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Author: Andrew Kim

  • Talladega Cup summer race features unique top-10 notables

    Talladega Cup summer race features unique top-10 notables

    While Ryan Blaney celebrated his first triumph of this year’s NASCAR Cup Series season at Talladega Superspeedway, there were a number of competitors who left one of the world’s fastest superspeedway venues with strong results within the top 10.

    The first was Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Starting 20th, Stenhouse was competitive at the drop of the green flag as he carved his way towards the front. After finishing in 12th the first stage, Stenhouse started to flex his muscles as he and teammate Ryan Preece battled inside the top 10 throughout the second stage. On Lap 106, Stenhouse led his first lap of the day and led again six laps later. In a two-lap dash to the conclusion of the second stage, he returned to the lead and a lap later, he received a draft from Kyle Busch on the frontstretch to edge Ryan Blaney and win the stage, thus earning valuable stage points in his quest to make this year’s postseason. For the final stage, Stenhouse restarted 24th, but he made his way towards the front in the closing laps. Following a late caution and an overtime restart, Stenhouse was behind Blaney for the win entering the frontstretch. He made contact with Aric Almirola and battled dead even at the finish line with Blaney. When the dust settled, Stenhouse fell short of the win by 0.007 seconds and at a track where he scored his first Cup win in 2017. Nonetheless, the runner-up result was Stenhouse’s best in his first 13 races with JTG-Daugherty Racing and his third top-five result of the 2020 season. The result moved Stenhouse from 21st to 20th in the regular-season series standings, where he trails points leader Kevin Harvick by 227 points.

    “Yeah, I felt like I was a sitting duck there by myself,” Stenhouse said on MRN Radio. “Just trying to pick up different people to draft with all day. The Fords really stuck together, [Kyle Busch] and I pushed really good [at] each other and then, I don’t know what issue he had. So, I lost that guy, which I worked well with all day. All in all, our NOS Energy Drink car was really fast. Glad that a few fans got to stay here and watch a great race. I felt like we battled hard all day and put on a great show. It was fun.”

    Sliding across the finish line in third was Aric Almirola. A week after notching his first top-five result of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Almirola started 15th and settled at the rear of the field in the early laps of the race. Throughout the first stage, Almirola slowly moved his way towards the front, but settled in 20th following the first stage. Following the second stage, Almirola was in 25th. Prior to the overtime restart, Almirola was in seventh and a lap later, he was in eighth. Entering the frontstretch, he gained a huge run and had appeared to establish a race-winning move beneath Blaney before he made contact with Stenhouse inches from the finish line. Sliding backwards across the line, he was able to finish third and keep his car intact. With his second consecutive top-five result of the season, his best result in 13 Cup races this season and his sixth consecutive top-10 result at Talladega, Almirola moved from 13th to 12th in the standings, where he trails teammate Harvick by 153 points.

    “I thought we had a shot to get our Smithfield Ford Mustang in Victory Lane,” Almirola said on MRN. “We had a really good car and our strategy was to stay out of trouble all day and be there at the end. We were there at the end, it was close. We just couldn’t get it done. Proud of all of my guys on this team. We had a great week last week at Miami with a top five, and leave here at Talladega with another top five. So, we’ll keep building on that and looks like the ball’s going in the right direction for us.”

    Next was Erik Jones, who was inches from establishing a race-winning move on Blaney before he settled for a top-five finish. Starting 18th, Jones spent the majority of the race running at the back of the pack along with teammate Martin Truex Jr. while his other teammates, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, battled at the front. Following the first stage’s completion under caution, Jones was in 23rd and was also the second-highest Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with Truex behind him and Hamlin scored a lap down. Jones continued running towards the rear of the field throughout the second stage, where he finished 29th. With 42 laps remaining, Jones restarted second, but was forced off the track and below the double yellow lines (out of bounds) by Christopher Bell, which resulted in a penalty for Bell. He was running within the top 20 in the closing laps, but following a late caution and prior to an overtime restart, Jones moved up to 13th. On the final lap, he drafted Stenhouse towards the front and on the frontstretch, he was behind Blaney and was prepared to mount a last-lap pass for the win. After feigning a move on the outside, he moved to the inside, but was blocked by Blaney. He moved up the outside lane again with rookie John Hunter Nemechek behind him. Blaney moved up the track and made contact with Jones, which sent Jones into the wall. Despite sustaining significant damage to the front of his No. 20 Toyota Camry, Jones limped across the line in fifth following a three-race slump, where he finished no higher than 20th. With his third top-five result of the season and first at Talladega, Jones moved from 18th to 17th in the standings, where he trails Harvick by 185 points.

    Making his way to a sixth-place result was Chris Buescher. Starting 21st, Buescher finished 15th in the first stage and ninth in the second stage while spending the majority of the race inside the top 10 with a strong racecar. Following a series of late cautions and an overtime restart, Buescher was in third as he drafted Harvick to the front. He moved into second on the final lap, but did not receive any drafting help on the frontstretch as a handful of competitors overtook him for position. When the checkered flag waved, Buescher crossed the line in sixth for his third top-10 result of the season, his first at Talladega and his best result since finishing third in the Daytona 500 in February. With his result, Buescher, who also led four laps, remained in 19th in the standings and is 224 points behind Harvick.

    “Not a bad run for our Fastenal Ford Mustang and our team,” Buescher said in a post-race interview on social media. “Lots of excitement throughout the race at different areas and I obviously wanted to replay the end to do a little bit better. At the end of the day, it was a good run for us. We’ll go on to Pocono and go get a doubleheader.”

    Next was Alex Bowman. Coming into the weekend, Bowman had recorded two top-10 results in the previous eight races, one in the last seven. Starting eighth, Bowman remained towards the front in the early stages of the race. He led his first lap of the day on Lap 46 and again on Lap 50. He concluded the first stage in second under caution and emerged with the lead to start the second stage. By then, Bowman led a total of five laps before he was overtaken for the lead. When the second stage concluded, Bowman had fallen back to 16th. With three laps remaining, Bowman was in sixth when he dodged a late spin involving his teammate, Jimmie Johnson. With the race set into overtime, Bowman restarted within the top 15 and was able to battle his way to a seventh-place finish in two laps. With his fourth top-10 result of the season and third at Talladega, Bowman is eighth in the standings, trailing Harvick by 71 points. He is, nonetheless, guaranteed a spot in the postseason after winning earlier this season at Auto Club Speedway.

    Last but not least, John Hunter Nemechek rallied from an early incident to post a career-best run for him in the Cup Series and in his first tango at Talladega. Starting 22nd, Nemechek was inside the top 10 when the competition caution flew on Lap 25, but he settled in 16th following the first stage’s conclusion. While battling inside the top 10 at the race’s halfway point, Lap 94, Nemechek reported a possible cut tire to his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford entering the frontstretch. He then got loose and spun near the pit road entrance, but he kept his car spinning in the tri-oval grass without damaging his car. Nemechek was able to rally from the spin to finish 14th in the second stage, two spots behind his teammate, Michael McDowell. Battling within the top 10 and 15 throughout the remainder of the race, Nemechek was in 13th when the caution flew with three laps remaining for a single-car incident and sent the race into overtime. Restarting 13th, Nemechek was just outside the top 10 to start the final lap. Then, with a multi-car wreck behind him, he made a charge into the top five in Turn 3. Entering the frontstretch, Nemechek tried to draft Jones to the win, but made contact with Jones and Jones slapped the wall but continued straight. At the finish line, Nemechek was able to cross the line in eighth for his second top-10 finish of his early Cup career and of the season, and to also emerge as the highest-running rookie of the race. With his best result in his 16th Cup Series start, Nemechek is 22nd in the standings, 252 points behind Harvick.

    “We had a really great run in our No. 38 Death Wish Coffee Ford Mustang today,” Nemechek said. “I really thought we had a shot at it at the end there, but I’m still proud of our entire team’s efforts. When we fired off, we were kind of tight, and then we had that tire go down in the second stage, but we managed to come back from it and battled into the top 10 by the end. I wish we would have won that thing, but a P8 finish at Talladega is still good for us and I want to thank everyone on the team for their support. I’m looking forward to giving Death Wish Coffee another chance at the checkered flag at Pocono.”

    The NASCAR Cup Series will return on June 27-28 for a special doubleheader weekend at Pocono Raceway. The first Pocono event will run on Saturday, June 27, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the second Pocono event will run on Sunday, June 28, at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Blaney records first win of 2020 at Talladega

    Blaney records first win of 2020 at Talladega

    In an overtime shootout on a cloudy afternoon, Ryan Blaney outlasted a last-lap challenge from Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to win the rain-postponed GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2020 season. The win was Blaney’s fourth of his career in his 175th series start and his second straight victory at Talladega. 

