Kansas Recap

Welcome back to Captain Josh's Pit Stop. Today I recap the action from Kansas. Hope all the mom's had a Happy Mother's Day. The Xfinity Series were off this weekend, however the truck series ran on Friday night. Kyle Busch won both stage 1 and 2 and took home the win after Ben Rhodes blew an engine with a few laps to go. Rhodes had the race in hand. Lewis Hamilton took home the Spanish F1 grand prize with Sebastian Vettel finishing 2nd. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The GoBowling.com 400 ran on Saturday night with Ryan Blaney finally getting his first pole after qualifying 2nd for several weeks. Joey Logano was alongside on the front row. Stages 1 and 2 consisted of 80 laps, with stage 3 making up 107 laps. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Landon Cassil had a rough start to the race causing the first two cautions, both in stage 1. At lap 30, Cassil cut a tire and would later get into the wall at lap 50 from the damage. During the caution from lap 50, Chase Elliott and Michael McDowell got together on pit road. Photos courtesy of Google images.

After Cassil's troubles, the next caution came out late in stage 1 with 22 to go. Ty Dillon had stayed out after the last caution and had old tires. He fell back in the pack and spun out on the backstretch. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Kyle Busch took home stage 1 after Martin Truex Jr led most of the stage. Pole sitter Ryan Blaney finished 2nd. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Rookie Erik Jones had a rough night as well, spinning off turn 2 twice. The first time at lap 16 in stage 2. The second time in stage 3 with 52 to go. Same place both times. Jones suffered little damage both times. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson continued their history as they made contact off turn 4 during stage 2 at lap 21. The contact resulted in Johnson cutting his tire and throwing debris on the track, causing the caution. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The trouble for Kurt Busch didn't stop there. He would hit the turn 3 wall and make it to pit road with 26 to go in stage 2. No caution. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Along with Erik Jones, Gray Gaulding also had his share of problems. The first incident occurred in stage 2 with 14 to go in the stage.  Gaulding blew a right rear tire. The car suffered damage with the corner panel being ripped apart. He would later blow a tire again with 7 to go in stage 2 due to the damage. Ryan Newman also had an engine failure at the same time. Photos courtesy of Google images.

Ryan Blaney took home a wild stage 2 with Kyle Larson finishing 2nd.

Stage 3 would also have some action, with Paul Menard and AJ Allmendinger getting together and crashing in turn 2 with 74 to go. Both drivers were out of the race. Photo courtesy of Google images.

One of the big stories of the night was the big crash in stage 3 with 68 to go. Joey Logano would have a brake rotor fail and fly out of the right front of the hood on the frontstretch. His car veered to the right and took out Danica Patrick as well. Aric Almirola would also pile into the wreck and would have to be cut out of the car and put onto a stretcher. Almirola suffered a T5 compression fracture in his back. Photos courtesy of Google images.

Corey Lajioe's bad luck for the season would also continue as he blew a tire in turn 2 with 24 to go in stage 3. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The luck for Erik Jones didn't get any better as he spun once again with 9 to go after contact from Ty Dillon. Jones spun through the infield grass on the frontstretch. He suffered little damage. He did finish the race after all the spins.  Photo courtesy of Google images.

The action between Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson came to a head at the end of the race with 5 to go. Busch went to block Denny Hamlin on the restart and squeezed Hamlin in between himself and Johnson with Johnson spinning into the infield in turn 1. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Martin Truex Jr won the race after holding off Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney on the restart. Austin Dillon would also hit the wall after the checkered flag in turn 2. Next week is the All-Star race. See ya next week. Goodnight everyone. Photos courtesy of Google images.

Talladega Recap

Welcome back to Captain Josh's Pit Stop. Today we are going to recap the action from Talladega. Aric Almirola won his 2nd career Xfinity Series race on Saturday. Formula One had an off weekend but they will be back in Spain next weekend at the Circuit De Barcelona Catalunya. One of my favorite tracks on the F1 schedule. Now onto the Cup race.

The GEICO 500 ran on Sunday with Ricky Stenhouse Jr earning his 2nd career pole. His first came at Atlanta in 2013. Fan favorite Dale Jr started alongside. The first and second stages consisted of 55 laps, with the final stage making up the final 78 laps. The race was 188 laps. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The first caution came out early in stage 1 with Kyle Larson getting a bump from teammate Jamie McMurray on the backstretch, which resulted in Larson hitting the wall and cutting a tire on lap 17. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Brad Keselowski took home stage 1 after running up front for the entire stage. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The next caution occurred in stage 2 with 29 to go when Reed Sorenson cut a tire going into turn 1. The right front came apart and took Sorenson out of contention due to the damage. Photo courtesy of Google images and NASCAR.

