Blaney Wins Thrilling Roval Debut

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Ryan Blaney won the Bank of America Roval 400 on Sunday afternoon from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.

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The race was the first at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Road Course, named the “Roval,” and the buildup to the race promised that the first elimination race of the Playoffs would be exciting on the tight track.

On the final lap, Jimmie Johnson caught leader Martin Truex Jr., and the two made contact in the chicane before the finish line.  Blaney was able to take advantage to win his first race of the season and lock himself into the next round of the Playoffs.

Blaney said he wasn’t expecting the two former champions to wreck coming to the finish.

“Sometimes it’s better to have a little bit of luck on your side,” Blaney said.  “You hate to see two guys get into there and tear up two of the best cars all day, but that’s racing sometimes.”

Johnson failed to make the next round of the Playoffs after wrecking coming to the checkered flag.  After driving through the chicane, Johnson had to come to a complete stop to avoid a penalty, which cost him just enough positions to end in a tie with Kyle Larson and Aric Almirola for the final spot in the next round.

After losing the tiebreaker to Larson and Almirola, Johnson said he wasn’t thinking about the Playoffs and wanted to get to victory lane.

“These wins are so important and the veteran would have taken the safe route,” Johnson said.  “Ultimately we were in a transfer position and didn’t get it.”

Larson drove a heavily-damaged car for the last five laps, and passed Jeffrey Earnhardt coming to the checkered flag to force the three-way tie.

Larson said he pushed his car to the limit to get the final point he needed.

“I could see the 96 [of Earnhardt] was still stopped, and I knew I needed that point to get to the tiebreaker,” Larson said.  “I knew I was screwed, then I saw they were all crashing [on the frontstretch] and it had to be 45 seconds before I got over there.”

The playoff field was cut from 16 to 12 drivers; Johnson, Austin Dillon, Erik Jones and Denny Hamlin were the four drivers eliminated from championship contention.

Unofficial results:

1. Ryan Blaney

2. Jamie McMurray

3. Clint Bowyer

4. Alex Bowman

5. Kurt Busch

6. Chase Elliott

7. AJ Allmendinger

8. Jimmie Johnson

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Joey Logano

11. Ryan Newman

12. Denny Hamlin

13. Matt DiBenedetto

14. Martin Truex Jr.

15. Regan Smith

16. David Ragan

17. Chris Buescher

18. Michael McDowell

19. Aric Almirola

20. Cole Whitt

21. Daniel Suarez

22. Ty Dillon

23. Daniel Hemric

24. Ross Chastain

25. Kyle Larson

26. Jeffrey Earnhardt

27. Justin Marks

28. JJ Yeley

29. Landon Cassill

30. Erik Jones

31. Brad Keselowski

32. Kyle Busch

33. Paul Menard

34. William Byron

35. Trevor Bayne

36. Darrell Wallace Jr.

37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

38. Timmy Hill

39. Austin Dillon

40. Stanton Barrett

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Kyle Busch Wins at Richmond

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Busch won the Federated Auto Parts 400 from Richmond Raceway on Saturday night.

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Busch had a fast car from the drop of the green flag, and drove up through the field after starting in the back of the pack after damaging his car in qualifying.

Busch said the victory was a testament to his team’s ability to fix the car before the race.

“I had a dismal qualifying effort,” Busch said.  “I put us a little behind yesterday in qualifying…being able to start last and come up through the field to win this thing.”

Kevin Harvick was chasing Busch down over the final 20 laps, but Busch was able to keep himself ahead of Harvick as the two worked through lapped traffic.

Busch said he was surprised he wasn’t able to run away from Harvick over the final run.

“Harvick was getting me a little bit there at the end,” Busch said.  “That was too close for my comfort; I thought we were better than that on the long run.”

Harvick said he didn’t want to push his luck and risk losing points heading into next weekend’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval.

“I’m terrified of next week,” Harvick said.  “There are so many unknowns.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Chase Elliott

5. Aric Almirola

6. Austin Dillon

7. Kyle Larson

8. Jimmie Johnson

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Clint Bowyer

11. Erik Jones

12. Alex Bowman

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

14. Joey Logano

15. Ryan Newman

16. Denny Hamlin

17. Daniel Suarez

18. Kurt Busch

19. Ryan Blaney

20. William Byron

21. Jamie McMurray

22. Paul Menard

23. David Ragan

24. Michael McDowell

25. Matt Kenseth

26. Cole Custer

27. Darrell Wallace Jr.

28. Ty Dillon

29. AJ Allmendinger

30. Chris Buescher

31. Regan Smith

32. Corey LaJoie

33. Ross Chastain

34. Matt DiBenedetto

35. Joey Gase

36. Landon Cassill

37. Jeffrey Earnhardt

38. Alon Day

39. Timmy Hill

40. Gray Gaulding

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Keselowski Wins Playoff Opener in Las Vegas

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Brad Keselowski won his third race in a row on Sunday at the South Point Hotel and Casinos 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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Keselowski was able to grab the lead late, but he had to hold off his teammate Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. over numerous late restarts to get to victory lane.

Keselowski said his pit crew’s strong pit stops and their strong restarts got them to victory lane.

“It’s really a testament to this team; they’ve been so strong on pit road,” Keselowski said.  “We nailed the pit stops and the restarts when it counted and that put us in position.”

The victory was the 500th for team owner Roger Penske across all racing series, and Penske was seen watching the race from the IndyCar Series finale at Sonoma Raceway.

Keselowski said he was honored to pick up such an important win for “The Captain.”

“500 wins today; huge day for ‘the Captain,’” Keselowski said.  “To start off the playoffs with a win is…really strong.”