    The race was postponed from Sunday, June 21, to Monday, June 22, due to inclement weather washing away chances for the race to start as scheduled on Sunday. The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Martin Truex Jr. started on pole position and started on the front row alongside teammate Denny Hamlin. William Byron and Garrett Smithley started at the rear of the field for failing pre-race inspection twice along with Brendan Gaughan, B.J. McLeod and Daniel Suarez, all of whom due to unapproved adjustments. Joey Gase also failed pre-race inspection three times and started at the rear of the field. In addition, he was assessed a pass-through penalty when the race started. 

    Prior to the opening ceremonies, the competitors and crew members pushed Bubba Wallace’s No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the front of the grid and stood in full solidarity behind Wallace amid Sunday’s controversy, where a noose was found hanging in Wallace’s garage stall. In an ongoing investigation with the FBI, NASCAR has yet to identify the person(s) involved with the racial inequality treatment towards Wallace. Once the opening ceremonies concluded, everyone, including team owner and NASCAR legend Richard Petty, embraced the sport’s lone African-American competitor in support before making their way to their respective cars and pit stalls for the race.

    When the green flag waved, Truex jumped to an early lead on the inside lane with his teammates Hamlin and Kyle Busch trailing behind him. Following the first two laps, the first four cars led by Truex followed by Hamlin and the Busch brothers were racing in a single-file line on the bottom while Kevin Harvick was the first car leading the outside lane. On the fifth lap, when Truex went high to block Harvick, Hamlin made his move on the bottom lane to move into the lead. He then led a five-car breakaway from the pack. Two laps later, however, Hamlin went high on the frontstretch to block a run from Logano, but Logano was able to prevail the following lap to take the lead. On the 10th lap, Truex was shoved out of the draft as he drifted behind the lead pack. Shorty after, Hamlin was able to retake the lead and was followed by Stenhouse and rookie Christopher Bell while Logano fell back to fifth, battling against Kyle Busch. By then, Harvick also dropped out of the lead group and settled near the top 20.

    On Lap 15, Logano reassumed the lead on the outside lane on the frontstretch after receiving a boost from teammate Keselowski. Logano settled on the outside lane with his teammates, Keselowski and Ryan Blaney, behind him while Hamlin continued challenging Logano for the lead on the inside lane. After battling Logano side by side for the next three laps, Hamlin rocketed back to the lead on the 18th lap followed by Stenhouse and Kyle Busch while Logano fell back to fourth, battling Kurt Busch. On Lap 22, Blaney and Keselowski drafted Logano back to the lead. For the next three laps, Logano was able to maintain the lead over his teammates when the competition caution flew on Lap 25. By then, names like Chris Buescher, rookie Cole Custer, Stenhouse and John Hunter Nemechek were running inside the top 10. Johnson was in 11th followed by Bell and teammate Alex Bowman, Elliott was in 15th, Byron was in 17th, Harvick was in 20th, Newman was in 23rd behind Reddick, Wallace was in 25th and Truex was in 27th.

    Under the competition caution, six of the lead-lap cars remained on track while the rest made an early pit stop. For those who pitted, Logano exited first after taking two tires followed by Blaney, Hamlin, Keselowski and Custer. When the field cycled through, Matt DiBenedetto, who remained on track, emerged with the lead followed by Harvick, Newman, Ryan Preece and Kenseth. The following lap, the top five competitors along with B.J. McLeod pitted, giving the lead back to Logano.

    When the race restarted on Lap 30, Hamlin mounted a challenge for the lead on the inside lane before Logano pulled away and cleared the field in Turn 2 followed by Blaney and Keselowski. The following lap, Stenhouse made a move on the inside lane after being drafted by Custer. In Turn 3, Stenhouse attempted to move in front of Logano on the outside lane, but Logano crossed over beneath Stenhouse as Stenhouse was trapped on the outside lane and drifted out of the lead pack.

    With potential weather threats and dark clouds approaching the track, the action of the field started to intensify as more competitors started making moves towards the front. By Lap 35, the top-21 cars were running within one second of the lead as Logano continued to lead on the bottom lane while Kyle Busch issued a challenge for it on the outside lane. The following lap, Kyle Busch managed to lead a lap after receiving drafting help from Byron and Austin Dillon. On Lap 40, three laps after Logano was back in front, Byron emerged with the lead after receiving a draft from Hamlin on the outside lane while Kyle Busch drifted back to 17th. The following lap, Hamlin moved on the outside lane and returned to the lead with Bell drafting behind him. As the race progressed, the racing at the front continued to intensify with the field expanding to three-wide racing and drafting one another to draw close to the front. All of this occurred as the winds intensified and the skies darkened into fogginess.

    By Lap 50, Bowman emerged with the lead by a nose over Logano. With five laps remaining in the first stage, Hamlin made an unexpected pit stop as a result of making contact with the wall and cutting a right-front tire. The incident costed Hamlin a lap behind the leaders. Soon after, the caution flew due to sprinkles occurring in Turns 1 and 2. At the time of caution, rookie Tyler Reddick emerged with the lead followed by Bowman, Logano, Johnson and Kyle Busch. Shortly after, the field made their way to pit road and the race was red-flagged as the cars were covered and the competitors and crew members went to seek shelter.

    Following a delay of more than 57 minutes, the competitors returned to their cars and the race resumed under caution as the jet dryers continued drying the track in preparation for the next green-flag run. The first stage concluded under caution and Reddick emerged with his first Cup stage win followed by Bowman, Logano, Johnson and Kyle Busch. Blaney, Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Elliott and Byron were running in the top 10. By then, there were 21 lead changes and eight competitors who led a lap. Under caution, a majority of the leaders pitted and Bowman exited first followed by Johnson, Logano, Blaney and Keselowski as Reddick fell back to eighth. Drivers like Newman, Harvick, Kenseth, rookie Brennan Poole and McLeod remained on track, but shortly after, they pitted and gave the lead to Bowman. During this time, Hamlin, who lost a lap following his unscheduled pit stop due to a flat tire and had sustained minimal damage, was able to take the wave around to return on the lead lap as he restarted in 34th.

    When the second stage and the race resumed on Lap 65, Bowman jumped with the lead, but Blaney made a move on the inside lane to lead the following lap. Then, Kyle Busch formed a third lane on the outside lane and started to march to the front. The following lap, Johnson led a lap before Kyle Busch received a draft from DiBenedetto to move into the front. By Lap 70, as the field expanded to three lanes and the competitors started making efforts to move to the front, the Busch brothers were at the front with Kyle leading Kurt. Blaney was in fourth and challenging on the outside lane with his two Penske teammates behind him.  

    Ten laps and three lead changes later, the Penske trio were leading the field with Blaney ahead of Logano and Keselowski followed by DiBenedetto, their Penske-alliance teammate, and Kyle Busch. In addition, of the 40-car, the top-30 competitors were separated by less than two seconds with 35 on the lead lap. On Lap 83, Matt Kenseth made a charge on the outside lane towards the Penske cars, but he was nearly turned by Stenhouse in Turn 2, which caused both competitors to loose their momentum from the outside pack and drift outside the top 20. By Lap 90, Wallace, the first car on the outside lane, was battling Custer for a top-five spot and more while being drafted by Kyle Busch.

    The race reached its halfway mark on Lap 94 with Blaney still leading his teammates and the field, and with 34 of the 40-car field running on the lead lap. Shortly after, the caution flew when Nemechek got loose entering Turn 4 after reporting a cut right-front tire and spun near the pit road entrance, where he slid his car across the tri-oval grass. He kept his car intact as the field doged him. Under caution, a majority of the leaders pitted and Blaney retained the lead followed by teammates Keselowski and Logano. Drivers like Poole, Corey LaJoie, Preece and Newman remained on track, but once they pitted, Blaney returned to the lead.

    The race restarted on Lap 99, and the top-nine competitor on the bottom lane separated themselves from the pack in a single-file line before Kyle Busch started his charge back to the front on the high lane. On Lap 106, Stenhouse led a lap over Blaney as Wallace started to charge towards the front in a third lane on the outside with drafting help from Harvick. Blaney continued flexing his muscles at the front, leading the next five laps, before Stenhouse returned to the lead. Two laps later, Blaney made a bold move on the outside lane entering the frontstretch and nearly slipped sideways in front of Keselowski and the field, but was able to straighten his No. 12 Penske Ford and return to the lead. Not long after, the caution returned due to debris reported on the track, a debris that was hit by Preece. Under caution, the front half of the field remained on track while the second half, which included Preece, Bowman, Ty Dillon, Kenseth, Jones, Harvick, Elliott, Aric Almirola and Daniel Suarez pitted.

