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.

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.

Truex wins again, first four eliminated

After all the rain fell at Dover International Speedway over the course of the weekend, the first elimination race of the 2016 Chase had the look and feel of ... mystery.

With a green track, it didn't give off a clear advantage to one particular team, especially with limited practice time.

When the Sprint Cup race -- the Citizen Soldier 400 -- rolled around, Martin Truex Jr. sounded off loud and clear his championship aspirations.

Truex won for the second time in his career at his "home" track -- he calls Mayetta, N.J. home -- and won for the second time in the first round of the Chase.

The results speak volumes how the one-car team with the Joe Gibbs Racing technical alliance is planning on being a major factor.

In picking up his fourth win of the year (matching Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch at the top of the charts), Truex led 187 laps, including 106 of the final 114.

Chase time is definitely winning time, and Truex is getting pretty good at giving himself a chance as a title contender. Last year, he won at Pocono and stayed consistent to reach the Championship Four. As we head to Round 2 this week, who knows how many more races the 78 will win?

We're heading to Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Truex absolutely demoralized the rest of the field, leading 392 of the 400 laps to win the Coca-Cola 600. It's 100 miles less this time around, but there's no reason to think a repeat performance -- or something very close -- isn't in the cards again.

And with the third Chase race in the books, the first four who had title hopes saw them come to an end. We nearly had a stunning development along the way.

Kevin Harvick, who won the first elimination-style Chase in its debut two years ago, was nearly eliminated after Dover. He had early issues in the No. 4, went to the garage for repairs, and ended up 37th, 46 laps down. It was his second-worst finish of the season and third in the 30s since July (39th at Daytona 2 and 32nd at Watkins Glen, but both of those were with crashes).

When the brake dust finally settled, Harvick ended up as the 12th and last driver to advance to the second round. The final margin: One measly point in front of Tony Stewart, who was 13th at Dover. Crew chief Rodney Childers and the No. 4 team know it does matter how much you get in by, as long as you get in.

The feeling ended up even worse for Kyle Larson and the No. 42 Target Chevrolet team. He had the final transfer spot by five points heading to Sunday, but ended up two points outside after finishing 25th.

Jamie McMurray was done early at Dover as he lost an engine and finished 40th, while Chris Buescher went as expected, finishing 23rd as the fourth driver eliminated.

Among the surprise advancers was Austin Dillon, who started the day tied with McMurray but turned in an eighth-place finish at the Monster Mile to end up 11th for the round, 10 points in front of Harvick.

Now everything resets once more and the next cutoff at Talladega awaits.

-After being delayed to Sunday due to heavy rains, Daniel Suarez cruised to the victory at the XFINITY Drive Sober 200 at Dover, joining Elliott Sadler in the second round of the Chase.

Four drivers will be eliminated from the first Chase in NASCAR's No. 2 series, and it's anyone's guess who will hang on. From fourth-place Brendan Gaughan to 10th-place Erik Jones, the separation between seven drivers is exactly 15 points.

Heck, even Ryan Sieg has a realistic shot from 11th. He's only 10 points behind Brennan Poole, who has the last transfer spot at the moment.

Some will be desperate for a win, others will be in search of ways to survive and advance. That's why the Chase has been, and will always be, worth watching.

Tom Zulewski will post a separate entry on the Camping World Truck Series race from Las Vegas later today. Follow him on Twitter @Tomzsports or @TommyZee81 and email tominator19@yahoo.com.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-mile D-shaped oval), Concord, North Carolina.

-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.

2015 champion: Joey Logano

-XFINITY SERIES: Drive for the Cure 300, 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.

2015 champion: Austin Dillon.

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Off until Oct. 22 for the Fred's 250 powered by Coca-Cola at Talladega Superspeedway.

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.

Truex Jr. wins again, everybody in high gear to Chase

As the Chase for the Sprint Cup, 2016 edition, got under way Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway, the first shot in the title hunt came from none other than ... Martin Truex Jr.

Yeah, Jimmie Johnson has ruled this time of year in the past. Kyle Busch is the defending champion, but he doesn't do much when title time comes around until it's the right time to do it.

But they didn't come close to what Truex did at Chicago. The No. 78 found another gear, rallied late, and won the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400. Truex won for the third time this season and got a fairly huge break when a post-race laser inspection station failure was small enough to stay away from an "encumbered victory." 

