Noah Gragson, a member of the NASCAR Next program and driver in both K&N Pro Series, will start in the final ARCA Racing Series event of the year at Kansas Speedway.
Gragson has joined Venturini Motorsports to drive the No.15 SpeedVegas – Alert ID Toyota Camry in the Kansas 150 on Friday. It will be his third career ARCA start. Earlier this year he started sixth and finished 30th at Pocono Raceway.
The announcement by Venturini Motorsports comes less than a week after Gragson was announced by Kyle Busch Motorsports as the driver who will succeed William Byron in its No. 9 entry in the Camping World Truck Series next year.
“The last couple weeks have truly been amazing,” Gragson said in a press release. “Running with Venturini Motorsports at Kansas is an exciting opportunity and just another step towards my integration into the Toyota family. The Venturini Motorsports group has a strong reputation in the series and a proven track record. I’m looking forward to working with Billy (Venturini) and the guys on the team
Gragson, a native of Las Vegas, has six wins between the K&N East and West Series, including two each this year.
LOUDON, N. H. – William Byron stole a page from his mentor and team owner, Kyle Busch.
Leading 161 of 175 laps in Saturday’s UNOH 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway – the first race in the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase – Byron cruised to victory, the way Busch has done so many times before, and punched his ticket into the Chase's Round of 6.
Not that runner-up Christopher Bell, Byron’s stablemate at Kyle Busch Motorsports, didn’t make it interesting in the closing laps. As Byron worked traffic in the late going, Bell closed from 1.325 seconds behind with five laps left to .430 seconds down on the next-to-last lap.
But Bell ran out of time and crossed the finish line .446 seconds behind his No. 1-seeded teammate, who won for a series-best sixth time.
"I wore myself out passing some lappers," Byron said. "But with the amount of laps we had left, I thought I'd be OK. I was afraid the 4 (Bell) was going to catch us there at the end. We started to get tight, but that's what happens sometimes when you get out front.
"It was really good – just a great race for us. I can't thank these guys enough. Everyone at KBM, (sponsor) Liberty University – it's just really cool to get a win here in the Chase. It feels awesome."
Two-time series champion Matt Crafton came home third, followed by Tyler Reddick and Timothy Peters.
With the Chase field to be trimmed from eight to six drivers two races hence at Talladega Superspeedway, Ben Kennedy and Daniel Hemric fell below the provisional cut line. Kennedy finished 11th and trails Johnny Sauter (10th on Saturday and sixth in the standings) by one point.
If Kennedy's result was only mildly disappointing, Hemric's was a catastrophe. With his left rear tire cut down to the rim, Hemric spun in Turn 1 on Lap 25 to bring out the third caution of the race. His truck suffered a cut brake line and consequent fire in the left rear wheel well.
Hemric lost 33 laps under repairs, finished 28th and fell to last in the Chase standings, 21 points behind Sauter with two races left in the Round of 8. In all probability, Hemric will have to win one of those two events, at Las Vegas and Talladega, to advance to the Round of 6.
After leading the first 54 laps, Byron lost the top spot briefly when Cody Coughlin stayed out under the fourth caution and Bell, Kennedy, Crafton and Spencer Gallagher leap-frogged ahead of Byron with two-tire and fuel-only calls in the pits.
But Byron regained the lead from Bell on Lap 69 and held it the rest of the way. As Bell gained ground in the final laps, Byron was trying to save his equipment to prepare for a possible late caution.
"I was expecting it, so I didn't push too hard," Byron said. "I was expecting to get a caution, hopefully save something, but we gave it all we had there the whole race, and I just can’t thank these guys enough."
Byron leaves New Hampshire with a 16-point lead in the standings and guaranteed admission to the next round of the Chase. Crafton (+11 points above the cutoff line) is second in the Chase standings, followed by Bell (+10), John Hunter Nemechek (ninth on Saturday, +5), Peters (+3), Sauter (+1), Kennedy (-1) and Hemric (-21).
Note: Nemechek's No. 8 Chevrolet failed the post-race heights inspection. Any potential pnelaties will be announced next week.
