NEWTON, Iowa -- The team is a question mark, the number is uncertain and the logistics are still behind closed doors.
But one thing's for certain: If he has his way, Ty Dillon will be in a Sprint Cup Series ride next season.
"I fully plan on being in the Sprint Cup Series next year full time," Dillon said Friday at Iowa Speedway. "We've got a lot of options on the table. A lot of chips still left to fall before we kind of get to that point, but hopefully we'll have something really close to getting done in a month or so."
Dillon has made eight Sprint Cup starts this season, driving both the No. 95 Circle Sport -- Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet and filling in for then-injured Tony Stewart in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing ride. He etched a season-best Cup result of 15th at Phoenix in the No. 14 Chevrolet. He also served as a relief driver for Stewart at Talladega.
RELATED: Dillon subs for Stewart
With No. 31 driver Ryan Newman's RCR contract up after this season, it looks to be seen whether or not Dillon will take his place as the driver of the team’s third car or if organization will add a fourth car. The possibility of driving for a different team also looms.
"Talks have progressed a lot further than they have in past years," Dillon said. "I had talks with other teams in the past couple years and had opportunities, but it's always been my dream to drive for RCR and be teammates with my brother.
"But now it seems like the time's more and more important. We've got some things going with RCR but we're still slowly working on other options. So, I have plenty of options and we're going to make sure it's the right decision because I want to be able to compete and win races and I want to be part of a team I know I can do that with."
MORE: 'Hero' moment for Dillon as Richard Childress makes NASCAR Hall
William Byron won his fifth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race of the season, this time taking the checkered flag in the Pocono Mountains 150 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday.
The 18-year-old Kyle Busch Motorsports driver led a race-high 44 laps and set a record for the most wins by a rookie in the Camping World Truck Series.
Cameron Hayley came in second in the No. 13 Toyota.
Brett Moffitt in the No. 11 Toyota finished third, while Timothy Peters in the No. 17 Toytota and Cole Custer in the No. 00 Chevrolet rounded out the top five.
The 60-lap race was beset by a bevy of spinning trucks and wrecks, as the caution flag flew nine times; the race did not run more than eight laps at a time without a caution.
The Camping World Truck Series is off for two weeks before returning to the track at Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug. 17 for the UNOH 200 (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, Sirius XM).
LONG POND, Pa. -- Richard Childress Racing is expected to announce its 2017 Sprint Cup Series driver lineup in the coming weeks. Ryan Newman, in his third season as driver of the No. 31 RCR Chevrolet, isn't quite sure if he'll be a part of it. "We haven't talked about it in-depth yet, but we have talked about it," Newman, 13th in points, said Thursday at Kalahari Resort in Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania. "Hopefully, we'll get to sit down and talk about it soon." Newman has been arguably the organization's most successful driver during his tenure with the longtime Sprint Cup Series stable, coming within a straightaway of his first championship in 2014 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. His numbers are down slightly from the past two seasons (just one top-five finish and seven finishes in the top 10), but his team, winless since he started driving the No. 31 Chevrolet, employs a consistent points-racing strategy that focuses on solid finishes rather than gambling for a victory. It worked wonders in '14, and with 12 finishes inside the top 15 this season and several more on the cusp, appears to be working in 2016. He sits 13th in the drivers points standings coming into Pocono. That doesn't mean, however, that NASCAR's "Rocket Man" isn't looking to launch himself into Victory Lane. "We're kind of getting back into that zone of having better finishes, better runs," Newman said. "We had a great run going last week (at Indianapolis) and crashed out with seven laps to go or whatever. So we feel like we've turned the momentum back in our favor but in the end we still have to deliver that victory." While Newman offers consistent, above-average production week in and week out, RCR may be faced with a tough decision as Childress' grandson, Ty Dillon, appears ready for a full-time Sprint Cup Series ride with no clear path to a spot for him. RELATED: Dillon talks 2017 plans, aims to make move up Still, the team owner told NASCAR.com earlier this year at Michigan International Speedway that he's planning on having the '16 XFINITY Series title hopeful in a Sprint Cup car full-time in 2017, while the exact organization and ride has yet to be finalized. Dillon has made five starts in the No. 95 Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet this season with a best finish of 20th (Texas). It's possible Dillon could slide over to that ride full-time, but it would leave veteran Michael McDowell without a seat. Dillon also ran three Sprint Cup Series races filling in for injured Tony Stewart in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, getting his season-best finish of 15th at Phoenix. His relief duty in the Talladega race was not credited as an official start for Dillon since Stewart began the race behind the wheel. In a report by NBC Sports' Dustin Long earlier this month, Childress said, "Right now, it's just a lot of things are hanging. We're trying to put together what's going to be the best for everybody, not just for RCR, but for the drivers and the sponsors; we're trying to put together good programs." Right now, Newman doesn't appear to be getting his ducks in order just yet on the off chance he finds himself ousted from his ride in favor of the younger Dillon. "I plan on (coming back)," he said. "If they'll have me back, I'll be there."
LONG POND, Pa. – Martin Truex Jr. found a lot more than light at the end of the Tunnel on Friday afternoon at Pocono Raceway.
Gaining time on the rest of the field through Turn 2—the Tunnel Turn—at the 2.5-mile triangular race track, Truex put his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota on the pole for Sunday’s Pennsylvania 400 (on NBCSN at 1:30 p.m. ET; MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), knocking fellow Toyota Camry driver Carl Edwards out of the top starting spot.
It's not that Truex and his team made a special point of emphasis on that particularly tricky corner. It just worked out that way, earning Truex his third Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his first at Pocono and the 10th of his career.
"For whatever reason, today—all day long—I felt comfortable there, more so than past times here," said Truex, who ran his fastest lap of the day (179.244 mph) in the third and final round of knockout qualifying for the 21st NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the season. "The first race here (in June) we really struggled in the Tunnel Turn.
"We kind of focused on it a little bit coming back, as far as just making sure it was closer to Turn 1 and Turn 3 and not something that would really handcuff us so bad. So maybe that had something to do with it—I'm not sure—but it just kind of worked out that way, for whatever reason.
"Each round I felt a little bit more comfortable and was able to gain a little more time there, and the third round I was able to just kind of sail off in there and get a little bit lucky and hit it right. It's one of those corners that, if you take a risk going in, nine out of 10 times it doesn’t pay off coming out of the corner. This time it did, and we were able to take advantage of it."
