CONCORD, N.C— Kyle Larson will start from the pole in the Monster Energy All Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This is his first pole in the All-Star race. Chip Ganassi Racing also scored their first pole in the All Star race. 

“May is a huge month for Chip Ganassi Racing in what goes on here and at the (Indianapolis Motor) Speedway. So, we are starting with a good starting spot here. I hope we win the All-Star race tomorrow. We were close last year. And the atmosphere of the All-Star race, well, there’s just something about it. It’s a lot of fun and not a whole lot on the line other than a lot of money. So, I’m excited for tomorrow’s events," said Larson. 

Larson snagged the pole after Kurt Busch was assessed a 10 second penalty due to two missing lug nuts. Busch will start in the Monster Energy All Star Race from the fifth position.

Larson posted the fastest three lap average with the pit stop at a speed of 143.839 mph. Kyle Busch will start second with his average speed of 143.826 mph, Kevin Harvick will start third with an average speed of 143.504 mph, Jimmie Johnson will start third with his average speed of 133.123, and Ku. Busch rounded out the top-five with an average speed of 132.703 mph.

Ryan Newman was the only driver to spin during qualifying. He was able to hold the throttle without hitting anything. He was able to post an average speed of 136.563 mph to start 15th on Saturday night.

In the first round, Martin Truex, Jr. received a five second penalty on pit road due to a loose lug nut. In the second round, Johnson was also assessed a five second penalty for having too many crew members over the wall too soon.

Harvick won the fastest pit crew award after posting the best average pit stop time during both rounds of qualifying.

“That was really our goal.  The car was looser, but I don’t think that was a huge deficit for us.  As you look at the lap we probably could have run a couple tenths faster there, but, all in all, our goal was to not make any huge mistakes.  I feel like starting up front with the way that the tires are and the way that everything is will be a huge benefit because of the fact of your average position and all of the things that have to happen,” said Harvick about the difference between the rounds. We just didn’t want to start in the back, so lugnuts tight, not sliding through the pit box, don’t miss pit road and don’t overdrive the car.  We probably could have all done a little bit better, but all in all we didn’t make any huge mistakes and that was the goal.”

The Monster Energy All-Star Race coverage will kick off on Motor Racing Network and Fox Sports 1 beginning at 6:30 p.m. with the Monster Energy Open. Qualifying for the open will be broadcasted on Fox Sports 1 beginning at 4:35 p.m. EST.

After a late race charge from Clint Bowyer and pit road penalties for Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson was able to win the rain-delayed Food City 500 from Bristol Motor Speedway, his second win of 2017.

“Yeah, it was kind of interesting because when the No. 42 (Kyle Larson) was there, it just created an environment to run the top and I wasn’t as good on the top. The No. 42, not being up there and that first couple of cars; the bottom was really where it was at for the short run. This Lowe’s Chevrolet was flying!”

"I’m so happy to give everybody at A.O. Smith a good ride on the quarter panel this weekend. We wouldn’t be here without a ton of support from Valvoline, Gatorade, the fans, Lowe’s, and Chevrolet. This track has been difficult over the years and we really hit on something Saturday afternoon in that last practice session around the bottom and honestly, it’s what I’ve been looking for here for 16 years and we finally figured it out. So, I’m very very happy.”

This is Johnson’s 82nd career win. He is only one win behind Cale Yarborough and two wins behind Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip on the all time career wins list. This is Johnson’s second career victory at Bristol; He scored his first in 2010.

Bowyer was considered “Mr. Where Did He Come From?” in the closing laps of the race. A caution or a few more laps could have gave Bowyer the win. Despite being disappointed in a second place finish, this is Bowyer’s best finish of 2017. This is also Bowyer’s best Cup Series finish since driving for Michael Waltrip Racing in the spring race at Richmond in 2013.

“Yeah, you have to put it into perspective. We’ve come a long way with this team. These guys have worked so hard; it’s a fun group, everybody at Haas. My teammates are awesome. It’s so much fun to work with this group each and every week. Hell yeah you want to be up there and win it. But the day we had, I got caught speeding on pit road and had to bounce back,” said Bowyer. “The guys kept working on the car. I appreciate the opportunity that Gene Haas and Tony Stewart gave me. Mobil 1, Haas Automation and everyone that’s a part of it.”

Kevin Harvick sat quietly in the front of the field for the 500 lap event. Harvick led 14 of the 500 laps to finish in the third position.

“I thought our Jimmy Johns Ford was the fastest car, we just needed track position. I think we showed how fast it was there on no tires and kind of able to hold our own,” said Harvick. “You just never know where you’re going to come out on those restarts. I felt like we had a couple cautions and we were in control of the race with the 11 on two tires and we might have had a chance. A good weekend and we’ll just keep going.” 