    The race returned to green in a two-lap dash to conclude the second stage. At the start, Stenhouse challenged Blaney for the lead on the outside lane with drafting help from Kyle Busch. Stenhouse emerged with a nose the following lap with drafting help from Byron. Byron made a move for the lead in Turn 2 before Blaney fought back the following turn. Entering the frontstretch, Stenhouse was nearly turned by Kyle Busch, but he was able to win the second stage. Blaney finished second followed by Kyle Busch, Keselowski and Bell while Logano, Wallace, Custer, Buescher and Byron were scored in the top 10. By then, there were 39 lead changes with 13 different leaders.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Bowman exited first followed by Elliott, Bowyer, Preece and Almirola, all of whom pitted for only fuel, while Blaney, the first car on fresh tires, exited sixth in front of teammates Keselowski and Logano. A handful of competitors, led by Buescher, remained on track. Following the pit stops, Kyle Busch made another pit stop to have a quarter panel brace repaired.

    With 63 laps remaining, the final stage commenced led by Buescher, but Harvick and Elliott split Buescher in the frontstretch with Harvick leading the following lap. During this time, Kenseth, who was running inside the top 10, pulled his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet below the apron and made an unscheduled pit stop to address a flat tire and a mechanical issue to his car. Kenseth would eventually take his car to the garage for further repairs. Soon after, Preece edged Elliott by a nose to lead a lap before Elliott received a draft from Harvick and Hamlin to lead. Meanwhile, Blaney regrouped with Keselowski and started challenging for the lead on the outside lane. 

    The caution returned with 55 laps remaining when Elliott, who was running fourth, was blocked by Logano and was bumped by Keselowski from behind, which turned Elliott into the wall, where he made contact and slid sideways with damage to the front nose and rear end of his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Amazingly, the field scattered and dodged him, though Austin Dillon sustained right-front damage after making contact with Elliott’s wrecked Camaro. Under caution, a handful of competitors led by the Penske trio remained on track while others pitted. When the pit stops concluded, Harvick exited first after a fuel-only stop.

    Five laps later, the race restarted and Blaney moved from the outside to the inside lane in front of teammates Logano and Keselowski to stabilize his lead. Two laps after the restart, Kyle Busch mounted a challenge on the outside lane. By then, Elliott, who attempted to continue the race with a wrecked racecar, retired with a missed opportunity of winning at Talladega for the second time. After sustaining damage from making with Elliott, Austin Dillon also retired. With 46 laps remaining, Poole and Joey Gase wrecked in Turns 3 and 4, thus drawing another caution. A majority of leaders pitted under caution, mainly for fuel, and Stenhouse led the field off pit road followed by Harvick, Bowman, Bowyer and Hamlin while Blaney exited seventh. The top-eight competitors led by Bell and Jones remained on track. Prior to the restart, a majority of the field returned to pit road for fuel to make it the rest of the way while Bell, Jones, Stenhouse, Harvick, Bowyer, Hamlin and Kurt Busch remained on track.

    With 42 to go, the race restarted and Bell made contact with Jones while trying to move to the inside lane in front of Jones’ No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, which caused Jones to slip below the double yellow lines (out of bounds). Their contact allowed Harvick to move into the lead followed by teammates Custer and Almirola while Hamlin charged on the outside lane. A lap later, Logano, who restarted 12th, moved back into the lead. Shortly after, Bell was assessed a pass-through penalty down pit road for forcing Jones below the yellow lines on the restart. In addition, Kyle Busch fell off the pace after sustaining a flat right-rear tire. By the time Busch returned on track, he was two laps behind the leaders.

    With 34 to go, the field settled in running single file on the bottom lane with Byron leading Logano, Hamlin, Harvick, Johnson and Wallace. The top-20 competitors were separated just above a second while another group of competitors behind, led by 21st-place DiBenedetto, trailed by around two seconds. Six laps later, Wallace emerged with the lead as Byron slipped and fell out of the draft. Shortly after, Logano returned to the lead followed by Harvick while Preece made a move on the outside lane in an attempt to move to the front. He did so the next lap and Bowman made his move to the outside of Preece in an attempt to take the lead. Preece, however, was able to emerge ahead of Bowman the next time the field circled back to the start/finish line as the front pack started racing two by two.

    With 20 to go, Bowman was the leader followed by Reddick, Logano, Hamlin and Preece as fuel mileage slowly became the concerning topic for a number of competitors at the front. Five laps later, Reddick was back ahead of the pack followed by Hamlin and Wallace. During this time, Bell, who was running with the lead pack while a lap behind, was forced off the track in Turn 2, but he continued driving straight.

    With 10 to go, Reddick was still in the lead ahead of Hamlin and Logano as the field made their way past a five-car pack led by Brendan Gaughan, which the lead pack lapped. With five to go, Reddick continued to lead followed by Hamlin, Wallace and Blaney, who had marched back towards the front. Two laps later, after Hamlin had fallen off the pace due to running out of fuel, Blaney returned to the lead. Just pass the start/finish line, Johnson, who was behind Blaney, was clipped by Harvick and spun below the infield entering Turn 1, which drew the caution and sent the race into overtime. By then, Wallace was also out of fuel. Under caution, a majority of competitors at the front pitted, mainly for fuel. Others like Blaney, Harvick, Stenhouse, Buescher and Custer remained on track while on low tanks of fuel. 


    Prior to the overtime, Custer and Newman peeled off the track to pit for fuel, which jumbled up the field for the restart. In overtime, Harvick received a draft from Buescher to jump to the lead while Blaney came charging back with drafting help from Stenhouse. Harvick started the final lap and led through Turn 3 before Blaney raced back to the lead. By then, a multi-car wreck ensued that involved Truex, DiBenedetto, Bell, LaJoie and Clint Bowyer. Entering the frontstretch, Stenhouse and Jones made a final-corner charge for Blaney. Jones went high and tried to cross back to the bottom, but was blocked by Blaney. He then went high again followed by Nemechek and Blaney moved up and made contact with Jones, turning Jones into the outside wall. At the finish line, Blaney edged Stenhouse by 0.007 seconds to win at Talladega for his first elusive Cup win of the season and second in a row at Talladega.

    With Blaney’s win, all three Team Penske competitors have recorded at least one win this season as Blaney also became the eighth winner of this season. Blaney also accomplished his first win with his new crew chief Todd Gordon as he has now won 15 races across NASCAR’s top three national division series.

    “Just another exciting one here,” Blaney said on MRN Radio. “I was wanting to take the bottom [lane]. I thought [Stenhouse] was a really good pusher all day and I thought the bottom lane, just kind of get out there was gonna be good. I don’t know if he spun his tires or what, but [I] didn’t get the help at all, but was able to pick and choose lanes there and wanted to wait for a while till later on that last lap. You don’t want to wait too long because the caution might come out. I was surprised the caution didn’t come out in [Turns] three and four, and I was lucky we were ahead. Then, they got a big run again. I was kind of out too far down the frontstretch. I really couldn’t see who was outside. I knew there were some people, I just tried to go up to slow’em down. We, kind of, hit, beat and banged. I don’t know where [Stenhouse] came from. He came with a big run there. Me and [Jones], kind of, got beatin’ and bangin’. I was trying to slow him down. He almost got us, I guess. ”

    Stenhouse settled in second followed by Almirola, who spun backwards across the finish line. Hamlin settled in fourth while Jones was able to limp his car across the line in fifth. Buescher, Bowman, Nemechek, Kurt Busch and Harvick rounded out the top 10. Jimmie Johnson rallied from his late spin to finish 13th in his penultimate run at Talladega

    After the race, while Blaney celebrated his race win, Wallace, who rallied to finish 14th for his sixth top-15 finish of the season, went up to salute, greet and celebrate his strong run amid his tough week with the limited amount of fans allowed to enter and watch the race at the grandstands.

    “Just a stout day,” Wallace said on MRN. “I didn’t know how our Victory Junction Chevrolet was gonna be. We weren’t very good following. We jumped up to the top just to make something work and man, we were a good lead car. We got the lead there for a short stint, but it was still good to come out with a solid day. Maybe one or two scratches [on the car], which is pretty good for us. All in all, it’s just gonna be a long week, but it’s good to come out with a good finish. [The fans], They’re family, we’re all family out here. I appreciate every fan coming out today, enjoying the day and glad we got it in. That was pretty cool right there.”

    The race featured 57 lead changes with 19 different leaders. There were eight cautions for 33 laps.