If it wasn’t for quite a bit of fog, last weekend’s slate of NASCAR action likely wouldn’t have been that different from many race weekends the last two decades.
Fog forced NASCAR to halt the Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway 22 laps from its scheduled distance, giving the win to Chris Buescher, one of the Rookie of the Year contenders. That sealed a milestone that had never been accomplished since the Camping World Truck Series debuted in 1995.
Buescher’s win meant Rookie of the Year contenders in all three national series – Sprint Cup, Xfinity and the Camping World Truck Series – swept the weekend.
The feat was started by William Byron, who won in the Truck series. It was his fifth win of the year, which set a Truck series record for rookies. Later Saturday night, Erik Jones led 154 laps at Iowa Speedway en route to winning his third race of the year.
Then Buescher’s team gambled on Monday during pit stops, putting his No. 34 Ford out front just in time for fog to cover all of Turn 1.
Buescher was the first rookie contender to win a Sprint Cup race since Joey Logano did at New Hampshire in 2009. Before that it had only been four times since 2005: Kyle Busch at Phoenix (2005), Denny Hamlin in Pocono I and II (2006) and Juan Pablo Montoya at Sonoma (2007).
Buescher’s win was also his first Sprint Cup top-10 finish, which came a week after his career-best finish of 14th at Indianapolis. The Prosper, Texas, native is one of just five drivers to have earned their first top 10 via a win.
Before him it was Trevor Bayne (2011), Brad Keselowski (2009), Jamie McMurray (2002) and Mark Donohue (1973).
ROSSBURG, Ohio -- Battling back from all kinds of adversity, Kyle Larson sailed away on a late race restart with 16 laps to go to win Wednesday night's fourth annual Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby 150 at Eldora Speedway.
"It means a lot, especially losing the way I did the two years I ran," said Larson from Victory Lane. "Thanks to everyone on this GMS Racing team, DC Solar for coming on-board for this, this is very special for them. I knew running a blue No. 24 I had to run hard here at Eldora. Rico (Abreu) does a really good job in a Sprint car with that. I had to put on a show.
RELATED: Larson puts on a show
"We got the flat tire there early, I knew we would get a lucky dog, I just didn't know if I could get back to the top-three as quick as I did. It just worked out where I got by (Christopher) Bell when he got in the wall and I think Bobby (Pierce) had a gear issue. He was definitely better than I was for sure.
The win didn't come easy though.
Larson took the lead from last year's runner-up Bobby Pierce following the second caution on Lap 35 and appeared to be in control of the event, but while leading, Larson spun in Turn 4 on Lap 52 to bring out the fourth caution of the night.
Adding fuel to his fire, Larson was docked one lap by NASCAR for intentionally causing the yellow after spinning and stopping on the race track.
Two cautions later, however, Larson found himself back on the lead lap courtesy of the free pass and his mission to rally from the back to the front began.
Chasing down Pierce for the race lead, Larson took advantage of Pierce's transmission being stuck in fourth gear to take the lead with 30 laps to go, Pierce attempted to take the lead back three laps later, but slammed the outside Turn 4 wall, ending his night and bringing out the final caution of the event.
RELATED: Pierce discusses late-race woes
Despite a late race charge from Bell on the restart, Larson pulled away as the laps dwindled away and earned a 0.767-second advantage to win his second NCWTS race in his 12th start.
"I guess I didn't really hold him (Pierce) off, he slid in there and hit the wall and got a flat I think," Larson said. "I hated that I couldn't race with him, but I was happy when he was out. I almost gave it away again after that restart. I went to the middle of three and four in third gear and I missed a shift off Turn 4 and Bell got into my back bumper. Thankfully, he wasn't inside of me, because he would have got the lead there and probably would be standing where I am."
Bell, last year's winner, was disappointed with second but knew he gained crucial points towards his championship chase.
"Tony (Stewart, Eldora Speedway owner) did an awesome job with the race track tonight," said Bell. "It was really technical, it was really tough to get around and it was really fun, too. Kyle's been trying to win this race for a long time and it was cool for him to win tonight. The guys at KBM ( Kyle Busch Motorsports) worked really hard to put me in this position. I was disappointed we couldn't repeat."