On the strength of his run through the Tunnel Turn, Truex covered the distance in 50.211 seconds, .104 seconds faster than Edwards (178.873 mph), who thought he had the pole won when he completed his lap in the final round.
"As I crossed the line, I felt like, 'That’s it'," said Edwards, who was a close second to Kyle Busch in pole qualifying last week at Indianapolis. "But after seeing what (Truex) ran, I thought 'Well, maybe I could go back and change this or that,' but that was a really good lap for me. It just was.
"You can always go back and pick your lap apart, but the last two weeks, Indy and here, I was pretty proud of my lap, and they just got us."
Paul Menard (178.671 mph) qualified third, the fastest of three Richard Childress Racing drivers in the top 12, with Ryan Newman placing fifth and Austin Dillon placing 12th. That's the first time all three RCR Chevrolets have cracked the top 12 for the same race since August of 2014 at Michigan.
Denny Hamlin claimed the fourth spot on the grid. Tony Stewart, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano will start from positions six through 10, respectively.
Subbing for ailing Dale Earnhardt Jr., six-time Pocono winner Jeff Gordon advanced to the second round but went no farther, qualifying 24th. Gordon made two runs in the first round to ensure he would make the second, and that eventually cost him.
"The first time out, the car was pretty close, a little bit tight, but we should have been better that first time out, and then we wouldn't of had to gone out the second time," Gordon said. "But overall just too tight over the Tunnel (Turn).
"The car is really good down in (Turn) 1. I picked up speed every time we went out. I think having to do that last run our third time on tires didn’t really give us a good chance to advance and get the lap that we wanted. It's still a work in progress."
NASCAR competition officials delayed the start of qualifying by 20 minutes to allow teams extra time to make their way through the Laser Inspection Station (LIS). Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, said that a glitch early Friday forced the wait time in the inspection process.
"I'm not exactly sure of the exact technical thing that happened (with the LIS), but it got back online really quick," Miller said. "One thing I want to make clear is, the reason we're moving this back is because we had a little bit of ownership in it with our equipment. On a regular weekend, if everything … if we had our time block and our equipment worked fine and this was a team issue getting through templates and they didn't get out there, we would be inclined not to extend qualifying and if they miss qualifying it's on them."
Despite the delay, all teams made it through inspection in time for the first 20-minute round of qualifying. The last of those was the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota team for driver Kyle Busch, who cut it close but made his first qualifying pass with roughly five minutes left in the opening session. No. 18 crew chief Adam Stevens told NBCSN that the car was initially out of tolerance with the rear-axle toe. Busch will start 16th after missing out on the 12-driver cut after qualifying's Round 2. His brother Kurt, who won the Sprint Cup tour's most recent race at Pocono, was 15th-fastest and will start alongside him in the eighth row.
Martin Truex Jr. stormed to the Coors Light Pole Award in Friday's qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Pocono Raceway.
Truex logged a fast lap of 179.244 mph in the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota on the 2.5-mile triangular track. He'll start first in Sunday's Pennsylvania 400 (1:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM), the 21st of 36 points-paying races for the circuit this year.
The Coors Light Pole Award is Truex's third of the season, his first at Pocono and the 10th of his Sprint Cup career.
Carl Edwards' Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota will start alongside Truex in Sunday's 400-miler after posting the second-fastest qualifying lap (178.873 mph) in the final five-minute session. Paul Menard, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman completed the top five.
Jeff Gordon, a six-time Pocono winner making his second Sprint Cup start of the season in place of Dale Earnhardt Jr., was 24th-fastest in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet. Earnhardt is missing his third consecutive race weekend, out indefinitely as he recovers from concussion-like symptoms.
NASCAR competition officials delayed the start of qualifying by 20 minutes to allow teams extra time to make their way through the Laser Inspection Station (LIS). Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, said that a glitch early Friday forced the wait time in the inspection process.
"I'm not exactly sure of the exact technical thing that happened (with the LIS), but it got back online really quick," Miller said. "One thing I want to make clear is, the reason we're moving this back is because we had a little bit of ownership in it with our equipment. On a regular weekend, if everything … if we had our time block and our equipment worked fine and this was a team issue getting through templates and they didn't get out there, we would be inclined not to extend qualifying and if they miss qualifying it's on them."
Despite the delay, all teams made it through inspection in time for the first 20-minute round of qualifying. The last of those was the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota team for driver Kyle Busch, who cut it close but made his first qualifying pass with roughly five minutes left in the opening session. No. 18 crew chief Adam Stevens told NBCSN that the car was initially out of tolerance with the rear-axle toe.
Busch will start 16th after missing out on the 12-driver cut after qualifying's Round 2. His brother Kurt, who won the Sprint Cup tour's most recent race at Pocono, was 15th-fastest and will start alongside him in the eighth row.
Greg Biffle just missed the 24-driver cutoff in the opening round of qualifying, with a late run by rookie Chris Buescher knocking him to 25th-fastest.
Sprint Cup teams have an 80-minute final practice scheduled Saturday at 11 a.m. ET (NBCSN) ahead of Sunday's Pennsylvania 400 (1:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Aric Almirola insists he was absolutely prepared to climb into his No. 43 Smithfield Ford this Sunday for the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway completely focused on nothing other than scoring a victory and working toward earning a position in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
But his public relations team brought up an important milestone that even he conceded was definitely worth noting, if not celebrating. This Sunday's race marks the 32-year old Almirola's 200th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start -- a significant measure of his staying power and a testament to how far he's come. Literally.
He is the son of a Cuban immigrant on his dad's side of the family and the grandson of one of Florida's most celebrated and accomplished racers -- Sam Rodriguez -- on his mom's side. That has created a unique background dynamic that gives Almirola motivation and pride. And makes this weekend a heartfelt measure of success.
"I think here I am and my dad came over from Cuba and 50 years later I'm making my 200th start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Richard Petty," Almirola said. "It's so crazy to me, what living in this country affords you and allows you to be able to do, and my grandparents made that decision to come over here and take this chance."
The sheer number of starts represents a mark of opportunity for Almirola. Making it into NASCAR's big league was always the harder path, the road less travelled.
But he has made it. And that's only the beginning.
"I don't think anybody dreams about running two hundred races, they dream about 'a' race," Almirola said. "So as a kid I dreamed about driving 'a' Cup car, running 'a' race. So, now the fact I've had the opportunity to do it two hundred times, when you realize that, and the marketing department brings to your attention that, 'Hey, Pocono is going to be your 200th start,' it really makes you kind of reflect on everything that's led up to this.
