Bristol Recap

Welcome back everyone to Captain Josh's Pit Stop! I hope all of you had a great Easter break. But now it's time to get back to business. This week we recap the action at Bristol Motor Speedway. As you can see from the second picture above, mother nature was the main topic of the weekend. The Cup race would be rained out on Sunday and was run on today which is Monday. The Xfinity race did run Saturday however with an hour of a rain delay. Erik Jones would win the race and rookie Daniel Hemric in the #21 Richard Childress Chevy took home the $100,000 Dash For Cash. The Dash For Cash is a 4-race deal where the top 4 Xfinity drivers of each race can earn a bit more money in there pockets. Now on to the Monday Cup Race.

The 25th Anniversary of the Food City 500 ran on Monday. Qualifying was rained out on Friday, giving points leader Kyle Larson the pole with Chase Elliott alongside on the front row. The first and second stages consisted of 125 laps, with the third and final stage making up the final 250 laps to complete the 500 lap race. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The races first caution came out when Kurt Busch spun off of turn 2 and hit the inside wall. Chris Buescher would also suffer damage after hitting another car from behind while trying to avoid Busch. That would cause a brief red flag to clean up fluid from Buescher's car. Busch would continue on but Buescher was out of the race. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Pole sitter Kyle Larson would take home Stage 1 after dominating the whole stage. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Marin Truex Jr would win Stage 2 after leading for most of the stage. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The race would not work out for Jr nation as Dale Jr hit the wall in turn 3 after getting oil on his tires from an issue with his car. Jr would fall out of the race with 33 to go in stage 2. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Danica Patrick would also have a bad day as she would make contact with David Ragan off of turn 2. They both crashed and were out of the race. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Continuing the theme of bad days, Kyle Busch also had a rough time at thunder valley. He would hit the wall twice during the race and would eventually fall out of the race with 113 laps to go with a mechanical failure. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The final caution of the day would come out as a good run was cut short for rookie Erik Jones. He cut a tire going into turn 3 and AJ Allmendinger would hit him from behind trying to avoid Jones. Jones would also fall out of the race. Photo courtesy of Google images.

At the end of the day, Jimmie Johnson held off Clint Bowyer to win back to back after winning at Texas. Johnson claimed his 82nd career win. He might get more wins than Jeff Gordon at this point. The man who brought Johnson into the sport. That's amazing not to mention if he wins 8 championships. Anyways I hope you enjoyed the blog. Tune in next week as I recap Richmond. Yes another short track. Can't wait. See ya there. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Texas Recap

Hello once again and welcome back to Captain Josh's Pit Stop. Today we are recapping the action from Texas Motor Speedway. The Xfinity and Cup Series ran their races Saturday and Sunday. Erik Jones would go on to win the Xfinity race. The main topic this weekend would be the new surface and track configuration. Turns 1 and 2 had the banking lowered from 24 to 20 degrees and was also widened as well. I also want to note that Lewis Hamilton won his 5th Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday ahead of Sebastian Vettel. Now onto the Cup race.

The O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 ran on Sunday with Kevin Harvick starting on the pole with Ryan Blaney alongside. Nine drivers would not qualify due to inspection issues. They included big names such as Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kyle Larson. The first and second stages would consist of 85 laps, with the final stage being the final 164 laps. Austin Dillon wouldn't make the start after having track bar problems. He would return later in the race but would be 12 laps down.

The first caution came out early in stage 1 as Kyle Busch would get loose in turn 1 and was pushed out of the groove. The groove wasn't very wide at the start due to the new surface. Kyle would hit the wall and continue on.

The races second caution wasn't far after the first however, as Reed Sorenson would make contact with Jeffrey Earnhardt. The contact caused Earnhardt to spin off of turn 2. Both drivers would be out of the race.

Second place starter Ryan Blaney cleaned house to win both stage 1 and 2. Would the luck carry on to the end? We will see, but I gotta keep you waiting.

The restart after the caution would see some action. Paul Menard also got pushed up out of the groove and hit the wall just like Kyle Busch earlier in the race. Menard would continue on.