Pierce who led a commanding 102 laps finished 25th in likely his final truck race of the season.
"The carburetor was flooded and I couldn't get off the corner at all. Larson drove a great race," Pierce said. "When that happened on the restart, I caught him a little bit, he hit the wall and I tried to slide him. I went in there a little too hard, it was super-slick and I got the wall and knocked the right-rear off the rim and that was that."
Notes: The event was halted for seven minutes, 29 seconds for a nine truck accident in Turn 3 on Lap 38. ... The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to competition at Pocono Raceway on July 30 for the running of the Pocono Mountains 150 (1 p.m., FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Kyle Busch is the defending champion.
Daniel Suarez started off his double-duty weekend at Kentucky Speedway by earning his first career pole in the Camping World Truck Series.
Suarez was the 10th of 12 drivers to take time in the final round of qualifying on Thursday evening. His lap of 182.983 mph was fast enough to edge Brett Moffit (182.834), who is substituting for Matt Tifft at Red Horse Racing, and his Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate, William Byron (182.494).
Byron was unable to back up his lap from the first round when he was the fastest qualifier by breaking the 183 mph mark.
The Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 will be Suarez’s seventh start of the 2016 season. He is still looking for his first career series win.
NASCAR America airs today on NBCSN from 6 – 7 p.m. ET and previews this weekend’s racing from Kentucky Speedway.
Dave Briggs hosts with Kyle Petty from Stamford, Connecticut, and Marty Snider and Ray Evernham join them from NBC Charlotte.
What to expect from today’s episode.
We will look ahead to Kentucky Speedway and discuss how the track’s reconfiguration will affect this weekend’s race. Strategy will be a key factor, as many believe the winner will have the crew chief that takes the most risks.
The NASCAR America team will further discuss Brad Keselowski’s big win at Daytona – the historic 100th Sprint Cup win for Team Penske. We’ll also assess his chances of picking up back-to-back wins this weekend in Kentucky, where he’s won twice in his Cup career.
The Camping World Truck Series returns to action Thursday night. William Byron leads their Chase Grid, but Christopher Bell is coming off a victory in the last Truck race at Gateway Motorsports park. We’ll break down who to watch for.
As we head to Kentucky, Martin Truex Jr. figures to be a threat. He’s especially strong this year on 1.5-mile tracks like Kentucky and aims to boost his playoff standing with a second win.
My Home Track takes a look at two of the Bluegrass State’s finest dirt tracks.
If you’re not near a TV, you can watch online or on the NBC Sports app via at the NASCAR stream on NBC Sports.
If you plan to stream the show on your laptop or portable device, be sure to have your username and password from your cable/satellite/telco provider handy so your subscription can be verified.
Once you enter that information, you’ll have access to the stream.
Click here at 6 p.m. ET to watch live via the stream.
William Byron failed to earn his third straight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win in Saturday’s Drivin for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park.
Although he finished 17th, it still was a good day for the rookie driver as he jumped to the top of the Truck Series point standings.
Byron knocked Matt Crafton from the top spot. Byron leads Crafton by one point. Timothy Peters is five points behind Byron.
The series’ next race is July 7 at Kentucky Speedway.
Here’s how the Truck Series points look after Gateway:
The Camping World Truck Series has a standalone race this weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Illinois.
There are 34 trucks on the initial entry list for the Drivin’ for Linemen 200.
With the Sprint Cup Series at Sonoma Raceway, there are no Cup drivers entered into the race.
Cole Custer is the defending winner at Gateway, which has hosted 15 Truck races since 1998. This will be the third Truck race after a three-year absence.
Rookie William Byron will seek to win his third race in a row. That hasn’t been done sinceKyle Busch – who owns Byron’s truck – did it at Kansas, Charlotte and Dover in 2014.
The NASCAR America crew breaks downWilliam Byron‘s impressive Truck Series win at Iowa for his third win in nine races. All are in agreement that it won’t be long before we see the 18-year-old taking the next step.
Today’s episode of NASCAR America airs from 6 – 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
Mike Massaro hosts with Dale Jarrett from our Stamford, Connecticut studio, while Steve Letarte and Kyle Petty will be at NBC Sports Charlotte.
