Saturday, July 30, 2016

Erik Jones Wins U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway




Erik Jones proved that he was the driver to beat as he won the NASCAR Xfinity Series U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway.  Jones took the lead on the start as he and polesitter Daniel Suarez set a quick pace.  A competition yellow was waved on lap 40 so that track workers could inspect a patch made to the race track in turns three and four.  However Jones continued to show the way after yellow flag pit stops cycled through.


All of the Joe Gibbs teams used pit crews with little or no experience working together, since this was a standalone NASCAR event.  Several of the other teams brought their Sprint Cup crews to service the cars and it allowed for some changes up front.


Elliot Sadler would win the race the race off of pit road and briefly took over out front leading laps 117-125 before Jones again took over the lead.  Ty Dillon also used quick pit work to take the lead during the final round of pit stops on lap 152.  Jones would use the long green flag stretch to track down Dillon in the closing laps, before taking over the lead with 15 laps remaining.



Jones would end the day leading on 4 different occasions for 154 laps.
Hear from race winner Erik Jones



Dillon appeared to be one of the few that could race with Jones, his lone stint out front yielded 83 laps in the lead, but that would only be good enough for second place.
Hear from 2nd finishing Ty Dillon

Sadler only led once for only 9 laps, but he was satisfied with the third place finish.
Hear from 3rd place Elliott Sadler



Dakoda Armstrong filling in for Matt Tifft, pulled off a pass on the final lap, to move past Sam Hornish Jr. to finish an impressive 5th.
Hear from 5th finishing Dakoda Armstrong



The biggest disappointment of the race was pole sitter Suarez who was running near the front, but a slow final pit stop shuffled him back for the final restart.  When the green waved Josh Berry who was restarting just ahead of Suarez missed a shift causing Suarez to run into the back of Berry's car.  The front end damage to Suarez's ended up causing engine failure and he retired from the race on lap 174. 


Suarez's misfortune and Sadler's third place run created a change atop the NASCAR Xfinity Point Standings as Sadler now leads Suarez by 14 points.

NASCAR Xfinity Series U.S. Cellular 250 Results from Iowa Speedway

1. Erik Jones                      250 laps   Running
2. Ty Dillon                       250 laps   Running
3. Elliot Sadler                  250 laps   Running
4. Brennan Poole               250 laps   Running
5. Dakoda Armstrong        250 laps  Running
6. Sam Hornish Jr.             250 laps  Running
7. Justin Allgaier                250 laps  Running
8. Brad Keselowski            250 laps  Running
9. Josh Berry                      250 laps  Running
10. Ryan Reed                    250 laps  Running
11. Brendan Gaughan         250 laps  Running
12. Drew Herring               249 laps  Running
13. Blake Koch                  249 laps  Running
14. JJ Yeley                        249 laps  Running
15. Ryan Sieg                     249 laps  Running
16. Brandon Jones              248 laps  Running
17. Jeremy Clements          248 laps  Running
18. Ross Chastain               248 laps  Running
19. Justin Marks                 247 laps  Running
20. Ray Black Jr.                247 laps  Running
21. David Starr                   247 laps  Running
22. Garrett Smithley           245 laps  Running
23. BJ McLeod                   245 laps  Running
24. Joey Gase                     244 laps  Running
25. Mario Gosslein             242 laps Running
26. Michael Lira                 239 laps  Running
27. Darrell Wallace Jr.        239 laps  Running
28. Mike Harmon               238 laps  Running
29. Sencer Boyd                 234 laps   Running
30. Daniel Suarez               174 laps  Engine
31. Jeff Green                     152 laps  Brakes
32. Brandon McReynolds   147 laps  Accident
33. Derrike Cope                139 laps  Brakes
34. Ryan Preece                  127 laps  Accident
35. Matt Waltz                      95 laps  Rear Gear
36. Morgan Sheperd             62 laps  Handling
37. Timmy Hill                     61 laps  Engine
38. TJ Bell                            55 laps  Electrical
39. Mike Bliss                        4 laps  Vibration
40. John Jackson                    2 laps  Electrical

