Latest news with #Logano
NBC Sports
3 days ago
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
What to watch for in today's NASCAR Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
INDIANAPOLIS — The challenges will be immense for NASCAR Cup drivers and teams in today's race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A narrow track and high speeds make it tough to pass. That impacts what happens on the track and how the strategy goes. Here's a look at what to watch for today. Cautions breed cautions Last year's race saw half of the 10 cautions come after restarts, including crashes that eliminated, among others, William Byron, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin. Logano was eliminated by a crash on a restart that started behind him. 'It came forward,' Logano said of the accident that ended his race a year ago. 'You don't see that every day, do you? 'I think everyone knows it's hard to pass. If (a restart is) your opportunity to pass, everybody's willing to ship it in there and figure it out later. Unfortunately, it causes accidents. 'If there's ability to pass later on, then everybody probably would have a little more respect for each other, more grace out there, a little more give and take.' The last three Cup races on the Indy oval have seen at least one crash on a restart. 'I think without fuel saving, restarts are kind of one of your only opportunities to pass here,' Bowman said. 'They got super crazy there at the end (last year).' Tight pit road A majority of the fast cars selected pit stalls near pit exit because the width of pit road at Indianapolis (not including the pit boxes) is 24 feet. Only World Wide Technology Raceway has a narrower pit road width at 22 feet. Ryan Blaney knows the challenges of pitting near pit entrance. In the 2020 race at Indianapolis, Zach Price, who remains the rear tire changer for Blaney, was struck on pit road when there was a chain-reaction crash just after pit entrance that blocked pit road. 'I'm like ultra vigilant here,' Blaney said of pit road. 'Let's say I'm done with my stop and I'm cruising down pit road (in the far right lane), I'm always watching those cars on the left who are in their stall. I've got to look at are they about to drop the left-side jack, and what that looks like because you can't bail anywhere. The only way you can bail is to slow down and stop. It makes it pretty tough. Hopefully … you don't see any issues on pit road and guys stay safe.' Dustin Long, Teams pick pit stalls based on how they qualify. The pole winner gets first choice, the No. 2 starter the second choice and on down to the final car. Most teams select closer to pit exit to avoid potential incidents near pit entrance or the middle of pit road. Bubba Wallace will start second and that gives him a good pit stall. He will be in pit stall 5, which has an opening in front of it, allowing Wallace to exit his stall without worry of being blocked in. 'This is probably the sketchiest pit road, for sure,' Wallace said. 'Obviously, we've seen a lot of crashes (on pit road) here, a lot of injuries. So, we can keep ourselves out of harm's way, the better. I'm excited. That's what we want, a good qualifying effort.' Guess the right strategy Crew chiefs will be busy devising the strategy they think gets their car to the finish line first. Brad Keselowski tried to stretch his fuel in last year's race but a late caution sent the race into overtime. As the field headed toward the restart zone, Keselowski, who led, pulled off to pit road because he was out of fuel. Nate Ryan, 'I think we were really aggressive last year and we almost won the race,' Keselowski said. 'I wouldn't expect anything to change there, and we've got no reason not to be very aggressive. I certainly don't want to just do dumb things just to do them, but this is a race that lends itself to aggressive moves on the track and off the track with pit strategy.' Playoff picture Twelve drivers have won this season, leaving four playoff spots open at this time via points. Those in a playoff spot without a victory this season are Tyler Reddick (156 points above the cutline), Alex Bowman (+63), Chris Buescher (+44) and Bubba Wallace (+16). Ryan Preece is the first driver outside a playoff spot. He lost 13 points to Wallace last weekend at Dover and is 16 points back. Kyle Busch is 39 points below the cutline. Ty Gibbs is 52 points below the cutline. $1 million at stake NASCAR's inaugural In-Season Challenge comes to an end at Indianapolis. Ty Dillon, the last seed in the 32-driver event, faces Ty Gibbs. Whoever finishes better will claim the $1 million prize. 'If we execute our race and do the best to our abilities - no mistakes and out execute everybody in the field - we might not have the most speed to win the race, but we're going to do plenty to put pressure on him,' Dillon said of Gibbs. Joey Logano and Jimmie Johnson both wreck on a restart in the final stage of The Brickyard 400 after three-wide racing clipped the right quarter panel of the No. 84.