Translation: Everyone on the 78 team can breathe again knowing they're safely through to the round of 12.,

Among the other highlights: Johnson led the most laps at Chicago (118), but ended up 12th. With the first of three races done in the opening round, Tony Stewart (16th) has the last transfer spot, a point ahead of Austin Dillon, who came in 13th, and Kevin Harvick, who was a lap down in 20th.

Michigan 2 race winner Kyle Larson was the first car a lap down in 18th, and he's two points behind Stewart.

As for Chris Buescher, he's holding up the rear, 12 points behind Stewart, after finishing 28th.

With Race No. 2 of the first round of the Cup Chase on deck, the fields are officially set for the first Chase battles in the XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series. Here's a quick summary of who's in the running for the title.

XFINITY

1. Erik Jones. Four wins: Bristol 1, Dover, Iowa 2, Chicago.

He may be heading to Furniture Row's second Cup team in 2017, but Jones has every intention of making a last splash before he leaves. Already has a six-point cushion on the field.

2. Elliott Sadler. Two wins: Talladega, Darlington

Leads all Chasers in the field with 23 top-10 finishes and comfortably led the points for the regular season. He'll be going deep as a serious title contender.

3. Daniel Suarez. One win: Michigan

Take away his win where he led 62 laps, and the second-year Joe Gibbs Racing driver has led a combined 23 circuits in the other 25 races. Because he has to endure seeing Kyle Busch on track whenever the mood hits, that stat can be forgiven.

And now, the rest with best finish listed.

4. Justin Allgaier: Second at Talladega, Daytona 2, Bristol 2.

In the 10 races to the Chase, Allgaier's worst run was 11th at Darlington and his average finish was 6.0. He's a dark horse worth watching.

5. Ty Dillon: Second at Richmond 1, Iowa 1 and 2.

Crashed at Bristol 2, but wasn't in any real danger of missing Chase. Has averaged a 10th-place finish since then (four races). Will need to pick it up to contend.

6. Brendan Gaughan: Second at Road America.

A win on the road course would have been nice for his standing, but Gaughan has to do better on the 1.5-mile tracks to have a title shot. Five of the seven Chase races will be run from that distance, and his average finish has been 11th in six other tries this season.

7, Brennan Poole: Third at Talladega and Road America.

The Talladega finish was Poole's first top-5 of the year, but it came in the eighth race. With only seven races in the Chase, he has to get going after finishing 21st at Chicago.

8. Brandon Jones: Sixth at Las Vegas

He's the only driver other than Blake Koch without a top-5 run in the regular season. Gotta get at least one to be considered a contender.

9. Darrell Wallace Jr.: Second at Dover

Bubba hasn't been very strong of late. He hasn't finished on the lead lap in six of the last 10 races and was two laps down at Chicagoland while finishing 20th.

10. Ryan Reed: Fifth at Road America

The native of Bakersfield, California has a sixth, ninth and 10th on his season resume. Everything else is 11th or worse.

11. Ryan Sieg: Third at Daytona 2.

Sieg's only other top-10 showing was 10th at Texas. Moving on...

12. Blake Koch: Eighth at Richmond, Bristol 2.

Add in a ninth in the season opener at Daytona, and you have Koch's season in a nutshell. Next?

CAMPING WORLD TRUCKS

1. William Byron. Five wins: Kansas, Texas, Iowa, Kentucky, Pocono

Byron doesn't turn 19 years old until Nov. 29. He drives for Kyle Busch Motorsports. That's all you need to know.

Other than engine issues at Atlanta (32nd) and a crash at Chicago (30th), Byron has been outside the top 10 only three other times. Prime contender for the title.

2. John Hunter Nemechek. Two wins: Atlanta, Canadian Tire.

The win on the road course near Toronto on Sept. 4 gave Nemechek a few more enemies than he would have liked. Voted the most popular driver in the series last season, Nemechek shoved Cole Custer to the grass on the final lap, and the pair crossed the finish line together off the track.

The result: Custer isn't in the Chase and the debate over Nemechek's move will be talked about all the way to Homestead.

3. Matt Crafton. Two wins: Dover, Charlotte.

Crafton went back-to-back with his wins this season and is the only repeat champion (2012, 2013) in Truck Series history. Bigger question: Can he break his hex at Las Vegas, which is the second race of the first round in the inaugural Chase?

His average finish there in the last seven visits is 5.1, including three seconds and two thirds. A win Oct. 1, after all the ThorSport race shop went through with a fire in June, will be a big motivator for title No. 3.