Time of Race:  2 hours 5 minutes, 43 sec.          Average Speed: 104.401 mph
Margin of Victory: 3.533 seconds                      Caution Flags:  6 for 29 laps
Lead Changes:  7 among 4 drivers:  E. Jones 1-42, Yeley 43-46, E. Jones 47-116, Sadler 117-125, E. Jones 126-151, Dillon 152-234, E. Jones 235-250

Suarez Takes U.S. Cellular 250 Pole





Daniel Suarez  in the ARRIS Toyota was the fastest in round 3 of qualifying and that will earn him the pole for the U.S. Cellular 250 at the Iowa Speedway.  Suarez recorded a lap of 23.718 seconds/ 132.811 mph to earn him the Coors Light Pole.  This is his 5th pole in 54 NASCAR Xfinity Series races and his 2nd of 2016.



Rookie Erik Jones will start alongside his teammate as he recorded a lap of 23.820/ 132.242 mph in his DeWalt Toyota.  This is Jones' 19th top 10 start of 2016 and his 4th in 4 races at Iowa.



Dakoda Armstrong in the the WinField Toyota will start 3rd making it a Joe Gibb Racing sweep of the top 3 starting spots.  This is Armstrong's 1st start for 2016 as he fills in for Matt Tifft who is recovering from surgery.

Starting Lineup:
1. #19 Daniel Suarez
2. #20 Erik Jones
3. #18 Dakoda Armstrong
4. #1 Elliot Sadler
5. #22 Brad Keselowski
6. #88 Josh Berry
7. #2 Sam Hornish Jr.
8. #62 Brendan Gaughan
9. #28 Drew Herring
10. #6 Darrell Wallace Jr.
11. #7 Justin Allgaier
12. #4 Ross Chastain
13. #11 Blake Koch
14. #16 Ryan Reed
15. #3 Ty Dillon
16. #39 Ryan Sieg
17. #44 JJ Yeley
18. #24 Brandon McReynolds
19. #33 Brandon Jones
20. #0 Garrett Smithley
21. #01 Ryan Preece
22. #07 Ray Black Jr.
23. #51 Jeremy Clements
24. #10 Mike Bliss
25. #48 Brennan Poole
26. #42 Justin Marks
27. #14 Jeff Green
28. #93 David Starr
29. #40 Timmy Hill
30. #52 Joey Gase
31. #15 Michael Lira
32. #78 BJ McLeod
33. #77 TJ Bell
34. #90 Mario Gosselin
35. #70 Derrike Cope
36. #89 Morgan Shepherd
37. #74 Mike Harmon
38. #97 Matt Walz
39. #13 John Jackson
40. #25 Spencer Boyd

DNQ #92 Dexter Bean


The green flag for the U.S. Cellular 250 from the Iowa Speedway will wave at approximately 7:15.  The race can be seen on NBCSN and on MRN radio and Sirius XM channel 90

Check back for more info and a post race recap later this evening.

Race Day! Tonight is the U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway

Speed Talk is on the scene at Iowa Speedway.  Here are some of the drivers to watch:


11 Blake Koch was the fastest in Final Practice

2 Sam Hornish won in his last start, the June race at Iowa


22 Brad Keselowski doing double duty between Iowa and Pocono.  He always runs well at Iowa


19 Daniel Suarez leads the points and had a good run earlier at Iowa



1 Elliot Sadler is the veteran in need of a win.  His sponsor is going away and may be looking for a ride in 2017.


3 Ty Dillon is looking for the break out win.  Maybe it will be at Iowa?

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Newgarden Dominates Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway



Josef Newgarden turned in a dominate run leading 282 laps (an all time Verizon IndyCar Series Record) in the Iowa Corn 300 at the Iowa Speedway.
Newgarden interview



Will Power made a late pass to finish 2nd.



