New Hampshire Recap

Welcome back to Captain Josh's Pit Stop. Today I recap the action from New Hampshire. Also the Xfinity and ARCA series ran at Kentucky. Austin Theriault won the ARCA race and the 2017 championship at Kentucky. Also, Tyler Reddick took home his first career Xfinity Series win at Kentucky. Formula One had an off weekend. They will be back this coming weekend in Malaysia. Now onto the Cup race. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The ISM Connect 300 ran on Sunday afternoon with Kyle Busch on the pole with Kyle Larson alongside. It was the Kyle and Kyle show on the front row. The first and second stages consisted of 75 laps. The final stage made up the final 150 laps. The race was 300 laps. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Not much happened in stage 1. Martin Truex Jr took home an action free stage 1 win. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Not much happened in stage 2 also. Until the end however, as Kevin Harvick was spun off turn 2 by Austin Dillon. Harvick's car came to a stop in the middle of the backstretch with a cloud of smoke behind him. The smoke blinded several drivers and they piled into Kevin Harvick as shown above, including Kurt Busch, Dale Jr, Martin Truex Jr, and Jeffrey Earnhardt. As shown in the first photo, Kyle Busch snuck through the crash to win stage 2. Photos courtesy of Google images.

The action in the final stage heated up. The race was pretty calm though stage 1 and until the end of stage 2. David Ragan had an incident in the final stage with 33 to go in the race. Ragan spun off turn 2 and into the outside wall. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The day also ended for Trevor Bayne in the final stage. Bayne also spun off turn 2 in about the same way as David Ragan did. The incident occurred with 28 to go in the race. I apologize if the photo isn't completely accurate. Photo is courtesy of Google images.

At the end of the day, Kyle Busch snuck through the stage 2 crash and went on to pick up the win. It was Busch's 3rd win of the season. Photos courtesy of Google images.

Here are the playoff standings after round 2 at New Hampshire. Kyle Busch advances to the round of 12 with his win. Also, Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski advance to the round of 12 on points. That is it for now. Next week, NASCAR heads to Dover for the final race of the first round of the playoffs. It will be an elimination race as 4 drivers will be eliminated, cutting the field from 16 to 12. Who will be eliminated from title contention? Tune in next week to find out. Goodnight everyone. Photo courtesy of Fox Sports.

Chicagoland Recap

Welcome back to Captain Josh's Pit Stop. Today I recap the action from Chicagoland. Also in other news, Christopher Bell won the ARCA race at Chicagoland on Friday night. Johnny Sauter won the final regular season race at Chicagoland on Friday night. And Lewis Hamilton won the F1 Singapore Grand Prix after polesitter Sebastian Vettel crashed on the opening lap along with teammate Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen. And one last note, Josef Newgarden won the 2017 Indycar championship on Sunday afternoon. Now onto the Cup race. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The first race of the 2017 Monster Energy Cup Series ran on Sunday with the Tales Of The Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. Kyle Busch won the pole with a lap that was 4 tenths ahead of everyone else, thus going back to the comments that Brad Keselowski had made on Twitter. He commented on Toyota having an unfair advantage over everyone else. Denny Hamlin shared the front row alongside Busch. The first and second stages consisted of 80 laps, with the final stage making up the final 107 laps. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Polesitter Kyle Busch won stage 1 after leading the whole stage. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The day wouldn't go quite as smooth as Kyle Busch would've thought. His day would start to unfold at lap 96 in stage 2, as Busch would have to pit due to a loose wheel. Busch would later have to come back to pit road at lap 99 after his crew was over the wall too soon during his stop for the loose wheel.

Chase Elliott took home the stage 2 win after Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr had problems on pit road. Truex had a problem with a tire and then was caught speeding. This gave Elliott the stage win. Photo courtesy of Google images.

