Round of 8 Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Kyle Larson may be sitting seventh in points and 24 markers behind the cutoff line, but a ninth-place finish in Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway was solid enough to leave happy. In a race that was completely dominated by Martin Truex, Jr., who led a modern era high 464 of 500 laps, Larson was one of only two drivers (Denny Hamlin) who led laps. This was all thanks to his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing squad keeping him out of pit road in theRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Martinsville Speedway was certainly a track Chase Elliott would like to steer clear after a disastrous First Data 500 weekend, capping off with a 36th place finish during Sunday’s race. After a blown engine which saw Elliott’s No. 9 Mountain Dew Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 engulfed into flames Saturday morning, he had to give up his starting slot because he went to the backup car. Elliott would qualify second but before the green flag dropped in Virginia, he had to work his way from the rear ofRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A Kansas City Miracle bestowed Chase Elliott in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway as a runner-up effort and massive circumstances advanced him into the Round of 8 by just three points. For much of the afternoon, crew chief Alan Gustafson urged the popular racer to win after two gut wrenching Round of 12 races at Dover and Talladega end his races. Elliott said he was trying his best to score his fourth win of the season but it didn’t worked out but understood thatRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A “Rumble in the Sunflower State” went down in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway as second-place finisher Tyler Reddick was confronted by a heated Cole Custer. Custer, who finished 11th, said to Reddick that “he can be a dumb fuck” and laid his right hand on Reddick’s left shoulder, the latter didn’t appreciate the action resulting in a throw down between them. Take a look at what happened between @ColeCuster and @TylerReddick on pit road at @kansasspeedway. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/Ys8TDtooVn — NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) OctoberRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A mild manner day by Michael Annett was solid enough to escape Saturday’s User Your Melon. Drive Sober 200 at Dover International Speedway with the eighth and final playoff spot. Annett, who entered Dover 11 points ahead of the cutoff line, only had one objective to focus and that’s beating John Hunter Nemechek, who was the only threat of possibly knocking him out of the championship hunt. In the first two stages, Annett finished 10th and ninth respectively. Nemechek on the other hand, took ninth andRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The first driver confirmed eliminated from competing for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship was Clint Bowyer after crashing out in Sunday’s Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, finishing 35th. Entering Turn 4, Bowyer was running in seventh before the left-rear of his No. 14 ITsavvy Ford Fusion went down, resulting in him going up the track and slamming the wall. The impact destroyed the back end of his car, but worse of all, any shot of a championship opportunity. “I guess we cutRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Joey Logano’s afternoon at ISM Raceway in Phoenix ended early Sunday after his left rear tire went down, spinning out and made contact with the Turn 2 wall, finishing 37th. The self-proclaimed championship favorite after locking himself into the Championship 4 with a win at Martinsville, struggled for pace in stage one after starting from the ninth position, crossing the line in 20th while his Penske teammates finished in the top-five. On Lap 97, Logano’s day took a turn for the worst when his No. 22Read More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer An after thought all season, Tyler Reddick stands alone among the JR Motorsports trio with a shot of capturing the Xfinity Series title. The rookie finished sixth in Saturday’s Whelen Trusted to Perform 200 at ISM Raceway in Phoenix to get the fourth and final spot in the Championship 4. Entering the NASCAR playoffs, no one would’ve expected him to make a legit run for the title as teammates Justin Allgaier and Elliott Sadler were in a different zip code. That all changed when it reallyRead More
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Justin Allgaier’s bid of competing for that elusive NASCAR Xfinity Series championship has been swept up by the Phoenix haboobs, and was eliminated after a disastrous final stage plagued him down to a 24th place finish in Saturday’s Whelen Trusted to Perform 200 at ISM Raceway. ”Disappointment,” Allgiaer said after being eliminated. “At the end of the day we did everything right this year. We had a great season. Today we did everything right at the beginning part of the race. That was probably the mostRead More
Chris Owens/ASP, Inc.
By Luis Torres, Staff Writer “When Homestead comes around if I am not in, he will know it,” said a disgruntled Aric Almirola who laid down the law towards Joey Logano. For the second race in a row, Logano is the center of criticism from a Round of 8 competitor after Almirola voiced his displeasure of how hard he raced him in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth. Struggling matching race winner’s and Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick’s dominant pace, Almirola was in excellent position withRead More