"From being a kid racing go-karts all the way up to all the opportunities I've had. I realize by reflecting on all that stuff how fortunate and blessed I am."
The thing is, Almirola could have just as easily been a star baseball player as a winning NASCAR driver.
His native city of Tampa, Florida is a ballplayer's town. It produced Wade Boggs and Lou Piniella. Both Dwight Gooden and Gary Sheffield graduated from Almirola's Hillsborough High School.
A calendar year in this part of the country has traditionally been delineated by baseball and football seasons. That just makes Almirola's success climbing the NASCAR ranks even more impressive.
"I was in somewhat of a hot bed there for athletes," Almirola said smiling. "But I had a really strong passion for racing and I know that made me somewhat of an outsider at school growing up. When friends would ask, 'Hey what are you doing this weekend?' I'd say, I was going racing.
"That kind of separated me from a lot of kids at school -- not in a bad way, I wasn't an outcast in a negative way, but I didn't have as close a relationship with kids at school because I didn't go parties at their house Friday night after football games. I was always working on my race cars or go-karts and racing on the weekends.
"I wasn't looking for something to do on the weekend. I already had it."
"I was always going to be a NASCAR guy. My grandfather raced sprint cars, so obviously the open wheel path was there, too. He'd race at East Bay every Saturday night and occasionally travel around the country going to races. But every Sunday it was normal, to get up, eat breakfast, hang around the house and then watch the Cup race. That was routine around my parents and my grandparents. We love NASCAR."
The result for Almirola has been a starring role driving his sport's most iconic car -- the No. 43 -- for the sport's biggest legend, Petty.
NASCAR's crown jewel, Daytona International Speedway, is also Almirola's "home track" and fittingly the venue he won his first Sprint Cup Series race in 2014, the Coke Zero 400 -- exactly 30 years after his boss Petty scored his historic 200th victory at the track.
Consider this: Petty's win total would be equivalent to Almirola winning every start he's made.
Though that remains the only Cup victory so far for Almirola, it was enough to propel him into the 2014 Chase and make him only more eager to return. His team's best finish this year is a 12th-place in the season-opening Daytona 500. He's had four top-15 showings -- three in the season's opening four races. He ranks 25th in points entering Pocono, hopeful to score a win in one of the remaining six races to set the 16-driver Chase field.
"I think the reality is we have struggled this season and you can tell by watching the race and looking at our results," Almirola said. "This year has been a struggle and we can't really put our finger on what's wrong. People often ask what's wrong and it sounds like a smart-aleck answer, but if I knew, we'd fix it.
"There are a couple places looking ahead that have been strong for us. Bristol comes to top of mind. We had a chance to win there a couple years ago battling with Carl Edwards. And then there's (regular season finale) Richmond. Last year we went there kinda do or die to make the Chase and finished fourth, but had a really strong car and a legitimate chance to win that race, too. Those are kind of top of mind to me where we might go in and get a win."
Listening to Almirola reflect on his first 200 races, there is both a fond memory of what it took to get to this point and a distinct urgency in his voice to succeed in a way worthy of the hard work already put in.
"Making my 200th start really forces me to reflect and when I do that and think about doing it for Richard Petty, who is very much an American icon. And I can't help but reflect on my family, which has done so much and sacrificed so much to get me where I'm at," Almirola said.
NASCAR has released the starting times for 2017 races in all three national series.
Among the biggest changes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the first night race for next year will be May 13 at Kansas Speedway. The spring race at Texas Motor Speedway -- typically run under the lights -- moves to an afternoon green flag (1:30 p.m. ET).
Eight races from the first half of the season will move their afternoon starting times from 1 p.m. ET to 2 p.m. ET or later, including the season-opening Daytona 500 with a 2 p.m. ET start on Feb. 26, 2017.
The four races at Pocono Raceway and Michigan International Speedway move from 1 p.m. ET starts to 3 p.m. ET green flags.
The later starting time is also the case for most of the second half of the season. The green flag will drop at 3 p.m. ET next year at Watkins Glen International and the Chase opener at Chicagoland. The rest of the Chase looks more similar to 2015 with 2 p.m. ET starts at New Hampshire, Dover and Talladega, and a slightly later 3 p.m. start at Kansas Speedway.
The season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway will again begin at 2:30 p.m.
As for the XFINITY Series, there will be seven night races including a three-race swing from Iowa Speedway (June 24) to Daytona (June 30) and Kentucky (July 7).
Its two stand-alone road course races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Road America in Wisconsin will start at 3:30 p.m. ET and 3 p.m. ET, respectively.
Both its season-opening race at Daytona and finale at Homestead will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will have a decidedly night-time look with 14 of its 23 races held under the lights.
The season opens with a 7:30 p.m. ET green flag at Daytona. There is an eight-race swing of starts at 5 p.m. ET or later between the May 12 race at Kansas (8:30 p.m.) and culminating with the hugely popular event at Eldora Speedway (9 p.m.) on July 19.
See the full schedules below.
Note: All times listed are ET. Subject to change.