As usually the case, the action began to heat up in the final stage as the playoff drivers tried to get the best spot they could. Jamie McMurray would try a bit too hard on the restart after the stage 2 ending at lap 168. McMurray made contact with Ryan Newman and went for a spin on the backstretch. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The day also went wrong for rookie Erik Jones. Jones had his air conditioner brake and it blew hot air into his helmet for most of the race. This could of caused him to spin off turn 4 in the final stage at lap 210. Photo courtesy of Google images.

At the end of the day, Martin Truex Jr came back through the field to win the first race of the playoffs. Great win for Truex and his team after coming close to winning the last two weeks. Photos courtesy of Google images.

Here are the standings after race 1 of the playoffs. Chase Elliott received a points penalty after his car failed post race inspection. Next race is New Hampshire. For continued coverage of all things racing and the 2017 playoffs, tune in to Captain Josh's Pit Stop. Photo courtesy of Fox Sports Facebook page.

2017 Monster Energy Cup Series Playoff Drivers

Welcome back to a quick blog about all of the 16 drivers that qualified for the 2017 Monster Energy Cup Series Playoffs. I will post a photo of the drivers and name them. Then, I will post a photo of the standings going into the first race. Let's get to it. All photos are courtesy of Google images.

Here are your drivers that made the playoffs this year: from top left: Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman. From bottom left: Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Blaney, Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Jimmie Johnson.

Here are the standings for the playoffs going into the first round at Chicagoland. Martin Truex Jr was the regular season champion. Photo courtesy of NASCAR.com. I hope you enjoyed the preview of the drivers. I wish them the best of luck. Goodnight everyone.

Richmond Recap

Hello everyone and welcome back to Captain Josh's Pit Stop. Tonight I recap the weekends action from Richmond. The Truck Series had an off weekend along with Formula One. Brad Keselowski won the Xfinity race on Friday night. Now onto the Cup race. Photo courtesy of Google images.

 The Federated Auto Parts 400 ran on Saturday night with Matt Kenseth earning the pole with teammate Denny Hamlin alongside. The first and second stages consisted of 100 laps. The final stage made up the final 200 laps. The race was 400 laps. The drivers also did a 4-wide salute to the fans in honor of fan appreciation weekend. Photos courtesy of Google images.

The race went green until 66 to go in the first stage, when Landon Cassill cut a tire in turn 2 and hit the outside wall. Cassill would have an end to his night. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Matt Kenseth had a scare with 14 to go in stage 1. Kenseth came up on a lap car going into turn 3 and locked up his brakes, causing smoke to billow out of his car. Nascar immediately threw the caution thinking there was oil or fluid on the track. There was not any reports of fluid out of Kenseth's car. Photo courtesy of Google images.

And your winner for stage 1, Kyle Busch. Busch held off Kyle Larson after taking the lead on the wild restart after the Kenseth incident. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Martin Truex Jr once again takes home a stage win to win stage 2. There wasn't much going on in the second stage.

The final stage began to heat up. Danica Patrick went for a spin in turn 2 after contact from behind from Austin Dillon. The incident occurred at lap 255 in the final stage. Photo courtesy of Google images.

During the caution for Danica Patrick's spin, the drivers hit pit road for pit stops. While entering the pits, there was a miscommunication between NASCAR and the track ambulance as the ambulance was caught sitting at the entrance to the pits. Multiple drivers suffered damage to their cars, including Matt Kenseth, who ended up out of the race due to radiator damage. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Martin Truex Jr was looking to win his first short track race of his career, once again he got the unlucky caution with 4 to go. Derikke Cope hit the wall off turn 4 and created the overtime restart. Kyle Larson passed Truex to win his first short track win of his career. Truex then crashed into turn 1 after contact from behind from Denny Hamlin. Well that's it for now. Next week, the playoffs begin. I will post a blog later naming the 16 drivers who will fight for the 2017 Monster Energy Cup Series championship. Who's your pick? Mine is definitely Martin Truex Jr. See ya next week for Chicagoland. Photos courtesy of Google images.

