Latest news with #BuschLightPoleAward
Reuters
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Reuters
Ryan Blaney upsets Shane van Gisbergen for Watkins Glen pole
August 9 - WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Ryan Blaney claimed his second Busch Light Pole Award of the season Saturday afternoon at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International -- his second of the season, 15th of his career and second-ever on a road course. For the first time in his NASCAR Cup Series championship career, Blaney will lead the field to green in Sunday's Go Bowling at The Glen. It was a dramatic effort for the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang, knocking the reigning road course master, Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen, from the top spot on the speed chart by a slight .33 seconds with a lap of 122.568 mph around the historic 2.45-mile road course in scenic upstate New York. It was a markedly different day for the 31-year old North Carolinian Blaney, who endured a disappointing showing here a year ago when a poor qualifying effort left him in a vulnerable position. He was ultimately eliminated from the race on the opening lap. Blaney acknowledged that beating the road-racing ace van Gisbergen on Sunday will be another story. "Ninety laps is going to be a little harder to beat him tomorrow, but gotta start somewhere,'' the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion said with a smile. "It's more neat for me because we had an absolutely abysmal weekend here last year. ... We've worked really hard on where we need to get better here, where I need to do a better job. How can we improve our race cars. So it was like a big dual effort. "Just proud of their dedication to get better at this place and improving the car from last year and I tried to work on a lot of things. I consider myself a pretty average road course racer and I've worked really hard on trying to get better, where can I improve my driving skills and styles and compete a little bit more at these places and it's neat when that all comes together. "I try to take these things one day at a time. Tomorrow is a whole different task but it's nice to have done our job really well today and now about focusing on trying to make 90 good laps tomorrow.'' It is the 150th NASCAR Cup Series pole for Team Penske, making the storied organization only the fourth team in series history to eclipse that mark. Blaney and van Gisbergen -- who has three road course wins on the season -- will lead the field to the green flag, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe, van Gisbergen's Trackhouse teammate Ross Chastain, and Richard Childress Racing's Kyle Busch, who for much of the qualifying session looked to have had a front row start. "That's not bad,'' said a smiling Busch, who won from pole position at Watkins Glen in 2008. "Great job by everyone on this Chevrolet,'' he added. "Feels good to have a good solid effort like that right now.'' Defending Watkins Glen race winner Chris Buescher, of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, will roll off 12th in the No. 17 RFK Ford. He holds the 16th and final points position among the 16 drivers currently aiming for the Playoffs with three regular season races remaining. His teammate Ryan Preece sits just 23 points behind him in the standings and will start 17th. Their team co-owner Brad Keselowski, who also needs a victory in one of the remaining three regular-season races will start 16th. Keselowski has back-up drivers on standby for the next three weeks as his wife Paige is due to give birth to their fourth child. Road course ace Joey Hand is at Watkins Glen. Championship points leader William Byron -- the 2023 Watkins Glen winner -- will roll off 10th. His teammate Chase Elliott, a two-time Watkins Glen winner who is 18 points behind Byron with three regular season races remaining, will start 20th. --By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service, Special to Field Level Media
Miami Herald
04-05-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Carson Hocevar wins first career NASCAR Cup pole at Texas
FORT WORTH, Tex.--Ride 'em, cowboy. Decked out in Texas-appropriate attire, Carson Hocevar put his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet on the pole for Sunday's WURTH 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY at Texas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). With the second fastest lap in the era of the Gen 7 car, Hocevar toured the 1.5 mile track in 28.175 seconds (191.659 mph) to edge 2023 race winner William Byron (191.564 mph) for the top starting position by 0.014 seconds. The Busch Light Pole Award is the first of Hocevar's career, and at age 22, he's the youngest-ever pole winner at Texas. Clad in a firesuit designed as a cowboy outfit--courtesy of sponsor Chili's--and sporting a black 10-gallon hat, Hocevar reveled in the moment after his lap stood up to all comers. "Having the cowboy outfit--what better place to be on the pole," Hocevar said. "I'm normally so hard on myself, and I didn't think I nailed that lap at all, but I'm super proud of this team. "I'm so proud, because I've never had the No. 1 pit stall, and I've had a lot of issues with pit road and we've had a lot of bad luck. So I finally get the No. 1 pit stall, and I'm pumped about that." Austin