Larson, who won the first stage, finished in the sixth position. Larson led 202 laps, but a late race pit road speeding penalty bit Larson and his chance for a second victory in 2017.

“I’m a little disappointed, but not bad.  I’m more disappointed in myself from getting that speeding penalty with 80 (laps) or so to go.  I was just pushing it down pit road and pushed it a little too far.  I had a shot there still at the end, but four tires were better than ours,” said Larson.

Truex Jr, who won the second stage, finished in the eighth position. Truex also received a late race speeding penalty sending him to the end of the field.

“We were going for it you know. Wish we could have had a shot there just to see if we could have won. This Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota with everyone that helps us make it right – Toyota, TRD 5-hour, Wix, Bass Pro and just everybody. This is the best run we’ve had here in a long time. It’s bittersweet, I wish we could have seen if we could have beat the 48 (Jimmie Johnson). We were close there before that last caution, but it is what it is and you try to get what you can get and sometimes you cross the line and today we crossed the line,” said Truex Jr. about the penalty

The Food City 500 was slowed nine times for 76 laps. There were 14 lead changes amongst seven drivers. The race was stopped once for a red flag on lap 67 for five minutes and 10 seconds.

Next up for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is the Toyota Owner’s 400 from Richmond International Raceway. FOX and Motor Racing Network will have the broadcast beginning at 1:30 p.m. EST on Sunday April 30th.

Three days removed from the Camping World 500 at Phoenix, massive penalties were handed down to the teams of two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick.

Keselowski and his No. 2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford team finished fifth in the 314-lap race but that finish will now be encumbered as they failed post-race inspection. Along with crew chief Paul Wolfe being suspended for the next three races and fined $65,000, the team also loses 35 driver and owner points. This is known as a L1 penalty. Although he already has a win from Atlanta a few weeks ago, Keselowski took a hit in the points standings, moving from second to fourth.

Harvick’s team was also assessed a L1 penalty for an unimproved track bar mount, which was discovered earlier today at the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, NC. Crew chief Rodney Childers has been, suspended for the upcoming weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, fined $25,000. The No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford team also lost 10 driver and owner points, which bumped Harvick from seventh in the MENCS standings to ninth.

According to NBC Sports’ NASCAR America, the No. 2 team will evaluate on whether to appeal. The car returned to the shop from the west coast and the area that NASCAR found to be violated is being evaluated as well. While there has been no word from Stewart-Haas Racing on whether the team will appeal or who will sub for Childers, Brian Wilson, former chief engineer on the Keselowski team will be on the pit box in California.

After running into Cole Custer under caution during the NXS race in Phoenix, the DC Solar 200, Austin Dillon will not be penalized. The driver of the No. 2 Rheem Chevrolet was parked after 190 laps.

AJ Allmendinger’s No. 47 Chevrolet crew chief Randall Burnett has sat out of the west coast swing after only 17 of 20 lugnuts were found tight at Atlanta. Burnett was fined $65,000 and suspended for three races. The team’s appeal was upheld earlier today.

LAS VEGAS, N.v.— When it rains, it usually pours for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR).This was the case this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Kobalt 400.

In the first two races of the season at Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway, SHR showed that their switch to Ford was not a hinderance as they showed the upper hand by winning the Daytona 500 and dominating the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.

The organization, as a whole, seemed to struggle throughout the weekend, especially during the race.

Kevin Harvick’s day was the first to end of the SHR stable. Harvick only completed 68 circuits. Harvick cut a tire and made hard contact with the outside wall on the front stretch.

“It started vibrating about four or five laps there before it blew out, and I was just trying to ride it to the end of the stage there.  Obviously, it didn’t make it. The worst part was the medical response,” said Harvick after the accident. “It took them forever to get to the car. All in all, our Mobil 1 Annual Protection Ford was running good. We were just too loose right there. It’s not like we were even tight, so it either just cut the tire, or came apart or melted the bead.”

Harvick finished in the 39th position, only scoring one point to his championship tptal and no playoff points. Harvick currently sits eighth in points 41 points away from the points leader, Brad Keselowski.

Danica Patrick has a so-so day in Las Vegas. The team was forced to change the gearbox on Saturday, resulting in the team starting from the rear of the field on Sunday. In the opening stage of the race, Patrick was having trouble on entry and exit in the corners. She finished 29th in the first stage. In the second stage, Patrick climbed into the top-20 before pit stops sat her back. She finished 28th in the second stage. In the third stage, the day went from so-so to worse for Patrick. Patrick was two laps down. She pitted under the green flag cycling her out of the top-30. She worked her way into the top-30 before she suffered mechanical woes and went to the garage.