Darlington Recap

Welcome back to Captain Josh's Pit Stop. Today, I recap the weekends action from Darlington. The Camping World Truck Series headed out of the U.S. to race in Canada at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. Austin Cindric picked up his first Truck Series win after moving Kaz Grala out of the way in a controversial finish. Denny Hamlin won the Xfinity Series race, but it was announced on Wednesday that his win was ruled encumbered after failing post race inspection. More on that at the end of this recap. Also, Lewis Hamilton won the F1 Italian Grand Prix. Now onto the Cup race. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The Bojangles Southern 500 continued the throwback labor day tradition on Sunday night with Kevin Harvick earning the pole with Martin Truex Jr alongside. The first and second stages consisted of 100 laps, with the final stage making up the final 167. The race was 367 laps, 500 miles. Also, before the green flag, Richard Petty was the honorary pace car driver in his #43  Plymouth that he used to drive, and he would have a bit too much fun and wouldn't get off the track and delayed the race start. Long story short, "The King" was black flagged by NASCAR and it was a sight to see. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Ryan Blaney had a rough night at "The Lady In Black". Blaney hit the wall off turn 4 in stage 1 with 95 to go in the stage. He was also involved in a spin with David Ragan in the final stage at lap 207. More on that later. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Another driver that had trouble was Trevor Bayne. Bayne hit the wall in turn 2 after a blown tire from earlier contact with the wall. Bayne would then get into AJ Allmendinger and send him spinning as well. The two driver were not happy with each other as tempers flared up early during stage 1. Photo courtesy of Google images.

For Bayne's teammate, Ricky Stenhouse Jr also had a trouble filled night. Stenhouse Jr spun on the frontstretch into the outside wall as shown above. The incident occurred during stage 1. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Martin Truex Jr continued his stage dominance this year by winning stages 1 and 2. But the first stage wasn't easy, as Truex passed Kyle Larson right at the finish line for a close finish to stage 1. Truex Jr had a great long run car. Truex also claimed the regular season championship after the stage 2 win was taken under caution from the previous incident. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The rookies also had a rough night at Darlington. Daniel Suarez blew a right front tire in turn 1 to start out stage 2 with 74 to go in the stage. Photo courtesy of Google images.

As the night wore on, things got worse for AJ Allmendinger. He had his altercation with Trevor Bayne earlier in the race, and was involved in another incident in stage 2 with 45 to go in the stage. Allmendinger spun off turn 2 along with Cody Ware in the #51 car. Race leader Martin Truex Jr barely missed the standing cars after their spin. Photos courtesy of Google images.

Another rookie with issues during the race was Gray Gaulding in the #83 car. Gaulding made contact with the turn 2 wall and suffered damage to the right side of his car, cutting his right front tire and ending his night. Photo courtesy of Google images.

As I had mentioned earlier in the recap, Ryan Blaney was involved in an incident with David Ragan in the final stage at lap 207. Ragan spun in turn 2 after getting loose underneath Blaney trying to pass him. Blaney was multiple laps down after his issues earlier in the race. Photo courtesy of Google images.

The race heated up towards the end of the final stage. Denny Hamlin was in prime position to win his second Southern 500, but he missed pit road during green flag pit stops with 54 to go. Photo courtesy of Google images.

Wait, you thought Hamlin lost? Well he won the race, but as I mentioned earlier, his Xfinity win was encumbered. Also, his Cup win was encumbered as well. Hamlin caught the leader Martin Truex Jr and passed him after Truex popped a tire with 2 to go since he was dealing with an ill handling car. Hamlin's crew chief has been suspended for a couple races and fined as well. Well that's it for tonight folks. Next week is the last race before the Cup Series playoffs. Who will make the Chase and be the 2017 Monster Energy Cup Series champion? We will find out soon enough. Also the Xfinity and Truck Series playoffs start one race later than the Cup Series. See ya then. Photos courtesy of Google images.