RADIO
Chris Buescher Posts Respectable 16th-Place Finish At Auto Club
3/17:JTG Daugherty Racing's Chris Buescher registered a decent 16th-place showing in Sunday's Auto Club 400, his second consecutive finish at 16th and his fourth straight top-20 showing. He'll make his eighth-career start at Martinsville next Sunday, and he has posted just two top-20 finishes with zero laps led at the Virginia short track while posting a 21.7 Average-Finish Position. He had a career-best 11th-place run at Martinsville during the spring race in 2017.Source: NASCAR.com
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Recovers From Early Spin At ACS
3/17:Roush Fenway Racing driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ended up 14th in Sunday's Auto Club 400 in California. It was a good recovery after spinning on the restart to end Stage 1. It was an interesting day for the RFR driver, who drew barbs in the Twitterverse after some early radio communication. Stenhouse was overheard on the radio saying, "I don't care what the data says. I know how to drive" shortly before his spin. He'll look for better results in Martinsville, posting two top-10s with a 28.2 Average-Finish Position in 12 career starts at the Virginia short track.Source: NASCAR on FOX
Pole Sitter Austin Dillon Winds Up In 10th Place
3/17:Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon, the pole sitter for Sunday's Auto Club 400, ended up in 10th place. Dillon didn't get off to a very good start, winding up just 22nd after Stage 1, and 13th in Stage 2. However, he kept plugging away after some early issues and posted the top-10 finish, his first of the season in five starts this season. His previous best was 16th at the Daytona 500 on the first restrictor-plate race of the season. It's another first next Sunday, as the circuit travels to Martinsville. He has just two top-5 and two top-10 finishes in 10 career Martinsville starts, posting an 18.5 Average-Finish Position.Source: NASCAR.com
Kurt Busch Ends Up Sixth In Auto Club 400
3/17:Chip Ganassi Racing's Kurt Busch ended up sixth in Sunday's Auto Club 400 in California, turning in his fourth consecutive top-10 showing since a disappointing 25th-place finish in the Daytona 500 to kick off his season. He has fit in nicely with Ganassi, jelling nicely with young buck and teammate Kyle Larson. Busch heads to Martinsville next Sunday looking to keep the hot streak alive. The elder Busch has two wins in 37 career Martinsville starts, but he has just six top-10 finishes and a rather poor 21.0 Average-Finish Position with three DNFs at the Virginia short track.Source: NASCAR.com
Ryan Preece Leads All Rookies At Auto Club 400
3/17:JTG Daugherty driver Ryan Preece ended up in 23rd place during Sunday's Auto Club 400, and he ended up being the leading Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate in what turned out to be a tough run for inexperienced wheel men. Front Row Motorsports driver Matt Tifft was 26th after ending up a season-best 20th at ISM Raceway last week. Chevrolet Motorsports driver Cody Ware ended up 32nd, while Richard Childress Racing's Daniel Hemric ended up a dismal 33rd, running just 192 of the 200 laps. Next up is a trip to Martinsville, the first short track race of the season.Source: NASCAR.com
Overheating Issues Send Clint Bowyer To Last Place
3/17:Stewart-Haas Racing's Clint Bowyer endured overheating issues during Sunday's Auto Club 400, tumbling to 38th and last place after running just 130 laps. It was a tough finish since the rest of his team had a pretty solid afternoon. He reported engine issues as early as Lap 25, and he battled problems all afternoon and was operating on seven of eight cylinders for a good chunk of the run. Bowyer will look to bounce back in Martinsville next Sunday, and he is the defending champion in the 2018 spring race. In 26 career starts at Martinsville the driver has the one win, six top-5 finishes and 15 top-10 showings with a 13.8 Average-Finish Position and 572 laps led.Source: Stewart-Haas Racing on Twitter
Kevin Harvick Is Top Finisher For Stewart-Haas Racing
3/17:Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick turned in a fourth-place finish in Sunday's Auto Club 400, but for the second consecutive start he failed to lead a lap. Overall it was a pretty good day for SHR, outside of Clint Bowyer's last-place finish due to overheating issues, as Aric Almirola ended up placing ninth while Daniel Suarez turned in a respectable 13th-place run. The circuit heads east to Martinsville next Sunday for the first short track race of the season. He has won once with five top-5 finishes and 17 top-10 showings with 628 laps led in 35 career starts with a 15.3 Average-Finish Position.Source: NASCAR.com
Brad Keselowski Ends Up Third At Auto Club 400
3/17:Penske Racing's Brad Keselowski raced to a third-place finish in Sunday's Auto Club 400 in California. Overall it was a very nice day for the Penske Fords, as he was third, Joey Logano ended up second and Ryan Blaney turned in a fifth-place run. Keselowski ended up leading 42 laps led, second behind race winner Kyle Busch (134). The Penske driver also racked up plenty of Place Differential points, moving up from a starting spot of 13th to increase 10 positions. Next up is a trip to Martinsville, and he is third among active drivers with an 11.8 Average-Finish Position in 18 career starts with one win and seven finishes in the Top 5.Source: NASCAR.com
