Indy Recap

Welcome back to Captain Josh's Pit Stop. If you missed the action at Indianapolis, you missed a heck of a show. Also the truck series raced at the dirt track Eldora Speedway in Ohio on Wednesday. Matt Crafton took home the victory for that race. William Byron also won his 3rd career Xfinity race on Saturday at Indy. The Xfinty Series introduced a different rules package to make the racing better. It did for sure. Now onto the Cup race. Be aware, there was a ton of action. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The Brickyard 400 ran on Sunday with Kyle Busch earning the pole with Kevin Harvick alongside. The race was crazy and controversial for sure. The first and second stages consisted of 50 laps. The final stage made up the final 60 laps. Photos courtesy of Google images.

The first caution came out early in stage 1 as Corey Lajoie went for a spin in turn 3. Lajoie was out of the race after contact with the wall. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Shortly after the Corey Lajoie crash, the rain came and delayed the race for over an hour on lap 12. There was lightning in the area as well. The storm cleared and the race resumed. Photos courtesy of Google images.

Chase Elliott's day ended early in stage 1 with 5 to go in the stage. The engine in his car let go put Elliott in the garage. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Kyle Busch won stage 1 and 2 after leading both stages. Photo courtesy of Google images.

No photos available for the next incident. J.J Yeley also had a rough day at Indy. Yeley crashed in turn 2 along with David Ragan and Jeffery Earnhardt in stage 2 with 44 to go in the stage. Yeley would later cut a tire from the damage suffered in the crash in stage 2 with 30 to go in the stage.

The final start for Dale Jr at Indianapolis didn't go as he hoped. Jr would be out of the race in stage 2 with 25 to go. There was a jam up on the restart and Jr got into the back of Trevor Bayne, damaging his radiator. Photos courtesy of Google images.

The action heated up in the final stage. Ricky Stenhouse Jr also had an end to his day at lap 107 in stage 3. Stenhouse Jr broke loose inside Jimmie Johnson off turn 2 and spun into the backstretch wall. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Here was the turning point of the whole day. Martin Truex Jr and Kyle Busch had the fastest cars of the race. On the restart, they went side by side into turn 1 in stage 3 with 49 to go in the race. Truex broke loose underneath Busch and they both crashed in turn 2. This would create all the chaos for the end, with everyone else trying to seize the opportunity for the win after the 2 fastest cars who dominated the race were out. Photos courtesy of Google images.

The next big incident of the race occurred with 11 to go in the race. Paul Menard broke loose off turn 4, and Clint Bowyer tried to avoid him and spun into the inside wall on the frontstretch. Kurt Busch also hit Bowyer hard as Bowyer was in the middle of the track. Erik Jones was also involved. This caution also created an opportunity for 3 drivers. Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, and Kasey Kahne stayed out under the previous caution and were trying to catch another caution during a long green flag run. Kahne ended up putting right when the caution came out for the Bowyer/Busch crash. Kahne stayed on the lead lap and inherited the lead of the race. Photos courtesy of Google images.

Kyle Larson also had a hard crash on the frontstretch after trying to pass Ty Dillon. Dillon blocked Larson all the way down the track to a point where Larson had to either lift or crash. The incident occurred with 7 to go. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The next restart was crazy, as Jimmie Johnson's car started smoking into turn 1. Johnson, Kahne, and Keselowski ended up going 3 wide into turn 3 with Johnson getting loose underneath both Kahne and Keselowski and spun into the outside wall. Johnson was reported having an engine problem. Photos courtesy of Google images.

The race would continue to get heated as the next restart would be a controversial one. The rule on the restart is the leader can go anytime in the restart zone. Once the leader passes the zone and if he hasn't accelerated yet, then the flag person starts the race. Kahne hadn't went as quickly as Keselowski anticipated, causing a crash. Trevor Bayne got into the back of Keselowski, and multiple cars crashed behind them. Photos courtesy of Google images.

At the end of it all, Kasey Kahne used his strategy to hold off Keselowski on the final restart to break the 102 race winless streak dating back to Atlanta in 2014, and took home his first Brickyard 400. The race lasted over 6 hours due to the rain and multiple red flags to clean up all the wrecks. I hope you enjoyed the blog. The race was crazy and the best of the year in my opinion. Next week the series heads to Pocono once again. See ya then. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Alex Bowman To Drive #88 Car For 2018

Welcome back to Captain Josh's Pit Stop. I wanted to update all the fans who haven't heard about some news today. If you've been living under a rock, Dale Earnhardt Jr announced his retirement earlier this year. And everyone has been speculating who would replace him. Well it was confirmed earlier today that Alex Bowman will replace NASCAR's most popular driver. Great choice in my opinion. Bowman did a great job subbing for Dale Jr the last part of the year last year. Bowman has talent, and he will do a great job. I also want to note that Matt Kenseth won't be in the #20 Joe Gibbs Toyota. Erik Jones will replace Kenseth. The silly season continues, stay tuned to Captain Josh's Pit Stop for more news.