19-07-2025
- Automotive
Chase Elliott wins the pole at Dover after rain washes out NASCAR qualifying
DOVER, Del. -- Chase Elliott took advantage of heavy rain at Dover Motor Speedway to earn the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race. Elliott and the rest of the field never got to turn a scheduled practice or qualifying lap on Saturday because of rain that pounded the concrete mile track. Dover is scheduled to hold its first July race since the track's first one in 1969. Elliott has two wins and 10 top-five finishes in 14 career races at Dover. Chase Briscoe starts second, followed by Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and William Byron. Shane van Gisbergen, last week's winner at Sonoma Raceway, Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch complete the top 10. Logano is set to become the youngest driver in NASCAR history with 600 career starts. Logano will be 35 years, 1 month, 26 days old when he hits No. 600 on Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway. He will top seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Richard Petty by six months. The midseason tournament that pays $1 million to the winner pits Ty Dillon vs. John Hunter Nemechek and Reddick vs. Gibbs in the head-to-head challenge at Dover. The winners face off next week at Indianapolis. Reddick is the betting favorite to win it all, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. All four drivers are winless this season.
San Francisco Chronicle
19-07-2025
- Automotive
- San Francisco Chronicle
Chase Elliott wins the pole at Dover after rain washes out NASCAR qualifying
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Chase Elliott took advantage of heavy rain at Dover Motor Speedway to earn the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race. Elliott and the rest of the field never got to turn a scheduled practice or qualifying lap on Saturday because of rain that pounded the concrete mile track. Dover is scheduled to hold its first July race since the track's first one in 1969. Elliott has two wins and 10 top-five finishes in 14 career races at Dover. Chase Briscoe starts second, followed by Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and William Byron. Shane van Gisbergen, last week's winner at Sonoma Raceway, Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch complete the top 10. Logano is set to become the youngest driver in NASCAR history with 600 career starts. Logano will be 35 years, 1 month, 26 days old when he hits No. 600 on Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway. He will top seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Richard Petty by six months. The midseason tournament that pays $1 million to the winner pits Ty Dillon vs. John Hunter Nemechek and Reddick vs. Gibbs in the head-to-head challenge at Dover. ___
Fox Sports
19-07-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Chase Elliott wins the pole at Dover after rain washes out NASCAR qualifying
Associated Press DOVER, Del. (AP) — Chase Elliott took advantage of heavy rain at Dover Motor Speedway to earn the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race. Elliott and the rest of the field never got to turn a scheduled practice or qualifying lap on Saturday because of rain that pounded the concrete mile track. Dover is scheduled to hold its first July race since the track's first one in 1969. Elliott has two wins and 10 top-five finishes in 14 career races at Dover. Chase Briscoe starts second, followed by Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and William Byron. Shane van Gisbergen, last week's winner at Sonoma Raceway, Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch complete the top 10. Logano is set to become the youngest driver in NASCAR history with 600 career starts. Logano will be 35 years, 1 month, 26 days old when he hits No. 600 on Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway. He will top seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Richard Petty by six months. The midseason tournament that pays $1 million to the winner pits Ty Dillon vs. John Hunter Nemechek and Reddick vs. Gibbs in the head-to-head challenge at Dover. The winners face off next week at Indianapolis. Reddick is the betting favorite to win it all, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. All four drivers are winless this season. ___ AP auto racing: recommended Item 1 of 3
Hamilton Spectator
19-07-2025
- Automotive
- Hamilton Spectator
Joey Logano set to become youngest driver in NASCAR with 600 starts. How much does he have left?