Scott Dixon had a solid run with a 3rd place finish.
Dixon interview



Helio Castroneves looked to be a favorite to win, but twice he pitted before cautions flew and ended up two laps down and 13th in the final rundown.
Castroneves interview



Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn 300 at the Iowa Speedway

Official Results
1. Josef Newgarden  300 laps
2. Will Power  300 laps
3. Scott Dixon  300 laps
4. Simon Pagenaud  300 laps
5. Mikhail Aleshin  300 laps
6. Alexander Rossi  299 laps
7. Tony Kanaan  299 laps
8. Sebastian Bourdais  299 laps
9. Jame Hinchcliffe  299 laps
10. Charlie Kimball  299 laps
11. Takuma Sato  298 laps
12. Carlos Munoz  298 laps
13. Helio Castroneves 298 laps
14. Marco Andretti  298 laps
15. Jack Hawksworth  298 laps
16. Graham Rahal  297 laps
17. Gabby Chaves  293 laps
18. Ed Carpenter  284 laps
19. Max Chilton  274 laps
20. Juan Pablo Montoya  179 laps  Mechanical
21. Conor Daly  141 laps  Mechanical
22. Ryan Hunter-Reay  105 laps  Mechanical

Time of Race:  1:52:16:3613  Average Speed:  143.330 MPH
Lead Changes: 10  Caution Laps: 42

Iowa Corn 300 coming up at 4:40 on NBCSN



Check back here later for the latest on the Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn 300 from Iowa Speedway.

The Green is set to wave at 4:40 PM,  the race can be seen Live on NBCSN.





Here's the game plan, just fill in the blanks.


Saturday, July 9, 2016

Chase Briscoe Wins ARCA ABC Supply 150 at Iowa Speedway



By Dean Reller

Chase Briscoe led times for 63 laps, including the final 59 as he went on to win the ARCA Racing Series ABC Supply 150 presented by Casey's General Stores at the Iowa Speedway.  The win was Briscoe's second of the season and second in a row in the ARCA Racing Series.

Chase Briscoe interview



Pole sitter Kyle Benjamin lead the first 41 laps of the race and stayed near the front the entire race to come home with a second place finish.

Kyle Benjamin interview



A late race pass allowed Harrison Burton to get by Dalton Sargeant to finish in third.

Harrison Burton interview



Local favorite Mason Mitchell from nearby Des Moines ran in the top ten for much of the race, until battery problems would cause him to lose a lap making repairs.  He would regain the lap late in the race, but could only settle for an eighth place finish.

Mason Mitchell interview



Unofficial Results

1. Chase Briscoe  150 laps
2. Kyle Benjamin  150 laps
3. Harrison Burton  150 laps
4. Dalton Sargeant  150 laps
5. Myatt Snider  150 laps
6. Matt Kurzejewski  150 laps
7. Cole Custer  150 laps
8. Mason Mitchell  150 laps
9. Kyle Weatherman  149 laps
10. Josh Williams  149 laps
11. Christian Eckes 149 laps
12. A.J. Fike  147 laps
13. Brady Boswell  146 laps
14. Tom Berte  146 laps
15. Thomas Praytor  145 laps
16. Tom Hessert  145 laps
17. Sarah Cornett-Ching  145 laps
18. Will Kimmell  144 laps
19. Dustin Knowles  141 laps
20. David Sear 139 laps
21. Mike Basham  137 laps
22. Brad Smith  137 laps
23. Mike Senica  131 laps
24. Con Nicolopoulos  19 laps
25. Richard Hauck  18 laps
26. Josh Reeves  16 laps
27. Chris Bailey  1 lap
28. Wayne Peterson  1 lap
29. Kevin Huckle  DNS

Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell:  Kyle Benjamin 24.311 - 129.571 MPH
Margin of Victory:  2.484 seconds    Cautions:  2 for 16 laps
Lap Leaders:  Kyle Benjamin 1-41 (41); Kyle Weatherman 42-86, 90 (46); Chase Brisco 87-89, 91-150 (63)
Fastest Lap of the Race:  Chase Briscoe 129.024 MPH

Pagenaud Takes Iowa Corn 300 Pole




Simon Pagenaud in the Menards Team Penske Chevrolet scored not only the pole for the Iowa Corn 300 at the Iowa Speedway, but the 500th all time pole for Team Penske, who is celebrating it's 50th anniversary.



