MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
Bank of America 500
Charlotte Motor Speedway – Concord, North Carolina
Sunday, October 8, 2017
Race Winner: Martin Truex Jr.
Age: 37
Team: No. 78 – Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota
Owner: Furniture Row Racing
Crew Chief: Cole Pearn
IN THE WORDS OF THE WINNER – “Unbelievable win. Just a total team effort. Every single guy – every guy on this team just did a perfect job today and I can’t be more proud of them and at this time of the year is just when you want it to happen. You dream about days like today. I don’t know if we had the best car, but we damn sure got in victory lane.”
· Martin Truex Jr.
----------------
· Martin Truex Jr. won the 58th annual Bank of America 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Charlotte Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon. It was the first of the three races in the Round of 12 of the MENCS playoffs. It is Truex’s 13th win in 435 career MENCS races and his series-high sixth victory in 30 races this year. He now has won two of the four 2017 playoff races, as he also captured the checkered flag in the playoff opener at Chicago (9/17).
· With the victory, Truex locks up a spot in the Round of 8 in the MENCS playoffs.
· Overall, today’s finish marked Truex’s 21st top-10 and 14th top-5 in 30 races of 2017.
· This marked the 15th straight playoff race that was won by a driver who was still alive in the playoffs. The streak dates back to the 2015 Ford EcoBoost 400 on November 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which was won by Kyle Busch.
· For the third straight week, each of the top five finishers today were playoff drivers.
· Chase Elliott (2nd) posted his 17th top-10 finish in 30 MENCS races this year and his ninth in the top-5. It tied a career-best finish in the Cup series that he attained five times previously, including three this year. He now has placed second in two straight races.
· Kevin Harvick (3rd) posted his 18th top-10 finish in 30 races this year. It was also his 10th top-5 showing. It was his second third-place finish in the 2017 playoffs (at Chicago, 9/17).
· For the second week in a row, Daniel Suarez (6th) was the highest finishing rookie.
· For 2017, NASCAR has introduced a new stage format in all three national series where each race is segmented into three stages. In addition to the points awarded at the end of a race (Final Stage), points are also awarded to the top-10 finishers of the first two stages (Stage 1 & Stage 2).
· Kevin Harvick won both Stage 1 and Stage 2 of today’s race.
· The following are the playoff standings following the first of three races in the Round of 12. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, November 19.
Name Pts. Name Pts.
1. Martin Truex Jr.* 3106 7. Jimmie Johnson 3051
2. Kyle Larson 3072 8. Jamie McMurray 3044
3. Kevin Harvick 3069 9. Matt Kenseth 3043
4. Chase Elliott 3059 10. Brad Keselowski 3042
5. Denny Hamlin 3056 11. Ryan Blaney 3039
6. Kyle Busch 3055 12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 3034
*Advances to Round of 8
· In 12 career MENCS starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Martin Truex Jr. has recorded seven top-10 finishes and three top-5 showings. He was part of the Championship 4 in the 2015 Ford EcoBoost 400 when he finished 12th.
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
· Alex Bowman won the 36th annual Drive for the Cure 300 Presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday. It is his first victory in 51 career XFINITY Series starts.
· The race marked the third of the 2017 XFINITY Series playoffs, and concluded the Round of 12.
· Sam Hornish Jr (2nd) posted his second top-10 and top-5 finish in five NXS races this year.
· Ryan Blaney (3rd) amassed his ninth top-10 and top-5 showing in 10 NXS races this year.
· Brennan Poole (5th) was the highest finisher among the 12 XFINITY playoff drivers.
· Five of the top 10 finishers were playoff drivers.
· The following are the standings following the Round of 12 of the 2017 NXS playoffs. The Round of 8 commences in two weeks at Kansas. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 300 XFINITY Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, November 18.
Name Pts. Name Pts.
1. William Byron*# 3026 7. Ryan Reed* 3005
2. Justin Allgaier* 3023 8. Matt Tifft*# 3004
3. Elliott Sadler* 3020 9. Brendan Gaughan 2079
4. Daniel Hemric*# 3009 10. Michael Annett 2058
5. Cole Custer*# 3007 11. Blake Koch 2055
6. Brennan Poole* 3006 12. Jeremy Clements 2052
*Advances to Round of 8 #Denotes rookie
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
· The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) was off this week. It will return to action next weekend at Talladega, which will conclude the Round of 8 in the NCWTS playoffs.
· The following are the playoff standings following two of three races in the Round of 8 in the NCWTS playoffs. Two drivers will be eliminated from the playoffs following the race next week at Talladega. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 200 Camping World Truck Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, November 17.
Name Pts. Name Pts.
1. Christopher Bell* 2152 5. Chase Briscoe# 2084
2. Ben Rhodes* 2105 6. Austin Cindric# 2082
3. Matt Crafton 2101 7. Kaz Grala# 2074
4. Johnny Sauter 2098 8. John Hunter Nemechek 2068
*Advances to Round of 6 with victory #Denotes rookie