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Joey Logano's first NASCAR Cup Series start — before he would drive for heavyweight owners such as Joe Gibbs and Roger Penske — came in New Hampshire for a short-lived team called Hall of Fame racing. Set to make his 600th career start, the youngest driver in NASCAR history to reach that milestone, the 35-year-old Logano has constructed a Hall of Fame career. Take a look at the resume: three career NASCAR championships , a Daytona 500 victory, the youngest driver to win a Cup race, 37 career victories, and seemingly tethered to the No. 22 Ford for Team Penske for as long as he can race. 'At first glance, I said, 'Well, it's just starts,'' Logano said. 'But then when you start thinking about it, to be able to be around in a sport as an athlete competing at a top level for 16-plus years, and hitting 600 starts, it's pretty incredible to have a career that long.' Logano will be 35 years, 1 month, 26 days old when he hits No. 600 on Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway. He'll top seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Richard Petty by six months. Consider, only three previous drivers among the 33 others in NASCAR history were in their 30s when they hit 600 starts. Logano has also topped the massive expectations set for him when he entered the sport as a teenager hyped as NASCAR's next great driver. He entered NASCAR with the nickname 'Sliced Bread,' as in, the best thing since, and navigated a slow start to his career to blossom into one of the best over the last 13 years at Team Penske. He's now married with three kids — his Instagram bio notes he's a '3X NASCAR Champion' and '3X father' — and is considered a team leader at Penske and Ford. 'I grew up in front of everybody. All of us change over the years as you grow up,' Logano said. 'Life comes at you and you evolve and keep going with it. Everybody, when you were 18 years old to 35 years old are some of the biggest changes in your life happen in that period of time. Getting married, having kids — that's the biggest change you can ever have in your life, I think — but I did all of this in front of everybody.' Logano qualified for his first career Cup start on Sept. 14, 2008, at New Hampshire on car owner points, because rain washed out qualifying. He started 40th and was penalized only 39 laps into the race for taking the jack with him as he exited pit road. He finished three laps down in 32nd place in the No. 96 Toyota for Hall of Fame Racing, essentially on loan from Joe Gibbs Racing to get some experience. The two teams even agreed to move JGR's Home Depot sponsorship to Hall of Fame's car for the 18-year-old Logano's first race. 'I didn't think it was a big deal making my first start,' Logano said that first day. 'I was ready to go as soon as we started.' He wasn't necessarily ready for the big time. Logano was pegged with enormous expectations to replace Hall of Famer and three-time champion Tony Stewart in 2009 for Gibbs. Just a teenager, the enormity of the ride combined with Gibbs' impatience made for a brief run at JGR. Logano did win his first race — also at New Hampshire, in 2009 — but won only one more time before Gibbs cut him loose after the 2012 season. The timing worked out for Logano. Penske needed a driver and 2012 NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski urged his boss to sign the 23-year-old Logano, convinced a change of scenery could do wonders for his career. Logano made the most of his Penske lifeline and is now the only active three-time champion in NASCAR and one of only 10 drivers in history to win three or more titles. He spent the week headed into Dover — where he flipped eight times on the concrete track during a scary 2009 incident in a second-tier race — hobnobbing with the sports world's brightest stars at the ESPYs and he got to yuk it up with guest host Jelly Roll on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Petty is the only driver to win his 600th career start and he would make 1,184 overall in Cup, one of many NASCAR records he holds. Logano might not catch The King in total starts — but the driver who has never missed a race over his full-time career is in no rush to slow down. 'I would be an idiot to think you can be competing at the top level into your 50s,' Logano said. 'What athlete has ever done that? Something changes at some point, but, right now, I still feel as fresh as ever. I feel as sharp as ever. I'm driven as much as ever. I still care. I still get emotional about things, so that shows me I care a lot. With those factors still there when the end is, I don't know yet. I don't know.' The Tys have it as final four is set for the In-season Challenge NASCAR is down to its version of the final four. The midseason tournament that pays $1 million to the winner pits Ty Dillon vs. John Hunter Nemechek and Tyler Reddick vs. Ty Gibbs in the head-to-head challenge at Dover. The winners face off next week at Indianapolis. Reddick is the betting favorite to win it all, per BetMGM Sportsbook. 'Did John Hunter change his name yet,' Reddick quipped. Nemechek has a career-best six top-10s and is 20th in the standings in his second full season at Legacy Motor Club. Nemechek — who drives for Jimmie Johnson, who won a record 11 times at Dover — enjoyed trash-talking Dillon this week from, of all places, the carpool lane. Their young children go to the same school, and the families have become friendly. 'The running joke between us is that they are boyfriend-girlfriend and they're going to get married one day, the way that they walk around the racetrack,' Nemechek said. Hey, maybe a $1 million could help pay for the big day. NASCAR seeded 32 drivers for the first In-season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament that mirrors the NCAA basketball tournaments. 'I think it's really cool from a millennial perspective, from a younger generation, it's neat to be able to bring something in the sport that hasn't been done before,' the 28-year-old Nemechek said. 'It kind of gives you something to race for even if you're not racing for the win.' Legacy has yet to win a race, or even contend in many, since Johnson signed on at the end of 2022 and eventually became majority owner. Nemechek said Johnson has balanced many roles, that includes the occasional race, and was committed to making Legacy a championship team. 'We joke around about his legacy 2.0 being a team owner and hopefully we can go in and win 83 races and seven championships for him,' Nemechek said. Odds and ends Denny Hamlin is the betting favorite to win at Dover, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Hamlin has two career wins at Dover, including last season . He's trying to win the first July race at Dover since the track's first one in 1969. ___ AP auto racing:
