LARSON BOUNCES BACK TO WIN AT ELDORA DIRT TRACK

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.

KENSETH, NO. 20 TEAM PENALIZED FOR FAILED INSPECTION

NASCAR levied penalties to the race-winning Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota team Wednesday after last weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

As a result of infractions found in a post-race pass through the laser inspection station (LIS), the No. 20 team was docked 15 championship points in the team owner standings and driver Matt Kenseth absorbed a 15-point deduction in the Sprint Cup drivers' standings. The points penalty moved Kenseth, a two-time winner this year, from eighth to ninth place in the standings.

The P3-grade penalty also carries a $25,000 fine for No. 20 crew chief Jason Ratcliff.

The No. 20 Toyota driven to victory by Kenseth in the New Hampshire 301 was found out of compliance during Sunday's post-race trip through the LIS platform. The car was sent to the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further evaluation this week.

A host of other teams were issued written warnings Wednesday by the sanctioning body:

-- The Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet team for driver Austin Dillon and the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevy for driver Kevin Harvick were both handed written warnings and docked 15 minutes of practice time during this weekend's activities at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The No. 3 team failed LIS three times pre-race and pushed their current warning total to four. The No. 4 entry failed body template inspection three times pre-qualifying.

-- The Team Penske No. 22 Ford team for driver Joey Logano and the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota of driver Carl Edwards both failed LIS twice. The No. 22's violation came in pre-race inspection; the No. 19's was in pre-qualifying. Both teams received written warnings (their first).

-- The following Sprint Cup teams received written warnings for failing pre-qualifying template inspection twice: Chip Ganassi Racing's No. 1 (driver Jamie McMurray ) and No. 42 ( Kyle Larson ), Richard Childress Racing's No. 3 ( Austin Dillon ), Roush Fenway Racing's No. 6 ( Trevor Bayne ), Stewart-Haas Racing's No. 10 ( Danica Patrick ) and No. 14 ( Tony Stewart ), HScott Motorsports' No. 15 (Clint Bowyer), Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 19 ( Carl Edwards ), Wood Brothers Racing's No. 21 ( Ryan Blaney ), JTG Daugherty Racing's No. 47 (AJ Allmendinger) and BK Racing's No. 83 (Matt DiBenedetto).

-- The Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet team for driver Ty Dillon in the NASCAR XFINITY Series was also issued a written warning for failing template inspection three times before qualifying.

NASCAR America: Medical expert talks concussions and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

NBC Sports medical expert Mike Ryan discusses concussion management, imPACT testing and the health of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has missed three races in his Sprint Cup career due to concussion symptoms.

Tyler Reddick tops first of two Truck practice sessions at Eldora

The first of two practice sessions for the Camping World Truck Series at Eldora Speedway was led by Tyler Reddick, who put down a top speed of 85.808 mph around the half-mile dirt track.Reddick was followed by Sprint Cup driverKyle Larson (85.800), Christopher Bell(85.062), Rico Abreu (84.790) and Bobby Pierce (84.740).Speed Chart

Christopher Bell leads final Truck practice at Eldora

Christopher Bell, who won last year’s race at Eldora Speedway, paced the field in Tuesday night’s final Camping World Truck Series practice at the half-time dirt track.

Bell led the way with a lap of 82.369 mph heading into Wednesday night’s Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby 150.

Bell was followed by Cameron Hayley(81.893 mph), Rico Abreu (81.685), Kyle Larson (80.718) and Ben Rhodes (80.645).

Schedule for NASCAR Truck Series at Eldora

The Camping World Truck Series rolls into the small town of Rossburg, Ohio, this week for its fourth annual race at Eldora Speedway, the half-mile dirt track owned by Tony Stewart.

Here’s the full schedule for the Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby, including TV and radio info.All times are Eastern.

Tuesday, July 19

3:30 – 11 p.m. – Garage open

6:30 – 7:55 p.m. – Truck practice (No TV)

9 – 9:55 p.m. – Final Truck practice (No TV)

Wednesday, July 20

noon – Truck  garage opens

4:30 p.m. – Driver-crew chief meeting

5:15 p.m – Qualifying; single car/two laps (Fox Sports 1)

7 p.m. – First qualifying race; 10 laps (FS1)

7:09 p.m. – Second qualifying race; 10 laps (FS1)

7:18 p.m. Third qualifying race; 10 laps (FS1)

7:27 p.m. – Fourth qualifying race; 10 laps (FS1)

7:36 p.m. – Fifth qualifying race; 10 laps (FS1)

8:15 p.m. – Last chance qualifying race; 15 laps (FS1)

8:40 p.m. – Driver introductions

9 p.m. – Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby; 150 laps, three segments of 40, 50 and 60 laps/75 miles (FS1, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Retro Rundown 2016: Throwback paint schemes for the Southern 500

It’s almost here. By almost, we mean less than two months.
That’s how long we have to wait for this year’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, which can be seen Sept. 4 on NBC. It’s also how long we have to wait to see the second batch of retro paint schemes dedicated to honoring the sport’s history after last season’s successful venture into nostalgia.
What makes it even better this time around is that the entire field will likely be in on the fun. Last season, Joe Gibbs Racing stood out as one of the few teams not to participate. The team has already announced paint schemes for Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards.
Here’s a rundown of the retro paint schemes announced to date. Which is your favorite?
Brad Keselowski – The No. 2 Ford will feature the design of the original Miller Lite can that was produced before 1974.

