Tag: NASCAR Monster Energy Series

Brad Keselowski Wins The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Breaking Penske Team Record

Brad Keselowski won the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 on Sunday, making him the most winningest Penske driver ever. The win broke his tie with Mark Donohue, who held the record previously. The race came down to the final laps where a faster Martin Truex Jr. failed to surpass Keselowski.

“We had the best car we probably should have won that one,” said Truex Jr. after the race. The 325 lap race had a restart with 43 laps to go, with Kurt Busch and Joey Logano on the front row. The race had many leaders, as Kyle Larson won Stage 1 and Kevin Harvick won stage 2.

Keselowski was battling sickness during the weekend in Atlanta, even missing the final practice session because of it. He had a backup driver ready for the race on Sunday but was able to participate himself.

The race did not have many cautions. Besides the stage ending cautions there was only three other incidents that made cars slow down. The first one was a competition caution which occurred on lap 36 due to the rain the night before. There was a caution on lap 223 because of Kyle Busch’s car smoking, and another one on lap 274 after Ryan Preece collided with B.J. McLeod while exiting his pit box. 27 of the 37 cars finished the race within a 5 lap gap behind the leader.

Kyle Busch started from the rear after needing a backup car and made a charge up the field throughout the race. Busch finished in 6th place.

NASCAR heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway on with a triple header lineup. On Friday the Gander Outdoors Truck Series holds the Strat 22 in the evening at 9 PM EST. On Saturday at 4 PM EST, the Xfinity Series will hold the Boyd Gaming 300. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will hold their third season race on Sunday at 3:30 PM EST, with the Pennzoil 400.

Denny Hamlin Wins 2019 Daytona 500, Becoming A Repeat Winner

Denny Hamlin won his second Daytona 500 on Sunday under NASCAR Overtime. Hamlin was on the front row during the many restarts during the final stage. Kyle Busch, who won second place in the race, won stage 1, while Ryan Blaney won stage 2.

This was the first race since motorsport team owner JD Gibbs passed away. When asked about the win, Hamlin said that “this one’s for JD. We’re desperately gonna miss him for the rest of our lives but his legacy lives on.”

The front row for the race was William Byron and Alex Bowman. Denny Hamlin started 10th, climbing his way up the grid throughout the race. The race was mostly clean until the final stage which had numerous incidents involving more than 10 cars. The race was red flagged twice.

Jimmie Johnson was put a lap down after an incident where car 51 and 52 collided, making them spin and hit cars who were heading to the pits. Those cars included the aforementioned Johnson, Ricky Stenhouse and Tyler Reddick.

On lap 191 there was a crash involving Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman, Daniel Hemric, Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola, Ryan Blaney, Ty Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones, Paul Menard, Tyler Reddick, Matt Tifft, Chris Buescher, David Ragan, Daniel Suarez, Kyle Larson, Jimmie Johnson and Matt DiBenedetto.

The caution with two laps to go happened after Clint Bowyer tried moving up a row but got back in line too early, making the back of his car clip Michael McDowell. They spun and collected many more with them, including William Byron, the pole sitter of the race. Out of the whole grid, Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were the only ones who finished the race without being involved in an incident.

NASCAR heads to Atlanta next week for the Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500. The race will take place on Sunday at 2PM Eastern Time.