Monday Racing Roundup: Kenseth Wins as Chase Field Set
September 14, 2015 | By IMS
Joe Gibbs Racing brought guns to a knife fight on Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.
But JGR’s Matt Kenseth did his teammates one better — he brought a howitzer.
Leading 352 of 400 laps in a race he owned from the outset, Kenseth pulled away from Kyle Busch after a restart with 18 laps left and won the Federated Auto Parts 400 by .951 of a second over his teammate.
Kenseth’s fourth victory of the season, tying him for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series lead with Jimmie Johnson and JGR teammate Kyle Busch, meant the 16 drivers who started the race in playoff-eligible positions stayed there.
Jamie McMurray (13th-place finisher), Jeff Gordon (seventh), Ryan Newman (20th), Clint Bowyer (10th) and Paul Menard (26th) all earned berths in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup based on position in the standings — without a victory between them.
Joey Logano ran third on Saturday night, followed by Aric Almirola, whose gallant bid to crack the Chase grid fell 17 points short of the final position claimed by Menard. Dale Earnhardt Jr. came home fifth.
The victory was Kenseth’s second at Richmond and the 35th of his career. Joe Gibbs Racing has won seven of the last nine NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, with Logano the only other driver to score a win during that stretch.
"Man, these guys gave me a great car," Kenseth said. "Thanks to (crew chief) Jason (Ratcliff) and all these guys standing behind me. They had the pit stops we needed, held serve every time and kept us out in front.
"We were really superb in the long run. I had to work for it pretty hard in the short run. I was disappointed to see that last caution (called for debris on the backstretch on Lap 375). I knew it was going to be tough, but we were able to get the jump to get out front."
Emblematic of JGR’s dominance at Richmond was a restart on Lap 126. Hamlin surged from fourth to first on the restart lap, pulling his three teammates with him. The four Gibbs cars quickly separated from fifth-place Kyle Larson, establishing a gap of two seconds back to the No. 42.
It was akin to watching Prototypes streak away from GT Class cars at the Rolex 24 Hour sports car race at Daytona.
Kenseth overtook Hamlin for the top spot on Lap 139, but for 60 straight laps the JGR teammates ran 1-2-3-4, until McMurray (who had qualified for the Chase simply by taking the green flag to start the race) passed Carl Edwards for the fourth position on Lap 186.
The only suspense during that stretch came when Kenseth and Edwards rubbed fenders while fighting for position early in the run.
That brief fracas gave team owner Joe Gibbs an anxious moment.
"That’s the most nervous that I get in a race," Gibbs said. "Tonight I saw them up there. I saw some beating and banging there. I saw a hand come out the window, and I wasn't sure what it was showing for a minute or two. I got a little nervous there.
"I think that's when I'm always the most nervous, when you got your cars up front and having a good night. Our guys, though, I think they all handled it the right way, it seems like. I know Matt came over the mic there and said his situation there with Carl, he kind of straightened that out, so I thought that was good."
Logano was the only non-JGR driver who could stay within hailing distance of Kenseth, but the ultimate third-place finisher stayed out on old tires for that restart on Lap 126 and did a creditable job holding the 10th spot before the fourth caution on Lap 209 gave him a chance to pit for fresh rubber.
Indy Lights: Pigot wins championship, seat in 2016 Indianapolis 500
The goal listed on Spencer Pigot's biography is "to win the Indianapolis 500."
The native of Orlando, Fla., will get that opportunity next May courtesy of a $1 million Mazda scholarship afforded the champion of Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires.
Pigot, who turns 22 on Sept. 29, earned the title in the series’ 30th anniversary season by sweeping the doubleheader at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. He entered the finale six points behind front-runner Jack Harvey in the championship standings.
A decisive win in Race 1 on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course put him eight points up on the second-year Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian driver, and the tension surrounding Race 2 dissipated early when Harvey was penalized for jumping the start and sent to the back of the field for the 38-lap finale. He finished ninth.
It is the second consecutive year that Harvey, 22, who won the Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway among his four victories, has finished runner-up in the championship. In 2014, he tied Gabby Chaves on points only to lose on a tiebreak.
It also is the second consecutive year that Pigot, whose six wins is the most since Alex Lloyd's eight in his 2007 Indy Lights championship season, has claimed a Mazda Road to Indy series title with Juncos Racing.
"It's been a great year. We came out of the gate strong with a couple of podium finishes and then struggled at a few places, but that's to be expected with a new team and new driver," said Pigot, who swept three doubleheaders. "Every day after a difficult weekend we would put our head down and come back. I thanked the team for never giving up and never losing trust and faith in me and always working together."
The past four Indy Lights champions -- Chaves, Sage Karam, Tristan Vautier and Josef Newgarden – competed in the Verizon IndyCar Series this past season.
The scholarship provides at least a three-race Verizon IndyCar Series package, including the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, to the champion. Pigot got a head start with his initial seat time Aug. 13 in the No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet of 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion Will Power during a shared test day at Sonoma Raceway.
"It's the biggest race in the world and for American drivers it's maybe more special because it has such history in American racing," Pigot said. "People think that Europe has all the history in auto racing, but we have the oldest race and that's the one we want to win. Knowing that I'm going to get a shot at it, and hopefully it's one of many, I'm excited to see what the future holds in the Verizon IndyCar Series."
NASCAR XFINITY Series: Elliott breaks drought at Richmond
Reigning NASCAR XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott was first off pit road under caution on Lap 218 of 250 and held the top spot the rest of the way in breaking a 39-race winless streak on Friday night at Richmond International Raceway.
Elliott’s victory trimmed his deficit to 21 points behind series leader Chris Buescher, who finished 10th. Elliott’s first victory of the season was also the first in 24 races for an XFINITY Series regular at RIR.
"We always want to come and give our best shot and try to win," Elliott said. "(Crew chief) Ernie (Cope) brought a great car, and the pit stops were phenomenal.
"I’m just super excited to be back in Victory Lane."
Yes, Elliott won the event in the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet , leading a race-high 83 laps on the way to his first win at Richmond and the fourth of his career.
Perhaps, the loudest noise, however, came from late model stock car star and Dale Earnhardt Jr. protégé Josh Berry, who trumpeted his presence in his maiden XFINITY race at RIR with a seventh-place finish.
During an 81-lap green-flag run from Lap 54 through Lap 134, Berry drove from seventh to second. In the latter half of the run, Berry trimmed a five-second deficit to Scott, the leader, to 2.6 seconds before Jeremy Clements’ wreck in Turn 2 slowed the action for the fourth caution of the race.
Berry repeatedly lost positions on pit road, the last time because egress from his stall was blocked by the No. 6 Ford of Darrell Wallace Jr. He lost five positions under that sixth caution and restarted ninth on Lap 226 before recovering to finish seventh.
"I need to do better on restarts, I need to do better on pit road, and I think we would have had a real shot at winning that race," said Berry, who is auditioning for potential partners in hopes of running a full XFINITY Series schedule for JR Motorsports next year. "I’m just so proud of this team. They brought a great car tonight.
"I sure hope I helped (my cause) tonight. I’m just a short-track racer at heart, so tonight played into my favor."
Polesitter Kyle Busch came home second, 1.308 seconds behind Elliott. Brian Scott led 63 laps and finished third, followed by Joey Logano, Erik Jones, Regan Smith and Berry.