“Summer’s Five Things” is a daily column for NASCAR fans to catch up on the most recent, relevant, and need-to-know news and information in the sport! While mostly focused on NASCAR, this column may also feature other interesting and exciting moments from the world of motorsports. Enjoy!
- Justin Allgaier, Brett Moffitt Put On A Show En Route To Respective Victories
As if a NASCAR double-header (albeit at two different racetracks) wasn’t enough, both races were very exciting and hotly contested between two drivers in the remaining laps of the race.
With the XFINITY Series at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, and Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, the two series had vastly different races to run, so you wouldn’t expect them to be similar.
However, both races had fans and competitors alike on the edge of their seats.
First off, Brett Moffitt perfectly utilized the aerodynamic capacity of his truck on the last lap of the Truck Series race, barely edging out Johnny Sauter at the finish line.
Sauter led 16 laps while Moffitt only led five, but it was Moffitt who was able to pull into Victory Lane for the fourth time this season.
About three hours north of MIS, the XFINITY Series would put on a similar show. Justin Allgaier was battling Austin Cindric in the closing laps of the race, with Allgaier making the final pass for the lead with three laps to go. This was Allgaier’s third victory of 2018 and the eighth of his career, while Cindric has yet to win in the XFINITY Series.
- Truck Series Playoff Scenarios for Bristol
It’s hard to believe the regular season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is almost over. On August 16th, the eight-driver Playoff grid will be decided at Bristol Motor Speedway and, with five drivers already locked in (Johnny Sauter, Brett Moffitt, Noah Gragson, Ben Rhodes, and Justin Haley), that leaves only a few clinch scenarios for the rest of the field.
At least two Truck Series drivers will make the Playoffs on points, and potentially three if there is a repeat winner at Bristol (Cup Series drivers with five years of experience or more are ineligible to run in any race for the remainder of the Truck Series season).
For Grant Enfinger, all he has to do is start the race at Bristol to clinch a spot in the Playoffs, as he currently has a 147-point cushion over ninth-place Myatt Snider. Stewart Friesen and Matt Crafton are currently the other two drivers above the cutoff line. Crafton has to hope that someone from outside of the current eight drivers doesn’t win, or else he will have to make up some major points on Friesen. Friesen currently has 39 points over Crafton.
For anyone else, they are going to have to win the race to make it into the Playoffs. Snider is currently 94 points outside of the top eight; Cody Coughlin is behind 117 points; Dalton Sargeant is behind 120; and Todd Gilliland is behind 126.
The race will be broadcast at 7:30PM ET on NBCSN. Streaming will also be available on the NBC Sports App. The radio broadcast will be aired by Performance Racing Network and on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
- Things Get Heated Between Joey Gase and Ross Chastain
While all eyes were on Justin Allgaier and Austin Cindric in the closing laps of the XFINITY Series race, the real action was mid-pack between Joey Gase and Ross Chastain.
The two drivers were racing for position on the final lap in turn two. Depending on who you ask, Gase may or may not have made contact with Chastain when he made a pass (Gase said he made a clean pass while Chastain says he was pushed aside).
When Chastain caught back up to Gase in turn five, Chastain drove his No. 4 Chevrolet into the back of Gase’s No. 35, saying he was returning the favor, causing Gase to spin out.
On the cool-down lap as the cars began to head back to pit road, Gase swerved his car towards Chastain, even as multiple people had already climbed over the pit wall onto pit road.
You can probably guess what happened next …
The two drivers came to blows on pit road, with multiple crew members joining in as officials tried to break them up.
It went on for a while.
Gase eventually walked away from the incident still fired up, but gave his take on the incident to the media (Ross Chastain did not).
Gase wound up at the NASCAR trailer, though there was some disagreement on Twitter as to whether this was a required visit or not.
As you heard in the video, Gase intends to make life difficult for Chastain as he attempts to make the Playoffs. Chastain is currently the last driver in the Playoffs on points (+49 over the first driver outside the top 12, Michael Annett) with five races left before the Playoff field is officially set. Gase will indeed have to win a race in order to make the postseason.
The accounts of the series of events on pit road were courtesy of Matt Weaver of Autoweek and our own Jerry Jordan.
Chastain was credited with a 16th-place finish while Gase wound up in 24th.
- Fog Rolls In Over Cup Series Practice Sessions
Before things went haywire in the Truck and XFINITY Series, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams had two practice sessions to get prepared for Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
The first practice session was supposed to be 50 minutes. However, a heavy fog rolled over the racetrack and the session was forced down to 15 minutes. Truck Series qualifying was set to begin just a few minutes after Cup Series practice ended, so NASCAR was unable to extend practice time any further.
This shortened practice session was a bummer for the six teams who were penalized 15 minutes of practice time for prior infractions, meaning they were unable to turn laps.
Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 78 team was penalized for being late to pre-race inspection last weekend at Watkins Glen International; Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez and Ryan Newman were penalized for not coming to a complete stop in the inner loop during practice last weekend in Watkins Glen; and Bubba Wallace and BJ McLeod were penalized for being late to pre-race inspection this past Friday in Michigan.
All six drivers were able to make laps in the first practice session on Friday and the final practice session on Saturday.
Michael McDowell was penalized 15 minutes in final practice for failing pre-qualifying inspection twice on Friday in Michigan.
In the first practice session on Saturday morning, Michigan native Erik Jones had the fastest individual time and fastest 10-lap average. 38 drivers made at least one timed lap in this practice session while only six made 10 consecutive laps.
William Byron had the second fastest overall speed, while Clint Bowyer — who won the Michigan race in June — had the second fastest 10-lap average.
Brad Keselowski, Bowyer, and Joey Logano rounded out the top five for overall speed; Aric Almirola, Jamie McMurray, and Logano were in the top five, respectively, for the 10-lap average.
In the second and final practice session for the Cup Series, this happened …
Yup, that’s right. Last week’s first-time winner and NASCAR’s latest star, Chase Elliott, spun out in final practice, though he didn’t make any contact and will be able to start today’s race in the same car.
The session went otherwise incident free, with Logano leading the charge with a time of 36.441 seconds sat 197.580 mph. Busch and Alex Bowman were second and third, respectively, while Kevin Harvick and Kyle Larson completed the top five.
MENCS Practice 2 Full Results
MENCS Final Practice Full Results
- Today’s Raceday Schedule
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will compete in the Consumers Energy 400 today. The race will be 400 miles/200 laps; Stage 1 ends on lap 60; and Stage 2 ends on lap 120.
All times are Eastern.
- Driver/crew chief meeting — 12:30PM
- Driver introductions — 1:50PM
- Zooperstars Performance — 2:15PM
- Canadian Anthem (Lisa Bascom) — 2:28PM
- Presentation of Color (Michigan State Police) — 2:30PM
- Invocation (Father Geoff Rose, St Francis de Sales High School) — 2:30:20
- National Anthem (Brian Vander Ark) — 2:31PM
- Flyover (Four F-16s, 180th Fighter Wing, Ohio Air National Guard, backstretch to frontstretch) — 2:32:30PM
- Command to Fire Engines (Tom Hunt; Jackson, Michigan Teacher Of The Year) — 2:37:30
- Green flag — 2:46PM
Press conference live stream on NASCAR.com:
- Consumers Energy President and CEO Patti Poppe, Grand Marshal Tom Hunt and Honorary Starter Jason Potter — 11:00AM
- Al Unser Jr. and Honorary Pace Car Driver Ben Wallace — 11:45AM
- Michigan International Speedway 50th Anniversary Celebration — 1:00PM
- Post-Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race — 5:00PM
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If you would like to receive “Five Things” in your inbox, or just connect with me, you may send me an e-mail at [email protected].
You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram.
Summer’s Five Things: What You Need To Know For August 13, 2018
“Summer’s Five Things” is a daily column for NASCAR fans to catch up on the most recent, relevant, and need-to-know news and information in the sport! While mostly focused on NASCAR, this column may also feature other interesting and exciting moments from the world of motorsports. Enjoy!
As if a NASCAR double-header (albeit at two different racetracks) wasn’t enough, both races were very exciting and hotly contested between two drivers in the remaining laps of the race.
With the XFINITY Series at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, and Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, the two series had vastly different races to run, so you wouldn’t expect them to be similar.
However, both races had fans and competitors alike on the edge of their seats.
First off, Brett Moffitt perfectly utilized the aerodynamic capacity of his truck on the last lap of the Truck Series race, barely edging out Johnny Sauter at the finish line.
Sauter led 16 laps while Moffitt only led five, but it was Moffitt who was able to pull into Victory Lane for the fourth time this season.
About three hours north of MIS, the XFINITY Series would put on a similar show. Justin Allgaier was battling Austin Cindric in the closing laps of the race, with Allgaier making the final pass for the lead with three laps to go. This was Allgaier’s third victory of 2018 and the eighth of his career, while Cindric has yet to win in the XFINITY Series.
It’s hard to believe the regular season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is almost over. On August 16th, the eight-driver Playoff grid will be decided at Bristol Motor Speedway and, with five drivers already locked in (Johnny Sauter, Brett Moffitt, Noah Gragson, Ben Rhodes, and Justin Haley), that leaves only a few clinch scenarios for the rest of the field.
At least two Truck Series drivers will make the Playoffs on points, and potentially three if there is a repeat winner at Bristol (Cup Series drivers with five years of experience or more are ineligible to run in any race for the remainder of the Truck Series season).