On today’s show:
* We’ll recap the racing action this past weekend at Iowa Speedway, including a phone interview with Xfinity winner Sam Hornish Jr.
* Dustin Long gives the latest on the attack upon NASCAR driver Mike Wallace over the weekend.
* We’ll have the revealing of Ryan Reed’s Darlington Speedway throwback paint scheme.
* A recap of Kurt Busch’s visit to the Formula One race in Azerbaijan with the Haas F1 Team.
* Prior to LeBron James’ epic Game 7 on the hardwood, fellow Ohio native Sam Hornish Jr., celebrated in victory lane at Iowa Speedway. We have him LIVE on NASCAR America to discuss his emotion-filled victory and what it was like climbing into a car for the first time in over six months.
* As the Camping World Truck Series crosses the halfway point in its regular season, William Byron has taken the top spot on the Chase Grid from two-time series champion, Matt Crafton. Coming off a K&N Pro Series East title last season, Byron is continuing to emerge as one of NASCAR’s brightest young stars.
If you’re not near a TV, you can watch online or on the NBC Sports app via at the NASCAR stream on NBC Sports.
If you plan to stream the show on your laptop or portable device, be sure to have your username and password from your cable/satellite/telco provider handy so your subscription can be verified.
Once you enter that information, you’ll have access to the stream.
Click here at 6 p.m. ET to watch live via the stream.
NEWTON, Iowa -- Following his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win of the season last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender William Byron used a late race restart and three-wide pass to charge from fourth to first to win Saturday night's Speediatrics 200 at Iowa Speedway.
Byron, driving the No. 9 Liberty University Toyota Tundra, swiped the lead from Cole Custer on a restart with nine laps remaining, but a caution six laps from the finish saw the Charlotte, North Carolina, native have to defend his presence at the front.
In a two-lap shootout, the 18-year-old Byron fended off challengers Custer and Cameron Hayley for a series-high third win in just his ninth Truck Series start.
"My gosh, it's awesome just to be a part of Kyle Busch Motorsports and to have the group of guys I do," said Byron from Victory Lane. "It's amazing. I'm so fortunate to be in this position.
"We had a couple setbacks there. I stalled it on pit road and I had a few setbacks on some restarts, but we kept after it until that last restart. It's awesome."
Custer, with new crew chief Marcus Richmond, led three dramatic laps following a Lap 188 restart which saw the race lead exchange several times before Byron sailed away permanently on Lap 191.
"For the first 10 laps or so, the others were probably better than us on four tires," said Custer, who recorded his season best finish. "After that it kind of equaled out. I thought I had them there when I took the lead.
"I can't thank Marcus and everyone enough. They worked their tails off all weekend. I really appreciate that. I think we're going in the right direction."
Byron, who led a race-high 107 laps, took the lead from pole sitter John Hunter Nemechek on a Lap 54 restart and led until the event's third caution.
The running order changed dramatically following a caution on Lap 146 when five teams elected to take two tires during the final pit stop, handing the lead to Tyler Reddick.
During the stop, Byron stalled his truck leaving pit road putting him 10th on the restart. Using four tires to combat his mistake, the NASCAR NEXT alumnus began carving his path through the field and found himself back in contention when the fourth yellow of the night waved just 24 laps from the checkered flag.
The event was red flagged for five minutes, 46 seconds for track cleanup after an incident involving Caleb Holman and Derek Scott Jr. on Lap 174 .
Next up for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is a stop at Gateway Motorsports Park for the running of the third annual Drivin' for Linemen 200 on Jun. 25.
Rookie William Byron passed Matt Craftonwith five laps to go and then held off Rico Abreu‘s late challenge before Abreu hit the wall to win Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck race at Texas Motor Speedway.
It’s the second victory of the season for Byron, who drives for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Crafton finished second with Johnny Sauterthird. Abreu hit the wall in each of the final two laps and fell to ninth.
Rookie William Byron moved up two spots to third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck point standings after his win Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway, but Matt Craftonremains the series leader.