    With his top-10 run, Harvick continues to lead the regular-season series standings by 23 points over Logano and 25 over Blaney.

    Results:

    1. Ryan Blaney, 63 laps led

    2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., five laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Aric Almirola

    4. Denny Hamlin, 18 laps led

    5. Erik Jones

    6. Chris Buescher, four laps led

    7. Alex Bowman, 12 laps led

    8. John Hunter Nemechek

    9. Kurt Busch

    10. Kevin Harvick, two laps led

    11. William Byron, 11 laps led

    12. Ty Dillon

    13. Jimmie Johnson, one lap led

    14. Bubba Wallace, one lap led

    15. Ryan Preece, three laps led

    16. Corey LaJoie

    17. Joey Logano, 33 laps led

    18. Michael McDowell

    19. Brad Keselowski

    20. Tyler Reddick, 19 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    21. Brendan Gaughan

    22. Cole Custer

    23. Ryan Newman, one lap led

    24. Martin Truex Jr., one lap led

    25. Clint Bowyer, one lap down

    26. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down

    27. Quin Houff, one lap down

    28. Daniel Suarez, one lap down

    29. Christopher Bell, one lap down, four laps led

    30. Gray Gaulding, one lap down

    31. B.J. McLeod, one lap down

    32. Kyle Busch, two laps down, five laps led

    33. Timmy Hill, six laps down

    34. Garrett Smithley, six laps down

    35. Brennan Poole – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    36. J.J. Yeley, 13 laps down

    37. Joey Gase – OUT, Accident

    38. Chase Elliott – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    39. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

    40. Matt Kenseth – OUT, Rear hub

    The following weekend will feature the first NASCAR Cup Series’ weekend doubleheader at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The first Pocono race will air on June 27 at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX while the second race will air on June 28 at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • NASCAR postpones summer Cup race at Talladega

    NASCAR postpones summer Cup race at Talladega

    The NASCAR Cup Series’ GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway has been postponed due to inclement weather.

    The Cup Series’ 13th race of the 2020 season at Talladega, ninth since the sport’s return from the COVID-19 pandemic, was scheduled to run on Sunday, June 21, at 3 p.m. ET. The race was delayed, however, when lightning reports, storms and rain occurred around the track. Despite attempts from the jet dryers to have the track dried, the inclement weather kept reoccurring and NASCAR decided to reschedule the event to Monday, June 22, at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

    When the green flag waves on Monday, Martin Truex Jr. will start on pole position based on a random draw and will start alongside teammate and last weekend’s Homestead winner Denny Hamlin. A competition caution is planned for on Lap 25 with the race to span 188 laps (500 miles).

  • Double win for Kaulig Racing at Talladega

    Double win for Kaulig Racing at Talladega

    Following a doubleheader weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kaulig Racing came into Talladega Superspeedway with three opportunities to win the race and two opportunities to win the $100,000 bonus from the Dash 4 Cash program. When the checkered flag flew, the team accomplished both achievements as Justin Haley scored his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career win at one of the world’s fastest superspeedway venues while Ross Chastain claimed the bonus with a runner-up finish.

    Based on a random draw, Haley drew the pole position while Chastain started ninth. Teammate AJ Allmendinger, fresh off his Dash 4 Cash win last weekend at Homestead, started at the rear of the field due to his No. 16 Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet Camaro failing pre-race inspection three times.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Haley and Chastain battled and remained at the front of the pack while Allmendinger was settling outside the top 20 and behind the lead pack while preserving his car to the end as a pre-cautionary approach for any potential incident to occur early in the race. This was how the trio ran through the competition caution on the 10th lap and when the first stage concluded on Lap 25, which was won by Haley.  

    Throughout the second stage, it was only Chastain who remained towards the front and battled for the lead as Haley, who started towards the front, was shuffled out of the draft, placed in a three-wide battle with the pack and drifted outside the top 10. Allmendinger, who was penalized for having too many crew members over his pit stall under the first stage’s break, continued running within the top 30 and behind the pack. When the stage concluded, Chastain settled in fifth while Haley worked his way back to sixth after spending the final two laps of the stage going three wide on the outside lane to gain momentum and positions to the start/finish line. Allmendinger finished 25th.

    When the final stage started with less than 60 laps remaining, Chastain and Haley restarted third and fifth, but were shuffled back to eighth and 19th nearly 20 laps later as the racing towards the front started to intensify. Allmendinger continued to settle within the top 20 and behind the lead pack. With 37 laps remaining, all three Kaulig Racing competitors made a green-flag pit stop, but caught a break when the caution flew for a four-car wreck. Under caution, the trio remained on track to restart inside the top five. When the race restarted with 33 laps remaining, the trio occupied the podium positions with Chastain leading. A lap later, Haley was shuffled back to 12th.

    Following another caution for a multi-car wreck, a red-flag delay spanning nearly 11 minutes and a restart with 14 laps remaining, Allmendinger was shuffled out of the draft and all the way back to 14th. Chastain was able to retain the lead while Haley was in seventh. For the next six laps, Chastain was locked in a heated battle with Austin Cindric and Jeb Burton for the lead while Haley was able to work his way back into the top five. Then came an 11-car pileup in the frontstretch with seven laps remaining, a wreck that occurred just behind Haley and Chastain while Allmendinger was barely able to dodge the carnage in one piece.

    Following a second red-flag period spanning six and a half minutes, the racing resumed with three laps remaining, Haley, who restarted second, fired off past the restart zone and ignited a challenge with Burton for the lead with Chastain right behind his bumper and Allmendinger trying to work his way back to the front. A lap later, after Burton was able to pull away from the field, Haley came charging back on the outside lane and was alongside Burton when the final lap started. In Turn 2, Allmendinger gave Chastain’s No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro a push, who closed towards and pushed Haley’s No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro clear of Burton with the lead entering Turn 3. From there, Haley was gone and was able to beat the field by two-tenths of a second to claim his first elusive Xfinity win in his 47th series start.

    With the victory, Haley, who led 16 laps, became the 164th driver to win a NASCAR Xfinity Series race and the fifth regular-season series winner of the 2020 season, which has the Winamac, Indiana, native a guaranteed spot for the Xfinity Playoffs. He also became the third first-time winner of this season, (Noah Gragson and Harrison Burton), the fourth first-time series winner at Talladega and the 32nd driver to win across NASCAR’s top three national major division series. The win was also the second for crew chief Alexander Yontz. Following his victory burnouts and celebration with his teammates on the frontstretch, an emotional Haley took a moment to dedicate his first win to the late Nick Harrison, who was Haley’s crew chief last season until he died unexpectedly last July at age 37 following health issues.

    “Well, I got one taken away from me at Daytona [July 2018], which is my own fault,” Haley said. “To, kind of, get redemption, I now won in the Cup Series, the Xfinity Series, Truck Series, K&N, ARCA, you name it, I’ve won in it. That meant a lot to me. The Xfinity win was bugging me. I got’em a little out of place there jumping to my Cup win, but it’s so special for everyone. I can’t believe [Burton] gave me [Chastain, restarting on the outside lane]. You never want teammate lined up and that’s what he did. Just having Ross behind me and AJ [Allmendinger], you see the team love here at Kaulig Racing. A win for one guy’s a win for all of us. Just super special. This car was amazing. I’m loving these Kaulig Racing guys. They’ve been so incredible.” 

    The runner-up finish was Chastain’s best result along with his third top-five finish through the first 11 races of this season. Above all, Chastain, who also led a race-high 24 of the event’s 113-scheduled laps, won his first Dash 4 Cash program of his career and the second in a row of this season for Kaulig Racing. With his result, Chastain jumped from fifth to fourth in the standings and trails points leader Gragson by 47 points.

    “It was teamwork that got it done,” Chastain said. “I would say we were pretty even until the backstretch coming to the white flag. AJ Allmendinger in the 16 car gave me like a hundred horsepower boost down the back. I’ve never been hit so hard and not crashed as that. It started with the third car, took three of us, me, to the 10 car to [Haley] and he was able to clear [Burton]. It’s so gratifying to come these places. You come here and you can come here your whole career and never finish, never run good. AJ’s been coming here so long. He’s hit every corner of this place. It was that experience that paid off, and just having him as a teammate, it’s awesome. Justin and I have learned so much, and it’s all paying off.”

    With their one-two finish, Haley and Chastain will contend for the fourth and final Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus of this season next weekend at Pocono Raceway along with Austin Cindric and Alex Labbe.

    Allmendinger settled in seventh for his fourth top-10 result of this season and his sixth in the last two seasons while competing on a part-time basis for Kaulig Racing. He will return at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval-road course venue on July 4.