At the end of the day, Jimmie Johnson passed Joey Logano and held off a hard charging Kyle Larson to pick up his first win of the season.


Well that's it. Not as much action but still a good race for the new surface. Next week is an off weekend for Easter. The next race is Bristol in 2 weeks. See you then and Happy Easter! Goodbye for now.

Martinsville Recap

Welcome back to Captain Josh's Pit Stop. Today we are recapping the action from Martinsville Speedway. I love Martinsville! One of my favorite tracks. And it has so much history. It is the only track on the schedule today that has hosted a NASCAR race every year since its inception in 1948. And of course you can't forget the Martinsville hot dogs as well. Now that I've made you hungry, here is the recap. The Truck and Monster Energy Cup Series ran this weekend. Chase Elliott won the truck race on Saturday in his #23 GMS truck.

The Monster Energy Cup Series ran the STP 500 on Sunday afternoon. Qualifying was rained out on Friday so the field started on points. That put points leader Kyle Larson on the pole with Brad Keselowski alongside. Stages 1 and 2 would be 130 laps, with the final stage making up the rest of the 500 lap race.

The first caution came out in Stage 1, as Ricky Stenhouse Jr spun in turn 3 after Paul Menard got into the back of him. Stenhouse would continue on.

The next caution came out in the same corner, in stage 1 as Jamie McMurray cut a tire and spun. He would make contact into the wall and fall out of the race.

The last caution in stage 1 came out when Dale Jr would spin off of turn 2, after contact with young sensation Ryan Blaney. Jr would continue on with minimal damage.

Marin Truex Jr would once again win a stage as he won Stage 1. There was a great finish to the stage with the top 10 drivers battling to get the best spot they could.

The first caution in stage 2 came out when a multi car wreck would occur in turn 3 after the restart. Kurt Busch and rookie Daniel Suarez were involved. Both would still race with damage. But they made the 5 minute clock, so they were allowed to continue.


Also in Stage 2, Fox would do a special crank it up to honor NASCAR Busch Series legend Sam Ard who passed away earlier in the week.

Chase Elliott would win Stage 2 after a bold move by Stenhouse Jr. Stenhouse moved leader Kyle Busch out of the way to stay on the lead lap after a long green flag run.

Stage 3 would continue to bring the action. Austin Dillon would spin after contact with Erik Jones. Denny Hamlin was also involved. All drivers were still in the race.

The next caution came out in stage 3 as Kurt Busch cut a tire going into turn 3. This was a result of the earlier crash with Daniel Suarez.

The caution came out with 192 laps to go in stage 3 and the race. Gray Gaulding's tough year continued as he spun in turn 2. Danica Patrick and Chris Buescher would have a disagreement on the track.

As the stage continued on, the caution came out with 167 laps to go. Reed Sorenson cut a tire going into turn 3. Man we seen some action in that turn for sure. Sorenson was out of the race.

The caution would once again come out with 110 to go, as Jeffrey Earnhardt would also cut a tire in turn 2. He would be out of the race as well. Photo courtesy of Google images and FS1.

The next caution came out with 94 to go as Matt DiBenedetto spun in turn 3 and crashed hard into the wall. Matt would be uninjured but out of the race. Photo also courtesy of Google images and FS1.

Man there were a lot of cautions for sure. This one would be the next to last however as a big crash would occur in, you guessed it, turn 3. Denny Hamlin would get loose underneath Danica Patrick, thus causing the multi car crash. Drivers involved also included Dale Jr. He would be out of the race.

The races final caution came out with 70 laps to go as stage 1 winner Martin Truex Jr would spin in turn 3 after getting loose underneath Matt Kenseth. Truex didn't suffer any damage however, but would fall to the rear of the field.

At the end of the caution filled race, Brad Keselowski would win his 2nd race of the year as he would battle hard with a dominant Kyle Busch. Busch would finish 2nd.

Well that's it for Martinsville. It was a great race for sure. Tune in next week as we recap Texas. How will the racing be with the brand new surface? We will find out. Hope you enjoyed. Goodnight everyone.