Josef Newgarden was second quick in his in his Fuzzy's Vodka, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet.





Helio Castroneves in his Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet completed the top three in single car qualifying.

The Iowa Corn 300 will be Sunday July 10th at 4:30 on NBCSN

Qualifying Results for the Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway
1.  Simon Pagenaud  185.855
2. Josef Newgarden  185.639
3. Helio Castroneves 185.433
4. Max Chilton   185.419
5. Charlie Kimball 184.489
6. Tony Kanaan 184.430
7.  Ed Carpenter 184.339
8. Will Power 183.984
9. Mikhail Aleshin 182.754
10. Scott Dixon  182.647
11. Juan Pablo Montoya 182.641
12. Graham Rahal  182.253
13. Takuma Sato  181.949
14. Jack Hawksworth  181.700
15. Carlos Munoz  181.067
16. Alexander Rossi  180.920
17. Gabby Chaves 180.390
18. Marco Andretti 180.286
19. Ryan Hunter-Reay  179.903
20. Conor Daly  178.646
21. James Hinchcliffe  175.027




Sunday, July 3, 2016

Robinson Wins Thrilling TA2 Trans Am Race at Brainerd


By Dean Reller

In a race filled with spins, several lead changes and plenty of contact, it was Gar Robinson who walked away with the TA2 win in the Ryan Companies Independence Day Classic for the Trans Am Series at Brainerd International Raceway.

Tony Buffomante led the field to the green, but it was Lawrence Loshak who took the lead.  Buffomante would pit early with a flat tire, but would come back to finish fifth.  Fourth starting Robinson quickly moved up to second with Tommy Archer right behind.  Archer would spin in turn 12 and drop to sixth as the race stayed green.





Justin Haley fresh from his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East win on Saturday night at the Columbus Motor Speedway in Columbus, (OH) was forced to start the race 15th due to not being able to record a lap during Saturday’s Fast Five qualifying.  Haley quickly moved through the field and by lap 17, he was up to fifth.



Louis-Philippe Montour spun to bring out a full course caution on lap 18.  The restart saw Robinson maintain the point as Haley moved to second briefly before Loshak would get the spot back.   With seven laps remaining Loshak would get by Robinson for the lead.  One lap later, Robinson powered back into the lead with a strong run through turns 10 and 11.  Archer and Dillon Machavern would also get by as the top several cars continued to run in a tight pack.





On lap 35, Haley and Jordan Bernloehr got together to bring out a full course caution.  With several laps needed to clean up the damaged cars, Trans Am Series officials decided there would not be enough time to get the race restarted, so the checkered waved with 38 of the scheduled 40 laps completed, giving Robinson the win.  Archer rebounding to finish second and last year’s winner Machavern finished third.




“We struggled all week and finally got a good setup,” said Robinson who was nearly out of breath following the race.  “Nice job to Lawrence Loshak, we raced clean, door-to-door there wasn’t an inch apart between us and couldn’t have it any other way.”  Robinson was relieved that the race ended early.  “The car really had nothing left in it.  So, I was really happy to hear the checkered flag was coming out, because I don’t know what I was going to do on that last restart.”

https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/gar-robinson-wins-trans-am-ta2



Despite the spin earlier in the race, Archer drove hard to finish second.  “I got into turn 12 and I went for the brake pedal and I had rear brake first, which is not good and I couldn’t stop the back from hopping and I spun,” said Archer as he described his early race troubles.  “We didn’t have the motor that they had in the straightaway.  We had some cornering speed on the backside, but where I was fast they were slow and where they were fast, I was slow.  Our team worked hard and second place no matter how you get it is second place.”

https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/tommy-archer-2nd-at-bir-ta2

TA2 Results Ryan Companies 100
1.     Gar Robinson
2.     Tommy Archer
3.     Dillon Machavern
4.     Lawrence Loshak
5.     Tony Buffomante
6.    Shane Lewis
7.    Adam Andretti
8.    Keith Prociuk
9.    Cole Carlson
10.  John Atwell
11.  Tom Sheehan
12.  Tim Gray
13.  Justin Haley
14.  Jordan Bernloehr
15.  Louis-Philippe Montour

Paul Fix Wins Trans Am race at BIR


By Dean Reller

Paul Fix was more than excited as he climbed from his car following the Ryan Companies Independence Day Classic for the Trans Am Series at Brainerd International Raceway.

