Monday, October 7, 2024

NASCAR / ARCA Race Weekend Recap (Talladega; All American; Toledo)

#NASCAR / #ARCA Race Weekend Recap (Talladega; All American; Toledo)

Winners: Ricky Stenhouse Jr (Cup); Sammy Smith (Xfinity); Grant Enfinger (Trucks); William Sawalich (ARCA); Trevor Huddleston (ARCA West)



NASCAR Cup

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Plays Spoiler, Wins Chaotic Playoff Race

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Plays Spoiler, Wins Chaotic Playoff Race

 

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. held off the field in overtime to claim the victory in a dramatic NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway — edging Brad Keselowski and William Byron by a mere 0.006-second in a thrilling three-wide finish.

 

That heart-stopping finish was indicative of the afternoon of competition at the 2.66-mile behemoth — which once again lived up to its reputation and provided a thrilling playoff race with significant implications for the 12 championship contenders.

 

A massive 23-car accident with five laps remaining brought out a red flag and stopped the race for nearly 10 minutes. The incident affected eight of the 12 playoff cars in varying degrees. There is only one more race remaining in this round to settle which eight drivers advance to the next round of championship competition.

 

“Felt really good, we had our Chevy teammates behind us and I was hoping Kyle [Busch] wouldn’t push the six [Keselowski] that hard, I knew the 24 was going to try to get to the line,” said Stenhouse, who scored his first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Talladega in 2017.

 

“Man, this team has put a lot of hard work in and obviously we haven’t won since the Daytona 500 in ’23. It’s been an up-and-down season, a lot of hard work this season trying to find a little bit of speed, but we knew this track is one of ours to come get it.”

 





Pole: Michael McDowell

Click Here for Race Results


Next Race: The Cup Series will return on Sunday, October 13, 2024 at 2:00 pm ET for the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.



NASCAR Xfinity

Sammy Smith Wins to Advance to Next Round

Sammy Smith Wins to Advance to Next Round

 

After entering Saturday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway below the elimination line, Sammy Smith punched his ticket to the next round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs by winning the United Rentals 250 in overtime.

 

The driver of the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet held off a hard charge from runner-up Ryan Sieg in the tri-oval coming to the checkered flag. Riley Herbst, Sheldon Creed and Chandler Smith rounded out the top five.

 

Smith, who now has two career wins, snapped a 56-race losing streak after picking team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s brain about racing at Talladega. Earnhardt won six Cup Series races at the Alabama superspeedway.

 

“We sat down with him Wednesday, wasn’t a whole lot, just kind of some of the stuff he’d do in those situations,” Smith said. “But, man, it feels very good to win here.”

 





Pole: Jesse Love

Click Here for Race Results


Next Race: The Xfinity Series will return on Saturday, October 12,, 2024 4:00 pm ET for the Drive for the Cure 250 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.



NASCAR Trucks

Grant Enfinger Wins Truck Series Playoff Race at Talladega

Grant Enfinger Wins Truck Series Playoff Race at Talladega

 

The home crowd favorite, Grant Enfinger claimed the victory in Friday afternoon’s Love’s RV Stop 225 Playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway – the Alabama native’s second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win at the big track and the most important, as the victory delivers an automatic entry into the season championship finale next month at Phoenix Raceway.

 

Enfinger’s No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet led a race-best 34 of the 85 laps, won Stage 2 and held the point on the final lap when a caution came out ending the race.

 

“We knew stuff was going to get dicey,” the 39-year-old Enfinger said of having to hold the field off following a restart with nine laps remaining to claim his first victory of the season – first ever for the team – and 11th of Enfinger’s career.

 

“We didn’t make all the perfect decisions today, but we had a Champion Power Equipment Chevy that was fast enough to get it done today, so even though we chose the outside [lane for a restart] once or twice and maybe we shouldn’t have. … it’s just Talladega right there and hopefully all the fans enjoyed it.

 

“There’s nothing like winning at your home track. Got my family here and first win with my daughter and my son here. On top of that, we get to race for a championship in Phoenix.”

 





Pole: William Sawalich

Click Here for Race Results 


Next Race: The Truck Series will return on Saturday, October 26, 2024 at 12:00 PM ET for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff Race at Homestead-Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway.



ARCA

William Sawalich Wins Season Finale at Toledo Speedway While Andres Perez Clinches Title

William Sawalich Wins Season Finale at Toledo Speedway While Andres Perez clinches Title

 

While Andres Perez was able to celebrate his victory as ARCA Series champion by merely starting the event; the race itself, though, belonged to William Sawalich. 

 

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver who secured his second consecutive ARCA Menards Series East championship last month, Sawalich won his ninth ARCA Menards Series (national) race of the season when he led all but a few laps on the northwestern Ohio half-mile. The 18-year-old’s nine victories in 2024 are a series-high, a number he accomplished in 14 starts.

 

“I definitely got a good jump,” Sawalich said of the last restart. “I can’t thank my guys enough. Just a good day overall, a good end of the year for us.”

 

Perez finished the race in sixth place.

 





Pole: William Sawalich

Click Here for Race Results


Next Race: The ARCA Series will return in 2025.



ARCA West

Trevor Huddleston Goes Wire-to-Wire at All American Speedway

Trevor Huddleston Goes Wire-to-Wire at All American Speedway

 

Trevor Huddleston dominated Saturday’s NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Berco Redwood at All American Speedway for the ARCA Menards Series West, leading all 150-laps from the pole for his second consecutive series win.

 

Huddleston topped General Tire Pole Qualifying and left zero doubt during a non-stop contest, clicked off in under 37 minutes on the one-third mile speedway. Huddleston’s lead fluctuated between two and three seconds over Eric Nascimento, Jr. throughout the contest.

 

“Epic man. Epic,” Huddleston said. “It’s a crazy couple of days. Got engaged (last weekend in victory lane) and got these wins. I live a blessed life.”

 

Huddleston accepted the checkered flag with a 1.482-second lead followed by Eric Nascimento, Jr., Reif, Hingorani, and Wood.

 





Pole: Trevor Huddleston

Click Here for Race Results


Next Race: The ARCA Series will return on Saturday, October 26, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. PT for the NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway.

 

source: NASCAR / ARCA Media
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Sunday, October 6, 2024

Tony Stewart Wins His First NHRA Drag Racing Championship

Tony Stewart Wins His First NHRA Drag Racing Championship

The three-time NASCAR Cup champion adds a regional crown in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series to his impressive list of racing accomplishments.

Tony Stewart is now an NHRA drag racing champion.

 

Tony Stewart is now an NHRA drag racing champion.

Fifty-three year old Tony Stewart, a three-time NASCAR Cup champion who has also won three races and the 1997 Indy Racing League championship in IndyCar and who currently races in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, won the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series North Central Division crown on Saturday at St. Louis. 

 

There was no backing into the championship, either, as the 53-year-old Stewart rocketed his McPhillips Racing Top Alcohol dragster past Gary Pritchett with an ET of 5.216 seconds at 274.16 mph. Pritchett, who led Stewart by 21 points in the championship, ran 13.242 seconds, 73.96 mph.

 

Stewart won the eliminations from the No. 2 qualifying position.

 

This is Stewart's first divisional championship in the Top Alcohol class in his second year of competition. This year, he won three of the five events he entered and finished runner-up in another.

 

"It was a pretty cool deal today. This is redemption from last year at this same event. When we were here a year ago, all we had to do was get through the first round and we would have clinched the division championship.

 

Obviously, we were also racing for the world championship points as well. But, we had a problem. The car shook and the competitor we ran against had their best run of the season against us. It was a bitter pill to swallow. We were having to come from behind today. Even with two wins and a runner-up coming into today, if he (Gary Pritchett) made it to the finals, we had to beat him to win this thing.

 

Out of five races this season, we ran Gary in four of them and we were in the finals together in all four. To win three against him is awesome. He’s a tough competitor and Randy Meyer’s team always does a great job.

 

I’m really proud of my McPhillips Racing team. These guys did an awesome job. It’s a nice redemption weekend for us. We struggled here last weekend in the Top Fuel car. To be able to come here and win the race and have low ET of the event in the finals and win the division championship is just really cool. For everything we’ve done in motorsports, to be able to add this to our resume' is really special."

 

Stewart will be back in action Oct. 9-13 weekend at the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Texas NHRA Fall Nationals. With just three events remaining on the 2023 national schedule Stewart sits ninth in the Top Fuel dragster standings.

 





 

source: Autoweek Media
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Saturday, October 5, 2024

Country Music Star and Army Reserve Soldier to Perform NASCAR National Anthem

Country Music Star and Army Reserve Soldier to Perform #NASCAR National Anthem

Craig Morgan Alongside 313th U.S. Army Band for the YellaWood 500

Patriotic performance to Set the Stage for NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Race

 

Country music star and Army Reserve soldier Craig Morgan will perform the National Anthem alongside the 313th US Army Band ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 Playoff race on Sunday, October 6th at Talladega Superspeedway. The patriotic collaboration between Morgan and the 313th US Army Band will be an incredibly powerful performance and inspiration to all. The event will stream on NBC Sports, NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM start at 2 pm ET.

 

“It’s an honor to represent my country and perform with my fellow soldiers in the 313th US Army Band – and there’s no place better to do it than in front of thousands of NASCAR fans at the start of Sunday’s Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway,” states Morgan.

 

“It’s an honor to have Craig Morgan perform the National Anthem with the 313th US Army Band for the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500,” states Talladega Superspeedway President Brian Crichton. “Craig defines what it means to be a patriot for our country, and we thank him for his service. His extraordinary musical talent is sure to deliver a powerful National Anthem that will be a special moment for all our fans.”

 

Before becoming a country music star, Morgan spent 17 years serving our country in the Army and Army Reserve and enlisted again in 2023, continuing his military career as a Warrant Officer in the Army Reserve with the 313th US Army Band.

 





 

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