    Following 11 races into the 2020 season, Kaulig Racing operations have notched a combined nine top-five results, 20 top-10 results and have led a combined 203 laps, the most gained for the organization, team owner Matt Kaulig and team president Chris Rice after 11 races in the team’s fifth year of existence. They have also won four NASCAR career races with three different drivers, all of whom currently drive for the team. For LeafFilter Gutter Protection, Haley’s sponsor which has also been a primary sponsor with the team since its existence in 2016, this marked the company’s first time earning a trip to victory lane with a competitor in a stock car race.

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series will return at Pocono Raceway on June 28, where the race will air at 12:30 p.m. ET on FS1 and will be part of a quadruple-header weekend.

  • A career-defining run for Jeb Burton at Talladega

    A career-defining run for Jeb Burton at Talladega

    It was a near-perfect day for Jeb Burton, the son of the 2002 Daytona 500 champion, Ward, who rallied from the rear of the field to lead in the closing laps of Saturday’s Unhinged 300 at Talladega Superspeedway. While the Halifax, Virginia, native did not leave Talladega with his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career win, he crossed the line in third for his career-best finish in an afternoon where the cards fell in his favors in the final laps and he nearly capped off an upset story of his own.

    Based on a random draw, Burton was due to start in eighth, but was dropped to the rear of the field when his No. 8 LS Tractor Chevrolet Camaro failed pre-race inspection five times. 

    When the green flag waved, Burton methodically worked his way through the field and was in 21st when the competition caution flew on the 10th lap. He made an early pit stop for fuel under the caution, where he lined up in 25th when the race restarted five laps later. Ten laps later, when the first stage concluded, Burton had worked his way up to 15th as he continued to demonstrate patience early in the race while preserving his car to the end.

    Restarting 13th for the start of the second stage, Burton was able to crack the top 10 by Lap 35 and five laps later, he moved into the top five, running third. By Lap 45, he dropped back to 15th, but was running in a single-file line with his JR Motorsports’ teammates led by Justin Allgaier followed by Michael Annett and Noah Gragson. In the closing laps of the second stage, Burton was able to race his way back into the top 10 and conclude the stage in seventh, earning valuable owner points for JRM’s No. 8 Chevrolet team led by crew chief Taylor Moyer.

    Under the stage break, Burton pitted for fuel and restarted in sixth with 56 laps remaining for the start of the final stage. Three laps later, Burton and his JR Motorsports’ teammates occupied the top-four positions on track. With Jeb Burton settling in third, his cousin/rookie, Harrison, was running in fifth.

    Seventeen laps later, the caution flew following a four-car wreck on the fronstretch and Burton pitted under yellow for fuel to make it to the end. Restarting in fifth with 33 laps remaining, he moved into third a lap later behind Kaulig Racing’s Ross Chastain and AJ Allmendinger. He then raced on the outside lane and as the lead JR Motorsports’ competitor until the caution returned with 17 laps remaining for a six-car wreck in Turn 3 that involved his cousin, Harrison. The wreck halted the race for nearly 11 minutes.

    When the race restarted with 14 laps remaining, Burton dropped the hammer and made a bold move below Allmendinger to move into second as he went to work in challenging Chastain for the lead. Despite falling back to fifth, he worked his way back to the front two laps later after drafting Austin Cindric to the lead. With 11 laps remaining, Burton led his first lap of the day before Cindric reassumed the lead. Two laps later, Burton was back ahead of the field. Just after he took the lead, the caution returned with eight laps remaining for an 11-car pileup on the frontstretch, a wreck that involved Burton’s teammates Gragson and Allgaier while his other teammate, Annett, barely escaped.

    Following a second red-flag period spanning six and a half minutes, Burton restarted with the lead with three laps remaining. From there, he was pressured by Justin Haley for the lead and the first win. Despite having no teammates lined up behind him in the final shootout, Burton was able to maintain the lead on the inside lane and by a hair on the penultimate lap. He was, however, overtaken by Haley for the lead in Turn 2 when Haley received a push from teammates Chastain and Allmendinger. With Haley clearing the field and powering to the win, Burton would take the checkered flag in third behind Chastain after leading eight laps.

    While it was not a day where he walked away with his first Xfinity win at a track where the Burtons have never won at, the third-place result was Jeb’s best of his career along with his fourth top-five career finish in his 34th series start. It also marked his third top-five result in his ninth race with JR Motorsports, a part-time deal that started last season. His only other start this season came in the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway, where he led a race-high 26 of the 120-scheduled laps and won the first stage until he was eliminated in a late multi-car wreck and finished 23rd.

    “Looking back on it, I should’ve picked another lane,” Burton said. “I didn’t know Ross was behind [Haley]. I probably should’ve done something a little different there, split those teammates up. I probably should’ve jumped up high with [Haley], but I think they had such a head of steam. I thought [Cindric] was close enough to me and we would’ve had a run, but those [Kaulig Racing] teammates got hooked up and it was nothing. Nothing we can do. The guys did a good job. They brought a fast racecar. Daytona, we almost won and we almost won here. Just appreciate the effort. We’re gonna go to Indy in a couple of weeks, so I get to race again soon, and then, we’ll go to Kentucky and Texas. So, I got a couple coming up.”

    In addition to pursuing his first Xfinity win, a feat accomplished by his father, Ward; uncle, Jeff; and cousin, Harrison; Burton also continues to pursue his first NASCAR national division series win since winning his lone Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway in June 2013 and a possibility of returning as a full-time competitor in the sport.

    Burton will return on July 4 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval-road course venue for his next scheduled series start of the season while Daniel Hemric will compete in the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet next weekend at Pocono Raceway on June 28, which will air at 12:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Talladega Xfinity race features unique top-15 finishers

    Talladega Xfinity race features unique top-15 finishers

    While Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley and Ross Chastain emerged victorious with the race win and the third Dash 4 Cash bonus on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, there were a multitude of competitors who avoided a series of late calamities and earned strong results at one of the world’s fastest superspeedway venues.

    The first was Brett Moffitt. A former champion of the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, Moffitt made his ninth start of the season in the No. 02 Chevrolet Camaro for Our Motorsports. Starting 20th, the Grimes, Iowa, native found himself in the right place at the right time in the closing laps, running within the top 10 and in the lead pack. Following a series of carnages, which he was avoid to dodge, Moffitt restarted 10th with three laps remaining and was able to gain five more spots to finish fifth. The result was Moffitt’s first top-five career result in the Xfinity Series and his third top-10 result in his 12th series start. The fifth-place result was also the best for Our Motorsports in the team’s 11th race in the series this season, having achieved a sixth-place result at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

    Behind Moffitt, Anthony Alfredo backed up his his first top-five finish in the series last weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway to notch another top-10 result in his first Xfinity performance at Talladega. Starting 10th, Alfredo finished second in the first stage and 12th in the second while leading his first career laps at Talladega (five). Spending the majority of the race inside the top 10, dodging the late carnages and rallying from a late pit road speeding penalty, Alfredo restarted fifth with three laps remaining and with a final opportunity to pull off his first win in an upset fashion. Ultimately, he was able to cross the line in sixth for his fourth top-10 result of the season. Through six races he has competed in thus far, he has finished no worse than 14th.

    Next was Gray Gaulding, who emerged with a top-10 result in his first Xfinity Series start of the season. A year after notching a career-best runner-up result at Talladega as a full-time competitor for SS-Green Light Racing, Gaulding started this season without a full-time ride. After competing in four Cup races this season with Rick Ware Racing, Gaulding made his first Xfinity start of the season at Talladega while returning to SS-Green Light Racing. Starting 21st, Gaulding was ninth with three laps remaining and was able to gain one more spot to finish eighth. The result was Gaulding’s fifth Xfinity top-10 career result in his 42nd series start and SS-Green Light Racing’s second top-10 result of this season after finishing eighth at Daytona International Speedway in February with Ray Black Jr.

    In addition, Alex Labbe, who started 27th, managed to escaped the late carnage to restart in sixth with three laps remaining and cross the finish line inside the top-10 (ninth). The top-10 result was Labbe’s fourth of his Xfinity career and second of this season after finishing 10th in the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway in February while also leading 19 laps. The result came with a little victory for the Saint-Albert, Quebec, native, who will receive his first opportunity to compete for the $100,000 bonus from the Dash 4 Cash program next weekend at Pocono Raceway alongside Haley, Chastain and Austin Cindric.

    Finishing just outside the top 10 were Brandon Brown and rookie Jesse Little. Brown, who was running inside the top 10 in the late stages of the race, finished 11th for his ninth top-15 finish of the season while Little, a newcomer to the series, earned his fourth top-15 result this season and emerged as the highest-running rookie candidate in the race. In addition, Jeffrey Earnhardt and Tommy Joe Martins managed to finish inside the top 15 while dodging a multi-car pileup on the frontstretch feet away from the finish line. Earnhardt, who finished 14th, claimed his second top-15 result of the season while Martins claimed his first top-15 finish since finishing 11th at Iowa Speedway in June 2017. 

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series will return at Pocono Raceway on June 28 as part of a quadruple-header weekend and on the same day as the second NASCAR Cup Series race of the weekend at the Tricky Triangle. The race will air at 12:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Smithley to drive for B.J. McLeod Motorsports at Talladega

    Smithley to drive for B.J. McLeod Motorsports at Talladega

    Garrett Smithley will be driving the No. 78 Chevrolet Camaro for B.J. McLeod Motorsports in the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, June 21, where he will start at the rear of the 40-car field.

    Smithley’s move to B.J. McLeod Motorsports will mark the third team the Ligonier, Pennsylvania, native has driven for this season. Through the first 13 races of this year’s Cup season, he competed in eight with Rick Ware Racing and two with Spire Motorsports while sitting out the 62nd running of the Daytona 500. Sunday’s event will mark his first NASCAR premier series start in one of the world’s fastest superspeedway venues in Alabama. He has competed at Talladega in the last four seasons in the Xfinity Series, achieving a best result of 10th in 2018 while driving for JD Motorsports.

    Smithley’s move to B.J. McLeod Motorsports for Talladega comes a day after it was announced that team owner/driver B.J. McLeod will be driving the No. 77 OilFire Rye Whiskey Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Spire Motorsports on Sunday. James Davison, a native from Melbourne, Australia, who has a deep racing background in sports cars and IndyCar along with making four Xfinity Series career starts, was initially scheduled to make his Cup Series debut this Sunday at Talladega with Spire Motorsports. Though Davison was approved to run earlier this week, NASCAR reconsidered their approval for the Australian to run the superspeedway event since there will be no practice or qualifying session prior to the race. Davison will wait until next weekend at Pocono Raceway to make his Cup and NASCAR oval debut with Spire Motorsports.

    The NASCAR Cup Series’ 13th race of the season at Talladega Superspeedway will air on June 21 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Joe Gibbs Racing to surpass milestone start at Talladega

    Joe Gibbs Racing to surpass milestone start at Talladega

    A week after celebrating a milestone win with Denny Hamlin at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Joe Gibbs Racing will achieve another milestone this upcoming weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. When the green flag drops on Sunday, June 21, for the NASCAR Cup Series’ 13th race of the 2020 season, JGR will surpass 2,500 combined Cup starts among its four-car lineup and in the organization’s 29th season in NASCAR.

    Through 12 races this season, JGR has won four races (three with Hamlin and one with Martin Truex Jr.) and has recorded 24 top-10 results (made between its four-car lineup).

    Founded in 1991, JGR, owned by legendary NFL coach and three-time Super Bowl championship-winning coach Joe Gibbs, fielded a full-time entry in the 1992 Cup Series season, the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet driven by Hickory, North Carolina’s Dale Jarrett and led by crew chief Jimmy Makar. In their first season in NASCAR competition, Jarrett finished 19th in the overall standings with eight top-10 results. The following season, with his father, Ned, calling the final lap action on CBS Sports, Jarrett held off Dale Earnhardt to record the team’s first ever NASCAR win in the season-opening Daytona 500. Jarrett and the No. 18 team would record 12 more top-five finishes (17 more top-10 finishes) before concluding the season in fourth in the overall standings.

    Following the 1994 season, Jarrett left the organization after winning once and finishing 16th in the standings the previous year. He was replaced by Bobby Labonte, a native from Corpus Christi, Texas, and younger brother of Terry Labonte, the 1984 Cup champion. After the first 10 races, Labonte recorded his first Cup career win in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He went on to sweep both Michigan Cup events before finishing 10th in the final standings. Overall, he recorded seven top-five results, 14 top-10 results and two poles to go along with his first three career victories in 1995. After the 1996 season, where Labonte won once and finished 11th in the final standings, JGR made a manufacturer change from Chevrolet to Pontiac. Between 1997-98, Labonte won three races, notched six poles and recorded 36 top-10 results with a best points result of sixth in 1998. By then, J.D. Gibbs, Joe Gibbs’ son, was named team president of JGR and the team was establishing its facility in Huntersville, North Carolina.

    In 1999, JGR expanded to a two-car operation as Columbus, Indiana’s Tony Stewart joined the organization, driving the No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac led by crew chief Greg Zipadelli. Stewart notched his first NASCAR Cup career win at Richmond International Raceway in September and won two more races before finishing fourth in the final standings and claiming the Rookie-of-the-Year title. His teammate, Labonte, won five races and finished second in the standings to Jarrett, who celebrated his first Cup title.

    The following season, team owner Joe Gibbs and JGR achieved their first NASCAR Cup championship with Labonte, who won four races, including the Brickyard 400, and recorded 24 top-10 results in the 34-race schedule to wrap up the first title for the team and himself by 265 points over Dale Earnhardt. Two years later, Stewart rallied from finishing last in the season-opening Daytona 500 to win his first Cup title and second for the team in a season where he won three races and recorded 21 top-10 results. The next season, JGR returned to fielding Chevrolets as Stewart and Labonte won two races a piece and finished seventh and eighth in the final standings.

    In 2005, where the team had achieved 42 Cup career wins, JGR expanded to a three-car operation as Long Beach, California’s Jason Leffler was assigned to pilot the No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet led by crew chief Dave Rogers and as a new teammate to Stewart and Labonte. In August, Leffler was released from the team, having missed one race and finishing as high as 12th on track. Terry Labonte along with Hamlin and Phoenix, Arizona’s J.J. Yeley took turns driving the car for the remainder of the season as Rogers was eventually replaced by Mike Ford. Labonte also had a difficult season as he recorded four top-five results, seven top-10 results and finished 24th in the final standings. Despite the struggles, JGR won its third NASCAR Cup title with Stewart, who won five races, recorded 17 top-five results and 25 top-10 results, which was enough for the Hoosier native to wrap up his second series title by 35 points over Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards.

    In 2006, JGR featured a new lineup as Yeley replaced Labonte to drive the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet while Hamlin was promoted as a full-time driver of the No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet. Stewart remained as driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet. Yeley recorded three top-10 results the entire season and finished 29th in the final standings while Stewart was unable to defend his championship after failing to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Cup title, though he won five races overall. Hamlin, meanwhile, won his first two Cup career victories in both Pocono Raceway events, including the non-point Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway in February, and recorded 20 top-10 results to make the Chase and settle in third in the final standings. In the end, he was awarded the 2006 Rookie-of-the-Year title.

    Two years later, JGR made a manufacturer change from Chevrolet to Toyota and replaced Yeley with Las Vegas, Nevada’s Kyle Busch as driver of the No. 18 Toyota Camry sponsored by M&M’s and Interstate Batteries. By then, Gibbs, who had returned to the NFL as head coach for the Washington Redskins in 2004, retired from coaching football in January. Four races into the 2008 season, Busch became the fifth different driver to win driving for JGR after accomplishing his task at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March while also recording the first Cup win for Toyota. Through September, JGR operations won eight more Cup races between Busch and Hamlin. The team, however, struggled in the final 10 races, only winning once with Stewart at Talladega in October, before finishing eighth, ninth and 10th in the final standings. Despite the late struggles in the Cup season, JGR had a successful season in the Xfinity Series, winning 19 races between four competitors and clinching the owner’s title.

    In 2009, where the team had achieved 68 Cup wins, JGR welcomed young Middletown, Connecticut’s Joey Logano to the Cup lineup, where he was assigned to the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry when Stewart decided to join forces with Gene Haas and become a driver/owner of Stewart-Haas Racing. In June, Logano recorded his first Cup career win in a rain-shortened event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after gambling late on fuel. He would record six more top-10 results before settling in 20th in the final standings and claiming the Rookie-of-the-Year title. Hamlin, meanwhile, won four races and settled in fifth in the final standings. Busch also won four races, but on-track inconsistencies throughout the summer prevented him from making the Chase by eight points, where he settled in 13th in the final standings. He was, however, able to record the first Xfinity Series championship for JGR after winning nine races throughout the season.

    In 2012, with the reigning championship-winning crew chief Darian Grubb atop his pit box, Hamlin recorded the 100th Cup win for the organization at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September, which marked his fifth of five wins that season. By then, Kyle Busch had won eight more races with the team since 2010 while Logano notched his second series win at Pocono Raceway back in June 2012. In addition, owner Joe Gibbs achieved his third Xfinity owner’s championship in 2010.

    The following season, JGR replaced Logano with the 2003 NASCAR Cup champion Matt Kenseth as the new driver of the No. 20 Toyota Camry sponsored by Dollar General and Husky Tools. In Kenseth’s first season with the team, he won a season-high seven races, three poles and recorded 20 top-10 results before settling in second in the final standings, 19 points behind the champion Jimmie Johnson. Busch rebounded from a difficult 2012 season to win four races, record 16 top-five results, 22 top-10 results and finish a career-best fourth in the standings. Hamlin, meanwhile, struggled with on-track performance, which started when he was involved in a harrowing last-lap accident at Auto Club Speedway following contact with Logano, a wreck that caused Hamlin to miss four races due to a collapsed vertebra. He would return in May and win the season finale at Homestead in November, which allowed him to extend his season-winning streak to eight.

    Two years later, where the team had achieved 114 Cup career wins, JGR expanded to a four-car lineup while welcoming Columbia, Missouri’s Carl Edwards to the organization and as driver of the No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry. The 2015 season was a banner year for JGR as all four competitors recorded multiple wins, including the organization’s first All-Star win with Hamlin, and were competitive throughout the season. Above all, the team achieved its fourth Cup title with Kyle Busch, who missed the first 11 Cup races of the season due to suffering a massive compound fracture in his lower right leg and a small fracture in his left foot as a result of wrecking in the Xfinity Series opening race at Daytona and slapping into a concrete wall not installed with SAFER barriers. Following a three-month absence, Busch would return and win four races throughout the summer months, including the Brickyard 400, and record enough points to qualify for the Chase, where he was consistent to make the Championship Round and won the season finale at Homestead to lock up the first series title for himself, crew chief Adam Stevens and for Toyota along with JGR’s first championship since 2005. Overall, the team won a combined 14 races in 2015.

    The following season, with new crew chief Mike Wheeler atop the pit box, Hamlin edged Martin Truex Jr. by 0.010 seconds to win his first career Daytona 500 and record the first 500 win for JGR since 1993. It also marked the first Daytona 500 victory for Toyota. All four JGR drivers won a combined 12 races in the 36-race schedule, including the Brickyard 400 with Busch, but fell short of winning back-to-back Cup titles. The team achieved success in the Xfinity Series, winning 19 races between five drivers and the 2016 Xfinity championship with Monterrey, Mexico’s Daniel Suarez. Over the next two Cup seasons, JGR operations would win 17 more races and surpass 150 Cup victories. In addition, Suarez would be promoted to the Cup Series in 2017 to replace Edwards following his sudden retirement from the sport. The following season, Kenseth was replaced by Byron, Michigan’s Erik Jones, who won his first Cup career race with the team at Daytona in July.

    Prior to the 2019 season, tragedy struck for the organization when team president J.D. Gibbs died at age 49 in January due to complications following a long battle with a degenerative neurological disease, a disease which Gibbs had undergone treatment for in recent years. The following month, the team rallied by winning the Daytona 500 with Hamlin, the driver who the late Gibbs played a fundamental role in bringing Hamlin to drive for the organization. The 500 win was Hamlin’s second of his career, the third for JGR, the second for Toyota and the first for new crew chief Chris Gabehart as Hamlin led a JGR one-two-three finish to the win followed by Kyle Busch and Jones. In April, Martin Truex Jr., the 2017 NASCAR Cup champion who joined JGR to replace Suarez prior to the season, won his first race with the team at Richmond. The 2019 season was another banner season for JGR as all four competitors recorded a win (19 overall) and Kyle Busch clinched the fifth Cup title for the team, second for the driver, at Homestead.

    Prior to the 2020 NASCAR season, Joe Gibbs was among five inductees, including Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte, to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on January 31. To this day, Gibbs remains the only person to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

    This season, Hamlin recorded the team’s fourth Daytona 500 win in February and has won two more races while Truex recorded his first victory of the season at Martinsville Speedway on June 10. Following Hamlin’s win last weekend at Homestead, JGR has 180 Cup career wins between 10 drivers. In addition to four Cup victories, JGR has notched four Xfinity wins (one with Kyle Busch, Brandon Jones and two with rookie Harrison Burton) and one ARCA Menards Series win (Ty Gibbs) this season.

    Heading into this weekend’s event at Talladega, JGR has won a Cup race at the superspeedway venue four times, none since 2014 with Hamlin, and has achieved 53 top-10 results since racing at the track in 1992. In the current Cup lineup, all competitors, but Erik Jones, have won at least once at Talladega within NASCAR’s three national major division series.

    The NASCAR Cup Series’ upcoming race at Talladega will air on June 21 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Gaughan to achieve milestone start at Talladega

    Gaughan to achieve milestone start at Talladega

    When the green flag waves to commence Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, veteran Brendan Gaughan will reach a milestone of his own. By starting this weekend at Talladega, Gaughan will reach 500 starts between NASCAR’s three national major division series in his swan song season of racing.

    A grandson of the late Las Vegas gaming pioneer Jackie Gaughan and the son of Michael Gaughan, owner of South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa, Brendan Gaughan started his racing career with off-road racing, where he won three consecutive Class 10 SNORE (Southern Nevada Off-Road Enthusiasts) championships from 1991-93 before racing in the SODA (Short-course Off-road Drivers Association) series. His first appearance in NASCAR was at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his home track, in the Truck Series, where he drove for Walker Evans and finished 24th. In 2002, he fielded the No. 62 Dodge sponsored by NAPA Auto Parts in the NASCAR Truck Series with his father, where he won his first two career races and claimed the Rookie-of-the-Year title. The following season, while sponsored by Orleans Hotel & Casino, Gaughan won a career-high six races and had the series’ championship lead entering the season-finale event at Homestead-Miami Speedway until he was knocked out following late crash and finished fourth in the final standings.

    In 2004, Gaughan was promoted to the NASCAR Cup Series, where he drove the No. 77 Kodak Dodge for Penske-Jasper Racing. He achieved four top-10 results, including a career-best third at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2004, and fell short of the Rookie-of-the-Year title to Kasey Kahne. The following season, Gaughan returned to the Truck Series, where he spent the next four seasons driver between his father Michael and owner Tom Mitchell. While Gaughan did not win the next four seasons, he achieved 11 top-five results, 25 top-10 results and 65 laps led with a best result of 11th in the 2007 standings.

    The following two seasons, Gaughan raced in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Rusty Wallace Racing, where he notched six top-five results, 17 top-10 results and one career pole with a best result of ninth in the 2009 standings. After spending the 2011 season racing in the Truck Series with Germain Racing, Gaughan ran a part-time schedule across NASCAR’s three national major division series for Richard Childress Racing in 2012, where he finished in the top five four times in the Truck Series and in the top 10 five times in the Xfinity Series.

    After racing the entire 2013 Truck Series schedule with RCR, where he earned 13 top-10 results and a final result of seventh in the championship standings, Gaughan returned to the Xfinity Series in 2014, where he drove the No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet Camaro for RCR. After 98 attempts in the series, Gaughan captured his first Xfinity career win at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, following a late battle with Chase Elliott and Alex Tagliani. Three months later, Gaughan captured his second series win at Kentucky Speedway after battling Elliott and teammates Ty Dillon and Brian Scott. The wins marked his only top-five results of the season despite tallying his top-10 finishes to seven and finishing eighth in the final standings. The following season, Gaughan remained with RCR and went winless, but managed to secure 14 top-10 results and a final result of ninth in the standings. He also competed in eight races for team owner Jay Robinson, scoring a best result of 28th at Atlanta in March and at Daytona in July.

    In 2016, the year the Xfinity Series adopted to the Playoff-elimination format as the Cup Series, Gaughan relied on consistency to make the postseason, but was eliminated from title contention in the penultimate round after Phoenix in November. He concluded the season with four top-five results, 16 top-10 results and a final result of 12th in the standings. The following season, Gaughan made the postseason through consistency, but was eliminated following the first round by a single point. He concluded the 2017 Xfinity season with eight top-10 results and a final result of 10th in the standings. In addition, Gaughan competed in four Cup races (both Daytona and Talladega events) while driving the No. 75 Chevrolet for Beard Motorsports, led by crew chief Darren Shaw and owned by former driver Mark Beard, under an alliance with RCR and powered with ECR Engines. Gaughan’s best performance was a seventh-place result at Daytona in July.

    The following season, Gaughan retired from full-time racing while electing to compete in all Cup superspeedway races for Beard Motorsports in the No. 62 Chevrolet and in three Xfinity races with RCR and the No. 3 Chevrolet on the road-course events at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Road America and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. His best performances in his seven-race schedule were 12th-place results at the Cup Daytona race in July, the Xfinity Mid-Ohio race in August and the Cup Talladega race in October. The following season, Gaughan remained with Beard Motorsports and competed in all four Cup superspeedway events at Daytona and Talladega. His best finish was an eighth-place result at Talladega in April, but Gaughan’s memorable moment of 2019 was at the second Talladega race in October, where he was battling for the lead before he was swept up in a multi-car wreck and barrel rolled in the air before landing on all four wheels and emerging uninjured. He settled in 27th.

    In January of this season, Gaughan announced his retirement from racing after competing the four Cup superspeedway races of 2020 for Beard Motorsports and in the No. 62 Beard Oil/South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. A week before the Daytona 500, Gaughan was one of two competitors driving for non-chartered teams to secure a spot for the 500-mile event based on qualifying speed. A week later, Gaughan avoided a harrowing last-lap wreck involving Ryan Newman to finish seventh in his fifth and final Daytona 500 career start, which also marks his last Cup start to date before this Sunday at Talladega.

    In addition to achieving NASCAR start number 500, this weekend will mark Gaughan’s 10th Cup career start at Talladega and one of two opportunities for the veteran to achieve his first win in NASCAR’s premier series in his 64th series start and in an illustrious racing career spanning beyond 20 years with 10 national major division series victories, four poles and 154 top-10 results.

    The NASCAR Cup Series will race at Talladega on June 21 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Cup rookies prepare for first tackle at Talladega

    Cup rookies prepare for first tackle at Talladega

    It has been a month since NASCAR returned to on-track racing amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and a number of firsts have occurred since the sport’s return. From midweek races to series’ doubleheaders at the same track and even quadruple-header weekends among the sport’s three major national division series, NASCAR has provided its share of resolving the unexpected and creating memories through the first half of the 2020 season. With Talladega Superspeedway next on the schedule, the unexpected is a term that every driver and team can annually anticipate from the drop of the green flag to the checkered. It is also a venue that can provide the element of surprise for anyone, especially for this year’s Cup rookie class.

    When the first green flag of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season flew at Daytona International Speedway in February, six rookies embarked on a yearlong journey filled with firsts and a new approach towards each track like none other from their previous seasons. This weekend will mark their first time racing at Talladega, one of the world’s fastest racing venues, in NASCAR’s premier series, which has not raced on a superspeedway event since the Daytona 500 in February.

    For years, Talladega is a track that does not yield a simple race-winning path for anyone after 500 miles. It is a track that requires patience, aggression and boldness for any competitor to emerge victorious ahead of a steaming pack of other competitors fighting towards the same goal. It is also a track that can make any dreams come true. Since its inception in 1969, 11 competitors have scored their first Cup win at Talladega, not since Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made the last accomplishment in 2017, which provides a golden opportunity for any rookie competitor to shine and rise to the occasion against NASCAR’s elite.

    Twelve races into the 2020 season, the reigning two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Tyler Reddick leads the Cup rookie standings. The Corning, California, native is coming off a career run last weekend at Homestead, where he finished fourth and picked up his first top-five career finish in the Cup Series. To go along with two additional top-10 results and fast racecars prepared by his team and crew chief Randall Burnett, Reddick is slowly peaking towards his first Cup win. When it comes to Talladega, there are two advantages for Reddick. The first is that Reddick is a former winner at the superspeedway event, having won last year’s Xfinity race at the track despite encountering early on-track issues. The second is that his team, Richard Childress Racing, has a rich history at Talladega with 12 wins, six poles and over 70 top-10 results, achieving results with names like Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer. With the results, Reddick looks to add his name to RCR legacy’s at the superspeedway venue in Alabama and extend his recent stretch of solid performances.

    Pursuing Reddick in the rookie standings is John Hunter Nemechek. The second-generation driver from Mooresville, North Carolina, has achieved three top-15 results since May, including his first top-10 career finish at Darlington Raceway (ninth), and has displayed a model of consistency in his first full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series. Nemechek has raced at Talladega seven times between the Xfinity and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, his best result being sixth in the 2017 Truck Series season and last year’s Xfinity Series season. An advantage Nemechek has towards Talladega is that his team, Front Row Motorsports, is competitive at superspeedway events (Daytona and Talladega). Since FRM’s started racing in the Cup Series in 2005, the team has notched 20 top-10 results, more than half coming at Talladega. In addition, Talladega serves as the track where the team notched its first Cup career win in 2013, when David Ragan and David Gilliland recorded a thrilling one-two finish for the team. With his consistent start, Nemechek looks to take the next step to finish at the front of the field and etch his name as the next upset winner at the world’s fastest racing venues.

    Next is Christopher Bell. The Norman, Oklahoma, native has achieved a multitude of accomplishments in racing, from sprint cars to stock cars. This includes winning the 2013 USAC National Midget title, three Chili Bowl sprint car titles, a NASCAR win at Eldora, the 2017 Truck Series championship and a combined 23 wins across the Truck and Xfinity Series in 14 different tracks, including his first road course win at Road America last season. There are a handful of accomplishments that Bell has yet to achieve, among which includes winning a Cup race and winning a superspeedway event. Thus far, Bell has achieved three top-10 results in his rookie Cup season and has raced at Talladega five times between the Xfinity and Truck Series, his best result being second in the 2017 Truck Series season and third in last year’s Xfinity Series season. His team, Leavine Family Racing, is competitive at superspeedway events despite scoring two top-10 career finishes at Talladega and his crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, has won at the track once in the 2011 Xfinity season with Kyle Busch. With his recent stride in producing decent results, Bell also looks to take the next step in his rookie Cup season by finishing towards the front and placing himself in position to emerge as an upset winner at a track that is very familiar with upset tales.

    While the last seven results since May have not fallen in the favors of Cole Custer, the Ladera Ranch, California, native remains in pursuit of his first breakthrough moment in the Cup Series while driving for one of the sport’s competitive teams, Stewart-Haas Racing. Entering this weekend, Custer has achieved one top-10 career finish in the Cup Series and has raced at Talladega four times between the Xfinity and Truck Series, with a best result of ninth in the 2018 Xfinity season. In 2018, Stewart-Haas Racing achieved its first Cup win at Talladega on a day where all four SHR cars led the field the majority of the race before Aric Almirola scored a breakthrough win of his career. This serves as an advantage for Custer to race towards the front competitively with a championship-winning team and possibly achieve his moment in NASCAR’s premier series.

    When it comes to Talladega Superspeedway, Brennan Poole has a notable moment at the track that is deemed heartbreaking. In 2016, Poole, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, dodged a last-lap incident between Joey Logano and Elliott Sadler in the tri-oval to nip Justin Allgaier at the finish line and score what appeared to have been his first Xfinity Series career win. Upon reviewing the footage, however, NASCAR determined that Sadler, who had managed to straighten his car and continued to race despite wrecking, was ahead of the field at the moment of caution, which resulted in Sadler winning while Poole was demoted to third. To date, this remains the closest Poole has come in winning at Talladega. The Woodlands, Texas, native has raced at the track three additional times between the Truck and Xfinity Series, but all finishes have been outside the top 20. In his first 12 Cup career starts this season, Poole has recorded a career-best result of 16th from this year’s Daytona 500, but has finished as high as 24th in the last seven races. This weekend serves as an opportunity for Poole to hone his driving skills against the current Cup stars and claim the win that was taken away from him four years ago.

    Lastly, Quin Houff also looks to achieve a breakthrough moment of his racing career on the track. Through the first 12 races of this season, Houff has finished in the top 30 twice (Darlington & Bristol) while sustaining three DNFs and finishing outside the top 30 in five of the last six Cup races. Houff’s team, StarCom Racing, has raced in NASCAR since 2017 and has finished in the top 15 twice, both coming at Daytona and Talladega. Like Poole, Houff sets his focus on this weekend to etch his name against the sport’s elite.

    This year’s rookie Cup class are among six of multiple stars that includes Matt DiBenedetto, William Byron, James Davison, Ty Dillon, Brendan Gaughan, Gray Gaulding, Joey Gase, Timmy Hill, Corey LaJoie, Michael McDowell, B.J. McLeod, Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace and J.J. Yeley who will pursue their first win in the Cup Series this weekend at Talladega.

    All Cup Series competitors, including this year’s rookie class, will receive their first of two opportunities this season to conquer Talladega on June 21 with the race to air at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.