Denny Hamlin took stage 2 to the house. He ran up front also during the stage. Hamlin was the winner of the 2014 spring race at Talladega. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The action would heat up in stage 3 with Ryan Blaney spinning head on to the outside backstretch wall. Blaney was spun after being squeezed between a lap car and with contact from behind from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Blaney was out of the race. Photo courtesy of Google images and NASCAR.

The big one occurred in stage 3 after AJ Allmendinger got into the back of Chase Elliott in turn 2 and spun Elliott around, causing the crash. A total of 16 cars were involved with Allmendinger flipping over on his roof. Several drivers went airborne and had wild rides. All drivers involved were ok. Photos courtesy of Google images.

Landon Cassil would not make the finish as his engine failed on the restart with 16 to go after the caution for the big one. Dale Jr also had a loose wheel and had to pit. Cassil wouldn't make it back around to the pits, causing a caution. Dale Jr would receive the free pass and be back on the lead lap. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The final caution occurred with 3 laps to go as Ryan Newman was spun into the inside wall, hitting it on the driver side. Newman spun after Clint Bowyer and Chris Buescher got together. Newman was out of the race. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The finish was great, as Ricky Stenhouse Jr picked up his first career Monster Energy Cup Series win. It also ended a long drought for Roush Fenway Racing as well. Stenhouse held off a hard charging Kyle Busch for the victory. Photo courtesy of Google images. Well that's it for today. Next week, NASCAR heads to the Midwest to Kansas Speedway. See ya then. Goodnight everyone.

Dale Jr Announces Retirement

Welcome back once again for a quick update on the big story of the week. If you haven't heard already or if you've been under a rock, Dale Earnhardt Jr announced his retirement at the end of the 2017 season. Earnhardt is competing in his 18th season of Monster Energy Cup racing and made his debut in 1999. His first full season was completed in 2000. Earnhardt has had plenty of health problems with multiple concussions over the years, with the most recent sidelining him for the last part of 2016. He stated that he was proud that he was able to go on his own terms. I do wish him the best after the end of the season and I thank him for all he has done for the sport. It'll be different not seeing him on the track, but hopefully a young driver will take his seat and make the #88 car competitive. I have a feeling Alex Bowman will be a big candidate to take Earnhardt's seat after substituting for Jr last year. Just my prediction. That is all for now. I hope you enjoyed. Goodnight everyone. Photo courtesy of Google images and Fox Sports.

Richmond Recap

Welcome back to Captain Josh's Pit Stop. Today we recap the action from "the action track" itself Richmond. The Xfinity Series ran Saturday with Kyle Larson winning the race and Justin Allgiaer winning the dash-for-cash. Also the top headline coming into the weekend was the announcement of Dale Jr's retirement after the 2017 season. There will be a blog on that coming up. One more note to mention was Vallterri Bottas won his first career Formula One race at Russia on Sunday with Sebastian Vettel finishing 2nd. Vettel is the current points leader. Now to the Cup race. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The Toyota Owners 400 ran on Sunday with Matt Kenseth winning his first pole of the season. Ryan Blaney was once again alongside on the front row. The first and second stages consisted of 100 laps with the third stage making up the final 200 laps, and that would make up the 400 lap race. And Dale Jr would start his first race since announcing his retirement from 12th. Photos courtesy of Google images.

The action would start early as Erik Jones made contact with Kasey Kahne and cut a tire into turn 3. The incident occurred in stage 1 on lap 6. Jones was out of the race. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The action continued as Ricky Stenhouse Jr would hit the wall going into turn 3 in stage 1 with 35 to go. He would rebound however to a top 5 finish. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Matt Kenseth won stage 1 after leading the whole stage. There would be no cautions in stage 2 and Brad Keselowski took the second stage. Photos courtesy of Google images and Fox Sports.

Dale Jr's bad luck would continue, as he made contact with his teammate Jimmie Johnson off of turn 2, and then cut a tire going into turn 3 as a result. The caution came out in stage 3 with 56 to go. Then Dale Jr's day came to an end with 44 to go when he cut another tire from the damage he suffered and spun into the wall. Photo courtesy of Google images.

During the caution for Dale Jr's spin, Clint Bowyer and Ty Dillon got together going into the pits for caution flag stops. Both continued on.

Matt Kenseth would have his luck run out as he made contact with Chase Elliott on the restart. He would soldier on. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The theme of cut tires came to an end with Ryan Blaney being the last victim. He made contact with Kurt Busch in turn 3 with 24 to go in stage 3. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Joey Logano went on to win his first race of the year. He would continue his rivalry with Kyle Busch however when he would hold up Busch going into the pits with a late decision to pit. Busch was unhappy for sure. That's all for now. Next up, Talladega. Join me next week to recap the Cup race from Earnhardt country. Goodnight everyone. Also coming up is a blog updating Dale Jr's retirement. Stay tuned. Photos courtesy of Google images.