4. Johnny Sauter. One win: Daytona.

After three races where he finished 28th, 32nd and 16rh following the Daytona win, Sauter has been outside the top 10 just once -- a 13th at Eldora.

5. Christopher Bell. One win: Gateway.

Teammate to William Byron, Bell crashed at Michigan and finished 24th, but rebounded nicely with a fifth at Canadian Tire and fourth at Chicago. He'll need those kinds of efforts to advance.

6. Ben Kennedy. One win: Bristol

The son of ISC boss Lesa France Kennedy, the 24-year-old's only other top-5 run was a fourth at Texas. The series returns there Nov. 4, and the Red Horse Racing driver will be a contender for the title if he can get out of the first round.

7. Daniel Hemric: Second at Chicagoland.

Beyond his showing Friday, Hemric has six (!!) third-place runs on his season to date. Keep that up, and he'll be fine, even without a win.

8. Timothy Peters: Second at Michigan

The second driver for Red Horse Racing has covered each of the top five positions without a win. Peters was third at Atlanta, fourth at Pocono and fifth at Martinsville. He hasn't finished on the lead lap just once all season -- 34 laps down in 27th at Eldora.

Enjoy the rest of the Chase and may your favorite driver fare well enough to hold the big trophy at Homestead.

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

THIS WEEK'S RACES

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

-SPRINT CUP: New England 300, Sunday, 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 300 laps, 317.4 miles.

2015 champion: Matt Kenseth

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: UNOH 175, Saturday, 1 p.m., Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 175 laps, 185.15 miles.

-XFINITY SERIES: VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300, Kentucky Speedway (1.5-mile D-shaped oval), Saturday, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local PRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.

2015 champion: Ryan Blaney.

Truex conquers Darlington, drama builds for Chase

On a NASCAR weekend where just about everything went 1970s retro – from the drivers to their cars to the guys in the NBC broadcast booth – Darlington Raceway gave us a Southern 500 on Labor Day eve that proved the modern drama of today is only just beginning.

First things first: Martin Truex Jr. joined the two-win club with a great finishing run that held off Kevin Harvick over the final 15 laps. After the heartbreaking near-miss at Daytona in the 500, he’s only won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in a dominating performance (392 of 400 laps led) and tamed the track that only calls itself “Too Tough to Tame.”
Not only is Truex a multi-time winner in a season for the first time in his career, but he’s the sixth Cup driver with two victories. It was a finish that left Harvick – who led a race-high 214 laps – just a wee bit perturbed at the end, and the blame went straight to his pit crew.
Slow stops on pit road tend to do that to a driver. Case in point: With 85 laps to go in the 367-lap race, Harvick came in leading, but a 16.6-second stop pushed him all the way back to 12th.
“Did we just lose this race?” Harvick asked on his team radio, as reported by FoxSports.com.
He did, but Harvick rallied back to give himself a chance, closing within six-tenths of a second for his fourth runner-up finish of the season, including to Truex Jr. at Charlotte. The 2014 Cup champion also has three fourth-place runs and and three fifth-place efforts.
That’s a total of 12 top-5 runs for the No. 4 car in 25 races. You can rest assured he’d much rather pad the winning number than any of the others.
And as they head to Richmond on Sept. 10 for the final race before the Chase begins, there are still just three open spots remaining. Jamie McMurray, who finished 15th at Darlington, was a victim of his own late-race pit-road mistake and is on the bubble at only seven points in front of Ryan Newman.
As for the 13th driver with a victory, Chris Buescher managed to improve his position as he looks to seal the deal after 400 laps at Richmond. He finished 17th at Darlington and added four points to his cushion over David Ragan.
Buescher – the winner at the rain-shortened Pocono race last month – is still 30th, but in front by 11 points. He knows that margin won’t be easy to maintain. When they raced at Richmond in April, Buescher finished 34th and Ragan came in 23rd.
A tie will obviously benefit Buescher by virtue of his earlier victory, but anything worse means Newman can still slip into the Chase even if he doesn’t earn eight more points than McMurray.
Going down the other series, there was some serious controversy in the Camping World Truck Series Chevy Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park near Toronto. On the final lap, John Hunter Nemechek got into a major battle of beating and banging with Cole Custer.
It got so bad, the pair ended up crossing the finish line on the grass and not on the track. After a review, Nemechek was awarded his second win of the season and denied Custer a win that would have given him a Chase spot.
Custer was so mad, he went after Nemechek and gave him a flying tackle before team members and officials quickly separated the pair. The 18-year-old vented to reporters afterwards.
“I was expecting it, kinda, because he’s raced a lot of people like that but it’s just a shame because it was a great chance to get into the Chase and he took it away from us,” Custer said in a NASCAR Wire Service story.
In spite of the frustration, Custer gets one more shot for a win at Chicagoland Speedway in two weeks to make the Chase. At the moment, Timothy Peters and Daniel Hemric are the two non-winners who are in the eight-driver field to determine the 2016 title.
And on the XFINITY Series side, Elliott Sadler beat Denny Hamlin and scored his second win of the season to solidify his Chase position. With 12 drivers in that field, there are two races left – at Richmond and Chicagoland – before the run to their championship begins.
At this point, nine non-winners are in on points, and Ryan Sieg is on the bubble. He has an 18-point cushion on Dakoda Armstrong.
With all that going on, it’s time to get the belts tight and start thinking about what championship glory lies ahead.