Kentucky Recap

Welcome back to Captain Josh's Pit Stop. I hope everyone is enjoying my blogs. Today I recap the action from Kentucky. All three of NASCAR's top series raced at Kentucky Speedway. Christopher Bell won a rain delayed truck series race on Thursday night. The Xfinity race was postponed to Saturday morning with Kyle Busch picking up his 88th career Xfinity win. Vallterri Bottas won his second career F1 race in Austria on Sunday in his Mercedes. Sebastian Vettel came home in second keeping his points lead. Did you catch all that? On to the Cup race. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The Quaker State 400 took place on Saturday night with Xfinity race winner Kyle Busch on the pole with Martin Truex Jr alongside on the front row. The first and second stages were 80 laps, with the final stage making up the final 107 laps, completing the 267 lap, 400 mile race. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Martin Truex Jr continued his stage dominance winning both stage 1 and 2. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The action heated up in stage 2 with 70 to go in the stage. Brad Keselowski would get loose underneath Clint Bowyer going into turn 3 on the restart. Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott were also collected as shown above. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The next restart also had some action in stage 2 with 67 to go in the stage. Trevor Bayne and Kasey Kahne fought for the bottom line going into turn 1 due to the recently repaved track. Both drivers spun and hit the turn 1 wall. Bayne later spun due to the damage with 48 to go in the second stage. Photos courtesy of Google images.

The night ended early for rookie Joey Gase, as he cut a tire going into turn 3 in stage 2 with 23 to go in the stage. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Warning photo overload. The race went green in stage 3 until 2 to go when leader Truex Jr's progress was halted due to a blown engine by Kurt Busch. That created a green white checkered finish. During the caution, there were 8 cars on the lead lap due to Truex Jr having a fast car. All the lead lap cars except Truex pitted. Truex was able to hold off the field on the restart after a crash occurred. Darrell Wallace Jr who was replacing the injured Aric Almirola, got into Matt Kenseth in turn 4, ending the race under caution. Well that's it for now. Next week, the magic mile, New Hampshire. See ya then. Photos courtesy of Google images.

Daytona Recap

Hello everyone and welcome back to Captain Josh's Pit Stop. And I would like to wish all of you a Happy 4th Of July. Today I recap the action from Daytona. William Byron won a rain postponed Xfinity race on Saturday earning his 2nd win a row. Formula One had an off weekend, but will be back next week in Austria. The Truck series also had an off weekend. Now to the Cup race. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The Coke Zero 400 ran on Saturday night with sentimental favorite Dale Jr starting his final Daytona start on the pole with Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott alongside. The first and second stages consisted of 50 laps. The final stage would be 60 laps.  Photo courtesy of Google images.

The first caution came early in stage 1 with 25 to go in the stage. DJ Kennington went for a spin off turn 4 after an engine failure. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Brad Keselowski took home stage 1 for his 3rd stage win of the year. Keselowski is the defending winner of the Coke Zero 400. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Daniel Suarez had a scare in stage 2 with 31 to go. He would get loose off turn 4 and save it by going down pit road. He was speeding but since he almost spins there was no penalty as long as he tried to reduce his speed. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Dale Jr had a rough night for his final Daytona start. It all started in stage 2 with 29 to go in the stage. Jr would hit the wall in turn 2 and make it to pit road with no caution. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The night was not good for the Earnhardt's as Jeffery Earnhardt had an engine failure in stage 2 with 22 to go in the stage. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The big one occurred in stage 2 with 10 to go in the stage. Kyle Busch would be turned by brother Kurt off turn 2, causing the crash. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Matt Kenseth took home a wild stage 2. Kenseth dominated the stage to take the win. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The night was cut short for Xfinity Series regular Brendon Gaughan in stage 3 with 90 to go. Gaughan cut a tire off turn 4 after hitting the wall in turn 2. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Front row starter Chase Elliott went for a spin on the backstretch into the infield after contact with Michael McDowell and Trevor Bayne. The incident occurred in stage 3 at lap 98. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Brad Keselowski cut a tire off turn 4 after the earlier damage in the big one at lap 117 in stage 3. No photo available.

Hendrick Motorsports had a rough night. Kasey Kahne would go for a spin off turn 2 at lap 121. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Matt DiBenedetto would blow a tire off turn 2 at lap 129. He was out of the race. Again no photo available. I apologize for this but it was hard to find photos for some incidents.

Kyle Larson went for a wild ride in stage 3 with 8 to go on the frontstretch. Kurt Busch also hit the wall on the frontstretch. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The final caution came out with 3 to go. Erik Jones and Denny Hamlin would spin off turn 2. Photo courtesy of Google images.

At the end of the wild night, Ricky Stenhouse Jr passed David Ragan on the restart to win his 2nd straight restrictor plate race of the season. That's all for now. I apologize for some incidents not having photos. Hopefully I can find more next week when NASCAR heads to Kentucky. See you then.