playoffs Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Two drivers misfortunes became one man’s tremendous gain. That man was Daniel Suarez, who finished fifth in Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway. After facing near disaster during Saturday’s final practice when a tire went down, Suarez’s quiet race day led to his third top-five this season and the first since the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ last visit at Michigan in June, where he scored a fourth. More importantly, Suarez cut down his deficit from 23 down to six markers with just threeRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A simple start in Saturday’s Corrigan Oil 200 at Michigan International Speedway was all Grant Enfinger needed to do to clinch the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series regular season championship and indeed he did. The Alabaman’s quiet but consistent day ended with a seventh place result, summing up his regular season to a tee. Although winless after 16 races, Enfinger has finished in the top-10 in 13 of them and will seeded second in the eight-man championship battle. This was a result of earning 19 playoffRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Kyle Busch Motorsports, the team to beat in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series throughout the decade, is out of the playoffs. In a tremendously disappointing campaign, neither Harrison Burton nor Todd Gilliland were able to score an elusive victory, let alone finish in the top-10 in Saturday’s Corrigan Oil 200 at Michigan International Speedway. No matter the bells and whistles KBM tried to do to get either driver in excellent position to win and take the eighth and final spot, it simply didn’t pay off.Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer No quitting from both Ryan Newman and his entire No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing squad, settling for seventh in Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after overcoming a coil wiring issue. “Honestly, it was the most fun I’ve had all year in a race car, and that’s mostly because we had a good, competitive Oscar Mayer Ford. I slid through the box,” Newman on his stellar top-10 performance. “We had a bad coil wire. We had a bunch of things that setRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It’s a must-win situation for Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. if he wants to make the playoffs after a heavy crash ended his race in Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. On Lap 136, the fourth caution came out when Stenhouse’s left front tire blew up and smacked the backstretch wall, destroying the right side of his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang and will be credited with a 36th place result. The direct cause of Stenhouse’s issues was contact with Erik Jones heading intoRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Austin Cindric started the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 weekend on an absolute low note, but will exit Texas Motor Speedway with a persevering third-place result Saturday. However, not only his finish took place after some hurdles that caused title ramifications, he trails Daniel Hemric by 61 points for the fourth and final spot to compete in the Championship 4. Therefore, Cindric is in a must win situation heading into ISM Raceway in Phoenix Nov. 10. Despite the deficit that bestow the 20-year-old, he’s just happy ofRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Noah Gragson had that first-time winning feel a year ago at Martinsville Speedway, scoring his maiden NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory at the 0.526-mile circuit. Now entering the Round of 6 with a strong chance of battling for the championship, Gragson comes to the track with a different feel. Prior to all activities being cancelled due to rain, Gragson spoke to the media during Friday’s press conference and described each visit to Martinsville is different than the last because of the weather conditions impactingRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A hard fought afternoon for Ryan Blaney wasn’t enough to advance into the Round of 8, coming up six points shy of beating Kurt Busch in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. After his fuel tank ran dry last Sunday at Talladega, where he finished 29th, Blaney came into Kansas in a must-win situation, as he was 22 points behind the cutoff. Once the 267-lap contest got underway, Blaney’s red No. 12 Menards/Wrangler Riggs Workwear Ford Fusion was among the early contenders, including leadingRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – John Hunter Nemechek grabbed his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in a race that threw the championship battle into chaos. Pulling away with three laps after the final restart on Lap 169 of 200, Nemechek took the checkered flag 5.200 seconds ahead of Daniel Hemric to win the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway, the venue where his father, Joe Nemechek, won his final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race in 2004. Though Nemechek fell far behind Hemric after sliding throughRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer In spite of surviving the mayhem, Tyler Reddick will leave Kansas Speedway a bit shameful after being denied a possible top-three finish in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300. Throughout the 200-lap contest, Reddick had one of his finest races this season, running in the top-five for much of the afternoon and ended up sixth in Stage 1, followed by a stellar fourth in Stage 2. While quiet, his eyes were set on a top-three result, which he hasn’t achieved thus far in the playoffs, and notRead More