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

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Richmond International Raceway (.75-mile oval), Richmond, Virginia.

-SPRINT CUP: Federated Auto Parts 400, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 400 laps, 300 miles.

2015 champion: Matt Kenseth

-XFINITY SERIES: Virginia 529 College Savings 250, Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT, NBC Sports Network. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 250 laps, 187.5 miles.

2015 champion: Chase Elliott

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Off until Sept. 16 for the American Ethanol E15 225 at Chicagoland Speedway.

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.

Best race day delivers excitement to savor

When Memorial Day weekend approaches, any race fan worth their salt recognizes there will be a lot to look forward to from the moment they wake up to the last lap of the last race is run.

It was no different for me Sunday in the Holy Grail trilogy of speed. This is how I grabbed hold of the action – at least as much of it as possible.
The opening installment of the best racing day of the year came from overseas as Formula 1 raced the Grand Prix of Monaco. I’ll admit I wasn’t always a fan of the series, but the stature of Monaco got me hooked a couple of years ago.
Due to the starting time – NBC came on the air at 5:30 a.m. – I didn’t wake up until the race was 22 laps in. As things turned out, there wasn’t much that was missed.
The 78-lap race that draws celebrities in abundance – there was a shot of tennis star Caroline Wozniacki during the broadcast and Justin Bieber celebrated with winner Lewis Hamilton on the podium – had to deal with rain at the start as the field ran behind the safety car for the first seven laps.
One of the big things to note about Formula 1 racing: there are no rain delays. Teams had to get creative with their use of tires as the weather improved, and it played a big part in Hamilton’s win.
The bigger reason: pole winner Daniel Ricciardo’s race team wasn’t prepared with the right tires when he came in for a pit stop at lap 31, allowing Hamilton to keep the lead. The Mercedes driver nearly lost it when he overshot a chicane on the course, but put a block up on Ricciardo just in time and legally – after a review by race stewards.
It turned out to be Ricciardo’s last real shot as Hamilton went on to win the race by a little over seven seconds.
And if you’re thinking that F1 racing isn’t worth caring about, take note of two things. Gene Haas -- co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing – has branched out with his own team featuring Roman Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez, and the series will race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas in October.
After a one-hour break, it was time to celebrate a major American milestone with the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. There was major pomp and circumstance, and it was on display throughout the pre-race show.
When the green flag flew, it brought an amazing race for the ages. Problems on pit road took out key contenders, fuel mileage gambles didn’t work for others.
And Alexander Rossi ended up drinking the milk in Victory Lane, the first rookie to win at Indy since Helio Castroneves did it in 2001. He barely had enough fuel at the end and looked genuinely shocked by the time the safety crew towed him in for the celebration.
There were also 54 lead changes, adding to the magic moments witnessed live by an estimated crowd of 350,000 people.
The final dose of memories to savor came from Martin Truex Jr., who won the Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in almost absurdly dominating fashion.
Truex was so good under the lights, he led 392 of the 400 laps around the 1.5-mile track. The 588 total miles led set a new NASCAR record and was wildly entertaining to watch.
A few weeks ago, I documented how Truex had been snakebit throughout his career in races where he led more than 100 laps but didn’t win at the end. On Sunday night, Truex Jr. absolutely demolished the demons of failed races past and secured his spot in the 2016 Chase in tidy fashion.
To truly appreciate what the win meant, search for clips of his Victory Lane interview with Fox Sports' Matt Yocum. The hug he received from girlfriend and cancer survivor Sherry Pollex was as true and genuine as they come.
The Coca-Cola 600 had only four cautions and was run in well under four hours (3:44) with an average speed of more than 160 mph.
And in the end, race fans all around the world were left full, content and happy.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

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

-SPRINT CUP: Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 400 miles, 160 laps.

