Johnny Sauter wins Truck race at Bristol

By Dan BeaverAug 16, 2018, 10:24 PM EDT

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Johnny Sauter passed John Hunter Nemechek with five laps remaining in the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway to win his fifth Truck race of the year in the regular season finale. This is Sauter’s first Truck win at Bristol.

Stewart Friesen raced Sauter in the closing laps for what was an apparent bid for second until Nemechek faltered in the closing laps when his engine lost power to an undisclosed mechanical failure.

Friesen followed Sauter around the faltering Nemechek to second. This is the third time this season that Friesen has finished second. He is is still looking for his first Truck win.

Nemechek held on to finish third, but seemed to have the truck to beat until he lost power. Nemechek took the lead from pole sitter Christopher Bell on lap 31 and went on to win Stage 1 and 2 of the race.

Parker Kligerman and Todd Gilliland rounded out the top five.

At a loss for words. We put on a clinic tonight, led a ton of laps! Had motor issues at the end of the race while leading and came home 3rd. Another one that slipped away! Learn from it and get better! Looking forward to the future. #nemechek42

— John Hunter Nemechek (@JHNemechek) August 17, 2018

STAGE 1 WINNER: John Hunter Nemechek

STAGE 2 WINNER: John Hunter Nemechek

ADVANCING TO THE PLAYOFFS: Johnny Sauter, Brett Moffitt, Noah Gragson, Ben Rhodes, Stewart Friesen, Grant Enfinger, Justin Haley and Matt Crafton.

HOW JOHNNY SAUTER WON: He took the lead for the first time at the beginning of the final stage when Nemechek pitted, lost it briefly to Gragson on the restart, and regained the top spot on lap 131. Nemechek ran Sauter down in traffic, retaking the lead on lap 177. Battling Friesen hard in the closing lap kept Sauter from losing the second spot and when Nemechek faltered, he was in position to take advantage.

WHO HAD A GOOD NIGHT: Making his Truck debut, Stefan Parsons stayed on the lead lap until lap 95. He lost another lap late in the race and finished 17th to earn a top 20. … Also making his debut, Codie Rohrbaugh finished 16th. … Ross Chastain got his weekend off to a good start with a 12th-place finish in the Truck race. He will also race in the Xfinity Series Friday night and Cup on Sunday.

WHO HAD A BAD NIGHT: After finishing fifth at Daytona in the season opener, Scott Lagasse Jr. spun and crashed on lap 16 in just his second Truck start of the season. … Myatt Snider was fighting to stay on the lead lap and battling for a position with Gragson when the two made contact coming to the end of Stage 2. Snider spun into the inside wall and did major damage.

NOTABLE: Christopher Bell acclimated quickly to the No. 51 truck. He won the pole after taking over for an ailing Harrison Burton and then jumped out to an early lead and paced the field for 31 laps. He faded at the end when his power steering failed.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: “Uncle Johnny (Sauter) races me hard and that was a couple of bad ass Silverados going at it. … The lap traffic was to our advantage. We could roll when they moved up. … That was probably the most fun I’ve had all year, bumping and grinding. There are no better guys to race with than John Hunter and Johnny.” – Stewart Friesen on Fox.

WHAT’S NEXT: Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Aug. 26 at 2:30 PM on FS1.

Justin Haley replaces Kyle Busch in Kaulig car for Xfinity race

By Mike HembreeMay 29, 2023, 7:54 AM EDT

Justin Haley will drive Kaulig Racing’s No. 10 car in Monday morning’s scheduled NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Haley replaces Cup Series regular Kyle Busch, who was scheduled to drive for Kaulig in the 300-miler. The race was postponed from Saturday to Monday because of weather, giving NASCAR a 900-mile doubleheader at the track.

Busch decided to concentrate on the Coca-Cola 600 Cup race, scheduled for a 3 p.m. start.

Haley also will race in the 600.