2017 SPRINT CUP SERIES SCHEDULE
DATE LOCATION NETWORK RACE START RADIO
2/18 The Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway FS1 8 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
2/19 Daytona 500 Qualifying at Daytona International Speedway FOX 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
2/23 Can-Am Duel at Daytona International Speedway FS1 7 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
2/26 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway FOX 2 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
3/5 Atlanta Motor Speedway FOX 2:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
3/12 Las Vegas Motor Speedway FOX 3:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
3/19 Phoenix International Raceway FOX 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
3/26 Auto Club Speedway FOX 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
4/2 Martinsville Speedway FS1 2 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
4/9 Texas Motor Speedway FOX 1:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
4/23 Bristol Motor Speedway FOX 2 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
4/30 Richmond International Raceway FOX 2 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
5/7 Talladega Superspeedway FOX 2 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
5/13 Kansas Speedway FS1 7:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
5/20 NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway FS1 6 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
5/28 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway FOX 6 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
6/4 Dover International Speedway FS1 1 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/11 Pocono Raceway FS1 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/18 Michigan International Speedway FS1 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/25 Sonoma Raceway FS1 3 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
7/1 Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway NBC 7:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
7/8 Kentucky Speedway NBCSN 7:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
7/16 New Hampshire Motor Speedway NBCSN 3 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
7/23 Indianapolis Motor Speedway NBC 3 p.m. IMS/Sirius XM
7/30 Pocono Raceway NBCSN 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
8/6 Watkins Glen International NBCSN 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
8/13 Michigan International Speedway NBCSN 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
8/19 Bristol Motor Speedway NBC 7:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
9/3 Darlington Raceway NBCSN 6 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/9 Richmond International Raceway NBCSN 7:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/17 Chicagoland Speedway NBCSN 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/24 New Hampshire Motor Speedway NBCSN 2 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
10/1 Dover International Speedway NBCSN 2 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
10/7 Charlotte Motor Speedway NBCSN 7 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
10/15 Talladega Superspeedway NBC 2 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
10/22 Kansas Speedway NBCSN 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
10/29 Martinsville Speedway NBCSN 1 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
11/5 Texas Motor Speedway NBC 2 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
11/12 Phoenix International Raceway NBC 2:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
11/19 Homestead-Miami Speedway NBC 2:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
2017 NASCAR XFINITY SERIES SCHEDULE
DATE LOCATION NETWORK RACE START RADIO
2/25 Daytona International Speedway FS1 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
3/4 Atlanta Motor Speedway FS1 1:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
3/11 Las Vegas Motor Speedway FS1 4 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
3/18 Phoenix International Raceway FOX 4 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
3/25 Auto Club Speedway FS1 4 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
4/8 Texas Motor Speedway FOX 1:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
4/22 Bristol Motor Speedway FS1 12:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
4/29 Richmond International Raceway FS1 12:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
5/6 Talladega Superspeedway FOX 1 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
5/27 Charlotte Motor Speedway FS1 1 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
6/3 Dover International Speedway FS1 1 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/10 Pocono Raceway FOX 1 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/17 Michigan International Speedway FS1 1:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/24 Iowa Speedway FS1 8:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/30 Daytona International Speedway NBCSN 7:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
7/7 Kentucky Speedway NBCSN 8 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
7/15 New Hampshire Motor Speedway NBCSN 4 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
7/22 Indianapolis Motor Speedway NBCSN 3:30 p.m. IMS/Sirius XM
7/29 Iowa Speedway NBC 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
8/5 Watkins Glen International NBCSN 2 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
8/12 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course NBCSN 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
8/18 Bristol Motor Speedway NBCSN 7:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
8/27 Road America NBC 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/2 Darlington Raceway NBCSN 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/8 Richmond International Raceway NBCSN 7:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/16 Chicagoland Speedway NBCSN 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/23 Kentucky Speedway NBCSN 8 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
9/30 Dover International Speedway NBCSN 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
10/6 Charlotte Motor Speedway NBCSN 8 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
10/21 Kansas Speedway NBC 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
11/4 Texas Motor Speedway NBCSN 8:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
11/11 Phoenix International Raceway NBC 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
11/18 Homestead-Miami Speedway NBCSN 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
Take another look at the Brickyard 400 from Kyle Busch‘s victory and late-race restarts to Jeff Gordon‘s return to the track and Tony Stewart‘s suggestion that led to a memorable salute after the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Justin Allgaier described racing JR Motorsports teammate Elliott Sadler for the Xfinity Dash 4 Crash bonus at Indianapolis. Allgaier finished fifth to win the $100,000 bonus last weekend.
“That last restart, we knew it was coming down to just the two of us,” Allgaier said. “Being on the outside, not being in the preferred lane and also racing a teammate, we knew it was going to be a huge challenge. Luckily enough, our car was just a little bit better, I think, than Elliott’s on Saturday.”
Kurt Busch seeks to do something this weekend that hasn’t been done in NASCAR.
Run every lap for the most consecutive races to start a season.
Busch enters Sunday’s race at Pocono Raceway on NBCSN having completed all 5,673 laps in the first 20 races. No driver has completed every lap through the the first 21 Cup races in a season.
Busch tied Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the record this past weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when Busch completed every lap on the way to finishing 16th.
Earnhardt set the mark in 2012 by completing every lap in the first 20 races of the season. In the 21st race, which was at Pocono, Earnhardt fell 18 laps short of the distance in the rain-shortened race.
Busch heads to Pocono having won the June race there. In this race a year ago, he finished 37th after he was involved in an accident, He finished 10 laps behind the leaders.
Busch’s consistency this season has led to 15 top-10 finishes, second only to Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick, who has 16.
Drivers who have run the most laps in Cup this season:
After failing to finish three of the last six races and plummeting in the points, AJ Allmendinger says that “I feel like I’ve been gut punched and kicked in the not-such-fun place the last seven weeks.”
Allmendinger finished 38th last weekend at Indianapolis because of overheating issues with his car. As the series heads to Pocono Raceway this weekend, Allmendinger is 21st in the standings, 51 points (more than a full race behind) out of the final transfer spot to the Chase. When the series raced at Pocono in June, Allmendinger was 17th in the points.
“Honestly, the Chase is the last thing on my mind,’’ Allmendinger said Tuesday during a break in testing at Watkins Glen International. “The string of the last six or seven weeks has been really tough. Just stuff that I guess you could say out of our control, in our control. Sonoma we had a chance to win and had a mistake there.
WATKINS GLEN TESTING: Brad Keselowski evaluated and released after crash
“We’ve got to run better, minimize our mistakes and each weekend try to get better. If we get into a position to win a race that’s great. If not, we’ve got to be a little bit better all around as a team. It’s tough in this sport. You look at the last two years, you look at this year, I think as a race team we are so much better than we were. You look at the points and we’re in the same spot. I think there’s a lot of good things happening to our race team, but we’ve got to get on track.’’
Allmendinger’s last top-10 finish was an eighth at Kansas in May. He started second and led 20 laps at Sonoma but finished 14th. He was poised to start sixth on a restart with less than 25 laps to go but was penalized when because his team failed to control a tire during the pit stop.
“We’ve just got to be better as a team, all of us together,’’ Allmendinger said.
Brad Keselowski‘s car suffered extensive damage in a crash during testing Tuesday afternoon at Watkins Glen International.
Keselowski was evaluated and released, according to a team representative. The incident took place going into Turn 1 on the road course. Keselowski tweeted that he lost his brakes entering the corner off the long frontstretch.
Keselowski tweeted a picture of the crash exiting the car.
Keselowski was among 16 drivers testing on the repaved track before the Aug. 7 race on the road course.
The incident comes nearly five years to the day Keselowski suffered a broken left ankle in a crash testing at Road Atlanta on Aug. 3, 2011. Four days later, he won at Pocono Raceway.
Breaking down the full field for the Crown Royal Presents The Combat Wounded Coalition 400 At The Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
1. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Total domination. Busch won Saturday's and Sunday's races from the pole and led a record 149 laps Sunday. His average running position Sunday was 1.2, and his lowest position was third. Seriously? Busch's hammerlock on the field was on par with what Martin Truex Jr. did in the Coca-Cola 600 . Thus the same mark. Grade: AAA+
2. Matt Kenseth , No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth is still winless at the Brickyard but has now finished second three times. More numbers: In Kenseth's first four starts at Indianapolis for JGR, his finishes are 5th, 4th, 7th and 2nd. Grade: A
3. Jimmie Johnson , No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson had to do a pass-through on Lap 86 for a pit-road speeding penalty, dropping him to 23rd. Attrition and persistence led to Johnson's first top 10 since he finished third at Charlotte two months ago. Nice finish, but this team still needs to clean up its mistakes. Grade: A-
4. Denny Hamlin , No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Ditto the No. 11 team. Hamlin was assessed his seventh pit-road speeding penalty of the season one lap after Jimmie Johnson (same round of green-flag stops). Hamlin was running third at the time and fell back to 18th. Nice recovery, but … Grade: A-
5. Kyle Larson , No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing. Larson was the second-biggest winner of the afternoon, moving up four spots in the standings to 15th. Grade: A
6. Kevin Harvick , No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick upped his points lead to 24. Two races ago it was down to four. If you don't think that's important, remember this: If qualifying is rained out, the field is set by the standings -- as is the order of selecting a pit stall. So, yes, the standings still matter. Grade: A
7. Joey Logano , No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. Logano restarted second on the final restart but couldn't hold the position or make a run at Kyle Busch. Logano, by the way, finished second to Busch in last year's Brickyard. Grade: A
8. Martin Truex Jr. , No. 78 Toyota, Furniture Row Racing. Truex was strong all afternoon – his 5.6 average running position was second to Kyle Busch's – but he was no match for the winner. Grade: A
9. Austin Dillon , No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Sunday's top 10 was Dillon's ninth of the season (20 starts), equaling his total for the first 85 starts of his Sprint Cup career. Grade: A
10. Paul Menard , No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Menard benefited from accidents in front of him that he was able to avoid to score his second top 10 of the season. Grade: A-
11. Tony Stewart , No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart started third and was running with the leaders when he was caught speeding on pit road just before the third caution and had to restart at the tail end of the field, one lap down. He was still back in the pack (20th) with 25 laps to go in regulation. But then came all the cautions. "Smoke" finally got his lap back with a free pass on the fifth caution, survived contact with Jamie McMurray on Lap 166 and salvaged a decent finish on his last go-round at Indy. Grade: B
12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. , No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Stenhouse survived the big Carl Edwards - Ryan Newman wreck that brought out the red flag to get a finish that belied his day. He turned 14 laps in the top 15 and had an average running positon of 20.1. Grade: B-
13. Jeff Gordon , No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Despite problems with restarts, Gordon was able to post his best finish of the season and overcome the incredible pressure of replacing Alex Bowman in the No. 88. ... Yes, I'm kidding. Except for the restarts part. Vive Monsieur Gordon! Grade: A
14. Chris Buescher , No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Buescher recorded the best finish of his Sprint Cup career on a day in which he turned all of two laps in the top 15 and had a 23.7 average running position. Grade: B
15. Chase Elliott , No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Elliott registered his best finish since a second-place finish at Michigan more than a month ago. Grade: B
16. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. For only the second time this season, Busch failed to finish in the top 10 in back-to-back races. Grade: B-
17. Brad Keselowski , No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Keselowski was the rage early on with his team's bold pit strategy, but the second half of the race bore zero resemblance to the first half. Getting caught up in the Carl Edwards - Ryan Newman wreck didn't help, either. Grade: B
18. Kasey Kahne , No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Despite a fourth-straight finish outside the top 10, Kahne moved up two spots in the standings to 16th, 10 points behind Kyle Larson . He jumped one driver who missed the race ( Dale Earnhardt Jr. ) and one who didn't use the best judgment and crashed with 10 laps to go ( Trevor Bayne ). Grade: C
19. Jamie McMurray , No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing. McMurray's nice run came to a screeching halt on the restart on Lap 165 when he moved down in front of Tony Stewart but hadn't cleared the No. 14. Stewart wasn't about to lift, and the No. 1 went for a slide onto the access road before returning to the track and smacking Ryan Newman . Worse, the caution gave the free pass to Chase-cutoff competitor Kasey Kahne . Grade: B-
20. Landon Cassill , No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Cassill avoided calamity to get his fourth-best finish of the season. Grade: B
21. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Bowyer contributed to the caution-fest at the end of the race when he got into the back of Trevor Bayne , who inexplicably went for the block with so much on the line (Chase standings) and running so far back in the field. Grade: C
22. Danica Patrick , No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Wrong place, wrong time. Again. Patrick had nothing to do with the Carl Edwards - Ryan Newman wreck but still ended up a part of it. On the other hand, she finished right where she spent most of the race. Grade: C
23. Michael McDowell , No. 95 Chevrolet, Circle Sport-Leavine Family. McDowell posted his best finish at the Brickyard in seven starts. Grade: B-
24. Casey Mears , No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears finished in the top 25 for the 10th time this season. Grade: C
25. Aric Almirola , No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola, who is still looking for his first top 10 of the year, is on pace to have his worst season with RPM, for which he has been driving full time since 2010. Grade: C
26. Regan Smith , No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Smith posted his best finish since a 22nd at Pocono in early June. Grade: C
27. Brian Scott , No. 44 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Despite being collected in the last wreck of the day, Scott picked up his best finish in his past eight starts. Grade: C
28. Michael Annett , No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. After posting four top-30 finishes in his first 14 starts, Annett has four in his past six. Grade: C
29. Cole Whitt , No. 98 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Since a 37.3 average finish in his first three starts of the season, Whitt has an average finish of 27.5 over his next 14 races. Grade: C
30. Trevor Bayne , No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne's move to block Clint Bowyer on the backstretch on Lap 158 was as costly as it was ill-advised. Bayne spun all the way to his worst finish of the season and to 18th in the standings, 14 points behind 15th-place Kyle Larson . Grade: D
31. Ryan Newman , No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Newman's day began to unravel on the restart on Lap 154. He restarted sixth, outside of Carl Edwards . On the first turn, Edwards drifted up into Newman and the No. 31 suffered major damage. With Newman sitting near the Chase cut-off line, it was important for him to coax the car home. He returned to the track but couldn't make it to the finish when Jamie McMurray ran up the track into him on the Lap 165 restart after contact with Tony Stewart . Bottom line: Valiant effort but a DNF and 10-point day. Grade: C
32. Ryan Ellis , No. 93 Toyota, BK Racing. Ellis picked up a career-best finish in his fourth Sprint Cup Series start. Grade: C
33. Reed Sorenson , No. 55 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Sorenson ran to form, and his 33.8 average finish is third-worst in the Sprint Cup Series among drivers with at least 10 starts. Grade: D
34. Patrick Carpentier, No. 32 Ford, GO FAS Racing. After not starting a Sprint Cup Series race since 2011, Carpentier made his second start of 2016. He finished 37th last month at Sonoma. Grade: D
35. Carl Edwards , No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards was part of the strong JGR contingent all afternoon – 6.6 averaging running position – until his mishap on Lap 154. Whether it was a tight car or dirty tires, the outcome was costly as he dropped two spots in the standings. Grade: F
36. Ryan Blaney , No. 21 Ford, Wood Brothers Racing. Blaney was collected and knocked out of the race in the Carl Edwards -initiated wreckage that resulted in a red flag. Blaney dropped two spots in the standings to 19th, and is now 22 points behind 15th-place Kyle Larson . Blaney began the day nine points ahead of Larson. Grade: C
37. David Ragan , No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. Ragan brought out the third caution on Lap 120 when his left-rear tire went down and he slammed the wall. It was his third DNF and second-worst finish of the season. Grade: F
38. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Allmendinger was running 11th when his car lost water pressure. Moments later it overheated with less than 100 laps to go. It was Allmendinger's second DNF in the past three races. Grade: F
39. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle's day ended after 53 laps when his right-front tire went down and he slammed into the outside wall. His streak of top 10s – three – ended as well. Grade: F
40. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. His engine didn't even make through five laps, leaving DiBenedetto with his seventh DNF of the season. "How is that even possible?" DiBenedetto tweeted. "Who has the voodoo doll of me that severely dislikes me?" Grade: F
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will receive extra track time this week at newly repaved Watkins Glen International, site of the final road-course race on this year's schedule.
A total of 16 teams are scheduled to converge on the New York circuit for a two-day organizational test Tuesday and Wednesday in advance of the Aug. 7 Cheez-It 355 at The Glen (2:30 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The $12 million offseason repaving project marks the first full resurfacing at the facility since 1989. The new asphalt includes the 2.45-mile layout used in NASCAR competition and the longer 3.4-mile configuration used by other series.
Five Sprint Cup teams received their first taste of the new pavement in Goodyear tire testing May 10-11. Drivers helping the tire manufacturer select the proper rubber compound for the race were Trevor Bayne , Carl Edwards , Kevin Harvick , Kasey Kahne and Joey Logano .
Drivers (in alphabetical order) scheduled to participate this week:
-- AJ Allmendinger (JTG Daugherty Racing)
-- Ryan Blaney (Wood Brothers Racing)
-- Clint Bowyer (HScott Motorsports)
-- Chris Buescher (Front Row Motorsports)
-- Kurt Busch (Stewart-Haas Racing)
-- Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing)
-- Matt DiBenedetto (BK Racing)
-- Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing)
-- Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)
-- Brad Keselowski (Team Penske)
-- Michael McDowell (Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing)
-- Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing)
-- Casey Mears (Germain Racing)
-- Brian Scott (Richard Petty Motorsports)
-- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Roush Fenway Racing)
-- Martin Truex Jr. (Furniture Row Racing)
The on-track schedule will feature two sessions each day -- 9 a.m.-noon ET and 1-5 p.m. ET. The garage will open both days at 7 a.m. ET.
Other new details greeting drivers this week will be new concrete on pit road and on the rumble strips bordering the turns. The track also completed grading and landscaping work in the runoff areas.
NASCAR XFINITY Series teams will get extra practice time on the new surface during an expanded race weekend. The schedule was extended from three days to four this year with the addition of two XFINITY practice sessions on Thursday, Aug. 4.
The organizational test is the third of five scheduled this season for the Sprint Cup Series. It follows two-day tests at Kentucky Speedway (June 13-14) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 12-13). The two-day Watkins Glen stop precedes organizational tests at Chicagoland Speedway (Aug. 23-24) and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Oct. 18-19), sites for the opening race and the finale for this year's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.
SPEEDWAY, Ind. -- With the field lined up for the first of what turned out to be two overtime restarts Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Tony Stewart clicked his radio and made a request.
"Tell (the 88) after this is over let's go around the track one more time together," Stewart, co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing and driver of the organization's No. 14 Chevrolet, said.
Stewart, a three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and twice a winner of the The Combat Wounded Coalition 400, wanted to slow down instead of go fast, and soak in the moment with a familiar foe and friend, regardless of how his final race at IMS ended.
Jeff Gordon , driving the Hendrick Motorsports entry in relief of Dale Earnhardt Jr. , was more than willing to oblige. Hours earlier, Gordon had paid tribute to Stewart, acknowledging him and what he has meant to NASCAR during the morning drivers' meeting.
RELATED: Gordon talks return, Dale Jr. | WATCH: Gordon climbs in No. 88
So before race winner Kyle Busch made it to Victory Lane, prior to he and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates gathering to kiss the bricks on the finish line, Stewart and Gordon, two old warhorses with a combined seven championships and 142 Sprint Cup Series wins between them, slowly circled the 2.5-mile track one final time to the cheers of the fans and many of those still on pit road.
MORE: Relive 'Smoke's' 49 career victories
Afterward, Gordon climbed from his car and approached Stewart; the two hugged on pit road amid a throng of reporters.
"I can say that just ranks in the top-three coolest moments of my 18 years in this series," said Stewart, who will retire from Sprint Cup racing at season's end. "To share that moment with Jeff here at Indianapolis, I don't know. I don't even have the words for it. That is a moment that I will remember for the rest of my life."
For the record, Stewart finished 11th in his final Sprint Cup start at the famed Brickyard. It was a hard-fought 11th with the 45-year-old rallying from a lap down after running strong in the first half of the 170-lap race.
Gordon, scheduled to make at least one more start next week at Pocono's Pennsylvania 400 in relief of Earnhardt Jr., rallied, too, to finish 13th.
"Tony and I have gone through a lot over the years," he said. "But he and I have become really good friends. ... I'm just so proud that I was able to be here and race with him in his final race (at Indy)."
Stewart ran as high as second early, moving up from his No. 3 starting position in spite of a slow takeoff when the race went green.