Unofficial results:

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Kyle Larson

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Joey Logano

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Aric Almirola

7. Kyle Busch

8. Daniel Suarez

9. Ryan Newman

10. Paul Menard

11. Austin Dillon

12. Regan Smith

13. Trevor Bayne

14. AJ Allmendinger

15. Chris Buescher

16. Corey LaJoie

17. JJ Yeley

18. Landon Cassill

19. Alex Bowman

20. Ross Chastain

21. Kurt Busch

22. Jimmie Johnson

23. Clint Bowyer

24. Matt DiBenedetto

25. Jeffrey Earnhardt

26. Kyle Weatherman

27. David Ragan

28. BJ McLoed

29. Michael McDowell

30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

31. Reed Sorenson

32. Denny Hamlin

33. Timmy Hill

34. Ty Dillon

35. Jamie McMurray

36. Chase Elliott

37. William Byron

38. Darrell Wallace Jr.

39. Kevin Harvick

40. Erik Jones

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Keselowski Wins Regular-Season Finale at the Brickyard

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Brad Keselowski picked up his second-straight victory on Monday afternoon after winning the rain-delayed Big Machine Vodka 400 from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

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After winning last weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington, Keselowski used a late-race pass of Denny Hamlin to pick up his second victory in a NASCAR major event.

Keselowski said his crew chief made the call to get him into victory lane.

“I’ve got to give credit where credit is due; Paul Wolfe made a heck of a call to pit,” Keselowski said.  “He gave me the ball and I had to make a play.”

The victory was the first for team owner Roger Penske in the Monster Energy Cup Series at Indianapolis.  Penske has 17 Indianapolis victories in IndyCar, but was winless in NASCAR’s top series until Monday.

Keselowski said it was special to get “the Captain” his first Brickyard NASCAR Cup Series victory.

“To get Roger Penske his first Cup car win here at the Brickyard is an incredible feeling,” Keselowski said.

Monday’s race was the final of the regular season, with NASCAR’s 10-race playoff beginning next Sunday in Las Vegas.

Kyle Busch won the regular season championship, and said he was looking forward to using his playoff points to get to the season finale in Homestead.

“The bonus points mean a lot; the hardware means a lot,” Busch said.  “They give away a trophy for a regular season championship…but more importantly we want to go after the end of the season championship and take home that bigger trophy.”

Unofficial results:

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Erik Jones

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Clint Bowyer

6. Kurt Busch

7. Jamie McMurray

8. Kyle Busch

9. Paul Menard

10. Ryan Newman

11. Ryan Blaney

12. Matt Kenseth

13. Joey Logano

14. Kyle Larson

15. Chase Elliott

16. Jimmie Johnson

17. Michael McDowell

18. Daniel Suarez

19. William Byron

20. Regan Smith

21. Ty Dillon

22. Austin Dillon

23. Aric Almirola

24. David Ragan

25. Chris Buescher

26. Ross Chastain

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Reed Sorenson

29. JJ Yeley

30. BJ McLeod

31. Landon Cassill

32. Jeffrey Earnhardt

33. Alex Bowman

34. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

35. Timmy Hill

36. Matt DiBenedetto

37. AJ Allmendinger

38. Darrell Wallace Jr.

39. David Starr

40. Martin Truex Jr.

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Keselowski Wins the Southern 500

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Brad Keselowski won the Bojangles’ Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway on Sunday night.

Keselowski snapped a 25-race winless streak and locked himself into the Playoffs with the victory.

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Keselowski was running second late in the race, but his pit crew gave him the lead following the final caution.  He was able to pull away from Joey Logano and Kyle Larson over the final 20-lap run and head to victory lane.

Keselowski said it was a testament to his team for getting him out front when it counted.

“The 42 [of Larson] was really strong; probably whoever came off pit road first was going to win the race, but my team nailed the last pit stop,” Keselowski said.  “We probably didn’t have the long-run speed we needed, but on short runs it was great.  We were there when it counted.”

After winning one of NASCAR’s Crown Jewel events, Keselowski said the win was the biggest of his career.

“The Southern 500 has always been a major…this has got to be the biggest,” Keselowski said.  “I didn’t know coming into today if we were going to be fast enough to win; as soon as they dropped the green I knew this thing was good.”

Larson dominated most of the evening and led a race-high 284 laps, but he settled for a third-place finish.  After losing the lead before the final restart, Larson said the handling on his car went away.

“All day, whenever I’d get in traffic, I’d get loose…and I was just really loose behind Keselowski,” Larson said.  “It’s always important to come off the leader on pit road so you can be the control car on the restart.”

Unofficial results:

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Joey Logano

3. Kyle Larson

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Chase Elliott

6. Kurt Busch

7. Kyle Busch

8. Erik Jones

9. Jamie McMurray

10. Denny Hamlin

11. Martin Truex Jr.

12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

13. Chris Buescher

14. Aric Almirola

15. Ryan Blaney

16. Austin Dillon

17. Paul Menard

18. David Ragan

19. Ryan Newman

20. Michael McDowell

21. Ty Dillon

22. AJ Allmendinger

23. Alex Bowman

24. Kasey Kahne

25. Matt Kenseth

26. Darrell Wallace Jr.

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Ross Chastain

29. Daniel Suarez

30. Landon Cassill

31. JJ Yeley

32. BJ McLeod

33. Derrike Cope

34. Jeffrey Earnhardt

35. William Byron

36. Clint Bowyer

37. Timmy Hill

38. Matt DiBenedetto

39. Jimmie Johnson

40. Joey Gase

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