Cindric, last Sunday's Talladega winner, qualified third at 191.523 mph in a closely compacted field. Larson, the last driver to make an attempt, was fourth at 191.421 mph. With 10 drivers to go, Ty Gibbs topped the chart at 191.293 mph, but Michael McDowell, Hocevar's teammate, eclipsed his time by 0.006 seconds in a lap at 191.333 mph. "Obviously, with Michael going out and putting up a really good lap time, I felt like we were faster than him in practice, and that gave me a little bit of confidence that our stuff was going to be as quick, if not hopefully a little quicker," Hocevar said. McDowell will start fifth on Sunday, with Gibbs sixth. Josh Berry, three-time Texas winner Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace and AJ Allmendinger completed the top 10 on the grid. One driver who left the session with regret was Cindric, who felt he could have gone faster. "I feel like I left a pole lap out there," he said. "I sent it into Turn 1 and didn't quite get to the bottom and didn't quite maximize my exit. I guess I can be happy with where we are at, but I definitely feel like you want to do it all. "We're in a great spot for (Sunday) and should have a good pit stall, so I feel good about where we are. We'll try to go get another one." Defending race winner Chase Elliott will start 29th. Note: Since the Gen 7 car was introduced in 2022, only Christopher Bell at Michigan International Speedway in 2023 has run a faster lap than Hocevar at Texas. Bell's speed at the 2.0-mile track was 193.382 mph. --By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media. --Field Level Media Field Level Media 2025 - All Rights Reserved
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Alex Bowman soars to Busch Light Pole in Bristol qualifying
Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman soared to his second Busch Light Pole Award of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season for Sunday's 500-lapper at Bristol Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Bowman's No. 48 Chevrolet will lead the field to green after topping the charts at 128.675 mph. Advertisement RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos: Bristol Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (128.563 mph), Kyle Larson (128.511 mph), Denny Hamlin (128.460 mph) and Ryan Blaney (128.305 mph) rounded out the top five. Ty Gibbs (128.305 mph), Christopher Bell (128.185 mph), AJ Allmendinger (127.903 mph), Carson Hocevar (127.758 mph) and Justin Haley (127.665 mph) completed the top 10. Kyle Busch and Joey Logano both ran into trouble on their qualifying runs. On his second flying lap, Busch's No. 8 Chevy spun in Turn 4 but did not hit anything. Busch's qualifying time on his first lap was good enough for 15th fastest at 127.098 mph. Advertisement Logano got loose on the bottom of Turn 2 on his first of two laps, traveled up the track as the rear right smacked the wall. Logano was still able to complete both qualifying laps, but he will roll off the grid in 38th place (117.899 mph). Stenhouse fastest in practice Hyak Motorsports' Ricky Stenhouse Jr. topped the leaderboard in practice at 128.082 mph ahead of Team Penske drivers Ryan Blaney (127.571 mph) and Austin Cindric (127.140 mph). Kyle Larson (126.737 mph) and Chase Elliott (126.520 mph) rounded out the top five for Hendrick Motorsports. MORE: Practice results | Moran explains PJ1 process, Bristol tire expectations Brad Keselowski (126.495 mph), Denny Hamlin (126.461 mph), Kyle Busch (126.337 mph), John Hunter Nemechek (126.187 mph) and Alex Bowman (126.121 mph) completed the top 10. After experiencing extreme tire wear in last year's Bristol spring race, Cup Series drivers dealt with similar conditions in practice. This story will be updated.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Christopher Bell snags Busch Light pole at Martinsville
Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell snagged the Busch Light Pole Award for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Bell's No. 20 Toyota set the quickest time at 96.034 mph for the 14th pole of his Cup Series career. He bested three drivers from Hendrick Motorsports — Chase Elliott (95.951 mph), Alex Bowman (95.937 mph) and Kyle Larson (95.854 mph). Denny Hamlin (95.840 mph) rounded out the top five. Advertisement RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos: Martinsville Chris Buescher (95.840 mph), Joey Logano (95.820 mph), Bubba Wallace (95.801 mph), Tyler Reddick (95.733 mph) and William Byron 95.723 mph) completed the top 10. Wallace fastest in practice Toyota swept the top three spots in practice as 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace topped the leaderboard at 94.139 mph, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Christopher Bell (93.873 mph) and Denny Hamlin (93.826 mph). Carson Hocevar (93.757 mph) and Cole Custer (93.743 mph) rounded out the top five. MORE: Practice results Kyle Larson (93.724 mph), William Byron (93.719 mph), Ryan Preece (93.604 mph), Shane van Gisbergen (93.576 mph) and Chase Elliott (93.543 mph) completed the top 10. Advertisement Only one incident stopped practice in Group 2 when Justin Haley saw the hood on his No. 7 Chevrolet pop up, covering the windshield and forcing the Spire Motorsports driver to come down pit road for his crew to fasten the hood. This story will be updated.
