NASCAR
Racing Notebook – Sunday February 9
PITTSBURGH, PA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Today’s Racing Notebook is Daytona-centric as the NASCAR Cup Series cars qualified for the Daytona 500 and the Busch Clash took place on the high-banks. Plus the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars took to Volusia Speedway Park for the third night in-a-row.
Erik Jones Win Busch Clash:
- Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones survived a wild Busch Clash to pick up the win Sunday at Daytona International Speedway. Jones’ No. 20 Sport Clips Toyota Camry came across the start-finish line with the nose of the car caved-in with teammate Denny Hamlin, who was a lap down, pushing his teammate to victory in NASCAR overtime. Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon finished second and Stewart Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer finished third. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson finished fourth and his teammate Kurt Busch finished 12th. The race was marred by 5-caution flags for 21-laps and only 6-cars were running at the finish. Busch Clash Results
Ricky Stenhouse and Alex Bowman Earn Front Row Spots For Daytona 500:
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr is on the pole position for next Sunday’s Daytona 500. Stenhouse turned a fast lap of 46.253-seconds (194.582 MPH) in the No. 47 Kroger JTG Daughterty Racing Chevrolet. Hendrick Motorsports Alex Bowman is on the outside of the front row (194.3630 in the No. 88 Valvoline Chevrolet. Hendrick powered cars posted the four fastest laps. Only the front row is locked into next Sunday’s race. The rest of the field will be set by how the drivers finish in Thursday night’s Duel Qualifying Races.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch And Ross Chastain Ready For Duel’s:
- Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson posted the 20th fastest lap in the No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet Camaro in pole qualifying on Sunday. Larson’s teammate Kurt Busch posted the 22nd fastest lap in the No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro. Ganassi development driver Ross Chastain posted the 28th fastest lap in the No. 77 AdventHealth Chevrolet. All three drivers will compete in Duel 2 Thursday night.
Logan Schuchart Grabs Win On Final Night Of DIRTcar Nationals:
- Logan Schuchart took the checkered flag in the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Florida. Daryn Pittman finished second followed by Brad Sweet in third. The “Steel City Outlaw” Tim Shaffer finished 18th.
FONTANA, CA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – The pairing of Kyle Busch and Richard Childress Racing is paying dividends as two races into their partnership, they were celebrating victory at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Busch beat Hendrick Motorsports Chase Elliott by ?.?-seconds to pick up his ??-career Cup Series victory and the ?? of his NASCAR career.
“I felt like there was going to be a little bit of a learning experience, a little bit of a growth pattern, but also on the flipside of that, I always just kind of looked back and watched some of their results and success that they had last year with Austin,” explained Busch. “He ran second here last year, and Reddick was super, super fast. They were fast at the Clash before they broke, the 8 car was.”
Busch said the transition to a new team has been good.
“It’s just been really, really cool, and it’s been a great piece of — we’re making history, right, but a great piece of opportunity to go out there and continue to win races at a new team with RCR, so I can’t say enough about Austin giving me a call, first and foremost, but then Richard and Judy giving me this opportunity to go out here and race for wins.”
Elliott was happy for his manufacturer teammate and former Champ and to get a finish after getting crashed out of the Daytona 500.
“Congratulations to Kyle,” said Elliott. “For him to leave and then to go get the job done like that is pretty cool. He’s always been really good to me, so happy for them. Obviously I think we still have some work to do, but it was really nice to just see a lot of that hard work pay off and have the car driving like we were wanting it to do. So that’s always a good thing. Appreciate everybody on our NAPA team, Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet for just sticking with it and sticking with each other. Looking forward to getting to Vegas and hopefully competing for some more wins.”
Ross Chastain, who led a race high 92-laps, finished third in the No. 1 Kubota Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing.
“Our balance was building loose most of the day, so I thought we did everything right,” said Chatain. “We kept up with it. It would just feel pretty loose late in the runs, and at times it was enough, and at times they got way better.”
The NASCAR Cup Series moves on to Las Vegas for the Pennzoil 400 March 5th.
DAYTONA, FL (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Ricky Stenhouse Jr was leading NASCAR Cup Series Champion Joey Logano when a spinning Kyle Larson brought out the final caution of the day, giving Stenhouse the Daytona 500 win in double-overtime.
Stenhouse and Logano were battling for the lead on Lap 212 when contact from Aric Almirola’s Ford started Travis Pastrana’s Toyota spinning in Turn 2. Pastrana’s Camry clipped Larson Chevrolet and set it rocketing into the outside wall. NASCAR officials reviewed the timing and scoring loops to verify Stenhouse was the winner.
“The 22 had a huge run,” explained Stenhouse. “Got to my outside. Kyle had a huge run and he kind of shipped the middle, and then I looked in my mirror and here comes Christopher and gave me a big shot down the short chute there into 1 caution and got out front enough for when the caution came out.
So everything played out perfectly for us at the end of that.”
“Second is the worst, man,” lamented Logano. “You’re so close. Leading the white flag lap there, I was up front. Kyle gave me a good push and, yeah, you’re watching in the mirror and you’re three wide across there. I felt like the three wide was going a hurt a lane; looked like Kyle was getting pushed ahead, and then Ricky started getting pushed ahead.”
“If you would have told me pre-race I was going to run third, I would have jumped up and down and been smiling ear to ear, which I am very happy and very, very thankful that I could get this Rheem and DeWalt Camry a good solid finish,” said Bell. “But man, just so close to a crown jewel. I feel like if it would have stayed green I would have been on offense, and obviously who knows. But very proud and thankful to be here and Joe Gibbs Racing, and happy for Ricky. That’s really cool. Very, very happy for Ricky.”
The next NASCAR Cup Series race is Sunday, February 26 at Auto Club Raceway in Fontana, California.
DAYTONA, FL (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Austin Hill won his second-straight NASCAR Xfinity Series season-opening race on Saturday, narrowly beating John Hunter Nemechek and Justin Allgaier after NASCAR officials reviewed the tape following Sam Mayer’s caution.
“As soon as the caution lights came on, I thought I had it, but it was so close,” said Hill. “To get back-to-back here at Daytona, it’s really special. That’s three wins for me now, two in the Xfinity, one in the truck here. We came from the back two different times. I hope everyone enjoyed it. It was such a blast. I had so much fun.”
“I’ve been short my whole life, so I guess it’s just fitting,” joked Allgaier. “But really proud of everybody at JR Motorsports. Our Chevy Camaros tonight were absolutely blazing fast. Obviously, I’m glad Sam is OK. He had a heck of a run there at the end.”
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