Austin Dillon – Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet will bare the paint scheme driven by Ricky Rudd in 1983 when he earned Richard Childress Racing’s first Sprint Cup win at Riverside International Raceway.

Kevin Harvick – The No. 4 Chevrolet will look just like the Busch-sponsored car driven by Cale Yarborough during the 1979-1980 Sprint Cup seasons. Yarborough earned 10 of his 83 careers win during that span.


Trevor Bayne – No matter what anyone tells you, the 1990s were awesome and so were Mark Martin‘s paint schemes. For the second year in a row, Bayne’s No. 6 Ford will have a ’90s flavor to it. After bringing back memories of Martin’s career-best season in 1998 last year, Bayne’s car will have the paint scheme Martin used in the 1996 and 1997 seasons.

Regan Smith – The “Underbird” will fly again. Sort of. Smith’s No.7 Chevrolet, instead of a Ford Thunderbird, will have the paint scheme, sans Hooters sponsorship, that was driven by the late Alan Kulwicki. The paint scheme was on track for 59 Sprint Cup races, including his 1992 championship campaign.


Danica Patrick – Patrick’s sponsor, Nature’s Bakery, hasn’t been around very long. So there’s not a 20-year-old paint scheme for Stewart-Haas Racing to blow the dust off of. But Patrick’s No. 10 Chevrolet still has a late 70s/early 80s vibe to it.

Casey Mears – The No. 13 Geico Chevrolet will pay tribute to the career and legacy of Smokey Yunick. The paint scheme and number were used by drivers Mario Andretti and Curtis Turner in 1966 and 1967 when they raced for Yunick. Turner sat on the pole for the 1967 Daytona 500 with this paint scheme.


Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Darrell Waltrip won a lot of races in his Sprint Cup career, including five at Darlington. But the first of his 84 wins came in the No. 17 in 1975 at Nashville Speedway. The paint scheme Waltrip carried in that race will be resurrected by Stenhouse, 41 years later.

Kyle Busch – Just days after Matt Kenseth won at Dover International Speedway to give Joe Gibbs Racing its 135th Sprint Cup win (tying it for third all time with Roush Fenway Racing) the team showed off Busch’s paint scheme. The No. 18 will look like it did when it was driven by Dale Jarrett in 1993, the year he won JGR’s first Cup race in the Daytona 500.

Carl Edwards – The No. 19 Arris Toyota will have the paint scheme that was used by Tony Stewart when he drove the No. 20 Home Depot car for Joe Gibbs Racing from 1999-2008.

Joey Logano – The No. 22 Ford will pay tribute to the first paint scheme used on a car sponsored by Shell. The look was used by Bobby Labonte on his No. 44 Pontiac in the Xfinity Series in 1998. Labonte drove the car to a win at Darlington that season.

David Ragan – The No. 23 Toyota for BK Racing will be sponsored by Dr. Pepper and feature the soft drinks classic “I’m a Pepper” slogan.

Chase Elliott – The No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet will have a paint scheme inspired by the look of NAPA’s old delivery trucks from the 1960s. NAPA’s original colors were yellow and black before transitioning to yellow and blue.

Ryan Newman – Just like teammate Austin Dillon, Newman’s paint scheme will evoke RCR’s first win in 1983 with Ricky Rudd.

Jeffrey Earnhardt – The grandson of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. will drive a paint scheme based on the seven-time champion’s time being sponsored by Wrangler in the 1980s.


Kurt Busch – Last year, Busch’s No. 41 car used the paint scheme that was first used in the Sprint Cup Series by Gene Haas in 2002. This season, Busch’s car will honor the VF-1, the first CNC machine built by Haas Automation in 1988.

Aric Almirola – The No. 43 Ford will carry the colors used by Richard Petty when he won his sixth Daytona 500 in 1979.

AJ Allmendinger –  It’s a bit of a deep cut, but Allmendinger’s car is still a love letter to NASCAR history. The No. 47 will look just like it did in during the 1977 Sprint Cup Season when it was driven by 1975 Rookie of the Year Bruce Hill. The Kansas native never won a Sprint Cup race, but he earned one of his three career top-five finishes at Darlington Raceway in 1975.

Matt DiBenedetto – The No. 83 Toyota for BK Racing will be sponsored by Orange Crush and will have the soft drink’s 1970s design.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Earnhardt will drive his favorite paint scheme in the history of the sport. His No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet will look like the “Gray Ghost,” the car driven by Buddy Baker in 1979 and 1980.


Michael McDowell – The No. 95 team of Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing, which is part of a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing, will honor Childress with a paint scheme based off a car he raced in the 1970s.