NASCAR: Brian Scott takes Nationwide pole for Chicagoland - MotorSportsTalk

Brian Scott has earned the pole for tonight’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway.

Scott, who is also one of four competitors racing tonight for a $100,000 “Dash4Cash” bonus, posted a final round lap of 177.807 mph in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to take pole for the EnjoyIllinois.com 300 (8:30 p.m. ET, check local listings).

It’s Scott’s second pole of 2014 and his fourth in NNS competition.

“We’ve got our game faces on,” Scott told Fox Sports. “We’re going out there to win the $100,000 and try to win the race. I think we’ve got a car capable of it and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun racing here under the lights at Chicago.”

RCR also locked out the front row thanks to NNS rookie Ty Dillon, who turned in a lap of 177.643 mph in his No. 3 Chevy. Fellow rookie Chase Elliott will roll off third after his lap of 177.381 mph, and Erik Jones will make his NNS debut tonight for Joe Gibbs Racing from the fourth position (177.322).

Sprint Cup regular Kasey Kahne (177.136) and Sam Hornish Jr. (177.090) make up Row 3, followed by another Dash4Cash driver, Elliott Sadler, and Ryan Blaney in Row 4. Two more RCR drivers, Brendan Gaughan and Cale Conley, will go from Row 5.

As for the two other D4C racers tonight, Chris Buescher will start 13th and Nationwide Series points leader Regan Smith will start 15th. Smith enters tonight’s race with an eight-point lead over Sadler in the championship, with Elliott in third place at 13 points behind.

NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES AT CHICAGOLAND – QUALIFYING RESULTS

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A late race caution set up a 14-lap shootout at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois with Kyle Larson winning his second consecutive High Limit Sprint Car Series race over Rico Abreu.

Starting eight on the grid after a disappointing pole dash, Larson missed several major incidents as he worked his way to the front. On Lap 1 of 35, a five-car accident claimed Tyler Courtney and Michael “Buddy” Kofoid, who both took a tumble and before collecting three other cars. Once that red flag was lifted, it didn’t take long for drivers to get tangled again as the leader Danny Dietrich experienced engine trouble on Lap 8. When he slowed rapidly, second-place Brent Marks collided with his back tire, ending the day for both.

Larson moved up to fourth with this incident.

Another red flag on Lap 21 for a flip involving Parker Price-Miller set up the dash for the win.

“My car felt really good and then we got that red,” Larson said from victory lane. “I was kind of running through the crumbs before that in 3 and 4; I could tell the top was getting really sketchy. Parker was making mistakes up there.

“When the red came out, I could see there was a clean lane of grip – not just marbles. It’s hard to see when you’re at speed. I figured Rico was going to run the top and he did. I got to his inside a couple of times and I was like ‘please don’t go to the bottom,’ and I threw a slider on him. Then he went to the bottom and I thought I was screwed until he spun his tires really bad off the corner and I was able to hit the top okay and get another run and slide him. I got good grip off the cushion.”

The victory makes Larson the first repeat winner in the series’ five-race history. He beat Justin Sanders earlier this month at Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio.

With 10 laps remaining, Larson caught and pressured Abreu. The two threw a series of sliders at one another until Abreu bobbled on the cushion and lost momentum.

“Anytime you race Rico and he’s on the wall like that, you have to get aggressive,” Larson said. “He’s pushing so hard that just to stay in the striking zone if he makes a mistake, you have to push hard too.”

For Abreu, it was his second near-miss this season. He was leading at Lakeside in the 2023 opener until a tire went flat in the closing laps.

“I felt like I made a lot of mistakes at the end,” Abreu said. “It’s just hard to judge race pace. You’ve got Kyle behind you and [Anthony] Macri and these guys that have had speed all year long. I was racing as hard as I could and the mistake factor is more and more critical.”

Cory Eliason earned his career-best High Limit finish of third after starting deep in the field in 13th.

Macri lost one position during the race to finish fourth with Sam Hafertepe, Jr. rounding out the top five.

Visiting from the NASCAR Cup series, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished 19th in the 25-car field after advancing from the B-Main.

2023 High Limit Sprint Car Series

Race 1: Giovanni Scelzi wins at Lakeside Speedway
Race2: Anthony Macri wins at 34 Raceway
Race 3: Kyle Larson wins at Wayne County Speedway

Hitting the road. 👋🏼

Safe travels to all the racers this weekend — we’ve got teams heading for Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and all over.

The High Limit Sprint Car Series will be back in 6️⃣ days for a $28,023/Win, $1,500/Start show at Nebraska’s @EagleRaceway on Tues, June 6. pic.twitter.com/YhBa3vGoMD

— High Limit Racing (@HighLimitRacing) June 1, 2023

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