Crafton holds an 18-point advantage onTimothy Peters after the season’s seventh race of the year. Byron is next, 23 points behind Crafton.
FORT WORTH — William Byron chased down two-time champion Matt Crafton and then fended off fellow charging rookie Rico Abreu to win the Rattlesnake 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Bryon was able to cruise the final two laps after Abreu got into the outside wall twice after reaching Byron’s bumper.
Byron has now won twice in the last four Camping World Truck Series races after his victory at Kansas Speedway last month.
The rookie’s win ended a two-race win streak for Crafton, who had also won the last two June races at TMS.
HOW WILLIAM BYRON WON: After Matt Crafton’s tires wore down, Byron passed him with five laps to go and fended off a charging Rico Abreu to take his second Truck win.
WHO HAD A GOOD NIGHT: Matt Crafton blew a tire and hit the Turn 3 wall while leading on Lap 11. Crafton then charged back from 25th in 20 laps to lead a race-high 133 laps before finishing second … Johnny Sauter started from his first pole in three years and led nine laps before finishing third, his fourth top-five finish of the season … Ben Kennedy finish fourth after starting 15th for his first top-five result of the season …Tyler Reddick brought out the second caution on Lap 52 after he lost a rear tire and spun exiting Turn 4. Reddick battled back to finish fifth … German Quiroga started second in his first Truck race since 2014 and finished eighth for his 18th top 10 of his career.
WHO HAD A BAD NIGHT: Rookie Christopher Bell pulled up lame on the first lap after a bad shift caused engine problems. Bell went to the garage where he finished last. …Spencer Gallagher lost a tire just passed Lap 30 and had to pit. He finished 27th, 14 laps down … Mike Bliss brought out a caution with 72 laps to go when he smacked the wall out of Turn 4. Bliss finished 28th … John Wes Townley spun in Turn 3 with 48 laps to go, shredding his right-side tires. Townley finished 17th, a lap down.
NOTABLE: William Byronis now the second-youngest driver to win at Texas Motor Speedway behind Chase Elliott …Matt Crafton holds an 18-point lead over Timothy Peters in the season standings
NEXT: Speediatrics 200 at Iowa Speedway on June 18 at 8:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
FORT WORTH — Rico Abreu hopped down from his No. 98 Toyota and was immediately met by two crew members.
As William Byron conducted his second victory burnout of the year on the Texas Motor Speedway front stretch, they helped the 4-foot-4 Abreu remove his helmet and safety equipment and told him there was no reason to be mad.
Minutes before, Abreu had gone from running second with three laps to go in the Rattlesnake 400 to finishing ninth, his best result in nine Camping World Truck Series starts.
As Byron drove his No. 9 truck past where Abreu stood on pit road, on the way to victory lane, one crew member told the Abreu he had just experienced some of the most fun he’d ever had.
When Byron passed Matt Crafton with five laps to go, Abreu soon followed. The native of St. Helena, California, spent the next two laps driving like he had for most of the race and his whole career – staying as close to the Texas Motor Speedway wall as possible.
“When it gets hot and slick like that, your tires get wore out; I just felt so comfortable up there,” Abreu said of the area of the track and style of racing he mastered while rising through the ranks on dirt tracks.
The driver Abreu was chasing down had the same strategy. However, Byron, who won his first race at Kansas Speedway last month, “wasn’t paying attention much” to Abreu as he bore down on him.
“I was still running the top, because that’s what I was running (all night),” Byron said. “Then they said ‘two back’ and I was like ‘Man, we’ve got to figure something out here, so I got to make sure I hit both corners right.'”
Byron did that, taking away Abreu’s racing line, which Byron called the “name of the game” Friday night.
“A couple of guys took my line away and got me into the wall a bit, but you just can’t give up on it,” Byron said. “That outside gives you such huge momentum down the frontstretch.”
Abreu took the momentum he had and reached Byron’s bumper as they came down to two laps to go. But as they entered Turn 1, Abreu’s favorite place on the track became very uncomfortable.
“I figured I maybe could have cleared him off of (Turn) 4, maybe coming to the white,” Abreu said. “But I just got too tight behind him and got into the wall. Can’t have that stuff happening.”