2015 champion: Martin Truex Jr.

-XFINITY SERIES: Pocono Green 250, Saturday, 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, Fox. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 250 miles, 100 laps.

2015 champion: Inaugural event.

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Off until June 10 for the Rattlesnake 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Kyle Busch kicks Kansas off winless list

When it came to a list of his favorite tracks to race, Kansas Speedway likely didn’t rank very high for Kyle Busch.

The numbers didn’t lie, either. His average finish was 19th. In 16 prior starts on the 1.5-mile oval, Busch had no wins and led a grand total of 87 laps out of more than 4,200 raced at the track.
All of the bad vibes changed to the good in one fortunate swoop as Busch crossed the finish line first Saturday night at the GoBowling.com 400. Not only did Kyle cross Kansas off his winless list – leaving only Pocono and Charlotte yet to conquer – he did the bulk of his work late in the race. Of the 69 laps he led, 37 came during the final stages.
Busch was able to seize the opportunity when Martin Truex Jr., who led a race-high 172 laps but finished 14th, was forced to return to pit road at lap 215 due to a loose wheel. The bad break was the result of a bolt that broke and didn’t allow the tire to mount on a prior green-flag stop that happened three laps earlier.
From there, Busch only had to get by two more restarts. The second one came with 19 laps to go after teammate Denny Hamlin tried a risky three-wide move that took out Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano along with him.
Busch, who led from lap 231 to the finish, held off Kevin Harvick and earned his third win of 2016. It was Busch’s 37th career Cup win and came five days after he celebrated his 31st birthday.
When you’re going well, all can seem awesome with the world. In direct contrast, everything probably felt like a bad trip through a Walking Dead episode to Martin Truex Jr.
For the eighth time in his Sprint Cup career, Truex led more than 100 laps. For the seventh time, he didn’t win the race. The only time Truex pulled off the feat was his first career Sprint Cup win at his “home” track, Dover International Speedway, in 2007.
Among the seven times of plus-100 in the laps led without winning, it’s happened to Truex at Kansas twice. In the eeriest of coincidence, Truex led 173 laps in the spring race in 2012 and finished second.
Texas Motor Speedway is also on the twice-bitten track list for Truex. In this year’s spring race, he led 141 laps and finished sixth. In the 2013 spring race, he led 142 laps and finished second.
If that’s not bad luck, Truex wouldn’t have any luck at all.
But the native of Mayetta, New Jersey does have three career wins. I had the privilege of witnessing his triumph in the 2013 Toyota/SaveMart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. As the laps were winding down, I was flashing back to places like Kansas and Texas, where something bad seemed to always come into play.
Yes, I doubted Truex would hang on.
On that June day three years ago, the bad breaks stayed away. When the checkered flag came out for Truex, it ended a wait of nearly six years between victories.
And one thing I’ll never forget from that weekend was how his car owner, Michael Waltrip, said directly to my face without cockiness or pretense at a press preview luncheon in San Francisco that his guy, Martin Truex Jr., would win on Sunday.
He’s got Toyota equipment to drive again after a two-year absence, so the potential for another victory is there. As long as the gremlins stay away, anything is possible at any given moment.
Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter @Tomzsports and email at tominator19@yahoo.com.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES

Dover International Speedway (1-mile oval), Dover, Delaware.

-SPRINT CUP: AAA 400 Drive for Autism, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 400 miles, 400 laps.

2015 champion: Jimmie Johnson

-XFINITY SERIES: Ollie's Bargain Outlet 200, Saturday, 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, Fox. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affliate.

Race distance: 200 miles, 200 laps.

2015 champion: Chris Buescher

-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Dover 200, Friday, 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.

Race distance: 200 miles, 200 laps.

2015 champion: Tyler Reddick

Rain finalizes Championship Four

After trying for more than nine hours to finish the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday night, the rain ended up cutting the 312-lap race short and giving the victory to Dale Earnhardt Jr.
More importantly, the three drivers who will join Jeff Gordon and race for the 2015 Sprint Cup title next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway were set. Joy was abundant in several camps, disappointment was strong in others.