Reuters
22-03-2025
- Automotive
- Reuters
Josh Berry looking to start another streak at Miami
March 22 - So apparently Christopher Bell will not win nearly every NASCAR Cup Series race after all. First-year Wood Brothers Racing driver Josh Berry powered the iconic No. 21 Ford around Las Vegas Motor Speedway to break Bell's three-race stranglehold on the sport and give an enormous boost to NASCAR's oldest organization. Berry now will head south to the Homestead-Miami Speedway for Sunday's Straight Talk Wireless 400 in the season's sixth race. Noah Gragson appeared to be headed to his first Cup pole Saturday afternoon, but Alex Bowman topped him with a qualifying lap of 168.845 mph to claim the Busch Light Pole Award. The Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 driver edged out Berry, who posted a lap of 168.460 mph. Gragson, Chase Briscoe and William Byron completed the top qualifiers. Opening as a rectangular-shaped speedway and later transformed to an oval, Homestead's 1.5-mile layout has had a nomadic journey on NASCAR's schedule, occupying the championship weekend as the last race for 18 straight seasons from 2002-19. Starting the season in Florida with the Daytona 500 and coming back to close it in November in South Florida, where warmer temperatures are more likely, worked for nearly two decades, but Phoenix now hosts the capper. Tyler Reddick is the defending winner at NASCAR's southernmost regular venue, while Bell, Kyle Larson, Byron and Denny Hamlin have found the checkered flag in the past five visits. Homestead has produced nine different winners in the past nine races. If you grabbed a bingo card last February and had Wood Brothers Racing victorious in a race in 2024 with lame duck driver Harrison Burton and also this season with Berry in the seat -- sending the organization to the playoffs in consecutive campaigns -- well by all means blot that unexpected square. New fans of the sport may not realize the impact of the Wood Brothers, a front-running, 20th-century powerhouse and owner of 101 career NASCAR wins. Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Team Penske and RFK Racing all have lengthy resumes, but none of them go back 75 years and match the Stuart, Va.-based organization's duration. In addition to developing the modern pit stop, which it used to service Jim Clark in his 1965 Indianapolis 500 triumph, Wood Brothers Racing suited up two future champions -- Dale Jarrett and Ryan Blaney -- in their first Cup wins in 1991 and 2017, respectively, and is currently in alliance with Team Penske, Ford's signature stable. Yet Berry's current situation is different than Burton's last year. The son of former driver Jeff Burton, Harrison was on his way out the door and a complete longshot winner at Daytona last summer. It was no shock when Burton made a quick exit in the postseason. But Berry, 34, has emerged as a weekly contender: He has led 74 laps, scored consecutive top-five finishes including his maiden victory last Sunday and sits 13th in points. "It just felt like the right fit for me," Berry said. "But our performance at the start of the season has 100 percent exceeded my expectations. ... If you're in a good situation and surrounded by good people and have fast race cars, (you) can do amazing things." Beating Bell and the rest of the field in the desert was a serious lesson presented by Berry, who attended high school with music superstar Taylor Swift in Hendersonville, Tenn., a part of Nashville's metropolitan region. The surnames of Berry and Bell are so close alphabetically that they might have sat next to one another in a mythical homeroom had they been classmates. The reality is that with their wins in four of the first five races, they are taking the rest of NASCAR to school.