Ty Gibbs is scheduled to run in both races.

Charlotte Cup race postponed to Monday by weather

By Mike HembreeMay 28, 2023, 6:21 PM EDT

CONCORD, N.C. — All-day rain Sunday forced the postponement of the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup Series race to Monday.

The postponement means that Charlotte Motor Speedway is scheduled to host 900 miles of stock car racing Monday. A 300-mile Xfinity Series race, originally scheduled Saturday and first postponed to noon Monday, has been rescheduled for 11 a.m. ET Monday (FS1, Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The Cup race is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. (Fox, Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Sunday’s Cup race was scheduled to start at 6:21 p.m. ET, but light rain was still falling at that time in the speedway area near Charlotte. Rain intensified a few minutes later and, despite an evening forecast that showed slight improvement, officials decided at 6:30 p.m. to postpone the race.

Monday’s forecast calls for a 34% chance of rain at the start of the Xfinity race and a 30% chance at the start of the Cup race.

William Byron will start the race from the pole after qualifying was washed out Saturday night.

RFK Racing gains sponsorship from submarine recruiting group

By Mike HembreeMay 28, 2023, 3:30 PM EDT

CONCORD, N.C. — NASCAR racing and submarines? Yes.

RFK Racing announced Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway that it has entered a partnership with BlueForge Alliance, which is involved in securing workers for the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Industrial Base (SIB) program. BuildSubmarines.com will be a primary sponsor for RFK drivers Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher in 10 Cup Series races this year and in 18 races per season beginning in 2024.

The sponsorship will showcase the careers related to the submarine-building program across the nation.

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“I’m proud to support a cause of such vital significance to our country with this new partnership,” Keselowski said. “The synergies between a NASCAR team and our military’s needs to stay on track fast are countless. We hope to inspire the workforce of the next generation across the country when they see RFK race and hear our message.”

The sponsorship will support the mission to recruit, hire, train, develop and retain the SIB workforce that will build the Navy’s next generation of submarines, the team said.

“We are excited and grateful to be teaming with RFK Racing to drive awareness of the thousands of steady, well-paying manufacturing jobs available across the nation. Innovation, working with purpose and service to others are hallmarks of both of our organizations,” said Kiley Wren, BlueForge chief executive. “Together, we aim to inspire NASCAR fans and all Americans to pursue career opportunities that will support our national defense.”

Kyle Larson visits Indianapolis Motor Speedway to survey the scene

By Mike HembreeMay 28, 2023, 3:02 PM EDT

Former NASCAR champion Kyle Larson, who is scheduled to run the Indianapolis 500 in 2024 as part of an Indy-Charlotte “double,” visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway garage area Sunday on Indianapolis 500 race day.

Larson said he wanted to familiarize himself with the Indy race-day landscape before he becomes immersed in the process next year.

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Larson later returned to Charlotte, where was scheduled to drive in the Coca-Cola 600 Sunday night. Next year, he’s scheduled to run both races.

“I love racing,” Larson told NBC Sports. “I love competing in the biggest races. In my opinion, this is the biggest race in the world. I wanted to be a part of it for a long time, and I finally feel like the timing is right. It’s pretty cool to have a dream come true.

“I wanted to come here and kind of experience it again and get to experience how crazy it is again before I’m in the middle of it next year. I kind of want as little surprise as possible next year.”

In the 2024 500, Larson will be one of four drivers with the Arrow McLaren team.

Earlier this month, Larson and Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon attended an Indy 500 practice day.

Larson said Sunday he hasn’t tested an Indy car.

“I don’t know exactly when I’ll get in the car,” he said. “I’ve had no sim (simulator) time yet. I’ve kind of stayed back. I didn’t want to ask too many questions and take any focus on what they have going on for these couple of weeks. I’m sure that will pick up after today.

“I look forward to the challenge. No matter how this experience goes, I’m going to come out of it a better race car driver.”

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