Even though Mother Nature had the final say after 219 laps were completed on the 1-mile oval at Phoenix, the story lines for the championship battle in South Florida are already in abundance.
The biggest one of all belongs to Gordon. Stuck on four championships since 2001, the California-born driver, who came in sixth Sunday, was heading toward the twilight of a 22-year career looking like he’d finish with 92 career wins.
Then came Martinsville and Matt Kenseth’s knockout of Joey Logano. Gordon ended up being the unlikely beneficiary of the on-track feud and earned his chance at a fifth crown by winning the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 two weeks ago.
Gordon’s 93rd checkered flag closed the books on an amazing career stat. The driver of the No. 24 for Hendrick Motorsports had only three winless seasons – his rookie year of 1993, 2008 and 2010. He won at Homestead in 2012.
Kevin Harvick had been invincible at Phoenix with four wins in a row, but the rain derailed his bid for another victory despite leading 143 of the 219 laps. His runner-up finish was good enough to keep his dream of repeating as champion alive as he topped the points for the Eliminator round.
When Harvick won his title a year ago, he won at Homestead. As long as he finishes ahead of his challengers, no matter where it is, he’ll hold the big trophy again.
The third driver in the Championship 4 took the most amazing road of them all. Kyle Busch was on the shelf for the first 11 races of the season, but met all of the requirements to get in the Chase, winning four times.
Busch still hasn’t won a Chase race since his rookie year of 2005, but that doesn’t matter now. He was steady throughout the three rounds and is on the edge of matching big brother Kurt with a Sprint Cup trophy.
Other than a 37th-place finish at New Hampshire, Busch was in the top 10 in six of eight Chase races, including fourth at Phoenix to finish two points behind Harvick. He has three top-10 finishes at Homestead in 10 career starts, but the average of the rest is 30.2.
The last member of the quartet that will run for the title is Martin Truex Jr., who is the lone driver of the little team that could, Furniture Row Racing out of Denver. Truex won at Pocono in June to make the Chase and advanced to Homestead by doing all necessary rain dances and beating out Carl Edwards by just five points for the last transfer spot.
Truex was consistent throughout each Chase round, with his worst run a 15th at Kansas.
As his longtime girlfriend Sherry Pollex said on her Twitter account (@SherryPollex), it’s the stuff dreams are made of.
And big dreams are knocking on the door. One 267-lap race is left and has one goal. Finish ahead of your challengers, call yourself a Sprint Cup champion.

Followers and comments welcome on Twitter @Tomzsports.

NEXT WEEK'S RACES
Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5-mile superspeedway), Homestead, Florida.
-SPRINT CUP: Ford EcoBoost 400, Sunday, 3 p.m. ET/Noon PT, NBC. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.
Race distance: 400.5 miles, 267 laps.
2014 champion: Kevin Harvick
-XFINITY SERIES: Ford EcoBoost 300, Saturday, 2:45 p.m. ET/11:45 a.m. PT, NBC. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.
Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps
2014 champion: Matt Kenseth
-CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Ford EcoBoost 200, Friday, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, Fox Sports 1. Radio: SiriusXM Channel 90 or your local MRN Radio affiliate.
Race distance: 201 miles, 134 laps.
2014 champion: Darrell Wallace Jr.
We'll take a look at the fight for the XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series titles in the next two posts, so be on the lookout.

Michael Waltrip Racing spins into oblivion

The "Shot Heard 'Round the World" was one of Major League Baseball's iconic moments. Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca gives up a three-run homer to Bobby Thomson, and the words were screamed into the public consciousness by New York Giants radio man Russ Hodges.

"The Giants Win the Pennant! The Giants Win the Pennant!"

That was in 1951. Fast forward nearly 62 years later, and the antithesis of that moment in NASCAR was spoken something like this:

"Got something wrong with your arm? Itch it!"

Clint Bowyer was the man who heard those words from the spotter's stand on a warm September night at Richmond International Raceway and ignited the mother of all stunning controversies that ended up with tragic consequences for everyone involved.

As of Wednesday, the two-year saga of Michael Waltrip Racing ended sadly with Bowyer announcing his departure from the team at the end of this season. The exit means MWR will not field any Sprint Cup teams on a full-time basis in 2016.

