Sunday, August 21, 2016

RACE RECAPS- BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY


RACE RECAPS- BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race
Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, Tennessee
Sunday, August 21, 2016

Race Winner: Kevin Harvick
Age: 40
Team: No. 4 – Busch Beer Chevrolet
Owner: Stewart-Haas Racing
Crew Chief: Rodney Childers

IN THE WORDS OF THE WINNER – “I’ve got to thank Busch Beer, Jimmy John’s, Chevrolet, and Mobil 1 and everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing on this Chevrolet. We should have won a lot of races this year but we just had things not go our way. We made mistakes, or whatever the case may be. But, to get back into Victory Lane here at Bristol feels really good. We’ve had some good cars here over the last few years. And to have Busch Beer on the car; we’ve had crummy luck with these guys on the car and so I’m just really happy for Busch and Jimmy John’s and really proud of these guys on the No. 4 team.”

-       Kevin Harvick

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·       Kevin Harvick won the 56th Annual Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race Sunday. For Harvick, it was his 33rd victory in 561 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

·         It is Harvick’s second victory and 18th top-10 finish in 2016. Harvick ended a streak of 18 races without a win, with his last victory coming at Phoenix International Raceway on March 13, 2016.

·         It is Harvick’s second victory and 15th top-10 finish in 32 races at Bristol Motor Speedway. His last win at Bristol came April 3, 2005.

·         Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (second) posted his fourth top-10 finish in eight races at Bristol Motor Speedway.

·         Stenhouse’s second place finish matched his best showing of his career, which also came at Bristol Motor Speedway in March 2014.

·         It is Stenhouse’s fifth top-10 and third top-5 showing of the 2016 season.

·         Denny Hamlin (third) posted his 10th top-10 finish in 22 races at Bristol Motor Speedway.

·         Austin Dillon finished fourth, giving him his 10th top-10 and fourth top-5 showing through 23 races this season.

·         Chris Buescher (fifth) posted his second top-10 finish this year. He was also the highest finishing rookie at Bristol Motor Speedway.

·       Kevin Harvick (762) leads the 2016 Sprint Cup points standing by 27 points over Brad Keselowski (735).  The following are the top-5 drivers in points through the first 23 races:


Driver                                           Wins                           Points
1.    Kevin Harvick                              2                                  762          
2.    Brad Keselowski                         4                                  735          
3.    Kurt Busch                                   1                                  692         
4.    Carl Edwards                               2                                  689        
5.    Joey Logano                                1                                  684                             


·      Eleven drivers have qualified for the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, a list which includes Tony Stewart, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr., all of who have taken checkered flags this year. 

·         As a result of his victory in the Pennsylvania 400 in Pocono on August 1, Chris Buescher would also qualify so long as he finishes in the top-30 in points after the season’s 26 regular season races. Buescher currently sits in the 30th spot with 328 points, 13 points ahead of David Ragan (315), who is in 31st.  The Chase culminates with the Ford EcoBoost 400 championship race on November 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

·         In 15 Sprint Cup Series starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kevin Harvick has recorded 12 top-10 and seven top-5 finishes. Also, Harvick celebrated his 2014 Sprint Cup Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway after winning the Ford EcoBoost 400.

Starting this year, the XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series will feature championship races at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 19 (NXS) and November 18 (NCWTS).  Four drivers will compete amongst a full field for their respective title. Below is a race recap from Friday’s XFINITY Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Camping World Truck Series raced on Wednesday at Bristol:

XFINITY SERIES
·         Austin Dillon won the 35th Annual Food City 300 XFINITY Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway Friday night. It was his eighth victory in 111 NASCAR XFINITY Series races.

·         It is Dillon’s second victory and 12th top-10 finish in 2016.

·         It is Dillon’s first victory and fourth top-10 finish in seven races at Bristol Motor Speedway.

·         Justin Allgaier (second) posted his seventh top-10 finish in 12 races at Bristol Motor Speedway. It is his 18th top-10 finish in 2016.

·         Kyle Larson (third) posted his sixth top-10 finish in seven races at Bristol Motor Speedway.

·         Brandon Jones (ninth) was the highest finishing rookie.

·         Elliott Sadler leads the point standings by 51 points over Daniel Suarez

·       Through 22 races this season in the XFINITY Series, Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez and Elliott Sadler have qualified for the 2016 XFINITY Series Chase following their victories. Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano have also won an XFINITY Series race this season but are ineligible for the XFINITY Series Chase due to their full-time status in the Sprint Cup Series. Sam Hornish Jr. and Justin Marks are also ineligible because they are not full-time drivers in the XFINITY Series.