Joey Logano Posts Runner-Up Finish In California
3/17:Penske Racing's Joey Logano ended up second in Sunday's Auto Club 400 in California, 2.354 seconds off the pace behind winner Kyle Busch. The No. 22 Ford was out front for just three laps, turning in a best speed of 176.891 mph during Sunday's race, fastest among all drivers. The circuit shifts to Martinsville for the first short track race of the season. He has made 20 career starts at the 'Paper Clip', posting a win, six top-5s and nine top-10s with 825 laps led at Martinsville with zero DNFs and an Average-Finish Position of 13.2.Source: NASCAR.com
Kyle Busch Makes History With 200th National-Series Win
3/17:Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch recorded the victory at the Auto Club 400 on Sunday, his 200th NASCAR national-series win. He was dominant in his No. 18 Toyota, leading 134 of the 200 laps in Sunday's victory and he blew the rest of the field away, winning by a 2.354-second margin upon crossing the finish line. He has racked up two MENCS victories this season, and the win was his fourth at the California track in a Cup car. In addition, he added bonus points with victories in both stages, too. Next up for Busch is a visit to Martinsville, and he has two wins, 15 top-5s and a 12.3 Average-Finish Position in 27 career starts at the Virginia short track.Source: NASCAR.com
Tire Issues Hamper Erik Jones At ISM Raceway
3/10:Joe Gibbs Racing's Erik Jones ended up a disappointing 29th in the TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway, unable to enjoy the same success as teammates Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin, who each finished in the Top 5. Jones blew a right rear tire and brushed the wall to bring out caution at Lap 38. He was never able to recover. He'll look for better results at Auto Club Speedway in California next week. He has two Cup runs under his belt at ACS, posting finishes of seventh and 12th place last season with two laps led.Source: NASCAR on FOX
Alex Bowman Limps Home In 35th-Place In Phoenix
3/10:Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman was scored fourth in Stage 1 at the TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway on Sunday, but that was about the only thing which went well for the driver of the No. 88. He was involved in an accident in Lap 194, as he cut a tire to clap the wall, incurring severe right-side damage. Bowman will look to regroup at Auto Club Speedway next week in California. He hasn't been treated well there in three Cup starts, posting finishes of 13th, 22nd and 33rd for an Average-Finish Position of 22.7 with only one lap led.Source: Motorsport.com - Nick DeGroot
Chase Elliott Settles For 14th At TicketGuardian 500
3/10:Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott ended up 14th in a roller-coaster day at the TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway on Sunday. He started the day on the outside of Row 1 next to pole sitter Ryan Blaney, but he never was able to lead a lap. Elliott was flagged for a restart violation on the opening lap and had to serve a passthrough penalty which knocked him back. He also spun in Lap 218 after radioing in about a vibration. Elliott also recovered from that issue and motored back to 14th, but it was a disappoint day overall. He'll try to recover at Auto Club Speedway next week where he has three-career Cup starts with finishes of sixth, 10th and 16th.Source: NASCAR.com
Kevin Harvick Doesn't Lead One Lap At ISM Raceway
3/10:Stewart-Haas Racing's Kevin Harvick managed a respectable ninth-place finish in Sunday's TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway, but he failed to lead one single lap in what turned out to be a very disappointing showing for the normally reliable driver. Harvick has rattled off nine-career Cup wins in Phoenix, and he entered the day with 1,595 laps led and a 9.31 Average-Finish Position. While the AFP was right in line with his career numbers, the lack of laps led made him a DFS bust this week. He'll look to regroup at Auto Club Speedway next week. He has one win, six top-5s and 11 top-10 finishes with 237 laps led in 25 career starts at Auto Club with a 15.8 AFP.Source: NASCAR.com
Aric Almirola Impresses With Fourth-Place Finish
3/10:Stewart-Haas Racing's Aric Almirola posted a very strong fourth-place finish in the TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway on Sunday, matching the career-best he posted in the Nov. 2018. In fact, this was his fourth consecutive top-10 showing at the Arizona flat track. Sunday marked the first time he has ever led laps at ISM Raceway, notching 26 laps led before Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch snatched the lead away from him. It was a productive day for Almirola and his DFS owners, and he'll look to build upon that momentum heading to Auto Club Speedway next week. That's a track which hasn't treated him kindly, making 11 career starts with zero top-10s and a poor 25.8 Average-Finish Position with three DNFs.Source: NASCAR.com
