile D-shaped oval), Concord, N.C.

-SPRINT CUP: Bank of America 500, Saturday, 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, NBC. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 501 miles, 334 laps.

2014 champion: Kevin Harvick

-XFINITY SERIES: Drive for the Cure 300 presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Friday, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN affiliate.

Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.

2014 champion: Brad Keselowski.

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Off until Oct. 24 for the Fred's 250 presented by Coca-Cola at Talladega Superspeedway.

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.