Fix looked like as though he was destined for a solid second place finish, but some late race events shuffled things in his favor allowing him to take the Trans Am TA1 win.  Pole sitter Cliff Ebben started at the front of the field for the third straight race and he appeared poised to finally take his first win of the season.  Ebben took the lead from the start, but the race would be slowed on lap two, when TA4 driver Trevor Janke hit the wall in turn one.  After a few caution laps, the red flag was displayed for several minutes as track crews made repairs to the wall.




When the green waved again, it was Ebben still in command as David Pintaric held second while Fix now moved to third.  Fix did not have a good qualifying run and was originally scheduled to start last after Saturday’s Fast Five qualifying.  He was the lone driver to make a run during Second Chance qualifying and turned in the fastest time of the day, but was forced to start sixth due to his second round attempt.

Fix quickly moved to second behind Ebben and the front pair slowly began to pull away from the others.









Defending race winner Amy Ruman had power steering problems and was forced to pit for lengthy repairs which put her 4 laps down and an eventual 9th place finish.





Meanwhile, Ebben and Fix showed the way at the head of the field.  Fix would use lapped traffic to gain ground, only to see the margin grow again when the speedy front pair got into clean air.  With a little more than a lap remaining, smoke began to pour from the right rear of Ebben’s car as he clung to the lead.  On the final lap, Fix made his move in turn four as he moved past to take the lead and hang on for the win.




“I caught a wisp of smoke about a lap before that,” said Ebben.  “It kept getting worse and worse, but with one lap to go, I’m not going to pull in.  I just kept going.”

https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/cliff-ebben-takes-2nd-in-trans







Fixx was elated as he received congratulations from his crew and wife Lauren following the race.  “We had a fast car,” said Fix.  “We waited and waited and waited, it’s a waiting game sometimes.  Cliff had a fast car and he knows this track like the back of his hand.  I just capitalized on his mistakes and kept closing in and finally took it with one lap to go.”

https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/paul-fix-wins-trans-am-at

TA1 Results Ryan Companies 100
1.     Paul Fix
2.     Cliff Ebben
3.     David Pintaric
4.     Jim McAleese
5.       Simon Gregg
6.       Kerry Hitt
7.        Claudio Burtin
8.      Tim Rubright
9.      Amy Ruman
           10.   Mickey Wright




Here is an audio recap of the entire weekend from Jason and Dean from Speed Talk on 1360 https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/speed-talk-7-9-16-trans-am-recap

Friday, July 1, 2016

Speed Talk on 1360 Interviews

Big weekend for interviews on Speed Talk on 1360 radio on KRWC.  Listen to our show every Saturday morning 10-11am on KRWC1360.com or search KRWC on the FREE Tunein app for your phone.




Dean had the opportunity to interview former Indy Car Champion Ryan Hunter-Reay who is currently 11th in the point standings but coming to a track he has won at 3 times, Iowa Speedway for the Iowa Corn 300 on Sunday July 10 at 4:40pm

Here is that interview https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/ryan-hunter-reay




Jason talked to former KFAN Motorsports host Chris Hawkey (above).  He is a wildly successful singer now, they talk racing and radio in this interview.

https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/chris-hawkey-on-krwc



Jason had the opportunity to interview Thunder Car winner at Elko Speedway Jeremy Wolff (above) and Super Late Model winner Joey Miller (below).

https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/jeremy-wolff-thunder-car

https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/joey-miller-wins-slm-at-elko





Dean interviewed a driver at North Central Speedway in Brainerd last Saturday night.

Jess Geesey Mod 4 winner

https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/jess-geesey-mod-4-winner-at

He also interviewed a driver from Princeton Speedway.

https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/hribar-wins-mod-4-feature-at