Abreu kept his speed up enough that teammate Matt Crafton, who was running in third, believed Abreu would have “definitely” finished second.
But those chances ended after the white flag when Abreu once again impacted the wall in Turn 2. This time, he didn’t leave the wall until he was on the backstretch.
“That shows how much heart he had that he wanted to win the race,” said Crafton, who led a race-high 133 laps. “He likes that high, wide and handsome stuff and it bit him right there.”
The loss didn’t shake the confidence of Abreu, who started the night in 13th. But he felt bad for the crew members that met him after the best night of his short Truck career.
“They built a great truck this weekend and I just smashed it all,” Abreu said. “I got speed, I just got to put a whole damn night together. I haven’t figured that part out yet.”
FORT WORTH – The final Camping World Truck Series practice for the Rattlesnake 400 at Texas Motor Speedway was led by John Wes Townley.
While recording 28 laps in the 90-minute session, Townley put up a top speed of 179.420 mph. William Byron followed Townley at 178.950 mph. The rookie also navigated the 1.5-mile track with a session-high 51 laps.
The top five was filled out by Spencer Gallagher, Ben Rhodes, and Matt Crafton. Crafton, who has won the past two June races at Texas, was fastest in the first practice session.
Crafton recorded the best 10-lap average at 175.797 mph.
Rain limited the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to one practice instead of three Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
William Byron had the fastest lap at 184.168 mph. He was followed by Spencer Gallagher (183.955 mph), Johnny Sauter (183.318), Ben Kennedy (183.318) and Kyle Busch (183.194).
Timmy Hill reported he cut a right front tire and stated in a tweet that the “damage is pretty bad.” He was 34th on the speed chart among 36 drivers.
Johnny Sauter called Ben Rhodes a “bozo,” and wondered if the 19-year-old was “brain dead or can’t see” Friday night, but Sauter had a different tone Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Sauter led on the last lap of last weekend’s Camping World Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway when Rhodes made contact from behind, sending Sauter into the wall. The incident allowed William Byron, who was running third, to pass both and score his first career series victory.
Sauter, who finished 16th, wasn’t happy after the race and expressed his displeasure in an interview on FS1. Rhodes took the blame after the race, calling his action a “rookie mistake.”
Tuesday, Sauter was contrite.
“Up until I had done that interview, I hadn’t seen any replays,’’ said Sauter, who has a win and is in position to make the Truck Series’ Chase. “I was under the assumption that he just drove straight into the back of me and that wasn’t necessarily the case. I called Ben and told him that all the things that I said I take them back and I hate that I said that.’’
So what happened on the track? Sauter explained:
“I came off Turn 2 and I had a pretty good lead, and I went down the backstretch and I swerved, obviously to try to just break their draft as much as you possibly can. When I did that, the floats in the carburetor or something happened and actually the motor started missing there a little bit a couple of times going down the backstretch. That’s ultimately what enabled him to get close to me.’’
Sauter also went on to say: “I just put us both in precarious positions. My motor was missing. I must have starved it for fuel and it enabled him to close on me. I saw the position it put him in. I saw how fast he had closed on me. He probably didn’t expect it, nor did I. It was just a racing incident. It’s unfortunate. I think it’s obviously something we’re going to address on our end so that it doesn’t happen again.’’
After finishing eighth in the Toyota Tundra 250, Timothy Peters leaves Kansas Speedway holding the points lead in the Camping World Truck Series.
Peters gained two spots after earning his third top-10 finish of the season. Peters’ move into the points lead comes when his No. 17 truck for Red Horse Racing hasn’t had primary sponsorship for three of the season’s first four races.
Filling out the top five is Daniel Hemric (-8), Ryan Truex (-10), Tyler Young (-14) and John Hunter Nemechek (-15). Nemecheck had entered the weekend leading the standings.
Hemric, Crafton and race winner William Byron all gained five spots in the standings. Byron is now seventh behind Crafton.
The biggest gain in the standings was eight spots to 14th by Christopher Bell. Bell earned his best finish in four starts this season and his first top-five finish.
