MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
Apache Warrior 400 Presented by Lucas Oil
Dover International Speedway – Dover, Delaware
Sunday, October 1, 2017
Race Winner: Kyle Busch
Age: 32
Team: No. 18 –M&M’s Caramel Toyota
Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing
Crew Chief: Adam Stevens
IN THE WORDS OF THE WINNER – “It’s no doubt the moment that you live for. It’s the moment that all these guys live for and what we with do with this M&M’s Caramel team. This Toyota Camry was not the best there early on, but we made a lot of gains on it and got it where it was really good there at the end and I was making the most out of it there and being able to run the top and get some speed going with some momentum around the top side.”
· Kyle Busch
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· Kyle Busch won the 48th annual Apache Warrior 400 Presented by Lucas Oil Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Dover International Speedway Sunday afternoon. It was the final of the three races in the Round of 16 of the MENCS playoffs. It is Busch’s 42nd win in 455 career MENCS races and his fourth victory in 29 races this year. He now has won two of the three 2017 playoff races, as he also captured the checkered flag last week at New Hampshire.
· Busch now has won three of the last 14 NASCAR playoffs races, including the 2015 Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to capture the Cup title. It also marked his third victory in 26 MENCS races at Dover.
· Overall, today’s finish marked Busch’s 18th top-10 and 12th top-5 in 29 races of 2017.
· This marked the 14th 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 second straight week, each of the top five finishers today were playoff drivers.
· Chase Elliott (2nd) posted his 16th top-10 finish in 29 MENCS races this year and his eighth in the top-5. It tied a career-best finish in the Cup series that he attained four times previously, including twice this year.
· Jimmie Johnson (3rd) posted his 10th top-10 finish in 29 races this year. It was also his fourth top-5 showing. It was his best finish since he won at Dover back on June 4 of this year.
· Daniel Suarez (8th) 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).
· Brad Keselowski won Stage 1 while Kyle Larson claimed Stage 2.
· The following are the playoff standings following the Round of 16. The Round of 12 of the playoffs commences next Sunday in Charlotte. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, November 19.
Name Pts. Name Pts.
1. Martin Truex Jr.* 3059 9. Ryan Blaney* 3008
2. Kyle Busch* 3041 10. Chase Elliott* 3006
3. Kyle Larson* 3034 11. Matt Kenseth* 3005
4. Brad Keselowski* 3020 12. Jamie McMurray* 3003
5. Jimmie Johnson* 3017 13. Ryan Newman 2067
6. Kevin Harvick* 3015 14. Austin Dillon 2065
7. Denny Hamlin* 3013 15. Kasey Kahne 2046
8. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.* 3010 16. Kurt Busch 2044
*Advances to Round of 12
· In 12 career MENCS starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kyle Busch has recorded one win among five top-10 finishes and two top-5 showings. He won the 2015 Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway when he was part of the Championship 4, taking home the first Cup championship of his career.
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
· Ryan Blaney won the 32nd annual Use Your Melon. Drive Sober 200 NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) race at Dover International Speedway on Saturday. It is his sixth victory in 60 career XFINITY Series starts. It was his second win in nine XFINITY Series races this year. It was his eighth finish in the top-10 and top-5 in his nine 2017 races.
· The race marked the second of the 2017 XFINITY Series playoffs.
· Justin Allgaier (2nd) was the highest finisher among the 12 XFINITY playoff drivers. It was Allgaier’s 15th top-10 finish and ninth top-5 in 28 races this year.
· Rookie William Byron (3rd) – also among the 12 playoff drivers - accounted for his 18th top-10 finish and tenth top-5 showing in 28 races this year.
· In fact, five of the top six finishers and nine of the top 11 were playoff drivers.
· The following are the standings following the second of three races in the Round of 12 of the 2017 NXS playoffs. Four drivers will be eliminated from the playoffs following next weekend’s race in Charlotte. 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. Justin Allgaier 2107 7. Matt Tifft# 2067
2. William Byron# 2104 8. Ryan Reed 2055
3. Elliott Sadler 2094 9. Brendan Gaughan 2053
4. Cole Custer# 2093 10. Michael Annett 2048
5. Daniel Hemric# 2090 11. Blake Koch 2043
6. Brennan Poole 2082 12. Jeremy Clements 2035
#Denotes rookie
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
· Ben Rhodes won the 21st annual Las Vegas 350 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race on Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The race was the second of the 2017 Camping World Truck Series playoffs. It marked Rhodes’ first victory in 45 career NCWTS starts.
· For Rhodes it was his 11th top-10 finish and sixth top-5 showing in 18 races this year.
· With the victory, Rhodes – one of eight drivers in the playoffs – joins Christopher Bell (winner of last week’s race in New Hampshire) in advancing to the Round of 6 in the NCWTS playoffs.
· Christopher Bell (2nd) accounted for his 16th top-10 finish and 12th top-5 showing in 18 NCWTS races this year.
· Rookie Chase Briscoe (3rd) posted his 11th top-10 finish and seventh top-5 showing in 18 NCWTS races this year.
· Each of the top five finishers and seven of the top eight were playoff drivers.
· The following are the playoff standings following the second of three races in the Round of 8 in the NCWTS playoffs. Two drivers will be eliminated from the playoffs following the race in two weeks 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