For Grant Enfinger, all he has to do is start the race at Bristol to clinch a spot in the Playoffs, as he currently has a 147-point cushion over ninth-place Myatt Snider. Stewart Friesen and Matt Crafton are currently the other two drivers above the cutoff line. Crafton has to hope that someone from outside of the current eight drivers doesn’t win, or else he will have to make up some major points on Friesen. Friesen currently has 39 points over Crafton.
For anyone else, they are going to have to win the race to make it into the Playoffs. Snider is currently 94 points outside of the top eight; Cody Coughlin is behind 117 points; Dalton Sargeant is behind 120; and Todd Gilliland is behind 126.
The race will be broadcast at 7:30PM ET on NBCSN. Streaming will also be available on the NBC Sports App. The radio broadcast will be aired by Performance Racing Network and on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
While all eyes were on Justin Allgaier and Austin Cindric in the closing laps of the XFINITY Series race, the real action was mid-pack between Joey Gase and Ross Chastain.
The two drivers were racing for position on the final lap in turn two. Depending on who you ask, Gase may or may not have made contact with Chastain when he made a pass (Gase said he made a clean pass while Chastain says he was pushed aside).
When Chastain caught back up to Gase in turn five, Chastain drove his No. 4 Chevrolet into the back of Gase’s No. 35, saying he was returning the favor, causing Gase to spin out.
On the cool-down lap as the cars began to head back to pit road, Gase swerved his car towards Chastain, even as multiple people had already climbed over the pit wall onto pit road.
You can probably guess what happened next …
The two drivers came to blows on pit road, with multiple crew members joining in as officials tried to break them up.
It went on for a while.
Gase eventually walked away from the incident still fired up, but gave his take on the incident to the media (Ross Chastain did not).
Gase wound up at the NASCAR trailer, though there was some disagreement on Twitter as to whether this was a required visit or not.
As you heard in the video, Gase intends to make life difficult for Chastain as he attempts to make the Playoffs. Chastain is currently the last driver in the Playoffs on points (+49 over the first driver outside the top 12, Michael Annett) with five races left before the Playoff field is officially set. Gase will indeed have to win a race in order to make the postseason.
The accounts of the series of events on pit road were courtesy of Matt Weaver of Autoweek and our own Jerry Jordan.
Chastain was credited with a 16th-place finish while Gase wound up in 24th.
Before things went haywire in the Truck and XFINITY Series, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams had two practice sessions to get prepared for Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
The first practice session was supposed to be 50 minutes. However, a heavy fog rolled over the racetrack and the session was forced down to 15 minutes. Truck Series qualifying was set to begin just a few minutes after Cup Series practice ended, so NASCAR was unable to extend practice time any further.
This shortened practice session was a bummer for the six teams who were penalized 15 minutes of practice time for prior infractions, meaning they were unable to turn laps.
Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 78 team was penalized for being late to pre-race inspection last weekend at Watkins Glen International; Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez and Ryan Newman were penalized for not coming to a complete stop in the inner loop during practice last weekend in Watkins Glen; and Bubba Wallace and BJ McLeod were penalized for being late to pre-race inspection this past Friday in Michigan.
All six drivers were able to make laps in the first practice session on Friday and the final practice session on Saturday.
Michael McDowell was penalized 15 minutes in final practice for failing pre-qualifying inspection twice on Friday in Michigan.
In the first practice session on Saturday morning, Michigan native Erik Jones had the fastest individual time and fastest 10-lap average. 38 drivers made at least one timed lap in this practice session while only six made 10 consecutive laps.
William Byron had the second fastest overall speed, while Clint Bowyer — who won the Michigan race in June — had the second fastest 10-lap average.
Brad Keselowski, Bowyer, and Joey Logano rounded out the top five for overall speed; Aric Almirola, Jamie McMurray, and Logano were in the top five, respectively, for the 10-lap average.
In the second and final practice session for the Cup Series, this happened …
Yup, that’s right. Last week’s first-time winner and NASCAR’s latest star, Chase Elliott, spun out in final practice, though he didn’t make any contact and will be able to start today’s race in the same car.
The session went otherwise incident free, with Logano leading the charge with a time of 36.441 seconds sat 197.580 mph. Busch and Alex Bowman were second and third, respectively, while Kevin Harvick and Kyle Larson completed the top five.
MENCS Practice 2 Full Results
MENCS Final Practice Full Results
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will compete in the Consumers Energy 400 today. The race will be 400 miles/200 laps; Stage 1 ends on lap 60; and Stage 2 ends on lap 120.
All times are Eastern.
Press conference live stream on NASCAR.com:
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If you would like to receive “Five Things” in your inbox, or just connect with me, you may send me an e-mail at [email protected].
You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram.