Auto Club Recap: Larson Sweeps Weekend

Hello everyone and welcome back once again to my blog. It was a wet weekend for sure, but a great time to stay in and watch some racing. I also want to note that the 2017 Formula One season began Saturday night as Sebastian Vettel would surprise all with his win in the Ferrari over the dominant Mercedes driver from the last couple years Lewis Hamilton. Now let's get back to Auto Club Speedway recap. The Xfinity race would run on Saturday as Kyle Larson would take the win after Joey Logano would lead the most laps but fail to win due to several pit road penalties and problems. But Larson wouldn't stop there. More on that later.

The Auto Club 400 ran on Sunday as the headlines for the day would begin with two big names starting at the back, Dale Jr and Jimmie Johnson, after having problems earlier in the weekend. Kyle Larson was the main topic as he would not only win the Xfinity race, he would sit on the pole for the Cup race as well. The first and second stages would consist of 60 laps, while the final stage would be 80 laps, making up the 200 laps that were run. Denny Hamlin would qualify alongside Larson on the front row.

The first caution would come out early in stage 1 as Brad Keselowski would spin out after making contact on the start with Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin.

Kyle Larson would continue his winning ways as he won stage 1. Would his luck continue?

Marin Truex Jr would also lead several laps and run up front all day. And he also won stage 2.

Jimmie Johnson's bad luck would continue as he had pit road problems late after contact with Martin Truex Jr would spin Johnson around backwards into his pit. His stop would be legal however.

The race would have several cautions late as it would create a lot of drama at the end. It would also create different strategies, which made restarts crazy as well with drivers on either fresh tires or worn out tires. That would lead to Matt Kenseth spinning off of turn two after Martin Truex Jr would get into the back of Kenseth. He would hit the inside wall hard, but was uninjured.

At the end of the weekend, Kyle Larson would pick up the win after holding off the field on multiple restarts. He sure had great weekend sweeping both races on Saturday and Sunday. That's all for now. Next week, we recap Martinsville. One of my favorite tracks. See you then.

Weekend Recap: Phoenix

Welcome back everyone! I hope you enjoyed your weekend. Spring is for sure coming and I couldn't be anymore ready for some warm weather. Now that we have that out of the way, let's recap the weekends action once again as the Xfinity and Monster Energy Cup Series ran their races at Phoenix Raceway. The big topic of the weekend would be the heat, as the drivers would try to keep themselves and their cars cool. But what do you expect racing in the desert. The Xfinity Series DC Solar 200 race on Saturday wasn't too bad as Kyle Busch would not compete in the race, which meant there would be a good chance to have a non cup winner. And that would sure be the case. The first and second stage would consist of 60 laps with the final stage being 80 laps. Young star William Byron would qualify on the pole with Erik Jones alongside on the front row. This race would be the first of four dash for cash races, where the highest finishing Xfinity regular would receive $100,000. Justin Algaier in his #7 Brandt Chevy would win the race and the $100,000 dash for cash bonus. Now onto the Cup race.

The Cup series would run on Sunday with the main headline being the fight between Kyle Busch and Joey Logano last week at Las Vegas. Would the two of them get together once again? Well it wasn't likely and hate to say it, it didn't happen. I'll just throw that out there. But there was some great racing however. Speaking of Logano, he would start the Camping World 500 from the pole with a surprise alongside​. Ryan Blaney would qualify his #21 Wood Brothers Ford on the front row. Stages 1 and 2 would consist of 75 laps while the final stage would be the final 162 laps to make up the 312 that were run on the 1 mile track.


The first caution came out with 47 laps to go in stage 1 as Corey Lajioe would continue his rough start to the season as he would make contact with Reed Sorenson on the backstretch. I apologize for not having a picture for this incident as I get all my photos from Google Images. Both drivers were ok.

Joey Logano would win Stage 1 from the pole. His luck would run out though. More on that later.



Corey Lajioe's bad luck would continue as he would later cut a tire going into turn 1 as a result of the earlier contact with Reed Sorenson. Lajioe would be out of the race. Again sorry for not having a picture. Couldn't find one to post.

Chase Elliott would take home stage 2 after taking off from the rest of the field after the restart to start stage 2. Logano would get caught speeding during caution flag pit stops. He would go to the rear of the field.

This picture is a screenshot from YouTube. Its onboard from Joey Logano. I'm having trouble finding pictures but I'm doing the best I can. The 3rd caution came out in the final stage on lap 191 as Matt Kenseth would blow a tire after having a tight car and he would hit the turn 4 wall hard. He would walk away ok, no injuries.

The races 4th caution would also come out in the final stage with 107 laps to go as Gray Gaulding in the #23 car would make contact with David Ragan in the #38 car going into turn 1. Again the picture is a screenshot from YouTube.

The last caution came out at lap 306 as Joey Logano's luck would run out, as he like so many others would blow a tire going into turn 1, ending his day. The caution would be a time for strategy as Ryan Newman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Martin Truex Jr would stay out.

The race would restart and Ryan Newman's strategy would pay off as he held off Kyle Larson to win the race and snap a 127-race winless streak just for himself. And Richard Childress Racing's winless streak of 111 races would also be over. It was surely a great weekend for winless streaks being broken as Justin Algaier broke his winless streak in the Xfinity Series.

Well I hope you enjoyed the recap. Next up, the final race in the NASCAR Goes West tour at Auto Club Speedway in California. See ya next week! Goodnight everyone!

Las Vegas Recap: What A Finish!