Crew chief Mike Bugarewicz and the pit crew continued to make adjustments throughout the first half of the race, keeping Stewart inside the top 10, but at one point admitted to his driver, "We're just barely keeping up with the track."
Stewart hit pit road at Lap 119 under green, and when the caution came out for an incident involving David Ragan , it appeared the move might work in the team’s favor -- others that hadn't pitted would come to pit road, allowing Stewart to gain track position.
But a speeding penalty negated any advantage, and Stewart instead found himself in 31st and one lap down.
By then, it was too late to change game plans, according to Bugarewicz.
"Normally you would say yes when it's early in the race," he said. "When it's late in the race like that, your fate's almost ... you just have to race for the (free pass) and hope you get it like we did. That's all you've got.
"Nobody was going to pit again if it stayed green because they're already in the last fuel window so at that point it was just ... banking on getting a caution and being the best car out of the cars that were a lap down to get the lucky dog, which is what we did.
"We got fortunate with a few more cautions to let us line back up at the tail of the field and start picking them off."
On Lap 140, Stewart passed Kasey Kahne (Hendrick Motorsports) to be in positon for the free pass, and when the caution flag waved for debris moments later, he was back on the lead lap.
Three more cautions unfolded before the finish, including one that involved Stewart, Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing), Ryan Newman (Richard Childress Racing) and Brian Scott (Richard Petty Motorsports).
WATCH: Big wreck claims multiple cars at Indy
"That last one probably hurt us in one sense -- with the nose damage we had, the car was really tight," Bugarewicz said. "But ... we're not going to complain, we're just going to take what we've got and be happy for it."
The finish moved Stewart up one spot, to 27th, in points. With a win earlier at California's Sonoma Raceway, he continues to improve his chances at earning a berth in this year's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
But with Indy in his rearview, Stewart wasn't in a hurry to look too far down the road.
"It was an awesome weekend," he said. "Everything went the way we wanted it to, we just came up short today.
"I had fun all day and had fun all weekend. ... Everybody tried to make my weekend as easy as possible. It really gave me the opportunity to savor the moment and enjoy it."
MORE: 'Smoke' receives unique gift from Indy
KENNY BRUCE is a senior writer for NASCAR.com and has covered the sport for more than three decades. President of the National Motorsports Press Association, he has been a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel since its inception.
SPEEDWAY, Ind. -- Mission accomplished, a record set, and a torch passed to the next generation.
Kyle Busch set a Brickyard record for laps led and became the first driver to sweep both a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series race from the pole in the same weekend, but the real symbolism of Sunday's Crown Royal 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway didn't come until the event was over.
As Busch spun his No. 18 Toyota in a celebratory burnout and took his customary bows near the yard of bricks, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon slowly circled the track, driving side by side, waving to fans acknowledging their career accomplishments after what is expected to be their respective last appearances at the Brickyard.
In heat that reached 130 degrees on the asphalt, Stewart recovered from a pit road speeding penalty to finish 11th in his retirement year, and Gordon ran 13th in what was an unanticipated substitute role for ailing Dale Earnhardt Jr.
But Busch received his share of the applause, too, as fans have begun to acknowledge his ascent, at age 31, to the small group of elite drivers in NASCAR's history.
To say he accomplished his second straight weekend sweep of the Indy races emphatically is to understate the case. In a race that went 25 miles beyond its scheduled distance, thanks to a rash of late cautions, Busch led 149 of 170 laps, a record for the event.
In the two-lap overtime shootout that decided the issue, Busch crossed the finish line an astounding 2.126 seconds ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth , who ran second.
"This Toyota was awesome today," said Busch, who won his second Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis, his fourth of the season and the 38th of his career. "It was just so fast and able to get out front and stay out front. Not even some of my teammates could challenge. This was hooked up and on rails.
"Adam Stevens (crew chief) and these guys are a phenomenal group, and I'm proud to be with them. It's fun to come out here and have such a dominant piece at Indy. They don't come along often, so I was just hoping I didn't screw it up."
Busch is acutely aware of the history of the sport, and completing a weekend sweep by winning both races from the pole was high on his bucket list.
"It's so cool because it hasn't been done before," said the defending Sprint Cup champion, who is the second driver to win back-to-back races at the Brickyard -- the other being Jimmie Johnson in 2008 and 2009. "I've tried and been successful at being able to do a lot of things that others haven't been able to do before. I guess I give myself more chances than others because I run more of those (XFINITY) races.
"It helps you, and when it helps you win on Sunday, that's what makes everything so worthwhile on those Saturday races. The guys on Saturday do a good job, too, helping prepare me and being able to do this stuff on Sunday."
Busch was on cruise control, heading toward an easy victory, when NASCAR called a debris caution on Lap 150 to remove a piece of sheet metal near the exit from Turn 2.
One of six drivers who stayed out on older tires, Busch led the field to green on Lap 154. Moments later, the No. 19 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards tightened up in the inside lane, twitched out of control and ignited a five-car wreck that necessitated a stoppage that lasted 7 minutes, 25 seconds.
"It felt like I just got tight down there," Edwards said. "I had a little trouble there on the starts, and I got down there, we were fighting really hard for the bottom, and it felt like I got tight with whoever was on the outside of me.
"If indeed that is what happened, I apologize. That's pretty frustrating. ... It felt like I got in there and just scrubbed that right front."
The following two restarts also brought cautions, the eighth and final one coming when Jamie McMurray made an ill-advised lane change in front of Stewart near the end of pit road and spun sideways off the front bumper of Stewart's No. 14 Chevrolet, also collecting Ryan Newman and Brian Scott .
When the race restarted on Lap 169, Busch cleared Joey Logano and Kenseth off Turn 1 and pulled away relentlessly until the finish.
Johnson overcame a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road to run third, followed by Denny Hamlin , another speeding penalty victim and the third JGR driver in the top four. Kyle Larson came home fifth, posting his fourth top five of the season.
But the story of the day was the long good-bye from Stewart and Gordon, juxtaposed against the backdrop of Busch's emphatic hello to greatness at the flag stand.
SPEEDWAY, Ind. -- Tony Stewart 's final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway got off to an emotional start here Sunday as NASCAR and IMS officials, along with fans of the three-time premier series champion, paid tribute to Stewart during pre-race activities.
Stewart, twice a winner at the legendary 2.5-mile facility, is retiring from Sprint Cup competition at season's end. Sunday's Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard marked his 18th career start at the track.
Stewart, 45, led the field on the opening pace lap well ahead of even the pace car prior to the start of the race before falling back in line to his official starting position of third on the 40-car grid.
Earlier, additional room on the pre-race grid was provided to the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team to accommodate up to 100 guests on hand to see Stewart make his final scheduled Brickyard start.
Stewart has 49 career victories, including Brickyard 400 wins in 2005 and '07. His 9.6 average finishing position at Indy is his best at any track in the series.
Stewart grew up in Columbus, Indiana, located approximately 50 miles south of the speedway, and he maintains his primary residence there. He has spoken often of what the track has meant to him through the years.
"You know, it means a lot," he said recently. "Some of the greatest race car drivers in the world, whether it was IndyCar, Formula 1, MotoGP, NASCAR, they've run and won at the Brickyard, so that in itself makes it special.
"I grew up ... in Indiana. I didn't move to Indiana. I didn't move away from Indiana. I'm the only NASCAR driver in the (Sprint) Cup Series that's from Indiana that still lives in Indiana, and I'm proud of where I was born. I'm proud to be back.
"I still live in the town I was raised in. I take a lot of pride in that. I think the state of Indiana takes a lot of pride in that, and that's what makes it a big weekend. I'm representing a lot of people around me, and I'm proud to do that."
Stewart made his first start at Indy in 1996, winning the pole and finishing 24th for team owner John Menard in the Indianapolis 500. He finished fifth the following year.
Stewart remains the only driver to complete all 1,100 miles of the Indy/Charlotte double held in May. He finished sixth in the Indy 500 in 2001, then flew to Charlotte Motor Speedway where he drove to a third-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 .
RELATED: Johnson through the years | See all the winners at the Brickyard
SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Jimmie Johnson looked comfortable and calm taking questions from the media Friday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The six-time Sprint Cup Series champion's No. 48 Lowe’s Red Vest Chevrolet was fastest in the day's opening practice here and seventh quickest in final practice.
The historically tough 2.5-mile track has been a positive outlet for Johnson. His success at Indianapolis – four wins – is undeniable, but it is also sporadic.
And overdue.
Johnson won three times at Indy in four years between 2006-2009 – a mark both unmatched and highly impressive. He added a fourth victory in 2012 and then nearly a fifth in 2013 when he finished runner-up. Only Jeff Gordon (five wins) has won more here.
The flip side of the success is that three times Johnson has finished 36th or worse. He was 14th and 15th in his last two races at Indy.
And his need to add another win here in Sunday's Crown Royal presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard (NBCSN, IMS, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is as much about turning his season around in pursuit of a record-tying seventh NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title as it is attaining Indianapolis-specific glory.
"We love big events, that's one thing about Hendrick Motorsports,’" Johnson allowed, smiling. "We look at the 500 and the 400 and all big races as an opportunity; and are excited for it."
Johnson was the first driver in 2016 to collect multiple trophies winning the second week of the season at Atlanta and then again three weeks later at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.
But in the last 10 races, he's crashed out three times and had only a single top-10 finish – a third-place finish at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600 . In fact, four of his finishes in this stretch have been 25th or worse. Before a 12th-place finish from the pole position at New Hampshire last week, Johnson uncharacteristically crashed out in back-to-back races with a 35th-place showing at Daytona and 32nd at Kentucky. He's currently eighth in the points standings, however, he is fourth on the Chase Grid because of his multiple wins.
"I guess last week is kind of a good example of some of the difficulties we've had," Johnson said of New Hampshire. "We had competitive cars all running in the top 11 and in one corner we lose two of them.
"It's been tough, but I think we have a good foundation to build from. We have respectable finishes in our cars, but nobody wants to be a decent finisher or a respectable finisher. We all want to dominate. And, we're working real hard on all fronts; from our engine shop, chassis shop, aero, teams, pit stops, and all of it."
Contrary to what other teams may be experiencing, Johnson said it's not that his team isn't trying hard enough to return to form. It may be they are trying too hard.
"And that's the problem," Johnson said. "I've been at 110 percent and you make too many mistakes there. And I think our team has, too. So, that's one thing we have recognized and we're going to really try to dial back and make sure that we run where we should.
"If we have a fifth place car that week, let's be sure that we at least finish fifth. Maybe there's some opportunities to give us a chance to win, but stop making mistakes. And, I've got to do that, first and foremost."
Johnson said he was even open to having the team’s "new driver" Jeff Gordon give feedback on the cars since Gordon – who retired last year – is filling in for Dale Earnhardt Jr. this week at Indianapolis and next week at Pocono while Earnhardt continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms.
"We're months in, and I feel like all the drivers have expressed where we could be stronger and what we might need, but a fresh set of eyes and I guess it is kind of biased, but versus the four drivers in unbiased evaluation of the car and where we stack-up and how the engine feels compared to others," Johnson said of possibly getting Gordon's opinion.
"And Jeff has had a unique opportunity to see the sport from a totally different angle; and certainly watching cars and I know he's formed some opinions watching other race cars and where the Toyotas might beat us. So, to be able to sit in the car and look for those opportunities and moments, I think will be helpful for us, for sure."
The recent struggles are certainly an unfamiliar position for team owner Rick Hendrick, who was just selected for the 2017 NASCAR Hall of Fame class. He's grown much more accustomed to winning championships or at the very least challenging for titles. Recently his team has been challenging simply to finish a race.
But righting the course is something everyone expects. And the trick is doing it sooner than later.
"It seems like when it rains, it pours," Hendrick said. "I think at Daytona we wrecked three or four cars. And then we went to Kentucky and wrecked again. We were in good shape in New Hampshire, but wrecked again. I've been doing this long enough that you can't stay on top forever. You have to work hard to get back. And I think we've made a lot of improvements.
"I think we'll see some, hopefully, this weekend. But, you never like having a curveball. This is kind of one of the toughest things you have to go through as one of your star drivers can't drive. And so, the encouraging news is that everybody just stepped up and is working harder.
"We're determined to work in every area from the engine to the chassis and aero and everything. And the teams are excited. It's kind of our 'refuse to lose' belief. But we didn't need this, for sure. We didn't need the wrecks we've gone through. Our place looks like a salvage yard where all of the cars have been tore up. But that just makes us dig harder."
And Johnson appears ready to lead the charge.
"We're all highly inspired to get back on top of the mountain, that is where we feel we should be at Hendrick Motorsports," Johnson said. "We've just got to clean it up on all fronts. Hopefully we have it all together here and can win."