“It was another day where my Aspen Dental Ford team worked hard to get me better throughout the race. There late in the race, we finally got the car to a place where I think we could have got a little more racy with it, especially if we would have caught some breaks, but then it just flattened out.  I just rode around the top in case something happened. Unfortunately, it did and having a teammate behind me was not ideal for the timing of it. We’ll just move on to Phoenix and see if we can keep improving,” said Patrick.

Patrick finished 36th at Las Vegas, scoring only one point. She currently sits 30th in the points standing, 95 points behind Keselowski. 

Kurt Busch was the third driver from the SHR stable to experience trouble. Busch started the opening stage in the 17th position, but worked his way into the top-10. However, he was battling a loose handling car that resulted in him finishing 12th in this stage. The second stage of the Kobalt 400 is where Busch began to see problems. Busch began to experience battery issues that resulted in everything except the gear fan to be turned off. The team told Busch to stay out until the second battery died. Busch would use the first battery to work his way back to pit road on lap 201. Busch lost four laps on pit road as the team changed the batteries resulting in a 30th place finish.

“We went through a lot today. Obviously it wasn’t the day we were hoping to have with our Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion,” Busch stated. “We didn’t have the long-run speed or the balance, and we had an electrical issue that forced us to change batteries on pit road. We kept battling, we didn’t give up. I hoped to have a better run here in front of the hometown fans.”

Busch currently sits seventh in the points standings only 39 points away from Keselowski.

Clint Bowyer had the best day out of the SHR stable in Las Vegas. Bowyer was running strong in the first stage until he went down pit road under the lap 19 caution period. Bowyer lost several spots on the pit lane due to a slower car. Bowyer finished 19th in the first stage. In the second stage, Bowyer battled loose conditions, but battled to finish 14th. In the third stage, Bowyer found himself running the same lap-times as drivers in the top-six. Bowyer ended up finishing the race running in the 10th position.

“It was a struggle. To be truthful, we weren’t the best all weekend, but we just kept digging. Buga (Mike Bugarewicz) didn’t give up on the box and kept adjusting on it and got me pretty good, the best we’d been right there at the end. It’s a top-10 and gives us some momentum. It’s our third race together and we got a top-10, so we’ve got to keep digging,” said Bowyer.

Bowyer currently sits 12th in the points standings, 59 points back from Keselowski.

Despite the struggles over the weekend at Las Vegas, SHR hopes to rebound and recover at Phoenix International Raceway in the Camping World 500, the second race of NASCAR’s “West Coast Swing”.

HAMPTON, Ga.—  Kevin Harvick will start from the pole in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500. Harvick laid down a fast lap around the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway at 190.398 mph. This is Harvick’s 18th career pole. Harvick outlasted Ryan Newman for the pole by .081 seconds for his second career Atlanta pole.

“We spent a lot of (in practice) in race trim, just not knowing this package and running Fords. We just threw the qualifying package in there at the end and it was way too tight,” Harvick said. “It’s just a tremendous credit to Stewart-Haas Racing, winning the Daytona 500 with (Kurt Busch) last week and having all the cars run great. Then to come here and see the progress that we’ve made.

The first round of qualifying saw only five drivers not make a time due to inspection issues. Drivers who did not advance to the second round include Clint Bowyer who will start 25th, Kasey Kahne, who will start 29th, and Aric Almirola, who will start 30th. No drivers will be sent home as 39 drivers competed for 40 spots. Kyle Busch was the fastest in the opening round with a speed of 190.280 mph, Newman was second at 189.850 mph, Jamie McMurray was third fastest at 189.571 mph, Denny Hamlin was fourth fastest at 189.526 mph, and Harvick rounded out the top-five at 189.396 mph.

The second round of qualifying went off without a hitch. Newman was the fastest in this round at 189.772 mph, Ky. Busch was second fastest at 189.694 mph, Harvick was third fastest at 189.519 mph, Brad Keselowski was fourth fastest at 188.925 mph, and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five at 188.751. Notable drivers who did not advance were Kurt Busch (P13), Matt Kenseth (P16), and Jimmie Johnson (P18).

The final round saw the sun setting deeper into turn one creating a blind spot for drivers. Harvick was able to grab the pole. Newman qualified second ay 189.870 mph, Ky. Busch qualified third at 189.850 mph, Stenhouse Jr. qualified fourth at 188.854 mph, and Keselowski rounded out the top-five by qualifying with a speed of 188.783 mph.