The biggest reason why came on that night at Richmond. It should have never come to this point.

To review: Bowyer spins with seven laps to go, basically untouched. The third member of MWR that season was Brian Vickers. He pitted after Bowyer's spin and knocked Jeff Gordon back just enough in the final running order to deny him a Chase berth.

Martin Truex Jr. got in on a tiebreaker, but the berth was taken away by NASCAR and given to Gordon. MWR was fined $300,000, all three drivers were docked 50 championship points before the Chase reset, and saddest of all, NAPA, which had been with Michael Waltrip as far back as 2001, pulled its sponsorship from the team.

No money coming in means no chance to compete effectively on or off the race track. 

Waltrip didn't have a stellar career as a NASCAR driver, but he did win the Daytona 500 twice -- in 2001 and 2003. Only 10 of his fellow racers can make that claim in their careers.

As a race team owner, he was in a world of hurt from the jet fuel controversy at Daytona (ironically) in 2007. All three of the team's cars were found to have used an "illegal oxygenate fuel additive" to increase the cars' performance.

When the dust settled, Waltrip, David Reutimann and Dale Jarrett were all docked 100 points. That was small potatoes in comparison to Spingate.

If the sponsors go away, the speed demons don't get to play anymore. It's a cruel reality for which Michael Waltrip has only himself to blame.

Follow Tom Zulewski and add your comments on Twitter @Tomzsports.

Does Truex Jr. have shot at Pocono sweep?

When NASCAR raced at Pocono Raceway eight weeks ago, Martin Truex Jr. was a total beast in the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet. He led 97 of the 160 laps and earned the third win of his Sprint Cup career.
Since then, Truex has slid backward. Although he was third at Michigan the week after his win, the 78 finished 42nd at Sonoma and 38th at Daytona to go with 17th at Kentucky and 12th at New Hampshire.
But the small sign of a rebound returned at Indianapolis last weekend, where Truex finished fourth. So that sets up the logical question for math geeks like me.
Can Truex get the sweep as they head to Pocono for the second run of the season at NASCAR's most unique track?
Sure, it's doable, but sweeps at the triangle -- they've been racing twice a year at Pocono since 1982 -- don't happen very often. Jimmie Johnson (2004), Denny Hamlin (2006) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2014) are the most recent to pull it off. It can happen again with Truex, but don't bank on it unless we get a perfect storm of these elements coming together:
-Chevrolet has won the last six Pocono races. Joey Logano was the last non-Chevy to reach Victory Lane when he won in the No. 20 Toyota from the pole for Joe Gibbs Racing in the June race in 2012.
-In the last decade at Pocono (21 races total), six winners have started from the pole: Hamlin (twice - his 2006 sweep), Kasey Kahne (June 2008), Tony Stewart (June 2009), Logano and Johnson (June 2013).
-In the same time frame, seven have started from well outside the top 10 and won, including Carl Edwards (29th in June 2005) and Jeff Gordon (27th in August 2012).
Edwards holds the Pocono record as the driver who came from the furthest back in the field to win.
Even with the possibilities for Truex, we can't ignore the elephant in the room, and it's clearly Kyle Busch, who is an interplanetary marvel with his Superman-like comeback.
Nine starts, four wins, three in a row.
Busch was ninth in June and didn't lead a lap. He got as high as fourth at lap 130, but faded back.
Can Rowdy extend his hot streak? The math says it's not likely. In 21 career Pocono starts, Busch has only four top-5 finishes -- none since August 2011 -- and an average finish of 18.3.
Then again, we didn't think he'd be on the roll he's on to get Chase-eligible coming in. Right now (breathe, haters...breathe!) Busch still has to erase a 23-point deficit on 30th-place Justin Allgaier. The last of the deficit could be wiped out this weekend. Or a big-time slip-up could happen.
Busch lost his engine at this race a year ago and finished 42nd. He was 43rd -- dead last -- at Michigan after a wreck in June.
Truex, meanwhile, didn't have much success at Pocono prior to his win in June. In 18 previous starts, he led a total of 11 laps and finished in the top 5 twice. Not good.
If you're picking your fantasy racing team for this weekend, here's some simple advice before qualifying happens tomorrow.
Save yourself the headache. Choose someone else in the field
Tom Zulewski welcomes followers and comments on Twitter @Tomzsports. He'll be a guest on the NASCAR Happy Hour Garage this weekend at nascarhappyhour.com