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! The race just ended a while ago and boy what a finish! Didn't expect the finish that we saw! So let's recap the weekends action at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Xfinity Series ran the Boyd Gaming 300 on Saturday with Kyle Busch starting on the pole with Brad Keselowski starting alongside. Busch would win stage 1 but not by much over Kyle Larson. Keselowski would win stage 2 but at the end, Joey Logano would pull off the victory in his #12 Penske Ford. Now let's recap the Monster Energy Cup race.

The race was under way as Brad Keselowski would start on the pole with Martin Truex Jr accompanying him on the front row. Keselowski would lead the first part of the race until the first caution. The first and second stage would be 80 laps and the final stage would be 107 laps.

The first caution came out early in stage 1 as Corey Lajioe would blow a tire and hit the wall in turn 2. He would fall out of the race.

Martin Truex Jr would dominate the race and lead all the stages. He had a great car all day.

As the first stage was coming to a close, the races 2nd caution came out with 16 laps to go, when Kevin Harvick would blow a tire going into turn 1. He would be out of the race.

The main topic from last week was speeding penalties. The teams would fix that however and there would only be three speeding penalties today. The drivers speeding included Kyle Busch, Cole Whitt, and the driver pictured above Gray Gaulding.

The final caution came out with 16 laps to go as Danica Patrick's engine would expire. She would be out of the race just shy of the finish.

Martin Truex Jr would go on to win the race after dominating and losing the lead with 24 laps to go to Brad Keselowski. Keselowski would then lose power and Truex Jr would pass him back on the last lap.

Also on the last lap, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano would make contact in turn 3 and Busch would spin off of turn 4 resulting in an altercation between Busch and Logano's crew. As seen in the picture above courtesy of Google images, Busch would sustain a wound on his forehead but he would walk away under his own power after the altercation. Well that's all for today. Certainly a great race and a great finish. Goodnight everyone. See ya next week for the Phoenix recap.

News for 2018: Las Vegas Gets Second Cup Date

Hello everyone and welcome back. Just wanted to update my followers of some news that came out yesterday. If you didn't hear or read, Las Vegas Motor Speedway had been wanting to have a second Cup race for quite some time. Las Vegas hosted its first Cup race in 1998 and has always had one Cup race weekend in March every year. As the year has started, there were reports of talks between Las Vegas and NASCAR to get a second race. Well after the talks and speculation, it was announced that Las Vegas would get a second Cup race replacing the playoff race at New Hampshire starting in 2018. The news would have mixed reactions. In my opinion, New Hampshire hasn't been my favorite, but it was something different other than the usual 1.5 mile tracks that make up most of the NASCAR calendar. But we will see what happens as Vegas isn't a bad track and produces decent racing. Well that's all folks. Just a quick update. Thanks for reading.

Atlanta Weekend Recap

It's time for another blog! Welcome back everyone and I hope you had a great weekend! So, it's time to recap the weekends action from Atlanta Motor Speedway as the track featured a triple header. The Truck Series, Xfinity Series, and Monster Energy Cup Series ran their second race of the year. Now let's get to it. The Truck Series ran their race on Friday night. Christopher Bell qualified his #4 JBL Toyota Tundra on the pole with KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) teammate Kyle Busch in his #51 Toyota Tundra alongside. Bell would pick up the win after Busch would later get into the wall late in the race. Kyle would have better luck in the Xfinity Series race however, as he was able to pick up the victory over a hard charging Brad Keselowski. Busch would later be penalized as his #18 car would fail post race inspection.

As the green flag flew on Sunday for the Folds Of Honor QuikTrip 500, Kevin Harvick would lead the field with Ryan Newman alongside. Harvick would go on to dominate the first stage, which ended at lap 85. Harvick didn't stop there as he would also claim stage 2 as well. The second stage would consist of 85 laps as well as the first.

The main topic of the day would be pit road speeding penalties. A total of around 8 or 9 were accumulated during the race and some of the biggest names were caught, including the driver pitting above Jimmie Johnson, as well as, Chase Elliott, Matt Kenseth and others.

Now we move on to later in the race as Gray Gaulding's engine would expire with 63 laps to go. Gaulding would fall out of the race late in the final stage and retired his #23 Dr. Pepper Toyota. That stinks cause I really like Dr. Pepper. Oh well let's move on.

The restart would come with 56 laps to go as the race was back underway after Gray Gaulding's engine failure. And it was a wild one for sure as Clint Bowyer would make contact with rookie Erik Jones in the #77 Toyota. Bowyer would then cut a tire in turn 1 as a result of the contact and it put him out of contention.

The next caution would come out at lap 310 as Austin Dillon's #3 Chevrolet would lose power after a battery issue. The caution would be an untimely one for Kevin Harvick. More on that below. Yes I have to keep you scrolling.

At the end of the day, Brad Keselowski would pick up the win after Kevin Harvick would get caught speeding during the caution where Austin Dillon lost power, ending Harvick's dominating run. You could say Brad got lucky but a win is a win. Harvick's wife DeLana would voice her frustrations with Austin Dillon's team for possibly intentionally causing the caution. I don't think that was the case at all. Just my opinion.

Well I hope you enjoyed the recap. It was a great weekend of racing. Next stop is Viva Las Vegas as the Xfinity and Monster Energy Cup Series take to the track this weekend. The Camping World Truck Series is off this weekend as they will be back in a couple weeks at Martinsville. That's all for now. Good night everyone.